[0:01] Okay. Uh, good evening, Hollist, and

[0:04] welcome to the February 12th, uh,

[0:07] Hollist School Committee meeting. Um,

[0:10] we'll call to order. It's 7:06ish.

[0:14] Um,

[0:17] we are going to start with the regular

[0:20] session. So, I'll entertain a m motion

[0:22] to approve the consent agenda.

[0:24] >> So, move second.

[0:26] >> All in favor?

[0:28] That passes. Um,

[0:32] and then we will move on to our report.

[0:34] >> Could just one second. Yes. As part of

[0:36] the consent agenda, I just would like to

[0:37] call out the fact that we what we just

[0:39] accepted was a gift from the Holl Youth

[0:41] Basketball Association for $13,500 to

[0:44] help uh fix the basketball hoops in the

[0:47] middle school gym. Um, that's just an

[0:49] incredible, you know, donation on on

[0:51] their part and we really uh appreciate

[0:53] that and thank them.

[0:55] >> Yes. Thank you.

[0:56] >> Sorry.

[0:56] >> No, thank you. I I was I was like do

[0:58] should I say it now or wait till the um

[1:02] uh anyway go ahead. So

[1:05] >> sorry

[1:06] >> uh report from student representatives

[1:08] please.

[1:09] >> So um we've been busy with um sports and

[1:14] one act. So get right into it. This past

[1:16] weekend the student directed one acts

[1:18] took place with performances on Friday

[1:20] and Saturday night. Student directors,

[1:22] writers, and actors had lots of creative

[1:24] freedom to make and direct stories that

[1:26] drew lots of laughter and even some

[1:28] tears from the audiences. And then also

[1:30] on Saturday, a matinea performance by

[1:32] Unified Theater, which is a combination

[1:34] of actors with and without disabilities

[1:36] led by Levi Donaghhue gave students in

[1:38] special education a chance to shine on

[1:41] stage. And recently students have re

[1:43] received all states chorus

[1:45] recommendations at the district level

[1:47] audition to join the all states

[1:49] ensembles and Adele Boggas and Minlay

[1:52] qualified for their respective ensembles

[1:54] and will perform be performing in March.

[1:57] >> Um the boys varsity basketball team

[1:59] reached the playoffs for the first time

[2:00] since 2017 and they are looking for

[2:04] looking to close out a strong season in

[2:06] their final two games before heading

[2:07] into the postseason. Um it was a very

[2:10] busy weekend for many team sports as

[2:12] they go off to compete in their state

[2:13] competitions.

[2:15] Um the boys and girls track and field

[2:20] divisional 4 state meet is tomorrow

[2:22] which is the teams are led by Lucy Down

[2:24] and Max Harrington who have break broken

[2:27] many school records

[2:29] um this season and they look forward to

[2:33] continue sorry um their success. The

[2:37] swim team has had their division two

[2:40] state meet this weekend as well as two

[2:42] skiers from the combined Hollston ski

[2:44] team. Maggie Morton and Paul McGrath

[2:46] qualified for their MIAA state

[2:48] championship finishing eighth and 13th

[2:51] respectively in the overall season

[2:52] results. Um, finally, wrestling has

[2:55] sectionals this Saturday at our very own

[2:57] fieldhouse.

[2:59] >> And this past Tuesday was opportunities

[3:01] night at HHS and lots of students came

[3:03] to present on endorsements, clubs, and

[3:05] programs. And as you will see in the

[3:07] hallways, excellent student art honors

[3:10] work is still up for viewing. And in

[3:12] these past two days, National Honor

[3:13] Society volunteers have been giving

[3:15] tours to eighth graders, and a freshman

[3:17] panel was assembled to help start a

[3:19] smooth transition from the middle school

[3:21] to the high school. And then juniors and

[3:23] other grades have had class meetings

[3:25] detailing the schedule changes for next

[3:26] year. And thus far, students feel that

[3:29] they have the necessary resources to

[3:31] start to prepare for the school year

[3:32] next year. And to close regarding the

[3:35] appointment of Dr. James Kimmo Carter,

[3:37] the student advisory council and

[3:38] students look forward to eventually

[3:40] building a strong working relationship.

[3:43] Thank you.

[3:44] >> Thank you. That's great.

[3:47] >> Um see school committee individual

[3:50] comments. So Joe, no.

[3:54] » Uh I'll just

[3:57] raise up the um opportunities night as

[3:59] well. Um that was on Tuesday. It was a

[4:02] really nice display of the programs, the

[4:05] activities, and just the student

[4:07] experience that um are available at

[4:10] Hollston High School. Really nice

[4:11] presentations by some of um our 9th

[4:14] through 12th graders highlighting um a

[4:17] number of activities, internships, um

[4:19] and different honors that they're part

[4:21] of. Um and just really want to thank Mr.

[4:23] List and the staff and students for

[4:25] putting that together.

[4:28] >> Nothing for me. get just on the

[4:31] opportunities night. I mean, I think it

[4:32] really highlights a lot of the great

[4:34] things that are that are going in at

[4:35] Hollison High School that I think maybe

[4:37] aren't necessarily seen broadly. So,

[4:40] especially as students are making their

[4:41] decisions on uh eighth graders are

[4:43] making their decisions on on where to go

[4:45] next year for 9th grade, uh it's

[4:47] definitely worth at least watching that

[4:49] video, seeing what's what's out there at

[4:50] Holland High School uh to include that

[4:52] as part of the decision-m process. So,

[4:55] thank you, Mr. List, and everyone who

[4:56] participated.

[4:59] No additional comment.

[5:00] >> I'll just echo the opportunities night.

[5:02] I thought was really excellent and

[5:04] really fun to see all of the stuff that

[5:07] goes on here at Hollison High School um

[5:10] in one place at one time was really kind

[5:12] of exciting. So, thank you. Um let's

[5:16] see. I don't believe we have any public

[5:18] comment. Is there anyone?

[5:21] >> No one on the Zoom. Nope. Um so, we will

[5:24] move right along to the high school

[5:26] schedule update. Mr.

[5:30] This is not the schedule, but I know not

[5:32] all of y'all were there. So, these are

[5:33] the flyers we just gave out to

[5:35] highlights what's going on at the high

[5:36] school. So, I just want to make sure you

[5:38] all had um some copies of it. Uh I did

[5:42] send that out to all the families um

[5:45] this afternoon once we got the video all

[5:46] processed. So, there's video of the

[5:48] opportunities that was there. Um, I

[5:51] think with the with the change in

[5:52] schedule, it was a really great

[5:53] opportunity uh for parents in the

[5:56] community to see what what what's

[5:57] offered at the high school. Um, and and

[5:59] really highlight our our staff. Um,

[6:02] these the what what was shown at the

[6:05] opportunity were were a little bit of

[6:07] all the what what makes high school

[6:09] special beyond um just your everyday

[6:13] classroom experience. Um, and and and

[6:15] all the hard work that the teachers put

[6:16] in in that way. Um, and in putting it

[6:18] together, as I said, it was a it was uh

[6:21] really like an all-we inspiring uh

[6:24] moments to put it together when you

[6:25] because uh when you're in the trenches

[6:26] every day, you don't actually uh get to

[6:28] appreciate uh what happens uh at the

[6:31] school um as as sort of all the cogs are

[6:34] spinning and and working together. But

[6:36] um to be able to put that all together

[6:37] in one place was really neat. Um and for

[6:39] the kids to be able to present that and

[6:40] the staff to be able to present that was cool. Um, I think the student

[6:44] representatives uh shared a lot of what

[6:46] I was going to to to say, but we had um

[6:49] the eighth graders up here this week to

[6:51] talk about um the the transition. We we

[6:54] that's more of an opportunity for the

[6:55] students to speak to other students um

[6:58] to talk to ninth graders, uh to talk to

[7:01] some of our um seniors, uh about the

[7:04] high school experience here, ask the

[7:05] questions, the important questions like

[7:07] what the pizza tastes like, uh you know,

[7:09] all the deep the deep dive. Um, so you

[7:11] know, that was uh it was it was really

[7:13] cool to sit here and to watch our

[7:14] students talk about their school

[7:16] experience here. Um, and and uh sort of

[7:19] helped the uh the incoming freshmen to feel comfortable um as they

[7:23] transition. Um, also over the past um

[7:26] week and a half things moved around

[7:27] because of snow. Um but we had meetings

[7:30] with um each of the the the students in

[7:33] grades 9 through 11 uh to talk about the

[7:35] schedule for next year. Um just to give

[7:38] them an opportunity to understand

[7:40] um what classes they might take based on

[7:44] what they're taking now. Um you know

[7:46] it's complicated for them because

[7:49] you know they they had whatever it was

[7:51] in their mind built around the current

[7:52] schedule and so now they wanted to see

[7:54] how it fit in um to the to the new

[7:56] schedule. Um and so they were really

[7:58] able to do that and understand um what

[8:00] they need to take, what options we have,

[8:02] what electives will be offered um you

[8:05] know how because you know there it

[8:08] understand year-long versus semester

[8:10] classes. Um and so as the the students

[8:12] said it uh the feedback that we got from

[8:14] students was was really positive um in

[8:17] helping them to understand um before the

[8:20] process really uh gets underway. um

[8:22] because that it's it's crazy that we're

[8:24] almost there, but um right after

[8:26] vacation on on uh the first week of

[8:29] March, students at the high school will

[8:30] start meeting in small groups with their

[8:31] counselors. Um they start to go through

[8:34] um what their journey looks like at the

[8:36] high school. Um, at that same time,

[8:38] we're going to be sharing out with both

[8:40] the high school and the middle school

[8:42] um, a a brand new program of studies

[8:44] that will be easy to read, will be uh,

[8:47] very streamlined so the parents can see,

[8:49] you know, sort of exactly what a

[8:51] student's journey is 9 through 12 here.

[8:53] Um, so all of that will go out um, the week after February vacation. Um,

[8:59] and that will give enough time for

[9:00] students to talk to counselors, to

[9:02] families, um, and to start course

[9:04] selection um, on March 17th,

[9:09] um, between March 17th and the end of

[9:12] March. So, they'll have about two weeks

[9:13] to go into the system, pick their

[9:14] classes. Um, and on March 16th, we'll

[9:17] have our program of studies night. Um,

[9:19] where we'll go over that. Um, it's

[9:21] usually mostly attended by eighth grade

[9:23] families. Um but I'm encouraging

[9:25] families of students, you know, really 8

[9:27] through 11 to come so they can ask the

[9:29] questions and really understand um

[9:32] what's what's what the transition is

[9:34] going to be. So

[9:41] any questions?

[9:43] No.

[9:45] >> All right.

[9:46] >> Thank you.

[9:47] >> Always good to see you all.

[9:48] >> Thank you. Thanks for coming.

[9:51] >> Okay. Um, next up we have the

[9:53] superintendent's FY27 budget.

[10:11] All right. So, tonight Dr. Jordan and I

[10:14] are going to both um present the

[10:15] proposed FY27 budget at the snapshot

[10:18] short of time that we're in right now as

[10:20] of February 12th.

[10:24] So, we're going to give the rationale

[10:26] for the proposed budget, what a level

[10:28] services budget looks like, what the

[10:29] town projected budget or deficit might

[10:32] look like, the priority needs requests

[10:34] that we presented with principles in

[10:36] January, and then additional capital

[10:38] requests for FY27.

[10:42] So, when we do our process just like we

[10:45] did in the previous years, we're

[10:46] aligning with the strategic plan and

[10:48] strategic initiatives, and you saw us

[10:50] present that with the priority needs in

[10:51] January. We will be in year five of

[10:54] priority needs, I'm sorry, of our

[10:56] strategic plan next year. So, you'll

[10:58] likely want to work with the new

[10:59] superintendent and the leadership team

[11:01] to start the process for building a new

[11:03] strategic plan. And as of last year as

[11:06] well, transportation and tuition are

[11:08] very impactful. Um, the changes that

[11:09] we've talked about in the past for FY27

[11:11] are still uncertain just like we had u

[11:14] concerns last year. We did account for

[11:17] all the known personnel increases that

[11:19] we have at this moment and some of that

[11:21] David will be talking about as far as

[11:23] retirements and resignations as of this

[11:24] snapshot in time as well. Town of

[11:27] Hollist like many places is also

[11:29] experiencing challenges but um I'd say

[11:32] given where we are not in the shape that

[11:34] some districts you're hearing on the

[11:36] news are a lot more concerns than we're

[11:37] having. So, we we still feel good about

[11:39] where we are, but that doesn't mean we

[11:41] don't have challenges. And we did take

[11:43] all of that in consideration as we tried

[11:44] to build the budget for you tonight.

[11:50] David,

[11:52] uh it's not clear exactly what um our

[11:56] tuition reimbursement will be for the

[11:58] FY26

[12:01] uh year. um FY25

[12:04] um we we knew by this point that our

[12:06] tuition reimbursement would be 75%. Um a

[12:11] surprise at the end of this last fiscal

[12:13] year is uh that uh transportation was

[12:16] also reimbursed at 75% where

[12:19] historically it's budgeted or reimbured

[12:21] right around 40% 44%. So um that was a

[12:25] nice uh buffer to receive uh in June

[12:27] July um for us. uh it's not I'd say it's

[12:32] less likely uh for the FY25 because it's

[12:35] the prior year's reimbursement that

[12:37] you're receiving uh that we would be

[12:39] reimbursed um at that full 75% uh but

[12:43] what we are budgeted for um is is about

[12:48] 40% uh anticipated about 40% in our

[12:51] reimbursement is what we budgeted for in

[12:53] FY27. So, our just so to to give you an

[12:57] idea of circuit breaker, circuit breaker

[12:59] is a 2-year, we have two years to spend

[13:01] it. Um, we always use it in the second

[13:04] year. So, the year that we receive it,

[13:05] we use that amount as the budgeted

[13:08] amount for the next uh the next year

[13:09] that we're we're using. So, it's a

[13:11] two-year uh process that we have.

[13:18] So, just for those of us that don't know

[13:20] what level services means, I just always

[13:22] like to remind that it's really looking

[13:24] at the current year's level of services

[13:26] and projecting what it would cost to do

[13:27] exactly what we're doing right now with

[13:29] personnel and resources that we

[13:31] currently have and what we would need to

[13:32] maintain that for next year.

[13:38] So um David had presented in January on

[13:41] January 8th what the potential level

[13:44] services budget would look like like and

[13:46] if you look at the snapshot in time on

[13:49] January 8th he was projecting 4.98%

[13:53] before we consider any priority needs or

[13:55] capital needs. I will show you here on

[13:58] the uh there's a tab here open for

[14:00] student services that we do have the

[14:02] numbers in there. I'm not going to go

[14:04] through all of that now, but we do have

[14:06] the numbers that we're projecting for

[14:08] next year. Oops, I got to change the

[14:11] >> I'd say just kind of as what you'll

[14:13] notice in uh and thank you to Dr. Katalo

[14:16] who couldn't be here for putting that

[14:17] presentation together. Um a major driver

[14:20] for us is that that we did predict in

[14:22] our three-year model is we are seeing a

[14:24] reduction in our out of district

[14:26] placements. Um and we will this is our

[14:28] current current year at 39 uh students.

[14:31] Um, and we are looking at additional

[14:34] reductions in the FY27 uh, in our outer

[14:36] districts as well.

[14:37] >> So, these slides are in your packet. We

[14:39] can speak to it a little bit right now,

[14:40] but then if you have further questions,

[14:42] we might ask you to hold those for when

[14:44] Barbara's back on February 26th.

[14:47] So, if you look at the years 2020

[14:50] through 2025, they give us the

[14:53] enrollment data on Desi is is updated

[14:55] every fall around October. Our BIMS data

[14:58] goes in there and all of our SIMS data.

[15:00] So, if you look at the increase at the

[15:03] town and at the state level, you'll see

[15:05] that we are up um in special education

[15:09] IEPs for students and the state is up as

[15:12] well. And there's a lot of discussion

[15:13] about that. If you saw in the news,

[15:15] Patrick Topweiler is no longer going to

[15:17] be the secretary um of education. It's

[15:19] going to be going to Dr. Ricky from

[15:21] Salem. And that was the one of the

[15:23] articles I read today was talking about

[15:25] how we're seeing it increase statewide

[15:28] for special ed costs and needs.

[15:31] And then she gave you the numbers here

[15:33] and again seeing our enrollment trends

[15:35] from 2020 through 2026.

[15:38] We're about 2700 students at this time.

[15:42] You can see the number of IPS just like

[15:44] the percentages. You can see the the

[15:45] real numbers there are projected as well

[15:47] for this year.

[15:49] And similarly 504s that's been kind of

[15:52] up and down but we're currently at 257

[15:55] students on 504s.

