1 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:04,433 - Good evening. 2 00:00:04,433 --> 00:00:07,700 Welcome to the Melrose School Committee meeting of Tuesday, 3 00:00:08,066 --> 00:00:10,000 April 7th, 2026. 4 00:00:11,300 --> 00:00:15,634 Ms. O'Connor, would you, this is being streamed on MMTV 5 00:00:16,533 --> 00:00:19,100 as as well as live on the actual reel. 6 00:00:19,033 --> 00:00:20,033 MMTV channel. 7 00:00:20,667 --> 00:00:22,734 Ms. O'Connor, would you please call the role? Yes. 8 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,500 - Ms. Driscoll? Here. Mr. Hartman? Here. Ms. Holleran? 9 00:00:26,734 --> 00:00:27,867 Here. Mr. Kelly? 10 00:00:28,066 --> 00:00:29,700 - Here. - Ms. Leo 11 00:00:30,300 --> 00:00:31,300 - Here. 12 00:00:32,100 --> 00:00:34,066 - Okay, so that is five present, one absent. 13 00:00:34,066 --> 00:00:39,100 So we do have a quorum, I believe Well, at least one member 14 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:40,100 of the school committee is running late, 15 00:00:40,100 --> 00:00:41,433 so I'm wondering if there might be a motion 16 00:00:41,433 --> 00:00:44,066 to move the executive session to another part 17 00:00:44,066 --> 00:00:45,133 of the agenda. Move 18 00:00:45,133 --> 00:00:50,100 - It to after the, - After the announcements of the chair. 19 00:00:50,333 --> 00:00:54,133 Okay. Mr. Hartman moves to, to put the executive session 20 00:00:54,133 --> 00:00:55,333 after the announcement of the chair. 21 00:00:55,333 --> 00:00:57,767 Is there a second? Second by Ms. Holleran. All in favor? 22 00:00:58,300 --> 00:00:59,900 And that passes unanimously. 23 00:01:00,266 --> 00:01:03,900 So we will come to the executive session at the end. 24 00:01:05,100 --> 00:01:09,000 Alright, so now we will move right along. 25 00:01:09,133 --> 00:01:10,634 Oh, we have to do the Pledge of Allegiance, I'm sorry. 26 00:01:15,634 --> 00:01:19,000 - Allegiance to the five of the United States of America. 27 00:01:19,533 --> 00:01:21,667 And two Rebell for which stands. 28 00:01:22,133 --> 00:01:26,300 One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice 29 00:01:26,634 --> 00:01:27,634 - For all. 30 00:01:30,934 --> 00:01:32,133 - Sorry about skipping ahead there. 31 00:01:32,900 --> 00:01:37,333 Okay, so we are now on to public comment. 32 00:01:37,900 --> 00:01:39,767 This is a portion of meeting where anybody can come address 33 00:01:39,767 --> 00:01:41,133 the committee for up to three minutes. 34 00:01:41,033 --> 00:01:43,367 If you'd like to comment, please sign in. 35 00:01:47,767 --> 00:01:52,300 - Thanks. - Alright. First up is Lisa Covino. 36 00:01:53,567 --> 00:01:55,634 You are welcome to address us for three minutes. 37 00:01:56,533 --> 00:01:58,934 - Thank - You. Hi, my name is Lisa Covino. 38 00:01:59,066 --> 00:02:01,867 I'm a mother to a third grader at Hoover 39 00:02:01,934 --> 00:02:04,066 and another one who will hopefully join him in 40 00:02:04,066 --> 00:02:05,133 kindergarten next year. 41 00:02:05,667 --> 00:02:07,033 And I wanted to just come 42 00:02:07,100 --> 00:02:08,467 and speak briefly about two points. 43 00:02:08,667 --> 00:02:11,066 The first is to ask you to please consider 44 00:02:11,266 --> 00:02:13,233 to retain the three 30 pickup. 45 00:02:14,033 --> 00:02:15,934 That has been a compromise in my family 46 00:02:16,100 --> 00:02:18,033 and just wanna acknowledge 47 00:02:18,033 --> 00:02:20,367 that not every family has the option 48 00:02:20,467 --> 00:02:22,500 of two 20 or five 30, right? 