[9:52] ready. I'm going to open up the regular meeting of the Nisha Regional School

[9:56] Committee at 6:30 p.m. tonight on June 10th, 2026. This is our organizational

[10:02] meeting. It's actually the first meeting of the next session. Um and we will be

[10:06] introducing new members shortly. But before we do that, uh please join me for

[10:10] the pledge of allegiance

[10:15] to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it

[10:20] stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice

[10:25] for all. Probably the second time for most people

[10:29] today. Okay. So,

[10:35] uh, moving on. Uh, we are going to our agenda. Basically, the way that it's

[10:39] going to work is that we need to do our reorganization first.

[10:43] There's no telling how this will, um, how long this will take, but we'll do

[10:46] our best to move swiftly. So, just because we have new members, um, what I

[10:51] would like to do first is just give them a moment to introduce themselves. We

[10:55] have three to four new members actually. Um, and so we'll start over here. just

[11:00] introduce ourselves yourself, tell us where you're from and and anything else

[11:03] that comes to your mind, but don't feel free, you know, feel compelled to go on

[11:07] and on. >> Okay, perfect. Hi, I'm Lexi Fton. Um I'm

[11:11] from Lancaster. I have kids that are five and eight [clears throat] um in uh

[11:16] Mary Rollinsson and I'm excited to be here.

[11:21] » Uh

[11:24] okay. Hi, I'm Lenny Goldner. I'm from Stow. Um, I've lived in Stow for more

[11:30] years than I can even remember. I've been on other town boards, but this is

[11:34] my first foray into the school committee.

[11:37] » Welcome. >> Hi everyone. I'm Joel McCarthy. I have

[11:41] uh two kids, a first grader and a fourth grader here at Florence Sawyer.

[11:45] » And we do have a new student representative who we're going to talk

[11:48] with a little bit later, but just a quick introduction.

[11:50] » Hi everyone. Um, I'm Libby. I am from Bolton and I'm going to be your new

[11:54] junior representative. Uh, yeah.

[11:59] Okay. So, just so that everybody knows who's here in the room, we do have new

[12:03] members. Um, so what we're going to do next is we're going to use this fancy

[12:07] tool that Alita has hopefully given all of

[12:11] the voting members. So, um, the first, uh, position that we

[12:15] are going to nominate and elect is the chairperson. The regional agreement does

[12:21] call for the previous chair to run this operation at first. That's why I'm

[12:26] talking. Um, the next position that we will vote on is the vice chair and then

[12:32] we will vote on the secretary. And the job of the secretary, just so everybody

[12:35] knows, is to basically manage our executive session minutes. Um,

[12:40] historically, we have tried to have the leadership of the school committee

[12:45] represent the three towns. This is probably good practice, but it

[12:50] is not necessarily mandatory. It is not in our bylaws. because it's not required

[12:54] by law. It is just a practice that we tried to abide by. We thought it was

[12:58] good practice. It's not mandatory. Just want to put that up there. So, when we

[13:04] vote, we are going to vote by secret ballot just to avoid any kind of um

[13:09] uh I don't know convincing your neighbor to vote a certain way. So, we vote by

[13:14] secret ballot. But it is very important that you put your name on the ballot.

[13:19] Everybody understand what I mean? Because after we are done voting, we

[13:24] will send the votes to Alita. Is that okay, Alita? Um, we're going to send the

[13:29] votes to Alita. Alita will announce who uh won, but she also has to announce who

[13:35] we all voted for.

[13:39] So, uh, the way that this works is we can take nominations

[13:44] and we will take the nomination of as many people as need be. So it doesn't

[13:49] have to go one at a time. And so um nominations for chair are now open.

[13:56] » So I I'll nominate Leah Vivarito to be chair first again.

[14:00] » I accept. Thank you. >> Do you need a second?

[14:03] » You do not. Thank you. >> Uh any other nominations?

[14:09] Feel awkward asking.

[14:14] » Okay. Well, going once, going twice. So, at this point, you guys can vote.

[14:21] Make sure you write your name and the person you're voting for.

[14:35] » And then you can pack them to your right or left depending on where it is for

[14:40] you.

[14:48] Yeah.

[14:53] [clears throat]

[15:08] » Yeah. >> So, yeah, take you can take your time.

[15:16] voted for Leah. Leah voted for Leah.

[15:22] Joel voted for Leah. Lenny voted for Leah.

[15:29] Lindsay voted for Leah.

[15:34] Scott voted for Leah. Jillian voted for Leah. Shant voted for Leah.

[15:41] Lexi voted for Leah. Sharon voted for Leah. to count.

[15:45] » All right. Thanks, guys. I will continue to work for you and for everyone. Best I

[15:50] can. So, uh, next we will open up nominations

[15:55] for vice chair. Matt.

[16:00] » No. So, Matt would then have to accept. >> Um,

[16:05] » you don't have to. >> Uh, no. I'm okay. Thank you, Mr.

[16:14] Appreciate Lindsay. [laughter]

[16:18] » So, I'd like to nominate Jillian Shuda for vice chair.

[16:22] » I would accept. >> Okay. Any other nominations?

[16:27] » Nominate Scott Powell. >> I was also going to nominate Scott

[16:30] Powell. [laughter] I was very flattered that Scott Powell was going to nominate

[16:33] me. >> That was very like it's truly an honor

[16:37] to be nominated. So, thank you. >> I'm open to it.

[16:40] » Yes. Okay. Any other nominations? >> Uh, may I may I now present my

[16:46] acceptance if you wish? >> Only because I really feel like I feel

[16:49] like Scott I think Scott. All right. Maybe next year though.

[16:55] » Any other nominations? All right. So, super ballot. I know it's

[17:01] ridiculous, but go right now.

[17:10] And

[17:17] then pass on down when you're ready.

[17:30] Thank you.

[17:42] Lenny voted for Scott.

[17:49] Scott voted for Scott. Jillian voted for Scott.

[17:55] Leah voted for Scott. Lindsay Scott.

[18:03] Matt for Scott.

[18:07] Sharon for Scott. Shawn Dart for Scott. Lexi for Scott

[18:15] for Scott. All votes are counted. >> Wonderful. Congratulations. Thank you

[18:19] for taking up the mantle. Thank you. Appreciate it.

[18:24] » Um, okay. So, the last position is secretary and I'll open up nominations

[18:29] now. And I'm going to nominate Shondor to be

[18:33] secretary. Shandra, do you accept? >> Sure.

[18:36] » Thank you so much. Are there any other nominations?

[18:40] » Going once, twice. Okay, here we go. So, go ahead and place your votes.

[19:05] controversial. >> I do appreciate Alita giving us many

[19:09] ballots. Maybe

[19:11] » we would need those. >> They were run off. [laughter]

[19:14] » Exactly. There was one year. >> Oh, really? [laughter]

[19:28] Secretary Leah for

[19:33] Lenny for Shandor. Joel for Shandor.

[19:40] Lindsay for Shandor. Shandor. Sharon for Shandor.

[19:46] Lexi for Shandor. Jillian for Shandor. Shandor for Shandor.

[19:55] Scott for Shandor. And

[19:59] Matt for Shandor. all. >> All right, congratulations on uh the

[20:05] committee leadership is now in place for the next year. So the three of us will

[20:10] take the lead, but you guys are equal and very important powerful members. So

[20:16] um always remember that uh I think of myself as kind of the organizer and

[20:20] chief. That's just like my job is that I organize. So anytime you guys need

[20:24] anything, you know where to go. Um so moving the agenda now to the next item.

