[0:13] Good evening and welcome to the Brockton

[0:15] Public School Committee meeting. Today

[0:18] is Tuesday, October 6, 2026. It's

[0:20] currently 700 p.m. and we are gathered

[0:24] at the George Rumlow Theater at Brockton

[0:26] High School 470 forest staff Brockton,

[0:29] Massachusetts 02301.

[0:32] Dear visitors, welcome to a meeting of

[0:34] the Brockton School Committee. This is

[0:37] the agenda that will be discussed this

[0:38] evening. Please note that hearing of

[0:41] visitors is included. If you have a

[0:43] statement or question, please give your

[0:44] name to the secretary. We have some

[0:47] people that have signed up. In addition

[0:49] to attending, the public can view this

[0:51] meeting via television on Comcast

[0:54] channel 8 and 1071 HD version and online

[0:58] via this link

[0:59] wwwd.youub.youtube.com/thebroton

[1:02] channels. I do call this meeting to

[1:04] order. I'll establish a quorum. Miss

[1:07] Santeo

[1:08] >> here.

[1:09] >> Miss Oliver

[1:10] >> here.

[1:10] >> Miss Azac

[1:11] >> here.

[1:11] >> Mr. Pina

[1:12] >> here.

[1:13] >> We do have a quorum. Um, we'll move on

[1:16] to agenda item two, which is the hearing

[1:19] of visitors. I'll read the following

[1:20] into record. Pursuant to school

[1:22] committee policy, each person requesting

[1:24] to speak shall be allotted a maximum of 3 minutes since this period

[1:30] is limited to 15 minutes. A total of

[1:33] five people shall be permitted to speak

[1:35] on first come first- serve basis. Um, I

[1:38] think we have a swap. So, the first

[1:40] person to come up is Matt Stanton. Good

[1:42] evening, chair, members of the school

[1:44] committee, superintendent, and members

[1:46] of the community. I'm here tonight not

[1:48] only as a parent, an educator, and a

[1:50] taxpayer, but also as someone who has

[1:53] the priv who's had the privilege of

[1:55] serving on this very school committee

[1:56] during difficult times such as COVID,

[1:59] the George Floyd era, and a significant

[2:02] district budget crisis. Having served in

[2:05] this capacity, I understand that public

[2:07] service is not easy. Governance requires

[2:10] difficult conversations, competing

[2:12] perspectives, accountability, and at

[2:15] times uncomfortable decisions.

[2:17] Disagreement is inevitable. However,

[2:19] what should never be negotiable is

[2:22] professionalism, integrity, and a

[2:24] commitment to the students and families

[2:26] we have elected to serve. And quite

[2:28] frankly, I am concerned about what I

[2:30] have been witnessing. There appears to

[2:32] be an increasingly troubling pattern of

[2:34] institutional intimidation,

[2:36] interpersonal conflict, and the use of

[2:39] positions of authority in ways that risk

[2:41] undermining the very institution you

[2:43] were elected to serve. Let me remind

[2:46] everyone in this room. The school

[2:48] committee is not a platform for personal

[2:50] agendas, political optics, or protecting

[2:53] individual reputation. Is a governing

[2:56] body entrusted with the education and

[2:58] well-being of our city's children. Our

[3:01] students should be at the center of

[3:03] every conversation. Our families should

[3:05] be at the center of every policy

[3:07] decision. Our educators be should be

[3:10] supported in their work. And our

[3:12] community should be able to trust that

[3:14] the people elected to represent them are

[3:16] operating with professionalism, sound

[3:18] judgment, and a shared sense of

[3:20] responsibility. When the focus shifts

[3:22] for governance to personal

[3:24] disagreements, public image, political

[3:26] positioning, or undermining one another,

[3:29] we all lose. And I don't know about you

[3:30] guys, but I don't like to lose,

[3:31] especially if we're calling ourselves a

[3:33] city of champions. Most importantly, our

[3:36] students and families lose. I also want

[3:38] to address accountability at the

[3:40] individual level. I have personally

[3:42] reached out to my elected school

[3:43] committee representative through direct

[3:45] communication and text messages and have

[3:47] been met with silence. This is

[3:50] particularly disappointing given that I

[3:52] had previously invested my own time in

[3:54] providing one-on-one coaching and

[3:56] support to this individual, giving them

[3:57] my time, my talent, and my treasure. Let

[4:00] me be clear. I do not believe that

[4:02] helping someone creates an obligation

[4:05] for them to agree with me, return a

[4:08] favor, or maintain a personal

[4:09] relationship. That is not what public

[4:11] service is about. However, when someone

[4:13] is elected to represent a constituency,

[4:16] communication, accessibility are part of

[4:18] that responsibility. Constituents should

[4:20] not have to question whether their

[4:22] elected representative is willing to

[4:24] acknowledge them, respond to their

[4:26] concerns, or engage in meaningful

[4:27] dialogue. Representation is simply

[4:30] occupying. Representation

[4:32] is not simply occupying a seat at the

[4:34] table. It is understanding that you have

[4:37] been entrusted with a responsibility to

[4:39] people beyond yourself. And that brings

[4:42] me to another point.

[4:43] >> Your time is up.

[4:44] >> Next up, we have Matt Stanton.

[4:47] >> Each of these position carries an annual

[4:49] stipen of approximately $20,000 funded

[4:52] by our taxpayers. According to the

[4:54] enterprise, it consists of a $15,000

[4:56] salary and a 5,000 stipen under city

[4:59] ordinance. That is a meaningful public

[5:02] investment. With that investment comes

[5:04] an expectation of accountability, prep

[5:06] um preparation, professionalism, and an

[5:09] understanding of the responsibilities

[5:11] associated with the role. Our community

[5:13] deserves representatives who are

[5:15] qualified, emotionally intelligent,

[5:18] capable of navigating conflict, willing

[5:21] to listen, and able to distinguish

[5:23] personal feelings from professional

[5:25] obligations. We need people who

[5:27] understand governance. People who can

[5:30] disagree without resorting to

[5:31] intimidation. People who can receive

[5:33] criticism without making it personal.

[5:35] People who understand that leadership

[5:37] requires self-awareness, emotional

[5:40] regulation, humility, and the ability to

[5:42] put the mission above the individual.

[5:45] Quite frankly, I believe it is time for

[5:47] a significant change in the composition

[5:49] and culture of this school committee. I

[5:51] want to see a table where students and

[5:53] families are the priority. A table where

[5:55] difficult conversations are welcomed

[5:57] rather than suppressed. A table where

[5:59] elected officials understand their

[6:00] authority, but more importantly,

[6:03] understand the limitations and

[6:04] responsibilities that come with that

[6:06] authority. And I want to see a table

[6:07] where the community's trust is earned

[6:09] through actions, not public appearances

[6:11] or carefully managed optics. To the

[6:13] members sitting before me tonight, I

[6:16] want you to leave with a few questions.

[6:18] Are you governing in the best interest

[6:20] of our students and families? Are you

[6:23] holding yourselves to the same standards

[6:25] of accountability that you expect from

[6:27] our educators, our administrators, and

[6:29] our district employees? Are you

[6:31] accessible to the constituents who

[6:33] elected you? And when you leave this

[6:35] room, can you honestly say that your

[6:37] decisions, your conduct, and your

[6:39] leadership have advanced the interests

[6:40] of the children and families of this

[6:42] community? Because that is the

[6:45] expectation. I did not enter public

[6:47] service to protect titles, egos, or

[6:49] political relationships. And I certainly

[6:51] do not believe that anyone should enter

[6:53] public service for those reasons. Public

[6:55] office is a public trust, is not a

[6:57] personal platform, a popularity contest,

[7:00] or an entitlement. You have been

[7:01] entrusted with the voices, resources,

[7:04] and educational futures of an entire

[7:06] community. Please start governing like

[7:08] it. Our children deserve that. Our

[7:11] families deserve that. Our educators

[7:13] deserve that. And our taxpayers deserve

[7:15] that. Thank you for your time. Uh that

[7:18] concludes the hearing of visitors agenda

[7:20] item number three, the report of sup

[7:22] superintendent of schools. Welcome.

[7:24] >> Hi, my name is Raina Cannon. I'm the

[7:26] executive director of Discovering

[7:28] Justice. Um and uh I just wanted to say

[7:31] thank you for having me tonight here. Uh

[7:33] so Discovering Justice has been

[7:35] partnering with the Brockton public

[7:37] schools uh for 5 years and we launched

[7:40] in 2021 with just one school. Um, our

[7:44] program, Mock Trial in the fall and mock

[7:46] appeal in the spring, pairs students

[7:49] weekly with legal professionals to

[7:51] analyze real cases. Um, and then they

[7:53] culminate in a final event at the

[7:55] courthouse where students argue a case

[7:58] before a real judge and a jury or a

[8:00] panel of judges in the spring. Uh for

[8:02] five years um the Massachusetts Civics

[8:05] Fund covered uh nearly 100% of the

[8:07] program costs and for the first time in

[8:10] five years uh Brockton School District

[8:12] did not receive that funding for FY27.

[8:15] Obviously, we all value the partnership

[8:18] and um determined that we would keep the

[8:21] program going this year um and that we

[8:24] would uh make sure that the students

[8:26] continue to have access in the program

[8:28] which is in all seven middle schools in

[8:30] Brockton. Um you know, the school

[8:32] district really stepped up and found uh

[8:35] money for teacher spins and buses to the

[8:38] courthouse. They were covered with

[8:39] district funds. So, we really thank uh

[8:42] the district for going through that

[8:44] process. um and really working hard to

[8:46] make that happen for the students. Um

[8:48] and then Discovering Justice committed

[8:50] to continuing to fund raise for the

[8:53] program and making it sustainable over

[8:56] time. Um and so that we can rely less on

[8:59] the programming. And so in order to keep

[9:02] this program going um we are you know

[9:05] really uh tapping into the Brockton

[9:07] community for support and asking for

[9:09] their help in ensuring that this uh

[9:12] program continues for the long haul for

[9:14] students in Brockton. Uh and so you know

[9:16] what we're doing at Discovering Justice

[9:18] is that we're continuing to commit to

[9:21] Brockton public schools and um we have a

[9:23] shared commitment and a partnership. Um

[9:26] and then we are also fundraising in the

[9:29] community and writing to grants um to

[9:32] foundations and other grant sources to

[9:34] replace the lost state funding. Uh many

[9:36] of you have been to this final event.

[9:39] Many of you have seen the program with

[9:41] your own eyes. Um, I do have to say that

[9:43] I think it's an amazing uh thing to

[9:45] watch a student uh over the course of 10

[9:48] to 11 weeks really uh gain the

[9:51] confidence and the public speaking

[9:52] skills and the understanding of

[9:54] constitutional law to stand up before a

[9:57] actual judge um and a jury of volunteers

[10:01] where they will deliver a verdict um and

[10:04] they argue their case and they do a

[10:07] phenomenal job. Brockton is one of our

[10:09] best partnerships. It's one of the

[10:10] partnerships that we point to whenever

[10:12] we start in a new district. We say we

[10:14] would like this partnership to become

[10:15] like Brockton. Um and so it's a really

[10:18] important program to many people in the

[10:20] community and it's a really important

[10:22] program to discovering justice. Um and

[10:24] my ask is just that you know please uh

[10:27] keep us in mind as you think about uh

[10:30] connecting connecting with funders who

[10:31] care about Brockton students. Um we're

[10:34] really looking to connect with local

[10:35] businesses, employers, community

[10:37] foundations, civics groups, um law

[10:39] firms, bar associations, legal partners,

[10:42] um and families and alumni of the

[10:44] program. Um we have our contact

[10:46] information here. My uh co my colleague

[10:49] Sarah Gil who is our director of

[10:50] development and people are always

[10:52] welcome to uh reach out to myself as

[10:54] well. Um but we are really committed to

[10:57] continuing this work. Um and we're

[10:59] thrilled to be here this evening um

[11:01] presenting to you. So, I'm happy to take

[11:03] any questions as well.

[11:04] >> Before I open it up to the floor, I'd

[11:07] just like to say um I believe we learned

[11:10] about this program, myself and Miss

[11:11] Oliver during our second year um of our

[11:16] first term and it's one of the many

[11:18] programs that our students here in

[11:20] Brockton are participate in and it does

[11:24] uh give them the opportunity for

[11:26] exposure and networking with real

[11:28] professionals in the field. um they have

[11:30] access to, you know, courtrooms, doing

[11:32] mock trials and really working um in the

[11:36] area that they're uh interested in. Um

[11:39] recently we learned that they have been

[11:42] defunded and they're trying to work to

[11:44] maintain and keep the pro the program

[11:46] going for as long as they can and they

[11:49] also entails, you know, fundraising

[11:50] support and whatnot. Uh I'll now open it

[11:54] up to the floor if anybody has anything

[11:56] to say. It's all over there. Mr. Ina,

[11:58] >> thank you um vice chair and I do

[12:01] appreciate it um getting this on the

[12:03] agenda um so quick as soon as uh Rhonda

[12:08] let us know via email the status of

[12:10] being unfunded. I was extremely

[12:12] disappointed because this is extremely

[12:14] important for our students. Um it's a

[12:16] great program. I've been um one of the

[12:19] juries on the mock trial and just to see

[12:23] how incredible our students can put a

[12:26] legal case um in front of a judge, it

[12:31] has left me like breathtaking every

[12:33] single time because they do incredible

[12:36] job. And the fact that we are finally

[12:38] able to do every middle school to find

[12:40] out that we are not funded is kind of

[12:43] heartbreaking. So, I definitely wanted

[12:45] to bring you on today to see how we can

[12:47] support you to make sure we do not lose

[12:49] this great program. Our students deserve

[12:51] it. I think it's a great um addition to

[12:54] the after school program. I truly

[12:56] appreciate all the mentors, the um

[12:59] attorneys that basically um you know

[13:02] participate and volunteer with our

[13:04] students and really give them the

[13:05] knowledge of how to you know do a court

[13:07] system works, how the judge works, how

[13:09] to fight a legal system, not and also

[13:12] making sure our kids are not so afraid

[13:13] of the legal system to see how other

[13:15] ways they work for the people. They

[13:18] protect the people too against criminals

[13:20] and how we can better serve the

[13:22] community, not always be afraid of the

[13:24] police, the judge, and the attorney. But

[13:27] I was trying to figure out how were we

[13:30] originally funding it? Is it to like a

[13:32] grant, a federal grant, a state grant?

[13:34] How do we how do we lose it? Like how

[13:37] can we basically reapply for the grants?

[13:40] >> Yeah. So, um the Massachusetts Civics

[13:43] Fund, that's a great question. Um, and

[13:45] I'm I I am thrilled that so many folks

[13:47] in this room have um been part of this

[13:49] program as jurors and just uh shown up

[13:52] for it. So, thank you for that. Um, the program was funded through um

[13:58] something called the Massachusetts

[14:00] Civics Grant, which is about a million

[14:02] dollars that's that is distributed from

[14:04] the Department of Elementary and

[14:06] Secondary Education each year. Sometimes

[14:09] it's a little more than that. Um, but

[14:11] it's right around 1 million $1.1

[14:13] million. Um, the civics fund uh comes

[14:18] out the our the grant application comes

[14:21] out every spring. Um, and then uh

[14:24] districts find out in the summertime

[14:26] whether or not they received it. In the

[14:29] last five years, Brockton has applied

[14:31] for that grant and received the grant.

[14:33] Um, last year, last spring, we applied

[14:36] again. Everything went fine. Uh

[14:39] everything went perfectly. Um you know,

[14:41] we wrote the grant, we submitted it. Um

[14:44] and you know, I think that really what

[14:47] happened is that the priorities shifted,

[14:50] right? And so it wasn't just Brockton

[14:53] that we saw who did not receive funding

[14:55] from this. We saw actually several of

[14:56] our partner districts um uh did not

[15:00] receive funding for this program. Um and

[15:03] they prioritize different things. Now I

[15:06] have spoken uh with representatives at

[15:09] DESIE and they have told us that you

[15:11] know Brockton can apply again. Any

[15:14] school district that was turned down

[15:16] this cycle can apply again. And it is um

[15:20] and it is my uh we intend to support

[15:23] that application and you know uh partner

[15:26] and you know apply again in all of the

[15:28] districts where uh we were denied

[15:30] funding. um but I don't think it's

[15:33] something that we can rely on moving

[15:35] forward. And so I do think that shifting

[15:38] um the funding of this program um to uh

[15:43] other places and to find those funding

[15:46] streams um and the more people that we

[15:49] can you know we I think a large job we

[15:52] are a 501c3. We're a nonprofit

[15:54] organization and so we are allowed to

[15:56] fund raise and we always have and so I

[15:58] think the best thing um that you know

[16:01] can be done is really if you have ideas,

[16:04] if you have thoughts on people we should

[16:06] connect with foundations

[16:08] um or other funders in who you know are

[16:13] um you know are passionate about this

[16:15] type of work, civics education for

[16:17] students um and empowering students to

[16:21] understand and learn about the law and

[16:24] the legal system and the judiciary. Um,

[16:26] I think we would love to speak with them

[16:28] and a warm intro goes a really long way.

[16:31] I think once people see the program and

[16:33] once people understand what's happening,

[16:35] um, they really are thrilled by the idea

[16:38] of it. Um, but I think that, you know,

[16:41] people are inundated with information

[16:43] every day. And so if there's somebody or

[16:46] something that can happen that can cut

[16:47] through the noise a little bit um and

[16:49] give us a warm introduction, I think

[16:51] that is one of the best things that can

[16:53] uh that can come of this this uh this uh

[16:57] situation.

[16:58] >> Thank you, Ron. And I appreciate um

[17:01] giving us all the information and what

[17:02] we need to work u with. And I do think

[17:05] that this committee definitely needs to

[17:06] get together and have a conversation how

[17:08] we can support the program more and how

[17:10] we can basically get other, you know,

[17:12] lawyers or judges from Brockton that can

[17:14] support this program and also see if

[17:16] they can donate. But I think this is

[17:18] something that we do not want to lose at

[17:20] all. I definitely don't want to lose

[17:21] this program in the city of Brockton and

[17:23] I'm fortunate that other cities are

[17:24] going through the same thing. But

[17:26] hopefully we can work together and find

[17:28] a solution to it. I appreciate um all

[17:30] the work that everybody's been doing in

[17:31] the in the background and especially the

[17:33] judges at the courthouse. They do

[17:35] incredible job. They have gone and speak

[17:37] to our students at the school. I think

[17:39] definitely we need to work together and

[17:41] get this done. I appreciate it. Thank

[17:42] you.

[17:44] >> Thank you so much.

[17:45] >> Thank you, Miss Oliver. Let the record

[17:47] reflect uh Mr. Rodriguez is here. Uh Mr.

[17:50] Pina,

[17:52] >> good evening. Um I've also uh from the

[17:56] um invitation of member Rodriguez had

[18:00] gone to uh the event both the um the

[18:03] appeal and the trial and and was u

[18:07] really surprised how well some of these

[18:09] students were able to communicate and um

[18:13] and and get their points across and the

[18:15] feedback they got from the judges and

[18:17] the lawyers was great as well. I just

[18:19] had a a few questions. Um I I see some

[18:22] great value in this program. What is the

[18:26] cost uh for the program on a So it looks

[18:30] like it's broken up into two sections.

[18:32] So each section

[18:38] » Sorry, can you repeat that? What is the

[18:40] cost of each program?

[18:42] >> Yeah, the cost of the program and I it

[18:44] seems as though it's broken into the

[18:46] trial section and then the appeal

[18:48] section.

[18:49] Yeah, absolutely. So, um, and it's a

[18:53] little bit dependent on the size of the

[18:54] team and the size of the district

[18:56] because there is a little bit of scale,

[18:58] but generally it costs us about $5,000 a

[19:01] semester per team to deliver the

[19:03] program. And so about $10,000 covers a

[19:06] full program year for a group of

[19:08] students. Um, and our average team size

[19:11] is usually about 12 to 15 students. Now,

[19:13] Brockton usually blows that out of the

[19:15] water. We have teams of 20 to 25

[19:17] students. um coming into the Brockton

[19:20] schools and it's incredibly uh it's an

[19:22] incredibly robust number of students. Um

[19:25] but it's about $5,000 a semester in

[19:27] terms of real costs. Um and that

[19:30] includes all of the you know uh

[19:32] curriculum and the materials and um you

[19:36] know the final event um and just making

[19:39] sure that all the logistics are taken

[19:41] care of. Um, and you know, our

[19:43] curriculum is vetted by teachers. It's

[19:46] vetted by attorneys. It's vetted by

[19:48] judges and volunteers who really look at

[19:51] it and say, "This is appropriate for

[19:53] middle schoolers. It's high quality."

[19:55] Um, and so we work really hard to make

[19:58] sure that students are getting not just

[19:59] like any experience, but a really high

[20:01] quality experience um where they can

[20:04] really thrive.

[20:05] >> And what was the number of teams?

[20:08] >> Uh, the number of teams in Brockton.

[20:10] Yeah, cuz you said it was 5,000 per team

[20:12] per semester. Semester. So, what is the

[20:15] >> It's all all seven middle schools have a

[20:17] team this year.

[20:19] >> So, each middle school had eight.

[20:24] » Is that what is that what you said? So,

[20:25] 48 teams.

[20:27] >> So, one one team per middle school.

[20:29] Seven teams in all.

[20:30] >> Oh, seven teams in all. Okay. Okay.

[20:33] >> And so, it's about 10,000 per um team

[20:36] with everything in. So, about $70,000.

[20:38] >> I went to Brockton. I got the math.

[20:41] [laughter]

[20:42] >> Um what are the what are the measurable

[20:44] outcomes that you get from this program?

[20:48] >> Yeah, so um the outcomes that we are

[20:52] really tracking towards are um we want

[20:55] to make sure that students are gaining

[20:58] um skills and dispositions. And so the

[21:02] skills that we're really targeting is

[21:03] that students are improving at things

[21:06] like public speaking, writing,

[21:08] listening, sharing their ideas. Um, and

[21:12] so those are all measured by surveys

[21:14] that we deliver over the course of a

[21:18] semester. Um, you know, and

[21:20] observational data that we also collect

[21:22] from teachers and legal mentors. Um and

[21:25] then we also want to make sure that

[21:28] students uh we also really focus on what

[21:30] we call dispositions, civic skills and

[21:32] civic dispositions. And so we want to

[21:35] make sure that students are feeling um

[21:37] like they are part of a community, that

[21:39] they can be proud of something that

[21:41] they've worked on, that they are maybe

[21:43] thinking about how they can continue to

[21:46] stay involved in civic life um and you

[21:49] know have options for that and

[21:50] understand that as um you know something

[21:53] that's available to them and also a

[21:55] responsibility of being a citizen.

[21:58] >> And this is a afterchool program.

[22:01] >> It is correct. It meets once a week

[22:03] after school for about 90 minutes.

[22:06] >> And then lastly, um when they graduate

[22:10] or rise or whatever we call it from

[22:13] middle school and go to the high school,

[22:15] um is there's no CRT program, I'm sorry,

[22:19] Cte program that um they go into. It's

[22:23] it just ends.

[22:25] >> We do not have a high school program

[22:27] with Discovering Justice. There are

[22:30] there is a statewide program that's run

[22:32] by the bar association that many high

[22:34] schools do participate in and I do

[22:36] believe Brockton students actually do

[22:38] participate in that. We also find that

[22:40] some of our students go into other

[22:42] similar type of programs debate model UN

[22:47] um things like that uh that but we don't

[22:50] continue into high school. We believe

[22:52] that, you know, when we started this

[22:53] program, we we chose middle school

[22:55] because we believe that, you know, there

[22:57] was a lot on for the older students and

[23:00] a lot for like really young students,

[23:02] but not a lot for those middle school

[23:03] students. And we thought it was um

[23:05] really important to focus in on those

[23:07] years.

[23:09] So, I guess the next question is to the

[23:11] uh superintendent as to uh why not just

[23:15] bring this inhouse and have this

[23:16] internally and then have a CTE program

[23:19] that goes up to the high school.

[23:21] >> So, that's certainly something that we

[23:23] could consider. We do have a mock trial

[23:25] program at the high school. It's just um

[23:28] run through I believe it's the Mass Bar.

[23:30] Um so, we we there is a program that is

[23:34] run. Um, as far as making it a CTE

[23:36] pathway, that's certainly something we

[23:38] could consider. And

[23:39] >> as we're as we're building a new high

[23:41] school, I believe that one of the things

[23:43] that we want to do is maybe put a a mock

[23:46] courtroom or something in there that

[23:50] I I guess I'll I'll look to you up

[23:52] there, Mr. Principal, as to some of the

[23:55] plans for the future of uh adding to the

[23:56] CTE program. But I think I think it's a great program. I think it's I I

[24:02] understand that it's a it's a

[24:05] extracurricular activity. I don't know

[24:07] if that makes some of the kids that play

[24:09] sports um lose the ability to

[24:12] participate.

[24:14] Um so I I think I would like to see it

[24:16] brought in house and um and can and put

[24:21] into the curriculum inside.

[24:24] >> Good.

[24:26] >> Miss Azac,

[24:27] >> thank you so much. Uh, Miss Kanan. So,

[24:30] I'm actually I've had the pleasure of

[24:32] sitting um as a juror on some of these

[24:35] trials over the years, and it's always

[24:37] impressive to see our students and the

[24:41] amount of work that goes into this. So,

[24:44] you know, 5 years we've been partnering

[24:46] with Discovering Justice. Um,

[24:50] what's really impressive is 75 volunteer

[24:53] judges. Can you just let those that are

[24:55] listening,

[24:57] we have 75 volunteer judges and I

[24:59] remember um I spoke with someone a few

[25:01] years back and the amount of time that

[25:04] goes into this, isn't it like 90 minutes

[25:06] a week or something or 90 minutes

[25:08] bi-weekly? It's it's a lot of time that

[25:11] these volunteer judges are putting into

[25:13] this into our students and um that says

[25:17] a lot. you know, that's an hour and a

[25:20] half that someone is taking out of their

[25:21] workday to sit and mentor our students

[25:24] and and to give back to BPS. So, um,

[25:28] same with, you know, when we look at

[25:30] this and you break down the number and

[25:32] you have 350 plus students. When you

[25:35] break this down, that's 350 plus

[25:37] students. I mean, anywhere from 200 or

[25:40] under $200 a student that this is

[25:42] costing for an 11 10 to an 11week

[25:44] program. Um, but if you can can you just

[25:48] talk a little more about the volunteers,

[25:50] our judges, our attorneys. Um, I know

[25:53] that there's a cost to this, but 70K

[25:55] sounds like a lot of money, but when you

[25:57] break it down over 350 plus, and to know

[26:00] that a lot of our middle school, all our

[26:01] middle schools are participating.

[26:06] Um, so a lot of the um, middle schools

[26:09] are part of this and thank you. And um

[26:14] which is for those that have sat as a

[26:17] juror, you can see it builds confidence

[26:20] and it teaches our students um to get

[26:23] them comfortable and to get comfortable

[26:25] with our attorneys and the process as

[26:28] far as like public speaking, things like

[26:30] that. Um but can you just maybe um just

[26:33] speak a little bit about those that are

[26:35] volunteering that are actually take

[26:36] these are attorneys, judges, and others

[26:39] in our community that are taking their

[26:41] personal time to invest in our students.

[26:44] Um I just don't know the amount. Yeah, I

[26:45] don't know the exact time, but I do know

[26:47] I know it was a few years ago, a couple

[26:49] years ago, someone had mentioned I think

[26:50] it was like 90 hours um each session

[26:53] that they were they were putting in out

[26:55] of their time.

[26:56] >> Yep. Absolutely. Um so our volunteers

[27:00] are really amazing and the teacher

[27:03] coordinators who are school-based who

[27:05] also give their time are also phenomenal

[27:08] people. Um so each session lasts about

[27:12] 90 minutes after school once a week.

[27:15] Each semester runs about 10 to 11 weeks.

[27:18] Um the legal mentors and the teachers

[27:22] are there for every single session. So,

[27:24] for every single 90minute session, they

[27:27] are there um and they're coaching

[27:29] students, they're working with them,

[27:32] they're teaching them, they're listening

[27:34] to them, they're helping them practice

[27:37] um and doing all of that work. Um our

[27:39] judges are uh and the judges in Brockton

[27:43] are phenomenal and every single person

[27:45] at the Brockton courthouse um they give

[27:47] their time and energy to run that final

[27:50] event. Um but also during the semester,

[27:53] judges go and they visit the students

[27:55] and the attorneys um a few weeks before

[27:58] the final event. They watch them

[28:00] practice. They talk to them about you

[28:03] know how their journey um and uh it's a

[28:07] really incredible thing to I think watch

[28:10] the students be mentored with the time

[28:12] but also build these relationships. We

[28:14] also find that many of our students

[28:16] actually come back year after year. So,

[28:18] they're in the program for two, three

[28:21] years and they develop these incredible

[28:24] relationships with the attorneys. Um,

[28:26] and look forward to the judges coming

[28:29] back every single year. Um, and

[28:31] Brockton's a really amazing community.

[28:33] Um, I think that, uh, we have seen these

[28:37] students like build these relationships

[28:39] and, you know, I think that it's

[28:41] something that is really special to

[28:43] watch. Um and it's really amazing that

[28:46] when you know last year I remember I was

[28:48] at the final event at the appeal and uh

[28:51] one of the students um you know got up

[28:54] and gave her oral argument and the judge

[28:57] who had visited her classroom a few

[28:59] weeks ago had a very pointed question

[29:01] and the student listened. She took you

[29:04] know she took in what the judge said and

[29:06] then she said her piece. She said it,

[29:08] the judge pushed and she pushed right

[29:10] back and it was an amazing exchange and

[29:13] I thought it was so impressive. Um, it

[29:15] was done in an incredibly like

[29:17] respectful, professional way. Um, and I

[29:20] had seen this student a few weeks before

[29:22] and I would not have told you that she

[29:24] could have done that and she did. And

[29:26] so, um, the volunteers, the teacher

[29:28] volunteers, the attorneys who volunteer

[29:31] their time, um, and the judges who come,

[29:34] um, and volunteer their time as well

[29:36] really make the program, um, an

[29:39] incredible experience for every student.

[29:42] >> Thank you. Um, so the 70k, um, can you

[29:48] break that down for us to see where the cost is? Um because I mean

[29:53] maybe we can try I know you mentioned

[29:54] you can do fundraising. I'm sure um if

[29:58] there's ways to reach out to the

[30:00] different you know the Plymouth County

[30:02] Bar Association, the Bris like the the

[30:04] surrounding bars with with we're ask our

[30:07] attorneys um that are probably members

[30:10] to try to sponsor a student or at least

[30:13] sponsor a school um see how we can help

[30:16] you because this is a very important

[30:18] program for our kids. I mean, we have

[30:19] many important programs, but this one

[30:21] where it affects so many of them. Um,

[30:24] whatever we can try to do to help you, know, I I wasn't sure is it is this

[30:28] something we can go under community

[30:30] schools, a portion of it. Um,

[30:33] again, it just if if if there's ways

[30:35] that we can try to help you. Um, we

[30:37] can't you've worked so hard to get to

[30:40] where we are. you have the judges

[30:41] because I know there was a time they

[30:43] were having a hard time getting judges

[30:44] and attorneys um given the uh commitment

[30:47] of time but now that you have that we

[30:50] need to help as far as the funding

[30:52] figure out how we're going to find the

[30:53] funding. So um

[30:55] >> yes thank you.