49 00:02:22,500 --> 00:02:25,467 That is like two very different ends of the spectrum 50 00:02:25,567 --> 00:02:27,000 that doesn't fit for 51 00:02:27,500 --> 00:02:29,333 so many different families, including my own. 52 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,500 That and coming out of private daycare, 53 00:02:34,033 --> 00:02:36,300 having the cost of one hour 54 00:02:36,867 --> 00:02:39,533 or even two hours for five days a week, 10 hours, 55 00:02:39,634 --> 00:02:42,634 that is the same cost that I'm paying for one child 56 00:02:42,934 --> 00:02:44,867 for 40 hours a week. 57 00:02:45,500 --> 00:02:49,333 So it's just really hard to have two kids 20 hours 58 00:02:50,133 --> 00:02:52,033 equal the same amount that I'm currently paying 59 00:02:52,033 --> 00:02:53,066 for private childcare. 60 00:02:53,934 --> 00:02:55,233 So just a perspective on it 61 00:02:55,233 --> 00:02:57,734 and I really appreciate everyone's thoughts there. 62 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,900 The second is I just want to really encourage the committee 63 00:03:01,100 --> 00:03:05,500 to work with the teachers in finding the contract that shows 64 00:03:05,533 --> 00:03:07,066 how much we value our teachers. 65 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,433 I cannot say enough amazing things about Hoover 66 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,066 and we did look into switching a couple of years ago 67 00:03:16,066 --> 00:03:18,500 and made the specific decision not to 68 00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:21,033 because the teachers are so excellent 69 00:03:21,033 --> 00:03:23,033 and I know Hoover isn't the only one, 70 00:03:23,033 --> 00:03:26,767 but they are the life force of our community. 71 00:03:27,367 --> 00:03:30,266 The reason why we've stayed in public schools here in 72 00:03:30,266 --> 00:03:32,100 Melrose and plan to continue. 73 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,266 So I just hope that we can acknowledge how amazing they are, 74 00:03:35,500 --> 00:03:36,567 how much they deserve, 75 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:38,867 and really work with them on the contract. 76 00:03:39,033 --> 00:03:41,266 So thank you so much. I appreciate everyone. 77 00:03:41,300 --> 00:03:42,367 I know you're all volunteers 78 00:03:42,467 --> 00:03:45,100 and I really appreciate all that you do to keep the school 79 00:03:45,700 --> 00:03:48,100 up and running and as amazing as it is. Thank you. 80 00:03:48,300 --> 00:03:50,533 - Thank you, Kate. 81 00:03:50,634 --> 00:03:53,467 Next up we have apologies if I, I 82 00:03:54,066 --> 00:03:55,300 don't pronounce it correctly, Mr. 83 00:03:56,100 --> 00:03:59,233 Ae. I get it. Yep. All right. Got it. Yeah. Okay. 84 00:03:59,233 --> 00:04:01,033 You're welcome to address the committee for up to three 85 00:04:01,033 --> 00:04:02,033 - Minutes. 86 00:04:02,033 --> 00:04:02,767 Beautiful. Thank you so much for your time. 87 00:04:03,166 --> 00:04:04,433 My name is Michael Aliber. 88 00:04:04,667 --> 00:04:05,700 I'm a public educator 89 00:04:06,066 --> 00:04:08,166 for over 15 years in a neighboring district 90 00:04:08,166 --> 00:04:09,667 and I've been living here in Melrose with my wife 91 00:04:10,033 --> 00:04:11,700 and two children for the past 12 years. 92 00:04:12,433 --> 00:04:14,867 And my daughter currently is a Winthrop kindergartner 93 00:04:15,300 --> 00:04:18,367 and we utilize the education station 3 3 30 94 00:04:18,367 --> 00:04:20,300 pickup three days a week. 95 00:04:20,767 --> 00:04:24,000 And we also relied on the early bird program at Winthrop 96 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,000 until it was canceled back in November, 97 00:04:26,033 --> 00:04:28,033 which has caused its own set of issues 98 00:04:28,033 --> 00:04:29,767 for us both working in education 99 00:04:29,767 --> 00:04:32,100 and getting to work on time ourselves. 