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This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person — it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.
[0:00]
Of the proposed fiscal year 2019 budget. So the time is roughly, let's see, 504. And I think
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as all of you know that, here in attendance this evening, or that may be watching, our rules
[0:15]
require a public hearing of the school committee proposed budget before it's acted on by
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the school committee. So we're here tonight to hear from you. A lot of work has been done
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over the past several months and now it's an opportunity for the public to let us know what
[0:33]
they've seen or how they feel about where we're going.
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So we don't only ask similar to how we address public comment at the regular school committee
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meetings to state your name and address for the record, and we'll now open it up.
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Anybody wishing to address the school committee can do so now.
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And while we're waiting, I know the budget is online, both on the school committee site,
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It's also on the city of Maldon, Fiscal Year 2019 site as well.
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All right.
[1:13]
This is not how I anticipated it.
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No worries.
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Funny little John 127 and Road Street.
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I just had a few questions.
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I'm not questioning anything.
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I just was curious about some of the stuff that I was seeing.
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And I'm not trying to be nitpicky or anything.
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I just had some questions.
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For instance, on page 26,
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I see that there's a whole, there are a lot of blanks for supplies,
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the L.A. Supply Social Studies Science. I didn't know why. We're not getting anything
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for supplies or if it was a lot somewhere else.
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Well, typically, this is in a Q&A. It's more of an opportunity for you to comment on the budget.
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But then that would be my, there will be a question. I was just curious about that.
[2:09]
Well, the team, the team, the team.
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If there's no objection from the school committee, our team, our budget director Toni Marts and the superintendent said they'd be willing to answer questions tonight.
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So, why don't we take that one up first, okay?
[2:20]
Okay, so these directors had met with me and the assistant superintendent back in October and they requested that all these lines be condensed, so if you look further down, we condensed the supply line item, so you'll see curriculum for supplies for STEM, PD for STEM, and admin curriculum resources for STEM.
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So we condensed all the individual line items and then put them under
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humanity's or ELL I believe.
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So we rolled it up into one line rather than have them broken out and be
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so restricted by the line itself.
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Right, and that was at the request of the directors.
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Okay, I'm just just wondering about the BB, this is what I'm looking on page 27.
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the whole K-3 schools.
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I'm just noticing maybe it was just to have equity.
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I'm noticing we all have 30,000 now,
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except for far as still, for general in actually,
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just for educational supplies.
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I'm assuming the ed supplies mean educational supplies.
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And the texts, I'm thinking everything got condensed.
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Is that what that is?
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And I'm assuming far is still just because they're a small population.
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And as far as the elementary school support, I know that's to help, so you don't have to
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have a full-time, it's to help the classroom teachers, I know that, without having to have
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a full-time person, classroom teacher to hire, I was wondering why you have an additional
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I went from 16 to 17, but at the BB, it went down to 2, we went down to 2, and we are the second of the third.
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BB is the second of the third highest population.
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What page you want?
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I'm sorry.
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Well, I wrote my notes on page 18.
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Each K through eight school.
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It starts with BB because alphabetically,
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I was looking at the elementary.
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to be support staff, which is in every school has one.
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So BB went from three to two, very way went from three to four, far as still
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Lyndon stayed as three, Salem went from four to five.
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But when I did like the student population with the general, it's supposed to be in the general
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education classrooms, I noticed that BB was second highest, but yet we went down to two.
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I'm just wondering why this support there isn't going to be as much as the other schools.
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All right, see what the team has to say.
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So, originally we did put in three, but they're only utilizing two.
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So, if they're only going to utilize two, we put one at a school that's going to utilize that other position.
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I'm not just going to leave it empty all year.
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The BB only utilize two this year and therefore we only left two there and gave another school one that has requested an additional one.
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So if there was, is there a possibility the BB could get three if there were more people applying for that position?
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Well, so we will look at the budget if there are more people applying or if one doesn't get utilized that another school that had requested it, then I'll just get flip back to BB.
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Okay, so I'm just thinking about how the teachers could use that.
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You know, I just always assume that there weren't enough applicants.
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That's what I was assuming they weren't enough applicants for, but I know that it's that I know
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I'd be personally that teachers could always use the extra help, the extra support and I just
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noticed that all of them even far or still had three and they have a small school and BB has two.
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I just just curious about that.
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Like I said, I didn't think this was going to be the format.
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I didn't know where the librarian and health teachers, the librarian, there's one or two
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coming.
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Is there a second one coming?
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We'll be adding a K to eight health teacher and a K to eight librarian, they'll be floating
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throughout the district.
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We currently have one floating librarian for the five K to eights, now we'll add a second.
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We're on page, is it on page like, am I missing it on page 24, I see district wide staffing? Was that be it?
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Let me see where I put it.
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I didn't, I just didn't see where the library and then, like I was thinking, what are there one or two?
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Stand by, okay, one, check in it.
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In the meantime, if I could, I just want to, to our clerk, we didn't take the roll. We probably should do that at some point.