[30:56] >> So what is if if you can can you break

[30:58] down the 70k is um is it you know

[31:02] resources that they're using? I mean

[31:04] what is it that maybe there's something

[31:06] we can do to offset that a little bit?

[31:09] Yeah, absolutely. And I think that um we

[31:12] did have a we did recently receive a

[31:14] very generous grant from an anonymous

[31:17] donor in Brockton. We received $10,000

[31:20] uh towards the Brockton program. Um and

[31:23] we've had a few other funders step up

[31:25] and make smaller gifts, but we are

[31:27] making headway. Um, and we are applying

[31:30] to a state grant um that includes

[31:34] Brockton and we're hoping to uh you know

[31:38] um we're hoping that that will come

[31:39] through which would be a really large

[31:41] chunk um of the 70k. And so I think like

[31:45] we're making really good progress and

[31:47] we're making really good headway. you

[31:49] know, the thing that um the things that

[31:51] the the dollars pay for are really

[31:54] around um the curriculum materials, the

[31:57] curriculum development. Um you know, we

[32:00] develop the case, we develop every

[32:02] single lesson plan, we develop all of

[32:04] the materials so that the legal mentors

[32:07] and the judges can bring the legal

[32:09] expertise and they don't have to also be

[32:11] education experts. Um, we also make we

[32:14] have a staff member um who is really

[32:18] responsible for the coordination of the

[32:21] final events and all of the logistics

[32:23] and the training um of our volunteers

[32:26] because we want to make sure that it's a

[32:28] really high quality experience for

[32:30] students. Um, and so those are the types

[32:33] of things that the $70,000 the $10,000

[32:36] per team um is going towards. It's

[32:39] really around things like curriculum and

[32:42] um uh curriculum and materials,

[32:45] volunteer engagement, the f the

[32:47] training, the final events, things like

[32:50] that. Um and I'm happy to send like a

[32:53] more uh detailed budget if that's

[32:55] helpful. Um, and uh, you know, I think

[32:58] the community that we've reached out to

[33:00] so far, including tonight, has uh, done

[33:03] an amazing job of just saying like, yes,

[33:06] like let's, you know, make this make

[33:08] sure that students still have access to

[33:10] it and it's already showing gains.

[33:12] >> Thank you. I think those that have

[33:14] actually attended um, these mock trials

[33:18] see how how amazing they are. Um, you

[33:22] know, usually they're around this time

[33:23] that you have you have them. usually

[33:25] October, November. Um they usually have

[33:28] them. So again, um thank you so much for

[33:31] the presentation and uh we will do our

[33:34] best to try to keep this program going.

[33:38] Thank you.

[33:39] >> Thank you. Thank you for having me. I

[33:41] appreciate it.

[33:42] >> Um any other question, Mr. Sullivan?

[33:47] » No questions.

[33:49] >> Mr. Rodri, uh Misso,

[33:53] >> um hello. Um so when I was doing my

[33:56] internship I at west I I actually was

[33:59] part of supporting students to practice

[34:02] for this debate. So this is definitely a

[34:05] program that do not want our students to

[34:07] lose. So and I am with Mr. Pina to

[34:10] figure out how we can keep this in

[34:12] house. um because grants is not

[34:15] guaranteed and we should not be

[34:17] dependent on people to donate money

[34:19] which we will always welcome that but I

[34:23] would like to figure it out um ways that

[34:27] we can at least fund a portion of it um

[34:30] because this is a program that I do not

[34:32] want us to lose. Thank you.

[34:35] >> Thank you. Uh Mr. Rodriguez.

[34:37] >> Thank you. [clears throat] This kind of

[34:39] feels like deja vu. Um when I first got

[34:43] on the committee I was I believe it was

[34:44] Lara at the time from Discovering

[34:46] Justice that reached out to me um in

[34:49] 2020 2021. Um and at the time we only

[34:52] had uh one school participating and

[34:55] there was a deadline of like two days

[34:57] and I'm calling Melinda to schedule a

[34:59] meeting u to make sure that this uh

[35:01] grant was applied so we can grow it. Now

[35:03] we have seven but now um we need some

[35:06] funding. Um, I don't want to be

[35:08] sarcastic to say, um, take it jokingly,

[35:11] but I I do believe I could identify just

[35:13] off the top of my head with the

[35:14] overpayment by the school school

[35:16] committee members, we can allocate those

[35:18] funds to this program, seeing fit if,

[35:20] uh, the superintendent can look into

[35:22] that so we can give a portion of that.

[35:24] Um and also uh you know with this

[35:27] program um when members uh Gomes and

[35:31] Oliver got on the committee um and you

[35:34] know informing them of how great this

[35:36] program is is to make sure that this

[35:39] program uh lives uh for quite some time

[35:42] in the district and we can just see how

[35:44] uh it's grown. Um it was eyeopening when

[35:48] I attended one of the events at the

[35:50] Mowley uh center. Um and at the time

[35:54] Mrs. Rivas who was actually in the

[35:56] audience uh accompany me and the former

[35:59] superintendent um and we actually kind

[36:01] of had to drag him along but the

[36:03] showcase was all about Brockton at that

[36:06] event and you had over 800 people in

[36:08] attendance um including uh you know

[36:11] channel 10 and all his news media that's

[36:13] been covering uh discovering justice

[36:15] program. So, thank you for all the work

[36:17] uh and everybody that's been involved in

[36:19] this uh endeavor with the school

[36:20] district. And I'm confident that this

[36:23] body will work together to make sure

[36:24] that we can identify some funds uh

[36:27] through the superintendent to make sure

[36:28] that you know we can play a small part

[36:30] uh in making sure that we maintain it.

[36:32] Thank you.

[36:35] >> Any other members?

[36:37] >> Okay, Mr. Gomes just stepped away for a

[36:39] couple of minutes. Um, thank you so much

[36:42] for the presentation. Uh, and I

[36:47] is when is your deadline? Do you have a

[36:49] deadline that you need this by

[36:52] the funding?

[36:54] >> I think the sooner that we know, the

[36:55] better off we'll be. I think we are

[36:57] going to continue to raise funds for

[37:00] this program. And so, I think that, you

[37:02] know, we're committed to having it this

[37:04] year. We're not we're not talking about

[37:06] making any changes to the program this

[37:08] year. um this school year. And so, but I

[37:11] think that, you know, the sooner that we

[37:13] know that we uh you know, what we can

[37:16] sort of rely on um the better the you

[37:19] know, more we can turn to um continue

[37:23] continuing to just run the program in

[37:25] the way that um you know, in a way that

[37:27] it benefits students.

[37:29] >> Uh not to put you on the spot, um so you

[37:31] mentioned you identified some funds. Um

[37:34] do you have a ballpark idea of what you

[37:36] what the remaining funds are needed? um

[37:41] >> if we got this if we we are applying

[37:44] right now for a major grant through the

[37:46] state. Um and I think that if we receive

[37:49] that we would be more than halfway

[37:51] there. So I think we'd have you know 30

[37:54] 20 to 30 more to raise um if this grant

[37:59] comes through.

[38:00] >> Okay. Thank you so much. Um Vice Chair

[38:03] Commes is back. Thank you.

[38:05] >> Absolutely. And I'm happy to talk and

[38:07] follow up at any point. I'm happy to

[38:09] provide more data if it's helpful. Um,

[38:11] we have a lot of it. I just didn't know

[38:13] exactly how much time I had. And so, um,

[38:16] I'm happy to talk at any point, um,

[38:18] about further, you know, potential, um,

[38:21] ideas and, uh, really want to, you know,

[38:23] continue working with this community to

[38:25] ensure that the students continue to get

[38:28] the, um, program because, uh, you all

[38:31] have built it and, um, they deserve to

[38:33] keep it. And so I think um really uh

[38:37] excited about the momentum.

[38:39] >> So one last question. So Discovering

[38:41] Justice is applying for this grant. Is

[38:44] it something that Brockton public

[38:46] schools can also apply? one of us is

[38:48] bound to get the grant if if

[38:50] >> we are actually partnering with Brockton

[38:52] already and I spoke to um two folks at

[38:56] the district who they are uh we're

[38:58] talking about like a it requires like a

[39:01] fiscal sponsor and so Brockton is

[39:03] actually already involved.

[39:05] >> Okay. I just wanted to make sure if you

[39:07] needed our help as far as the grant um

[39:09] grant writing that we'd also step up and

[39:11] see what we can do on our end. But thank

[39:13] you so much.

[39:14] >> Thank you.

[39:15] Any final questions,

[39:17] comments, concerns? No. Thank you, Miss

[39:19] Kennet. Appreciate you being here

[39:20] tonight. Uh feel free to reach out and

[39:24] uh if there's additional information

[39:25] you'd like to provide, um you can send

[39:27] that to us as well.

[39:29] >> Thank you for having me.

[39:31] >> Of course. Um we will now move on to the

[39:35] superintendent's report.

[39:38] >> Right. Thank you. Um so yes we have been

[39:41] working with discovering justice in or

[39:43] and so we did uh find some funds in one

[39:46] of our entitlement grants to support as

[39:49] uh Raina mentioned the the stipens and

[39:52] the transportation and we are continuing

[39:54] to advocate with DESIE um to secure

[39:57] those funds because um as Raina

[39:59] mentioned this is a grant that we can

[40:01] apply for every year but I do appreciate

[40:03] the fact that they are being forward

[40:05] thinking about the fact that we may not

[40:07] get the grant in the future and so we

[40:08] want to make sure that this is a

[40:10] sustainable um that we have a

[40:13] sustainable funding source moving

[40:15] forward. But I do appreciate that they

[40:17] have committed to continuing Discovering

[40:19] Justice and that we are in partnership

[40:21] with them and making sure that we're

[40:23] doing our part in both providing funds

[40:26] and advocating um for additional funds

[40:29] from the state.

[40:32] All right. So um oh so uh we'll move on

[40:35] to my report. And in my report, I'm

[40:38] actually including um my presentation

[40:41] regarding my upcoming evaluation since

[40:44] we are completing my current evaluation

[40:46] this evening um as long along with the

[40:49] superintendent update.

[40:53] So I've known I know you've seen these

[40:55] slides before. So just a reminder of the

[40:57] five-step cycle um for the

[40:59] superintendent evaluation process. So

[41:02] this evening we are doing number five

[41:05] which is approving the final evaluation

[41:07] and overall rating but I'm also starting

[41:09] with a preview of number one um so that

[41:12] you can get an idea of what I'm thinking

[41:14] for my goals. You will not be approving

[41:16] them tonight but you will hear about

[41:18] them tonight um and then I will send

[41:20] them to you so that you can provide

[41:21] additional feedback.

[41:26] As a reminder, there need to be three

[41:28] goals. a district improvement goal, a

[41:29] professional practice goal and a student

[41:31] learning goal and also uh there are

[41:34] several focus indicators and generally

[41:37] we choose uh six focus indicators to

[41:39] focus on. I'm evaluated on all of them

[41:42] um all 21 but there are six in

[41:44] particular that I focus on every year

[41:46] and those are the artifacts that you

[41:48] receive um in the book.

[41:52] So we'll be speaking about uh the

[41:55] evaluation later on but um as a preview

[41:58] for what I was thinking for my

[42:00] improvement goals for this upcoming year

[42:02] uh based largely on the um DESIE review

[42:06] that we received um and the uh and the

[42:10] evaluation the initial evaluation

[42:12] results that I've read. So the district

[42:14] improvement goal um and these will be

[42:16] words smmith and you will be able to

[42:17] provide feedback um is to implement an

[42:20] attendance improvement strategy that

[42:22] leverages family engagement and

[42:23] coordinated student interventions. The

[42:26] professional practice goal um that I am

[42:28] thinking of is providing access to

[42:30] consistent opportunities for families

[42:32] within the community to participate in

[42:34] school advisory and engagement

[42:36] structures. So that was an item that was

[42:37] mentioned in the Desi review as some as

[42:40] an area that requires greater

[42:42] consistency. And then the student

[42:44] learning goal is to cultivate

[42:45] opportunities for deeper deeper

[42:47] learning, higher order thinking and

[42:49] student driven dialogue.

[42:53] Uh for the focus indicators, again

[42:55] there's 21 indicators and so the six

[42:57] that I chose again were specific to the

[43:00] recent DESI review. So standard 1B on

[43:03] instruction, standard 2C scheduling and

[43:05] management information systems, standard

[43:07] 2e fiscal systems because I think that

[43:10] one has been in my evaluation one of my

[43:12] um focus indicators for the last two

[43:14] years and I think it should continue to

[43:16] be standard 3A family engagement

[43:19] standard 4A shared vision and commitment

[43:21] to high standards and standard 4D

[43:23] continuous learning.

[43:27] And so just as a reminder of where we

[43:29] have been this past year and where we'll

[43:31] be going this upcoming year, um last

[43:34] year the review of my goals and focus

[43:38] indicators, so this preview that I'm

[43:40] providing tonight was provided on

[43:42] October 22nd and then sent out to the

[43:44] school committee. Um they were then

[43:46] actually approved on December 2nd. Um,

[43:50] and then August 14th of this year, I

[43:52] sent you the report that you have. By

[43:54] September 18th, the evaluation forms you

[43:57] all submitted and uh, then it was

[43:59] compiled to be approved this evening um,

[44:02] on October 6th. So, tonight I'm doing my

[44:05] initial review of the goals and focus

[44:07] indicators. [snorts] Um, uh, a tentative

[44:10] schedule for approval of goals and focus

[44:13] indicators after you provide your

[44:14] feedback would be October or November of

[44:16] this year. Um and then I figure we will

[44:20] follow the same general timeline which

[44:22] was which is that the end of year report

[44:24] would come for me in August of next

[44:26] year. Um the evaluation forms would be

[44:29] submitted by school committee in

[44:30] September with the evaluation being

[44:32] approved by the school committee in

[44:34] October of next year. So this is the

[44:36] same cycle that we've followed um the

[44:38] last two years I've been here. And so I

[44:40] um figured that we would follow

[44:42] something similar this upcoming year.

[44:46] And so I would like to jump right into

[44:48] the update of some exciting things that

[44:50] have been happening around the district

[44:52] and we you will see that we are already

[44:54] um working towards some of these goals.

[44:58] So this year Brockton Public Schools is

[45:00] placing an intentional focus on

[45:02] strengthening family collaboration as an

[45:05] important part of supporting student

[45:06] learning and success. So our goal is to

[45:09] si move beyond simply communicating

[45:11] information to families toward creating

[45:13] more meaningful opportunities to work

[45:15] with families, valuing their knowledge

[45:17] of their children, engaging them in

[45:19] dialogue about learning, and seeking

[45:21] their perspectives and feedback when

[45:23] determining how best to support their

[45:25] students. Principles across the district

[45:27] are engaging with staff to identify how

[45:30] they currently cor collaborate with

[45:32] families and identifying ways in which

[45:34] they can deepen that collaboration. So

[45:36] here you see an example of this pictured

[45:38] where Downey educators are working

[45:40] collaboratively to dig into how making

[45:42] subtle shifts in practice can translate

[45:45] to more powerful partnerships with

[45:47] families.

[45:51] Also we launched our new parent

[45:54] engagement platform um and uh parent

[45:57] square. So many of you I'm sure have

[45:59] gotten your uh parent square

[46:00] notifications. Um and here you'll see

[46:03] that Mr. Kelly and I had the distinct

[46:05] honor of making a surprise visit to Miss

[46:07] Raposa's first grade first grade

[46:09] classroom at the Angelo School to

[46:12] recognize her as BPS's inaugural Parent

[46:15] Square champion because of all the

[46:17] incredible work she's done to make the

[46:18] most of this new platform for family

[46:20] outreach. Miss Raposa has done an

[46:22] amazing job using Parent Square early

[46:24] and often to keep her students families

[46:27] up to date on all that they're learning.

[46:29] She has also been a leader among her

[46:30] peers in helping them get the most out

[46:32] of parent square as well. The Angelo was

[46:35] our leading school through the first few

[46:37] weeks of the school year in terms of

[46:39] post for families and Miss Raposa was

[46:41] the leading poster at the Angelo which

[46:43] taken together earned her the

[46:45] distinction of being our first parent

[46:46] square champion. The championship belt

[46:49] she earned will be hers to display in

[46:50] her classroom until we identify our next

[46:52] champ. and the belt will then travel

[46:54] around the district throughout the year

[46:56] as we celebrate our educators and

[46:58] administrators who are doing an amazing

[46:59] job keeping families informed and

[47:01] engaged.

[47:05] Also, uh this past weekend, BHS girls

[47:07] sports teams welcomed 45 girls from

[47:10] grades 3 through 8 to Marciano Stadium

[47:12] over the weekend for the annual girls

[47:14] sports day. Students took part in six

[47:17] different sports stations, giving them a

[47:19] firsthand preview of the opportunities

[47:20] that await them in basketball,

[47:22] volleyball, softball, field hockey,

[47:24] cheer, and soccer, while also giving

[47:26] them the chance to get a feel for the

[47:28] brand new turf field that many of those

[47:30] sports now have the privilege of calling

[47:32] home. Thank you to Katie Baloni for

[47:34] organizing this growing tradition and to

[47:36] all of the amazing athletes and coaches

[47:38] who volunteered their time and made so

[47:40] many younger students feel welcomed and

[47:42] excited about the amazing opportunities

[47:44] at VHS. Thank you also to member Pina

[47:47] for helping to organize donated lunches

[47:49] from Bracks.

[47:54] Congratulations to the 30 BPS Middle

[47:56] School student musicians who have been

[47:58] chosen to represent the city of

[47:59] champions at the annual Bridgewater

[48:01] State University Honor Band Festival.

[48:04] They will be performing in a full-day

[48:06] festival this Thursday, October 8th,

[48:08] with peers from across southeastern

[48:10] Massachusetts. The day will be full of

[48:13] rehearsals and culminates with a concert

[48:15] at 3:30 p.m. at the Rondello Student

[48:18] Center Auditorium at Bridgewwater State.

[48:23] Last week, members of our finance team

[48:25] attended the Mass Buys Conference in

[48:27] Foxboro, joining public sector

[48:29] professionals from across the

[48:31] Commonwealth for a day of learning and

[48:32] collaboration. Through hands-on

[48:34] workshops focused on finance,

[48:36] procurement, and budgeting, our team

[48:37] works sidebyside to sharpen the skills

[48:39] they use every day in service of our

[48:41] students, schools, and community.

[48:44] Opportunities like this strengthen our

[48:45] fiscal practices, keep our team current

[48:47] on resources available to the district,

[48:49] and build teamwork. The team reported

[48:52] feeling energized after this opportunity

[48:54] and is looking forward to putting what

[48:55] they learned into practice each day.

[49:00] I'm also excited to share that the NFL

[49:02] foundation and the character playbook

[49:04] team have recognized BPS as a character

[49:07] champion district. The distinction is

[49:09] awarded to districts where students are

[49:11] actively engaged in character playbook,

[49:13] demonstrating a meaningful commitment to

[49:15] helping young people develop the

[49:17] character, leadership, and life skills

[49:19] that support success both inside and

[49:22] outside the classroom. Brockton is one

[49:24] of approximately a 100 districts

[49:26] nationwide to earn this recognition,

[49:28] which represents the collective effort

[49:30] of educators, administrators,

[49:31] counselors, and staff who work to foster

[49:34] student growth and achievement every

[49:35] day. Thank you to every member of our

[49:37] team who contributed to us earning this

[49:40] incredible milestone or reaching this

[49:42] incredible milestone.

[49:45] The free books for kids mo bookmobile

[49:47] has been making stops throughout

[49:49] Brockton during the school year with

[49:50] more to come as the school year goes on.

[49:52] It made its most recent stop at the

[49:54] therapeutic day school giving students a

[49:56] chance to select books of interest to

[49:58] keep them at no cost to them or the

[50:01] district. This is part of a regular set

[50:03] of stops the bookmobile is making across

[50:05] the district. This initiative is led by

[50:08] Margaret Burgess who takes this project

[50:10] on in addition to her work as a

[50:12] librarian in needm schools. Each year

[50:15] when Margaret reaches out about this

[50:17] program, our principles rush to sign up

[50:18] and there will be dates throughout the

[50:20] remainder of the year where Margaret's

[50:22] bookmobile will be paying a visit to

[50:24] schools serving grades K to 8.

[50:28] I also want to extend a big thank you to

[50:30] our partners at the Brockton Public

[50:31] Library for their continued support of

[50:33] our youngest students. This year, BPL

[50:36] generously helped put 1,200 copies of

[50:39] The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds into the

[50:41] hands of students, allowing us to

[50:43] provide a book to every incoming

[50:45] kindergarten student across the

[50:46] district. Each book included a special

[50:49] book plate recognizing the partnership

[50:51] between Brockton Public Schools and the

[50:52] Brockton Public Library and welcoming

[50:54] our students as they begin their school

[50:56] journey. This initiative is about more

[50:59] than just distributing books and sharing

[51:00] the joy of literacy. This initiative is

[51:03] helping to build a bridge that connects

[51:04] school registration to early literacy to

[51:07] family engagement and community

[51:08] partnership.

[51:12] And finally, National Custodians Day was

[51:15] last week, and I wanted to take a moment

[51:17] to thank our amazing custodians, some of

[51:19] whom are pictured here. Our custodians

[51:21] are an essential part of the team at

[51:22] every one of our buildings. And while

[51:24] their work often happens early in the

[51:26] morning or late in the day, it's always

[51:28] seen by our students and staff in the

[51:29] form of clean and safe buildings that

[51:32] allow them to focus on teaching and

[51:33] learning. So on behalf of myself, the

[51:35] leadership team, the school committee,

[51:37] and all of our students and educa

[51:38] educators, thank you to our wonderful

[51:41] custodians.

[51:42] >> Thank you, Superintendent. Um, Mr. Pin,

[51:45] and then Miss Oliver.

[51:47] >> Um, so the district has made some

[51:52] progress with the

[51:55] overwheling.

[52:03] bit closer.

[52:12] » Test test test. There you go. All right.

[52:14] So, the district has uh made some great

[52:17] progress. Actually, I was just talking

[52:18] to Dr. Spalding about the literacy

[52:20] scores in the uh lower grades K through

[52:23] uh three and uh some of the the movement

[52:26] that we've made um in that area. My my

[52:30] concern is and I I wanted to bring this

[52:32] up is about the uh the higher grades. Um

[52:37] what do you what do you believe are the

[52:39] primary reasons for those schools

[52:42] continue that continue to struggle and

[52:44] what specifically are we doing

[52:47] differently this year than uh that we

[52:49] did um that you expect will materially

[52:54] uh improve student achievement?

[52:56] >> Yes. So I think this will be an ongoing

[52:58] conversation that we have throughout the

[53:00] school year and I think that the uh Desi

[53:02] district review certainly gave us some

[53:04] uh great insight as well. Um and so as

[53:09] you mentioned uh there you know our

[53:11] outcomes are remaining uneven but we do

[53:13] see that we have promising practices

[53:15] within our own school district and so

[53:17] certainly leveraging those promising

[53:19] practices and sharing them amongst our

[53:21] schools. sometimes um you know [snorts]

[53:23] our solutions are within our own walls.

[53:26] Um also some of the more uh the more

[53:29] focused support that we're going to be

[53:31] doing is our on our district data

[53:34] reviews, our learning walks and our

[53:36] ongoing work with DESIE um because those

[53:40] have helped us identify these areas and

[53:42] sharpen our focus. So when you look at

[53:43] our DESI review for example, they have

[53:45] in the appendices several of the

[53:47] walkthroughs and they've identified

[53:48] certain areas where we can provide

[53:50] additional support. So I think that

[53:52] gives us a good starting point. [snorts]

[53:53] Desi also has reached out to us because

[53:55] this is where we start partnering with

[53:57] them this school year on providing

[53:59] additional support. So, we are going to

[54:02] take a much more focused and intentional

[54:04] approach this year and we've established

[54:05] a clear uh dis district instructional

[54:09] priority um on ensuring that our

[54:11] students are actively engaged in grade

[54:13] level learning, talking, reading,

[54:15] writing, explaining, questioning, and

[54:17] responding with purposeful supports so

[54:20] that all of our students, including our

[54:21] multilingual learners and our students

[54:23] who are on IEPs, are participating uh in

[54:25] a successful way. We are also working to

[54:28] better align and leverage the tools and

[54:30] structures that we already have. So

[54:32] common planning time for example which

[54:34] um as you mentioned in the higher grades

[54:37] new this year we have expanded at

[54:39] Brockton High School. Uh learning walks

[54:42] again professional learning educator

[54:44] evaluation is a tool that we can

[54:46] leverage student data and targeted

[54:48] interventions so that they reinforce the same instructional

[54:51] priorities um rather than operate as

[54:55] separate initiatives. So I think that that is something that we can also

[54:59] be doing better um and more

[55:02] consistently. Um we also have allocated

[55:05] grant funding to support each school

[55:07] that is designated as requiring

[55:10] additional assistance this year uh so

[55:12] that they have a professional learning

[55:14] community that's focused on research for

[55:16] better teachings making student thinking

[55:18] visible course. So we'll be doing that

[55:20] and that course will equip teachers to

[55:23] create environments where our students

[55:25] are talking more than um talking more

[55:28] and taking part in higher order level

[55:31] thinking and um academic student

[55:35] dialogue. Um so moving shifting that

[55:38] dialogue from our teachers to to our

[55:40] students. And so our hope is that and we

[55:43] will continue to report on it is that

[55:46] with um these more targeted supports

[55:48] coupled with stronger accountability and

[55:50] monitoring uh that we will be able to

[55:52] lead to measurable improvements in

[55:54] student outcomes.

[55:55] >> Just a followup with that. So you we had

[55:58] the promise school that scored

[56:01] much higher than our high school.

[56:03] >> What are we what did we learn from that?

[56:05] Is that what is that what you got this

[56:08] what you're saying? What you got that

[56:09] from? Is that what we're doing at

[56:10] promise that maybe made them a little

[56:12] bit um score

[56:15] >> planning time you mean? Um

[56:17] >> correct or actually the higher level

[56:18] engagement because I mean I'll be honest

[56:20] with you and I know you have a child as

[56:22] well in an ISL school and I do as well

[56:24] and so their curriculum is much

[56:26] different than ours and they do a lot

[56:28] more of that.

[56:30] >> Um and I believe they do that at the

[56:32] promise as well. So I'm just curious if

[56:34] that is that's why we brought it over

[56:36] and bring it over to the high school.

[56:38] So, I I that's a great question. I think

[56:41] I'd have to think about that a little

[56:42] bit more and look at the data. I mean,

[56:43] we are certainly expanding early college

[56:46] at um at the high school. And so, I

[56:49] think that early college is certainly uh a reason that I think our promise

[56:53] students are um excelling. And so, we

[56:56] are trying to leverage that more greatly

[56:58] at the high school. It it's hard it's

[57:00] hard to compare the two because it is

[57:02] sometimes apples and oranges. is I mean

[57:04] Brockton High is a much larger school

[57:06] and it provides a lot of different

[57:08] opportunities and you know um while

[57:12] accountability and I would never say

[57:14] that accountability is not important and

[57:16] assessment scores aren't important but

[57:18] it is interesting because when I go to

[57:19] promise one of the things that they

[57:21] mention is that they would like to have

[57:22] greater access to some of the

[57:25] opportunities that um and and they do

[57:28] have you know access to athletics but

[57:30] some of the opportunities even during

[57:31] the school day that are provided at

[57:33] Brockton High that they don't have some

[57:34] of the electives, some of the the the

[57:37] specialties. So, it really is it's

[57:40] different and it's hard to compare. So,

[57:41] I would have to think about that a

[57:43] little bit more um as far as what

[57:46] practices we could share. And actually,

[57:48] I would probably uh lean on the school

[57:50] leaders themselves. Like I was saying, I

[57:52] think we have promising practices at a

[57:54] lot of our different schools that can be

[57:56] shared and leveraged. And I think that

[57:58] actually goes both ways between Brockton

[58:00] High and Brockton Therapeutic Day. and

[58:03] uh promise and champion. So, I think

[58:05] that it's our job to make sure we're

[58:08] leveraging the opportunities that we

[58:09] have with our principles in order and

[58:11] our educators in order for them to share

[58:13] those practices.

[58:14] >> As a followup that I just thought about

[58:16] as you were speaking, um one of the more

[58:18] unpopular things that I said and

[58:21] obviously, you know, I say a lot of

[58:22] those, but um so does that not show that

[58:26] there should be two that we should split

[58:27] the high school up and maybe have a

[58:29] smaller high school? like why are we why

[58:31] are we asking the taxpayers to build

[58:33] this high school that's so large when

[58:36] now you're telling me the data is

[58:38] proving that a smaller high school would

[58:40] be better so why not build two separate

[58:42] high schools.

[58:43] >> So actually no that's not what I said

[58:44] because um I said that there are areas

[58:47] in um that where BHS has I think it it

[58:50] depends on what we're talking about.

[58:52] >> We could just get those to that to the

[58:54] school. We're just not giving them to

[58:55] them right now. Like they don't have a

[58:57] gym. They don't have um they should have

[58:59] I I believe they should have their own

[59:01] sports teams.

[59:02] >> I believe that they should be a separate

[59:05] high school completely

[59:06] >> and I think that's that was proven over

[59:09] uh how well they did in their scores.

[59:10] >> They are a separate high school

[59:12] >> but but then they

[59:13] >> Oh, you mean having their own play in

[59:14] the majorettes. They play football. They

[59:18] >> And then Yes. And then

[59:22] so well let me start with the MSBA

[59:24] question. Um, when we were applying to

[59:26] the MSBA, uh, you only get funding for

[59:29] one school, right? So, if we got funding

[59:32] for a new school, it would have to be

[59:34] split. So, we would have some students

[59:36] who stayed here and then we would have

[59:38] um a new high school where other

[59:39] students would go. And we did, when we

[59:42] were going through the process, exhaust

[59:45] every single exploration of one school,

[59:48] two schools, where would they sit? And

[59:49] so, um, there was a lot of work that

[59:52] went into determining that it should be

[59:54] one school. Uh, and that included, uh,

[59:58] not just the education and the CTE

[1:00:00] programs, um, and the economies of scale

[1:00:02] that were able to provide here at

[1:00:03] Brockton High. Um, [snorts] but it it

[1:00:06] did include like geography and transfer.