[15:57] And when we get into the priority needs,

[15:59] you'll see how the importance of the EL

[16:02] number is going to matter here because

[16:04] you'll see we went in 2122 we had about

[16:06] 62 students. We're now up to 97 and with

[16:10] that we have more level ones and level

[16:12] twos. Joanie can talk a little further

[16:13] when we get to that point. But that is a

[16:16] significant amount of hours and needs

[16:18] for students. So the more hours we have

[16:20] to give, the more staff we need to do

[16:21] so. And that's where you'll see our

[16:23] priority need directly related to that.

[16:27] Some of the drivers that Barbara had

[16:30] talked about were the mental health

[16:31] needs of students. We know that every

[16:33] year we talk about this a lot. We've

[16:35] seen some our data improving with our

[16:36] Metro West Health survey, but there

[16:38] still a lot of mental health needs of

[16:39] students. The tier one is our big focus

[16:43] this year with MTSS. We told you that

[16:44] we're doing all of our alignment and our

[16:46] work at the district level with our

[16:48] admin team and P with staff is really

[16:51] focused on tier one. And that's a

[16:53] significant area of need with the hope

[16:55] that that could help over time reduce

[16:57] the number of children on IEPs if

[16:58] they're getting their needs met in tier

[17:00] one.

[17:01] 504 regulations have certainly become

[17:04] more complex and often times we're

[17:07] writing 504s and students might have a

[17:09] medical plan and a 504. You don't

[17:11] necessarily have to do that, but that's

[17:12] been a practice in the district to do

[17:14] both. So, it just it's it's more plans

[17:16] and more needs for students that we're

[17:17] considering. And I already mentioned the

[17:20] increase in the English language

[17:21] learners. We like to call them

[17:22] multilingual learners, but the state

[17:24] still calls them ELLL students English

[17:26] language learners.

[17:30] Also, out of district costs, I this

[17:33] shouldn't be anything new to you.

[17:34] Clearly, this has been a topic of

[17:35] concern the last few years of the

[17:37] significant tuition increases.

[17:38] transportation as well. 600 a day can

[17:41] still be seen, but the district is

[17:43] really working to try to reduce that

[17:45] over time and and lock into lower

[17:46] contracts with work from both Barbara

[17:49] Catalo and Michelle Lame and we

[17:52] certainly have seen an increase in

[17:54] paranal needs and monitors on buses and

[17:56] that the oneto ones and so forth. So

[17:59] obviously that comes at an additional

[18:00] cost and then we can't account for out

[18:03] of district movements. So where we are

[18:04] right now, we can give you a good

[18:05] overview of what we see for the budget,

[18:07] but we can't predict any movements that

[18:09] might happen later in the year.

[18:13] So just a couple of things that they're

[18:15] working on is to reduce the cost. Um

[18:17] trying to lock in prices and delivery

[18:20] was an area of concern a few years ago

[18:22] when we couldn't find someone. We often

[18:24] have do delivery services and there's

[18:25] really no moderation of that. So

[18:27] unfortunately those costs were

[18:29] significantly high. I do know at the

[18:31] state level the inspector general is

[18:32] doing a whole analysis of this and an

[18:34] audit. So hopefully something will come

[18:36] of that for costs in the future.

[18:40] And then this is what we're working on

[18:42] for extended school year. Dr. Catalo is

[18:44] working with trying to see which

[18:47] students really need the supports in the

[18:49] summer because ultimately we don't want

[18:52] to have to bring them in the summer if

[18:53] we don't have to. We really want them to

[18:55] enjoy and and have playtime in the

[18:56] summer because that's also social

[18:58] emotional development. So, she's been

[19:00] working with the SSAs to develop

[19:02] checklists and really looking through

[19:04] what the true needs of students are

[19:06] because it's not in the summer. It's

[19:08] really time to try to reduce regression.

[19:11] It's not about trying to gain services

[19:13] in the year. That's what happens in the

[19:15] school year. We try to increase and get

[19:16] students caught up further, but in the

[19:18] summer, it's really about trying to

[19:20] prevent regression.

[19:24] So, I don't know if you have questions

[19:25] about that that David or I could answer.

[19:27] And if not, there's specific questions

[19:29] that we could also um have for Dr.

[19:31] Katala when she returns.

[19:36] What's that right now? Okay.

[19:39] All right. Let me put that slides back

[19:41] up.

[19:50] All right. So that was January 8th where

[19:52] we saw things

[19:53] >> just um to stay just here for a second.

[19:56] Um while January 8 was kind of the la

[19:59] the time that we uh created kind of the

[20:02] or finalized the level services budget.

[20:04] Um what you're going to see in future

[20:06] slides is a major driver being payroll.

[20:09] the our our our part one was

[20:12] done in November. Um, so as you've heard

[20:16] maybe Dan talk or to the school

[20:17] committee about is that the the later we

[20:20] get into the year, the more accurate our

[20:22] numbers are and the more we learn about

[20:24] retirements and resignations and things

[20:25] that we can plan for for FY27. Also,

[20:28] things happen in FY26 as well. People leave, come and go, salaries

[20:32] change over the course of the year um

[20:34] that kind of kind of make that. So part

[20:37] one uh which is our payroll and salaries

[20:39] was in November and then our student

[20:42] services which was our part three was

[20:44] that was in our at the very beginning of

[20:46] January.

[20:52] » So

[20:53] >> go ahead. Um so our our total change um

[20:57] which is fantastic and and somewhat

[21:00] unheard of is um that we payroll uh the

[21:04] driver here is that we are reducing the

[21:07] budget from where it was by 483,593

[21:12] uh by just uh rerunning our payroll to

[21:15] this point um this point LA this what I

[21:19] would say is the 11 retirements is more

[21:21] retirements than we had over the course

[21:23] of the entirety of the year last year.

[21:25] Uh but to have 11 retirements um at this

[21:28] point uh in itself is a large uh number

[21:31] of retirements. So this is this is kind

[21:33] of not something you should always

[21:34] anticipate happening uh but it's

[21:37] happening in our favor um this year

[21:39] which is that we have 11 retirements for

[21:42] resignation. Some of those retirements

[21:44] um six of those retirements are

[21:46] anticipated for FY27. Uh but we have

[21:49] additional retirements that happened mid

[21:51] year this year partially to this year

[21:53] that we did not anticipate um in our

[21:56] FY25 or in the 25 school year as we're

[21:58] projecting our FY26. Additionally, over

[22:01] the course of the year um this year we

[22:04] had we mixed into the four resignations

[22:07] are resignations that occurred this year

[22:09] for a variety of reasons uh that

[22:11] occurred during this year. Uh and some

[22:13] are a couple of the resignations are

[22:15] resignations that um we know of uh not

[22:20] to like Dr. Manard is taking a

[22:22] superintendent position and so that is a

[22:24] resignation. Resignations um happen for

[22:26] great reasons um as well. Um other

[22:29] payroll uh we do have um we do have what

[22:33] are like people in interim positions uh

[22:36] single-year contracts things that in

[22:38] there. uh we have uh uh lane change

[22:42] adjustments that uh occur as well um in

[22:45] that um some of our FY27 even some of

[22:49] our mid-year retirements what we

[22:51] budgeted as far as the person that we

[22:52] would replace them with was an M a M's 7

[22:56] and we hired at a B4. Uh so you get some

[22:59] additional buffer that's built into that

[23:01] as well. So um this again this is kind

[23:05] of uh this snapshot in time uh of where

[23:09] we are. Um and you know this is kind of

[23:12] the the major movement of the payroll uh

[23:17] that we have. There will be minor

[23:19] adjustments in payroll all the way all

[23:20] the way up to July one well all the way

[23:22] up until the start of the school year uh

[23:25] as far as how that that works um as

[23:27] well. But the superintendent's budget

[23:28] again accounts for all new known

[23:31] adjustments to level services as of

[23:33] today. The budget will continue to be

[23:35] updated with the most accurate

[23:36] information leading all the way up to

[23:38] Midtown meeting when you eventually have

[23:40] to just make the call.

[23:43] >> Thank you. So that allowed Dr. Jordan to

[23:46] revise his projected level services

[23:49] budget as of February 9th with this new

[23:52] information down to 3.89%.

[23:55] Which is very helpful. It's still not

[23:57] getting to where the town thinks that

[23:59] they can fund, but at least it's we're

[24:02] moving in the right direction at this

[24:03] point.

[24:06] And

[24:06] >> those were here last year. Last year at

[24:08] this point, the four we were at 4.21%

[24:12] level services.

[24:15] >> All right. So, as we have had in recent

[24:18] years, the town administrator, actually

[24:21] should say town manager now, I apologize

[24:22] for that. It's been modeled at 3.25% 25%

[24:26] um over the past few years and again

[24:27] it's a placeholder for FY27.

[24:30] It's not a guarantee until we go through

[24:32] the whole budget process. And if we do

[24:35] get the 3.25%

[24:37] that is still a 64% deficit of what we

[24:41] think we need for level services for

[24:42] FY27 which is 286,000.

[24:45] So obviously we have to consider that as

[24:48] we make decisions as we move further in

[24:49] the budget cycle. And it doesn't

[24:51] consider the priority needs at this time

[24:52] as well.

[24:56] So, what are the priority needs? I think

[24:58] when I looked at the numbers from last

[25:00] year, we were at about 450 to 4 to 490

[25:04] um,000 for what we were identifying as

[25:06] priority needs. We've really sharpened

[25:08] our pencils even before going into the

[25:10] priority need discussion in January with

[25:12] our principles. We were very realistic

[25:14] with them as to where we are, with the

[25:15] funds we're going to have with a

[25:17] feasibility study potentially coming up

[25:19] um in the spring vote. So with all of

[25:22] that, they were very very conscientious

[25:25] about considering their real strict

[25:27] priority needs. One that we've talked

[25:29] about probably since the entire time

[25:31] I've been here is trying to fund uh we

[25:34] talked about potentially an assistant

[25:35] director or because the needs in the out

[25:37] of district has incre although the

[25:39] number of students have decreased in the

[25:40] outer districts, the number of meetings

[25:42] that happen for out of district is

[25:44] significant. And as you saw with the

[25:47] number of IEPs increasing, our SSAs and

[25:50] our student services director are now

[25:52] having more and more meetings. So they

[25:54] can't go out of the district to handle

[25:55] these out of district meetings. And

[25:57] that's why we really strongly prioritize

[25:59] that we need at least 0.5 hopefully a

[26:03] full-time person later in the cycle in

[26:05] another year or so. But that would be

[26:07] about 60,000 Placentino and Miller.

[26:10] That's why I talked to you about the

[26:11] ELLL needs this um with Dr. I could tell

[26:14] those slides and Dr. Manard can

[26:16] elaborate on that as well. But again

[26:18] being very conservative to try to fill

[26:20] and get some of those hours to students.

[26:22] Both Classantino and Miller are looking

[26:25] for a half-time tutor that would work in

[26:27] conjunction with the teachers that are

[26:28] already existing there similar to other

[26:30] models that we have in the district. And

[26:32] then we definitely know that Rams is

[26:36] struggling with 1.0 campus supervisor

[26:39] needs. the amount of time our

[26:41] administrators are managing all of the

[26:43] needs in the lunchroom and so forth. The

[26:45] model works so well at the high school

[26:47] because we have Kenny the campus

[26:48] supervisor role and he's able to manage

[26:50] multiple things throughout the day and

[26:52] take some of the work off the

[26:53] administrator so they and he also has

[26:55] very good relation with students. So we

[26:57] would look for that same role at RAMs to

[27:00] try to take away some of those um more

[27:02] preventative and safety needs that the

[27:04] campus supervisor could really monitor

[27:06] in the hallways and lunchroom and so

[27:07] forth. And then also we did add which

[27:11] was great last year in the budget we

[27:13] added the math tutor and that's allowed

[27:16] us when we presented with the curriculum

[27:17] specialist significant amount of

[27:19] interventions are now able to happen

[27:20] with the curriculum intervention role

[27:23] and now having a a full-time math tutor

[27:25] with that. Similarly we'd like to add a

[27:27] reading tutor to work with the literacy

[27:30] interventionist role as well.

[27:33] But you look at the total there,

[27:35] 158,000. That's not a lot when you look

[27:38] at trying to do best for students, but

[27:40] we really tightened up our model

[27:41] significantly to try to consider where

[27:43] we are as a town and school system.

[27:49] So that would get us to a different

[27:50] number now, 46 thou 46 million. And that

[27:54] now brings our projection to 4.25%. As I

[27:58] reminded you earlier, we're modeling a

[28:00] 3.25% projection right now. So we are 1%

[28:04] away from um you know where we might be

[28:06] in the budget meeting in at the town but

[28:10] there's still time and we have to come

[28:12] up with some creative solutions as we go

[28:13] forward as well. So right now we are

[28:16] looking at reductions to get to that

[28:18] number just like we have in past years.

[28:21] But again when I'm looking at some of

[28:23] the data on some districts that are

[28:25] having a deficit of three four five

[28:27] million I mean we're clearly not there.

[28:29] So, we've really been careful with our

[28:31] spending and using not using one-time

[28:33] funds to supplement a budget, which is

[28:35] why we're not in the shape that some

[28:36] other districts are.

[28:42] Capital requests.

[28:44] So, again, if you look at the top there,

[28:46] initially when we presented priority

[28:48] needs, we were estimating about

[28:50] 3,335,000.

[28:53] We've been able to reduce that number by

[28:54] going through again and we're now

[28:56] looking at a potential of 3,240,000

[28:59] with the bulk of that being the MSBA

[29:01] feasibility study. So that's something

[29:04] that we've discussed at the town level

[29:05] already. That's obviously a huge chunk

[29:07] of this. But curriculum resources, Dr.

[29:10] Menard has gone back with her curriculum

[29:12] review teams and we were able to lower

[29:14] some of the curriculum estimates for

[29:16] resources for next year. One of them was

[29:19] um instead of having a pre preK through

[29:22] eight science ask the grade three and

[29:25] five teachers are going to hold off this

[29:27] year and not look for new resources. So

[29:29] we were able to lower that number. And

[29:31] then we are looking at high school

[29:33] potentially needing $100,000 related to

[29:36] just unforeseen needs with the new

[29:37] schedule. So that's something we've

[29:38] talked about as well. So that would get

[29:40] us to that 3,240,000.

[29:43] You know, I can just qualify why

[29:45] Miller's not looking at that is because

[29:47] we'll have a new curricular resource for

[29:49] ELA and they really feel like they need

[29:51] to concentrate on that.

[29:56] All right. I know we went pretty fast,

[29:58] so we're happy to answer any questions

[30:01] that either Dr. Manard, Dr. Jordan, or I

[30:03] could answer related to or go back to

[30:05] any slides they'd like us to go back to.

[30:08] Why is this dete

[30:14] I mean this is what the sort of

[30:17] agreement is that we would normally the

[30:19] level one um there are four levels level

[30:22] one budget request is the um board

[30:25] approved

[30:26] >> given the schools need more time we

[30:29] reached an agreement with with Travis

[30:31] back when he was here that the

[30:32] superintendent's budget would stand in

[30:34] for the level one um So Dr. T will send

[30:38] that over as soon as we're you know

[30:40] we're done tonight or maybe you already

[30:42] have because it's it's your it's your

[30:44] number. We're not obviously

[30:45] >> we haven't given him the exact number so

[30:46] we can do that tomorrow.

[30:48] >> Um but around now

[30:50] >> um so that so that the town manager can

[30:52] put together his

[30:54] um budget recommend but I think it's

[30:57] probably they're having a their Saturday

[30:59] meeting the select board to go over all

[31:01] the budgets they oversee. I think it

[31:02] might be this Saturday.

[31:04] >> No, February 28th.

[31:05] >> February 28th. Um, yeah.

[31:09] >> And we'll be hosting as as usual office

[31:11] hours as we meet into town meeting.

[31:13] >> Well, we'll have an actual budget

[31:15] hearing on either March 26 or or um

[31:18] April 9th.

[31:21] Um, and then we'll also once we sort of

[31:23] have a finalized budget, we'll we'll

[31:26] have office hours we're presenting to

[31:28] the finance committee for anyone

[31:29] interested on on March 31st.

[31:33] Um,

[31:37] but yeah, I mean I mean this is this is

[31:39] great news as far as uh really working

[31:42] that that that deficit down

[31:43] significantly to a pretty what should be

[31:46] a manageable number. But um

[31:50] probably the the easiest uh changes have

[31:54] been have been made already. So um I

[31:57] know Dr. Jordan and Dr. because we're

[31:59] looking at everything as it comes in.

[32:01] But um we'll just continue to keep

[32:04] plugging and looking at different options as we look at

[32:08] enrollment and things like that.