[20:29] As you guys can see, uh, it is public comment. I understand that we have some

[20:33] friends in the gallery. If the camera cannot see it, we have quite a few

[20:36] people, maybe 30 people. I'm not counting, but, um, it might feel like we

[20:42] have a lot of people to speak, but I think that we've narrowed it down to

[20:44] just a couple or maybe three. So, if you guys want to come up each of you at a

[20:49] time and feel free to take up your three minutes, um, explain to us whatever you

[20:53] want to know. And um I don't like to cut you off. So if you're at like 3:20, I

[20:59] won't. But if you're at like 6, I'll have you. Um so the other rule of our

[21:04] policy is that if you if you begin repeating information um for no

[21:10] particular reason, that's where we try to ask you to just move the agenda to

[21:13] the next person. Um but I'm sure you're very organized and well prepared. So

[21:17] I'll turn it over to you guys. Whoever wants to be first can feel free to step

[21:21] up, state your name and the town that you're from.

[21:23] » Okay. Hello. >> Hi. Hi.

[21:25] » Um, thank you all for having us. I am uh Ruth Merrick. I am from Lancaster. I

[21:32] live in Lancaster with my husband and our three children. Um, as of next year,

[21:37] my next year, I'll have one at Marie, one at Luther Burbank, and one at the

[21:42] high school. So, um, I am also the cook for Luther B [laughter] and Mary. Yeah,

[21:49] Mary and Luther. So, um, tonight there are a few points that, um, we just

[21:55] wanted to address and call your attention to, um, about the RFP and, um,

[22:01] the witness proposal. So, um, the cafeteria is currently running at a

[22:06] surplus. Um it um what they're trying to do is um we made $2.1 million in um the

[22:16] school district makes $2.1 million in revenue and we spent about $1.8 million.

[22:23] uh the profit that they're proposing of saving from the cafeteria is onetenth of

[22:30] 1% of the school budget of going full wetins if we all stay in the positions

[22:38] we're in. Um we

[22:44] currently the food service staff um majority of us are made up of community

[22:49] members. Um those that are not living directly in one of the three towns live

[22:54] in one of the surrounding towns who have served in our kitchens for 25 30 plus

[23:00] years. We are we love this community. We are part of

[23:06] this community. We are parents. We're retirees in town. We know your children.

[23:12] We know what they like, what they don't like. We work with community. We work

[23:17] with teachers. We work with staff for friends kids who need special

[23:23] accommodations or special things. Things that Witson's isn't going to know or

[23:27] isn't going to understand. You ask a Wson's employee when they are just a

[23:32] revolving door. What does the bird lady coming mean for the second graders mean?

[23:38] They know nothing of what that means for the kitchen staff that we have to shut

[23:41] the doors and be quiet and we try to be respectful of what's going on. They

[23:45] don't know that kind of stuff. They don't know what's happening when we say,

[23:49] "Oh, hey, reminder. There's the great birth festival going on. We need to

[23:54] accommodate less meals for less kids." So, those are some things that

[24:00] we are when you pluck out

[24:04] part of the community and you turn it over to a company. We're not a company.

[24:09] We're a school and we are part of the school community. And I thank all the

[24:14] support of the teachers, the unit A members, unit C members who

[24:19] have come to show that we're one community and that we are here all for

[24:25] the same purpose, to serve the kids we love, to feed the kids we love, and

[24:30] having this company come in that pays less for their employees. They pay their

[24:37] employees $15 an hour. We're already the lowest paid employees in the district,

[24:43] the kitchen staff. And so when you're looking at trying to save onetenth of 1%

[24:50] of the budget based off of the food service department and you're bringing

[24:55] in people who aren't going to know any of the things that we know in this

[25:00] community and they're not going to they care about the money, they care about

[25:05] the dollar. we care about the kids and about the community and the things that

[25:10] are going on. Um, so it's immoral to me that we're saving

[25:18] money at the expense of our future employees. Somebody asked me, "What does

[25:23] it mean if um like how does it look different if

[25:27] we're hybrid? You all get to keep your job, but the new employees don't get the

[25:32] benefits that we get. the new employees aren't going to be part of the union.

[25:37] That could become a revolving door. It could become like they're and also

[25:43] you're breaking the divide of the food service being part of the

[25:48] community of the staff like and we are no longer

[25:53] members and we get emails from parents that of special you know accommodations

[25:58] that their kids need. They mail Lori right now in our school. Other schools

[26:02] they email the managers. Well, Witson takes over. They that's broken. They

[26:07] email Witson. Anything needed gets emailed to them. And so, just when you

[26:13] consider this, I just wanted you to see a face and know that we're all here and

[26:19] we want to serve our community. So, thank you for your time.

[26:24] [applause]

[26:36] Um, good evening. My name is Tiana Nelson. I live in Lancaster and I have

[26:40] two kids in the district, one of Mr. Burbank and one MRE. I am also one of

[26:45] the food service employees at the high school and I've been following this

[26:48] discussion of privatizing our jobs with a lot of concern and honestly confusion.

[26:53] Um, I was told originally that the impetus for this move was to try to save

[26:56] money. Um, in the last meeting that I was here about, the superintendent said

[27:00] this was the putting out the RFP was due diligence to make sure that the district

[27:04] is saving money where we can. And I get it. I too have to budget. It's expensive

[27:09] to be around here these days. Since that time, as Ruth mentioned, um, I've heard

[27:14] that we are actually making money. We are not a drain on the school district.

[27:18] We are a um we're members of the community who

[27:23] care about our schools and our kids and want to make sure that they have fuel to

[27:26] get through their days. Um many of us are parents who have or have had

[27:31] children in the district. And we're not doing it for the money. We're doing it

[27:34] for our kids and our community. And we would like to continue to work for our

[27:38] kids and our community and not a for-profit company whose biggest concern

[27:41] is by nature the bottom line. Um that's not who I want in my kids cafeteria. Um,

[27:48] additionally going through with this plan is going to create an inequality

[27:51] indications. New employees, again, as Ruth mentioned, will have lower wages,

[27:54] worse benefits, and no rights or support to bargain for better. Um, starting

[27:59] wages at Witson's are the state minimum wage. We can do better in fast food

[28:02] right now, and our new colleagues deserve to be on the same footing as the

[28:06] rest of us. We should be raising everybody up, not creating a second

[28:09] class of employees who have to give up more to get even less.

[28:13] Um, finally, this does honestly feel retaliatory and anti- labor and honestly

[28:18] petty. Um, the RFP was issued after the NRA filed for arbitration on our behalf

[28:24] and the district is not living up to its responsibility to bargain. It's telling

[28:28] us that we're not bargaining even though we're going to the meetings and not

[28:32] getting information back. Um, we're at this asking for concessions from the

[28:36] lowest paid employees in order to scrape a few extra dollars into an already

[28:40] existing surplus. This is not who I want to be as a district. We can and should

[28:44] do better. Um, as a parent and community member and lunch lady, I am opposed to

[28:50] this very much. [applause]

[29:08] » Good evening, members of school committee. uh newly reelected

[29:12] chairperson Vivivero, Superintendent Downing. Um my name is Kevin Keveny. I

[29:18] am president of the NREA which is the collecting bargaining um unit A and C.