100 00:04:32,900 --> 00:04:34,634 I wanted to speak tonight about equity access 101 00:04:34,634 --> 00:04:36,467 and the unintended consequences 102 00:04:36,634 --> 00:04:38,066 of eliminating the three 30 pickup. 103 00:04:39,133 --> 00:04:41,100 Eliminating the three 30 pickup 104 00:04:41,533 --> 00:04:44,166 we feel in our family will impact educators, 105 00:04:44,166 --> 00:04:48,266 healthcare workers, you know, day shift workers, families 106 00:04:48,266 --> 00:04:49,900 who don't need care until five 30 107 00:04:50,133 --> 00:04:53,133 and rely heavily on the cost effectiveness 108 00:04:53,133 --> 00:04:55,133 of the three 30 timeframe. 109 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,266 Many families in many cases wouldn't be able to afford that. 110 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:01,000 We have another daughter who will be 111 00:05:01,700 --> 00:05:03,367 Franklin Fox sooner rather than later. 112 00:05:04,100 --> 00:05:07,767 And we'll be relying on that, you know, before school care 113 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:09,367 and after school care as well. 114 00:05:11,033 --> 00:05:14,133 You know, in context of losing the early bird programming, 115 00:05:15,066 --> 00:05:17,133 that loss has already, like I said, impacted our family. 116 00:05:17,667 --> 00:05:21,000 And I'm sure many other families I know roughly 25% 117 00:05:21,033 --> 00:05:23,300 of the population, I'm not sure if it's district wide 118 00:05:23,300 --> 00:05:28,000 or just at the Winthrop, relies on the three 30 pickup time 119 00:05:28,100 --> 00:05:31,166 and the potential, you know, shift in moving everyone 120 00:05:31,166 --> 00:05:33,166 to five 30 might cause some other potential 121 00:05:33,166 --> 00:05:34,634 staffing issues and things like that. 122 00:05:36,433 --> 00:05:39,000 I know there's been a lot of communication from the 123 00:05:39,133 --> 00:05:42,100 directors of the program with families about, you know, 124 00:05:42,166 --> 00:05:43,867 vacation programming, summer programming, 125 00:05:43,867 --> 00:05:45,266 the afterschool programming, the early bird. 126 00:05:45,266 --> 00:05:47,767 They were, you know, trying to find someone for the morning. 127 00:05:48,333 --> 00:05:50,266 But we're really, you know, asking that 128 00:05:52,166 --> 00:05:55,867 other options may be explored before just eliminating 129 00:05:56,033 --> 00:05:58,100 or phasing out the three 30 timeframe. 130 00:05:58,266 --> 00:06:01,266 'cause like I said, our family very much relies on that. 131 00:06:02,100 --> 00:06:04,100 You know, we're very fortunate that we have friends 132 00:06:04,133 --> 00:06:05,467 and family and neighbors that are 133 00:06:05,467 --> 00:06:06,533 willing to help with the morning. 134 00:06:07,266 --> 00:06:09,367 We've been able to kind of piecemeal that together, 135 00:06:10,500 --> 00:06:13,100 but we just really ask that the board can considers, 136 00:06:13,467 --> 00:06:16,100 you know, examining and working with ed stations to kind 137 00:06:16,100 --> 00:06:18,834 of try to find an alternative other than 138 00:06:18,900 --> 00:06:20,100 eliminating the three 30. 139 00:06:20,166 --> 00:06:21,767 So thank you all very much for your time. 140 00:06:23,133 --> 00:06:25,467 - Thank you. Next up we have Mr. ****. 141 00:06:26,033 --> 00:06:27,033 You're welcome to address 142 00:06:27,033 --> 00:06:28,100 the committee for up to three minutes. 143 00:06:32,367 --> 00:06:35,066 - Thank you. My name is Neil ****, 144 00:06:35,500 --> 00:06:37,233 I'm a lifelong resident here in Melrose, 145 00:06:37,867 --> 00:06:39,700 and my son's in second grade at the Hoover, 146 00:06:41,900 --> 00:06:43,767 and I'm a teacher at Melrose High School. 