[32:12] But right now, I mean, if you look at

[32:15] the news and see where some other

[32:17] districts are, I mean, we are in really

[32:21] good shape at this moment this year.

[32:23] >> Yes.

[32:26] It's not a race to the bottom though.

[32:30] » No. And and look, we're in a good place,

[32:33] but we're still we're 300 we're $286,000

[32:37] away from even beginning to start

[32:39] thinking about funding the the priority

[32:41] needs. Um later tonight, we'll look at a letter we'll send to our

[32:46] representatives and and a representative

[32:48] and state senator hopefully help with

[32:50] chapter 70. But um

[32:55] you know it's uh money is certainly not

[32:58] falling off of trees to to help us

[32:59] along. So

[33:05] » when you were talking about the um

[33:07] curriculum

[33:09] >> Yes. Sorry.

[33:10] >> The you're you

[33:13] going to focus on the ELA this coming

[33:16] year and then looking for

[33:18] >> for No. So for Placentino, you have

[33:21] teachers that teach science that do not

[33:23] teach ELA.

[33:25] >> So that's why Miller though they would

[33:27] impact by both, right? And then Rams

[33:30] were looking at science also. So that's

[33:33] why

[33:33] >> just let them focus on one thing right

[33:35] now. Correct. And then right

[33:38] it's pretty overwhelming, right? Think

[33:40] about it. They just went through Eureka

[33:42] math squared also. So

[33:44] >> but the curriculum will be decided. It

[33:46] will just be purchased at a later date,

[33:47] right?

[33:48] The curriculum resources for prek to 2

[33:50] and 6 to 8 will be decided. Are you

[33:52] going to are you're not going to pilot a

[33:54] resource for 3 to five, right?

[33:56] >> Not this year, but we will come back

[33:58] before the school year ends and make a

[34:02] recommendation that'll be presented to

[34:03] the superintendent and the school

[34:04] committee on the resources to use for

[34:07] preK through two science, 6 through 8

[34:10] science, and elementary ELA.

[34:14] >> I guess I didn't pick up on this when

[34:15] we're talking about a budget. I

[34:17] apologize. Um I totally get putting it

[34:20] off here so that this you know teachers

[34:22] aren't rolling out two different sets of curriculum but would it be pos I mean

[34:26] I just as we look at

[34:29] it I'm not an educator as everyone

[34:32] knows. Um but to pick curriculum for K

[34:35] through two and then six through eight

[34:36] but kind of leave a hole and not sort of

[34:37] even have it decided.

[34:39] >> Yeah. I think the issue though is just

[34:41] like we're doing with literacy, they

[34:43] have so many weeks that they have to

[34:44] actually use the materials and pilot

[34:46] them. So the piloting is what they don't

[34:48] have enough time to do. So that's

[34:50] >> likely that will help prek to 2 will

[34:52] help them decide. They'll end up more

[34:54] than likely tying either into pre-K to 2

[34:56] or 6 to 8 the materials. But they also

[34:58] want to look at what is chosen for ELA

[35:01] for the elementary schools to see if any

[35:04] science can be tied into that and

[35:06] connected to that because there are some

[35:08] publishers out there that do both ELA

[35:11] and science. So that's a potential for

[35:15] Miller.

[35:16] >> Okay.

[35:16] >> I don't know if we'll work out that way.

[35:18] >> But I do understand your concern like it

[35:21] feels like a gap. But

[35:22] >> we did start teaching with um we did

[35:24] purchase some more of the u mystery was

[35:26] it mystery science

[35:28] >> um for the grade 3 to five teachers when

[35:30] we started the new implementation with

[35:33] um some of them teaching science in the

[35:34] classroom u but the unified arts

[35:36] teachers are still teaching science for

[35:38] prek to

[35:39] >> so what's happened at Miller also very

[35:41] proud of um Ashley Buchard and Carla

[35:44] Krauss who are the Rams in the Miller

[35:47] STEM curriculum coordinators they work

[35:50] very closely together and really making

[35:53] the mystery science for Miller be

[35:57] strengthened. So even though they won't

[36:00] make a recommendation, we have been

[36:02] making positive changes for Miller.

[36:06] >> Oh no, obviously there's a lot of work

[36:07] going on. I'm not questioning that at

[36:09] all. Um

[36:10] >> are we is there any benefits of scale

[36:12] purchasing that we're losing but not?

[36:15] No, because if you're No, because like

[36:19] for Rams and Placentino, we're looking

[36:21] at different things and Miller is what

[36:25] they were kind of talking about

[36:26] potentially would look at different

[36:27] things. But let's say, I'm just making

[36:29] this up. Let's say Plantino decides on

[36:32] product X and then Miller decides on

[36:35] that same product X, then I work with

[36:39] Dr. Jordan and we do a negotiation with

[36:41] a company to bring down the cost. So

[36:44] yes, we would do that. You know, if they

[36:46] decide to choose it, even though we'd be

[36:48] one year into Plantino, companies look

[36:51] at that, right?

[36:52] >> So you're saying we might if we if they

[36:54] go with with with X for 3 to five the

[36:56] next year, we might still be able to

[36:58] work out.

[36:59] >> They might actually reduce the preK to

[37:00] two amount.

[37:01] >> Absolutely.

[37:01] >> Because you're giving them a larger

[37:03] >> Absolutely. You can.

[37:09] » Anything else on that? Any questions

[37:11] about the budget process or

[37:15] >> I'll give it an opportunity when we get

[37:16] the budget on the rest of this stuff.

[37:17] >> Just a just a comment about um sticking

[37:20] with capital m the maintenance truck. Um

[37:24] one just the the actual truck is this is for our maintenance director as

[37:29] far as the need for that that truck is

[37:31] pretty much aged out and needs to be

[37:33] released. But the but in this in this

[37:35] cost would be a truck with uh with a

[37:38] plow um and something that would be able

[37:41] to support uh a lot of our snow removal

[37:44] um and our partnership with uh DPW in

[37:48] kind of a pinch especially within our

[37:49] parking lots and our sidewalks.

[37:53] >> I understand we need to retire. How's it

[37:55] does the town take it back and then

[37:57] potentially resell it? like is there a

[37:59] potential?

[38:00] >> It's um I we could put it up. We I don't

[38:04] know if anybody will want it, but uh we will try to get some type of cost or

[38:09] we hold on to it. It's unfortunately

[38:11] >> um

[38:13] I I think it's best definitely to not

[38:17] maintain the truck at the moment. So

[38:19] yeah,

[38:20] >> I think we do have to vote on basically

[38:22] putting up for sale and then I don't

[38:23] know that that then rolls it into the

[38:25] town meeting appropriation for all the

[38:27] select board to then put it up for sale

[38:29] if we kind of release it to I don't know

[38:30] how the exact mechanism goes but I know

[38:33] we've pass we've voted in the past to

[38:34] sell old.

[38:36] >> Yeah, I mean it go the money goes to the

[38:38] town. So like we the same thing with

[38:39] like our whether we run an auction,

[38:41] we're trying to sell our our assets that

[38:43] way and then that money James Keys

[38:45] typically runs runs a lot of our asset

[38:47] auctions. um as well.

[38:49] >> Yeah, basically just said that sounds

[38:51] like it's dead on arrival.

[38:54] >> Yeah,

[38:57] » okay.

[38:59] Um then moving on. Policy, we've

[39:03] got policy GBGB, which is a second

[39:06] reading,

[39:07] >> right? And there's nothing new, so you

[39:08] don't have to reread it, but you could

[39:10] also do the uh third reading if you

[39:12] wanted to.

[39:15] » Any questions on this policy?

[39:21] I don't think so.

[39:25] >> Should we wave the third reading?

[39:27] >> Can we wave the third reading and vote

[39:29] on it?

[39:29] >> Yes.

[39:30] >> Yeah.

[39:31] I think it's pretty

[39:32] straightforward. So,

[39:34] >> I'll make a motion to wave the third

[39:35] reading.

[39:36] >> Second.

[39:38] >> All in favor? That passes?

[39:43] » I'll make a motion to to approve GBGB as

[39:46] presented.

[39:48] Second

[39:49] >> Hillary second. All in favor?

[39:52] >> Great.

[39:52] >> Gives me the heeie jibbies.

[39:53] >> Okay. Yes, I know it's kind of a funny

[39:55] jib he

[39:58] Okay, great. That was easy. And so now

[40:01] we will go on to central office admin

[40:04] updates.

[40:05] >> Yes. So, if you look in the packet that

[40:09] you received from Lisa, all of the

[40:10] items, there's a whole sheet of accept

[40:13] documents or accepts documents for

[40:16] review and a number of links there. I

[40:19] don't feel like there's a need to go

[40:20] through it all and you but I'm happy to

[40:22] answer questions about where we are with

[40:23] the the audit report was um fairly good

[40:27] from FY25. In the past, there had been

[40:29] some concerns. are in a better place

[40:31] this year. And they gave you the annual

[40:33] report from FY25.

[40:35] Then there is an annual budget FY27 um

[40:38] projection for costs there associated.

[40:42] We don't have a lot of students that

[40:44] accept. I think we have one or two right

[40:46] now and we use a little bit of

[40:48] transportation. We don't have a lot

[40:50] there at the moment. We're hoping in the

[40:52] future to be able to um see if more

[40:55] students can be serviced there, but it

[40:56] just hadn't we didn't have a lot of

[40:58] students that had the need for their

[41:00] programs at this time. So, it's it's not

[41:02] a huge impact to us um the changes here,

[41:05] but again, if we're trying to find in

[41:07] some cases um the collaborives can be

[41:09] less expensive than some of the

[41:11] certainly some of the private schools

[41:12] that we're seeing for tuition. So, we we

[41:14] always do try to look at that as an

[41:16] option.

[41:17] >> Yeah, especially within transportation.

[41:19] Um I'm under transportation subcommittee

[41:22] as far putting together that newer

[41:24] transportation model. Um so that is

[41:27] something that we do uh as far as our

[41:29] out of district transportation trying to

[41:31] leverage and utilize Except. So uh

[41:34] Michelle um who is our special education

[41:37] coordinator has been working closely

[41:38] with Except Transportation who has a new

[41:41] director um who is uh who seems really

[41:45] strong um as far as reworking and using

[41:48] some of the transportation software.

[41:50] Luckily enough, the same transportation

[41:52] software that that we use. Um, so we've

[41:54] been able to kind of Kim has been able

[41:57] to kind of talk with them about how to

[41:58] use that that software effectively to

[42:00] kind of um improve their their cost

[42:03] system as well.

[42:05] >> So again, that's just information we're

[42:08] required to have that um on our agenda

[42:10] quarterly.

[42:12] And then I did want to mention just

[42:13] today, it's actually kind of um fun that

[42:16] I was able to go to middle school and

[42:17] have my roundt meeting with a number of

[42:19] middle school students. So, what we

[42:21] talked about today was I I said to them

[42:23] um I wanted to know if they knew that

[42:25] they had a new superintendent and what

[42:27] would they like me to share with him

[42:29] about the middle school and they had

[42:32] positive things to say in most cases,

[42:34] not all about just the unified arts

[42:36] offerings and also um most children felt

[42:40] that they had a good sense of belonging

[42:43] there. Again, perspective. There are

[42:44] some students that felt differently

[42:46] depending on their circumstances. And

[42:48] then they also um really wanted to

[42:51] highlight just how unique Rams is in

[42:53] general. I did also ask them about the

[42:55] high school and if they knew about the

[42:57] changes that were happening here. Two of

[42:59] the eighth graders were there and they

[43:00] had gone to the um tours yesterday and

[43:03] today. So they really were excited to

[43:05] hear all of the offerings. I think they

[43:06] did a from what I've been hearing

[43:08] everybody seemed really pleased with as

[43:09] Dr. List I mean principal list shared

[43:12] with you well attended both um in by

[43:15] Zoom and in person. And I think just for

[43:18] the kids to hear about all those

[43:19] offerings, it's been very exciting. And

[43:21] they had a lot of questions about

[43:22] electives up here. And so it was nice to

[43:25] be able to talk about, you know, where

[43:26] we are in the the cycle with our new

[43:29] schedule. And I also talked to them

[43:31] about the potential of a new building

[43:33] project, which obviously they'd be

[43:34] excited about, but eighth graders and

[43:36] seventh graders likely wouldn't be in

[43:38] the new building. Sixth graders might.

[43:39] So we did talk about that. But I did say

[43:41] that if the town does move forward in

[43:43] that direction, more than likely the

[43:45] principal and this new superintendent

[43:47] would want to do surveys for students

[43:48] and have their voices heard about what

[43:50] types of programs they'd like to see at

[43:52] the high school. And so it was it was a

[43:54] great conversation and one of the things

[43:55] that I was pleased to hear um when I

[43:57] said to the students, what would you

[43:58] like me to um encourage the new

[44:01] superintendent with? And they they said

[44:02] we would like you to have him do what

[44:04] you're doing and come meet with us.

[44:06] Because they really felt that's been

[44:07] positive. So, preK to 8, I've had a lot

[44:09] of really rigorous meetings with um

[44:12] pre-K to 8 students at the high school.

[44:14] They're lacking. Um last year, I felt I

[44:16] had more um visibility with them, but

[44:19] the DSB model, which is great. They've

[44:21] got now they have to sign in and out,

[44:22] but they also don't have the flexib

[44:24] flexibility to sign up to come see me.

[44:27] So, I'm hoping and that was something I

[44:29] recommended the new superintendent is

[44:31] continuing those models, but also they

[44:32] would have a different place to be able

[44:34] to fit that. We've been trying to fit

[44:35] everything in DSB as you know and that's

[44:37] been one of the challenges but um

[44:38] definitely the pre-K to8 students are

[44:40] giving a lot of valuable input to you

[44:42] know district needs and helping inform

[44:44] decision-m so so that's been great and I

[44:47] think that's it for me at the moment

[44:50] talked a little bit about the crooken

[44:51] reviews just to give you a quick update

[44:53] so Placentino is working under the

[44:55] direction of Christa Marino and they're

[44:57] really looking at the possible curate

[44:59] rated um resources and ranking them and

[45:04] kind of seeing using a rubric to see if

[45:06] it would meet Placentino's needs and

[45:09] then see if they could come and have

[45:10] vendors come in and present to see which

[45:13] ones they're interested in. Ram has done

[45:16] the rubric already and having vendors

[45:18] come in and the committee is ranking

[45:20] those and then going back to their

[45:23] colleagues in the science department and

[45:25] having conversations about what things

[45:27] they like and what they don't like. Um

[45:30] and that's under the direction of Carla

[45:33] Krauss. And then finally with the um

[45:36] elementary school project working with

[45:39] under the direction of Jenny Man and

[45:42] Caitlyn Kinsky who are working with

[45:44] School Kit who is an incredible amazing

[45:47] organization that we're working with um

[45:50] and really diving deep into what we need

[45:53] at the elementary school level. Um and

[45:56] we definitely will be able to have a

[45:57] recommendation to you by the end of the

[45:59] year. Um Tracy will be talking about the

[46:02] Miller principal search and um we are

[46:05] busy working on March PD already getting

[46:08] plans for that. Um and I had another new

[46:11] teacher institute meeting which went

[46:13] very well because we talked about the

[46:15] midyear slump and had ideas for that

[46:17] which kind of everybody's hitting right

[46:19] now. So that's it. Thank you.

[46:23] >> We had 100 days already. I think we've

[46:25] >> we have had 100 days already.

[46:27] >> That's something I thought I saw.

[46:28] >> Oh, I'm sorry. And I meant to talk about

[46:29] that. We had some amazing 100 day

[46:31] celebrations at the elementary schools.

[46:33] Um really nice job that both um Christa

[46:38] Marino at Placentino organized as well

[46:40] as Ashley Bashard at Miller. So I went

[46:43] to both of those which is good.

[46:46] >> Uh in your folder um as we kind of

[46:49] discussed something that you appreciated

[46:51] that um Mr. Mr. Budet provided as a as a

[46:54] budget memo. Uh in budget sub uh we

[46:58] subcommittee we kind of go into greater

[47:00] detail as far as specific lines within

[47:02] the budget. But I do want to get into a

[47:04] habit of providing you all with just

[47:07] kind of a more holistic summary uh

[47:09] outlook um of the budget. Um, you know,

[47:12] I'm always I'm interested in in feedback

[47:14] of things that you would want in

[47:16] addition uh to this, but just as on a

[47:18] high level of our year-to- date, but um

[47:20] also our grants. Um, we are, as we said

[47:25] about the 101st day of school, we're

[47:27] about 62% uh through the year. Uh,

[47:30] budget utilization is about 58%. Um, so

[47:33] we're right where we would project that

[47:35] we uh should be. Um that said kind of

[47:37] within some of the highlights um the our

[47:40] percent spent spent currently is

[47:42] exceeding a little bit on some of the

[47:44] percentage and that's partially because

[47:46] um this at the term change is where we

[47:48] have a lot of our major stipens and um

[47:52] other par uh payment payouts that happen

[47:54] at this point in time. So it creates a

[47:56] little bit of a blip but it's something

[47:57] that we're aware of and know of um

[48:00] within kind of heating and snow removal.