[29:24] I'm also resident of Bolton. Um two of my children have come through Sawyer

[29:29] Emerson and the high school and they are now paying taxes

[29:34] um and uh taking good care of themselves thanks to the education they got in this

[29:38] district. Um, as the final piece, um, the final comment, I I I just have some

[29:44] points to bring out about what we've been dealing with and going through. Um,

[29:48] you've heard from Ruth and Tiana about the situation, about them working in the

[29:52] district. I would like to address from a union perspective what we've been

[29:56] dealing with. Um, and the first sentence that came to my mind is I don't get it.

[30:03] What game is the district playing with food services? We sent a letter, the

[30:07] NREA sent a letter to demand a bargain over changes in working conditions to

[30:10] food services and extended day on December 1st, 2025. And the district

[30:15] lawyer um legal counsel, Mr. Mike Macaro, reached out to meet us to for a

[30:21] meeting on May 12th, 2026. That's 6 months after our initial um

[30:27] letter sent to the chair of the school committee. On February 9th, the extended

[30:32] staff are no longer to be going to be outsourced for an email from

[30:36] Superintendent Downey. The school committee was scheduled to

[30:39] vote on the outsourcing of food services on May 13th, 2026, but the vote was

[30:44] postponed by the superintendent to avoid the unfair labor practice charge

[30:47] deadline imposed by the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations um of May

[30:52] 14th. The reasoning was since the school committee had not voted to outsource

[30:56] food services at the time of the investigatory meeting, the investigator

[31:00] decided that the OP hinged upon the vote of May 13th. On May 12th, our MTA

[31:06] representative Travis Bab was contacted by Mike Macaro to discuss the situation

[31:12] with food services. As a result, the school committee vote was postponed May

[31:16] 13th because we were now in discussions. With no vote by the school committee,

[31:21] the unfair labor practice complaint expired on May 14th.

[31:26] Tonight, the superintendent will introduce a measure to outsource food

[31:29] services, making it necessary for you, the school committee, to create an extra

[31:32] meeting to vote on this issue once the school year is over. This creates an

[31:36] extra demand on your time to vote and decide the fate of food services. Early

[31:41] this afternoon at 12:48 p.m. the district lawyer emailed um me and Travis

[31:46] and claimed that the NRA and the district were at impass. We responded to

[31:51] the district's initial proposal. They asked for concessions on June 2nd. Yet

[31:55] there have been no formal proposal. There was no there's been no formal

[31:59] proposal by the district except that the current UNCC food services staff can

[32:03] remain and through attrition will all become Witson's employees. Food service

[32:07] is one of five units within the entire UNCC contract. Pulling them out would

[32:12] take deep negotiations that would have ramifications on the secretaries,

[32:16] custodians, instructional assistants, and extended day providers. These are

[32:21] all games. It is clear that superintendent wants to outsource food

[32:24] services for what reason? To increase profits that are already up at 127,000.

[32:32] Food services consists of employees who live in our communities and contribute

[32:36] to all our school communities. They know the students and their dietary needs.

[32:40] Under Witson's, they would become at employees who would be placed anywhere

[32:43] in the district or even outside the district. Look around the room. Look at

[32:48] the people who come to support our food service employees. We are truly a

[32:52] community and we are colleagues committed to caring for our students. It

[32:55] doesn't add up that the motivation of the district is to squeeze a larger

[32:59] profit than $127,000. um to um out of by outsourcing food

[33:05] services. The RFP allows for Witson to replace our UNCC employees with their

[33:10] own employees who will not be part of our community. They will come in at

[33:13] their appointed start time, do their work at less pay, and punch out at the

[33:17] end of their shift. Is this the kind of school committee you want to support? So

[33:22] we and others strongly urge you to vote against the RFP with Witson's and the

[33:28] ultimate outsourcing of our food services staff. Thank you for your time

[33:32] tonight. [applause]

[33:44] Sorry. So, I just want to let you know that

[33:49] we're at 15 almost at 15 minutes, but I'm going to give you the floor, sir.

[33:54] So, just introduce yourself, but please keep it to 15 minutes if you don't mind.

[33:58] So, you can keep the not the meeting. >> Sure. Thank

[34:03] uh my name is Ross Wolski. I'm a parent from Lancaster. Uh, I came to the

[34:08] meeting tonight to speak about the food services contract. That's item six on

[34:12] your agenda tonight. I've been following the request for proposal process and I'm

[34:16] very concerned about how it was conducted. As you know, there's only a

[34:20] single proposal from a single vendor and it's from the same vendor that's been

[34:25] providing the limited cafeteria services for the past few years.

[34:29] When your board authorized issuing this RFP on November 5th, you were told that

[34:34] the RFP would be drafted, reviewed by the dees, and posted before the end of

[34:39] 2025. That did not happen. I contacted the DS dees and obtained their records.

[34:46] The dees was only starting its review in January and continued through March 5th.

[34:52] During the review, the dees raised a number of concerns about the drafts.

[34:58] They were concerned about the requirements that preferred vendors with

[35:01] existing contracts and about the length of time the district was allowing for

[35:05] vendors to develop proposals. Still, in the finalized RFP, the district allowed

[35:11] only one month for vendors to respond to the RFP, which is the minimum allowed by

[35:16] the TESSE. Though it took more than five months for the district to prepare and

[35:21] release the RFP, vendors were allowed only a single month to become aware of

[35:27] the RFP, to review the RFP, to ask questions, and to make a proposal for

[35:32] managing the cafeterias in four buildings across three towns for 5

[35:37] years. The RFP was released on Combi's website

[35:41] on a Friday night at 700 p.m. Hopefully, vendors found it very quickly because

[35:46] any vendor who wanted to respond was required to attend a mandatory

[35:50] conference at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. There was no reason for the mandatory

[35:54] conference to be three business days after the RFP was posted. And this isn't

[35:59] typical. When the district posted an RFP for the before and after school

[36:03] programming in January, they allowed two weeks between the posting and the

[36:07] meeting instead of three business days. If vendors had any questions again about

[36:13] operating four cafeterias across three towns for 5 years, vendors had just 5

[36:18] days to ask them and then just two more weeks to finalize and submit the

[36:23] proposals. This extremely condensed timeline favored just one vendor,

[36:27] Witson's, who as you know was already providing services to Nishoba. They were

[36:32] certainly aware that the RFP was coming that they had access to data on the

[36:37] district that no other applicant did and they had the inside track to preparing a

[36:42] proposal. As you know, Witson's was the only vendor who responded. They surely

[36:47] were quite certain that their proposal would be the only one in front of you.

[36:52] No other vendor had time to drop the proposal and anyone who cared to try

[36:56] knew that Whitson's had the inside track. I'm going to assume that you're

[37:00] going to closely review the track record of this vendor and you'll hear some

[37:05] things that will be concerning. Just two years ago, the Boston Public Schools

[37:09] chose not to renew their contract with Witson. Their concerns are about food

[37:14] quality and freshness. Just last year, Burlington Public

[37:18] Schools ended its contract with Witson. They chose to terminate their contract

[37:22] after just two years and go back to in-house cafeteria services

[37:27] this spring in Melver, New York, because if you haven't been told, Witson's is

[37:31] not headquartered in Massachusetts. They're headquartered 200 miles away in

[37:35] Hot Rod, New York. In Melbour, New York, they met with parents to to discuss a

[37:40] survey regarding food concerns. According to their local paper, the

[37:44] surveys results included complaints about spoiled milk, inconsistent food

[37:48] tastes and quality in the different buildings, as well as a lack of vegan

[37:52] options and a desire for friendlier food service. Remember, this is going to be a

[37:57] 5-year contract for the only cafeteria option our children will have 180 days a

[38:02] year. Finally, you'll surely be told about an

[38:06] incident at Long Meadow High School. The head coach hired by Woodsons was charged

[38:10] with sexual mis misconduct on the job in the school's cafeteria. When asked about

[38:16] the incident by a local paper, the administr administration pointed out

[38:20] that it's Witson's job to handle that employee.