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And do you know, is that of the budget subcommittee or the whole committee?
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Okay.
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So, while they're looking at that up, let's make sure that we're officially gavled in here to conduct business.
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So, do we want to just call the roll shortly? Do you want to
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hear?
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Okay, so we do have a quorum sufficient to conduct business, want to make sure we got that on the record.
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Now, let's go back to our team and see how we're making out.
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We're trying to find we're easing on our spreadsheets in here.
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Just give us a second please.
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So the health teachers in the Salemwood showed up in the Salemwood.
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I just put up our spot in the Salemwood.
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The one.
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For one.
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Let's see if librarians in here make the health teaching.
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It says that I have...
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Right.
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Yeah, you would just have the raw number of staff on these, and ours we have the position, and the person, and what's associated with their, their.
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That's the general ed, the general teacher, is that what you're saying? Correct.
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So do you see that point? It's not in mind.
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But you see a line called staff. General ed, general teacher, yeah. So that's really-
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So there was one and they were, we're getting another one, right?
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Correct. One.
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So why don't we do this?
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Let's have her continue to look at that.
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Why don't we go to your next question.
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See if we can answer that.
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I was wondering about the, at the high school, the team chair,
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for Sped,
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is no longer there.
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Okay.
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Just wondering about that, because I was a child and
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who was going to be at the high school in a couple years,
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and I just didn't know why there was no team chair.
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Okay, let's give a chance to respond.
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Are you looking at the booklet here?
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Yeah, the high school on page 23.
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23, there is a team chair.
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No, it says the non-fuck that's coming from FY-19.
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So last year we had two part-timers working at.
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So this year they don't have any part-timers
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that are going to be doing it.
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And I think they're looking at that position to begin with.
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So there's no team chair at the high school for this bed.
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I don't think there's a team chair with this program.
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We have a program manager.
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And that's where I thought you were referencing.
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Right. So this 52,000 or two part-timers last year, both at a point five, not one full time person of 52.
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There were two part-timers that were retirees that had come back.
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So the program director, which is, I think I saw that on the, um, they're taking care of those kind of meetings in the heads.
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Correct. And they've used some part-timers for chair, some of the meetings that,
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the five program manages bed five.
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Are they designated for the high school?
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I know this program manages, like, I know, like,
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Heather Wittington goes around to the different, like,
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the high school has a high school.
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The high school does have one dedicated program manages.
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Somebody goes slowly to the high school.
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Yes.
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Ron Janowitz.
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Yeah, we actually have two because we were one.
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One is through the program itself.
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The pathways program in the high school.
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Ron Janos, then we have another program manager that's exclusive to the high school.
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So those two part timers,
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combining for one,
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they just helped out, is that what's going to happen
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to have as much help or, like, how does that work?
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They, this year, they actually didn't work as much as we thought that would work
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because we have the two full timers they are doing,
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the bulk of the work, so we didn't utilize them at all.
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I don't think this year.
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I feel like I'm questioning you guys.
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No, it's all good.
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Okay, so, um, do we find the librarian?
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All right.
[12:47]
So let's go back, um, this little John to the librarian.
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So it's not, it's not allocated to a specific school.
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Okay.
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It's under the general, um, teachers.
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And that's, we're having one, right?
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Correct.
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There'll be two total.
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Two total.
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We're adding one.
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but to complete. We'll have two next year.
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Two full-time traveling librarians current.
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I'm just curious about what, in a two-thaw, let me do this, on page 24.
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24, yep.
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What's an attendance supervisor,
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and communication,
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specialist, slash building monitor?
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Those are toward the end.
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Sure, yep.
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Because the second one I mentioned is new.
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I noticed that.
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Okay, let me, the first question was on,
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which tendon supervisor, we, that's in old times that was called the
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joint officer, we have John Pocino as the supervisor of attendance for the
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district, so what does he do?
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He does everything from residency checks to, you know, when we enroll new
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students, if there's a question whether the student still resides in
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They assist us with getting students to school that are stubborn, not coming to school, have chronic absenteeism, or chronic tardiness.
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He does home visits to the families.
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He also works with the courts, some of the students, because of their obstinance to coming to school or problems.
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He assisted district and filing CRAs, child requesting assistance, requiring assistance, rather.
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And the communications specialist, that was a position we would have created this school year for
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additional presence within the building at Maldon High School because of the general size and the number of doors.
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It's Mr. Fracker. He has been invaluable in monitoring the hallways keeping.
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Students moving. And he also is the author of those incredible newsletters that we send out.
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So Steve has been a real value added addition to modern high school and to the modern public schools
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in terms of his communications expertise. He's been a journalist for decades and has done a terrific
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job. But also his report with the students. He's been a coach in our athletic department.
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So he knows a number of the students,
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I felt more comfortable creating a position called
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building monitor and not security, because I think security has sort of a police-type
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connotation to it, and I believe when we created the position, we spent with Mr. Fracker,
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it was really about relationship building with students, and I think he's done a fantastic job.