[48:02] Um, you know, we we have really kind of

[48:05] we're at 82% utilization of our grounds

[48:08] budget. Um, as far as some of that uh

[48:10] snow removal at this point um and added

[48:12] some some other items in there within

[48:14] the highlights. Um, within grants uh

[48:18] just to kind of give you an

[48:19] understanding of grants, you'll see that

[48:21] um we just to conceptualize how we use

[48:24] grants is you have to actually acrue all

[48:26] of the expenses first into the

[48:28] appropriations budget. then you can draw

[48:30] down uh from gyms into the grants. So

[48:32] that's why you don't see much grant

[48:34] utilization at this point. Um but uh

[48:37] that will start to happen the closer you

[48:38] get to the end of the year. The other

[48:39] part is the the grant system. You can't

[48:42] even draw down until February 24th uh

[48:45] any money at all uh on your on your

[48:48] grants. So that's that's why you're kind

[48:49] of seeing some of that. But that gives

[48:50] you a little bit um of a grants picture.

[48:53] I'm happy to answer any questions in the

[48:55] future about some of that. Um the uh you

[49:00] know I know we've had a lot of snow and

[49:02] I know that that's kind of had had some

[49:04] impacts on arrival and dismissal at um

[49:07] at some of our our buildings. Um I uh I

[49:12] went back it's it's been a good eight

[49:15] years maybe nine years since the last

[49:16] time we maybe seven years that we've had

[49:18] the last major snow uh that we had. And

[49:20] I went into my inbox and um

[49:24] it wasn't friendly. I'll say that. uh

[49:26] being principal, I was principal of the

[49:27] middle school at that time. Um as far as

[49:29] a lot of our sidewalks being closed, uh

[49:31] traffic 8 years ago uh on Woodland

[49:34] Street that was backing up as families

[49:36] chose not to use the buses to bring

[49:38] their students to to school. Um I know

[49:41] that um there are some trials and things

[49:43] that we're working through as far as our

[49:45] arrival and dismissal plan at

[49:47] specifically at the Woodling campus. Um

[49:50] I I have uh the last several days this

[49:52] week have uh observed both arrival and

[49:55] dismissal. Um we do have significantly

[49:58] more cars than we would uh we would

[50:00] historically have in normal conditions.

[50:03] Um that said uh that those road

[50:05] conditions um are part of our capital

[50:08] plan uh that was approved in the fall to

[50:10] kind of really address that part of the

[50:12] CPC flag project that we're doing to

[50:14] kind of redo and strengthen uh those

[50:16] roads as well and assist within that. um

[50:19] that arrival and dismissal plan. But I'm

[50:21] very appreciative uh to the principles

[50:23] and the administrators and the staff

[50:25] that are helping uh out with that

[50:26] process.

[50:29] Solar uh on um March 10th, we're going

[50:33] to have some structural engineers to

[50:35] finalize the um the Rams um uh

[50:40] structural plan uh with uh for solar on

[50:44] the middle school. Um currently kind of

[50:46] we're partnering uh with select is the group that we're partnering with as

[50:50] far as solar on the Woodland campus. Um

[50:53] this would be a full solar system for

[50:55] the middle school. Um and then a partial

[50:58] system for on the sing shingled section

[51:00] for the Miller and Placentino school. Um

[51:03] structural social analysis is done for

[51:06] Miller and Placentino. Um they are

[51:08] that's what they're coming out for for

[51:09] the middle school on March 10th to be

[51:11] able to do that and that will include um

[51:14] our uh James Ke myself um Frank our town

[51:18] manager will be there as well. Um and

[51:19] they'll be out kind of doing with the

[51:21] structural engineer for about a couple

[51:23] hours um at the middle school at that

[51:24] time. Um we do have uh

[51:30] we have received kind of our internet

[51:32] interconnectivity application received

[51:33] by has been received by Eversource. Um

[51:36] we did um our application was accepted

[51:40] to SMART which is the solar

[51:41] Massachusetts renewable target uh which

[51:43] is like an incentive for different

[51:45] reimbursements that we can get for our

[51:47] solar uh program. Our next steps though

[51:49] is to describe we're waiting on the

[51:51] green light from Eversource to connect

[51:53] kind of which is kind of like the

[51:54] approval to connect to the grid. Um and

[51:56] then we'll finalize our structural

[51:58] analysis, go down the town permits, and

[52:01] that process will kind of accelerate

[52:02] pretty quickly once we uh make that

[52:04] connection with um Eversource

[52:08] MSBA. Um we talked a little about this

[52:12] within uh budget sub uh but and you we

[52:15] saw that within the presentation is that

[52:17] we're we are conservatively currently at

[52:20] a $2.5 million feasibility study. Uh I

[52:24] am working closely with uh James Ke and

[52:26] with our town manager Frank um looking

[52:29] at different comps and specific language

[52:31] around uh feasibility studies including

[52:34] kind of reaching out with business and

[52:36] facilities directors around that $2.5

[52:39] million is the is the high end of the

[52:42] feasibility study. There are comps like

[52:44] that that um match the 2.5 million. Um

[52:49] uh but they on the low end uh that we're

[52:52] seeing as far as within current uh

[52:53] schools around our size is around 1.8

[52:56] million. Um so you're still within that range as far as feasibility studies

[53:00] within the comps that we've looked at.

[53:01] So u we will continue to kind of provide

[53:04] greater detail and specifics around uh

[53:06] feasibility studies and the cost of

[53:08] them. uh including maybe in future

[53:10] presentations providing some greater

[53:12] explanation of like what is in and what

[53:14] is involved in a a feasibility uh study.

[53:18] Um we are in so our module one our

[53:24] eligibility this is just kind of just a

[53:25] reminder of kind of where we are in the

[53:27] MSBA high school process. Our

[53:29] eligibility period doesn't actually

[53:31] start until June 1st. Uh so it's not

[53:33] we're not behind really the eightball on

[53:36] anything at this mo moment. they do

[53:38] suggest that you pursue um a feasibility

[53:41] stud study and take two cracks the apple

[53:44] within kind of your town meetings to

[53:46] acquire the capital you'll need for your

[53:48] feasibility study. So uh that said um we

[53:51] won't be receiving an email to really

[53:53] start the process with uh the MSBA until

[53:56] May 4th. Um and then they'll really

[53:59] start kind of following up with

[54:01] deliverables on May 18th um at that at

[54:04] that point to kind of really jump into

[54:05] the MSBA process.

[54:08] Any questions connected to any of that?

[54:09] went pretty fast.

[54:13] » Really exciting.

[54:15] >> Incredibly exciting.

[54:16] >> Incredible.

[54:18] >> And a tea for you.

[54:24] » Okay. Um, we can move on to

[54:26] communications.

[54:27] >> All right. I think everyone got the

[54:29] share link. We got a newsletter.

[54:33] >> I do want to thank the communications

[54:35] subcommittee. We came together

[54:36] yesterday. We put this together. So,

[54:38] we're here to edit. So, feel free to I

[54:42] know

[54:43] someone's already gone in to edit a bit,

[54:47] >> but

[54:48] >> yeah, feel free to go through each

[54:51] section to we we don't necessarily I'll

[54:55] speak personally for me. It probably

[54:56] shouldn't be pages long. There's a lot

[54:58] to share. So, we're trying to keep

[55:00] snippets of the information really

[55:01] what's import pertinent to the

[55:02] community. Um but certainly if there's

[55:05] anything missed or need should be

[55:06] omitted just feel free to go in and it

[55:09] the topics we will be covering um

[55:12] announcing Dr. Carter the Hollison High

[55:14] School schedule update Miller elementary

[55:17] principal search MSBA acceptance which

[55:19] you just talked about uh welcoming Jess

[55:21] back um and then uh FY27 budget update

[55:25] which real time just got updated based

[55:27] on Dr. Kusco's uh presentation. So,

[55:31] >> the only thing I think that we could

[55:33] potentially add, if people are

[55:35] comfortable defining it tonight, is with

[55:38] the budget here hearing coming up, we

[55:40] should probably start picking out office

[55:42] hours. So, we could potentially put in a

[55:44] couple office hours into this

[55:46] newsletter, too.

[55:48] >> They're mentioned in the budget update.

[55:49] We just don't have the dates, but if we

[55:50] want to align on that,

[55:52] >> we can.

[55:53] >> And they're going to be later, too. So,

[55:55] probably send you another email. People

[55:57] will probably forget a month plus out.

[56:01] >> Yeah. But maybe some office out like

[56:04] maybe at least something the first part

[56:06] of March and then we would send it again

[56:08] halfway through. Yeah.

[56:12] >> People are welcome to go sit at Coffee

[56:14] Haven for an hour.

[56:15] >> Rushford.

[56:21] Why don't um when we do the vote for

[56:24] this, we can table it and we'll connect

[56:26] with Sarah. We'll set a time and then

[56:28] I'll send out a

[56:30] >> set office hours also offline.

[56:32] >> Yeah. and just

[56:34] where we send it to.

[56:37] >> That's a good idea.

[57:47] Is this all the way in one email?

[57:49] >> Yeah.

[57:52] » It's a lot of information.

[57:54] >> It's incredibly exciting things to talk

[57:56] about.

[57:59] I was going to work with Dan potentially

[58:02] if if possible have links to then bring

[58:05] you to the specific topics that's a

[58:07] little more HTML to include but

[58:10] >> that was a thought. Yeah.

[58:17] » Bullet point newsletter person

[58:19] do six different emails. No, no, but

[58:22] like I don't I don't know like six

[58:23] bullets and then I like the idea of

[58:24] linking like here's the highlight reel

[58:26] and then if you actually want to read

[58:28] more but I don't know but

[58:30] >> my guess is that not everyone's going to

[58:32] be interested in all these. They do they

[58:34] can do links

[58:35] >> to drop you down you know

[58:37] >> to wear on the floor but it is possible

[58:42] >> if it's not too much work

[58:48] » it's all great information don't get me

[58:50] wrong but it's just a lot

[58:52] >> no thank you

[58:54] >> is a good point too I mean a lot of we

[58:57] have always a lot of information share

[58:58] probably starting this quarterly would

[59:00] make sense because we're doing like

[59:02] midyear and you could See there's six at

[59:04] least if not more topics. So uh if we do

[59:08] quarterly there might be less but

[59:20] » and I will make sure it is posted also

[59:23] report

[59:30] to approve a vote to approve this. Um,

[59:35] can you

[59:37] >> Yeah, I would just say maybe slight

[59:38] immaterial edits because I might change

[59:39] some design things, but text would

[59:42] >> reduce it.

[59:43] >> In terms of the principal search, is

[59:45] there more than one listening forum? Are

[59:47] they scheduling more than one forum?

[59:50] >> That I don't know, Joan, do you know the

[59:52] answer to that? Is it u I'm not we

[59:54] haven't talked about how many forums do

[59:56] >> for the meet and greet type of

[59:58] >> Yeah. Um, we had talked about doing so

[1:00:01] they're going to be coming do their

[1:00:02] visits during the day. What were the

[1:00:04] dates? The third, fourth, and

[1:00:06] >> Tony, second, third, and fourth.

[1:00:08] >> I'm sorry.

[1:00:09] >> The principal search we're doing.

[1:00:10] They're coming to do site visits on the

[1:00:11] second, third, and fourth. Yes.

[1:00:13] >> And then in the evening there'll be a

[1:00:14] webinar um meet and greet because we had

[1:00:17] found that to have been more successful

[1:00:19] than in person on the evenings for each

[1:00:21] night.

[1:00:22] >> Yeah.

[1:00:24] I think we should include the

[1:00:25] dates.

[1:00:27] Should I say tenatively scheduled or are

[1:00:30] they firmly scheduled or

[1:00:32] >> second third what? Yes, correct.

[1:00:34] >> I mean it's just still working out the

[1:00:36] logistics but those are the dates

[1:00:37] >> that is with the assumption.

[1:00:40] We haven't decided on

[1:00:42] >> finalist yet. So that could change.

[1:00:45] >> Um do we know approximately when a

[1:00:48] decision will be made?

[1:00:51] >> I can't hear what she said.

[1:00:52] >> Approximately when a decision will be

[1:00:54] made

[1:00:54] >> shortly after that. I mean,

[1:00:56] >> we will bring forward that night. The

[1:00:58] committee's deliberating that night. So,

[1:01:00] we will bring the final candidates

[1:01:02] forward the

[1:01:03] >> fourth

[1:01:04] >> uh 24th.

[1:01:05] >> No, the week before.

[1:01:07] >> Yeah. The 24th will

[1:01:09] >> correct decide the final candidates.

[1:01:10] >> Yes.

[1:01:11] >> Okay. Um once finalists are selected by

[1:01:14] the committee, site visits will be

[1:01:16] scheduled for early March followed by

[1:01:18] final interviews. But do we know

[1:01:19] approximately when we'll make a

[1:01:21] selection? I obviously working with the

[1:01:24] new superintendent would be involved in

[1:01:25] that decision. So once we know the

[1:01:28] finals, it'll be shortly after that. I

[1:01:30] haven't worked out any dates with him

[1:01:31] yet.

[1:01:31] >> So it would just have to be after those

[1:01:33] site visits and the community forum.

[1:01:36] >> So do we anticipate a decision by late

[1:01:39] March?

[1:01:39] >> Oh, I think earlier than that probably.

[1:01:41] >> So we anticipate a decision?

[1:01:43] >> Yes. Like the week after the site visits

[1:01:46] probably is what we've typically done

[1:01:48] the week after.

[1:01:49] >> Yeah. I I had a I'd met with uh Dr.

[1:01:52] Carter yesterday or the day before. Um

[1:01:56] it's blended together now. And um

[1:02:00] his he didn't know exact we didn't

[1:02:03] because we hadn't solidified exactly

[1:02:04] when those dates were but he saw in his

[1:02:06] mind um himself and a small group of

[1:02:10] admin meeting uh with the finalists um

[1:02:14] either on those days or um immediately

[1:02:18] after that day to make a decision um

[1:02:20] pretty much within within the few days

[1:02:23] of with either on the day the last day

[1:02:25] of it or within a couple days of it.

[1:02:26] >> Yeah. going to the next week maybe is

[1:02:28] the latest

[1:02:29] >> anticipated decision. I feel like that's

[1:02:31] what I would want out of this

[1:02:34] >> because we also know we're trying to

[1:02:35] build in the next search as well right

[1:02:37] after that. So

[1:02:49] in the budget update we have the 26th

[1:02:51] through April 9th. Do you know when

[1:02:53] we'll know

[1:02:55] >> for budget hearing?

[1:02:58] >> Jordan, do you have a preference?

[1:03:05] » Ready?

[1:03:07] >> Uh, budget hearing 26th of March or

[1:03:10] April 9th. Which one would you prefer?

[1:03:16] » Either is fine.

[1:03:18] >> Uh, we just have to make sure we have

[1:03:20] the 45 days.

[1:03:22] Is it 45?

[1:03:23] >> It's It's actually 48 hours.

[1:03:25] >> Oh, sorry. 48 hours.

[1:03:27] >> Yeah,

[1:03:28] >> 48. No,

[1:03:29] >> it's 45 days.

[1:03:30] >> It's something long. I don't know. I

[1:03:31] thought 45 was a little long, but it's

[1:03:32] definitely something.

[1:03:33] >> Yeah,

[1:03:34] >> we do have to have it in the newspaper.

[1:03:35] So many weeks.

[1:03:36] >> It's more than that.

[1:03:37] >> Why don't we do the budget hearing on

[1:03:39] March 26th?

[1:03:40] >> I thought it was 30 to 45 days.

[1:03:42] >> Okay. All right. Let's see if we can do

[1:03:44] it March 26 and make sure we're

[1:03:46] >> just throw it tentatively. I can't

[1:03:48] believe we had to postpone it one year

[1:03:50] because we missed the deadline, but I

[1:03:52] didn't think it was 45, but I thought it

[1:03:53] was definitely more than

[1:03:55] >> 30 maybe

[1:03:56] >> something something.

[1:03:57] >> It has to be post.

[1:03:59] >> No, there's a special this is a legal

[1:04:01] requirement that has to be

[1:04:02] >> posting,

[1:04:03] >> right? Right. Posting advertising go in

[1:04:06] the paper. Yeah.

[1:04:07] >> Why don't we do this? I'll leave 26.