[38:24] It took 5 months to draft an RFP. Vendors were allowed just 30 days to

[38:29] respond. And you may tonight just be given seven days even to make a

[38:32] decision. We'll all be stuck with that decision for 5 years. As you consider

[38:37] this new contract, you're simultaneously reviewing a settlement between the

[38:41] district and its food services and extended day staff regarding unpaid

[38:45] overtime. Do you think that the workers as individual Witson's employees would

[38:51] have successfully litigated that settlement or do you think they'd be out

[38:54] of luck? Members of the school committee, please ask yourself. Are you

[38:59] making a decision on a food services provider because it's best for the

[39:02] staff? Because looking behind me, I don't think they're here to be fans to

[39:06] me. I don't get the impression that they're here to tell you that. Are you

[39:11] considering this contract because you think the individual towns asked the

[39:14] district to consider this? That is what you were told on November 5th. It was

[39:19] suggested that this came out of conversations with the towns.

[39:22] » So, I'm going to call time. >> I have literally three three paragraphs

[39:26] left. Can I >> You're at six.

[39:28] » All right. >> We understand though. We appreciate you.

[39:31] We appreciate your POINT OF VIEW. >> [applause]

[39:42] [applause] >> EMAIL OR COMMENTS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO

[39:46] DO THAT if you'd like to enter them into the record. That's another way for us to

[39:49] hear everything that you had to say. Um, but we appreciate everything that was

[39:52] brought to the table and we understand. Um, I do want to let you guys know that

[39:57] from an agenda perspective, we are going to move to the student representative

[40:01] report. Then we have to move into executive session for other matters and

[40:06] then we're going to come back and hear the presentation about the food services

[40:10] contract. You are definitely welcome to come back into the room at that point in

[40:15] time, but during executive session, everybody just has to leave. So, I just

[40:18] I wanted to give you a little process update. Okay. Um, we expect that

[40:22] executive sessions could wrap up around 8:00 PM at the latest.

[40:28] Okay, so thank you for that everyone. Um,

[40:32] till later. Uh, and interesting news over here. We have our student

[40:36] representatives and Maria, I'm going to let you give us your report if you have

[40:40] anything to share other than introducing your new partner.

[40:43] » Everything to share about what just happened

[40:46] » or just like >> you can give your you can give your

[40:49] reporting. >> I don't know. I don't know if you want

[40:50] to map into this.

[40:55] » Um, so >> your report is your report.

[40:58] [clears throat] >> Hi everyone.

[40:59] » So unfortunately unfortunately or fortunately for some of us school is

[41:04] almost over and I don't have much to share besides finals is coming next week

[41:12] starts on Friday and it's Thursday next week. So good luck to everyone. We're

[41:16] all tired. We all um so obviously just introduce herself.

[41:22] Olivia gonna be the upcoming junior representative and do you have anything

[41:26] to say or I'm just really excited for summer?

[41:33] » We have a lot of teachers in the room so they agree.

[41:38] [laughter]

[41:42] » I haven't started your essay so [laughter]

[41:48] So, um, just so that you guys know, at this point, we normally open it to the

[41:52] floor for the school committee to ask the school the student representatives

[41:57] about anything kind of within our purview, anything that you would want

[42:00] more elaboration on. And I'm going to start to set a good example or hopefully

[42:05] uh you said you're entering finals. >> Yes. We I believe implemented a new

[42:10] system that happened during midterms and now you're seeing [clears throat]

[42:14] through finals I think. Have you started yet?

[42:16] » Uh no, it starts on Friday. >> Friday.

[42:19] » Um how are you feeling about the new schedule change on that? I personally do

[42:24] not like it and I don't I've we've talked about this with the

[42:29] superintendent and within our student advisory group and I just I mean

[42:37] » can you difference Maria? Oh yes, of course. So, normally our old schedule,

[42:43] old schedule, we would have the morning off and we would start around, actually,

[42:48] I don't know what time we started. Start >> 9:40.

[42:50] » 94. >> 9:40. Thank you, Miss Hara. Um 9:40 and

[42:54] then we would have a period of our exam and then after a period of just review.

[43:01] And now we starting in the morning at 7:40 and we end at 11:00. So, we're

[43:05] having an early release. And in my personal opinion, I just think there's

[43:09] more um cons and pros of the new schedule. I would understand why some

[43:15] people would like it. I just I just can't I I just think um me and Olivia

[43:20] are actually talking about this. Um a lot of kids do study until late night

[43:26] and then waking up early and having to go straight to an exam is it's just not

[43:31] the best. And also I personally study better in the morning. So going into

[43:37] school early and having that time to study, like it just helped me so much.

[43:42] And you can't do that now. I can't go in early and study. Nor can people sleep in

[43:48] till later. So, you know, there's Do you do you have anything to

[43:53] » Yeah. Um I also I really appreciated last year coming in as a freshman. Um I

[43:57] remember I went to see Dr. Tollson the morning before my physics exam because I

[44:02] was very confused on our velocity unit. And so it gave a really good opportunity

[44:06] because the school library would be open in the morning like in the morning. So

[44:10] if I needed assistance for any like from any of my teachers, they would be there

[44:14] and they would be available for the help. So I could feel my like my best

[44:17] and most confident in that moment. Um, I also don't I don't want to draw any

[44:20] conclusions, but I do also know that a lot of students will draw more towards

[44:25] energy drinks and more artificial caffeine um as a stimulus for themselves

[44:30] during exams. Um, cuz I know like me personally, I agree. I'm 100% a late

[44:34] night studier. I like that's when I'm most active. And if I have to wake up

[44:38] early to go and study before like a quick review period and then go to my

[44:42] exams, I'm going to get a lot more like groggy and just not fully awake enough

[44:47] to take a a very important exam. Um, so I know I personally have asked my dad to

[44:52] provide me with energy drinks to get through these days. Um, and I know how

[44:56] awful they are for everybody. And I I feel like having a later schedule might

[45:01] provide the students a with better confidence in their abilities as well as

[45:05] access to a healthier body during their exams.

[45:09] » I appreciate that answer. I would tell everybody or just remind everybody that

[45:13] this not something that the school committee is in charge of. It's like an

[45:15] operational matter, but um we do interface with the school uh student

[45:19] council. So maybe this is something that you guys can put on your agenda for

[45:24] September to talk with the student body and see if there and Dr. Buon obviously

[45:29] to see if there are ways to improve the deficits that you see.

[45:34] » Do you guys have any other questions for them?

[45:37] » Madam Chair, >> yeah,

[45:38] » Maria, I believe we're already doing that

[45:41] » from our advisory meeting last time. We talked about that. Going to bring it to

[45:45] the student council first meeting. >> Excellent.

[45:49] » Yay. Um, anything else that you guys want to

[45:52] talk about or ask or wonder [clears throat] for next year?

[45:58] All right. So, remember that they're a resource for you all? They are here

[46:02] pretty um consistently which we really appreciate and they do normally provide

[46:07] um a pretty comprehensive report as it going on at the high school and the

[46:11] district and we appreciate that. So, if there are no other questions for the

[46:16] students, when we move to executive session, you guys will step out

[46:19] [clears throat] and you do not need to come back unless you really want to.