[1:00:09] Like there were all myriad of um

[1:00:12] [snorts] factors that were included in

[1:00:14] that decision to to build one uh,

[1:00:17] Brockton High. Honestly, if we were to,

[1:00:19] let's say we're we were to split it in

[1:00:21] two, I think we would all still agree

[1:00:24] that we would want a new building here.

[1:00:26] So ultimately, we would still be

[1:00:27] building two buildings, two new

[1:00:29] buildings, paying and potentially paying

[1:00:31] more in the long run, right? Um because

[1:00:33] then we'd be paying for one now, tearing

[1:00:36] this one down, break building another

[1:00:37] one later and when it costs are higher.

[1:00:40] So I think all all in all I while I know

[1:00:43] it is an incredibly large investment, I

[1:00:46] think that the one large Brockton High

[1:00:49] School was the right way to go. And and

[1:00:51] just for me um as somebody coming to

[1:00:54] Brockton, one thing that I will say that

[1:00:55] I really uh have loved and appreciated

[1:00:59] about Brockton is the level of spirit

[1:01:01] and and and that culture of having it,

[1:01:04] you know, um one large high school that

[1:01:07] sometimes, you know, um can suffer when

[1:01:10] you have two different high schools and

[1:01:11] you've seen things like that like

[1:01:13] Newton, like Newton North and South and

[1:01:14] they have this big rivalry and and at

[1:01:16] times that can be nice, I suppose, but

[1:01:18] there is something to be said, I think,

[1:01:20] for uh for the camaraderie and the

[1:01:23] culture and the the community coming

[1:01:25] around one large high school. Um so

[1:01:28] that's the MSBA question, but then you

[1:01:30] asked another question about smaller a

[1:01:34] smaller high school. I think honestly

[1:01:37] what we've done here in Brockton is the

[1:01:39] best of both worlds because you're

[1:01:40] right, there are some um programs and

[1:01:43] there are some students that are going

[1:01:44] to flourish more greatly in a smaller

[1:01:46] environment and then there are some who

[1:01:48] are going to be better in a larger

[1:01:49] environment and I think the fact that we

[1:01:51] are offering both of those opportunities

[1:01:53] is actually the best case scenario. Um

[1:01:56] so in my opinion and obviously it's not

[1:01:59] my opinion that um is the one that you

[1:02:02] know guides everything but I I actually

[1:02:06] uh believe that we're we're doing it

[1:02:08] well and we're doing it right and that

[1:02:10] we um what all we are looking to do is

[1:02:13] make sure that we are improving and

[1:02:14] building upon the foundation we have. So

[1:02:16] I mean a few years ago, five years ago

[1:02:18] there was not a promise academy. So even

[1:02:20] just the development of that school and

[1:02:22] the fact that we you know that I think

[1:02:24] demonstrates that Brockton is um is not

[1:02:29] just married to like the one large high

[1:02:30] school but isn't just thinking about it

[1:02:33] so um in such a like concrete linear way

[1:02:37] of like it's either two high schools or

[1:02:38] one high school like we're thinking

[1:02:40] about it in a more nuanced way that I

[1:02:42] think is more individualized to the

[1:02:44] student population we have.

[1:02:45] >> Yeah. I I would just ask that we think

[1:02:47] more about outcomes, student outcomes

[1:02:50] than financial. Uh I know we have to

[1:02:52] think of both, but I think obviously the

[1:02:55] student outcomes are important. Um we're

[1:02:57] lucky that we have uh the promise school

[1:02:59] and uh I have two more two more

[1:03:02] questions that were actually from what

[1:03:04] you were uh from your report.

[1:03:06] >> Uh do you have the metrics on that

[1:03:09] parent square? I know that there's and

[1:03:12] just so that I fully understand because

[1:03:14] I got conflicting information. So

[1:03:18] >> obviously I get the text a lot of them

[1:03:21] which is good. Um but at the same time

[1:03:23] so if you download the app is it like a social media platform where the

[1:03:28] teacher is now because I know in the in

[1:03:31] the last um I just totally forgot the

[1:03:33] name of it. The last uh product that we

[1:03:35] had

[1:03:36] >> school messenger.

[1:03:37] >> Yes.

[1:03:38] >> Um they they could do pictures. they

[1:03:40] would send the pictures and stuff. So,

[1:03:41] is that what you're measuring

[1:03:43] from what you're

[1:03:43] >> measuring posts, newsletters? Yeah. So,

[1:03:46] and we do get and I actually get um a

[1:03:49] weekly feed of who was the the top

[1:03:51] poster and what kind of posts were

[1:03:53] provided, what kind of interactions

[1:03:55] happen because it is um a two-way

[1:03:58] communication. Um, and so I can bring um

[1:04:02] to our next meeting uh the analytics uh

[1:04:05] for the full month of September um

[1:04:08] because I was actually uh talking about

[1:04:11] them with um Jordan today and he was

[1:04:14] letting me know sort of like the

[1:04:15] percentage of the families that are that

[1:04:17] are utilizing it and I was able to meet

[1:04:19] with DPAC yesterday evening and and

[1:04:22] there are definitely still kinks that we

[1:04:24] need to work out and and areas that we

[1:04:26] know need improving um for parents

[1:04:29] parent square. So, we're still working

[1:04:30] those out, but one of the parents

[1:04:32] actually said that they were able to get

[1:04:34] a newsletter um from the district from

[1:04:38] that was specifically she has a sixth

[1:04:40] grader and it was specifically came a

[1:04:42] sixth grade newsletter to her, but that

[1:04:44] was district level. So, she was very

[1:04:46] excited to have that kind of targeted um

[1:04:50] uh communication um that came from the

[1:04:52] district. So, not simply just from, you

[1:04:54] know, within your school, you're getting

[1:04:55] it from the the district as well.

[1:04:58] um but in a way that kind of tells you

[1:05:00] what's happening around the district in grade six. So I think it offers us a

[1:05:04] lot of different opportunities and we're

[1:05:06] still trying to figure out all of the

[1:05:07] functionalities. We're actually being

[1:05:09] trained next week um on their attendance

[1:05:13] module which is something we may want to

[1:05:15] utilize or leverage. So we're going to

[1:05:17] be exploring that as well. Um but I can

[1:05:20] certainly bring more information about

[1:05:22] um how how it's going so far. And is the

[1:05:25] principal at each uh facility are they

[1:05:27] like the moderator of that or is it

[1:05:32] >> Yeah. Yes. I mean different um different

[1:05:36] folks have different permissions. So for

[1:05:38] example, the principal can communicate

[1:05:40] with everybody. Teachers have the

[1:05:42] permissions to communicate with their

[1:05:44] students. Um, and that's sort of one of

[1:05:46] the things that we're working on right

[1:05:47] now is making sure that

[1:05:50] we all have the correct permissions to

[1:05:52] communicate with who we want to

[1:05:54] communicate and to to change it when we

[1:05:56] want to because sometimes I may want to

[1:05:58] communicate with this group but not this

[1:06:00] group. So that's what we're working on

[1:06:01] now.

[1:06:01] >> Is that is there anything in there where

[1:06:03] the um the school committee would be

[1:06:05] able to have access? I have it just

[1:06:07] because obviously I have my kids uh one

[1:06:08] of my kids two of my kids in schools.

[1:06:11] Um, but is it something that the school

[1:06:13] committee would then be able to like if

[1:06:15] there were

[1:06:16] >> post? Um, so it would

[1:06:17] >> not really post but just like you know

[1:06:18] if there was something that um that it

[1:06:22] kind of keeps me informed a lot more

[1:06:24] than I mean I talk to Mrs. Paul all the

[1:06:26] time anyway but

[1:06:28] >> um keeps it would keep everyone else

[1:06:30] informed. That's all.

[1:06:31] >> Absolutely. And that is our hope is that

[1:06:33] we'll be able to utilize it to um

[1:06:35] communicate out the DPAC meetings to

[1:06:37] communicate out um Yes. So absolutely.

[1:06:40] So if there are school committee

[1:06:41] functions or even the meetings that we

[1:06:43] want to utilize uh parent square to

[1:06:45] communicate. Absolutely.

[1:06:47] >> One last question. So the honor band

[1:06:49] festival at Bridgewwater is that open to

[1:06:51] the public or is that um

[1:06:52] >> I believe so. I mean I I actually don't

[1:06:55] know. Um I hope so. I'm going. So uh

[1:06:58] hopefully they'll let me in but I can

[1:06:59] find out.

[1:07:00] >> Okay. Thank you.

[1:07:02] >> Yes.

[1:07:02] >> Thank you Mr. Pina. Uh any other

[1:07:04] members? Uh Miss Oliver.

[1:07:05] >> I'm sorry. Can I can I just add one more

[1:07:07] thing?

[1:07:08] >> Go ahead. I I I had to I had to say

[1:07:09] thank you to the um custodians. Um they

[1:07:13] are they are literally the backbone of

[1:07:15] this uh community of ours and the

[1:07:18] schools. Thank you for what they did in

[1:07:19] the hallway cleaning up uh after that

[1:07:22] really bad storm. Um our schools are not

[1:07:25] uh in bad of shape as what you might

[1:07:27] think. Uh and that's because of what

[1:07:29] they do and what facilities does. I

[1:07:31] don't know if Ken's up there, but he

[1:07:33] would have just heard me compliment him.

[1:07:34] Thank you.

[1:07:36] >> Thank you, Miss Oliver.

[1:07:37] Thank you. Um just a few questions with

[1:07:40] the MCCAST scores. Do you have the data

[1:07:43] for different grades and like what how

[1:07:46] we scored for like math, science, and

[1:07:49] English?

[1:07:49] >> Yes. So the the MCCAST presentation that

[1:07:52] um you all get every year. Uh we will be

[1:07:54] doing that again this year. Um and so

[1:07:57] you will be receiving the full

[1:07:58] breakdown, the comparison of us from

[1:08:01] last year um and us from surrounding

[1:08:04] districts. so similar to what you've

[1:08:05] received in the past.

[1:08:07] >> And also if you actually go on the the

[1:08:09] DOE website, you can kind of look

[1:08:11] through and play around with the

[1:08:13] accountability. You can see it for every

[1:08:14] school.

[1:08:15] >> Yeah. Because I'm extremely um proud

[1:08:17] that Brockton did an incredible job

[1:08:20] compared to the state how low they went.

[1:08:22] But we increased our um score level and

[1:08:25] I just wanted to see like how we

[1:08:28] improved from last year to this year and

[1:08:30] is and then see what we did differently

[1:08:32] this year, right? to basically increase

[1:08:34] our score. I just want to I can't wait

[1:08:35] for that presentation just to basically

[1:08:37] say thank you to the leaders and

[1:08:39] educators who has worked really hard to

[1:08:41] basically get us where we where we at.

[1:08:43] But definitely it's something to be very

[1:08:45] proud of that we're seeing on the

[1:08:47] newspaper that Brockton did an

[1:08:48] incredible job. Um also another thing

[1:08:51] that I saw recently is that we're um

[1:08:53] competing very strongly with

[1:08:54] Southeastern when it comes CTE program.

[1:08:56] Thank you to uh Mr. Macascco for doing

[1:08:58] an incredible job bringing a lot of um

[1:09:01] programs to the CTE program. So I think

[1:09:04] we're finally giving competition where

[1:09:07] to certain cities and towns. So I'd like

[1:09:09] to see I love to see that. Another thing

[1:09:11] also I do like Parent Square. I think

[1:09:13] it's perfect. I like the fact that it's

[1:09:16] very um multilingual. a lot of bilingual

[1:09:19] parents I open house at South that a lot

[1:09:22] of parents that were bilingual was being

[1:09:24] um you know helped to like sign up to

[1:09:27] and they liked it. I like getting all

[1:09:29] the message. I like getting all the

[1:09:31] posted because sometimes that's how I

[1:09:32] update what's going on in the city with

[1:09:34] the school district. But I do like it

[1:09:35] and also when you know teachers send me

[1:09:38] emails and different message about my

[1:09:41] kids. But I think it's very personal. I

[1:09:42] do like this better than the old system.

[1:09:45] And the last thing I want to say is um I

[1:09:48] do want to thank um coach Baboni for

[1:09:51] this past Saturday um event. It's

[1:09:54] definitely the second annual. The

[1:09:56] numbers of students that attended has

[1:09:58] totally increased. Um and also to all

[1:10:01] the coaches that went out on Saturday to

[1:10:03] participate and help out all the um

[1:10:06] student adviserss that's also was there

[1:10:08] helping and playing with the young kids.

[1:10:11] Just watching like our future Brockton

[1:10:13] High boxers on the field. They were so

[1:10:15] happy. They were laughing. They were

[1:10:17] giggling. They were playing with each

[1:10:18] other. I think we had over 50 or more

[1:10:20] stu um kids and they really really

[1:10:23] enjoyed themselves and and I do

[1:10:25] appreciate partic um appreciate that

[1:10:27] they're putting more spotlight on girl

[1:10:29] sports. So Saturday was really really

[1:10:31] great. Thank you for the donation. The

[1:10:33] kids did love eating their sandwiches.

[1:10:35] We made sure they didn't eat on the

[1:10:37] field. So that was a good thing. But it

[1:10:39] was a good day. It was hot. It was nice.

[1:10:41] And um continue the great work every

[1:10:42] year. Thanks. Thank you. Any other

[1:10:45] members?

[1:10:48] Seeing none, I have a few things I'd

[1:10:50] like to say as well. Um, I'll start with

[1:10:54] the high school. Um, since Mr. Pina

[1:10:56] brought it up, um, I have a few

[1:10:59] constituents of mine that have always

[1:11:01] asked, why don't we build two high

[1:11:04] school, break it down in half, and give

[1:11:06] more individualized, more focused

[1:11:09] attention to our students. Um I I used

[1:11:12] to say that sounds good to me cuz you

[1:11:14] know smaller classrooms, more staffing

[1:11:17] and so on and so forth, but there's a

[1:11:19] lot of um other aspects that we have to

[1:11:22] consider. And one of the things that the

[1:11:25] superintendent said that I think um is a

[1:11:28] good perspective to take is every

[1:11:31] student has their own ways of learning.

[1:11:35] Some do well in smaller spaces, some do

[1:11:37] well in larger spaces, but I do like the

[1:11:39] idea of having a separate high school.

[1:11:40] I've thought about it a couple times.

[1:11:43] Um, even though there's other things

[1:11:45] such as transportation, you know, access

[1:11:47] and whatnot that comes into play. Um,

[1:11:51] also I lost my access, not access, I

[1:11:53] just got rid of my parents square cuz my

[1:11:56] kid is not here anymore. So, I won't be

[1:11:58] able to see all the great um news and

[1:12:01] information shared um through the

[1:12:04] system, but I think picking up um from

[1:12:07] that conversation, it would be a good

[1:12:09] way for us to utilize it for information

[1:12:12] sharing um not just with parents, but

[1:12:14] with the whole community. if there's um

[1:12:18] a different access for other people that

[1:12:22] don't maybe don't have kids in the

[1:12:23] district but want to stay informed, want

[1:12:25] to participate if we are able to do

[1:12:28] that. Um that came to mind as Miss Pina

[1:12:31] was talking about it utilizing it as

[1:12:33] information sharing and you know a way

[1:12:36] of keeping people updated. Um similar to

[1:12:39] how we share things on our website

[1:12:41] having an app that you'll get a

[1:12:43] notification, hey there's an event going

[1:12:44] on. we're doing a, you know, high school

[1:12:47] project uh conversation this day or

[1:12:49] there's a um after school going on and

[1:12:53] what not. So, if that's something we

[1:12:55] could do um or have available and

[1:12:59] accessible to other folks, not just

[1:13:00] parents for their kids, that would be

[1:13:02] great. Um any other comments? Okay,

[1:13:07] seeing none, we'll move on to

[1:13:10] item 3B. Any items to refer to

[1:13:14] subcommittees?

[1:13:16] No.

[1:13:17] >> Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. I thought we were

[1:13:19] just on A.

[1:13:22] That's C you're talking about, right?

[1:13:23] I'm sorry.

[1:13:25] >> We got A and B. So, we just went

[1:13:27] >> the the bullet points messed me up. I'm

[1:13:28] sorry. So, that's not one, two, and

[1:13:30] three.

[1:13:31] >> Not necessarily. No.

[1:13:33] >> Oh, my [laughter] bad then.

[1:13:34] >> Do you have more questions?

[1:13:35] >> Yeah, I

[1:13:35] >> Okay, Mr. Pino.

[1:13:36] >> Um, and and I I'll be totally

[1:13:39] transparent. I did let you know about

[1:13:41] these because I I don't want to catch

[1:13:43] you off guard and uh make it seem as

[1:13:46] though I'm trying to play the gotcha

[1:13:48] game. But um as as we establish your

[1:13:52] goals and indicators, what specific

[1:13:55] measures uh student outcome targets are

[1:13:58] you willing to be evaluated against this

[1:14:01] year particularly in literacy um

[1:14:04] mathematics attendance and or lowest

[1:14:07] performing schools? I know that you had

[1:14:08] mentioned attendance and that was

[1:14:10] something that was also brought up in

[1:14:12] the in the report as well. Um but I I

[1:14:16] guess the purpose of this question is

[1:14:18] just because of how poorly our high

[1:14:21] school um scored and how um you know we we're doing well in the lower grades

[1:14:29] and I I I have some ideas as to why

[1:14:33] we're not doing as well in the upper

[1:14:34] grades. Um and I believe it's across the

[1:14:38] state that that's happening for the same

[1:14:40] reason. Um so I I guess

[1:14:45] as as we identify the issues, is that

[1:14:49] something that um we can look at to

[1:14:52] improve? Um I know it's going to cost a

[1:14:55] lot more um because it is mostly the ESL

[1:14:59] students that are coming in and then

[1:15:01] they are not performing at the same

[1:15:03] level. Um,

[1:15:06] so is is and I'll just leave it at that.

[1:15:09] >> Um, and so yes, and I appreciate so much

[1:15:12] you sending the questions ahead of time.

[1:15:14] Um,

[1:15:17] my answer to that is I would certainly

[1:15:19] be open to um what the committee

[1:15:24] thinks would be good metrics. Um, and so

[1:15:27] I'm certainly, you know, interested in

[1:15:29] the feedback. So, if you have um

[1:15:31] specific smart goals or metrics that you

[1:15:34] wanted to send me that um we could think

[1:15:37] about, that's absolutely um that would

[1:15:40] be great. I think certainly demonstrated

[1:15:43] academic growth in the schools that have

[1:15:46] been identified by DESIE as requiring

[1:15:48] targeted assistance um I think would

[1:15:52] be a natural um

[1:15:56] you know one to look at. So may maybe

[1:15:59] more holistically just improvement at

[1:16:01] the targeted assistance schools. Um I we

[1:16:05] or we could do something more specific

[1:16:07] to grades. Grade three I know is one

[1:16:09] that you've mentioned before. So

[1:16:11] thinking about grade three across the

[1:16:13] district and our lit literacy um scores

[1:16:16] could certainly be one or um another

[1:16:19] high leverage point could be grade eight

[1:16:21] mathematics because we know that grade 8

[1:16:23] math and algebra are often a predictor

[1:16:26] for graduation rates and and and high

[1:16:29] school completion and um high school

[1:16:31] course taking uh college enrollment STEM

[1:16:34] pathways etc. So, I'm certainly open to

[1:16:37] whatever the committee would be

[1:16:39] interested in

[1:16:41] evaluating me on.

[1:16:43] >> Awesome. And I think uh as as we've

[1:16:46] discussed previously that third grade is most important and and eighth grade

[1:16:51] for math as well. I think those would be

[1:16:53] u great measures and I hope that we can

[1:16:55] discuss that further. Uh the last

[1:16:57] question that I had um I know you didn't

[1:17:00] want to discuss this but uh regarding

[1:17:02] the 2026 transportation

[1:17:05] uh deficit.

[1:17:07] Um what was originally budgeted? Uh what

[1:17:11] was actually spent? What specifically

[1:17:14] caused the variance? And uh was this

[1:17:18] operational overrun or was this

[1:17:20] transportation budget established below

[1:17:22] the uh reasonably anticipated cost to

[1:17:26] providing those services? So, we've

[1:17:29] actually ended the year about where we

[1:17:31] thought we would as far as the

[1:17:32] transportation costs at around 22.3. And

[1:17:35] I'll be bringing the final numbers um at

[1:17:38] our next meeting. So, we will have our

[1:17:40] fiscal up. Well, we're going to have a

[1:17:42] transportation subcommittee meeting, I

[1:17:43] believe, um and then we're also going to

[1:17:46] have a fiscal update during our regular

[1:17:48] meeting. Um where the interim CFO for

[1:17:51] the city, Jay Condan, will be coming as

[1:17:54] well. Um and we have been working

[1:17:56] collaboratively with him. So we did end

[1:17:58] around on the nonn net school spending

[1:18:01] about where we had imagined but as you

[1:18:03] know um it was underfunded from the

[1:18:06] start. So we said we would need I think

[1:18:10] we actually said we needed more than

[1:18:11] that like 24 and 26 the same as we did

[1:18:13] this 25

[1:18:15] budget

[1:18:16] >> and then this year we asked for more as

[1:18:17] well. Uh but last year I believe we

[1:18:19] received 19. This year we received 17. I

[1:18:23] and now I'm forgetting but I will have

[1:18:24] all those numbers for you when we

[1:18:26] present them. So we were underfunded for

[1:18:28] that and that is an area where I very

[1:18:31] much appreciate that um Mr. Condan is

[1:18:36] looking at that looking at how we're

[1:18:38] using circuit breaker wants to be

[1:18:39] collaborative doesn't want it to be a

[1:18:42] situation where we're simply

[1:18:43] underfunding to figure it out later. Uh,

[1:18:45] so I very much appreciate that and uh

[1:18:48] we'll be bringing our final numbers

[1:18:50] because the books close um this Friday

[1:18:53] and and we're figuring out sort of um

[1:18:57] how the city is going to uh fund that

[1:19:00] deficit. Um,

[1:19:03] so yes,

[1:19:05] >> just to be clear because I know and I

[1:19:07] wasn't on the committee um back when

[1:19:09] there were some overruns

[1:19:11] uh but just to be clear so um we

[1:19:14] expected these this deficit, we expected

[1:19:17] this to happen and um we fully

[1:19:22] anticipate to fund it. So on the non-net

[1:19:26] school spending side, it's it's

[1:19:28] interesting because

[1:19:30] what ends up happening is it hits the

[1:19:33] city treasury anyway.

[1:19:35] >> Correct.

[1:19:36] >> So on one hand it's a deficit because

[1:19:39] they haven't reclassed it to us to rec,

[1:19:42] you know, but at the end of the day it

[1:19:44] still hits their lines. It hits their uh

[1:19:47] budget. So as long as we're not paying

[1:19:49] it out of the net school spending. So,

[1:19:51] there was an area where we had spent

[1:19:53] some out of the net school spending, but

[1:19:54] we again as we're closing the books,

[1:19:56] we're classing exactly where we're

[1:19:59] allowed. Um, but we're reclassing those

[1:20:01] expenses. So then now now it'll be all

[1:20:03] on the net school non-net school

[1:20:05] spending side. Um, so at the end of the

[1:20:09] day, it doesn't end up being a deficit

[1:20:11] on our end.

[1:20:13] >> It ends up being one they have to take

[1:20:15] care of either way.

[1:20:16] >> It's a city deficit then.

[1:20:17] >> Correct. and understanding that non-net

[1:20:20] spending is the city's responsibility

[1:20:22] anyway.

[1:20:22] >> Correct.

[1:20:23] >> Um Okay. All right. Yeah. Thank you.

[1:20:26] >> Any other uh Miss Oliver?

[1:20:28] >> I just wanted u Mr. Peina to clarify the

[1:20:31] ESL comment you made. I'm not sure the

[1:20:34] numbers like what was the question if

[1:20:36] you can repeat.

[1:20:36] >> So if you look at Desi uh Desi has all

[1:20:38] the numbers. Uh you can look at uh where

[1:20:41] we dropped. Uh we dropped in certain

[1:20:44] areas. Um and so it's factual data

[1:20:48] that's on the DESIE website.

[1:20:50] >> Okay. Thank you.

[1:20:51] >> Mhm.

[1:20:52] >> Um yes, go ahead.

[1:20:54] >> So um I can certainly look at that data

[1:20:58] point, but one data point that I think

[1:21:00] is important to to note just in general

[1:21:04] is that English learners obviously they

[1:21:06] do perform not as well on MCCAST when

[1:21:09] they're within their first few years of

[1:21:10] being in this country. I mean, I think

[1:21:12] any of us who went to another country in

[1:21:13] the first two years are not going to do

[1:21:15] great on a standardized test. Um,

[1:21:17] however, our former English learners,

[1:21:19] and I believe this is a statistic in

[1:21:21] Massachusetts overall, but former

[1:21:22] English learners actually outperform

[1:21:24] their native English-speaking peers once

[1:21:27] they

[1:21:28] become once they fle or become a former

[1:21:31] English learner. So, and and this is for

[1:21:34] all of the reasons that we know like

[1:21:36] bilingualism and dual language. And

[1:21:38] that's why we have um a global studies

[1:21:41] school. And that's why it would be

[1:21:42] amazing if we could expand dual language

[1:21:44] because we know that the uh bilingual

[1:21:47] brain works a little differently and is

[1:21:49] able to once catching up it in the

[1:21:52] language is able to demonstrate

[1:21:54] proficiency. So when they're not when a

[1:21:56] student who is an English learner is not

[1:21:58] performing well on a test, it is not

[1:22:00] simp it's not because they are not able

[1:22:03] to. It's because they just have not

[1:22:04] reached that level of academic English

[1:22:06] to be able to demonstrate what they

[1:22:08] know. So

[1:22:09] >> thank you.

[1:22:10] for that clarification. I

[1:22:12] think that no matter what country you

[1:22:13] go, if you speak a different language,

[1:22:15] you're not going to score high on a

[1:22:17] MCAST or any other um screening they

[1:22:19] have because it's very difficult because

[1:22:21] that's not your, you know, native

[1:22:22] language. But I think that we need to

[1:22:25] look also the other aspects of like a

[1:22:26] math science how we're new um comers in

[1:22:29] the ESL um second language or scoring

[1:22:32] because that would be a good thing to

[1:22:33] say yeah we might know not know the

[1:22:35] English language but we are able to also

[1:22:39] succeed in science and math. So I think

[1:22:41] that's something that we need to look at

[1:22:43] what the data is what the scores are.

[1:22:45] But I do appreciate that you clarify

[1:22:48] that cuz a lot of it after you learn the

[1:22:50] language and able to know your skills of

[1:22:52] writing and you know you are able to

[1:22:55] basically score higher and I do apprec

[1:22:58] appreciate the the clarification. Thank

[1:23:00] you, Mu. And then Miss Zach.

[1:23:03] >> And

[1:23:03] >> oh,

[1:23:07] go ahead.

[1:23:09] >> And as someone that was in the bilingual

[1:23:12] program, um I would like that as a

[1:23:16] district we continue to support them in

[1:23:18] the classroom. Uh meaning like can we

[1:23:21] have extra teachers there to support

[1:23:23] them? Can we um offer more reading

[1:23:26] opportunities for them to read? So I

[1:23:28] hope that that will be a continuing area

[1:23:30] we will continue to um invest because

[1:23:34] like I said as someone that was in those

[1:23:36] classroom we do need that support. So we

[1:23:39] might be able to do well in math when we

[1:23:41] come from our home country but again for

[1:23:44] me I didn't know anything. I couldn't

[1:23:46] even say the single word in English. So

[1:23:49] for me that that boost or that extra

[1:23:52] support I think would have um would have

[1:23:55] gave me faster to learning the English

[1:23:57] language. So thank you.

[1:23:59] >> Thank you. Um two point of information I

[1:24:03] would like to share before we move on.

[1:24:05] Um as far as the transportation aspect,

[1:24:08] this committee did request an

[1:24:10] appropriate amount. It just was not

[1:24:12] funded to that level. Uh and the other

[1:24:15] thing is we have not yet voted for the

[1:24:17] new focus indicator. So as uh the

[1:24:20] superintendent said, if anybody has, you

[1:24:23] know, suggestions or recommendations,

[1:24:25] send them over before when we have to

[1:24:28] vote to accept the new focus indicators.

[1:24:30] That way it's all incorporated. If she

[1:24:32] needs to go over any of those, she can

[1:24:34] with us and we can have a final

[1:24:35] discussion.

[1:24:37] Um now we can move on to uh 3B which is

[1:24:41] items to refer to subcommittee.

[1:24:46] » Oh also Mr. Sullivan are you still with

[1:24:48] us?

[1:24:50] >> Yes I am.

[1:24:51] >> Any questions?

[1:24:53] >> No.

[1:24:56] » All right. Um seeing none we will move

[1:25:00] on to agenda item four which is the

[1:25:02] consent agenda. What's the will of the

[1:25:04] committee? [clears throat]

[1:25:11] Mr.

[1:25:12] >> Oh, go ahead. Nope. If you had

[1:25:14] questions.

[1:25:14] >> Uh, can I pull out uh D?

[1:25:20] >> Okay. Uh, is there any other items that

[1:25:23] folks want to pull out?

[1:25:26] >> We I'd like to just recognize um letter

[1:25:29] B and letter C. Um, so we don't really

[1:25:32] need to pull them up, but I just wanted

[1:25:34] to recognize them and recognize those

[1:25:36] two donations.

[1:25:37] >> Okay. We'll start with Mr. Pin and then

[1:25:40] um let's say Zach, you can recognize

[1:25:42] those and then we'll take them all

[1:25:43] together. So motion to take um D out of order and discuss it now.

[1:25:52] >> Yeah. Um

[1:25:54] so again I I sent this to the

[1:25:56] superintendent beforehand so that she

[1:25:58] would uh be not surprised by the

[1:26:01] question. Um so the question is who

[1:26:03] currently performs the functions

[1:26:05] assigned to the uh proposed benefits

[1:26:08] coordinator? What is the fully loaded

[1:26:10] annual cost of this position? And what

[1:26:14] analysis uh demonstrates that adding

[1:26:17] another position

[1:26:19] uh is

[1:26:20] >> D is not um it's acceptance of donation.

[1:26:24] >> Oh no.

[1:26:25] >> Are you looking at the right

[1:26:27] >> we're on you're looking at agenda

[1:26:30] >> new business.

[1:26:31] >> You want to new business?

[1:26:32] >> My bad.

[1:26:33] >> All right. So in that case we'll

[1:26:34] [laughter] go back.

[1:26:35] >> My bad.

[1:26:36] >> No worries. Uh Miss A.

[1:26:38] >> My eyes they're burning.

[1:26:40] >> Thank you. Um so letter B is acceptance

[1:26:43] of donation for back to school teacher

[1:26:45] appreciation event from AJ Deansa

[1:26:48] Foundation and World Vision. Um let me

[1:26:51] see if I can find it here.