147 00:06:44,734 --> 00:06:47,467 So the advocating for the, to please try to keep the, 148 00:06:48,033 --> 00:06:49,867 consider keeping the three 30 time. 149 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,900 We'd have to, if, if it was to go into effect, we'd have 150 00:06:54,900 --> 00:06:57,634 to seek alternative accommodations for my son. 151 00:06:59,634 --> 00:07:02,233 It's simply just, you know, too expensive. Okay. 152 00:07:05,133 --> 00:07:08,567 We, we wouldn't need the, the two extra hours at five 30. 153 00:07:12,233 --> 00:07:16,500 And you know, I think it's important that, you know, 154 00:07:16,500 --> 00:07:20,000 Melrose consider that there are 155 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:21,233 some families that need this. 156 00:07:22,900 --> 00:07:24,634 They, they need the three 30 option. 157 00:07:26,166 --> 00:07:29,000 So, you know, there are some higher income families 158 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,266 that are not affected of course, or if they're 159 00:07:31,367 --> 00:07:32,634 fair affected, very little. 160 00:07:35,133 --> 00:07:38,100 There's a lot more people that I've talked 161 00:07:38,100 --> 00:07:40,233 to at the last moment that did, 162 00:07:40,300 --> 00:07:43,133 did not know about this tonight. 163 00:07:43,467 --> 00:07:45,900 So I want you to know that there's, you know, 164 00:07:45,900 --> 00:07:47,900 there's the 200 families that will be affected 165 00:07:48,367 --> 00:07:50,266 and there's a lot more families that didn't know about this. 166 00:07:50,367 --> 00:07:51,867 I try to get a few people down here 167 00:07:53,133 --> 00:07:57,467 and I think these, these issues 168 00:07:57,467 --> 00:08:00,700 that are here that are extremely important of course, 169 00:08:01,934 --> 00:08:04,734 but I think over the next year they can be remedied 170 00:08:05,367 --> 00:08:08,333 and I think we can, You know, 171 00:08:09,934 --> 00:08:12,100 find a way to, to, to do better 172 00:08:12,667 --> 00:08:17,000 and to not just, hey, let's just fix it by going to five 30. 173 00:08:25,066 --> 00:08:26,133 And I think that's about it. 174 00:08:26,266 --> 00:08:27,166 So I think you get the point, 175 00:08:27,367 --> 00:08:28,533 it's gotta, you know what I mean? 176 00:08:28,667 --> 00:08:32,000 It, so it's gotta affect us. So thank you very much. Okay. 177 00:08:32,900 --> 00:08:34,700 - Thank - You. Thank you very much for your comments. 178 00:08:35,033 --> 00:08:37,900 Ms. O'Connor, do we have anybody online? We do not. Okay. 179 00:08:37,900 --> 00:08:40,467 Is anybody else in the room like to speak? Okay. 180 00:08:40,500 --> 00:08:43,934 A motion by unanimous consent to close public comment. 181 00:08:43,934 --> 00:08:45,300 Public comment is now closed. 182 00:08:46,166 --> 00:08:50,100 We, our student 183 00:08:50,100 --> 00:08:51,667 representative is not here tonight. 184 00:08:51,667 --> 00:08:53,667 There's a track meet that she's at. 185 00:08:53,834 --> 00:08:55,133 So we will skip over that 186 00:08:55,100 --> 00:08:58,300 and move right into announcements of the superintendent. 187 00:08:59,767 --> 00:09:00,867 - Great. Thank you very much. 188 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,266 Chairman Kelly, the first one 189 00:09:04,100 --> 00:09:06,734 and is a report in your packet tonight 190 00:09:06,934 --> 00:09:10,233 and there was an error on a slide that was presented 191 00:09:10,233 --> 00:09:11,834 to you on March 24th. 192 00:09:12,266 --> 00:09:15,000 So that error has been rectified 193 00:09:15,166 --> 00:09:16,734 and the slides have been updated. 