[1:04:09] I'll confer with Dr. Jordan on any

[1:04:12] posting requirements and we may flip it

[1:04:14] before it gets sent out, but I I'd

[1:04:16] rather put one date than two dates cuz

[1:04:18] >> Okay.

[1:04:19] >> Yeah.

[1:04:19] >> Okay.

[1:04:22] >> Thank you.

[1:04:31] » Because we had March 12th as the

[1:04:33] projected budget update

[1:04:35] >> in this u in our presentation schedule.

[1:04:41] in April 9th. Is that what you were

[1:04:42] saying? April 9th is the way we talked

[1:04:45] about public hearing.

[1:04:46] >> Okay.

[1:04:47] >> April 26th is a last going to do March

[1:04:51] 26th.

[1:04:51] >> March 26th. Sorry. March 26th or April

[1:04:53] 9th is the

[1:04:54] >> I'm just this is what was projected last

[1:04:56] year. But it I mean

[1:04:59] >> it would be ideal to do it before we do the finance committee

[1:05:02] >> because then we can in theory vote on it

[1:05:04] after the the hearing to adopt it as our budget request. It's just what the

[1:05:11] finance committee generally wants.

[1:05:18] If we're for whatever reason if we if

[1:05:21] we've missed the deadline to do March

[1:05:22] 26th then we'll kick it to April 9th.

[1:05:26] So I'm reading I just out confirm

[1:05:29] but I reading mass law says mass a

[1:05:32] school committee must publish notice of

[1:05:34] its proposed annual budget uh public

[1:05:37] hearing in a local news newspaper with

[1:05:39] general circulation at least 7 days

[1:05:40] prior to the hearing date as required by

[1:05:43] MGL7

[1:05:45] budget must also be made public at least

[1:05:48] 48 hours before the hearing. So seven

[1:05:50] days is less than

[1:05:53] >> I don't we were definitely outside of seven days. I don't whatever.

[1:05:58] >> So

[1:05:59] >> that's a little that's what it says.

[1:06:01] >> Yeah. I thought to

[1:06:03] >> So we're good 26 Dr. Jordan.

[1:06:06] >> Yeah. Yeah. And I I will confirm with

[1:06:10] all my different people and resources on

[1:06:11] the exact days.

[1:06:13] >> Yeah. Just shoot me a message if

[1:06:16] >> we Oh, and by the way, we'll probably

[1:06:17] send Monday. Fridays are not good days

[1:06:20] to send things out.

[1:06:21] >> Except that Monday's a break.

[1:06:24] >> All right.

[1:06:26] Okay.

[1:06:30] » Neither of them great options, but I

[1:06:32] probably tomorrow would be

[1:06:34] >> better. I'll talk to Dan if we can get

[1:06:37] the links in

[1:06:40] » and we're going to pick at least one

[1:06:43] office hour to put in this newsletter.

[1:06:45] >> Yes, I'll text.

[1:06:46] >> Okay.

[1:06:47] >> For the budget, right?

[1:06:50] >> Just an office hour.

[1:06:52] >> We could I mean it might be better to

[1:06:54] put it up top because it could be on any

[1:06:55] of these topics.

[1:06:58] >> Okay.

[1:06:59] >> Do you want to just do March 21st

[1:07:02] on Saturday?

[1:07:04] >> Yeah.

[1:07:08] two rusher.

[1:07:13] We could do two on Saturday, 9:00 am and

[1:07:16] two, but depending if people prefer

[1:07:19] coffee or

[1:07:22] >> No, it's

[1:07:27] March 21st,

[1:07:36] » but two two works. Yeah.

[1:07:37] >> Okay.

[1:07:39] >> I'm not going to put an end time cuz

[1:07:41] it's kind of pointless.

[1:07:43] At least we know

[1:07:44] >> it's technically office hour.

[1:07:52] » There's something implied, but

[1:07:53] >> yeah,

[1:07:56] >> I'll leave it at that.

[1:07:59] >> Okay, I'll entertain a motion to approve

[1:08:04] the newsletter as put together by the

[1:08:07] communications committee. Um,

[1:08:13] Yeah, with immaterial updates.

[1:08:14] >> Immaterial updates and possibly some

[1:08:16] formatting to make it a little

[1:08:19] streamlined.

[1:08:20] >> Yeah.

[1:08:23] » Second.

[1:08:24] >> All in favor? Great. And thank you

[1:08:27] communications for putting that

[1:08:29] together.

[1:08:31] >> Okay. Uh policy.

[1:08:34] >> Yeah. Budget.

[1:08:36] >> Um we had a budget meeting uh this

[1:08:39] evening. It was very long. Um then we

[1:08:43] came here uh and we'll talk we'll have

[1:08:46] more when we discuss the the MSBA update

[1:08:49] but uh other than that we you know we

[1:08:51] went over the uh the superintendent's

[1:08:53] budget with the team and

[1:08:57] >> preschool tuition

[1:08:59] >> um are we that's on and then also

[1:09:01] discuss preschool tuition which is also

[1:09:04] um set for new business.

[1:09:08] » Okay.

[1:09:10] um superintendent.

[1:09:12] >> I just leave you on there so that

[1:09:16] um okay, old business uh Miller

[1:09:18] principal search update. So, I know we

[1:09:20] already talked about a number of items

[1:09:22] on my my notes here, but uh on Tuesday

[1:09:25] there was a 13 person um committee that

[1:09:27] met made up of um parents, uh

[1:09:30] administrators, teachers, faculty,

[1:09:32] staff, um school committee member uh to

[1:09:35] finalize the questions that we'll be

[1:09:36] using and the process that we'll use for

[1:09:38] um finalizing as well as the rubrics and

[1:09:40] such. Um we narrowed down our candidates

[1:09:42] and the um interviews will take place on

[1:09:44] the 23rd and 24th of um February. Uh at

[1:09:48] that point we anticipate being able to

[1:09:49] move forward a few candidates to start

[1:09:51] those interviews on the March 2nd, 3rd,

[1:09:53] and 4th with um community forums as we

[1:09:56] mentioned already um and opportunities

[1:09:58] for the community to engage and meet the

[1:10:00] candidates during those days.

[1:10:02] >> How many candidates do we have

[1:10:04] >> or coming in to interview?

[1:10:06] >> We're hoping to narrow it down to three

[1:10:08] finalists.

[1:10:09] >> How many do we have, Lily?

[1:10:10] >> I don't believe I'm allowed to answer

[1:10:12] that question.

[1:10:14] >> They're hoping to narrow it down to

[1:10:15] three finalists.

[1:10:18] Great. Thank you.

[1:10:19] >> Yeah.

[1:10:21] >> Um, so the MSB MSBA update,

[1:10:26] I had one thing I wanted to bring up,

[1:10:28] but then if anyone else has other

[1:10:30] updates, feel free. Um, so we've been

[1:10:33] talking to the select board um about

[1:10:36] creating a working group. Um, we're

[1:10:38] still kind of working through the

[1:10:40] details on that, but I believe it the

[1:10:42] intent uh has to do with kind of putting

[1:10:46] together a memo memorand of

[1:10:48] understanding about how we'll work with

[1:10:50] the select board and kind of who's doing

[1:10:51] what, what we need to be looking at over

[1:10:53] the next few months and then, you know,

[1:10:56] in the future. So, um, they've appointed

[1:11:00] Tina Hine from the select board and we

[1:11:04] talked about two, um, school committee

[1:11:06] members and,

[1:11:10] um,

[1:11:12] Tina had mentioned it would probably be

[1:11:14] about four meetings from, you know,

[1:11:16] between now and the end of March um, to

[1:11:19] just get things started and then we'll

[1:11:20] figure out from there. So I guess um is

[1:11:24] there anyone who's interested in working

[1:11:27] on this working group

[1:11:34] anyway? Okay,

[1:11:38] » Frank,

[1:11:41] » you'll do it. Okay, great.

[1:11:44] >> Thank you so much.

[1:11:46] >> So um

[1:11:48] >> incredibly excited. I'll entertain a

[1:11:50] motion to approve Frank and Hillary to

[1:11:54] join the working group with Tina.

[1:11:57] >> Moved by John.

[1:11:57] >> Second.

[1:11:58] >> All in favor?

[1:12:00] >> Thank you, Chris.

[1:12:01] >> And Tina also asked if we would um set a

[1:12:05] date for the first meeting.

[1:12:07] >> Okay.

[1:12:07] >> So, I know there's vacation next week.

[1:12:10] Um so, I wonder if we'd look at like

[1:12:14] >> But you they could meet

[1:12:15] >> you could meet. I mean, it's up to you

[1:12:17] really. Tina said she's available

[1:12:20] >> pretty much after 3 PM and most

[1:12:23] evenings. So,

[1:12:30] » is there a date you would like?

[1:12:35] » Sensing a theme.

[1:12:36] >> Bring your baby, Frank.

[1:12:39] >> Yes, bring the baby.

[1:12:40] >> I can meet Wednesday, Thursday, next

[1:12:42] week or the following week.

[1:12:44] >> Are you doing holiday week though or

[1:12:45] break?

[1:12:46] >> It's up to you. I'm good with break

[1:12:47] loop, Amanda. I don't do we know Tina's

[1:12:49] availability.

[1:12:50] >> She said after

[1:12:52] >> even next week.

[1:12:52] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[1:12:54] >> Next week might be

[1:12:58] » um Monday than Wednesday

[1:13:02] 18.

[1:13:02] >> Yeah.

[1:13:04] >> Um

[1:13:08] 5:30.

[1:13:12] » Yeah.

[1:13:14] >> Okay. Just just quickly, so while the

[1:13:17] working group is working on the

[1:13:18] memorandum of understanding, you know, I

[1:13:20] talked with you and Ben Ben Sparl about

[1:13:23] just making sure that we we're working

[1:13:26] with Dr. Jordan to dial in on a number

[1:13:28] for the for the feasibility study. And

[1:13:30] so we're going to be working sort of as

[1:13:33] a kind of a capital request. So through

[1:13:36] budget uh subcommittee bring in uh at

[1:13:38] least James Kee and um Frank uh our town

[1:13:42] manager and whoever else you know is

[1:13:45] necessary to make sure that it's a

[1:13:46] collaborative process but um Doug Jordan

[1:13:49] has done a ton of work. So I don't think

[1:13:50] there's like a ton of work to to be done

[1:13:52] on dialing in the number but there's

[1:13:54] might be some negotiation over how we strategize it. even even earlier

[1:13:59] this week, but also last week and the

[1:14:00] week before. Um I've had meetings with

[1:14:03] James Kee and and Frank just to kind of

[1:14:05] look discuss that process process.

[1:14:08] >> No, I know you've done a ton of work and

[1:14:09] then also

[1:14:10] >> just reviewing some stuff probably

[1:14:12] helping at least with some direction on

[1:14:14] a presentation of what is a feasibility

[1:14:16] study, what does it include, why does it

[1:14:18] cost so much?

[1:14:27] Um, okay. So, next item is the

[1:14:32] 25 26 school calendar. I believe we need

[1:14:36] to vote on the last day of school,

[1:14:37] >> right? Because we had the two snow days

[1:14:39] so far. So, that puts us at the 24th

[1:14:42] based on that and hoping for no more.

[1:14:45] >> Are we are we

[1:14:48] want to wait another month?

[1:14:49] >> Are we ready to take that vote or is do

[1:14:51] we need to wait a little longer? it it's

[1:14:54] really what your preference is because I

[1:14:56] mean you would like to think people know

[1:14:58] that we'd have the two days but some

[1:15:01] people do wait for that information so

[1:15:02] you know

[1:15:04] >> there's no perfect answer for that

[1:15:06] >> we can vote now we can always revote it

[1:15:08] at least the updated to keep people

[1:15:12] >> where we are currently

[1:15:14] >> okay so um

[1:15:18] the current last day of school is a half

[1:15:20] day on June 24th North.

[1:15:24] Am I reading that correct?

[1:15:26] >> With the snow days.

[1:15:27] Yeah. Um Okay. So,

[1:15:30] I'll entertain a motion to approve June

[1:15:34] 24th as the last day of school.

[1:15:36] >> You still have a choice, right?

[1:15:38] >> We don't really have a choice,

[1:15:42] » right?

[1:15:45] >> So, second.

[1:15:47] >> All in favor? That passes.

[1:15:51] Um, okay. And then we wanted to talk a

[1:15:54] little bit about the 2627 school

[1:15:56] calendar.

[1:15:58] Um,

[1:16:02] I think linked here is

[1:16:07] what we had initially talked about. I

[1:16:09] did put Tracy had come up with some

[1:16:12] other suggestions. It's that's in the

[1:16:14] folder too if you want to if anyone

[1:16:15] wants to pull that up.

[1:16:30] So just refreshing my memory when we

[1:16:32] last spoke about the calendar we talked

[1:16:35] did we vote on the

[1:16:38] beginning and end dates only and kind of

[1:16:42] tabled the rest. Okay.

[1:16:45] Although I actually wanted to bring up a

[1:16:46] possibility like reook at that as well.

[1:16:48] I don't know what official motion needs

[1:16:50] to be made to reopen that conversation.

[1:16:52] Um

[1:16:53] >> nothing to start thinkable.

[1:16:55] >> It's impossible.

[1:16:56] >> You don't need a motion to to

[1:16:59] talk about it. Yeah,

[1:17:00] >> we can talk about So I I will admit that

[1:17:02] I approved that thinking, oh, this year

[1:17:04] was the 25th, 24th, not realizing that

[1:17:06] the 24th put us two full weeks before

[1:17:08] Labor Day. Um and when that came to it

[1:17:12] was just last week that that came to my

[1:17:14] um attention. I you know the precedent

[1:17:16] of that is certainly not two weeks

[1:17:18] before. There are a few districts in the

[1:17:20] area that have similarly played around

[1:17:22] with doing some PD days for staff on

[1:17:24] that week before with students starting

[1:17:26] on the 31st to try and help at the end

[1:17:28] particularly with Junth being celebrated

[1:17:30] on a Friday. It does make things a

[1:17:31] little more complicated. Um but I think

[1:17:34] we need to look at that week a little

[1:17:35] bit more directly. Um I also realized

[1:17:38] just today actually that um for our

[1:17:41] varsity athletes as well um the MIA

[1:17:44] dictates when um preseason can start and

[1:17:46] it can't start until the 24th. So we're

[1:17:48] essentially having our students come

[1:17:49] back, our high schoolers come back to

[1:17:50] school and also having them um do all of

[1:17:54] their uh preseason work that typically

[1:17:56] happens the week before school. So

[1:17:58] that's another thing that I haven't I

[1:18:00] don't know that we've mentioned either.

[1:18:02] Um, so I think we need to talk a little

[1:18:05] bit more about what this might look

[1:18:06] like.

[1:18:07] >> Other than the sports piece, what's the

[1:18:09] issue with presidents two weeks before

[1:18:10] Labor Day?

[1:18:12] >> It's just never been done. I mean,

[1:18:13] that's just

[1:18:15] >> typically it's the week before.

[1:18:17] >> This is the latest Labor Day can ever

[1:18:18] be,

[1:18:18] >> right? It's very late.

[1:18:20] >> Um, many districts have restrictions in

[1:18:23] their contracts of when they can start

[1:18:24] school. And so that's one reason why

[1:18:27] there are a lot of schools that are

[1:18:28] starting with first staff day on the

[1:18:30] 31st and first uh student day on the

[1:18:33] second. Um

[1:18:36] if we were to push to that type of

[1:18:38] schedule though, we would be looking at

[1:18:40] like the 24th or 25th of June before

[1:18:44] snow days, before anything. Whereas you

[1:18:46] have a town like Medfield which is

[1:18:48] starting on the 2nd and they're getting

[1:18:49] out on the 17th of June. So like

[1:18:54] >> but are they cutting PD days out though

[1:18:56] or how how are they navig

[1:19:04] » the 185 days for um staff is also part

[1:19:07] of what is different in Hollist versus

[1:19:08] some of the other districts that are

[1:19:09] giving out sooner as well. Um a lot of

[1:19:11] districts are 182 183.

[1:19:16] Um,

[1:19:19] so I don't maybe I'm alone in that

[1:19:21] concern, but I

[1:19:21] >> So I I No, no. I So I mentioned last

[1:19:24] time we were discussing this that I

[1:19:26] would sort of be in favor of moving the

[1:19:27] PD day from the 11th to the 25th to

[1:19:30] start school on the 26th, which I

[1:19:32] believe is the same day we started this

[1:19:34] year for students.

[1:19:36] um and keeping that as a half day still,

[1:19:38] but um then you'd have two full uh days

[1:19:42] for teachers, then a half day, and then

[1:19:46] so you push it back a little bit. So at

[1:19:48] least, you know,

[1:19:50] I didn't realize athletes couldn't start

[1:19:51] before then. So that that gives them a

[1:19:53] couple days.