[46:23] That is an allowance [laughter] to

[46:27] love having you here at the full meeting, but they go along. So, it's

[46:30] always up to you if you can stay or if you just need to go. That's great.

[46:35] All right, everybody. Um, so I am actually going to move us into executive

[46:40] session and Alicia sent me the motion and I just want to get it absolutely

[46:45] right. So bear with me.

[46:53] » Um, all right guys. So, next agenda item requires that I move us into executive

[46:58] session at 7:07 p.m. pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 30A section 21A3 to

[47:05] discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if

[47:08] an open meeting may have a detrimental effect in the bargaining or litigating

[47:11] position of the public body of the chair players which I do. This will be for

[47:16] both unit A and unit C. collective bargaining uh executive session will

[47:21] include the school committee, superintendent Downing, assistant

[47:24] superintendent Ross Malcurren, assistant superintendent friend, director of

[47:27] student services, director of human services Jessica Murdoch, and district

[47:32] legal counsel Mike Mccurro. This meeting uh or executive session will return to

[47:37] open session at the conclusion of that. Do I have a second?

[47:42] » Hi, Matt. Got it. Um any discussion on the motion?

[47:47] All those in favor, you can just raise your hand.

[47:49] » Oh,

[47:52] helping the veteran here figure it out. Joel,

[47:55] » yes. >> Matt,

[47:56] » yes. >> Lenny,

[47:57] » yes. >> Lindsay,

[47:58] » yes. >> Scott,

[47:59] » yes. >> Myself, yes. Sharon, yes. Shandra,

[48:02] » yes. >> Jillian, yes. And yes.

[48:05] » All right, we are in executive session.

[2:14:18] All right, we ready to practice.

[2:14:31] [laughter] >> We're going to rock and roll any. All

[2:14:34] right, here we go, guys. So, welcome back everybody. We are going

[2:14:38] to move the agenda now. Obviously about an hour behind schedule. Sorry for that.

[2:14:44] Um we have our finance and operations report.

[2:14:47] And what we're going to be looking at next is the food services management

[2:14:51] contract and rock has a presentation for us.

[2:14:56] » I just did

[2:15:03] that. All

[2:15:13] right. So, Ros, your presentation is being pulled up.

[2:15:16] » Yep. >> And I'll just let you

[2:15:18] » Sure. Are we all set with Nikki?

[2:15:22] » Yeah. >> Okay.

[2:15:25] » Um, so, Billy, last fall we shared our intent to issue a request for proposals

[2:15:30] for food services. Our primary goal is to explore potential costs of new town

[2:15:35] assessments. At that time, committee members raised important questions about

[2:15:40] the impact on our staff and the wellbeing. So now we're here to review

[2:15:43] the RFP results and discuss how potential uh contracts affect our

[2:15:48] current employees, our budget, and our towns. They help uh guide us, our legal

[2:15:52] counsel, Mike Macaro. Attorney Mike Maro is here with us tonight and has been

[2:15:57] involved with us throughout this entire process. Uh we appreciate your guidance

[2:16:01] attorney Marorrow as you're with us. So I will turn it over to assistant

[2:16:06] assistant superintendent Karen to share an update with you at this time.

[2:16:10] » Thank you and thank you to the school committee uh for your time. Uh so within

[2:16:14] this presentation we'll be providing important

[2:16:18] need to know I am not >> Did you turn it on

[2:16:24] the side? >> What would we do without it?

[2:16:31] So with the assistance however so thank

[2:16:35] you. Uh so within the presentation we'll be going through uh the important need

[2:16:39] to knows for the school committee about the status of the RFP um and the

[2:16:43] potential uh benefit to the district uh based on the response.

[2:16:50] So just as a uh review of the process. So our process began with notice to the

[2:16:54] district community about the RFP. So in December uh through February, we used

[2:17:00] the state's mandated template to build our RFP which was posted at the

[2:17:04] beginning of March uh right after we received approval from DESIE. There's

[2:17:08] back and forth on evaluative criteria um and other things that we were adding

[2:17:13] into the RFP in addition to the template that is pro that is mandated uh by the

[2:17:18] state. So after that we did have our pre-proposal conference. I'll talk about

[2:17:22] that a little bit more in the site tours. Um and then proposals were due in

[2:17:27] April and they were evaluated. So um currently and last month uh there's

[2:17:32] ongoing NREA bargaining meetings with our legal council and then currently

[2:17:37] we're here in June uh for an update. So

[2:17:42] uh we had four potential uh submitters attend the pre-proposal conference in

[2:17:48] tours. uh one food service company submitted a proposal that was Woodson's

[2:17:54] um so the non-pric proposal so it's just as a review for the committee at the RFP

[2:17:59] you're going to get a non-pric proposal on qualitative and then you're going to

[2:18:03] get a price proposal and uh the way that the uh desi template and process works

[2:18:10] um is if you have more than one rated as highly advantageous across the board uh

[2:18:15] you then have to look at the price proposal

[2:18:20] So price proposal is stated as a fiscal guaranteed return and the guaranteed

[2:18:25] return is essentially what the expected revenues are less the expenses that are

[2:18:30] based within the RFP and data and information available uh to the

[2:18:35] submitter. The guaranteed return is for life of contract which is a three-year

[2:18:39] contract. You have to go out every 3 years. Uh you can't extend beyond that

[2:18:44] uh with the state.

[2:18:48] Superintendent D. >> So when we talk about what the impact is

[2:18:52] on the employees based on the terms of the contract,

[2:18:56] um employees have the choice to remain employees of the show regional school

[2:19:00] district. So no employees will be at risk for losing their current services

[2:19:05] positions with the NOA Regional School District. Um those employees do have uh

[2:19:12] the choice to work for Witson's and the programs for which are outlined in the

[2:19:16] RFP. um and Witson's will have the right and

[2:19:20] the responsibility for the new hires uh due to attrition as part of the RFP

[2:19:25] contract.

[2:19:29] So going back to what the guaranteed return is. So a logical question at this

[2:19:34] point is what happens with that identified uh maximum return?

[2:19:39] uh those dollars have to stay within food services and our investigation of

[2:19:44] how other districts mostly regional school districts use these funds.

[2:19:48] They've shared some methodologies uh for charging utilities or the hours a

[2:19:52] custodial position assigned to the cafeteria um as examples. So we provided

[2:19:58] some of those examples here um based on that 375

[2:20:03] maximum there's a potential of uh food service utilities and custodial staff.

[2:20:09] We would have to use those methodologies to be more specific. um as we open the

[2:20:13] books on FY27. Um but obviously that still allows for

[2:20:18] approximately 125,000 to be applied to equipment repairs, annual maintenance um

[2:20:24] to avoid that those costs end up in the operating budget.

[2:20:29] So again, as we said, brief update and we're ready for questions and

[2:20:34] clarifications that may come. >> Thanks, Ross. Ecker,

[2:20:39] » uh, what questions do we have about this proposal? Go ahead, Julian.

[2:20:46] » So, we as a [clears throat] school committee

[2:20:49] have not actually seen the contract, but that will be made available to us.

[2:20:53] » Yes. So, we will, right? So, as to not get ahead of ourselves, right? Um, so a

[2:20:58] draft contract would have to be generated on the DESIE website.