194 00:09:18,367 --> 00:09:19,467 I'm certainly happy to answer 195 00:09:19,467 --> 00:09:20,767 any questions that you may have on that. 196 00:09:22,567 --> 00:09:24,000 - Just to be clear, it was a change from 197 00:09:24,100 --> 00:09:25,266 six to seven, correct? 198 00:09:25,266 --> 00:09:26,467 - Six, seven, yes. Yes. 199 00:09:27,567 --> 00:09:30,233 All the middle schoolers who are watching are laughing. Yes. 200 00:09:32,100 --> 00:09:35,233 Great. So moving forward. Sounds good. 201 00:09:36,700 --> 00:09:40,567 So the next, also there is a memo in your packet 202 00:09:40,900 --> 00:09:44,066 regarding the bus budget listening sessions that happened, 203 00:09:44,066 --> 00:09:45,333 the listening and learning sessions. 204 00:09:45,667 --> 00:09:46,934 So Mr. Kelly 205 00:09:47,333 --> 00:09:51,367 and I conducted three listening sessions. 206 00:09:52,133 --> 00:09:54,867 One primarily, or I guess all for educators. 207 00:09:54,867 --> 00:09:57,066 We probably had about 35 to 40 in attendance. 208 00:09:57,433 --> 00:10:02,100 We then had a very small group who participated in person 209 00:10:02,166 --> 00:10:04,934 and a very small group who participated online. 210 00:10:05,433 --> 00:10:10,033 So from there we also sent the, all of the information, 211 00:10:10,033 --> 00:10:12,367 the budgets, the listening session slides, 212 00:10:12,867 --> 00:10:15,000 and the feedback form to all educators 213 00:10:15,033 --> 00:10:17,767 and all families across the district. 214 00:10:17,934 --> 00:10:22,033 So pretty large number approaching close to, to 5,000. 215 00:10:22,266 --> 00:10:25,467 And we received 31 responses. 216 00:10:25,934 --> 00:10:30,000 So our feedback is a very, very small 217 00:10:30,867 --> 00:10:33,367 population of stakeholders who, who, you know, 218 00:10:33,367 --> 00:10:34,700 our sample size is pretty small. 219 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,333 So with that said, you know, the meeting time 220 00:10:38,333 --> 00:10:39,333 that we had was great. 221 00:10:39,367 --> 00:10:41,867 We were able to have really nice one-on-one conversations 222 00:10:41,867 --> 00:10:43,100 with staff, with families. 223 00:10:43,367 --> 00:10:45,100 It was great to talk in a small group setting 224 00:10:45,266 --> 00:10:47,533 and to, to learn more and really share information. 225 00:10:48,734 --> 00:10:50,033 I did read every response 226 00:10:50,133 --> 00:10:53,533 and tried to look at the trends that came out of, of there 227 00:10:54,266 --> 00:10:56,767 from there, identified them and outlined them in the memo. 228 00:10:57,500 --> 00:10:59,834 I think that, you know, we did see 229 00:10:59,834 --> 00:11:02,533 that we had established some district priorities early 230 00:11:02,533 --> 00:11:03,567 on in the budget season. 231 00:11:03,900 --> 00:11:06,000 And as we analyze all of these, 232 00:11:06,367 --> 00:11:10,066 or the 31 responses that we, 233 00:11:10,500 --> 00:11:12,500 we did see some trends emerge that aligned 234 00:11:12,500 --> 00:11:14,767 with the priorities that we had established. 235 00:11:15,133 --> 00:11:18,834 So, you know, again, very small sample size that we got 236 00:11:19,433 --> 00:11:22,100 tried to analyze what, what we, what we heard 237 00:11:22,133 --> 00:11:23,367 and what people shared. 238 00:11:23,900 --> 00:11:26,367 And I'm certainly happy to answer any questions regarding 239 00:11:27,133 --> 00:11:28,934 the sessions or anything else. 240 00:11:29,100 --> 00:11:30,533 - Okay. Any questions for the superintendent? 241 00:11:34,767 --> 00:11:35,767 Ms. Holland? 