[1:19:54] >> Can't happen. So try always before,

[1:19:59] >> but that also by moving one PD day, that

[1:20:01] wouldn't change our end date either. So

[1:20:04] it wouldn't start pushing us into, you

[1:20:06] know,

[1:20:06] >> you're just saying like the games would

[1:20:08] start that.

[1:20:09] >> So according to the 2026 season, full

[1:20:10] practice may begin the second Monday

[1:20:12] preceding Labor Day. No team may have

[1:20:14] more than 13 single practice sessions,

[1:20:15] double sessions before Labor Day.

[1:20:20] » But they have to

[1:20:21] >> Can't they get around that though with

[1:20:22] captain's practice? My own children did

[1:20:24] that in high school.

[1:20:25] >> Captain practices, yes, but the coaches

[1:20:27] and the tryyouts can't happen two weeks

[1:20:29] preceding. So impact like

[1:20:32] >> the start of the season, right? It

[1:20:33] should be

[1:20:34] >> What about starting 27?

[1:20:37] >> Well, that was one of the things that I

[1:20:39] had thrown like I mean and again there

[1:20:40] have been multiple tabs I was playing

[1:20:42] around with lots of things and at one

[1:20:44] point I had like paper copies in my like

[1:20:46] what is this craziness? So I mean I

[1:20:49] there's a a lot the second tab there

[1:20:51] that I had put in there the alternative

[1:20:52] start to looks at that Frank and says if

[1:20:54] the teachers start on the 27th and 28th

[1:20:57] um then we are able to take off that um

[1:21:00] September 11th full day PD and I I know

[1:21:03] we had talked um earlier this week and

[1:21:06] that the thought was that a PD before

[1:21:08] the start of school could be a little

[1:21:09] tough. There are a lot of districts that

[1:21:11] do it um particularly with the weekend

[1:21:13] in there for teachers to sort of have a

[1:21:14] chance to regroup. then they also have

[1:21:15] that half day on the 31st to do some of

[1:21:17] their mandatory trainings. Um,

[1:21:20] so I I do think it's feasible and then

[1:21:23] our students aren't starting until the

[1:21:24] 31st. Um, and then also make September a

[1:21:27] little less disjointed if we move that

[1:21:29] PD day before.

[1:21:32] >> Um, I don't know.

[1:21:34] >> I would love to see a PD at least one PD

[1:21:36] day before school started just to

[1:21:40] >> moving the first day for students to the

[1:21:41] 31st kicks us to the 22nd.

[1:21:44] >> Yeah. So I I I

[1:21:47] I'm really I I

[1:21:50] >> understand the concerns.

[1:21:51] >> 12 PD days though, right?

[1:21:54] >> Well, you'd have to I mean you'd have to

[1:21:56] get back two days to get you to the

[1:21:59] 17th.

[1:22:01] >> Yep.

[1:22:02] >> So with four full day PD and also one

[1:22:05] opening day that gets to the 185, right?

[1:22:07] when we when they had an agreement in

[1:22:09] the past and David would has witnessed

[1:22:12] this when I got here we were doing three

[1:22:14] full day PD opening day which is four

[1:22:17] full days and then four half days so it

[1:22:20] was more PD time but it wasn't as

[1:22:22] efficient that's why we went to back to

[1:22:24] the four full day PD days and that's

[1:22:26] been talked about PD council but then

[1:22:28] when that happened students went to 181

[1:22:30] days because we were losing time on

[1:22:31] learning so we'd have to go back that

[1:22:33] was the agreement that so it would still

[1:22:35] be the same amount of this the day would

[1:22:37] and the same and we we had um with

[1:22:40] principles that I met with they felt it

[1:22:41] was much more disruptive to families

[1:22:43] when we added all those extra half days.

[1:22:45] It's more days for child care needs and

[1:22:48] things like that. Um and the scheduling

[1:22:51] of PD was why we went to four full days

[1:22:53] and that's been really helpful with the

[1:22:54] two par days. So that was kind of all

[1:22:56] the stuff that we've dealt with every

[1:22:57] year.

[1:23:02] report of April break

[1:23:05] usually.

[1:23:06] >> I'm speaking Anderson.

[1:23:08] >> So I know we had and when in our

[1:23:09] conversation earlier this week is there

[1:23:11] I couldn't find you in the contract what

[1:23:13] exactly the required number of hours

[1:23:15] that the teachers have to have. I know

[1:23:17] they have 185 paid days but those don't

[1:23:18] all count as PD. What are the hours of

[1:23:21] PD we need to

[1:23:23] >> it's it's not to find the hours. It's

[1:23:25] the past practice. That's what it's come

[1:23:27] down to. So there there were two models.

[1:23:29] It was one model that they had been

[1:23:30] given uh four full day PDs which was the

[1:23:33] 24 hours and then there was an agreement

[1:23:35] at some point. I don't know exactly when

[1:23:37] that happened. The PD council met

[1:23:39] because we have a PD council has to have

[1:23:40] input into this and in those meetings

[1:23:42] prior to both my arrival and I don't

[1:23:45] know if David knows when that shift

[1:23:46] happened but they was an agreement and a

[1:23:48] president set that they would do three

[1:23:50] full day I'm sorry. Yeah, three full day

[1:23:52] and four half days. So then that would

[1:23:55] be the model. I would think the PD

[1:23:56] council would expect that. We we'd have

[1:23:58] to bargain that with them um and meet

[1:24:01] with them about that which would make

[1:24:04] seven more days for parent more days for

[1:24:07] parents to have child care because of

[1:24:08] those.

[1:24:08] >> Is it three full days or two?

[1:24:11] >> Two.

[1:24:12] >> Right now it's the four full days. But

[1:24:14] when Nope, it's one day for opening and

[1:24:17] four full day PDS. when we went to the

[1:24:21] when we had the model in place with the

[1:24:23] three full day PDs, it was opening day,

[1:24:25] three full day PDs and then four half

[1:24:27] days so that they were getting um a

[1:24:31] little more PD in that model.

[1:24:34] So I think that the precedent was that was the precedent that the teachers

[1:24:38] had in the past.

[1:24:42] So we'd have to bargain the impact

[1:24:44] probably of the change.

[1:24:50] or at least with the PD council I would

[1:24:52] think.

[1:24:55] >> I am concerned pushing the date as far

[1:24:56] as the 22nd just knowing snow could be a

[1:24:59] thing and well and my guess is though I

[1:25:02] don't have anything to support this so

[1:25:03] I'm just totally guessing but my had to

[1:25:06] guess I'd say the attendance is worse on

[1:25:08] the 22nd than it is you know August

[1:25:11] 26th.

[1:25:12] >> Yes.

[1:25:12] >> Yeah.

[1:25:14] >> But again I'm just totally making that

[1:25:15] up.

[1:25:16] >> Yeah. Monday and people gone like sorry

[1:25:19] this year I'd imagine when we push it

[1:25:20] out pushing out now it's it's going to

[1:25:22] be late.

[1:25:24] >> Uh

[1:25:24] >> yeah and then if you had to push it out

[1:25:26] a couple days.

[1:25:27] >> Yeah.

[1:25:28] >> So with teachers first day in this what

[1:25:30] we were just discussing 26 would be

[1:25:32] their first day and then the 27th be the

[1:25:35] students.

[1:25:37] >> There's a couple different options.

[1:25:38] >> Okay. But would a compromise be to have

[1:25:41] teachers start have the orientation be

[1:25:44] on the 24th, a full day PD on the 25th,

[1:25:47] and then students on the 26th

[1:25:49] >> and that would be a half day.

[1:25:50] >> That would be a half day part of

[1:25:52] >> I would be I would be in favor of that.

[1:25:54] >> Is that the third option? Alternative

[1:25:56] PD?

[1:25:57] >> Yes.

[1:25:57] >> Yeah.

[1:25:58] >> And students look it out on the 15th.

[1:26:01] >> Yeah.

[1:26:02] >> Would September 11th PD would become the

[1:26:05] 25th?

[1:26:06] >> Yeah.

[1:26:06] >> Just to bring something up. So the

[1:26:08] people planning the PD do not work

[1:26:10] during the summer. So that would be hard

[1:26:13] because then they're planning that back

[1:26:16] to school PD day when just to kind of

[1:26:21] bring that up.

[1:26:22] >> We just added two day

[1:26:24] >> um

[1:26:25] >> because they leave for the summer. So

[1:26:28] >> So is is that the one that would have

[1:26:30] been planned out for September 11th?

[1:26:32] >> Yes, they have.

[1:26:33] >> Understood. Okay. So are they planning

[1:26:35] it between the 24th and and the 10th?

[1:26:38] >> Yes. A lot of times they have the topics

[1:26:40] planned as hard as mapped out but they

[1:26:42] don't but if you know some of our staff

[1:26:45] do the pres actual presentation as part

[1:26:46] of their positions.

[1:26:48] >> We do a lot of in-house PD we don't have

[1:26:50] a lot of funding for

[1:26:51] >> we've seen other districts do this right

[1:26:54] including I think Weston has as much as

[1:26:56] two days. Um how do they do that? Have

[1:26:59] you have you encountered that in

[1:27:02] >> I mean in my district we do have the two

[1:27:03] days. I haven't worked on the planning

[1:27:04] part of that, so I can't speak to that.

[1:27:07] >> Maybe they hire some. I don't know. It

[1:27:08] depends on the size of the district and

[1:27:10] the funding they have.

[1:27:10] >> The hard thing is going to be that the

[1:27:12] feedback I've gotten from the PD council

[1:27:14] is they do not want a PD day that like

[1:27:18] right at the beginning of the school

[1:27:20] because they are prepping their

[1:27:21] classrooms.

[1:27:23] So, it would be hard for them to do

[1:27:25] that. I mean, I just I've heard that

[1:27:27] since I've gotten here. Yeah,

[1:27:29] >> and I understand that part of it, but I

[1:27:31] think what we're also looking at the

[1:27:32] continuity for our students to continue

[1:27:35] to add these full days is really hard,

[1:27:37] especially in the beginning. Um,

[1:27:40] >> I don't know.

[1:27:41] >> In September, the continuity is hard.

[1:27:43] There's two Mondays off,

[1:27:44] >> right? So, to now add an additional day,

[1:27:48] >> I mean, this year was awful. First 10

[1:27:49] weeks of the school year, seven of them

[1:27:51] were four day weeks or or less. Well, I

[1:27:54] think they were 40 weeks, but that

[1:27:58] Um,

[1:27:59] >> I think that's a good reason to strongly

[1:28:02] consider it at the beginning of the year

[1:28:04] then.

[1:28:04] >> You know, we we could consider you could

[1:28:07] consider moving the September PD day to

[1:28:11] October

[1:28:13] >> to have less interrupted in, you know

[1:28:15] what I mean? In the first month

[1:28:17] concerned about,

[1:28:18] >> but the November PDA, November PDA is

[1:28:20] very useful because that's when we bring

[1:28:22] other districts together to for the

[1:28:23] year.

[1:28:25] >> Yeah. assume you're adding another week

[1:28:26] in October and still a week in November,

[1:28:29] >> right? No, I don't know. This Yeah, we

[1:28:31] go through this every year. It's very

[1:28:32] challenging.

[1:28:33] >> Is there harm in giving it a try?

[1:28:37] » I mean, there How many people uh Dr.

[1:28:41] Bernhard would you say are involved in

[1:28:43] planning uh the

[1:28:45] >> your um admin and your curriculum

[1:28:50] coordinators and your tech integration

[1:28:52] specialist?

[1:28:55] So, but how many how many of those are

[1:28:57] >> BCBAs?

[1:28:58] >> Nonies,

[1:28:59] >> BCBAS,

[1:29:00] right? Counselors.

[1:29:03] Um, how many what? I'm sorry.

[1:29:04] >> How many the the teacher contract?

[1:29:08] >> Uh, well, all of the tech integration

[1:29:12] specialists, so that's three.

[1:29:14] >> And the interventionist, that's nine.

[1:29:18] >> So, that's 11.

[1:29:20] And how many hours would you say that

[1:29:22] they spend prepping?

[1:29:24] >> It's not just the prepping. It's they're

[1:29:30] talking to people at the beginning of

[1:29:32] the school year and finding out really

[1:29:34] solidifying what the needs are. So you

[1:29:38] would have to prep it this spring

[1:29:42] with not knowing truly what the needs

[1:29:45] are for the fall. But wouldn't they know

[1:29:48] the spring and summer like based on the

[1:29:50] data based on what they're seeing in the

[1:29:52] classroom what the need would be for the

[1:29:54] fall?

[1:29:55] >> No, there's a lot of you know like if

[1:29:57] we're looking at just give you an

[1:29:59] example like AI uh tech integration

[1:30:02] specialists are doing a lot of AI things

[1:30:04] that changes so much what we are doing

[1:30:06] right now um the tools that we're using.

[1:30:10] I I just it would be tough. It would be

[1:30:12] tough. But I mean, if they're 11 people

[1:30:14] and they need 10 hours, that's 110

[1:30:17] hours. And so if they were given 110

[1:30:19] hours of of summer work at $30 an hour,

[1:30:21] we're talking about $3,000 to

[1:30:24] >> do they have to negotiate it with a PD

[1:30:26] counsel?

[1:30:27] >> I don't I don't I I that's either I

[1:30:29] don't know what's in the contract is

[1:30:31] that we have a PD council that's

[1:30:32] supposed to have input. You know what

[1:30:33] I'm saying? So that that is contractual

[1:30:36] that that group has to meet to discuss

[1:30:37] these kinds of things.

[1:30:39] >> So I don't I think we'd have to go back.

[1:30:41] >> I don't know what that Yeah.

[1:30:43] Is that in the main contract or in

[1:30:45] >> that's in the contract?

[1:30:48] >> So you have equal number of union

[1:30:49] members and equal a number of

[1:30:51] administrators.

[1:30:54] >> I just I mean if we're looking at

[1:30:56] currently it says September 11th. I just

[1:30:58] know the first few weeks of school are

[1:31:00] so chaotic. To think that at that point

[1:31:02] they're going to have a better grasp of

[1:31:03] what needs are for PD doesn't seem

[1:31:06] realistic.

[1:31:08] >> Right.

[1:31:09] Well, I'm just being realistic

[1:31:11] about what their jobs are at the end of

[1:31:13] the school year. Their jobs at the end

[1:31:15] of the school year are insane. So, when

[1:31:17] you're doing interventionist stuff to

[1:31:19] add another PD planning for I

[1:31:23] >> I don't know. That's asking a lot.

[1:31:24] >> It's February though. We're not asking

[1:31:25] them to do this in May.

[1:31:26] >> The administrators would probably have

[1:31:28] >> What I'm even suggesting is we give them

[1:31:29] some hours. You could give them hours

[1:31:31] over the summer when

[1:31:32] >> check them with the PD council the

[1:31:34] details.

[1:31:35] >> I'm sorry. if we could do the summer the 3,000 or the extra hours, like can

[1:31:40] we check in and see if that's feasible?

[1:31:42] >> But then that takes away funds that I

[1:31:43] have planned for like curriculum review

[1:31:46] work.

[1:31:46] >> Okay.

[1:31:47] >> So, we we'd also have to ensure that

[1:31:50] they wanted to come in the summer

[1:31:51] because it would be voluntary. We can't

[1:31:52] make them come play in the summer. So,

[1:31:54] some might and some might not. That's

[1:31:56] >> Well, they they presumably they wouldn't

[1:31:58] have to come to school to plan unless

[1:32:00] they they wanted to. Uh they could do it

[1:32:02] via Zoom, email.

[1:32:05] >> Yeah, I don't know. I mean, every year

[1:32:06] we let we we reach when we post we post

[1:32:09] what the work is for the summer and then

[1:32:11] people either want to do it or they

[1:32:14] don't. So it I don't know. I I just

[1:32:17] don't know if they all would. I I

[1:32:18] >> And I'm not talking about necessarily

[1:32:19] using the the the hours that you need

[1:32:21] and the money that you have for for for

[1:32:23] summer for summer work. I'm suggesting

[1:32:25] that if we we would I want to look into

[1:32:27] it, but I would imagine if we can find

[1:32:29] 3,000 in favor somewhere, that might be

[1:32:32] where we

[1:32:34] take it from not necessarily take it

[1:32:36] away from other things that you need to

[1:32:37] do.

[1:32:38] >> No, I hear you to to go to Dr. Cait. I I

[1:32:41] don't know, you know, if they'd be

[1:32:43] interested in doing this summer. I can't

[1:32:45] speak for them. So

[1:32:53] » could

[1:32:54] >> Dr. Jordan have you sat on the council

[1:32:56] PD council

[1:32:57] >> meetings? Yeah.