[1:26:54] I think my book is a little out of order

[1:26:56] so I apologize.

[1:27:02] So um it's our pleasure to accept a

[1:27:04] generous donation of backpacks, lunch

[1:27:06] bags, school Hold on one second. I think

[1:27:09] this is out of order. military.

[1:27:10] >> That's it. Um, school supplies, um,

[1:27:13] classroom supplies, cups, coffee makers,

[1:27:15] fans, and SEI kits from AJ Debansa, the

[1:27:18] AJ Debansa Foundation, and the World

[1:27:20] Vision as a back to school teacher

[1:27:22] appreciation event for the for the YMCA

[1:27:25] in the Brockton public schools. Um,

[1:27:28] again, you know, this is one of our

[1:27:30] students that has um is very successful

[1:27:33] right now and he is doing what we're all

[1:27:36] doing, we all try to do is you give back

[1:27:38] to your community. So, you know, we just

[1:27:40] wanted to acknowledge that and thank him

[1:27:41] and thank the foundation for remembering

[1:27:43] our school. Um, and then the second one

[1:27:48] is the

[1:27:51] this one um Angela School. So, I happen

[1:27:54] to be talking to the principal that day.

[1:27:56] So, that one we have acceptance of

[1:27:59] donation for Angela School from Mr.

[1:28:01] James Wade of Costco wholesale. So,

[1:28:04] thank you to Costco. Um, again, local

[1:28:06] businesses remembering our students. So,

[1:28:09] it's um it is our pleasure to accept a

[1:28:11] generous donation of $500 along with 160

[1:28:14] backpacks from Mr. James Wade of Costco

[1:28:18] wholesale which will be used to support

[1:28:20] our Angelo school students. The

[1:28:21] backpacks will help students or student

[1:28:24] organization and help strengthen the

[1:28:26] homeschool connection and the money will

[1:28:28] go towards activities and events to

[1:28:30] continue continue to strengthen our

[1:28:32] positive school culture. Um, and this

[1:28:34] donation was made possible through the

[1:28:35] generosity of Costco Wholesale. Um, so

[1:28:39] thank you to Costco again. Um, you know,

[1:28:42] it's wonderful to always see whether

[1:28:44] it's our alumni or whether it's local

[1:28:46] businesses giving back to our students

[1:28:48] and our community and even our staff.

[1:28:49] So, this is awesome. So, we definitely

[1:28:51] always want to acknowledge them.

[1:28:52] Hopefully, I I caught everyone, but

[1:28:55] thank you.

[1:28:56] >> Thank you. Um, anyone else? Mr.

[1:28:59] Rodriguez.

[1:29:00] >> Um,

[1:29:02] superintendent, just on the uh on the

[1:29:03] approval of the grants. I know we've

[1:29:05] discussed this um prior to you and also

[1:29:07] when you first arrived, if we can just

[1:29:10] get a breakdown of the grants online

[1:29:11] item, you know, as far as what's being

[1:29:13] spent on salary and supplies. I know

[1:29:15] we've we we have done it, but it's uh

[1:29:18] not on this one. So, just want to make

[1:29:19] sure that

[1:29:20] >> Oh, to send it to every

[1:29:22] >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[1:29:23] >> Um, thanks.

[1:29:24] >> What's the will of the committee?

[1:29:27] >> Mr. Pina,

[1:29:28] >> I'm sorry. I just had one question. I

[1:29:30] found the question. Yes. I apologize for

[1:29:32] my issue with my eyes. Um as as uh as we

[1:29:36] approve these grants and and we end up

[1:29:40] approving uh I mean getting a lot of

[1:29:42] grants. It's a a great deal.

[1:29:44] >> Um I believe the city comm city council

[1:29:48] uh was surprised that we got the amount

[1:29:50] in grants as I remember watching that uh

[1:29:54] that happen. So, as as we get this money

[1:29:57] and we get these grants, what student

[1:29:59] outcomes um are attached to the spending

[1:30:03] and and will the committee uh get those

[1:30:06] reports and to determine whether these

[1:30:07] programs actually work uh before we

[1:30:10] continue to expand them?

[1:30:11] >> Yes. So, when you um write a grant or

[1:30:14] apply for a grant, establishing goals is

[1:30:18] part of uh the grant process and it's

[1:30:21] actually in our grant manual as well. Um

[1:30:23] there's a step-by-step framework um

[1:30:25] regarding our expectations for grant

[1:30:27] application, grant management. And so

[1:30:29] each grant that we receive um carries

[1:30:32] outcome and reporting requirements uh

[1:30:34] set by the funer and the administration.

[1:30:36] And it aligns each program to our

[1:30:38] district's priorities. So depending on

[1:30:41] the grant's purpose, programs are

[1:30:43] measured on student achievement and

[1:30:44] academic growth, attendance and

[1:30:46] engagement, English learner progress and

[1:30:48] language acquisition, access to

[1:30:50] specialized services and interventions,

[1:30:53] college and career readiness indicators

[1:30:54] or program participation and completion

[1:30:56] rates. So those are the major areas. So

[1:30:59] before recommending that any grant

[1:31:01] funded program continues um the

[1:31:04] administration will review their the

[1:31:06] outcomes against uh the program's

[1:31:09] targets whether or not the program was

[1:31:11] implemented as it was designed uh the

[1:31:13] participation levels and the alignment

[1:31:15] with again our district strategic

[1:31:17] priorities and pro programs that are not

[1:31:19] meeting those targets are adjusted or

[1:31:21] not recommended for renewal. Um and so

[1:31:25] uh I can give you some examples of that.

[1:31:27] So for example, last year we received a

[1:31:29] grant from Massachusetts Afterchool

[1:31:31] Partnership or MAP to run afterchool

[1:31:33] programming for students at Champion.

[1:31:36] And so from the first day, uh there was

[1:31:39] tracking on if students were attending

[1:31:41] the program and if they were continuing

[1:31:43] to return to the program. That was one

[1:31:45] of the items that we were looking at. As

[1:31:47] the year went on, more students joined

[1:31:49] and attendance kept climbing. Um so that

[1:31:51] told us that students wanted to be

[1:31:53] there. Um [snorts] then there was survey

[1:31:56] data. Um so they surveyed the students

[1:31:59] about what they enjoyed and what they

[1:32:01] wanted the um the program to do better.

[1:32:04] And then they we use those answers to

[1:32:07] plan the next round. um parents and

[1:32:10] families actually also started to join

[1:32:12] uh in the afterchool activities and so

[1:32:14] that was actually an unanticipated um

[1:32:17] result but that was great and so that's

[1:32:19] how we knew that the program was working

[1:32:21] was based based on the students u

[1:32:23] participation and their survey results

[1:32:26] um another example uh would be the prism

[1:32:29] grant which includes goal setting action

[1:32:31] planning and monitoring as a regular

[1:32:33] part of the work so one of our k3 goals

[1:32:35] for prism for example is By June 2027,

[1:32:39] at least 73% of students in grades K to

[1:32:42] 1, up from 53% in June of 2026, and at

[1:32:45] least 67% of students in grades 2 to

[1:32:48] three, up from 47.5%

[1:32:51] in June of 2026, will meet or exceed the

[1:32:53] end of grade level benchmarks. So again,

[1:32:56] we look at um so we'll set the goals and

[1:32:59] then we'll measure the prog measure the

[1:33:01] grant against those goals. Um so for

[1:33:04] this one in particular, they'll be

[1:33:05] looking at composite scores of Dibbles

[1:33:07] assessment um

[1:33:10] on and and looking at the individual

[1:33:12] student groups as well.

[1:33:14] >> Are are we able to um I know there's a

[1:33:16] dashboard for the money side of this,

[1:33:18] but is are we able to see as the

[1:33:21] committee how those are performing? And

[1:33:23] when you said administration, do you

[1:33:25] mean like do you have a a subcommittee

[1:33:27] within your administration that reviews

[1:33:29] the grants or are you part of that? So

[1:33:30] it's the grants director who supports

[1:33:33] the those who are applying for the

[1:33:35] grants and then who are implementing the

[1:33:37] grants and we do have a a and she comes

[1:33:39] and does a quarterly report. So what we

[1:33:42] can do for her next quarterly report is

[1:33:44] she can certainly provide um that

[1:33:47] information on because I know in the

[1:33:49] past few she's been providing here are

[1:33:50] the number of grants we've applied for,

[1:33:52] here's how much we received, um here's

[1:33:55] sort of what they were uh supporting um

[1:33:58] and and things like that. And so what we

[1:34:00] could do for the next one is talk more

[1:34:02] about the goal setting.

[1:34:03] >> And lastly, I would just add that um to

[1:34:06] put our um colleagues and the council's

[1:34:09] mind at ease and we uh ensure that it's

[1:34:14] we can show what these funds are being

[1:34:16] spent on

[1:34:17] >> and that they're not being um mismanaged

[1:34:19] or misused, which I'm not saying they

[1:34:21] are, but I'm just saying

[1:34:23] >> um that they're actually have a a

[1:34:24] purpose and and why we're using them and

[1:34:26] that we need them.

[1:34:28] >> Yes, absolutely. I mean, yes, our grant

[1:34:30] funding is really important and we see

[1:34:32] what happens, right, when a a grant or a

[1:34:34] funding source like for Discovering

[1:34:36] Justice doesn't return. So, they do have

[1:34:38] actual impacts on our programming and

[1:34:41] our students. So, thank you. Yes.

[1:34:44] >> Any other questions?

[1:34:46] >> No. What's the will of the committee as

[1:34:48] far as the consent agenda?

[1:34:52] » Motion to approve um as a whole. Is

[1:34:56] there a B CDE E FG?

[1:34:58] >> Seconded.

[1:34:59] >> Motion has been properly made and second

[1:35:01] to approve consent agenda. I'll read it

[1:35:03] into the record. A approval of minutes

[1:35:06] accounts review subcommittee meeting

[1:35:08] July 7, 2026. B accept acceptance of

[1:35:11] donation back to school teacher

[1:35:12] appreciation event from AJ Debasta

[1:35:15] Foundation and World Vision. C.

[1:35:17] Acceptance of donation Angelo school

[1:35:18] from Mr. James Wade of Costco wholesale.

[1:35:22] D. Acceptance of donation BPS athletic

[1:35:24] department from Franklin Cummings Tech.

[1:35:27] Uh F approval of community schools

[1:35:29] advisory board. F E I'm sorry. F is

[1:35:34] approval of Reed's collaborative

[1:35:35] quarterly report overview September

[1:35:37] 2026. G request for authorization to

[1:35:40] accept proposing expenditures of funds

[1:35:42] FY27 21st CC continuation and

[1:35:46] enhancement grant in the amount of

[1:35:49] $678,720.

[1:35:52] Uh FY27 Commonwealth Preschool

[1:35:54] Partnership Initiative grant in the

[1:35:56] amount of $671,695.

[1:36:01] FY2721st

[1:36:03] CCLC continuation and enhancement grant

[1:36:06] summer in the amount of $190,000.

[1:36:10] FY27 coordinated family and community

[1:36:13] enhance engagement grant CFCE in the

[1:36:16] amount of $158,573

[1:36:20] and FY27 CTE frameworks in competency

[1:36:24] based implementation grant in the amount

[1:36:26] of $25,000.

[1:36:28] A motion has been made improperly.

[1:36:30] Second, Miss Inte,

[1:36:31] >> I actually have a question

[1:36:32] >> on the motion.

[1:36:33] >> Yes. Um, I wanted more clarification on

[1:36:37] E and F. I just thought we was only

[1:36:39] talking about donations.

[1:36:41] Um, can I just have can I just ask you a

[1:36:44] question

[1:36:45] >> on the motion? Can I ask a question?

[1:36:49] for so for the community advisory school

[1:36:51] board.

[1:36:53] >> Um

[1:36:55] I wanted to know like what was the

[1:36:57] process

[1:36:58] for for creating this this revision?

[1:37:01] >> Yes.

[1:37:02] >> And also who was part of it?

[1:37:04] >> Yes. Um so it was a multi-step process

[1:37:07] that um where we actually had to look um

[1:37:11] and it was guided by uh Dr. um Sariah

[1:37:15] Daros. Um, so the community schools

[1:37:18] advisory board, the the the bylaws and

[1:37:22] the way it was structured before, I

[1:37:23] believe was somewhat outdated. That was

[1:37:25] actually something that was brought up

[1:37:26] here at this committee. Um, and so we

[1:37:30] she was um wonderful in being able to

[1:37:32] provide a lot of institutional knowledge

[1:37:35] and old documents for how community

[1:37:38] schools was actually established in the

[1:37:39] first place, how it evolved over time.

[1:37:42] um she actually provided some

[1:37:43] information that Kathy Smith uh had

[1:37:46] provided regarding like again the

[1:37:48] genesis over time. And so basically the

[1:37:50] advisory board

[1:37:52] served a community schools that no

[1:37:54] longer exists like in the format that

[1:37:57] it's in. And so in updating it, she

[1:38:01] wanted it to be a more meaningful

[1:38:03] process with more meaningful engagement.

[1:38:05] Right. Right now I believe some of you

[1:38:07] have participated in those meetings. Um

[1:38:09] I believe Miss Oliver and Mr. Rodriguez

[1:38:11] have gone to those meetings. They're

[1:38:12] more um reporting out and there's 11

[1:38:16] members and there's not it's a little

[1:38:18] bit unclear what the selection process

[1:38:20] is. Um but we worked on and she went

[1:38:24] through several revisions of figuring

[1:38:25] out what would be best um ser what would

[1:38:28] best serve the community schools model.

[1:38:30] So it's very it's similar to what we

[1:38:32] already have but is just updated um and

[1:38:35] would be uh more supportive of her

[1:38:37] process. So she worked with her

[1:38:38] supervisor, worked with Dr. Labilwa, um

[1:38:42] got feedback from her stakeholders and

[1:38:44] put together uh this revision um that

[1:38:47] she would like to put into place

[1:38:48] immediately. Uh so she normally does

[1:38:50] have four quarterly meetings, I believe,

[1:38:52] that um y'all would be invited to. You

[1:38:54] would still continue to be on the the

[1:38:57] board. It's just it would go from, I

[1:38:59] believe, 11 or 13 members down to seven.

[1:39:01] and she's very specific about who would

[1:39:03] be part of that because I believe there

[1:39:06] were there the membership um uh yeah

[1:39:09] didn't serve our current needs

[1:39:12] >> and I'm all about trying to be

[1:39:14] transparent to our community. Can you um

[1:39:17] can you explain to the community the

[1:39:19] seven members that that should be part

[1:39:22] of this um this board?

[1:39:26] >> Absolutely. And so I'm happy to read it,

[1:39:28] but also if it would be okay. Um, Dr.

[1:39:30] Daris couldn't be here with us tonight,

[1:39:32] but Matt Campbell is here and so he may

[1:39:34] be able to shed some light on some of

[1:39:36] these uh on the the change in the

[1:39:39] advisory board if that's okay. But I am

[1:39:42] happy to um

[1:39:45] sorry

[1:39:48] um

[1:39:49] >> ask questions.

[1:39:54] Thank you.

[1:39:55] >> Okay. Well, what do you guys want?

[1:39:57] >> You can sit right here.

[1:39:58] >> We are a team.

[1:40:01] Put them on the spot.

[1:40:03] >> I do have additional questions, though.

[1:40:06] >> Well, I'll do the best I can to answer

[1:40:07] them.

[1:40:07] >> I appreciate that.

[1:40:09] >> Uh, super. Uh, hi.

[1:40:12] >> Hello.

[1:40:13] >> I'm Matt Campbell. I'm a coordinator at

[1:40:14] the community schools. Uh, what's

[1:40:17] happened in the past is we have a very

[1:40:18] large advisory board committee that has

[1:40:22] it. it's very very difficult to schedule

[1:40:24] the quarterly meetings because when you

[1:40:26] have a lot of people a lot of people

[1:40:28] have a lot of stuff going on. So what's

[1:40:31] happened really all through last year

[1:40:34] and off and on through the I think eight

[1:40:36] years I've been part of the community

[1:40:38] schools

[1:40:39] uh we you schedule a meeting the

[1:40:42] invitations go out as it currently

[1:40:44] stands there's members of the city

[1:40:45] council there's community members people

[1:40:49] who used to be parents the it has been a

[1:40:52] very it's it's very difficult to get

[1:40:54] everyone in the same spot at the same

[1:40:57] time I know we've run up against a

[1:40:59] couple years ago

[1:41:01] you guys and it wasn't necessarily all

[1:41:02] of you but the school committee had

[1:41:05] subcommittee meetings you know at

[1:41:09] 7 6:30 we would have a meeting at 6:00

[1:41:12] which okay you're not that's that's

[1:41:14] difficult thing so we've had a lot of

[1:41:15] scheduling problems uh as the

[1:41:17] superintendent said this community

[1:41:19] schools was founded eons ago when this

[1:41:22] building opened and for those of you

[1:41:25] that don't know it is the deal that got

[1:41:27] this high school made

[1:41:30] This high school was controversial when

[1:41:32] it was open because it was moving from

[1:41:34] downtown over to the west side. And the

[1:41:38] one of the things that got this high

[1:41:39] school approved and built was the

[1:41:42] agreement that the community school all

[1:41:44] the other elementary schools and over

[1:41:46] time it's grown into the junior highs

[1:41:48] will be open for the community

[1:41:52] at night many nights during the week.

[1:41:55] Now obviously over time the community

[1:41:57] schools has evolved. Uh what's Dr. De

[1:42:00] Barrow is trying to do is get a workable

[1:42:03] group to kind of be a steering committee

[1:42:05] for what we do. Uh and what we do is I

[1:42:09] think as all of you know and I think

[1:42:10] most people that are watching at home

[1:42:13] know we have a very wide and varied sort

[1:42:16] of platform and you know the British

[1:42:19] would say our brief is extensive. Uh

[1:42:24] Dr. Dr. Dearis has outlined she would

[1:42:25] like a s a designate from the

[1:42:27] superintendent. In the past, we've

[1:42:29] always had an administrator outside the

[1:42:31] community schools on it. Uh one city

[1:42:33] counselor at large or a mayor's

[1:42:36] designate. We've have ward counselors

[1:42:38] before, but if that represents one ward,

[1:42:41] it would be helpful if we had somebody

[1:42:42] who sort of is responsible for the whole

[1:42:45] city. And if they're unable, I think the

[1:42:47] mayor's designate sort of covers that.

[1:42:50] uh a school committee member which would

[1:42:53] obviously be you all of you uh the

[1:42:56] director of the community schools sort

[1:42:57] of chairs the meeting and runs the

[1:42:59] meeting not not dissimilar to what uh

[1:43:01] Dr.

[1:43:03] does in front of all of you. Uh and

[1:43:05] three community members uh ideally

[1:43:09] people that are in the school system

[1:43:11] that are have children in the school cit

[1:43:14] system reside in Brockton. So they kind

[1:43:17] of get the idea of people being inside

[1:43:20] the schools but also in the community

[1:43:23] have kids coming up or in the school

[1:43:26] system. So they're sort of, you know,

[1:43:28] rather than just doing the same thing

[1:43:29] every year, they provide a little bit

[1:43:31] more insight as to what parents want,

[1:43:34] what the kids want, what people need,

[1:43:36] and how we are going forward.

[1:43:41] » Um, well, thank you for clarifying the

[1:43:44] community members because when you say

[1:43:46] community members, I'm just thinking

[1:43:49] um parents that's not working in the

[1:43:52] schools or caregivers. And I think in

[1:43:56] order for us to allow a voice to be

[1:43:59] heard, um I guess my question to you is

[1:44:03] uh why are we specifically well prefer

[1:44:08] someone that's working in our school to

[1:44:10] be part of this? The reason why is

[1:44:13] because we also have that they can get

[1:44:15] compensated.

[1:44:16] Um

[1:44:18] which is great, right? Like we don't

[1:44:19] want anyone to work for free. Uh but I I

[1:44:23] do want more clarification first on

[1:44:25] paying them. But why not allow this

[1:44:28] opportunity to be for those that's not a

[1:44:32] someone that works within our schools?

[1:44:34] >> We are a school I can answer that

[1:44:36] actually. Hopefully it's an acceptable

[1:44:38] answer. Uh we are a school program.

[1:44:43] There is a lot of people that would you

[1:44:46] know that feel the community schools is

[1:44:48] outside of the Brockton public schools

[1:44:50] or that we're on or that we are run by

[1:44:53] the city or we are a nonprofit that is

[1:44:56] existing and there are some fine

[1:44:58] nonprofits. We are run by the schools.

[1:45:00] What we have found over the course of

[1:45:02] time is the best advice we get is when

[1:45:05] with a smaller group of people is to get

[1:45:08] people who sort of understand how the

[1:45:10] school system works and also have

[1:45:14] children in the school system. So they

[1:45:17] sort of bridge both you know the school

[1:45:19] system because there's a lot of stuff

[1:45:21] that parent you know internal workings

[1:45:23] and processes that you know

[1:45:28] need to be followed. They have an

[1:45:30] understanding of that. They also have

[1:45:31] all the parent perspectives of, you

[1:45:33] know, going to little league on a Friday

[1:45:35] night or going to youth soccer on a

[1:45:38] Saturday morning, going to the play,

[1:45:41] going to the art, you know, whatever art

[1:45:43] program here. So, what we're trying to

[1:45:45] do is hit as many different groups

[1:45:47] because a lot of our a lot of people in

[1:45:51] the community schools that use the

[1:45:52] community schools are

[1:45:57] part of the community, but they're also

[1:45:58] working here as part of the school

[1:46:01] system. They're also working as part of

[1:46:03] the the city. and we're trying to get as

[1:46:06] many different perspectives and as many

[1:46:08] different ideas

[1:46:10] while still sort of maintaining our

[1:46:12] presence as a school department.

[1:46:16] >> I'm still struggling with that part.

[1:46:18] Well, um, can we try to figure out if we

[1:46:21] for the three community members? I guess

[1:46:23] I understand where you're coming from,

[1:46:25] right? like the that we would like

[1:46:26] parents that are teachers to be part of

[1:46:30] this, but I also don't want the ones

[1:46:33] that wants their voice to be heard that

[1:46:36] not in our school um that's not inside

[1:46:38] of our schools to miss this opportunity.

[1:46:42] So like for example, I do have a lot of

[1:46:44] parents that's part of the DPAC and they

[1:46:47] have been asking how can they be

[1:46:49] involved? How can they um voices be

[1:46:52] heard? Um, are we open to instead of

[1:46:56] three community members to only be

[1:46:57] people that work in our schools, can we

[1:46:59] allow two to be two of them to be part

[1:47:03] of the school system and one from a

[1:47:09] parent advisory group that is invested.

[1:47:11] I do understand about the scheduling

[1:47:13] because it happens here with us too,

[1:47:15] right? Scheduling with multiple people

[1:47:17] takes time and a lot of times things

[1:47:19] don't get done. But we do have a lot of

[1:47:22] invested parents like I said the one

[1:47:24] that's part of um a parent advisory

[1:47:28] group. Can we start tapping into them to

[1:47:31] see is this something that um they want

[1:47:34] to be part of? And now if they are not

[1:47:37] and we can't find anybody of course I

[1:47:39] want us to move forward. So is that

[1:47:41] something that you can think about and

[1:47:44] explore even if it's not this year is

[1:47:47] that something that we can start? I'm

[1:47:49] not in a position right here to approve

[1:47:52] or disapprove anything. Certainly

[1:47:54] something I can bring back to the

[1:47:55] superintendent and Dr. Dearos for

[1:47:58] consideration. I don't have the

[1:48:00] authority to sit here and say yes, we're

[1:48:02] going to have somebody from the uh

[1:48:04] special education pack or you know the

[1:48:07] George school or any other pack or any

[1:48:09] of the other packs beyond the community

[1:48:12] schools. In the past, I know going back

[1:48:16] several years, I used to go to a lot of

[1:48:18] the pack meetings. When I first got this

[1:48:20] job, one of the things that I was asked

[1:48:22] to do was this actually predates Dr.

[1:48:24] Deberos. I was assigned to go to a lot

[1:48:27] of the pack meetings to try and re, you

[1:48:29] know, that is something that I think we

[1:48:32] could revisit as well. And I can, you

[1:48:34] know, I'm sure we could all do that, but

[1:48:36] I can bring that to Dr. Dearos.

[1:48:38] >> I appreciate that. Uh again um I am a

[1:48:42] parent but I'm also I do try to make it

[1:48:45] a priority to attend these pack

[1:48:46] meetings. Uh and one of the ongoing

[1:48:50] concern is how can they voice be heard

[1:48:53] and I think this would be a great start

[1:48:55] in a um and a great opportunity. Um, so

[1:48:58] I don't have any more questions for this

[1:49:01] for today, but I also don't I'm not sure

[1:49:04] if we're ready to vote if I feel like

[1:49:06] there's some pending

[1:49:08] clarification as far as the three

[1:49:11] community members. I mean, I'm open for

[1:49:14] a discussion from you guys and to see

[1:49:16] how we can go about this.

[1:49:18] >> Um, Mr. Rodriguez,

[1:49:21] >> thank you. um you can pull it out um for

[1:49:25] further review or um recommendations and

[1:49:27] take it up on the next committee

[1:49:28] meeting. Just need to make the motion

[1:49:30] put on the floor. But this is I believe

[1:49:32] this is the second time that we're

[1:49:35] restructuring community schools advisory

[1:49:36] board. I remember when I first got on

[1:49:37] there was about like 20 something to 30

[1:49:39] members

[1:49:40] >> since I've been in I started in I think

[1:49:43] 2019.

[1:49:45] This is the second restructuring. We

[1:49:47] went from over 20 people at the first

[1:49:49] meetings down to 13. And it is still a

[1:49:53] struggle to get

[1:49:55] we at that point when we had 20 we had

[1:50:00] a wide variety of people and it was very

[1:50:03] difficult to schedule a meeting. So we

[1:50:05] are trying to hone down.

[1:50:07] >> Yeah. Um my my only recommendation would

[1:50:10] be I know the committee we've added uh

[1:50:13] second members to some of the you know

[1:50:15] through save our sports and um

[1:50:19] uh other committees. So I I would like

[1:50:21] to see two members of this committee uh

[1:50:23] remain on uh community schools and I do

[1:50:26] agree with um member CentO to uh look at

[1:50:30] other options of how we want to

[1:50:31] structure it because that you know we're

[1:50:32] the final approval on it. So any

[1:50:34] recommendations uh we could forward it

[1:50:36] to the superintendent um to get

[1:50:38] something teed up. So

[1:50:41] >> Miss Isak,

[1:50:42] >> thank you. Um actually, [clears throat]

[1:50:44] um Mr. Rodriguez touched base on two of

[1:50:47] the items I was going to mention is um

[1:50:49] the way this was written, I read it as

[1:50:52] three community members, not BPS

[1:50:55] employees.

[1:50:56] >> Yeah. So that's how I understood it

[1:50:58] because I do agree we should have the

[1:51:00] community and if you want to have

[1:51:01] employees that's fine but I read it as

[1:51:05] community members within our community

[1:51:07] parents or those that want to advocate

[1:51:09] for our students. And then in our

[1:51:12] subcommittee assignments we do have two

[1:51:14] members. So that is part of our

[1:51:16] subcommittee. So we do have the two

[1:51:18] members there. And one other

[1:51:19] recommendation I would make because it

[1:51:21] kind of is contradicting but um we all

[1:51:25] serve different wards and I think we

[1:51:28] shouldn't just limit it to city

[1:51:29] councilors because that's only four. We

[1:51:31] should also just um city councils at

[1:51:33] large. I think it should be rewarded and

[1:51:35] have it be city counselor um because we

[1:51:40] I get phone calls for all the schools

[1:51:42] but if there's an issue I will reach out

[1:51:43] to that school committee member first

[1:51:45] and work with them and bring it to their

[1:51:46] attention. So, there was some rewarding

[1:51:49] here. Um, that was a little different,

[1:51:51] but I thought it was going to be

[1:51:52] community members. The way this was

[1:51:54] written, I didn't realize it was just

[1:51:55] going to be based on our, you know,

[1:51:58] employees. Um, and I do remember cuz I

[1:52:00] served that was the the year I served on

[1:52:02] community schools and there was always

[1:52:04] scheduling conflicts and it was just I

[1:52:06] don't think we ever met to be honest

[1:52:07] with you. Um, because it just kept

[1:52:09] getting cancelled. So, it is hard to

[1:52:10] coordinate. But, do they have to have a

[1:52:13] quorum? I mean, I do they have the

[1:52:15] bylaws as far as community schools,

[1:52:17] >> you have to have a quorum.

[1:52:18] >> Yeah. What is their quorum? The way that

[1:52:19] the bylaws are written, can we see a

[1:52:21] copy of the bylaws?

[1:52:22] >> I don't have it in front of me. I I

[1:52:24] think right now there's either 11 or 13

[1:52:27] people on the committee and I want to

[1:52:30] say the quorum is well be more than 50.

[1:52:32] It's either six or seven. It's more than

[1:52:34] seven.

[1:52:35] >> Yeah, I would definitely like to um I

[1:52:37] would, you know, with Miss Inte, Mr.

[1:52:38] Rodriguez and any other member, I would

[1:52:40] make a recommendation to remove this for

[1:52:42] further discussion just so we can get

[1:52:44] some clarification, review the bylaws

[1:52:46] because again it was one member for

[1:52:48] school committee and we did make we did

[1:52:51] uh a revision and add an additional

[1:52:54] school committee member um to make sure

[1:52:57] there was representation at the

[1:52:58] meetings. So whatever you know the will

[1:53:01] of the committee but I [clears throat]

[1:53:03] definitely would would prefer a little

[1:53:04] more info on this. With that in mind,

[1:53:06] then we would need to withdraw the

[1:53:08] motion on the floor.

[1:53:09] >> I will withdraw the motion.

[1:53:11] >> Who second it?

[1:53:13] >> Mina. Second it.

[1:53:14] >> Um,

[1:53:15] >> withdraw. Um, now I'll take a motion to

[1:53:19] remove and postpone item E, approval of

[1:53:22] community schools advisory board, if

[1:53:24] that's the will of the committee.

[1:53:26] Did Miss Antio have a second question or

[1:53:29] was it just a

[1:53:30] >> It's for um the reads collaborator but

[1:53:33] if you want to take a motion on this

[1:53:35] >> we can take a motion post

[1:53:36] >> and then come back to my question. Yes.

[1:53:38] >> Yes. What's the will of the committee?

[1:53:41] >> She has to put a motion on.

[1:53:42] >> Yes. I need a motion

[1:53:46] >> the motion to take out

[1:53:49] >> item E and postpone it to next meeting.

[1:53:52] >> You just said it

[1:53:53] >> motion as stated.

[1:53:55] >> Thank you. Second.