242 00:11:36,467 --> 00:11:39,100 - Thank you. Thank you for putting this together 243 00:11:39,300 --> 00:11:42,033 and providing the feedback from the responses 244 00:11:42,033 --> 00:11:43,133 that you did get. 245 00:11:43,467 --> 00:11:47,834 If there is a family that missed this 246 00:11:48,133 --> 00:11:51,266 and would like to provide feedback moving forward, 247 00:11:51,300 --> 00:11:52,433 what's the best way to do 248 00:11:52,433 --> 00:11:53,433 - That? 249 00:11:53,433 --> 00:11:54,333 Sure. I mean, I would just always say like, 250 00:11:54,834 --> 00:11:57,066 I have an open door, door policy, open email policy. 251 00:11:57,133 --> 00:12:00,333 So it's certainly, I mean, individuals have emailed us with, 252 00:12:00,333 --> 00:12:03,266 with thoughts along the way, so I'm certainly happy 253 00:12:03,333 --> 00:12:05,867 to read those and, you know, take them into consideration. 254 00:12:05,934 --> 00:12:06,934 Great. Thank you. 255 00:12:08,100 --> 00:12:11,266 - Okay, any other questions, sir? Hartman, 256 00:12:12,033 --> 00:12:13,033 - Thank you. 257 00:12:13,033 --> 00:12:14,533 And thank you for putting together the, the sessions as well 258 00:12:14,533 --> 00:12:18,266 as the information that the public was able to, to reply on. 259 00:12:19,066 --> 00:12:21,100 I just wanted to, to acknowledge that it, it, 260 00:12:21,266 --> 00:12:23,000 it certainly mentions class size a lot 261 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:24,066 as a, as a key priority. 262 00:12:24,066 --> 00:12:25,066 I think we've heard a lot about that 263 00:12:26,233 --> 00:12:29,300 and mentions populations of students that, 264 00:12:29,300 --> 00:12:31,867 that are facing barriers as, as another space for us 265 00:12:31,867 --> 00:12:34,000 to really be investing our, our focus and time in. 266 00:12:34,634 --> 00:12:35,634 And I just wanted to raise 267 00:12:35,634 --> 00:12:36,734 up some of those things that are in there. 268 00:12:36,734 --> 00:12:37,834 There's some really great feedback 269 00:12:37,834 --> 00:12:39,533 that the members of the public did provide. 270 00:12:39,533 --> 00:12:42,533 So I'd encourage people to really dig in on that. 271 00:12:42,533 --> 00:12:45,066 The team model and again, was another piece that was raised. 272 00:12:45,333 --> 00:12:47,100 These are things that were impacted 273 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:48,900 by our cuts over the last couple years 274 00:12:49,433 --> 00:12:51,333 and so it's, it's understandable 275 00:12:51,367 --> 00:12:52,367 that people bring those forward, 276 00:12:52,367 --> 00:12:54,433 but I think it's, it's validating also to understand that 277 00:12:54,433 --> 00:12:56,133 that was, that was included in the, 278 00:12:56,634 --> 00:12:58,066 in the responses we did receive. 279 00:12:58,166 --> 00:13:01,934 - Agreed. Thank you. - Anyone else? 280 00:13:03,300 --> 00:13:05,834 Alright, moving along to the consent agenda. 281 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:07,900 So the consent agenda tonight 282 00:13:09,100 --> 00:13:12,734 has the regular meeting minutes of March 24th, 2026, 283 00:13:13,066 --> 00:13:17,500 the Melrose High School, 2027 France field trip, 284 00:13:18,100 --> 00:13:21,233 a surplus memo on testing kits, a surplus memo on weed books 285 00:13:21,233 --> 00:13:22,900 and a donation offer. 286 00:13:22,900 --> 00:13:24,567 Roosevelt school playground. 287 00:13:24,567 --> 00:13:26,634 Would anybody like to pull anything from the 288 00:13:26,634 --> 00:13:28,700 agenda? Mr. Hartman? 289 00:13:28,934 --> 00:13:30,000 - I'll put the playground item. 290 00:13:30,867 --> 00:13:34,500 - Okay. We'll move the playground item to announcements 291 00:13:34,867 --> 00:13:35,900 of the chair. 