[1:32:58] >> Uh not not the reason

[1:33:00] >> update the start and end date per

[1:33:02] feedback you brought Tracy but then we

[1:33:04] can come back on the PD day once we have

[1:33:07] more information or we just wait.

[1:33:09] >> I think we wait and

[1:33:10] >> I'm just concerned because we're going

[1:33:11] to get into like April. Yeah, we're

[1:33:13] going to get into like April and realize

[1:33:14] we still have a calendar. Uh this is

[1:33:15] exactly what happened last year.

[1:33:17] >> We need to iron that out in the next two

[1:33:19] weeks.

[1:33:19] >> Yeah.

[1:33:20] >> Okay. So, what information do we need be

[1:33:23] able to iron that out?

[1:33:26] >> We could talk to other districts and

[1:33:28] figure out how they are able to

[1:33:30] >> um have even as many as two PD days at

[1:33:34] the beginning of the school year. How

[1:33:36] are they able to organize that?

[1:33:38] >> Um you know, we we still have over six

[1:33:41] months before these PD days would occur.

[1:33:46] Um

[1:33:49] perhaps we could

[1:33:51] >> reach out at least to the HFT president

[1:33:53] and who could then also reach out to the

[1:33:56] PD council. Yeah, I think we probably

[1:33:59] >> that would want to reach out directly at

[1:34:01] least. It's on.

[1:34:04] >> Yeah.

[1:34:04] >> Article 13 is where it talks about the

[1:34:06] PD council and it says that um the

[1:34:08] parties agreed to a year-long study. It

[1:34:10] should have said not student of the

[1:34:12] model and propose they have a year-long

[1:34:14] study before making changes. And that's

[1:34:16] what we did a few years ago is meet with

[1:34:18] them that year when we moved to the

[1:34:20] 4day. So like they should have been

[1:34:22] meeting all this year if we were going

[1:34:23] to make the change. But

[1:34:24] >> but we're not changing the model though.

[1:34:26] We're just changing when that date is

[1:34:27] happening.

[1:34:28] >> Oh okay. You're not

[1:34:29] >> we're moving it to the 11th to

[1:34:31] >> Yeah. Okay. You're not saying different

[1:34:32] four days. You're saying just that one

[1:34:34] day.

[1:34:35] >> Okay.

[1:34:35] >> I would like to do that too.

[1:34:37] >> No, I know.

[1:34:39] >> So that all you want to meet about is

[1:34:41] whether they'd be open to having it

[1:34:44] before school starts. Is that is that

[1:34:46] what you're asking?

[1:34:47] >> Yes.

[1:34:48] >> Okay.

[1:34:49] >> And so they have

[1:34:51] they're if I'm understanding correctly

[1:34:53] by you saying they're open to it, they

[1:34:55] have the decision on when their PD falls

[1:34:58] or just what that PD entails. It's it's

[1:35:00] a little bit of both because they have

[1:35:03] this council that vets the it's if you

[1:35:05] look at um page 38 uh they agree that

[1:35:08] the programs and activities are aimed at

[1:35:10] professional development and are high

[1:35:12] priorities. They the council is supposed

[1:35:14] to have input into the topics um and

[1:35:17] then they also have to have input into

[1:35:20] any changes that to the model itself.

[1:35:23] >> Okay.

[1:35:23] >> But not necessarily where the days are

[1:35:26] calendar schedule. I think that

[1:35:28] >> no that was just part of

[1:35:29] >> the challenge with the placing it

[1:35:31] without feedback on um placing it before

[1:35:35] the start of the school is more like

[1:35:37] what would be the state of the

[1:35:38] professional development on that day and

[1:35:40] can we get that organized not saying

[1:35:41] that we can't or not I just we just

[1:35:42] don't have a good handle on that. So

[1:35:45] then to like Dan Dan's point like what

[1:35:48] >> what um uh what kind of stipen or what

[1:35:51] type of summer work would we need to

[1:35:52] offer that would provide that

[1:35:54] opportunity and how willing would they

[1:35:56] be able to do it? Um we ha we have in

[1:35:59] the past not necessarily had it for um

[1:36:03] for a day before a PD day a day before

[1:36:06] the start of school but within the first

[1:36:07] week of school where the professional

[1:36:09] development was done during the summer

[1:36:11] or the sorry the planning for the

[1:36:13] professional development was done during

[1:36:14] the summer

[1:36:17] >> which could be another possibility

[1:36:21] if you wanted to have the

[1:36:24] let's say it's a seven you could

[1:36:25] actually do it on September 4th

[1:36:29] is another possibility if you wanted the

[1:36:30] long weekend for the Labor Day. That's

[1:36:32] what some districts do, too, right?

[1:36:34] >> Mhm.

[1:36:37] >> Yeah. That's better than breaking up a

[1:36:39] week. Still another day. But

[1:36:42] >> Well, the fourth would be breaking up

[1:36:43] the week though, right? You're breaking

[1:36:45] up another week.

[1:36:46] >> Yeah.

[1:36:47] >> Oh, cuz Labor Day is the seventh. That's

[1:36:48] correct.

[1:36:49] >> Yeah.

[1:36:49] >> It just go away.

[1:36:51] >> Can we do it on the 8th?

[1:36:54] Is it is there

[1:36:55] >> is there a plan to bring because I know

[1:36:58] >> part of the rationale for having the

[1:37:00] full day PD was if you were bringing

[1:37:02] >> questions do we really want

[1:37:03] >> presenters in

[1:37:05] >> well it was also for um would you would

[1:37:08] you ever bring

[1:37:09] >> No I get that but I if you were planning

[1:37:12] on bringing a presenter in at some point

[1:37:14] during the year would you ever consider

[1:37:16] bringing the presenter in at the

[1:37:17] beginning of the year and having that be

[1:37:20] the the full day

[1:37:22] >> not for the work we need to do. You

[1:37:24] could do a presenter, but it doesn't

[1:37:26] move any of the

[1:37:28] >> well, I mean,

[1:37:29] >> curriculum reviews forward.

[1:37:30] >> I think to your point, if we could

[1:37:31] theoretically bring someone in, but

[1:37:33] they're not going to be able to do a

[1:37:34] full day with all staff. Do you know

[1:37:35] what I mean? Like there's

[1:37:37] >> it wouldn't meet the needs of everybody.

[1:37:39] It's six. You wouldn't have one

[1:37:40] presenter doing a six hour with the

[1:37:42] entire, you know, hundreds of people.

[1:37:44] That would just

[1:37:45] >> Sometimes we do like um, you know,

[1:37:47] someone that does part of the day. Like

[1:37:49] this year we did executive skills and

[1:37:51] they did three hours with some and then

[1:37:53] three hours with the others.

[1:37:54] >> The other thing to think about

[1:37:55] >> less time that that the Hollist staff

[1:37:59] would have to be

[1:38:00] >> correct. But the other thing to think

[1:38:02] about, you're going to have a new person

[1:38:03] in this role. So, for them to come in, I

[1:38:07] think that would be hard um because they wouldn't have any input on that

[1:38:13] first PD day at all because it would all

[1:38:17] be planned in the summer,

[1:38:22] » would it? So, let's play that back. The

[1:38:24] person enrolled,

[1:38:26] >> the person that's hired

[1:38:27] >> Yep. in my role would not have any say

[1:38:31] because if it's assigned

[1:38:33] >> like you know for the people to work on

[1:38:35] it in the summer

[1:38:37] they might not be meeting with the

[1:38:38] people. You following me?

[1:38:40] >> But the role would start July 1.

[1:38:42] >> They they wouldn't be able to work with

[1:38:43] the staff

[1:38:44] >> unless it's before

[1:38:45] >> if they if they can work in the summer.

[1:38:47] >> Yeah.

[1:38:48] >> We've had a lot of things that we

[1:38:50] brought forward that nobody's applied

[1:38:51] for because they don't want to work in

[1:38:54] the summer.

[1:38:55] >> Okay. I I it's it's just been a thing

[1:38:59] that's happened since I've been

[1:39:00] >> I mean I I I look at it from if everyone

[1:39:02] gets back to 24th and I specifically

[1:39:04] when that planning starts it's only two

[1:39:06] weeks to plan. So how much is actually

[1:39:08] put together in that time?

[1:39:10] >> A lot of craziness.

[1:39:12] >> Some of those staff don't meet with

[1:39:14] students right away because it's coming

[1:39:15] together. So they have like full more

[1:39:17] correct in their

[1:39:19] students at that really critical time

[1:39:22] too. And we were thinking a little bit.

[1:39:24] >> I mean I I guess I I'd hit pause to find

[1:39:27] out. I want to know how other school

[1:39:29] districts are able to pull it off.

[1:39:31] >> Yeah. Why don't we do some research?

[1:39:32] >> I've had it when I was a teacher. We

[1:39:34] hated it but we did it. Um, but it was

[1:39:37] because they didn't have specific groups

[1:39:39] involved and like it was administrators

[1:39:41] play. That's why I think that the

[1:39:43] difference probably was.

[1:39:46] >> So, we could certainly I mean Joanie

[1:39:47] could certainly see if she can get the

[1:39:48] group together to discuss it, I would

[1:39:50] think. Right.

[1:39:52] >> And bring you feedback.

[1:39:54] >> So, our next school committee meeting is

[1:39:55] March 12th.

[1:39:57] >> February 26.

[1:40:01] So would you like to try?

[1:40:05] » I'll be happy to join you.

[1:40:06] >> Second.

[1:40:08] >> I wouldn't I don't think I'd have

[1:40:09] feedback though by February 26 from the

[1:40:12] PD conf.

[1:40:12] >> No, probably not

[1:40:13] >> because we have break next week and

[1:40:16] >> we don't have a meeting scheduled

[1:40:17] because they wanted to get through.

[1:40:18] >> Probably would probably have to be the

[1:40:20] March 12th.

[1:40:20] >> Feedback by email.

[1:40:22] >> Could you ask for feedback by email

[1:40:24] before the 26th?

[1:40:25] >> Give them a little few questions survey.

[1:40:27] >> Sure.

[1:40:29] Right.

[1:40:31] >> Sure. If you can

[1:40:34] >> Sure.

[1:40:34] >> Thank you. Thank you.

[1:40:36] >> Great.

[1:40:37] >> Before the 26th.

[1:40:40] >> Yes.

[1:40:41] >> Okay.

[1:40:46] So, we will table that and revisit

[1:40:50] on the 26th. Is that okay?

[1:40:53] >> Calendar is always one of our toughest

[1:40:55] conversations. A calendar is is always

[1:40:58] hard.

[1:40:58] >> And of all the tough conversations we

[1:41:00] have,

[1:41:00] >> I know

[1:41:02] feels like it should be straightforward,

[1:41:03] but it's not. It's

[1:41:06] looking at

[1:41:08] >> um just April

[1:41:10] >> I mean before school starts that we'd

[1:41:12] have which is there

[1:41:14] like so I can ask

[1:41:16] >> you guys were talking about different

[1:41:17] things. So I just wanted to qualify it.

[1:41:20] >> Well, no I think there were two

[1:41:21] different Yeah. the idea of having one

[1:41:24] or two PD days,

[1:41:26] >> right? But on which day though, like Dan

[1:41:28] had mentioned 24, 25, I was thinking 27,

[1:41:31] 28. Um,

[1:41:33] >> there's 25 and 26.

[1:41:36] >> At any point during that week,

[1:41:37] >> I mean, I was thinking more toward the

[1:41:38] end of the week again, so that the

[1:41:39] students had that additional week. Now,

[1:41:41] the additional information about the

[1:41:42] high school athletics, it then gives

[1:41:44] them that plenty of time before students

[1:41:46] are starting. That's why I was thinking

[1:41:47] those days, but um,

[1:41:50] >> but you're still looking to end on the

[1:41:51] 15th. Does that one later?

[1:41:52] >> No, it'll be the 22nd.

[1:41:53] >> If we start on the 27th, 28th would be

[1:41:55] the 22nd.

[1:41:56] >> Okay. So, that's why I'm asking you know

[1:41:58] what which ones do you want us to

[1:42:00] >> Sarah make the decision?

[1:42:02] >> I think

[1:42:05] I guess

[1:42:07] >> could we start the question or would you

[1:42:09] open that

[1:42:09] >> 25th and Sure. So, the week of

[1:42:13] >> August 20th

[1:42:14] >> week of August 24th doing one or two PD

[1:42:17] days.

[1:42:18] >> Yeah.

[1:42:18] >> And ending later. one or two PD days. Is

[1:42:22] one the date that your convocation date

[1:42:24] though or

[1:42:26] >> we would have to have that built in

[1:42:28] there as well because

[1:42:28] >> right so it could it would only be one P

[1:42:31] what you're looking at for me is one PD

[1:42:33] day right

[1:42:34] >> because the other day is convocation and

[1:42:37] >> come back two days before student

[1:42:39] >> Gotcha. Okay. Yeah.

[1:42:43] >> I'm keeping that.

[1:42:43] >> I think that makes the most sense to

[1:42:45] start on Wednesday.

[1:42:48] Um,

[1:42:50] given what we have,

[1:42:52] >> yeah,

[1:42:52] >> we'll get out the same. We wouldn't move

[1:42:53] the final date because we're just moving

[1:42:55] a PD day. And that way,

[1:42:57] >> I get that you'd then have a slightly

[1:42:58] shorter first week for for for students,

[1:43:00] but then once you kind of got really

[1:43:02] ramped, you'd have a full weekend of of

[1:43:04] school for that that 31st through 4th of

[1:43:07] September. And you'd have a 4 day week

[1:43:09] the next week and you wouldn't have any

[1:43:10] other three-day weeks kind of in the

[1:43:11] middle once you kind of were going

[1:43:14] >> until March until Thanksgiving actually.

[1:43:19] I still think it's 27 28th especially

[1:43:21] starting the 24th two weeks before I

[1:43:24] just doesn't feel right.

[1:43:26] >> It's luckily we won't have to deal with

[1:43:28] this again for six or seven years but uh

[1:43:30] you know

[1:43:32] >> well last time we dealt with it we did

[1:43:34] it on the 31st.

[1:43:36] So it was a full week after.

[1:43:38] >> Granted, we had fewer religious holidays

[1:43:40] that we had to celebrate.

[1:43:41] >> Say if we move the school day to the

[1:43:43] 31st, it affects our staff payroll.

[1:43:47] >> Um that creates a 3-week gap uh between

[1:43:50] their their last paycheck to their

[1:43:52] first.

[1:43:54] >> I don't think we're suggesting starting

[1:43:55] the staff on the first. No, but

[1:43:57] >> yeah, the staff earlier.

[1:44:00] Just a quick reminder, we

[1:44:04] the calendar next year we 28 we're

[1:44:06] supposed to talk about like potential

[1:44:08] change make big changes.

[1:44:10] >> Is that part of the group that or we're

[1:44:12] just talking?

[1:44:14] >> We're not doing that anymore.

[1:44:15] >> We're not doing well.

[1:44:16] >> Not yet.

[1:44:19] >> This is

[1:44:22] year to year.

[1:44:26] » Okay. So, we'll table that. revisit on

[1:44:30] the 26th.

[1:44:31] >> Yes.

[1:44:32] >> Okay.

[1:44:33] >> Time to look at.

[1:44:34] >> So, let's move on to new business. Um,

[1:44:37] the assistant superintendent of

[1:44:38] curriculum and instruction search.

[1:44:42] >> Of course. Go ahead. Sorry.

[1:44:44] >> Is it if we're asking the PD council

[1:44:46] sort of their thoughts on that? Is it

[1:44:47] worth asking the community like a 24th

[1:44:51] start of students on the Wednesday

[1:44:53] before or the Monday before?

[1:44:57] probably come to office hours on

[1:44:59] >> and give us their opinion then like I

[1:45:01] don't know Google form which would you

[1:45:02] prefer A or B? Um

[1:45:04] >> in case you'll see

[1:45:05] >> the 26 was the same is the day we

[1:45:07] started this year. So like I get the

[1:45:09] calendar's a little wonky with where

[1:45:10] Labor Day falls but it's not like we're starting earlier in the year.

[1:45:14] >> Yeah. And just learning from the start

[1:45:16] time survey, Tracy, it will just be a

[1:45:19] plethora of 5050 or 3030 depending on

[1:45:23] >> Well, at least then they have a chance

[1:45:24] to vote and give their opinion versus us

[1:45:28] just deciding it's close enough to what

[1:45:30] we did in the past. Let's keep going.

[1:45:32] >> The issue is already it's already been

[1:45:33] out there for two months.