[1:53:56] >> Motion has been properly made in second.

[1:53:57] Miss Conteo,

[1:53:59] >> yes.

[1:53:59] >> Miss Oliver,

[1:54:00] >> yes.

[1:54:00] >> Mr. Rodriguez,

[1:54:01] >> yes.

[1:54:01] >> Miss Azac,

[1:54:02] >> yes.

[1:54:02] >> Mr. Pina,

[1:54:03] >> no.

[1:54:04] >> Mr. Sullivan,

[1:54:06] >> yes.

[1:54:07] >> I'm a yes. As well, it carries. Um, now

[1:54:09] we can go into the

[1:54:11] >> Thank you.

[1:54:12] >> F.

[1:54:14] >> Um, my question is for the Ree

[1:54:17] Collaborative. Um, thank you for

[1:54:19] bringing this um forward. I know that we

[1:54:22] spoke about this um and I understand

[1:54:24] this is our third year that we are

[1:54:28] partnered with them um and I'm sure this

[1:54:30] business this has been a a critical uh

[1:54:34] partnership. So my question for you is

[1:54:38] um

[1:54:39] my understanding is that the rea was

[1:54:41] chosen from several collaboratives um

[1:54:45] years ago and my question to you is have

[1:54:48] you been happy with them? Um and two uh

[1:54:53] would you would there ever be a reason

[1:54:55] for us to switch? So if you can educate

[1:54:57] us on that.

[1:54:58] >> Yes, absolutely. So uh mo many school

[1:55:01] districts do um choose to be part of

[1:55:04] collaboratives because it does provide

[1:55:06] us the ability to have services that we

[1:55:10] can't provide um within the school

[1:55:12] system and also provides us with

[1:55:14] additional you know uh services and

[1:55:17] testing that we wouldn't be able to

[1:55:19] provide. And so I actually recently um

[1:55:23] went back and watched one of the I think

[1:55:25] one of the meetings where Dr. Labila was

[1:55:27] presenting on some different

[1:55:28] collaboratives and and the committee

[1:55:30] chose the Reeds collaborative. Um and so

[1:55:32] I think we are starting our third year.

[1:55:34] Um and you do receive these quarterly

[1:55:36] reports just to you know um keep you all

[1:55:39] a breast of what is going on. They have

[1:55:41] board meetings very similar to this uh

[1:55:44] where superintendent and special

[1:55:45] education directors will uh go to the

[1:55:48] meetings um and you know they they we

[1:55:52] vote on their uh approvals for new staff

[1:55:55] and hiring and again very similar to

[1:55:58] this board. Uh we have been very happy

[1:56:01] with uh the reads collaborative and the

[1:56:03] services they provided. In fact, we have

[1:56:05] actually uh expanded sort of um the

[1:56:08] testing support that we get from them.

[1:56:11] So, it certainly and there is because

[1:56:12] we're a collaborative board me uh member

[1:56:15] um it it does end up being um

[1:56:20] being more financially uh viable for us

[1:56:24] to be able to provide these services

[1:56:25] because we're part of the collaborative.

[1:56:27] Um so, yes, we are very happy uh with

[1:56:29] the collaborative. They're very uh

[1:56:31] professional and organized. they address

[1:56:33] issues in a timely manner. They actually

[1:56:35] recently built a new facility. Um, and

[1:56:38] so it's it's been a great collaboration.

[1:56:41] It's that's a great question about if

[1:56:42] there were ever a time we wanted to

[1:56:44] switch collaboratives. Absolutely. I

[1:56:46] believe that would be within our purview

[1:56:48] if we were for some reason not happy

[1:56:51] with our collaborative. Uh, but um, it

[1:56:53] has been an extremely positive

[1:56:55] experience and they have been very

[1:56:57] responsive to our needs and they have

[1:56:59] served our students very well. I'm happy

[1:57:01] to hear that the partnership continues

[1:57:04] to be strong and that it is supporting

[1:57:06] our district. So, it sounds like for

[1:57:08] right now, no changes needed. We're just

[1:57:10] going to keep going, which is great.

[1:57:12] Thank you. I don't have any more

[1:57:14] questions now. We can get back to

[1:57:17] >> any other members. See none, I'll take a

[1:57:19] motion.

[1:57:21] >> Motion to approve agenda A B C D FG.

[1:57:26] >> Our motion has been made. Is there a

[1:57:27] second?

[1:57:28] >> Second. Motion has been properly made

[1:57:30] and second. Um, I've already read the

[1:57:33] same into the record. Miss Conteo,

[1:57:36] >> yes. Miss Oliver,

[1:57:37] >> yes.

[1:57:37] >> Mr. Rodriguez,

[1:57:38] >> yes.

[1:57:38] >> Miss Azac,

[1:57:39] >> yes.

[1:57:40] >> Mr. Pina,

[1:57:40] >> yes.

[1:57:41] >> Mr. Sullivan,

[1:57:43] >> yes.

[1:57:44] >> I'm a yes as well. It carries. We will

[1:57:46] move on to agenda item five, unfinished

[1:57:49] business. Is there any unfinished

[1:57:51] business?

[1:57:54] Seeing none, we'll move on to agenda

[1:57:56] item six, new businesses. We have items

[1:58:00] A, B, C, D, and E. Um,

[1:58:04] there's a few that we actually will be

[1:58:06] taking out of this uh list, but I would

[1:58:10] like to take a motion to approve the

[1:58:12] ones that Miss Azac,

[1:58:14] >> I'd like to remove um letter B

[1:58:19] for for discussion if possible.

[1:58:20] >> I was going to give it to you anyways.

[1:58:22] Um

[1:58:24] in that case, you can go ahead.

[1:58:26] >> Okay. Um so earlier this evening around

[1:58:29] six o'clock uh myself, Mr. Gomes um and

[1:58:32] Miss Contento met for the building

[1:58:34] naming subcommittee meeting and um we

[1:58:37] had uh councelor Shirley Asac um

[1:58:41] attended and so did uh Nancy Tucker and

[1:58:44] a few others that um spoke about uh Dr.

[1:58:48] Appling and um the recommendation to not

[1:58:53] change the name of the street but to add

[1:58:57] a memorial plaque um and name it Dr.

[1:59:00] Appan. Believe it was Dr. Apple M her

[1:59:04] middle initial. Um

[1:59:06] >> so recommendation was made. It was

[1:59:08] wonderful. We got to hear from um you

[1:59:10] know sorority sisters uh part of but

[1:59:13] there's a chapter that's here um in

[1:59:15] Brockton. We heard from friends, family

[1:59:18] and it was wonderful to acknowledge Dr.

[1:59:20] Appling and um the leg the legacy that

[1:59:24] she left behind. We do have many many

[1:59:26] educators, many many staff over the

[1:59:28] years that you know will be remembered

[1:59:32] down the road but you know tonight was

[1:59:33] about Dr. Appling and you know the

[1:59:36] committee made a recommendation uh Mr.

[1:59:38] Gomes made a motion and it was seconded

[1:59:40] by Miss Centeo to move this to the

[1:59:41] committee of a whole to make a

[1:59:43] recommendation to um

[1:59:46] name Memorial Drive which is the

[1:59:49] entrance off of Forest A. So it's

[1:59:51] Memorial Drive to name um put a plaque

[1:59:54] at the Memorial Drive signage um reading

[1:59:58] um

[2:00:01] Dr. Claire M. Appling Way and if the

[2:00:05] committee if we could vote on that this

[2:00:07] evening. Um if anyone has any questions

[2:00:11] or um

[2:00:14] you know it was it was favorably moved

[2:00:16] to the committee of a whole for further

[2:00:18] discussion and for potential vote. And

[2:00:21] we would if if it passes tonight then we

[2:00:25] would like to have this uh taken care of

[2:00:27] before the end of the year. have the memorial plaque put out

[2:00:33] >> any uh Mr. P

[2:00:34] >> make a motion to um to pass uh making

[2:00:38] that the memorial memorial way whatever

[2:00:41] she said over there

[2:00:42] >> Dr. Appling Mr.

[2:00:44] >> Claire M. App

[2:00:46] >> second if I can.

[2:00:47] >> A motion.

[2:00:48] >> I feel like it would be nice if some of

[2:00:51] the members here can hear one thing or

[2:00:53] two about her. I think for me the

[2:00:55] takeaway was that she was the first

[2:00:58] woman in leadership role here at

[2:00:59] Brockton Brockton High. And I feel like

[2:01:03] we all should hear that piece um because

[2:01:05] that's important. It's also important

[2:01:07] for us women um to continue to take

[2:01:11] bigger lead bigger role in all settings.

[2:01:14] So um like you said there was many

[2:01:17] friends and families that was here some

[2:01:20] of them were colleague

[2:01:22] >> um so just wanted to make that statement

[2:01:26] before we um say yes and I'm ready.

[2:01:30] >> Absolutely. I will um I'm going to try

[2:01:32] to see Miss Tucker had uh emailed me her

[2:01:36] presentation and I actually I just

[2:01:38] logged off so give me two seconds. Um I

[2:01:42] will go on. You know Dr. Appling um was

[2:01:45] 52 years of service at Brockton public

[2:01:47] school system. Um you know she was

[2:01:50] appointed to appointed one of the four

[2:01:53] original house masters back then. That's

[2:01:55] what we called them as housemasters. So,

[2:01:57] she served she was with us from 1970 to

[2:01:59] 1999.

[2:02:01] Um, you know, she she moved through the

[2:02:03] ranks. Um, she was over at West it was

[2:02:06] West Junior High School back then. Then

[2:02:08] she went to the high school. It says

[2:02:10] that she transferred in 1962 to Brockton

[2:02:12] High School. Um, but just hearing about

[2:02:15] um I would really love to

[2:02:18] read some of the items here, but again,

[2:02:20] those can watch it at the previous

[2:02:22] meeting. I mean they talked about you

[2:02:24] know we saw many of us saw Dr. Ablin and

[2:02:27] I'll be honest it was intimidating um

[2:02:30] she was a very strong strong um

[2:02:35] you know principal here and to hear the

[2:02:38] soft side of Dr. Appling was was amazing

[2:02:41] and I just and I I mentioned it during

[2:02:43] the meeting when I first [clears throat]

[2:02:45] came on to the committee I just remember

[2:02:46] I I was sitting next to her and I'm like

[2:02:48] who would have ever thought here's me

[2:02:50] class of 91 sitting Dr. next to Dr.

[2:02:53] Appling and and I was like so

[2:02:55] intimidated like I was nervous and then

[2:02:56] I just looked over at her and she's like

[2:02:58] she was so excited that Brockton public

[2:03:02] schools still reaches out to her. They

[2:03:04] were reaching out to her, inviting her

[2:03:06] to the events and she was just so

[2:03:08] honored to still have this welcome uh

[2:03:11] invitation to the events and to be there

[2:03:13] for our students. And I I believe it was

[2:03:15] the superintendent's um you know they for the seniors they have the book

[2:03:19] awards and I remember sitting next to

[2:03:21] her for that and after just leaving

[2:03:23] there I was just like oh my god she's

[2:03:25] like the sweetest thing ever and then

[2:03:26] listening to some of the um some of the

[2:03:30] people that were here and just talking

[2:03:32] about

[2:03:34] her legacy and what she has left um for

[2:03:37] Brockton. Yes, we have many many people

[2:03:39] that need to be acknowledged but to

[2:03:41] today was about her. So, I mean this I

[2:03:44] can read it quickly. It's it's about a

[2:03:46] page and a half. Um, you don't want me

[2:03:48] to read it? [laughter]

[2:03:50] >> Come on.

[2:03:50] >> They can go watch the meeting if

[2:03:52] >> they can go watch it. But she went

[2:03:53] everything from, you know, uh helping

[2:03:56] out the kids in in in her neighborhood

[2:03:58] in the community through the holidays

[2:03:59] and stuff and camps and it was just a

[2:04:02] different side of her. So, I would

[2:04:03] definitely definitely

[2:04:05] >> recommend that people just go watch the

[2:04:07] um building naming subcommittee and

[2:04:09] listen listen to some of the

[2:04:11] >> um statements people were making cuz you

[2:04:15] know this is her legacy and honestly she

[2:04:17] would be she'd be in awe you know having

[2:04:19] [clears throat] this. So,

[2:04:20] >> thank you Miss Azac.

[2:04:21] >> Thank you.

[2:04:22] >> Um a motion has been properly made in

[2:04:24] second. Miss Inu,

[2:04:26] >> yes.

[2:04:26] >> Miss Oliver,

[2:04:27] >> yes.

[2:04:27] >> Mr. Rodriguez,

[2:04:28] >> yes. Miss Azac,

[2:04:29] >> yes. Mr. Pina,

[2:04:30] >> yes.

[2:04:31] >> Mr. Sullivan.

[2:04:33] >> Yes.

[2:04:33] >> I'm a yes as well. It carries. Uh be I

[2:04:37] do apologize. I missed item A, which is

[2:04:39] discussion potential vote bid review

[2:04:41] subcommittee meeting uh September 22nd

[2:04:44] which was an off day. So we didn't get

[2:04:47] to bring that to the whole committee.

[2:04:48] Did we?

[2:04:50] >> No.

[2:04:50] So Mr. Rodriguez, my apologies.

[2:04:53] >> Don't worry. Um on Tuesday uh September

[2:04:56] 22nd the bid review subcommittee met and

[2:04:59] there was approval of uh two bids. Uh

[2:05:02] the first one was um awarded in the

[2:05:05] amount of 100,000 for one year to Hatch

[2:05:07] Landscape and Design uh for paving

[2:05:10] services and the second bid uh was up to

[2:05:14] uh $150,000 for three years to Buckley

[2:05:19] um elevator for elevator services uh for

[2:05:21] the district. Um, I'll put a motion on

[2:05:25] the floor for approval of the FY27

[2:05:28] school bids. Um, bid BPS-2026-031

[2:05:34] for paving services of up to $100,000

[2:05:37] one year hatch landscape

[2:05:39] >> in design.

[2:05:41] [laughter]

[2:05:42] >> Hold on.

[2:05:43] >> He's reading into the record. Go ahead.

[2:05:45] reading uh with both bids uh and also

[2:05:48] bid uh BPS 2026-036

[2:05:52] up to 150,000 uh for 3 years to Buckley

[2:05:56] Elevator.

[2:05:57] >> Now you can second it.

[2:05:58] >> Seconded.

[2:05:58] >> Motion has been properly made and

[2:06:00] second. Misso,

[2:06:01] >> yes.

[2:06:02] >> Miss Oliver,

[2:06:02] >> yes.

[2:06:03] >> Mr. Rodriguez,

[2:06:04] >> yes.

[2:06:04] >> Miss Azac,

[2:06:05] >> yes.

[2:06:05] >> Mr. Pina,

[2:06:06] >> yes.

[2:06:06] >> Mr. Sullivan,

[2:06:08] >> yes.

[2:06:09] >> And I'm a yes as well. It carries. Um

[2:06:12] item C, discussion, potential vote.

[2:06:15] Superintendent's evaluation approval. Um

[2:06:18] you guys have my slideshow.

[2:06:21] All right. Perfect. So every year the

[2:06:24] school committee has the privilege and

[2:06:27] um

[2:06:29] obligation of doing the superintendent's

[2:06:31] evaluation. Usually in the beginning of

[2:06:34] the fiscal year superintendent presents

[2:06:35] her uh indicators and goals for the

[2:06:38] whole fiscal year as she did earlier

[2:06:40] today. And towards the end of the fiscal

[2:06:43] year, this body goes over all those

[2:06:46] indicators and we rate her um from

[2:06:50] unsatisfactory, needs improvement,

[2:06:52] proficient to exemplary. And those

[2:06:55] scores are then uh combined and put

[2:06:57] together for us to present for this

[2:06:59] committee to accept and approve. All the

[2:07:01] evaluations from each individual me

[2:07:04] individual member will be um are usually

[2:07:07] uh uploaded to our website. people can

[2:07:09] go review and read what we said and how

[2:07:11] we um evaluated her and the work that

[2:07:14] she's been doing. So for this past

[2:07:17] fiscal year the um progress towards goal

[2:07:20] there were three major items as she

[2:07:22] presented earlier that we are required

[2:07:25] for uh implementation improvement. One

[2:07:27] of those is student learning goal. The

[2:07:29] second one is professional practice goal

[2:07:31] and the third one is district

[2:07:33] improvement goals. As far as performance

[2:07:36] uh indicator, we have those four

[2:07:38] standards. The first one is the

[2:07:40] instructional leadership. Second one is

[2:07:42] management and operations. Uh third is

[2:07:45] family and community engagement. Fourth

[2:07:47] is professional culture. And based on

[2:07:50] everybody's evaluation, uh myself,

[2:07:53] member CentO, member Pina were

[2:07:56] designated to um meet and put all the

[2:08:00] results together so we can average average out the um the scores

[2:08:05] and how she performed for the uh three

[2:08:08] goals. Professional practice, she met

[2:08:12] for the district improvement, she met

[2:08:13] the goal. And for student learning,

[2:08:15] there were significant progress. As far

[2:08:17] as the standards uh for instructional

[2:08:20] leadership, she performed in the

[2:08:22] proficient range for management and

[2:08:24] operations proficient as well. Family

[2:08:27] and community engagement proficient as

[2:08:29] well and professional culture

[2:08:31] proficient. The overall summitive rating

[2:08:34] was a proficient score. Uh this is based

[2:08:37] on every individual member scoring

[2:08:39] subcategories of each one of these

[2:08:41] standards saying how did she do as far

[2:08:44] as curriculum? how she should do as far

[2:08:46] as uh instruction in the classroom. So,

[2:08:48] you know, evaluating our teacher, so on

[2:08:50] and so forth and the average of those

[2:08:53] will tell you the overall score for each

[2:08:55] of these standards and she was

[2:08:57] proficient on all of them. I believe in

[2:08:59] past year what we did when that was my

[2:09:02] first time doing the evaluation uh we

[2:09:06] took some a few of the comments from

[2:09:08] each member under each one of these

[2:09:10] standards and put it with the whole

[2:09:12] evaluation packet and then the overall

[2:09:14] comment we use everybody's um evaluation

[2:09:18] comments for this year um myself and

[2:09:22] Misso I know unfortunately Mr.

[2:09:25] uh was unable to attend due to um

[2:09:28] outside of his control uh circumstances,

[2:09:32] but we used everybody's evaluation for

[2:09:35] every uh standard and every indicator.

[2:09:38] So, the packet that you guys have and

[2:09:40] they will be uploaded to our website has

[2:09:42] everybody's comments, everybody's

[2:09:44] evaluation for every indicator. Um I

[2:09:47] thought it would be fair and transparent

[2:09:48] that we put everybody's comment for each

[2:09:50] section so the public has the

[2:09:52] opportunity to read. Either way, we were

[2:09:54] going to upload all these um all the

[2:09:56] evaluation from each member. But a few

[2:09:58] things that I wanted to highlight. Uh

[2:10:00] these are comments from different

[2:10:02] members. Uh I subdivided them into

[2:10:05] strengths and into each standard. I put

[2:10:08] a few um a quick sentence paragraph if

[2:10:11] you will uh from you guys and some of

[2:10:14] you will recognize your comments. I hope

[2:10:16] you do. Um for instance from

[2:10:19] instructional leadership uh an area of

[2:10:22] strength uh from one of the members they

[2:10:25] said maintaining a clear focus on

[2:10:27] teaching learning and continuous

[2:10:29] improvement across the district. This is

[2:10:31] what they have seen for operations. Uh a

[2:10:34] member said I believe this is the

[2:10:36] superintendent's strongest standard and

[2:10:38] the year's work is exceptionally well

[2:10:40] documented for family and community. Um

[2:10:45] the comment reads as her collaborative

[2:10:47] approach and accessibility have helped

[2:10:49] foster greater trust and partnership and

[2:10:52] for culture has de demonstrally rebuilt

[2:10:56] professional and intergovernmental

[2:10:58] relationships. This district's recovery

[2:11:01] required as far as uh growth. Obviously

[2:11:05] uh there's always areas for growth. For

[2:11:07] instructional we have demonstrate to

[2:11:10] demonstrate whether interventions are

[2:11:11] producing results not simply whether

[2:11:13] programs were implemented. Uh for

[2:11:16] operations uh fiscal systems especially

[2:11:19] require stronger transparency planning

[2:11:22] monitoring and accountability for family

[2:11:25] and community um engagement. A more

[2:11:28] visible and consistence presence

[2:11:29] throughout the community. And for

[2:11:32] culture, we heard that areas that we

[2:11:34] need to continue working on,

[2:11:36] particularly communication and

[2:11:37] continuous learning. Uh these are just a

[2:11:40] few of some of the comments that were

[2:11:41] submitted by uh members of this uh

[2:11:44] school committee. Uh the full

[2:11:47] evaluation packet will be uploaded so

[2:11:49] members of the community can go and take

[2:11:51] a look, read some of the feedback and

[2:11:53] some areas of strength and growth that

[2:11:55] uh were provided. If members have any

[2:11:58] question, comments, concerns, more than

[2:12:00] happy to take them. Superintendent if

[2:12:02] you have anything as well. Uh, Miss

[2:12:04] Oliver,

[2:12:06] >> thank you. I appreciate that. Um, I do

[2:12:08] like the whole evaluation process. Um, I

[2:12:12] get great joy of doing it even when I do

[2:12:15] it for my nursing my nurses and clinical

[2:12:17] supervisors. Um I think the take um away

[2:12:21] is just basically the growth that I've

[2:12:23] seen since you've been here and the

[2:12:26] recovery that you have implemented with

[2:12:28] your team and how we're moving forward

[2:12:31] and we're not so much looking at the

[2:12:33] past. You walked into a a disarray, a

[2:12:37] mess, a disaster, a chaos, and I was

[2:12:39] part of that when you walked in. Um, and

[2:12:42] now I see a whole different um, school

[2:12:46] district since you walked in and all the

[2:12:48] work that you have done with your lead

[2:12:50] with your team. I appreciate each one of

[2:12:52] them because I think it's been a team

[2:12:54] work. It hasn't been just a solo person.

[2:12:56] hasn't just been I I I there's

[2:12:59] definitely been a team and just working

[2:13:01] to figure out and also the the ability

[2:13:04] to work with every each one of us

[2:13:08] different personality um and taking back

[2:13:11] what we're asking individually and

[2:13:13] respecting our opinions and to and bring

[2:13:16] it back to your team and say okay how

[2:13:18] can we do this better I do appreciate

[2:13:20] that because some of us are very

[2:13:22] stubbornheaded and we want certain

[2:13:24] things to go um certain way like

[2:13:27] tomorrow not giving you enough um you

[2:13:30] know area of improvement and taking time

[2:13:33] cuz nothing is done overnight especially

[2:13:36] after everything that we've been through

[2:13:39] the deficit the deficit and everything

[2:13:41] else I think it's um it's uphill battle

[2:13:45] and I see it every day and I see how

[2:13:47] sometimes we had our conversations we

[2:13:49] have spoken and I see how

[2:13:51] [clears throat]

[2:13:51] you are trying your best and I do

[2:13:54] appreciate that Um, and I do see

[2:13:56] sometimes you you're tired, you're

[2:13:58] exhausted, but you keep moving. And

[2:14:01] that's all we can ask. I think we ask to

[2:14:04] build a a team and a relationship

[2:14:06] between this all members and with you

[2:14:09] and your team to respect. At the end of

[2:14:11] the day, we have to be professional. We

[2:14:13] got to respect and give you room to grow

[2:14:16] and to make those improvement. We can't

[2:14:18] just expect it to be tomorrow that you

[2:14:20] get it done. But I do see the grace. I

[2:14:23] do see your professionalism. I do see

[2:14:26] the love that you have for the city and

[2:14:28] the students and educators and that's

[2:14:30] what all we ask is for you to continue

[2:14:32] showing that and when I see um different

[2:14:36] post of you going to different

[2:14:37] activities and how the students just get

[2:14:40] to you and and the educators and some of

[2:14:43] them are speak very highly of you and

[2:14:44] this is what we wanted. It was totally

[2:14:46] not like that when we when I first

[2:14:49] started with the old superintendent, but

[2:14:51] I do see the growth and I do appreciate

[2:14:53] that you do take all the feedbacks. You

[2:14:56] allow it to sink in and you do your job.

[2:14:58] At the end of the day, you basically

[2:15:01] turn off the noise and you silent it all

[2:15:03] and you do what we asking you to do is

[2:15:05] continue moving the school district

[2:15:07] forward. Thank you.

[2:15:08] >> Thank you. Uh Miss Cinte followed by

[2:15:11] Miss Azac.

[2:15:14] >> Hello. Thank you for all the work. Um so

[2:15:18] as someone that was um

[2:15:22] elected or chosen to kind to help you um

[2:15:26] to help with the with preparing this

[2:15:29] material.

[2:15:31] I was kind of shocked at how some of us

[2:15:35] how how some of our comments was very

[2:15:38] broad. So like I am someone that

[2:15:40] supervise a team of seven and I also do

[2:15:43] yearly reviews. Um for me as a

[2:15:47] supervisor cuz we always want to make it

[2:15:49] very clear that we are your boss. Um

[2:15:53] that when I am supervising my folks I do

[2:15:57] get I I do provide feedback to them in

[2:15:59] the moment allow them for them to grow

[2:16:02] or not. Um and when I do make my yearly

[2:16:08] review with them, they will never be

[2:16:11] surprised about what was said because

[2:16:13] throughout the year I was able to

[2:16:15] provide feedback. So for example,

[2:16:18] um some of the comments that was there

[2:16:21] was greater transparency,

[2:16:24] better communication,

[2:16:26] and strong accountability.

[2:16:29] like we did not explain what was missing

[2:16:32] or what do we wanted to change. Um so

[2:16:35] for me those statements was very broad.

[2:16:38] Um

[2:16:40] if we need if we if we expect

[2:16:42] improvement we need to give specific

[2:16:45] examples and explain um how like how how

[2:16:49] can that be success? Um

[2:16:53] and I also think I think from being in

[2:16:57] this role from January to now um I do

[2:17:00] see that we as a committee really need

[2:17:04] to see which one is our job role and

[2:17:06] which one are the superintendent. So for

[2:17:08] example like um school committee

[2:17:12] calendar um meeters agenda

[2:17:15] um communication responsibilities like

[2:17:19] we also need to take ownership of that

[2:17:21] because I've been in this seat here

[2:17:24] where when we talk about communication

[2:17:26] we have said that you know you did not

[2:17:28] share with us on time or that you did

[2:17:31] not do it when in fact you did provide

[2:17:34] it to us. You also and you also email

[2:17:37] this information. So, some of us are not

[2:17:40] taking the time to check our emails or

[2:17:42] read and then we come here and kind of

[2:17:45] put the blame on you. Um, as one of your

[2:17:48] seven boss, like we always like to say

[2:17:51] it and throw it at your face. Um I

[2:17:54] always said right like make sure you're

[2:17:56] having a healthy work um and family

[2:18:00] balance um self-care because

[2:18:04] you have seven seven of us with seven

[2:18:07] expectations and seven work style. Um

[2:18:11] you're not going to be able to please

[2:18:13] all of us at the same time. And I think

[2:18:15] what um member Oliver was saying um you

[2:18:18] can't respond to us right away because

[2:18:20] that is not realistic. Um, so like I

[2:18:24] said, I just hope that moving forward we

[2:18:27] will pour into you so you can continue

[2:18:30] to move the district forward and not

[2:18:32] constantly bringing you down and

[2:18:34] constantly critic criticizing you when

[2:18:37] we're not doing our part. So again, I'm I'm speaking from someone that's

[2:18:42] super that is currently supervising

[2:18:44] teams um and how some of the comments

[2:18:48] that was made um I really wanted to send

[2:18:51] them back and said this is not

[2:18:53] acceptable. We need to be more specific.

[2:18:56] Um, as a new school committee member, I

[2:18:58] took the time to attend a training on

[2:19:02] how to do this. And per mask, uh, we

[2:19:05] should be given specific we there's

[2:19:08] clear goals and none of the goals was

[2:19:11] about how do you feel about the

[2:19:12] superintendent. It was about what are

[2:19:14] the facts

[2:19:16] and we know what facts are, right? So

[2:19:18] facts is about what is documented and

[2:19:20] what is our crime and our observation.

[2:19:22] So, I just hope that moving forward that

[2:19:25] we do a better job with pling for you,

[2:19:29] supporting you, and if there is areas

[2:19:32] that we feel like you're not doing well,

[2:19:34] that will will be there to support you

[2:19:36] and not bring you down every time. Um,

[2:19:40] so thank you for doing the work. Um,

[2:19:42] I've even though I was not part of the

[2:19:44] hiring, I feel like I did reach out to

[2:19:46] you and kind of give you a second

[2:19:48] interview to ask why you invested in

[2:19:50] Brockton. Um, so please continue to be

[2:19:54] here, continue to pour into our

[2:19:56] students, but most important, which is

[2:19:59] to move the district forward. Um, and

[2:20:01] I'm here to support that growth, but

[2:20:03] also to support this city and our

[2:20:06] student deserve a superintendent like

[2:20:08] you that represents the community. So,

[2:20:12] thank you,

[2:20:13] >> Miss Azac.

[2:20:14] >> Thank you. Um, actually

[2:20:18] reviewing this this evening, I have to

[2:20:21] admit I was not satisfied with the

[2:20:23] format that we were using. Um, I didn't

[2:20:27] like the format last year and I had

[2:20:28] mentioned it to the vice chair at the

[2:20:30] time. So, I was surprised we were using

[2:20:31] the same format because

[2:20:34] the thing that's on here that I'm

[2:20:36] disappointed in is yes, I did put needs

[2:20:39] improvement, but I did see progress and

[2:20:41] I did give her an overall proficient.

[2:20:44] that's not on here. It looks like I just

[2:20:46] gave her needs improvement and I

[2:20:48] explained why I put needs improvement

[2:20:50] because I compared it with the with the

[2:20:52] evidence with the book and with the Desi

[2:20:53] report. So, I would prefer that this is

[2:20:57] corrected because it's making it look

[2:20:59] like I put needs improvement, but I did

[2:21:02] give you an overall proficient. I should

[2:21:04] hope you see those ratings because it's

[2:21:07] an evaluation. We're all going to be all

[2:21:09] over the place. Some of us really went

[2:21:12] through this and put a lot of time into

[2:21:14] it. Um, it is an evaluation. You you

[2:21:18] will probably evaluate us. I mean, it

[2:21:20] just it's this is how we're going to be

[2:21:21] able to work better. Um, you know, we do have our strengths and we have

[2:21:25] areas we have to work. Um, but I would

[2:21:29] prefer that this be corrected is I do

[2:21:31] not feel comfortable voting on this this

[2:21:32] evening because this makes it look like

[2:21:35] I put needs improvement as my overall

[2:21:38] rating for that. um

[2:21:41] for that standard and it just my overall

[2:21:44] if you go back was proficient.