[2:21:01] » Okay. >> That will be provided to you all uh for

[2:21:04] review and then prior to questions or whatever the process may be

[2:21:10] based on the chair's agenda >> and then we could ask questions. Yes,

[2:21:13] » that would be I don't want to say yes. Uh Mr.

[2:21:17] » That would be up to the chair. Correct. >> Thank you.

[2:21:22] » Question. So the savings the $375,000 savings would that all have to stay

[2:21:28] within service? >> Right. So for example, uh Mr. Mr.

[2:21:33] Golder, we could not say use that to offset the cost of our bus contract.

[2:21:43] » Any other questions? >> I have just one more. Keep going. Feel

[2:21:47] free. >> Um, so the $375,000

[2:21:52] guaranteed return. Um, I feel like I've heard like maximums and minimums. So, is

[2:21:58] this this is a flat number guaranteed return or

[2:22:02] » correct? Okay. >> When we say return, that's right. So

[2:22:06] that's based off of expected revenues >> and the the the presentation of what our

[2:22:13] costs are within the district and their application of what they know about food

[2:22:17] services within schools, right? So they have to build their assumptions,

[2:22:20] » but they say guaranteed 375. Where we end up applying that over the costs that

[2:22:26] we identified in the RFP are up to us. It just has to stay within food

[2:22:29] services. >> Okay.

[2:22:33] I have I probably just one more question. Do not apologize.

[2:22:36] » So, we only received one bid, >> correct?

[2:22:41] » Is that typical? Do we know why the other

[2:22:46] companies who came to do the tours opted not to bid?

[2:22:49] » Um, I don't know cuz that wouldn't be something I would ask them. I wouldn't

[2:22:52] seek that information. I think there's some

[2:22:56] uh procurement gray area there to reach out to somebody and say, "Why didn't you

[2:23:01] Um, so I would say that I don't I I don't know why they they would not have.

[2:23:08] I mean, we're >> okay. My concern and the reason I ask is

[2:23:14] with a single bid, I just wonder how much insight we really get into

[2:23:20] sort of is that fair market rate? How advantageous is that really? You know,

[2:23:24] we don't have another vendor to compare it to. So, how are you assessing that?

[2:23:28] So I would say it's close to our previous guaranteed return. Now our

[2:23:32] previous guaranteed return was built off of sort of assumptions long ago as we

[2:23:38] were self off. So we also expanded our schedule. So our our part of that is our

[2:23:43] staff were were were paid more and taking on new processes. They were

[2:23:47] allowed to to use more time. So that's now changed. Um and that's built into

[2:23:53] the RFP now. So I think it's still a fair number.

[2:23:56] » Okay. Um, yeah, if I felt like it wasn't a fair number, I would say so.

[2:24:00] » Okay. I have other questions, but after I think a lot of them would be maybe

[2:24:04] answered having the contract. So, I pulled off, but I guess for now

[2:24:08] » because the contract has not yet been written it if and that would but that

[2:24:13] would be negotiated by you, Ross. >> So,

[2:24:18] the two there's a two-part, right? So I would take the information in the RFP

[2:24:25] response, put it into the Desi template system. It would generate a draft

[2:24:30] contract. You would see that contract. We would follow a similar process as

[2:24:34] last time if the the committee so chooses in which you would be

[2:24:38] authorizing the school uh the superintendent

[2:24:42] with legal counsel to enter into contract finalization.

[2:24:47] And can you talk just a minute about timelines at all?

[2:24:52] » So typically you would want the contract to be done by July 1 because that's the

[2:24:55] start date. Um that that's typically the start date. Y

[2:25:00] » okay. Um so I obviously can see the date on my

[2:25:06] computer right now. Um you know we have an obligation. We have a multi-tiered

[2:25:12] obligation here that the school committee is responsible for

[2:25:18] » to look at this from every angle. So that's ongoing um in various forms.

[2:25:24] » If we weren't to hit the July one deadline, is it like what does that

[2:25:29] mean? >> So I've already notified Jesse um school

[2:25:32] nutrition that we're not there yet. Um I didn't hear a response. I would do the

[2:25:38] same thing to say here's our next timeline. Let me know if this is an

[2:25:43] issue and I would certainly communicate it back to Superintendent Downey who

[2:25:46] would share it with you uh as the chair. >> But we're trying to move at a at a fair

[2:25:50] rate [snorts] nonetheless.

[2:25:55] » Any other questions? I know I do have one last question.

[2:26:01] If you know I think about um sort of busing for example as you know a vogue

[2:26:08] toward outsourcing this you know when I was growing up all that stuff was done

[2:26:12] you know in house and we can move it out. We've obviously seen transportation

[2:26:15] prices um really deeply impact our budget. It's hard to bring it back in

[2:26:20] house once you've taken it out. I wonder if you have

[2:26:25] an idea or a plan if this didn't go well, how do we exit if we've, you know,

[2:26:30] we have heard of other districts. I also did that research and saw that other

[2:26:33] districts have ultimately decided that it's not a good fit.

[2:26:38] » Um, >> so if there was ever a concern with any

[2:26:40] contract, I would reach out to legal counsel to discuss. Most legal count uh

[2:26:45] contract things you can work out within >> I guess

[2:26:49] » with the provider with the vendor but I'm talking about contracts that might

[2:26:53] be about for software licensing or you know other things. I I think in this

[2:26:58] case we'd reach directly out to >> I think my question is more

[2:27:01] philosophical in the sense if we can look at the three-year budget and say we

[2:27:05] get this guaranteed return that's wonderful. Is there a risk in the longer

[2:27:09] term fiscally if we you know cease getting guaranteed returns but we've

[2:27:13] lost the institutional knowledge to continue offering those services inhouse

[2:27:18] do you know what I mean and we've become sort of beholden to our vendor

[2:27:21] particularly if we only have you know a single big procurement we don't have

[2:27:26] other vendors who really want to come in it might be hard to say well you know uh

[2:27:31] Aramark wants to come in and take this with him so you better be doing a good

[2:27:39] Without speculating, >> I would say um that you know for the

[2:27:46] reasons identified and and spoken to by Superintendent Downing that we did not

[2:27:52] execute an optional year on the current one, right, in favor of producing

[2:27:56] something different. >> We would want that to go the full three

[2:27:59] years and then put that out. Maybe that was a factor in why there was only one.

[2:28:04] uh and we would see a different result. I think typically and I could maybe

[2:28:08] follow this question up at the next meeting uh by talking to other school

[2:28:12] districts. Typically on a three-year full cycle, you'll see more.

[2:28:16] » Oh, that's good. >> I promise that wasn't my last.

[2:28:22] » Oh. Um what I've heard you say, Ross, and I've heard you say it a couple of

[2:28:26] times, is that adopting this contract would not require

[2:28:31] any of our employees to leave.

[2:28:36] » Correct. So, Superintendent Downing covered that uh slide. So, yes. So, I'll

[2:28:41] put it back up. So, they're not at risk for losing their food service position.

[2:28:47] Obviously, uh they would stay NHOA employees

[2:28:50] uh under the unit C contract. the the RFP is stated and therefore the contract

[2:28:56] would be stated that new employees um would be hired by Witson's and work

[2:29:03] for Witson's. >> How um how usual is this? So I don't

[2:29:09] know if uh Miss Murdoch has the sort of return on or the the the total number

[2:29:15] but um we do have a significant amount of employees that have been with us for

[2:29:20] a while but we've also seen that on the low on the less experienced end we've

[2:29:24] seen more turnover. So I think about I don't want to quote exact numbers but

[2:29:31] I would say 30 to 40% of our people have been with us for five or six years or

[2:29:36] less. >> Yeah. And I think about a quarter have

[2:29:38] been with us for two years or less in food services.