292 00:13:37,133 --> 00:13:41,133 Okay. Anyone you wanna make a motion? Just I, oh, 293 00:13:41,300 --> 00:13:42,433 - I would like to pull something else. 294 00:13:42,867 --> 00:13:45,367 Okay, sure. The donation, the testing kits please. 295 00:13:45,367 --> 00:13:46,667 - Testing kits. Okay. 296 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,000 That will go after playground under 297 00:13:50,066 --> 00:13:51,100 announcements of the chair. 298 00:13:53,033 --> 00:13:55,100 Anybody else want to, anybody going to France? 299 00:13:55,100 --> 00:13:56,533 Does anybody wanna pull that one? No. 300 00:13:56,667 --> 00:14:01,500 Alright, so we now have a consent agenda that is 301 00:14:02,100 --> 00:14:03,100 regular meeting minutes 302 00:14:03,100 --> 00:14:06,667 of March 24th, 2026 Melrose High School Field, 303 00:14:06,734 --> 00:14:10,367 France field trip in the surplus memo, weeded books. 304 00:14:10,367 --> 00:14:13,533 Anybody like to make a motion? So moved. Okay. 305 00:14:13,533 --> 00:14:16,033 Motion approved by Mr. Hartman. Seconded by Ms. Leo. 306 00:14:16,100 --> 00:14:18,667 All in favor and that passes unanimously. 307 00:14:18,667 --> 00:14:21,033 We'll come back to the other items at the 308 00:14:21,033 --> 00:14:23,033 conclusion of the meeting. 309 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:24,767 So now we will go into our subcommittee work 310 00:14:24,900 --> 00:14:29,867 and tonight we have finance and facilities chaired by Ms. 311 00:14:29,867 --> 00:14:30,867 Driscoll. 312 00:14:43,567 --> 00:14:46,000 - Thank you so much. Thank you. 313 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:50,300 First on our agenda this evening are the FY 27 314 00:14:51,333 --> 00:14:55,500 ED stations fees, which were discussed at our last meeting 315 00:14:55,567 --> 00:14:58,767 and brought forward again without resolution at the previous 316 00:14:58,767 --> 00:15:01,500 meeting for consideration at this meeting. 317 00:15:02,500 --> 00:15:04,367 I would certainly invite the superintendent, 318 00:15:04,500 --> 00:15:06,867 Mr. Kelly, to speak to this. Thank you so much. 319 00:15:07,734 --> 00:15:09,100 - Thanks so much. Good evening. 320 00:15:09,133 --> 00:15:11,133 And so, yeah, so in the packet you have a, 321 00:15:11,233 --> 00:15:14,066 a memo from direct approve for the United Stations program. 322 00:15:15,233 --> 00:15:16,467 We've received some feedback. 323 00:15:16,567 --> 00:15:18,333 Obviously we've heard some from some, 324 00:15:18,700 --> 00:15:21,567 some community members tonight that the three 30 325 00:15:22,033 --> 00:15:26,033 dismissal program is a program that many people do rely on. 326 00:15:26,500 --> 00:15:29,567 Just a point of clarification, I think it's, it's not 327 00:15:29,567 --> 00:15:32,033 that the, the district doesn't want 328 00:15:32,033 --> 00:15:33,100 to offer that as an option. 329 00:15:33,133 --> 00:15:34,300 It's that the implementation 330 00:15:34,300 --> 00:15:37,100 and logistics of that have been in significantly challenging 331 00:15:38,066 --> 00:15:40,033 to the point where Director Pru herself is, 332 00:15:40,133 --> 00:15:42,266 is covering at buildings in this time slot. 333 00:15:42,367 --> 00:15:45,300 So not necessarily something we're just looking to eliminate 334 00:15:46,266 --> 00:15:48,300 and move people to a five 30 time slot. 335 00:15:48,333 --> 00:15:49,567 It's the implementation of it 336 00:15:49,567 --> 00:15:52,233 that is increasingly getting challenging. 