[2:21:47] >> It didn't say that

[2:21:48] >> where because it says needs improvement

[2:21:50] next to

[2:21:51] >> your overall was

[2:21:55] no my overall for standard three misso.

[2:21:57] So vice chair overall yes you have the

[2:22:00] proficient but again you have needs

[2:22:04] improvement next to our names in

[2:22:06] parenthesis so it doesn't show that my

[2:22:10] overall for for standard three was

[2:22:12] proficient for the superintendent it

[2:22:14] wasn't needs improvement

[2:22:19] because I believe the other areas that I

[2:22:21] did put needs improvement I did state

[2:22:23] the positives our strengths and our our

[2:22:25] weaknesses Um,

[2:22:27] >> you tell me the page. Sorry.

[2:22:28] >> Yes. Cuz

[2:22:30] >> so if you if you go on here, I mean

[2:22:32] overall I did give her proficient,

[2:22:34] >> but when we look at for example like

[2:22:36] standard I mean honestly this doesn't

[2:22:38] look like

[2:22:41] how we had it. So I mean it doesn't show

[2:22:44] how many proficient she got, how many

[2:22:46] needs improvement.

[2:22:47] >> Yours says proficient

[2:22:49] >> where I'm looking.

[2:22:50] >> So which one are you?

[2:22:51] >> I'm looking on the standard three vice

[2:22:53] chair. You're you're saying in your

[2:22:55] comment area it says

[2:22:56] >> yes in my comment but yes it says needs

[2:22:59] >> overall proficient these are the um

[2:23:02] because remember it's overall comments

[2:23:04] and overall um rating for that standard

[2:23:07] for standard three your overall rating

[2:23:09] was proficient

[2:23:10] >> okay as long as you're

[2:23:11] >> talking about the subcategories where

[2:23:12] you give a few yes these are the overall

[2:23:15] ratings so for instance if there was

[2:23:17] five and you said for one that was needs

[2:23:19] improvement the other four were

[2:23:20] proficient

[2:23:21] >> I mean you have some that are exemplary

[2:23:22] I mean This is the same one.

[2:23:24] >> Yeah, we are all over the place. I mean,

[2:23:26] reviewing this, it's

[2:23:27] >> this is the same thing as last year

[2:23:29] >> and last year's format was not

[2:23:32] >> we needed to work on it. I I I would

[2:23:34] have hoped.

[2:23:35] >> Absolutely agree.

[2:23:36] >> Got recommendations prior to this going

[2:23:38] out to the committee. Um

[2:23:39] >> well, I'll say this. You and I had this

[2:23:41] conversation. I agree. And I have those

[2:23:43] feedback from you from member CentO

[2:23:46] because she also wanted boxes for each

[2:23:48] subcategory. So, if she had something to

[2:23:50] say to specific one. So those are

[2:23:52] recommendations that I will be able to

[2:23:54] provide for the next evaluation.

[2:23:56] >> Yeah. Because I mean you go from

[2:23:57] >> if last year you gave those

[2:23:58] recommendations to our former vice chair

[2:24:01] that should be something that we should

[2:24:03] have implemented then for now or should

[2:24:05] have been communicated to all of us so

[2:24:07] we could have implemented it.

[2:24:09] >> So for instance the feedback you gave me

[2:24:10] this year after this evaluation will be

[2:24:13] submitted so we can update it and do

[2:24:16] better next time.

[2:24:18] >> Does that make sense? Um, it does, but

[2:24:19] it just I I'm trying to look on here

[2:24:21] because our, you know, you go from

[2:24:24] unsatisfactory to needs improvement to

[2:24:26] proficient to exemplary. And I know in

[2:24:28] years past we've had seen significant

[2:24:31] progress. Um, you know, you go from one extreme to another and it's just

[2:24:36] like we really need another category

[2:24:38] there.

[2:24:38] >> Absolutely. But I just want to make

[2:24:40] sure. I mean, I'm reading this and it

[2:24:42] just says, you know, needs improvement,

[2:24:43] but it doesn't show that my overall,

[2:24:45] even though the majority overall was

[2:24:48] proficient for her, but doesn't show

[2:24:49] that I gave her a proficient overall, me

[2:24:51] specifically. Where am I on here? Me

[2:24:54] specifically.

[2:24:56] >> Hold on. I'm confused.

[2:24:57] >> So, you know, when you do the evaluation

[2:24:59] in each one, so standard number one, I

[2:25:01] gave her an overall proficient. Yes.

[2:25:02] >> But there were areas that I put needs

[2:25:05] improvement.

[2:25:05] >> Yeah. Um,

[2:25:09] >> we we can discuss. I mean,

[2:25:11] >> I I know I hear what you're saying. This

[2:25:13] is just for the overall for each

[2:25:15] standard.

[2:25:16] >> Yes.

[2:25:16] >> So, she will be able now to get all the

[2:25:19] other ones. She can review it and it

[2:25:21] will be posted on our website. Your

[2:25:23] individual evaluations

[2:25:24] >> as long as the individual ones are

[2:25:25] posted so they can see that

[2:25:27] >> similar to last year. This is just for

[2:25:30] the overall because the options you have

[2:25:32] here, it doesn't have an option to say

[2:25:34] category 1 A, 1 B, 1 C. Otherwise, this

[2:25:38] is going to be a thick packet.

[2:25:39] >> Usually, it is a thick packet. This is

[2:25:41] an Yes. Don't say never. Never.

[2:25:44] >> Last year, this is what we had.

[2:25:45] >> You can't base this off of last year,

[2:25:46] vice chair.

[2:25:47] >> But this is what I'm saying. previous

[2:25:48] years, we we

[2:25:51] every every school committee member

[2:25:54] >> takes time to do an evaluation and the

[2:25:56] superintendent deserves a complete

[2:25:58] evaluation from each one of us. And

[2:26:00] >> as long as the complete evaluations are

[2:26:02] online because the way that I'm looking

[2:26:04] at this

[2:26:06] >> um doesn't show that my overall

[2:26:09] >> even for each individual standard was

[2:26:11] proficient because you only gave

[2:26:13] proficient or needs improvement. there

[2:26:15] was no so that's why when I based my uh

[2:26:19] recommendations is I have seen progress

[2:26:21] I'm not going to say I haven't but you

[2:26:23] know given given the um obstacles we've

[2:26:26] hit we we do have work to do um you know

[2:26:28] you compare it to the DESI report you

[2:26:30] compare it to her exhibit book um so

[2:26:34] again

[2:26:35] >> no no I I understand what you're saying

[2:26:36] but this is exactly as it was last year

[2:26:39] just to say you know I haven't seen it

[2:26:40] in the way that you're describing

[2:26:42] >> yes I when I worked on it miss uh Dr.

[2:26:45] Spalding had worked on it with me.

[2:26:47] Previous um vice chairs had committees

[2:26:50] that worked on it.

[2:26:51] >> Totally understand.

[2:26:52] >> Um but also you did give me feedback

[2:26:55] this year. So my job as the vice chair

[2:26:58] this year is to make sure for next year

[2:27:00] those feedbacks are incorporated to the

[2:27:02] new evaluation form.

[2:27:04] >> Definitely.

[2:27:05] >> If you said this last year,

[2:27:07] >> I did.

[2:27:08] >> Our former vice chair was here. So those

[2:27:10] are feedback that you probably provided

[2:27:12] to him which is great. It's fine. uh

[2:27:14] these are the feedback you're providing

[2:27:16] to me which again yourself miss you also

[2:27:19] gave some feedbacks which will be um

[2:27:22] recommended for next year

[2:27:23] >> yeah and I respect

[2:27:23] >> but this is the same as last year so

[2:27:25] >> I respect everyone's evaluation this is

[2:27:28] how they evaluate um everyone has a

[2:27:30] right to do their own evaluation and if

[2:27:33] they want to discuss it directly with

[2:27:34] the superintendent they have every right

[2:27:36] to and the superintendent can you know

[2:27:37] have a meet with meeting with them but

[2:27:39] um

[2:27:40] >> absolutely um but no thank you and I did

[2:27:43] note your feedbacks when you and I

[2:27:45] spoke. So those will be recommended.

[2:27:47] >> I think moving forward, especially where

[2:27:49] we have a committee, we really should

[2:27:51] have better recommendation as to how you

[2:27:53] know Desi Desi um and I think um

[2:27:59] you know, mask others have have

[2:28:01] different um templates that we can use.

[2:28:04] I I would recommend just seeing

[2:28:06] different templates

[2:28:07] >> um because I think it will just make it

[2:28:10] better for the committee and for the

[2:28:12] superintendent.

[2:28:13] Thank you.

[2:28:13] >> Um,

[2:28:15] any other members? Just uh fight Mr.

[2:28:18] Rodriguez.

[2:28:19] >> Um, I I understand what member Azac is

[2:28:22] saying, but one of my one one of the

[2:28:24] issues that I have with this, and I'm

[2:28:26] not sure if she still wants to hold off

[2:28:27] on it because if you do, I would like to

[2:28:29] hold off on this as well. Um, when we

[2:28:32] know when we do the evaluation, if you

[2:28:34] put exemplary or unsatisfactory, you

[2:28:36] have to provide evidence. I would like

[2:28:38] to see that evidence of, you know, what

[2:28:40] brought that that rating to, you know,

[2:28:43] unsatisfactory or exemplary um with

[2:28:47] those members because you have to

[2:28:48] provide evidence in in here. And even

[2:28:51] with the uh evaluation process, there

[2:28:53] was no mechanism of you actually

[2:28:55] providing that evidence other than just

[2:28:56] typing it in in your comment section.

[2:28:58] >> That has to be uh accompanied with that

[2:29:00] rating as well.

[2:29:02] >> And that's in training.

[2:29:03] >> We certainly can. um this will be the

[2:29:06] will of the committee. However, I will

[2:29:08] say um we did look it over. Um I did

[2:29:12] question some of the comments, but

[2:29:13] people really wrote a lot this time

[2:29:15] around. Um the other piece is

[2:29:19] yes, I I do appreciate that we should

[2:29:21] have evidence and hey, this is what I

[2:29:24] saw and this is why I gave you this

[2:29:25] feedback,

[2:29:28] which is also a good space for

[2:29:30] improvement, but we just did the same

[2:29:31] thing as last time.

[2:29:34] and no evidence was provided um for some

[2:29:38] cases and it was fine.

[2:29:42] So I'm just

[2:29:44] >> you can go back and review the uh last

[2:29:46] year's event with those members when we

[2:29:48] came that was something that was missed

[2:29:51] and it's again with the format.

[2:29:53] >> Uhhuh.

[2:29:54] >> We have to just kind of I mean this is

[2:29:56] why we're having this meeting to see

[2:29:57] what works and what doesn't work make

[2:29:58] our recommendations uh to provide

[2:30:01] >> which is great. That's why I'm saying uh

[2:30:03] I understand your frustration with the

[2:30:04] form but I did not get your feedback

[2:30:06] from last year. You gave them to the

[2:30:08] former vice chair. So that's why we have

[2:30:11] these forms. I didn't know that was one

[2:30:12] of your recommendations, but this year

[2:30:14] you gave me feedback. So I would improve

[2:30:17] that.

[2:30:17] >> But um as far as the um

[2:30:20] >> so not so advice you not to interrupt,

[2:30:22] but not so much on the forums, but just

[2:30:23] in general,

[2:30:25] >> those that take the chatting the course

[2:30:27] um whether it's exemplary or

[2:30:30] unsatisfactory,

[2:30:31] you have to provide your evidence, not

[2:30:33] just your opinions on someone's

[2:30:35] performance. And there's a lot of

[2:30:37] exemplaries. And I'm just trying to do

[2:30:40] my job as a school committee member and

[2:30:42] not have people say, "Well, why didn't

[2:30:43] you point it out? Why did you guys just

[2:30:45] rubber stamp this?" I would like to see

[2:30:47] like pull it out. If it's in the

[2:30:49] evidence, pull out the exemplaries and

[2:30:51] the unsatisfactory, pull them out in the

[2:30:53] evidence.

[2:30:53] >> Is there an example you want to give me?

[2:30:56] >> There's a lot of exemplaries in here

[2:30:57] that don't have evidence attached to

[2:30:59] them. So you guys prepared this and it

[2:31:01] would have been nice to see you prior to

[2:31:02] tonight to be able to absorb it, have

[2:31:04] some questions made, um, you know, get

[2:31:06] questions ready and things like that. So

[2:31:09] again,

[2:31:14] » mask says this is a

[2:31:16] >> for someone to have exemplary, you have

[2:31:18] to be a you have to have done something

[2:31:21] [clears throat] to be a model for other

[2:31:24] districts.

[2:31:24] >> No, no, absolutely. I absolutely agree.

[2:31:26] And you know years ago we used to see a

[2:31:28] lot of that and then we had to we had to

[2:31:30] educate some of the members that you

[2:31:33] need to stand and same with

[2:31:35] unsatisfactory. You have to stand behind

[2:31:38] your ratings. Uh the the general one is

[2:31:41] proficient but make your recommendations

[2:31:43] and and things like that. But it's just

[2:31:46] um I was really surprised just flipping

[2:31:48] through this tonight like where's the

[2:31:51] evidence? Um because it's all over the

[2:31:53] place

[2:31:53] >> and I'm wondering where's everybody?

[2:31:55] Where where did everyone get their info

[2:31:56] from? So

[2:31:57] >> when you say everybody, you got to be

[2:31:59] specific because I

[2:32:00] >> Right. I think let's be clear about what

[2:32:01] we talking about.

[2:32:02] >> This speaks for this speaks for itself

[2:32:04] and those can actually take a look at

[2:32:06] it. It speaks for itself. Um and that's

[2:32:08] why I was concerned because I did have

[2:32:10] needs improvement.

[2:32:11] >> Yes.

[2:32:11] >> But it was overall each standard was

[2:32:14] overall proficient is what I gave the

[2:32:16] superintendent.

[2:32:16] >> Okay. I put needs improvement so I could

[2:32:19] actually explain where my concerns were,

[2:32:22] but I gave her an overall proficient

[2:32:25] >> in each each standard because I did see

[2:32:27] the changes. I saw the work that goes

[2:32:28] into this and her her team. Um, and it's

[2:32:31] nothing against the superintendent, but

[2:32:33] this is part of doing an evaluation.

[2:32:35] >> You know, this is this is how we're

[2:32:36] going to work on what we need to do. Um,

[2:32:39] and I appreciate all the work that went

[2:32:41] into it, but it's just seeing the

[2:32:42] extreme here. I'd really like to take a

[2:32:44] moment to review it before we we vote on

[2:32:47] anything.

[2:32:48] >> I'm just going to share then a few

[2:32:49] things just so we we clarify. So, for

[2:32:52] one, um we had our deadline. Not

[2:32:55] everybody was able to meet the deadline.

[2:32:57] Um well, we had a timeline for when we

[2:33:00] wanted to present this and we had to

[2:33:02] extend the the timeline for folks to

[2:33:05] finish completing the evaluation. That's

[2:33:07] one thing.

[2:33:08] >> From who who needed an extension? I did

[2:33:10] because I had family members that passed

[2:33:12] away in the same week.

[2:33:13] >> Member Sullivan, yourself and member

[2:33:14] Sullivan.

[2:33:14] >> But I also had it into you vice chair.

[2:33:17] >> Yes, you did that on that Sunday and I

[2:33:19] did reach out to the superintendent

[2:33:20] because I'll be honest if we're going to

[2:33:23] go there. Some of the exhibits weren't

[2:33:25] even legible in the book. It was like a

[2:33:27] font number two.

[2:33:28] >> I'm not I'm just giving you reasons why

[2:33:31] provided that it's legible. I accepted

[2:33:32] everybody's response. Everybody wrote

[2:33:34] something whether it's your pers

[2:33:36] perspective what you have observed and

[2:33:38] what not

[2:33:39] >> there's there's no

[2:33:40] >> my concern too is my concern too is I

[2:33:44] know last year we had a lot of

[2:33:45] evaluation that said unsatisfactory

[2:33:49] and said didn't see anything but we did

[2:33:53] not send it back because that was my

[2:33:55] experience my first ever experience

[2:33:56] doing an evaluation members said fair

[2:33:59] and said unsatisfactory that was not

[2:34:02] enough evidence But we did not complain

[2:34:04] about it. We allowed it to be.

[2:34:07] You see what I'm saying? This year, most

[2:34:09] of us wrote a lot. Whether it was very

[2:34:12] detailed, it was very elaborate

[2:34:15] >> and everybody had their own perspective,

[2:34:17] their own evaluation. It's like you

[2:34:19] mentioned earlier, we this is what we

[2:34:21] do. We have the opportunity to evaluate.

[2:34:25] And for the for instance, yours was

[2:34:27] submitted at a reasonable time. Then the

[2:34:29] other one we had to work with member

[2:34:31] Sullivan to submit his as well. It took

[2:34:35] maybe a week after yours to be done to

[2:34:38] then send it back to him to provide more

[2:34:40] and he's you know he got his own health

[2:34:42] issues and other things going on. So I

[2:34:44] think the only person there that said

[2:34:47] either exemplary or needs improvement

[2:34:49] and did not write a lot is his and I

[2:34:53] accepted it.

[2:34:56] Yes. Because that's why I said, "Give me

[2:34:58] an example of who and what was rated

[2:35:01] that needs evidence." The only one that

[2:35:04] I can think of is Mr. Sullivan's. You

[2:35:07] see what I'm saying? So, I don't feel

[2:35:08] it's fair to just now push it back. Last

[2:35:10] year, we allowed him to do that and he

[2:35:12] was fine to come here to the meetings

[2:35:14] and do everything.

[2:35:15] >> We didn't send it back to him to say

[2:35:17] fair is not just a

[2:35:18] >> different committee. Vice Chair,

[2:35:19] >> I understand. But this is just I'm just

[2:35:21] explaining the difference. You mentioned

[2:35:23] vice chair. Hold on a second. I have so

[2:35:26] you also mentioned there was a dead

[2:35:27] there's never been a deadline actually

[2:35:29] the reason we did the eval because I

[2:35:30] asked where the evaluation was I even

[2:35:32] had a conversation about the evaluation

[2:35:34] I was told there's nothing that states

[2:35:35] that we had to have it done by a certain

[2:35:37] time we've had the evaluations done back

[2:35:39] to Mr. Machello in December back to Mr.

[2:35:43] Diagino in November and December. My

[2:35:45] year was the first year we had it done

[2:35:47] in the summertime. So, there was no

[2:35:48] deadline to have to rush this and I

[2:35:50] really wish the committee would have had

[2:35:51] time to review this. Um, but I'm only

[2:35:55] one vote.

[2:35:56] >> No,

[2:35:56] >> I just I in all fairness to the

[2:35:58] superintendent though, I just am not I

[2:36:00] do not agree with how it has all this.

[2:36:03] >> Mhm.

[2:36:04] >> Because when you do an overall, the

[2:36:06] average would be proficient, but it

[2:36:07] doesn't show that I gave her proficient.

[2:36:09] It shows that I put needs improvement.

[2:36:12] We can review this afterwards because I

[2:36:13] mean this is how I'm understanding it

[2:36:15] but I'm not going to keep hopping on

[2:36:16] this.

[2:36:17] >> No, no, I understand what you're saying.

[2:36:18] Those evaluation will be posted along

[2:36:21] with this. This is think of this as a

[2:36:23] summary as an overview.

[2:36:24] >> No, I understand.

[2:36:25] >> Just like the presentation I just did.

[2:36:26] She scored professional on everything

[2:36:28] but it's the average of everybody's

[2:36:30] >> but the detailed ones I can't put

[2:36:32] everything together for this. It will be

[2:36:34] posted on our website. People will be

[2:36:35] able to read. The only things that I

[2:36:37] posted for everything is the comments of

[2:36:38] everybody's. Usually I thought it had

[2:36:41] overall next to each one of us. I could

[2:36:43] be wrong, but I thought when we did it,

[2:36:45] >> did not. Last year it did not.

[2:36:46] >> Each standard what you gave them. I

[2:36:48] thought each standard would be what you

[2:36:49] gave them, but if

[2:36:51] >> No, it didn't last year. I did review it

[2:36:54] because I wanted to prepare for this

[2:36:55] presentation. I looked at what former

[2:36:56] vice chair did. I follow similar

[2:36:59] structure. I just wanted to do a quick

[2:37:00] PowerPoint for it. But

[2:37:01] >> just a reminder, everyone has a right to

[2:37:03] do an evaluation. It should absolutely

[2:37:05] that's what I'm saying. not be

[2:37:08] >> it should not just you know what we all

[2:37:10] have a right to do an evaluation and we

[2:37:12] can all evaluate our way of evaluating

[2:37:14] um

[2:37:15] >> yes

[2:37:15] >> so

[2:37:17] I'm not going to go back and forth

[2:37:18] listening to

[2:37:19] >> I agree with you what we did and what we

[2:37:21] didn't do no just from you just

[2:37:23] committees in general like I just

[2:37:24] >> I can evaluate any way I want to

[2:37:26] evaluate and I shouldn't be

[2:37:28] >> that's what I'm saying I'm agreeing with

[2:37:29] you yeah well

[2:37:31] >> yes

[2:37:31] >> just just as a point of I guess of

[2:37:33] information in the future

[2:37:36] Um I I have in the past myself managed

[2:37:41] large numbers of people.

[2:37:42] >> Um maybe if you just gave us um the

[2:37:46] expectation beforehand

[2:37:48] >> and had a meeting with us, maybe a a

[2:37:51] workshop or something that explained

[2:37:54] what you wanted to get at with this

[2:37:56] evaluation and how you wanted it done.

[2:37:59] It would have maybe had this go a little

[2:38:01] bit smoother. Um, you know, I'm just

[2:38:05] coming from the federal side. Um,

[2:38:08] obviously this is just weird doing it

[2:38:10] out in the public like this because

[2:38:12] normally you would give the, um,

[2:38:14] employee the opportunity to discuss it

[2:38:17] and to possibly change whatever you

[2:38:20] wrote.

[2:38:21] >> That's how it works in the real world or

[2:38:24] not in this setting, I guess. Um, so I

[2:38:29] guess I'm just I'm getting used to it.

[2:38:32] Um,

[2:38:34] so I guess that's all I would say to

[2:38:36] that.

[2:38:36] >> No, I agree. And um, you brought up a

[2:38:39] good point because one of the people

[2:38:41] that I reached out to and Sarah also put

[2:38:43] me in contact with is Sean, who's the

[2:38:46] new mask representative for us, and he

[2:38:48] does these trainings. Uh, the timeline

[2:38:51] just did not coincide with our timeline

[2:38:53] of when we started this. Uh the other

[2:38:55] piece too is I checked in with some of

[2:38:57] the members. I know I did it last year.

[2:39:00] So I was going to follow that structure.

[2:39:01] Miss AAC has been in this committee. Mr.

[2:39:04] Rodriguez Sandra did her own individual

[2:39:06] training. Miss Oliver has been the

[2:39:08] committee. Um so to an extent most

[2:39:12] members here have had the exposure or

[2:39:14] have had some sort of training for this.

[2:39:17] Um

[2:39:19] the the the and there's nothing

[2:39:21] different

[2:39:23] from this one compared to last one so to

[2:39:25] say but would some training be

[2:39:29] important? Yes.

[2:39:30] >> I don't I don't just I'm not saying

[2:39:32] training. I'm saying your expectation as

[2:39:34] to what you were trying to get from

[2:39:36] this. I

[2:39:36] >> timeline

[2:39:37] >> I took training on this. Uh I I've done

[2:39:40] this myself many many many times. Mhm.

[2:39:43] >> All I'm saying is that I I think it

[2:39:46] would have been more beneficial to the

[2:39:49] committee if we had met first to discuss

[2:39:53] the expectations and then conducted the

[2:39:57] evaluation

[2:39:58] and then discussed the evaluation as a

[2:40:01] whole. That's all

[2:40:03] >> the uh I'm going get to you one second.

[2:40:06] No, the expectation for me as far as

[2:40:09] this evaluation was just that we did

[2:40:11] complete it by the timeline and if

[2:40:13] anybody had any concerns or questions to

[2:40:16] reach out. Um the standards and

[2:40:18] everything was self-explanatory, had the

[2:40:20] writing in the box that you know to

[2:40:23] illustrate and and explain what they

[2:40:25] were looking for. For me, it was just

[2:40:27] that we got it done on time, similar to

[2:40:29] last year, so we could then schedule the

[2:40:31] meeting that I was trying to schedule

[2:40:32] with the three of you guys, for us to

[2:40:34] put it together and sit down and have

[2:40:36] that conversation.

[2:40:36] >> And to that, I would just say, I guess

[2:40:38] it's uh it's more important than to just

[2:40:40] get it done on time. Um I think it's

[2:40:42] more important as the other members have

[2:40:44] mentioned that we discuss this a little

[2:40:46] bit more

[2:40:48] >> and and um allowed some feedback from

[2:40:51] the superintendent within the process

[2:40:54] um so that she so that we could have as

[2:40:57] a as a whole had a better um

[2:41:01] perspective. I

[2:41:02] >> I think the feedback was that meeting

[2:41:04] that we did I did request that she came

[2:41:07] in and present on the evaluation. In my

[2:41:09] experience, it's not like we do away, we

[2:41:12] give it to her, she gives some feedback.

[2:41:13] We all submit it and the committee

[2:41:15] members that sit down, put it together,

[2:41:17] then have a discussion. If there's

[2:41:19] anything that needs to be sent back or

[2:41:21] needs further clarification, then we ask

[2:41:23] the um the other thing too is we were

[2:41:27] given about a month, which I think is

[2:41:28] reasonable to do an evaluation. We were

[2:41:31] provided with the book and there's the

[2:41:32] DESI review, the OIG report, and all

[2:41:35] these resources at our disposal. Um, and

[2:41:39] also I think

[2:41:41] there's no set timeline, but we were

[2:41:43] given a timeline just like we for

[2:41:45] instance hold her to that standard of we

[2:41:47] need these things done by a certain

[2:41:49] timeline or we should get these

[2:41:51] information on time. I think we should

[2:41:52] also abide by that same standard in a

[2:41:55] sense. Um then this is part of the

[2:41:58] school what the school committee does is

[2:42:00] complete the evaluation and if we and

[2:42:02] that timeline was provided here and I

[2:42:04] gave a reminder to the whole group in a

[2:42:05] subsequent meeting. So we knew how long

[2:42:08] we had we knew the timeline the

[2:42:10] evaluation was shared with everybody. So

[2:42:13] I did expect everybody to complete it by

[2:42:15] that timeline. Now, granted things

[2:42:18] happen, um it doesn't mean we're going

[2:42:20] to just stop you from doing it because

[2:42:22] members still got to complete it after

[2:42:23] the fact. If that I don't know if that

[2:42:26] answer your questions. Um

[2:42:29] but anyways, it is the will of the

[2:42:31] committee. We have the evaluation. This

[2:42:34] is nothing different from how we did it

[2:42:36] last year. Um we can go on our websites,

[2:42:40] the same thing that we uploaded. a few

[2:42:42] things that I will say and then I'll

[2:42:44] open it up to the rest of the members if

[2:42:45] they want to say anything

[2:42:48] uh to the superintendent. I know how

[2:42:50] difficult it can be to you know being a

[2:42:52] superintendent and all the work that you

[2:42:54] have to do. Uh I think Mr. Rodriguez can

[2:42:56] agree from a vice chair perspective. You

[2:42:58] can see some of the things that goes on

[2:43:00] and some of the work that the

[2:43:02] superintendent has put in and her staff.

[2:43:05] Um so I think a proficient across all

[2:43:08] standards and goals is appropriate. Uh

[2:43:11] it's welld deserved. You've been working

[2:43:13] hard uh from the moment you got here um

[2:43:18] a year, two years ago um till now and

[2:43:20] we've seen a lot of progress. A lot of

[2:43:23] things have changed. A lot of things

[2:43:25] have been implemented. A lot of goals

[2:43:28] have been accomplished. And I'm not just

[2:43:30] saying that for myself. The OIG report,

[2:43:32] the DESIE review says the same. um and

[2:43:36] seeing you and your team just working

[2:43:38] trying to make sure we are fulfilling

[2:43:40] the needs, we are fulfilling all these

[2:43:43] um all the work that needs to be done

[2:43:45] and making sure the district is doing

[2:43:47] what it's supposed to do. Um so I

[2:43:50] applaud you. I applaud your team for all

[2:43:52] the work that you guys do. Um proficient

[2:43:54] all across is exactly what I expected.

[2:43:58] um you guys have put in a tremendous

[2:44:00] amount of work and again Miss Sent you

[2:44:03] mentioned earlier there's you know

[2:44:04] you're working for the district but

[2:44:06] you're also working for this committee

[2:44:08] we often have different perspective

[2:44:09] different views and I've seen you trying

[2:44:11] to run around and accommodate for

[2:44:14] everybody which I always tell you it's

[2:44:16] not always possible uh we can't have it

[2:44:18] all um maybe something that I want is

[2:44:21] not something one of my colleagues want

[2:44:22] to do or the way that we want to go

[2:44:24] about it but you still try to make it

[2:44:26] happen so I appreciate all the work you

[2:44:28] put in. Um, and I hope um, you know,

[2:44:32] with this evaluation, also communicating

[2:44:36] with members throughout our district

[2:44:37] that we can be more supportive of not

[2:44:40] just one another, but of the

[2:44:41] superintendent and her team and some of

[2:44:43] the work that needs to be done. Um, we

[2:44:45] keep going back and forth a lot. I don't

[2:44:47] know, we just had some back and forth

[2:44:49] here, but we we need to focus on the

[2:44:53] main goal uh, and keep that in mind as

[2:44:55] we move forward.

[2:44:58] Uh, Miss Oliver,

[2:45:00] >> I think before I put a motion through, I

[2:45:02] think um just to go back on Miss Aac, I

[2:45:05] think that definitely something we need

[2:45:07] to figure out how this valuation was

[2:45:09] done. I know you had opinions last year

[2:45:12] um regarding this valuation.

[2:45:14] Unfortunately, it was not implemented

[2:45:15] this year. And I think that's something

[2:45:17] as we go from vice chair to vice chair

[2:45:19] to speak to each other to pass the baton

[2:45:22] correctly as we like you know mentor

[2:45:24] each other and say listen this is what

[2:45:26] the individuals from last year or last

[2:45:29] time said we can improve on the

[2:45:31] valuation so we can make those

[2:45:33] corrections but if certain individuals

[2:45:35] are not

[2:45:36] you know given that information to next

[2:45:38] vice chair is very hard for the next

[2:45:41] vice chair to implement those changes.