[2:29:41] » And how many districts are moving in this direction in our area like our

[2:29:46] comparable districts? Is this kind of a methodology that many districts are

[2:29:50] using or >> so comparables is hard uh because size

[2:29:54] location budget. I will say regionally um around

[2:30:00] us Harvard, Berlin, Boilston and Northro, Southborangquin

[2:30:04] have all within the last 5 years moved to uh a contract specifically whether

[2:30:09] they've kept their employees or not uh or done an attrition model. I don't know

[2:30:14] the nature of their contracts, but >> those are available on

[2:30:19] » what's that? >> Those are available those contracts.

[2:30:22] » Yes. It' be easier just for me to ask though.

[2:30:24] » Yeah. Y >> okay. Um yeah, I mean I think that that

[2:30:28] anecdotal information might be useful. >> Y I I do know that GR and Dunville made

[2:30:33] this change the way we're proposing within the RFP

[2:30:37] six or seven years ago. Um maybe a little bit less and they do still have a

[2:30:42] handful of employees that still work for the school district.

[2:30:44] » Interesting. Y and and to follow up on Leia's question about you know the um

[2:30:50] status of the employees that are you know with the town would that in any way

[2:30:55] affect their salaries benefits union uh protection any of those things

[2:31:02] » if they stay with the region school district if they stay in the employees

[2:31:06] they're still under the unit city collective bargaining agreement

[2:31:09] » and any and any iterations of that moving forward y

[2:31:13] » until retirement or they decide to leave

[2:31:16] » or they're no longer Yeah. >> So there's no like expiration date at

[2:31:21] this moment in this contract that doesn't expire by virtue of this RFP.

[2:31:28] » No, because our No employees that are covered by the UNC collective bargaining

[2:31:31] agreement would stay covered by the Yes.

[2:31:37] » So this is an important um first look especially because some of us are brand

[2:31:41] new but um this was helpful. I'm sure you guys still have questions.

[2:31:48] If if something percolates, as always, send them to me. I'll compile them and

[2:31:54] bring them to Kirk so that he can get answers for you in the interim.

[2:31:58] [snorts] Um, but obviously, this is something that we're going to continue

[2:32:00] to discuss and and that the nature of this will require us to have additional

[2:32:05] meetings into the summer. Okay? So, I'll be communicating with you

[2:32:09] guys about that. Just want to ask attorney Maro if you

[2:32:13] wouldn't mind sharing sort of next steps.

[2:32:22] » Good evening. Yeah. Uh so next steps right now uh as you've heard um we have

[2:32:28] been meeting with the NREA uh members of the UNCC. Uh we've shared with them the

[2:32:34] information about the RFP uh what the response was. We've had a few meetings

[2:32:40] with them already. Um, as you heard from some of the members of public comment.

[2:32:44] Uh, there's communication uh today to try to schedule uh further meetings. So,

[2:32:49] uh, those are ongoing discussions. Uh, I imagine we'll be scheduling those. Um,

[2:32:54] and there's a group of us that have been meeting with them and we'll continue

[2:32:56] those negotiations. Um, as they proceed, we'll dictate, you know, where we come

[2:33:02] back and what we share with you. So, >> so how hard to pin it down and and

[2:33:06] that's appropriate. >> Yeah. I can't can't give you a time

[2:33:08] frame right now. I don't think we have a date scheduled yet, but uh we're talking

[2:33:11] with the union about uh another date.

[2:33:18] » All right. Thank you for your presentation. We appreciate it. It's

[2:33:22] good information for all of us. Um so guys, we're going to move the

[2:33:26] agenda now to just some housekeeping. Um we have the school committee kind of um

[2:33:32] calendars and subcommittee assignment surveys, stuff like that.

[2:33:37] Let me start with the meeting calendar first. So I think Alita has produced as

[2:33:41] she always does a draft of that for us. Um she asked me to look it over and I

[2:33:48] did. I think that there was just one change and that was in the month of

[2:33:51] November. Um

[2:33:55] so what that would do is again put a meeting

[2:33:59] um while you're at the conference the superintendent conference.

[2:34:03] » Yes. Yes. And there were the restrictions was around like Veterans

[2:34:07] Day was preventing it from any other way.

[2:34:10] » Yeah. And what I am

[2:34:14] in court is the mask conference is going to be in Devon I think this year.

[2:34:21] don't have to go to hyenas. So, [laughter]

[2:34:25] so um I have um I have been um selected to be on the NASS executive board next

[2:34:33] year and so we have executive board meetings. Yeah. So we have executive

[2:34:39] board meeting on that evening of the conference. It's always the annual

[2:34:45] executive board meeting is always that evening of but since it's in Devon who

[2:34:49] knows maybe there's a way to >> I think it's rejected it's in

[2:34:54] » Oh dang >> Danver was it still not as far as Hayana

[2:35:01] » sorry >> I was hoping for evidence I was

[2:35:03] » I'm more fixated on the on the fact that you were chosen to be on the executive

[2:35:06] committee. Well, Madam Chair, and and I have been uh as of this morning,

[2:35:12] selected president of the Worcester County Superintendent.

[2:35:15] » All right, Kirk. Congrats. >> We'll be doing some good work with

[2:35:18] Worcester County and engaging with our our state leaders through that network

[2:35:22] as well. >> Wonderful. So, hopefully that allows you

[2:35:24] to still attend our meeting. >> Yes. [laughter] Yes. But but that

[2:35:29] November uh meeting uh I may not be in attendance, but we have two amazing

[2:35:35] assistant superintendents that can certainly

[2:35:38] set my place for that one meeting. >> Um so guys, just glancing at this

[2:35:42] calendar. Um I did look it over. It looked good to me, but do you guys see

[2:35:46] any issues? So I just want to make sure the reason

[2:35:50] we're doing the we're swapping the virtual and live meeting in November is

[2:35:54] because of the >> um because we have two backtoback

[2:35:58] virtual meetings. Yes. >> Right. Normally we do the live one first

[2:36:01] and the virtual which is swapped in because

[2:36:06] » but I when I learn of my obligation to that one

[2:36:11] » we can inform you and you can shift it back at the beginning of the year as you

[2:36:16] see fit. So, the governor's order does still allow public bodies to meet

[2:36:20] virtually. While that is still allowed, this is the method that we're using. I

[2:36:25] think it probably works best for us busy people. Uh, but this is something that

[2:36:28] we could discuss at the workshop in August as well.

[2:36:32] » If I may point out for our new members, uh, after January 1st, it or meetings,

[2:36:38] we we pick up the rhythm a little bit. So, our workshop on the 13th, followed

[2:36:43] by the 27th, the 10th, and then the 24th.

[2:36:48] Then there's the public hearing for the budget on the 3rd, and then the next

[2:36:54] school committee meeting to vote the budget on the 10th. So, it's a condensed

[2:36:57] time. And so, I'm just forecasting that for you um on the calendar.

[2:37:04] » All right. So, this can always be changed, but we want to try to move it

[2:37:09] or do I am I at liberty to just establish it?