[1:45:40] » Do another office hours. I I I mean the

[1:45:43] 22nd like just

[1:45:47] you know

[1:45:48] >> if we push it now and there's snow days

[1:45:51] like it just could snowball effect no

[1:45:52] pun intended to even later. So like we

[1:45:56] should try to start the calendar as

[1:45:57] early like end as early as possible so

[1:45:59] that if there are other days that okay

[1:46:02] like what's happening this year not

[1:46:03] great but if we were ending on the 24th

[1:46:06] we could go until the end of June.

[1:46:09] If you did the 22nd and had three

[1:46:11] scenarios, you'd be the 28th.

[1:46:12] >> Yeah,

[1:46:14] that's it. Could happen.

[1:46:18] >> We've had two this year.

[1:46:24] I think there'll be more disruption if

[1:46:25] we push the scan date than pull up pull

[1:46:28] push back the start date.

[1:46:30] >> Yeah,

[1:46:31] >> that's I guess we can table it for now.

[1:46:35] >> Why don't we've done this in the past?

[1:46:36] Why don't we ask for you know feedback

[1:46:38] in our conversations and we come back

[1:46:39] with that it's not full but we come with

[1:46:43] some feedback that we get

[1:46:46] just like anecdotal conversations.

[1:46:55] » Okay.

[1:46:57] Um assistant superintendent of

[1:46:59] curriculum and instruction search. So

[1:47:05] not sure where we are with that. Did you

[1:47:12] talk about anything

[1:47:15] in

[1:47:19] budget?

[1:47:20] >> No.

[1:47:23] » Yeah.

[1:47:23] >> Budget was so long. Um

[1:47:28] I it it's tough. I I I don't curriculum

[1:47:31] is very obviously very important and

[1:47:33] it's uh at the same time I

[1:47:40] I'm concerned if we have three assistant

[1:47:42] superintendent I think without a without

[1:47:44] necessarily a reason

[1:47:48] like when we were looking to to bring um

[1:47:52] in a very experienced uh student

[1:47:55] services director. So, you know, I

[1:47:59] think that with the director we

[1:48:03] maybe in a better spot

[1:48:08] though. I think

[1:48:10] I I don't know. What do other people

[1:48:12] think? I agree that for a district our

[1:48:14] size, three assistant superintendent is

[1:48:19] >> not Yes, it's it's

[1:48:22] >> not the

[1:48:23] >> And just to be clear, so everyone anyone

[1:48:25] watching for some reason um

[1:48:29] assistant superintendent is still just a

[1:48:31] title. There are directors who make more

[1:48:33] than assistant superintendents or

[1:48:34] assistant super it's not it's not

[1:48:35] necessarily money but it's it's

[1:48:37] definitely

[1:48:38] >> I mean correlation there is a

[1:48:39] correlation but it's not

[1:48:40] >> Yeah.

[1:48:41] >> Absolutely. And I agree and I agree and

[1:48:43] understand why we

[1:48:47] um

[1:48:48] revised the role to be assistant

[1:48:50] superintendent of student services. Um

[1:48:56] curriculum instruction is still the

[1:48:57] heart of what we do. So it feels like it

[1:49:00] needs I I'm torn because I agree with

[1:49:03] you and I

[1:49:06] but it's still this it's

[1:49:08] >> torn as well.

[1:49:10] One thing I think I've seen change over

[1:49:12] the last few years is more of a um

[1:49:16] support role with curriculum

[1:49:19] coordinators or other positions um that

[1:49:23] have sort of support like it sort of

[1:49:25] expanded right um uh with other um

[1:49:30] supporting um staff

[1:49:34] >> which would be a very large central

[1:49:37] office for a district this size,

[1:49:39] >> right?

[1:49:42] >> I do feel having the tighter from an

[1:49:44] organizational

[1:49:47] standpoint, having a tighter knit with

[1:49:49] student services defined today and

[1:49:51] curriculum could benefit in many ways.

[1:49:55] The question is like do we lose some of

[1:49:57] that core curriculum piece?

[1:50:02] In my head, pros outweigh the cons.

[1:50:08] I also wonder about the um and I I

[1:50:11] honestly don't know the answer to this.

[1:50:14] Does it change who applies if it's a

[1:50:17] director role versus an assistant

[1:50:18] superintendent role?

[1:50:21] >> Can't imagine it wouldn't.

[1:50:23] >> Yeah. I mean, I feel like we had that

[1:50:24] conversation with the assistant

[1:50:26] superintendent of finance and operation

[1:50:28] versus director of finance and operation

[1:50:30] talking about the

[1:50:33] >> um

[1:50:35] >> I don't think it would push away the

[1:50:37] right candidate, but obviously a

[1:50:39] candidate that is looking to grow may

[1:50:42] not

[1:50:45] be aligned to that.

[1:50:48] >> I I also think I don't want anyone to

[1:50:51] read this. I mean this is not you know

[1:50:52] at all a reflection on on our current

[1:50:54] administration but the our new

[1:50:58] superintendent incoming superintendent

[1:51:00] has just spent eight years as the

[1:51:02] assistant superintendent for teaching

[1:51:03] and learning and clearly that's sort of

[1:51:06] his um

[1:51:08] his strength. So if ever there's an

[1:51:10] opportunity to to go to a director level

[1:51:13] this this might be it.

[1:51:17] >> And he may want to provide some input on

[1:51:19] this too. is a piece we're missing right

[1:51:21] now,

[1:51:22] >> too.

[1:51:23] >> I'm also wondering if there are

[1:51:24] opportunities longer term to

[1:51:28] I I know this is more of a bigger

[1:51:30] district type of thing, but to have

[1:51:31] someone in a head of elementary

[1:51:33] curriculum and someone the head of sort

[1:51:35] of secondary curriculum.

[1:51:42] I don't know. There's no right there's

[1:51:43] no right answer. Yes.

[1:51:44] >> I Well, I was going to say, do we want

[1:51:46] to try and have some more conversations

[1:51:52] with Dr. Carter to to get a better feel

[1:51:55] for where

[1:51:57] >> how he would approach

[1:52:00] >> structuring?

[1:52:01] >> Yeah.

[1:52:04] >> So, maybe we table this discussion a

[1:52:07] little bit as well and

[1:52:10] circle back to it either

[1:52:14] in February or the first in March.

[1:52:17] >> Did we have an anticipated timeline for

[1:52:20] um yes posting a position?

[1:52:23] >> Initially I did but then I know there

[1:52:25] was some conversations going on so I I

[1:52:27] held off. Um the later you go you may

[1:52:30] end up wanting to consider an interm at

[1:52:32] that point for one year. like that might

[1:52:34] be the outcome depending on I mean

[1:52:36] there's still if you post if you post it

[1:52:39] in February and we're able to start the

[1:52:42] process in March you should be fine the

[1:52:44] later you get into March I mean you know

[1:52:46] it doesn't mean you won't find a

[1:52:47] candidate it's just the later you go you

[1:52:49] know

[1:52:51] >> but you wouldn't need so the the pros

[1:52:54] and cons right you wouldn't need an

[1:52:55] assistant superintendent license to be

[1:52:57] the director but you would need a

[1:52:58] director's license so you know this it

[1:53:02] could It could lead to more candidates.

[1:53:04] It could lead to different cate could

[1:53:06] because there's no perfect answer here,

[1:53:08] right?

[1:53:08] >> The hiring season starts with

[1:53:10] superintendents and then then moves to

[1:53:12] assistant superintendents, then

[1:53:14] principles and directors, then assistant

[1:53:16] principles, then teacher. Like so, you

[1:53:18] know, if the timeline for assistant

[1:53:20] superintendent postings, you you want to

[1:53:22] move pretty quickly. You got some time

[1:53:24] on director postings. Uh but again, you

[1:53:27] know, the sooner the better. Um

[1:53:30] >> just because you have the better pool.

[1:53:31] >> Yep. Yeah,

[1:53:35] >> but I I am with Susan is you isn't to

[1:53:37] say that the pool that you get will be

[1:53:39] better or worse because you might based

[1:53:42] off of the lure that you're carrying you

[1:53:44] might get different types of applicants.

[1:53:55] » Okay.

[1:53:57] Next item. Um preschool tuition.

[1:54:01] I assume that came up in budget.

[1:54:02] >> We did. We uh voted to on a

[1:54:05] recommendation. Um Dr. Jordan, would you

[1:54:08] like to share that recommendation?

[1:54:10] >> Well, to move it

[1:54:12] >> to to increase the tuition by $200, I

[1:54:14] think what from three uh $3,375

[1:54:19] to $3,575.

[1:54:21] >> And what was the how many years did you

[1:54:23] said since we last changed?

[1:54:25] >> I mean, I I've been here for 14. I know

[1:54:28] spokes been here for 15. Hasn't been

[1:54:29] changed since then. So I I can't I don't

[1:54:32] >> see any records of when it was last

[1:54:34] changed.

[1:54:35] >> And we did this with an analysis of what

[1:54:38] other districts were doing. I think is

[1:54:39] Ashlin

[1:54:41] >> 4,000 5,000

[1:54:42] >> 5,000.

[1:54:44] >> Um and this would only bring us to about

[1:54:47] 2,000.

[1:54:48] How much the $200 increase would bring

[1:54:51] us to what? Yeah.

[1:54:53] >> 357.

[1:54:55] and it's still lower than all of our

[1:54:56] comps except for Milis which we already

[1:54:59] are. So we're still in the same place.

[1:55:02] >> Um

[1:55:03] >> we're still the two and a half hour

[1:55:04] versus the like actually it's not full

[1:55:06] day.

[1:55:07] >> It's not full day

[1:55:09] integrative program.

[1:55:12] >> So it's 15 years and just to remind

[1:55:13] people the uh the teachers in our in our

[1:55:16] preschool are full fully licensed you

[1:55:18] know educators. They're part of the the

[1:55:20] union. there, you know, the they so

[1:55:22] they've been, you know, getting the the

[1:55:23] cola raises all along. I mean, this is

[1:55:26] there's definitely inflation within that program.

[1:55:29] >> Our the revenue we collect from tuition

[1:55:32] does not cover our co cover our peers.

[1:55:36] >> Yeah. Does not cover our costs. So, you

[1:55:39] we um we we use it pretty much

[1:55:42] exclusively for payroll, but does not

[1:55:44] cover the rest.

[1:55:48] How much of a deficit is there?

[1:55:50] >> To get the exact number, but we're we're

[1:55:54] covering

[1:55:56] um

[1:55:58] we probably have about $300,000 in

[1:56:00] payroll and we're we're uh we're using

[1:56:03] about 278,000.

[1:56:05] So we're And then that's not getting

[1:56:07] into supplies and other costs as well.

[1:56:10] >> And this nominal increase isn't going to

[1:56:13] close that either.

[1:56:14] >> No.

[1:56:15] >> Right. So, we'll still be running at a

[1:56:17] loss, but I I think after 15 years, it's

[1:56:20] reasonable. And we're still I mean,

[1:56:23] looking at what was the comparison?

[1:56:24] Eight or nine other districts. Um

[1:56:27] >> yeah,

[1:56:29] we're

[1:56:30] >> So, the comparison districts were

[1:56:31] Hopkin, Ashlin, Medway, Medfield,

[1:56:33] Franklin, and Milis. Those are the ones

[1:56:35] who have comparable programs. So, that's

[1:56:37] the half day school day programs. Um and Milis is the only one that was less

[1:56:42] than everybody else. Medway was the next

[1:56:44] closest which was 3900. Um everybody

[1:56:47] else was and then the next one above

[1:56:49] that was Hodkin at 4,000

[1:56:52] and then everything ramped up from

[1:56:54] there.

[1:56:59] » Okay. Um

[1:57:01] there any any more discussion? Um I'll

[1:57:04] entertain a motion to

[1:57:07] uh increase the

[1:57:11] preschool tuition to Accept the school

[1:57:13] tuition.

[1:57:14] >> Accept the school tuition.

[1:57:15] >> 3,5

[1:57:19] tuition we we have free school tuition.

[1:57:21] 3,575.

[1:57:24] » I'll make that motion.

[1:57:26] >> Second by Don. All in favor.

[1:57:30] >> Okay. The next item, um, we were hoping

[1:57:32] to vote on the superintendent contract,

[1:57:34] but, um, we're not quite ready yet. So,

[1:57:37] we're going to move that to next meeting

[1:57:41] or yeah, next meeting at some point. Um,

[1:57:46] the next thing uh we have a chapter 70

[1:57:48] letter just to kind of

[1:57:52] make our case

[1:57:54] for

[1:57:56] um how that could be improved. Right.

[1:58:00] So, some of those you were around two

[1:58:02] years ago will recall that we sent a

[1:58:04] letter. Um,

[1:58:06] I basically sort of took that and and updated it and changed some some

[1:58:11] things. Um, but just for the public to

[1:58:14] know, we we received the governor's

[1:58:17] budget came out a couple weeks ago and

[1:58:20] Hollison's chapter 70, which is school

[1:58:22] funding, uh, was up a very meager uh,

[1:58:25] 2%. Uh, the overall chapter 70 budget in

[1:58:28] the governor's uh, budget was up 3.4%.

[1:58:31] So, it was below that. I will say in

[1:58:33] fairness that there are some surrounding

[1:58:34] districts like Framingham that are

[1:58:35] getting even less, which is I don't

[1:58:37] fully understand. there's some

[1:58:40] enrollment things, but um but 2% is is

[1:58:44] just, you know, in my mind unacceptable.

[1:58:45] It's it's below the 2 and a half% of of

[1:58:47] Prop 2 and a half. Um it's below where

[1:58:50] the uh town has been funding our schools

[1:58:53] at the I think it was 3.6% annual rate

[1:58:55] over the last few years versus like a

[1:58:57] 2.3%

[1:58:59] uh annual increase in our in our chapter

[1:59:00] 70. Um, and as a town that is

[1:59:06] uh disproportionately reliant on

[1:59:08] residential uh property taxes, 88% of

[1:59:11] our property tax bases is residential.

[1:59:13] Um, this, you know, is a undue burden on our residents to continue to sort of

[1:59:19] get that out. In fairness to uh Reparina

[1:59:22] D. A and Senate President Spila uh the

[1:59:24] governor's budgets the last few figures

[1:59:26] have been low and and they have been

[1:59:28] able to get uh our chapter 7 funding

[1:59:31] higher in the final numbers. So, um,

[1:59:33] they have been, uh, very supportive of

[1:59:35] us and so this is more just a a letter

[1:59:37] to to let them know that we yet again

[1:59:39] need their help.

[1:59:41] >> And this is going to all to Spoka and to

[1:59:45] >> both this is just uh the the version for

[1:59:49] uh, Representative D. Rosa, but it would

[1:59:51] be the exact same

[1:59:52] >> letter

[1:59:53] >> to the Senate President.

[1:59:58] » Any comments on the letter?

[2:00:01] Okay. Entertain a motion to approve

[2:00:05] this letter and we'll send it to

[2:00:09] represent Arena D. Roza and Bela as

[2:00:12] well.

[2:00:13] >> So second all

[2:00:15] >> in favor

[2:00:18] that passes and let's see

[2:00:24] I think we've reached the end of our

[2:00:29] open session.

[2:00:31] I just have to read all the executives.

[2:00:33] Do

[2:00:33] >> I have to read them all? Oh goodness.

[2:00:35] Okay.

[2:00:36] >> I think they're Can you read them once

[2:00:38] and say

[2:00:38] >> they're all the same purpose? So I think

[2:00:40] you can just say purpose and then all

[2:00:42] the

[2:00:42] >> Yes.

[2:00:43] Um at this point,

[2:00:47] do I have to do the adjournment of open

[2:00:49] session for um we will not return

[2:00:53] >> from which we will not return to go into

[2:00:55] executive session to discuss strategy

[2:00:57] with respect to collective bargaining or

[2:00:59] litigation if an open meeting may have a

[2:01:02] detrimental effect on the bargaining or

[2:01:04] litigating position of the public body.

[2:01:06] And the chair so declares and we are

[2:01:09] going to be talking about the nurses,

[2:01:10] the secretaries, the assistant

[2:01:12] superintendent of curriculum and

[2:01:14] instruction, assistant superintendent of

[2:01:17] student services, and then

[2:01:20] >> possibly the superintendent um incoming.

[2:01:23] So

[2:01:26] move

[2:01:27] >> second.

[2:01:27] >> And we'll do a roll call vote. Joe,

[2:01:29] >> yes.

[2:01:30] >> Frank,

[2:01:30] >> yes.

[2:01:31] >> Hillary,

[2:01:32] >> yes.

[2:01:32] >> Tracy,

[2:01:33] >> yes.

[2:01:33] >> Dan,

[2:01:34] >> yes. Dylan.

[2:01:35] >> Yes.

[2:01:36] >> And I'm a yes.

[2:01:38] So thank you very much Hollist and good

Holliston School Committee Meeting - 2/12/2026

Transcript