[2:45:43] So I think as we move forward we also

[2:45:45] should have an evaluation on the vice

[2:45:47] chair and how we move how certain things

[2:45:49] are being done so the future vice chair

[2:45:51] can see what was done and how we can

[2:45:54] change it better. I think just having

[2:45:56] those hard conversation to basically

[2:45:58] help each other like if you don't if you

[2:46:00] think the valuation can be improved

[2:46:02] let's have a conversation among

[2:46:04] ourselves to see how we can implement a

[2:46:06] better valuation for next year. But we

[2:46:09] did have almost like a month and we had

[2:46:11] the booklet and all the information um

[2:46:13] with us. I think it's Yeah, maybe the

[2:46:16] years past we were doing it, you know,

[2:46:18] you guys were doing later in the year. I

[2:46:20] like it this way to do it mid year

[2:46:22] before the next um school year, you

[2:46:24] know, start the fiscal year started. I

[2:46:27] don't mind it, but I think the valuation

[2:46:29] itself, it's not the best. Definitely

[2:46:31] not the best um format. I work with

[2:46:34] better ones. it's more easy to

[2:46:36] understand to basically put the goals

[2:46:38] and implement the changes and the growth

[2:46:40] um that I deal with uh on the year

[2:46:43] yearly bas. But I think it's something

[2:46:45] that we need to look and see how we can

[2:46:46] fix it. But I'm just going to put the

[2:46:49] motion into

[2:46:51] number C uh vote for superintendent

[2:46:53] evaluation approval.

[2:46:55] >> That's a form of a motion.

[2:46:57] >> Yes.

[2:46:58] >> Is there a second?

[2:47:00] >> Second.

[2:47:01] >> A motion has been made and second. Do

[2:47:03] you did you have something to say, Miss

[2:47:05] Santea, on the motion?

[2:47:08] >> I I I did, but I feel like what is the

[2:47:11] point? So, I feel like as a newbie that

[2:47:14] just started in January, um, yes. Do I

[2:47:17] agree with the form itself? No, I do

[2:47:19] not. Like, it was not friendly to use.

[2:47:22] However, I took it upon myself to attend

[2:47:25] a training so I can learn what I'm

[2:47:28] supposed to be doing. one. Two, I even

[2:47:32] took it a step further to share with all

[2:47:33] of you guys the recording. So, you was

[2:47:36] not able to attend. Here it is. And as

[2:47:40] someone that I would like to believe I'm

[2:47:42] a busy mom, right? I'm a mom of two. I

[2:47:45] have two jobs.

[2:47:47] There was a timeline and I honor that. I

[2:47:50] remember being in grad school. Um there

[2:47:53] was a timeline of when assignments

[2:47:55] needed to be done because so I'm not I'm

[2:47:58] here trying to understand where all

[2:48:01] these where the disconnect is happening

[2:48:05] when we could have easily emailed each

[2:48:07] other or emailed and asked for

[2:48:09] clarification

[2:48:11] what is needed. Um again I'm new. I only

[2:48:14] been here since January. Um so I feel

[2:48:17] like some of you guys has been here

[2:48:19] longer than I. So I am ready to to move

[2:48:22] to um put a motion so we can vote on

[2:48:26] this so we can move forward so we can

[2:48:28] address the next topic.

[2:48:30] >> All right. Motion

[2:48:32] >> on that motion.

[2:48:32] >> Motion, Miss Azac.

[2:48:33] >> So to make my point, look at the last

[2:48:35] page. So how do you give somebody that

[2:48:38] kind of a statement and then you do

[2:48:39] unsatisfactory? Did you reach out to the

[2:48:41] member and clarify? Is that what you

[2:48:44] wanted to do as a reading?

[2:48:47] >> Last page.

[2:48:48] >> Yeah, Mr. all of us coming.

[2:48:50] >> Did you reach up? So you do that

[2:48:52] >> not well to write this is this is what

[2:48:55] I'm saying Joyce

[2:48:56] >> they okay I'm just saying it just again

[2:48:59] and I don't think more training is I

[2:49:01] don't think we need nothing to do with

[2:49:03] training this was how he

[2:49:04] >> No I'm just saying I don't think I know

[2:49:06] we got to because we did something last

[2:49:08] year but ex

[2:49:09] >> I know

[2:49:10] >> but I can bring other over the years

[2:49:13] we've had members from Brockton public

[2:49:15] schools come before the committee so let

[2:49:17] me just educate the committee they would

[2:49:18] come before the committee explain how this is going to be done. Go

[2:49:23] through all the standards and explain

[2:49:24] it. So, it wasn't just given to us and

[2:49:26] then said, [clears throat] "Here you go,

[2:49:27] do it." Um, we've I've done evaluations.

[2:49:30] I have no problem doing it, but I'm just

[2:49:31] saying we keep saying this is how we did

[2:49:33] it last year.

[2:49:34] >> Last year, I remember voicing concerns

[2:49:36] about that form. Um, but again, it's

[2:49:39] just I don't think we need more

[2:49:41] training. I just we really need to look

[2:49:43] at better because I mean, again,

[2:49:45] clicking on things and going through it

[2:49:47] just was not user friendly. Um, but

[2:49:50] we're just not I'm not going to keep

[2:49:52] harping on this, but again, it just I

[2:49:53] don't think the committee needed more

[2:49:55] training on how to do an evaluation.

[2:49:56] >> I agree with you there. I feel like

[2:49:58] we're all complicated.

[2:49:58] >> We've all attended mask. We've all

[2:50:00] attended chatting.

[2:50:01] >> As far as your feedback on the form

[2:50:03] stuff, you gave me that this year after

[2:50:05] the evaluation, like towards the end,

[2:50:07] and I said, "This is good feedback.

[2:50:09] Another member gave me feedback. I'mma

[2:50:12] pass it on to the next whoever vice

[2:50:14] chair is or the district and have them

[2:50:16] improve it." Simple. How does that sound

[2:50:19] to you?

[2:50:21] >> It's fine. I'm one I'm one vote.

[2:50:23] >> This is how we're supposed to improve.

[2:50:25] We give each other feedback. You gave me

[2:50:27] that feedback. I took I said, "Yes,

[2:50:28] I'mma pass it on. So, next year we're

[2:50:30] going to do a better form. It's more

[2:50:32] user friendly." Whatever the case is,

[2:50:35] >> but just for clarification, we could we

[2:50:37] are not able to discuss the evaluation

[2:50:39] with each other ahead of time.

[2:50:41] >> Uh we would be violating um in

[2:50:43] violation. So, we cannot discuss it with

[2:50:45] each other and email each other back and

[2:50:46] forth. This is our individual um

[2:50:48] evaluations. But again, I just

[2:50:52] >> No, I totally understand.

[2:50:54] >> But I do feel like if you do need

[2:50:55] clarification

[2:50:57] that we can reach out to superintendent

[2:51:00] if the font of what we receive is too

[2:51:03] small, then we did.

[2:51:04] >> So, you know what I mean? So, like I

[2:51:06] feel like we're just bringing things

[2:51:08] instead of us figuring out are we going

[2:51:10] to move forward or not? Um I feel like

[2:51:13] another thing that I constantly hear in

[2:51:14] this committee is that we are

[2:51:17] elected officials. So, if we're

[2:51:19] concerned about how Tim Sullivan

[2:51:22] um did not provide enough information

[2:51:26] um that maybe we need to start

[2:51:28] addressing, should he be in this

[2:51:30] committee?

[2:51:32] >> Um because I feel like

[2:51:34] >> All right, let's let's move forward.

[2:51:36] >> No, actually, vice chair, point of

[2:51:38] clarification. I did not I just said

[2:51:41] make sure when someone clicks on

[2:51:43] something because it just contradicts a

[2:51:45] positive a negative was contradicting a

[2:51:49] positive statement. So, I just wanted to

[2:51:50] say they might have clicked on something

[2:51:52] accidentally. Did I was just asking did

[2:51:54] you clarify because I even had questions

[2:51:56] like cutting and pasting the way that

[2:51:59] the format was. It was only one sentence

[2:52:01] at a time. So, that's all it was just

[2:52:03] clarification. It's only to help the

[2:52:05] superintendent not to be against just to

[2:52:07] make sure how do you have a positive and

[2:52:08] then that was clicked.

[2:52:10] >> So, it could have been an error. I mean,

[2:52:12] I'm all set. Have a good evening.

[2:52:14] >> Thank you. Make it brief and keep it to

[2:52:17] the topic, please, Mr. Rodriguez. the so

[2:52:21] last year was the first year

[2:52:24] as vice chair when I did the uh when we

[2:52:27] did the uh evaluation with that process

[2:52:30] we added two members to that

[2:52:32] subcommittee in order to bring more

[2:52:34] transparency uh to do that and that

[2:52:36] happened last year. So, I mean, some

[2:52:39] people want it a certain way, some

[2:52:40] people don't want it a certain way, but

[2:52:42] I think collectively we just have to g

[2:52:44] up into a a simpler format. Um, you

[2:52:47] know, how we want it. And it's a

[2:52:49] learning experience as being a vice

[2:52:51] chair and doing your first evaluation

[2:52:54] and then trying to compare it to years

[2:52:55] past as just a member. You don't and I

[2:52:58] understand that. Um and this is

[2:52:59] something from last year to this year

[2:53:00] that we, you know, prior to having the

[2:53:03] uh the final superintendent that all the

[2:53:05] members get everybody's copy so they can

[2:53:06] review it and they can forward it to the

[2:53:08] vice chair and the team to to look at it

[2:53:10] to to make any um you know you know for

[2:53:13] you know exemplary or and satisfactory

[2:53:15] to to provide those evidence. That's

[2:53:17] it's one of those uh uh learning

[2:53:19] experiences of that. But um I know

[2:53:22] there's a motion on the floor, but I

[2:53:24] just want to just clarify it just to uh

[2:53:26] my vote is not personal. It's that I

[2:53:29] wanted to see some certain stuff. So

[2:53:31] >> No, no, that's fine. Um

[2:53:34] where did she go?

[2:53:37] >> No, I completely understand. It is a

[2:53:38] learning experience. That's what I'm

[2:53:40] trying to say. So every time we do,

[2:53:42] especially now that this committee is

[2:53:44] being more transparent, we will improve

[2:53:47] upon something with feedback, with

[2:53:49] communicating with one another. Um,

[2:53:53] we have a motion on the floor with papy

[2:53:54] second. Uh, Miss Oliver,

[2:53:59] >> yes.

[2:53:59] >> Mr. Rodriguez,

[2:54:00] >> no.

[2:54:01] >> Miss Azac,

[2:54:02] >> nothing personal, but I'd like to review

[2:54:04] this, so I'm a no. I'd like to review it

[2:54:06] further. Why is everybody leaving?

[2:54:08] >> Mr. Ina

[2:54:09] >> no.

[2:54:10] >> Mr. Sullivan.

[2:54:13] >> Yes.

[2:54:14] >> Miss Contento.

[2:54:15] >> Yes.

[2:54:16] >> I'm a yes as well. It carries. Uh we

[2:54:19] will move on to agendum item D.

[2:54:22] Discussion potential vote approval of

[2:54:24] higher benefits coordinator position.

[2:54:26] Mr.

[2:54:28] Superintendent.

[2:54:31] >> Go first. So this position um uh the

[2:54:35] need for it is is uh interesting because

[2:54:38] it was not uh part of our original plan

[2:54:41] or uh part of our budget from last year.

[2:54:44] [snorts] Um because generally benefits

[2:54:46] have been handled by the city. Um

[2:54:49] however

[2:54:51] recently uh we have been taking on more

[2:54:54] of the benefits responsibilities and the

[2:54:56] city has actually asked us to take on

[2:54:59] the full benefits responsibilities for

[2:55:02] the school district. So the 3,000

[2:55:06] employees that we have um obviously this

[2:55:08] is a a huge amount of work. um and in

[2:55:13] city hall uh they do have several

[2:55:16] benefits um coordinators. Um [snorts]

[2:55:20] and so in order to take on this uh

[2:55:24] additional responsibility

[2:55:26] uh we did speak with the city about the

[2:55:29] fact that we do have schedule 19

[2:55:31] chargebacks and we pay for part of the

[2:55:34] HR office at city hall. And so if this

[2:55:37] is a responsibility that we are going to

[2:55:40] be taking on that then that funding that

[2:55:44] is in the schedule 19 for the HR office

[2:55:46] needs to come back to the school

[2:55:48] department so that we can fund this

[2:55:50] position. So that is how this position

[2:55:51] will be funded is from our own schedule

[2:55:54] 19. So basically it's just a

[2:55:55] reallocation of these funds. Um I think

[2:55:59] it does raise. So the the uh job

[2:56:03] description that you see is very similar

[2:56:05] to the one I believe for city hall. Um

[2:56:08] along with the the salary range. Um and

[2:56:14] um sorry, what was I going to say? I've

[2:56:18] now lost my train of thought. Oh, this

[2:56:20] brings up the question I that I I know

[2:56:22] we've been talking about um [snorts] a

[2:56:25] lot and we've been hearing about a lot

[2:56:27] about merging the city and the school's

[2:56:32] uh departments and responsibilities and

[2:56:36] I know I have have talked about being

[2:56:40] certainly open to that conversation as

[2:56:43] long as we're very clear about what are

[2:56:45] the steps, what are the timelines, where

[2:56:47] are the responsibility centers, who are

[2:56:48] the supervisors. Um because otherwise it

[2:56:52] just becomes like a like I the merger if

[2:56:56] you're just merging the departments

[2:56:57] there's still people who have to do

[2:56:58] those jobs and you still have to pay the

[2:57:01] and so actually when I was presenting in

[2:57:04] front of the city council or when they

[2:57:05] invited me to talk about the merging of

[2:57:07] departments we spent the majority of the

[2:57:09] time talking about uh school police as

[2:57:11] sort of the first pilot. Um,

[2:57:15] however, I had also provided to them

[2:57:16] because I'd done some research on cities

[2:57:21] that have municipalities that have

[2:57:23] merged certain departments with their

[2:57:25] school department. And what was found in

[2:57:28] many of those cases is that it doesn't

[2:57:30] end up actually being a huge cost

[2:57:32] savings because the work doesn't

[2:57:33] disappear. The work is just shifted from

[2:57:36] one to the other or you're saying now

[2:57:38] it's a department together. And so

[2:57:41] anyway, so this is all to say that I

[2:57:43] know we need to have that more clear

[2:57:46] conversation about when we're talking

[2:57:47] about merging departments, what does

[2:57:49] that really look like? Because shifting

[2:57:50] work from the city to the schools and

[2:57:52] isn't exactly I feel like we're actually

[2:57:54] going the opposite direction. Um that

[2:57:57] all being said, we are taking on the

[2:58:00] benefits. Uh the HR department has been

[2:58:03] uh in meetings with the HR department on

[2:58:06] the city hall side has been starting to

[2:58:08] be part of those meetings. uh been

[2:58:10] working with their benefits

[2:58:12] coordinators, but it is a huge amount of

[2:58:13] work. And for those of you who were on

[2:58:15] the committee um last year, my first

[2:58:17] year, we actually

[2:58:20] had done an or you all had done an HR

[2:58:23] audit before I even arrived that then

[2:58:27] resulted in a restructure of the HR

[2:58:29] department when I did arrive. So, we

[2:58:31] actually um made the department smaller.

[2:58:34] We we streamlined some of the the um job

[2:58:38] responsibilities. And so we actually

[2:58:41] have an HR department that now has less

[2:58:43] people and costs less than it did when I

[2:58:45] first arrived as a result of that audit.

[2:58:48] But if if now we have to take on these

[2:58:50] more responsibilities, we do still need

[2:58:53] like the the office as it stands right

[2:58:55] now just doesn't have the capacity to do

[2:58:57] it. Now I have very mixed feelings about

[2:59:00] us taking on the benefits um

[2:59:04] uh because on on one hand it's a huge

[2:59:06] amount of work for the HR department. On

[2:59:08] the other hand, I know that it has been

[2:59:09] a conversation amongst many of us um and

[2:59:12] with the city that there have been

[2:59:14] concerns regarding benefits and there

[2:59:16] have been concerns about benefits um

[2:59:18] continuing maybe when an employee is no

[2:59:20] longer uh with us anymore. And that has

[2:59:23] been something that the school

[2:59:24] department actually has been our team

[2:59:26] has been supporting in auditing and

[2:59:29] looking at and making sure is done

[2:59:31] appropriately because obviously that

[2:59:32] costs all of us money. But since we have

[2:59:35] the most employees in the city, it costs

[2:59:37] us the most money if we're paying for

[2:59:39] folks who are not um

[2:59:42] who are not supposed to be getting these

[2:59:44] benefits. So on one hand, it's a huge

[2:59:46] amount of work that is going to take a

[2:59:47] lot of capacity and take a lot of staff.

[2:59:49] On the other hand, does it, you know, I

[2:59:52] do have some mixed feelings because I I

[2:59:54] do want us to have more eyes on the

[2:59:57] benefits on the school department side

[2:59:58] to make sure that we are not paying for

[3:00:01] employees that no longer work for us or

[3:00:03] that shouldn't be getting certain

[3:00:04] benefits. Um, so anyway, this is all to

[3:00:07] say that I have mixed feelings, but uh

[3:00:10] the work has been shifted over to us.

[3:00:12] The HR department at city hall does not

[3:00:14] have the capacity. uh we would be doing

[3:00:16] it and I think m honestly one benefits

[3:00:20] coordinator I don't even know if that's

[3:00:22] going to be enough um to to do all 3,000

[3:00:25] but at least for now as we're starting

[3:00:27] this in the middle of the year and

[3:00:28] transitioning this work over um it would

[3:00:31] at least be a start.

[3:00:34] >> So this is this was the question that I

[3:00:37] had but so since you now presented it it

[3:00:40] kind of shifts a little bit. Um I wish id known that beforehand. Uh

[3:00:45] so

[3:00:47] okay

[3:00:49] so I in my experience I've worked in the

[3:00:52] federal government and and I was lucky

[3:00:53] enough to be over an office where I had

[3:00:55] control over HR and all that other stuff

[3:00:56] right

[3:00:58] 3,000 employees and how many do we how

[3:01:00] many HR um whether we call them liaison

[3:01:04] or whatever we call them what how many

[3:01:05] >> so we have in the department um six

[3:01:09] seven people eight people.

[3:01:12] >> Okay. Um, wow.

[3:01:16] >> So, this would be nine.

[3:01:17] >> That would be nine.

[3:01:18] >> This would be nine.

[3:01:18] >> And And so,

[3:01:20] >> knowing what I've kind of looked at

[3:01:24] previously that we were bringing the

[3:01:26] packets over to city hall once somebody

[3:01:29] came on or left. Right. So, is this

[3:01:31] person now does that eliminate the

[3:01:33] packet going over to city hall?

[3:01:35] >> Well, we're digitizing all of that

[3:01:36] anyway. So that has been a project that

[3:01:38] we have been working on in conjunction

[3:01:40] with city hall. But this would actually

[3:01:42] be someone who even enroll like helps to

[3:01:45] enroll folks. But yes, they would not

[3:01:47] then have to go over to city hall and

[3:01:49] sign up for insurance.

[3:01:50] >> So your expectation is is that this

[3:01:52] person works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a

[3:01:55] year.

[3:01:58] » I'm sorry. Say um meaning are they a

[3:02:01] full-time employ,000?

[3:02:03] >> Yes.

[3:02:04] >> So you think only one?

[3:02:06] >> No, I don't. Okay. Um

[3:02:08] >> because then that means they can't take

[3:02:09] leave. They can't get sick.

[3:02:10] >> Right. I mean, I do think we are going

[3:02:12] to have to hire that this is we're going

[3:02:15] to have to have and this is part of that

[3:02:16] larger conversation because some of the

[3:02:19] things that we've been doing right now

[3:02:20] is telling um city hall that we've got a

[3:02:23] halt like we can't be taking it all on.

[3:02:25] We just don't have the capacity. So,

[3:02:27] this would at least give us some

[3:02:28] capacity to start to take on the work,

[3:02:30] but I do not by any means believe that

[3:02:33] this is going to give us the capacity to

[3:02:34] do all employees. So, we're going to,

[3:02:36] and this is what I sort of mean about

[3:02:38] like we can't just talk say we're

[3:02:41] merging or we're we or we're

[3:02:42] transferring the work from here to

[3:02:43] there. There needs to be a a business

[3:02:46] plan. There needs to be a timeline.

[3:02:47] There needs to be responsibility

[3:02:49] centers. We need to have an

[3:02:50] understanding of what we're doing before

[3:02:52] we're doing it. Um, we need to be

[3:02:54] planning it proactively rather than

[3:02:56] reacting. And and I very uh much admit

[3:02:59] that this is reactive because that work

[3:03:02] has been shifted over to us. So, do I

[3:03:04] think that this is the the greatest plan

[3:03:07] and that this should be the long-term

[3:03:08] plan? Absolutely not. Um, but it it is

[3:03:13] uh just a step as we are trying to

[3:03:16] figure out what the larger plan looks

[3:03:18] like. And I do think we need to have a

[3:03:20] conversation

[3:03:21] with city hall and and I know and again

[3:03:24] Jay Condan has been incredibly uh

[3:03:27] collaborative and supportive and

[3:03:28] recognizes that there's the maintenance

[3:03:30] line of schedule 19 that doesn't exactly

[3:03:33] tie out. So I do believe that it's going

[3:03:35] to be um that you all are going to be

[3:03:38] able to see a schedule 19 that is

[3:03:41] auditable and that is understandable and

[3:03:43] that actually reflects the services

[3:03:44] we're getting. So I do feel confident in

[3:03:46] that now. Um but and so yes this um this

[3:03:51] cost would then be shifted to us from

[3:03:53] that schedule 19.

[3:03:54] >> So I I just have three quick questions.

[3:03:56] So the first first one is um do do our

[3:04:00] current HR employees have the expertise

[3:04:03] to do this?

[3:04:04] >> No.

[3:04:04] >> All right. No. Second um I I've seen our

[3:04:09] schedule 19. Um ho how how are we

[3:04:15] predicting the cost that was

[3:04:19] >> well that's a great question back

[3:04:20] >> and

[3:04:21] >> so for last year I believe it was

[3:04:24] >> almost 400,000

[3:04:26] >> almost $400,000 that we were spending um

[3:04:30] on the HR department for city hall that

[3:04:32] was one of the the lines so we will be

[3:04:36] putting less than that um by at least 60

[3:04:40] to8 85,000 is I believe the range for

[3:04:42] this position. Um that will at least be

[3:04:45] uh it will be less than that. Now do I

[3:04:48] think it will be even less than that?

[3:04:50] Yes, because I do believe that we will

[3:04:52] be able to have a number that is more

[3:04:54] auditable.

[3:04:55] >> And then the last question is um this

[3:04:58] was there a number on this that you put

[3:05:00] forward that I don't I didn't see the

[3:05:02] number.

[3:05:02] >> Um

[3:05:02] >> does it say one? Uh

[3:05:04] >> just one you mean meaning one FTE? Yes,

[3:05:08] one FTE for now. Um, and hopefully again

[3:05:11] I'll be able to come to you all with a

[3:05:13] larger long-term plan um that I do need

[3:05:16] to work with the city on because again I

[3:05:18] need to better understand because if

[3:05:21] we're shifting the work over that's less

[3:05:22] of a merger, right? That's more that's

[3:05:24] actually going the opposite direction.

[3:05:26] So I need to better understand again

[3:05:28] what the vision is. Um I admit I don't

[3:05:31] know right now. Uh but I have every

[3:05:33] intention of finding out. So

[3:05:35] >> last cost concern and this is a major

[3:05:37] concern obviously.

[3:05:38] >> Yes.

[3:05:38] >> But so much.

[3:05:42] >> So we know that we were paying out in

[3:05:44] excess of a few million dollars of

[3:05:46] benefits that we shouldn't have. So with

[3:05:48] this happening, is there currently a

[3:05:50] backlog where we're that's still

[3:05:52] happening? Are we we assured that we're

[3:05:55] not paying for things that we shouldn't

[3:05:57] be right now?

[3:05:58] >> No, we are not assured of that right

[3:05:59] now. We are in the process of cleaning

[3:06:01] it up. So, why couldn't we just hire

[3:06:03] like I mean,

[3:06:05] >> why just one then? I guess

[3:06:08] >> because I don't want to overpromise at

[3:06:10] this point. Um,

[3:06:12] yeah. I I mean, I figure let's start

[3:06:15] with one.

[3:06:15] >> So, they're going to keep most of it.

[3:06:17] >> No, not necessarily. I'm sorry. Again, I

[3:06:20] don't have a long-term plan. We're just

[3:06:22] starting with one uh because that I feel

[3:06:26] is a safe way to go. um is to start with

[3:06:29] one because I know that we will at least

[3:06:30] get that amount back in our schedule 19

[3:06:33] before we were to hire any more than

[3:06:35] that. I want to want to get confirmation

[3:06:37] of what that final schedule 19 number is

[3:06:39] for HR for city hall. Like I wouldn't

[3:06:42] want to just assume that we were going

[3:06:45] to get two salaries worth.

[3:06:46] >> So why not just say four right now and

[3:06:48] then if you only need to hire one, you

[3:06:51] hire one.

[3:06:53] I I mean that is certainly another way

[3:06:55] to go if that would be something y'all

[3:06:57] would be comfortable with. I I

[3:07:02] that's certainly something we could do.

[3:07:04] I would want to again confirm with city

[3:07:07] hall that we would be getting all of

[3:07:09] those salaries back in our schedule 19

[3:07:12] uh before actually hiring for. Uh but at

[3:07:15] least for now I know we need one because

[3:07:17] as the work is even transitioning a

[3:07:19] little bit we do need somebody who has

[3:07:21] that that expertise.

[3:07:26] » I yield.

[3:07:27] >> Thank you.

[3:07:27] >> Uh Miss M. Oliver.

[3:07:29] >> So um when the audit happened with the

[3:07:33] HR I think we were spending about like

[3:07:35] $1.6 $6 million about that and two two

[3:07:39] millions and we had how many people in

[3:07:41] HR when we before we did what we had to

[3:07:45] do to save um cost

[3:07:47] >> I actually came back

[3:07:48] >> we actually have a

[3:07:49] >> like I don't know um it's all right I'll

[3:07:52] invite up Kathy Marian she'll

[3:07:54] >> while legal team you know she gets to

[3:07:56] the podium but the only concern I have I

[3:07:58] get this whole merging thing but this

[3:08:00] doesn't sound like merging this is sound

[3:08:02] like you're taking our responsibility

[3:08:04] and you pay for it. I'm just We've like

[3:08:08] before I even got on the school

[3:08:09] committee, all I've ever heard in this

[3:08:11] city is that Central is heavy. That

[3:08:14] Central loves to spend money. We're

[3:08:15] throwing money out the way and there's

[3:08:18] money three out somewhere and then we

[3:08:19] just keep giving money out. And we

[3:08:21] finally did an audit. We cleaned it up

[3:08:24] and we saved so much money by doing what

[3:08:27] we had to do to be fiscally responsible.

[3:08:30] And now you're telling us that you want

[3:08:33] us to hire all these people and then

[3:08:34] where the money's coming from.

[3:08:36] >> Well, in all fairness, they didn't say

[3:08:38] that wasn't their directive. It was to

[3:08:40] take the work, but they didn't say hire

[3:08:42] people.

[3:08:43] >> We would have to hire people,

[3:08:44] >> but we have to hire people, right? So,

[3:08:46] we did at least confirm that we need to

[3:08:48] hire someone and so we will be taking

[3:08:50] that money back from SC.

[3:08:51] >> So, it's hiring and also training

[3:08:53] because we don't have people to do the

[3:08:55] job and now it's going from paper to

[3:08:58] Yes. Our hope is to be more efficient

[3:09:01] and Exactly. Yes.

[3:09:02] >> So for us to go to paper electronic, we

[3:09:04] have to train individual and that's

[3:09:07] going to take time and then we have to

[3:09:09] make sure we get people that's also able

[3:09:11] to do the job. This is a high a lot of

[3:09:14] responsibility for 3,000 people and

[3:09:16] we're trying to figure out I if we're

[3:09:18] merging, we're merging. We're taking

[3:09:20] responsibility together, not I'm just

[3:09:22] going to keep throwing things to the

[3:09:23] school side and you guys figure it out

[3:09:25] and you pay for the people. We're saving

[3:09:28] them money, but we're putting more cost

[3:09:29] on us. But uh how many do we have?

[3:09:32] >> There were 12 at one point. 12.

[3:09:34] >> 12 and now we're down to eight.

[3:09:36] >> Yes.

[3:09:38] >> It's just very confusing to me how I get

[3:09:40] it. We need we want to merge certain

[3:09:42] department, but we also got to be

[3:09:43] fiscally responsible and you're not

[3:09:45] going to put all the work on us and for

[3:09:48] us to figure it out. I'm just very

[3:09:50] concerned about that that I don't feel

[3:09:51] comfortable voting on this until we have

[3:09:54] a better picture idea of what it's going

[3:09:56] to cost us and what's the consequences

[3:09:58] going to be on our budget.

[3:10:01] >> Miss you.

[3:10:03] >> And my concern is that we take on this

[3:10:06] responsibility by only hiring one one

[3:10:10] person and then like you said this for

[3:10:13] 3,000 um staff that's a lot. And the and

[3:10:17] then for you to do your assessment, it

[3:10:19] says we we need more. So how can we say

[3:10:22] we need two to three staff? So like I

[3:10:25] guess when is this happen or did it

[3:10:28] already happen?

[3:10:29] >> No. No. It's for your you to approve.

[3:10:31] >> Okay. So it sounds like

[3:10:33] >> and for us to have this discussion.

[3:10:34] >> Okay. Great. Um so do you have a date

[3:10:38] line like have they proposed a date of

[3:10:40] when this merger? Well, I don't even

[3:10:43] know if it's merge. this added

[3:10:45] responsibility to be sent back to be

[3:10:47] sent to us.

[3:10:48] >> We've already started to do some of the

[3:10:50] work. The um the timeline that city hall

[3:10:52] had set was that all of the health

[3:10:54] insurance would come over to the school

[3:10:56] department by the end of August, which

[3:10:58] has already passed. Um I was also

[3:11:00] informed in August that it was not just

[3:11:01] health, but it's also dental and life.

[3:11:04] So, um there's more work that's coming

[3:11:06] our way as well. We've just started the

[3:11:08] trainings to and to get access to the

[3:11:10] portals.

[3:11:11] >> Okay.

[3:11:13] So I'm now

[3:11:15] >> I'll say

[3:11:15] >> I'm confused. What

[3:11:17] >> Mr. Pena?

[3:11:18] >> I'm very very confused. Not not not at

[3:11:21] you. Um

[3:11:22] >> so they just decided to just send it

[3:11:24] over and just say you deal with it. I'm confused now. Now I know that you

[3:11:28] guys are great down there in HR. I know

[3:11:30] a lot of you down there. You're you're

[3:11:32] salt of the earth. But I mean I I'll be

[3:11:36] honest that I I believe there's a ratio

[3:11:38] to how many HR I just call them leazison

[3:11:41] but whatever you want to whatever you

[3:11:42] guys call them. Shouldn't there be like

[3:11:44] maybe one per 200 employees? And that's kind of a lot.