[2:37:14] » So, be it. >> All right. So, um, now we can move the

[2:37:20] agenda again to talk about subcommittee assignments. So,

[2:37:26] I'm going to send you guys all a survey by email. I'm the only one who has

[2:37:30] access to the spreadsheet. you can identify your top choices for

[2:37:35] subcommittees. I will also in that survey attach the subcommittee

[2:37:40] explanations so that you can try to use your skill

[2:37:44] set and your interest level to put yourself strategically on two of the

[2:37:50] subcommittees. That's kind of where we're at right now. So, we normally

[2:37:54] serve two functions outside of the regular meeting. Subcommittees meet once

[2:37:58] a month and so they're and they're all virtual. And so you would then it would

[2:38:02] then put you on a one week one meeting per week schedule.

[2:38:07] So that survey will come by email. Please be on the lookout for it. You

[2:38:10] want to fill it out because in August you'll be you'll be kind of alerted to

[2:38:13] what subcommittees you're on. All right. So that's up. And then the planning

[2:38:18] calendar. So Alita, do you have that?

[2:38:23] You could pull up. So we have this really fabulous tool that actually some

[2:38:26] of the subcommittees have adopted as well. Um and even um I feel like the

[2:38:32] student council we talked to them about adopting it as well. So this planning

[2:38:36] calendar is is very useful. It projects out what we have scheduled um across all

[2:38:42] of the meetings and then because there are some things that are statutoily

[2:38:47] required or just things that we normally do at a certain time already baked in

[2:38:52] because Alita just does this great copy. And then we have this parking lot on the

[2:38:56] left where we can kind of register the things that we don't want to forget

[2:38:59] about, but we're not totally sure where they should go. So Alita, if you scroll

[2:39:02] down a little bit, you can uh show the committee this document. And Alita, I

[2:39:07] think, has has this publicly shared. It's on the website on our school

[2:39:12] committee website because it's not just for us. It's also for the public. And we

[2:39:15] add to this Kirk and I do it our weekly Wednesday meetings. anytime you guys

[2:39:20] want something on the C on the on an agenda. Um, every single uh meeting

[2:39:28] always has an agenda item that says items for next agenda. So, you can bring

[2:39:33] it up at a meeting or if it just comes to you or you talk to a constituent and

[2:39:37] they have something that you that they want to add or have you talk about,

[2:39:40] reach out to me. And I normally just put it on the planning calendar either in

[2:39:44] the parking lot or I'll say, "Oh, that could totally fit in the April meeting

[2:39:47] because um if it's something that's outside of

[2:39:49] our purview, then we'll have that conversation so that you understand why

[2:39:53] it might not be appropriate." Um and that's basically the planning calendar.

[2:39:58] Any questions? >> I think uh this year planning calendar

[2:40:02] is linked on the website, not that one. >> Yeah, the next one is

[2:40:06] » we shall fix. >> No, yeah, I didn't put on until last.

[2:40:11] Yeah, >> you're the first to know.

[2:40:14] Alita will fix the link and then the new one will be up there. The old one's also

[2:40:17] useful. Do you want to bookmark? Um, we're almost done. Can I get another

[2:40:24] 8 minutes or so out of my committee here? Thumbs up. Everybody's okay with

[2:40:28] that? Okay, great. At 9:00, we have a norm that we'll just take. Some people

[2:40:31] actually vote to leave and do leave and that's fair. Um, but I like I love what

[2:40:36] you say. So, that is kind of school committee

[2:40:39] management. uh my email and my cell phone are always

[2:40:42] available to you. So just let me know over this next um few days if you have

[2:40:46] questions. Next item here is the consent agenda and I'm going to make a motion to

[2:40:53] approve. I'm going to move to approve the consent

[2:40:57] agenda of June 10th, 2026. Do I have a second?

[2:41:00] » Second. Any discussion on the consent agenda?

[2:41:06] All those in favor? Any opposed? Abstain.

[2:41:14] » Did you vote, Lenny? >> Yeah. Um, can I vote? Was I Was I?

[2:41:19] » Yeah, you can actually vote. Even though the consent agenda is addressing things

[2:41:23] from meetings prior to your joining, you can still vote. If you reviewed the

[2:41:28] materials and you feel confident, you can also abstain.

[2:41:31] » I'm not sure what's in the consent. >> No, that's okay.

[2:41:33] » So, maybe I should just let you play it safe and I

[2:41:37] » Fair. Okay. >> Yeah. So, the consent agenda materials,

[2:41:40] I think Alita will put them the the meeting minutes,

[2:41:44] the draft meeting minutes will always be in the materials, but some of the other

[2:41:48] things you might not be aware of, like the adopted rubric for classroom teacher

[2:41:52] evaluation that was at the previous meeting.

[2:41:55] So, we adopted a procedure to just tuck everything into the consent agenda

[2:41:59] that's not controversial that we can just do a blanket approval at the

[2:42:02] following meeting. Uh, anything, by the way, that you want

[2:42:06] to ever pull out of the consent agenda because you think it is the

[2:42:08] controversial item, all you have to do is ask for something to be removed,

[2:42:12] we'll pull it out and then we can approve the consent agenda without it

[2:42:15] and then we can have a separate vote on that more controversial thing.

[2:42:19] All right. So guys, I have no further update. We do have one small new

[2:42:24] business item which we're happy to bring to you and that is the audit advisory

[2:42:28] presentation. Um, and and is that a good

[2:42:32] characterization? Sure. [laughter] >> Very exciting.

[2:42:36] » This is by the way mandatory in the by the regional agreement that we have this

[2:42:39] committee this advisory that Scott Ket is in charge of. He has members from the

[2:42:43] public who join to help us and it basically is an oversight element to

[2:42:48] make sure that our auditing processes processes are up to date and being

[2:42:52] managed. >> Have specified obligations in the

[2:42:55] regional agreement that spells out what we're supposed to be doing. And um so on

[2:43:00] May 27th, the audit advisory meeting met for the fifth and final time in fiscal

[2:43:04] year 2026 where our um ad auditor Mr. Tony Rosselli, the head of Rosselli

[2:43:10] Clark, uh provided information to us about our audits and based on that

[2:43:15] meeting, I developed a statement which the other members of the committee have

[2:43:19] approved. The statement goes as such. The audit advisory committee has

[2:43:24] reviewed the required elements of the public financial health report including

[2:43:29] audit results, auditor performance, cost trends, and overall financial stability.

[2:43:36] We confirmed that recent audit findings were appropriate, recommend continuing

[2:43:41] with Roseli and Clark for the upcoming cycle, and endorse a $50,000 audit

[2:43:46] budget for fiscal year 27. Based on multi-year data, the district's

[2:43:50] financial health remains stable. >> Well done.

[2:43:55] » Thank you. Audit advisory committee and the chair

[2:43:58] » presentation of the year. >> Yes.

[2:44:01] » While [laughter] um are there any questions from the

[2:44:05] audit advisory uh audit advisory? >> Okay. So again, the audit advisory is

[2:44:11] another one of those subcommittees that if this is something you're fascinated

[2:44:14] about, one time we had an auditor who sat on the committee and that person was

[2:44:18] very well suited to it. Scott has picked up the mantle and is doing a fabulous

[2:44:22] job. Um, so if anybody else is looking to take it over, you could wrestle away

[2:44:27] from Scott, but just make him do it. [laughter]

[2:44:32] » He's doing a great job. Thanks, Scott. Um, so we have no unfinished business,

[2:44:36] so I'm going to move to adjourn. Do I have a second?

[2:44:38] » Second. All those in favor.

[2:44:41] » All right, guys. You made it your first meeting. Well done.

School Committee, June 10th, 2026

Transcript