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It's a tailor made role for his experience and his expertise and his passion.
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He's done a fabulous job at making sure and reporting when issues are needed.
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I think it has cut down on what would be sort of an annoying discipline that sometimes
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are staffed because they're in the classroom.
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Kids wanted to wander in the hallways.
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I mean I've spent 18 years in the high school and I find that I walk the hallways
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the high school quite frequently. I see very little loitering or problems there. I attribute
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a much of that to Mr. Frack is diligence.
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Yeah, and if I might, from where I sit, the new principal, principal, Mr. Angelow said,
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if he could have another two or three of those type of positions, he would feel really solid
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about the entire perimeter of the high school. It's just so big. They have convinced us
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that you need to have isonyas everywhere to make sure that our students are safe and protected.
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The communications is just a bonus of having someone like him there because it was the former
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editor of the Maldon even in news.
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So for years, we have been trying to figure out how do we get the word out about all the good
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things that are happening in our schools?
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He's doing that.
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We get the Nedlem news now emailed on a regular basis as well as the superintendent's
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letter, which encapsulates some of the things that we see, but the people outside don't.
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So I think that's going to pay dividends down the road.
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We found the health teacher is allocated on our spreadsheet, line item wise, through the
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linden, and the librarian is through the fairway.
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That's more of an internal tracking.
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I noticed that the PD would say it's on page 25, second item.
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That was the PD went down, but I think I saw another place is that it was just reallocated.
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Somewhere else.
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Like somewhere else.
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This was page 25.
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I just noticed that the PD went down.
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It's a second item.
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But then I thought I saw more PD somewhere else.
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So I'm just assuming it just shifted.
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Yeah, all the directors asked me to show the PD so we allocated some of it on the regular district PD and into the director's P.D. line I don't
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And the technical tuition high school went up like a hundred eight thousand is that that the
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Vogue that like so it's the Vogue as a success and but that many kids is that what it is that many students are into the
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nine kids have enrolled at a
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Saggy that they come off our cherry sheets so we have to budget for those right they've
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at least been accepted we will wait and see if they actually enroll and then they're just
[19:02]
the budget and is that just as a gay here is it the is that vote too as a minute man you know
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yeah and then we have one student that came bridge bridge and then we have I think that's a
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I just noticed it was a lot more, it was more than last year.
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That might be it.
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That's probably it.
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Okay, well we still have time to say anybody else want to address the school committee.
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Thank you.
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Absolutely.
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Thank you.
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Anybody else,
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are there any questions of the members?
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Because I think what we're going to do next is probably adjourn the public hearing
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and get ready for our formal meeting at six o'clock.
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Let's see what Ms. Beard's last to say.
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Hello, Mr. Chair. Thank you very much.
[20:17]
So, where's this notice in the Union President?
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It's the same President.
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And it's going from 57 up to 90.
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Just didn't know if that was.
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Super excited.
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She's great.
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She's great.
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She's great.
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She supports that.
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She's beautiful.
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Yeah, I support that.
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I don't know.
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So we budget for the full amount.
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But then we build back $40,000 a year to the union and they do send us a check for the $40,000.
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But in order for budget purposes, we do budget for the full amount.
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Do you have something you support you don't ask about?
[20:52]
All right, Ms. Fedafore.
[20:54]
Just a quick question on page 25 of our gas heat costs are actually going down, which is awesome, just curious.
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It's a space on last year's usage that we're projecting out for the coming year or longer.
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So the gas is gone down but the electric has gone up.
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I did notice that.
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So yes, we are using less.
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But electric has gone up.
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Just carry it.
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Perfect.
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Thank you.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
[21:28]
I think the other thing is about for that could be adjusted maybe even further.
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If we can get the city council to take a vote on that.
[21:35]
Honeywell proposal.
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We're hoping by June 30th we'll have an affirmative vote, which will then allow this
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company to come in and, as you know, convert all the lights to LEDs, et cetera, et cetera.
[21:47]
So we'll keep you posted on that.
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If you see your city councilor, if you can make a pitch, we would appreciate it.
[21:52]
Yeah, I've spoken to that too, and I've seen significant savings in my previous district
[21:56]
with the light sensors, the LEDs, I really think that we don't realize how much of a
[22:06]
schools are, especially ours, because they really go from six in the morning to 10 at night.
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And they're used a lot, the heat, the electricity, the lights are on most of the times.
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And if we can, you know, I know that when we, my previous district, we partnered with some, with Honeywell for the, the audit, we saw our significance decrease in our carbon footprint.
[22:29]
Yeah.
[22:30]
All right, anybody else before we entertain a motion to adjourn?
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So, Ms. Beethley has made a motion to adjourn. It's been seconded by Ms. Fattafore, all of them, favor say aye.
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Anybody opposed? The aye's have it. Public hearing is hereby adjourned.