[3:11:49] >> Um when we asked when I went to the

[3:11:51] first meeting in August and was told

[3:11:52] that this work was coming to my office

[3:11:54] um I asked how many people they have at

[3:11:57] city hall doing this work and I was told

[3:11:58] they have four. Um we currently have

[3:12:01] 3,3449

[3:12:03] employees in the city in the school

[3:12:05] department. Um I believe that this I

[3:12:07] don't have the number between 8 and 900

[3:12:10] for the city side. So obviously as Dr.

[3:12:13] Tieani said uh one is not enough but if

[3:12:16] we're going to we already have some of

[3:12:17] the work in my office we already have

[3:12:19] people meeting uh with people like

[3:12:21] polymorphic to figure out how we're

[3:12:22] going to digitize this and I could go on

[3:12:24] and on but um we don't have the capacity

[3:12:26] right now to do this well and as you

[3:12:29] know benefits are extremely important to

[3:12:31] people.

[3:12:32] >> So don't don't we see that this is what

[3:12:34] messed up before? Like I'm con I'm very

[3:12:39] confused right now.

[3:12:45] Miss Oliver.

[3:12:47] >> So when this first came to light at a

[3:12:50] meeting that you went to in August

[3:12:52] shouldn't have been brought to us to our

[3:12:55] attention before it was thrown into our

[3:12:57] HR without discussing it with us. Like I I just feel bad for the for the HR

[3:13:03] department because we decreased it to

[3:13:05] save money and now we're putting more

[3:13:07] work on individuals that without even

[3:13:10] consulting with the school committee

[3:13:12] members to even say do we approve or not

[3:13:14] approve what you're throwing at at HR.

[3:13:17] You're telling us we need to save money.

[3:13:19] We let go people change position and

[3:13:21] move them. And now you're telling us

[3:13:23] never mind you're going to have to hire

[3:13:24] four people because you got to do all

[3:13:26] this. But it was not brought to us cuz

[3:13:28] this is this is financial. This is money

[3:13:31] that we have to figure out how we going

[3:13:32] to be able to afford for different

[3:13:35] people in that department to do the job.

[3:13:37] So I'm just very this is when

[3:13:40] communication

[3:13:42] breaks down right because when city does

[3:13:45] certain things and thinks that data

[3:13:47] shouldn't basically

[3:13:49] consult with us to basically say okay

[3:13:52] where's the money where's it coming from

[3:13:54] how are we funding this do we yes we

[3:13:56] want to make sure that we're not paying

[3:13:58] individual health insurance or benefits

[3:14:00] they shouldn't be having but this should

[3:14:03] have been a deep conversation this

[3:14:05] should have been a meeting in August

[3:14:07] and not now to basically say, "Yeah,

[3:14:09] we're going to have to hire somebody." I

[3:14:11] think that we need to throw it back and

[3:14:13] we need to have a conversation cuz this

[3:14:15] is not going to work well. And I don't

[3:14:17] think it's fair to put on director of

[3:14:19] HR, figure it out, do it or no, do it.

[3:14:22] You have no choice. Basically, what they

[3:14:23] did like you have no choice. You got to

[3:14:25] start doing it in August.

[3:14:31] » I say that.

[3:14:34] Superintendent, is this something that

[3:14:36] you would recommend we try to get more

[3:14:37] information and move it to the next

[3:14:39] meeting just given the time?

[3:14:44] >> I'll be honest, I've been struggling

[3:14:45] with this one. Um it it is it is hard to

[3:14:48] manage um because um

[3:14:53] you know, we're trying to be uh more

[3:14:55] collaborative and supportive to city

[3:14:57] hall. On one hand, I think that this is

[3:14:58] a compliment. I think it's because we

[3:15:00] are doing great work and we have a lot

[3:15:01] of capacity. um uh not people-wise, but

[3:15:04] we have uh the ability to do um more

[3:15:08] than we have in the past. And so I and I

[3:15:11] think, you know, we're demonstrating

[3:15:12] ourselves to be very competent. And so

[3:15:15] on one hand, I think that's a good

[3:15:17] thing. Um that uh but

[3:15:21] um

[3:15:26] it is a difficult position for me to be

[3:15:28] in because I sort of report to

[3:15:30] everybody. Let's be right. I report to

[3:15:32] all of you and I report to city hall

[3:15:34] because you know the mayor is the chair

[3:15:36] of our committee. So,

[3:15:39] and this kind of comes back to the the conversation we were having earlier

[3:15:43] about like it's not seven different

[3:15:45] bosses, it's eight actually [laughter]

[3:15:47] and trying to make sure that I am

[3:15:50] managing everything appropriately. Um,

[3:15:52] and so we are just trying to at the end

[3:15:55] of the day, benefits, like you said,

[3:15:57] they're important and we want to get the

[3:15:59] work done and we want to get the work

[3:16:00] done right for our employees. Um, and I

[3:16:02] think the way this really started is

[3:16:04] because um, we had it had come to our

[3:16:09] attention or we had known for a while

[3:16:11] that um, there were benefits being paid

[3:16:13] out that shouldn't have been. And we did

[3:16:15] start to take more interest in that

[3:16:18] because we wanted to stop that process.

[3:16:20] So, we started to ask more information,

[3:16:22] ask for data, ask for access to portals,

[3:16:25] started to help with the audit. Um, I

[3:16:28] will say that Kimside ended up being

[3:16:30] integral to that process. And so,

[3:16:32] somehow in that whole process of us

[3:16:35] cleaning, being part of the cleanup,

[3:16:38] somehow it this got shifted. And

[3:16:41] honestly, it was news to all of us. Um,

[3:16:44] none of us were part of the meeting

[3:16:45] where that happened. Um, so I I don't I

[3:16:49] don't really know. Just one last

[3:16:50] question. So the directive came on which

[3:16:53] date was it?

[3:16:53] >> It wasn't really a directive as much as

[3:16:55] it was like

[3:16:57] >> do it. Okay.

[3:16:58] >> Here you go.

[3:16:59] >> I was being gaslighted. [laughter]

[3:17:02] >> Yeah.

[3:17:02] >> So to take it kind of off of your

[3:17:06] >> I mean that was it because I'm just

[3:17:07] looking at the time and I know we have

[3:17:08] our attorney here. Um is it something

[3:17:11] that you need us or if we were to call a

[3:17:14] special meeting just to discuss this

[3:17:17] once we have more information? Um I mean

[3:17:19] is it an outside comp you?

[3:17:21] >> So I would like to be supportive to the

[3:17:23] HR department. So I guess we have two

[3:17:25] options here. We have the option of

[3:17:26] moving forward with one uh benefits

[3:17:29] coordinator and and trying to start to

[3:17:32] transition this work over or so I think

[3:17:35] that would be option one or option two

[3:17:37] would be to stop um try to push the work

[3:17:40] back and say we're going to pause. We

[3:17:42] can't take any of this for an hour and a

[3:17:43] longer conversation needs to happen.

[3:17:45] That's what I believe to be the two

[3:17:47] options are. If there's a third option

[3:17:48] that I'm missing, please feel free to

[3:17:50] let me know. But I would want to hear

[3:17:52] from um Dr. Moran.

[3:17:54] >> So Dr. Moran, before you answer, so you

[3:17:56] mentioned training. What is involved

[3:17:58] with the training? Like is it is it um

[3:18:03] extensive training or is it something

[3:18:05] that we can bring in an outside company

[3:18:07] to help you uh temporarily?

[3:18:10] Well, when it comes to just the Blue

[3:18:12] Cross and Harvard for the health

[3:18:13] insurance, we've been working with Blue

[3:18:15] Cross with their um representative to

[3:18:18] get ourselves acclimated to just the

[3:18:21] portal itself. When it comes to actually

[3:18:23] getting in and um starting the process

[3:18:25] for new employees, ending the process

[3:18:28] when people leave, changing things when

[3:18:30] people have additions to their families.

[3:18:32] Those are all details that we need to be

[3:18:35] trained on. Those are the the details.

[3:18:37] Um, in addition to that, as I said,

[3:18:39] there's also, uh, dental and life that

[3:18:41] we haven't begun to scratch the surface

[3:18:44] yet. So, um, in in terms of bringing in

[3:18:47] an outside agency, I think it's really

[3:18:49] about if since I was hired here in the

[3:18:51] early 2000s, health insurance was always

[3:18:54] handled by city hall. So, we need to

[3:18:56] build our capacity by working with city

[3:18:59] hall that's been doing it for decades,

[3:19:01] so we can get ourselves up to speed. Um,

[3:19:03] but that's just the health insurance

[3:19:04] piece. the dental and life are also um

[3:19:07] out there.

[3:19:08] >> So, I mean, this is something they're

[3:19:09] already doing now, but by the time we

[3:19:12] get on board and um get the training,

[3:19:15] it's just it's it's it's

[3:19:17] timesensitive. So, I would say let them

[3:19:22] continue to help us until we can

[3:19:25] identify

[3:19:27] funds for those positions that you're

[3:19:29] going to need. um

[3:19:32] just yeah just take the money but more

[3:19:34] than one person you know she's she's going to need more than one

[3:19:38] employee to be doing that where they

[3:19:39] have four

[3:19:41] >> um but okay that

[3:19:43] >> I'll say

[3:19:45] >> um to take it off your plate um please

[3:19:48] answer truthfully

[3:19:51] how many employees do you think you need

[3:19:54] to be able to do this uh proficiently

[3:19:58] because I will tell you that as somebody

[3:20:00] that is someone with disabilities that

[3:20:04] um if you do not correctly input the

[3:20:07] insurance then you start getting phone

[3:20:10] calls at the house a lot.

[3:20:12] >> Mhm.

[3:20:12] >> And then it becomes a stressful

[3:20:14] situation for the employee and there's a

[3:20:17] lot of trust that's lost everything

[3:20:19] else. So please answer as honestly as

[3:20:22] you possibly can.

[3:20:24] >> I have no idea. We haven't started this

[3:20:26] process yet. All I know is that city

[3:20:28] hall has four employees that are doing

[3:20:30] this work for the school department and

[3:20:33] city side for about 4,000 employees if

[3:20:35] we're taking um 3/4s of that. Um and

[3:20:39] >> and they weren't doing it proficiently.

[3:20:41] Correct.

[3:20:41] >> I I there are always glitches. I mean

[3:20:43] there were times when people left um and

[3:20:45] their insurance wasn't turned off, but

[3:20:47] as you just mentioned, whenever there's

[3:20:49] a change in um if a benefits change,

[3:20:51] there'll be open enrollment. you know,

[3:20:53] when your baby turns 26 out of nowhere

[3:20:55] and she needs to get her own insurance.

[3:20:57] All of these things, these life events,

[3:20:59] they trigger something and they they're very timesensitive.

[3:21:02] >> And so I I would just say um I think

[3:21:04] there's an option C and and I would move

[3:21:08] to amend this item to add two additional

[3:21:12] um FTE to it in case so that you don't

[3:21:16] have to come back if it's something that

[3:21:17] you need to hire right away. So I would

[3:21:19] move to amend it to three rather than

[3:21:21] just one.

[3:21:23] That's in the form of a motion.

[3:21:25] >> That was

[3:21:26] >> uh is there a second?

[3:21:27] >> Second.

[3:21:28] >> Motion has been properly made and

[3:21:29] second.

[3:21:31] >> Uh Miss Cinte. Miss Oliver.

[3:21:33] >> No.

[3:21:35] >> Mr. Rodriguez.

[3:21:37] >> Nope.

[3:21:38] >> Miss Azac?

[3:21:40] >> Yes.

[3:21:40] >> Mr. Pina?

[3:21:41] >> Yes.

[3:21:42] >> Mr. Sullivan?

[3:21:44] >> Yes.

[3:21:45] >> I'm a yes as well. Two

[3:21:48] four. It carries. So, I make a motion to

[3:21:51] now pass that um item D E.

[3:21:56] >> Wait, D, you're right. Sorry, man.

[3:21:58] >> Oh, see, you got me there, man.

[3:22:00] >> I make a motion to advance

[3:22:03] >> item D uh approval to hire three um

[3:22:07] benefit coordinator position.

[3:22:11] >> Motion has been made. Is there a second?

[3:22:15] >> Clarification. Um all same salary.

[3:22:19] So, I mean,

[3:22:20] >> there's a range. We'll post a range and

[3:22:22] I think it depends on expertise or

[3:22:25] experience. Yeah. A number of factors.

[3:22:27] >> Okay. I'll second it. Yep. I'll second

[3:22:29] it

[3:22:29] >> on the motion. Do you want to add that

[3:22:31] the funding source has to come from the

[3:22:34] schedule 19?

[3:22:34] >> Yeah.

[3:22:35] >> Granted that

[3:22:36] >> Yeah, that that's what she she already

[3:22:38] identified that though.

[3:22:40] >> Yeah,

[3:22:40] >> I know. But I'm just saying cuz we we

[3:22:42] fight for money a lot. We fight over

[3:22:44] money a lot. Contingent upon

[3:22:46] >> contingent upon

[3:22:48] >> as long as we put it on the record.

[3:22:50] >> Perfect. Um, so there's a motion on the

[3:22:53] floor. Second. Misso,

[3:22:56] >> yes.

[3:22:56] >> Miss Oliver,

[3:22:57] >> no.

[3:22:58] >> Mr. Rodriguez,

[3:22:59] >> no.

[3:22:59] >> Miss Azac,

[3:23:00] >> yes.

[3:23:01] >> Mr. Pina,

[3:23:02] >> yes.

[3:23:02] >> Mr. Sullivan,

[3:23:04] >> yes.

[3:23:05] >> I'm a yes. As well carries. Um, item E.

[3:23:09] Discussion potential.

[3:23:10] >> Thank you, Dr. Maran.

[3:23:12] election of official voting delegate of

[3:23:15] the mass mask mass annual business

[3:23:18] meeting November 4th to the 6, 2026. Uh

[3:23:21] as you guys know, every year when mask

[3:23:23] does um their conference, we elect a

[3:23:26] member uh among those that are going to

[3:23:29] be our repres representative of this

[3:23:32] committee uh to vote on our behalf and

[3:23:34] we also elect an alternative member. Uh

[3:23:37] I'm not sure who is going. I won't be

[3:23:39] going this year. So if we can have just

[3:23:42] a

[3:23:44] uh hands up for those that are going so

[3:23:46] the rest of the committee knows. So we

[3:23:49] got Mr. Pina, Miss AAC.

[3:23:52] So almost everybody but myself and Mr.

[3:23:54] Sullivan are you going?

[3:23:55] >> I think it's that front.

[3:23:57] >> I did but

[3:24:00] I'm assuming that's a no.

[3:24:01] >> Um is anybody willing to be the

[3:24:04] delegate?

[3:24:05] >> I nominate Joyce Azac.

[3:24:07] >> I thank you for the nomination. And I

[3:24:09] just I need to step away. Nope. Thank

[3:24:11] you.

[3:24:12] >> Thank you for the nomination. Um but I I

[3:24:15] will not be attending the delegate part.

[3:24:17] So I do have to leave

[3:24:18] >> accept your nomination.

[3:24:19] >> No, it's for that Friday. So I have to

[3:24:21] leave and come back.

[3:24:22] >> Any other members that would like to be

[3:24:24] the delegate or you guys want to

[3:24:26] nominate any other members?

[3:24:28] >> Stephen. [laughter]

[3:24:31] >> Wow.

[3:24:32] >> I nominate

[3:24:34] Tony Rodriguez.

[3:24:36] >> Tony, do you accept that nomination?

[3:24:39] You don't have to accept.

[3:24:40] >> Might as well. Nobody else is going to

[3:24:41] stand.

[3:24:41] >> All right. So, Tony Rodriguez has been

[3:24:43] nominated as our delegate. Can we have

[3:24:45] an alter alternate?

[3:24:47] >> I'll [clears throat] be the backup.

[3:24:49] >> Everybody in agreement.

[3:24:52] >> Do we have to vote on it or No.

[3:24:53] >> Yeah, you have to vote on it.

[3:24:54] >> Yeah, we vote on it.

[3:24:55] >> Okay.

[3:24:55] >> So, we have uh Mr. Rodriguez as our

[3:24:59] delegate and Mrs.

[3:25:01] >> Miss Cinteo as our um secondary. Um,

[3:25:05] I'll take a motion to

[3:25:06] >> make a motion to pass the Mr. Rodriguez

[3:25:09] as the primary and Miss Contento as the

[3:25:12] alternate for the mask mass uh

[3:25:14] delegation.

[3:25:16] >> Is there a second?

[3:25:17] >> Second.

[3:25:18] >> Motion has been properly made in second.

[3:25:20] Miss Cento,

[3:25:21] >> yes.

[3:25:21] >> Miss Oliver,

[3:25:22] >> yes.

[3:25:23] >> Mr. Rodriguez,

[3:25:24] >> Miss Azac,

[3:25:25] >> yes.

[3:25:26] >> Mr. Pina,

[3:25:26] >> yeah.

[3:25:27] >> Mr. Sullivan,

[3:25:29] >> yes.

[3:25:30] >> I'm a yes as well passes.

[3:25:32] Congratulations.

[3:25:33] Um, agenda item

[3:25:36] seven, school school safety and

[3:25:39] security. Our police layers on.

[3:25:41] >> All right, let be quick about this. It's

[3:25:43] getting late.

[3:25:45] Our last two home night games were Oh,

[3:25:48] good evening everyone. Sorry. Our last

[3:25:50] two home night games went off without

[3:25:52] any significant issues. We appreciate

[3:25:54] the continued cooper Well, what

[3:25:56] happened? uh cooperation of the students

[3:25:59] and the families and the fans and

[3:26:01] helping with making the event safe and

[3:26:02] successful.

[3:26:04] We continue to work collaboration with

[3:26:06] the school uh department in various ways

[3:26:08] accommodating their needs and promote

[3:26:10] safety and respect among our

[3:26:12] constituents ensuring different uh

[3:26:14] different perspective and concerns uh

[3:26:17] are heard with and valued. Excuse me.

[3:26:21] We're also conducting internal

[3:26:23] interview.

[3:26:26] We're looking at what has gone well,

[3:26:28] identifying areas of improvement. It may

[3:26:30] be appropriate reviewing these goals and

[3:26:32] previous established

[3:26:34] determine whether any uh new goals

[3:26:36] should be considered considering moving

[3:26:39] forward.

[3:26:41] Any questions?

[3:26:43] >> Miss Oliver,

[3:26:45] >> thank you very much for your report. I

[3:26:48] think the last two home games has been

[3:26:50] great. Um Don, my only concern is that I

[3:26:53] noticed last um game. I know it was

[3:26:56] raining. A lot of people didn't want to

[3:26:57] go sit in the bleachers. Um I think that

[3:27:00] if we can just help the coaches and just

[3:27:03] move individuals from defense. I I saw a

[3:27:06] lot of um athletic director trying to

[3:27:09] move um students and go to the

[3:27:11] bleachers. Um if we can get more help

[3:27:13] with that cuz I did see a lot of it more

[3:27:15] kids um by the fence instead of sitting

[3:27:18] down. But I think the overall I think

[3:27:21] that like the you know the blackout day

[3:27:23] they had the first home game and the

[3:27:25] last game was like the pink for breast

[3:27:27] cancer a war awareness and I think that

[3:27:30] it was a really good home game and I and

[3:27:32] I do appreciate all the hard work

[3:27:33] everybody's been doing. Thank you.

[3:27:35] >> Thank you

[3:27:36] >> Mr. Pina.

[3:27:37] >> Yeah. So uh I have a few questions. The

[3:27:40] first one is um what is your thought on

[3:27:43] the um illumination of the non non-field

[3:27:47] areas? Are they illuminated enough for

[3:27:50] safety purposes?

[3:27:52] My my concern is over by the uh

[3:27:55] underneath the scoreboard and where that

[3:27:57] the snack shack or I forget what we call

[3:27:59] it, but it's not really lit up. Uh I've

[3:28:01] been to obviously the other um high

[3:28:04] schools in the area and theirs is pretty

[3:28:06] lit up. Um

[3:28:09] I don't know whether it would help

[3:28:10] safety wise. Um

[3:28:14] thoughts?

[3:28:15] >> Yeah, lights are great. That'd be great.

[3:28:18] Lighting, visible, safety.

[3:28:22] >> Awesome.

[3:28:23] >> And the uh second question is that

[3:28:26] pertaining to the football um in all

[3:28:28] sports, but um I noticed that uh there

[3:28:32] were no um Brockton police um city

[3:28:36] police at our at the games and there was no incidences which as you

[3:28:42] reported. So that would be a a pretty

[3:28:45] big savings. uh to us. Um was it

[3:28:50] beneficial?

[3:28:51] Uh were you guys able to uh conduct the

[3:28:54] safety measures everything without uh

[3:28:57] concern?

[3:28:59] >> There's 12 of us there. We actually had

[3:29:03] uh

[3:29:05] Captain Captain two captains.

[3:29:09] We had good vision.

[3:29:11] >> Awesome. And then um I I might have

[3:29:14] missed it, but did you mention anything

[3:29:16] about any recent um

[3:29:20] criminal activity around any of the

[3:29:22] schools pertaining to either uh the

[3:29:25] transate population or any incidences

[3:29:28] involving students?

[3:29:31] >> Um

[3:29:34] say that again. I'm sorry. So the

[3:29:36] homeless population that uh takes over

[3:29:40] the PL area especially in the Arnown as

[3:29:43] well. Um in the past we'd had issues

[3:29:46] with that with uh them leaving some

[3:29:49] gifts behind. Uh has that has there been

[3:29:52] any uh additional issues?

[3:29:56] >> Uh not that I know of. But if I can

[3:30:01] reach out to

[3:30:03] get get that information for you to

[3:30:06] >> Awesome. And you said you said we now

[3:30:08] are at 12 on duty.

[3:30:15] » Or was that some from the

[3:30:17] >> total? Yeah.

[3:30:19] >> Awesome. And I'll just say um one kudos

[3:30:22] or good job or whatever you guys want to

[3:30:24] call it. Pat on the back. How's that?

[3:30:26] Um, so I've noticed that you have you

[3:30:29] guys have randomly gone to the

[3:30:31] elementary schools and not just driving

[3:30:34] by, but actually going with your lights

[3:30:36] on during the drop off and pickup, which

[3:30:39] has helped immensely with the I I'll say

[3:30:43] quadruple parking uh especially at the

[3:30:46] schools that I've gone and and watched.

[3:30:49] Um, so I I would thank uh who whoever is

[3:30:52] in charge of that process and and as as

[3:30:55] well as the the school police for being

[3:30:58] as um um on the ball as as you guys

[3:31:03] >> I'll call you back on this.

[3:31:06] >> Mr. Sullivan,

[3:31:07] >> I call you back.

[3:31:10] I I think the one of the reason maybe we

[3:31:13] can find out the lights issue by the

[3:31:16] shed um the concession stand is because

[3:31:19] there's houses right there and we can't

[3:31:21] have so much bright light just facing

[3:31:23] the the the houses over there. I wonder

[3:31:26] I'm just trying to figure out cuz it is

[3:31:27] very dark in that area when I try to go

[3:31:30] get food and it's very very dark in that

[3:31:32] area.

[3:31:33] >> I don't know if it's because of house

[3:31:34] that like fenced our stadium. We'll talk

[3:31:38] to Ken.

[3:31:39] >> Yeah. Well, and if you face them this

[3:31:40] towards the field, it's not an issue.

[3:31:42] But I would also add that the the band

[3:31:44] boosters

[3:31:45] >> u and this this is very dark.

[3:31:47] >> This is a facilities thing. They're

[3:31:49] sitting out there with uh

[3:31:51] >> little tiny lanterns.

[3:31:54] It's I mean we can we can run a line out

[3:31:56] there and put a light up there, but

[3:31:58] >> and I think also facilities issue

[3:31:59] >> the light under the bleachers too when

[3:32:02] um the band um they go under it to like

[3:32:05] have their snacks and drinks. It's very

[3:32:07] dark there and the safety um issues too,

[3:32:10] especially with the rain. I mean, if we

[3:32:12] can figure out the lights under there

[3:32:13] will be greatly appreciated just for

[3:32:15] students when they walk in to go to the

[3:32:17] bathroom is very dark under there. Um,

[3:32:19] another thing that I want to find out if

[3:32:22] it's true or not, if there's already

[3:32:24] encampment like a encampment around here

[3:32:27] at the school, like where the forest

[3:32:28] area is, or is there any individuals

[3:32:32] basically housing out there like the

[3:32:34] homeless people? Because I know there

[3:32:36] are some students that have said they

[3:32:37] have walked that way and there are

[3:32:39] individual in the woods living there.

[3:32:41] So, I want to make sure that we're

[3:32:43] trying to figure out if there is and how

[3:32:45] we basically make sure our students when

[3:32:47] they walk through there, they're safe at

[3:32:49] all time if we can get an idea what if

[3:32:51] it's really happening or not.

[3:32:53] >> Thank you,

[3:32:56] >> Miss Cinte.

[3:32:57] >> Hi.

[3:32:58] >> Uh when we was there, uh we did talk

[3:33:02] about traffic cuz that is on a main busy

[3:33:06] road.

[3:33:06] >> Yes. So what they what the principal did

[3:33:09] share was that when there's a present

[3:33:11] when one of your um somebody from your

[3:33:14] team or you are there that things tend

[3:33:17] to run smoothly

[3:33:19] um they even give us a situation that

[3:33:22] happened that week where um a school a

[3:33:26] driver was behind the school van and did

[3:33:29] not see the stop sign and took over. Um,

[3:33:32] but you guys was right there and step up

[3:33:35] um and spoke with the person. I sure if

[3:33:37] they got a ticket or not. Um, I would

[3:33:41] like if we can come up with a system

[3:33:46] that because they aren't on the main

[3:33:48] road

[3:33:49] if there's a possibility that we for us

[3:33:52] to make sure that they should always

[3:33:54] have some coverage as much as I can. Of

[3:33:57] course, does the Baker needs it? Does

[3:33:59] the George need it? Does other school

[3:34:00] need it? Yes. But I feel like for safety

[3:34:02] reasons, um, is that something that can

[3:34:05] be done?

[3:34:06] >> Yes.

[3:34:08] >> All the time.

[3:34:10] >> Yes.

[3:34:12] >> Okay. I'll be doing some random drive

[3:34:13] by. Well,

[3:34:14] >> thank you.

[3:34:15] >> Random cruising.

[3:34:17] >> I'll say this. We have a we have

[3:34:21] a list of schools that we sit on traffic

[3:34:24] >> in the Angelo where it's at because it's

[3:34:27] such a congested area. It's either

[3:34:31] before school or after school before dis

[3:34:34] arrival dismissal. It's about 15 minutes

[3:34:37] of chaos and it goes away. So it is on

[3:34:40] our list of schools that we try and try

[3:34:43] to get to. However, sometimes even

[3:34:46] though we have 12, sometimes things come

[3:34:48] up. Um officers are tied up on calls if

[3:34:52] we're not able to get to that school on

[3:34:53] that date. But that rest assure the the

[3:34:56] Angelo is on that list along with the

[3:34:59] Baker, the George, the Hancock.

[3:35:05] Um, yeah, we got about we got seven

[3:35:09] try to get to the Raymond.

[3:35:16] Well, I just wanted to give a shout out

[3:35:18] because the the principal did did

[3:35:19] mention that when you guys are there

[3:35:21] that things tend to move quickly, but

[3:35:24] the safety of the students and also the

[3:35:27] staff. So, I'm happy to hear that those

[3:35:30] schools that are in the main road are on

[3:35:32] top of your priority list. So, thank

[3:35:35] you.

[3:35:35] >> The uh football games and the events at

[3:35:37] the uh stadium, how many officers do we

[3:35:39] need to cover the uh the football games?

[3:35:45] Hello. Um, that's up to the lieutenant

[3:35:47] usually comes up with the the magic

[3:35:49] number, but I can get that to you.

[3:35:52] >> All right. Yeah, I I would like to

[3:35:53] review that uh, you know, to coincide

[3:35:56] that with our contract. Um,

[3:35:59] >> okay.

[3:35:59] >> You can ask number on the school police

[3:36:03] >> that we shouldn't be getting any uh

[3:36:05] invoices. Uh, that's extra.

[3:36:08] >> Okay.

[3:36:09] >> Thank you.

[3:36:10] >> All right. Thank you, folks. Thank you.

[3:36:12] Um item

[3:36:15] eight, announcements. Is there any

[3:36:17] announcements?

[3:36:19] Seeing none, we'll move to item nine,

[3:36:21] executive session. Um I'll read this

[3:36:25] into the record. Pursuant to mass

[3:36:26] general law, chapter 30A, section 21 A3

[3:36:30] to discuss strategy with respect to

[3:36:32] collective bargaining or litigation if

[3:36:34] an open meeting may be may have a

[3:36:36] detrimental effect on the bargaining or

[3:36:38] litigation position of the public body

[3:36:40] and chair. So declares threaten and

[3:36:42] current litigation. Uh can I have a

[3:36:44] motion to go into executive session?

[3:36:46] >> Motion to go into executive session.

[3:36:49] >> Second.

[3:36:49] >> Motion has been properly made in second.

[3:36:51] Miss Antio,

[3:36:51] >> yes.

[3:36:52] >> Miss Soliviver,

[3:36:52] >> yes.

[3:36:53] >> Mr. Rodriguez,

[3:36:54] >> yes.

[3:36:54] >> Mr. Isac,

[3:36:55] >> yes.

[3:36:56] >> Mr. Sullivan,

[3:36:58] >> yes.

[3:36:59] >> Uh myself is a yes as well. We will be

[3:37:01] going to executive session and we will

[3:37:04] not be coming back. Um

[3:37:06] >> is it going to be on a laptop or is it

[3:37:09] going to be my phone? phone.

[3:37:13] >> Yeah. Um,

[3:37:15] wait, say that again.

[3:37:18] >> And M. Yes. Mr. Sullivan will be joining

[3:37:20] via phone for executive session. Um, can

[3:37:23] I have a motion to adjourn?

[3:37:26] >> Motion to return.

[3:37:28] >> Second.

[3:37:28] >> Motion has been properly made in second.

[3:37:30] Miss Antio,

[3:37:31] >> yes.

[3:37:31] >> Miss Oliver,

[3:37:32] >> yes.

[3:37:33] >> That was executive session.

[3:37:35] >> Oh, Mr. Rodriguez.

[3:37:37] >> Yes.

[3:37:37] >> Mr. Mr. Sullivan.

[3:37:41] >> Yes.

[3:37:41] >> I'm a yes as well. Meeting is adjourned.

[3:37:43] We will not be coming back.

Brockton School Committee Meeting October 6, 2026

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