337 00:15:52,233 --> 00:15:55,066 But Director Peru has been meeting daily with her staff 338 00:15:55,066 --> 00:15:56,000 and looking at different options 339 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,000 and in the memo you can see she's proposing to continue 340 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:00,467 that next year with some evaluation of, 341 00:16:00,567 --> 00:16:04,033 of different parameters, different strategies 342 00:16:04,033 --> 00:16:06,300 to see if this is something we can continue 343 00:16:06,300 --> 00:16:08,066 to offer on a long-term basis. 344 00:16:08,133 --> 00:16:09,367 So I'd like to commend her for that 345 00:16:09,367 --> 00:16:12,300 because she did on, on pretty short notice, pull a lot 346 00:16:12,300 --> 00:16:15,467 of people together talking a lot of about strategies 347 00:16:15,467 --> 00:16:16,634 that, that could make this work. 348 00:16:16,734 --> 00:16:18,634 So she is proposing to continue that. 349 00:16:19,100 --> 00:16:20,100 It's not an unlimited space. 350 00:16:20,100 --> 00:16:23,734 Each school building in the, the pre-K 351 00:16:23,834 --> 00:16:26,033 through five areas have different space 352 00:16:26,033 --> 00:16:27,367 restrictions, different size classrooms. 353 00:16:27,433 --> 00:16:30,567 But she's proposing to make that work at a building level 354 00:16:30,634 --> 00:16:34,100 where there are some slot limitations. 355 00:16:34,133 --> 00:16:35,266 But each building will be able 356 00:16:35,266 --> 00:16:37,867 to offer a three 30 time slot next year, which I'm hoping, 357 00:16:39,166 --> 00:16:41,000 you know, I I commend director per and 358 00:16:41,033 --> 00:16:44,000 and I hope that that helps some 359 00:16:44,734 --> 00:16:47,500 folks in the community see that we are trying to work 360 00:16:47,500 --> 00:16:49,867 with them and, and partner on solutions that work for both. 361 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:52,533 I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have. 362 00:16:53,533 --> 00:16:57,767 - Questions for Mr. Kelly or the superintendent? Ms. Leo, 363 00:16:58,100 --> 00:17:00,500 - Just a clarifying question based on what was in the memo, 364 00:17:00,867 --> 00:17:04,934 I think I saw that there's a five day only three 30 option. 365 00:17:04,934 --> 00:17:07,033 Did there used to be multiple different day choices? 366 00:17:07,367 --> 00:17:09,066 - There were. That's correct. Yep. Okay. 367 00:17:09,100 --> 00:17:12,033 So this is a sort of a bridge to the looking at evaluating, 368 00:17:12,333 --> 00:17:13,133 offering an option for 369 00:17:13,333 --> 00:17:14,500 families to continue with that three 30. 370 00:17:14,667 --> 00:17:17,634 - Okay. Thank you. - Very good. 371 00:17:17,700 --> 00:17:20,367 And just a reminder that we'll be voting on the programs 372 00:17:20,567 --> 00:17:21,700 and the pricing. 373 00:17:22,433 --> 00:17:25,934 So Mr. Kelly, just to ensure we're all on the same page, 374 00:17:26,100 --> 00:17:30,533 that second column on page 27 375 00:17:30,567 --> 00:17:33,066 of 55 in the packet, which has, 376 00:17:34,066 --> 00:17:38,867 that lays out the costs, the increases in column, 377 00:17:39,300 --> 00:17:40,700 technically column three, 378 00:17:40,734 --> 00:17:43,100 but the second financial column right. 379 00:17:43,734 --> 00:17:45,834 Increase. So that would reflect 380 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,367 how much more parents would be paying this year 381 00:17:49,900 --> 00:17:50,934 over last year, 382 00:17:51,033 --> 00:17:52,333 - Correct? That's correct. 383 00:17:52,867 --> 00:17:55,700 - Okay. On an annual annualized. 384 00:17:56,266 --> 00:17:58,367 - Sure. So the third column would be the annual rate 385 00:17:58,533 --> 00:18:00,634 and then monthly rate. 386 00:18:00,634 --> 00:18:02,133 In our experience, families do like 387 00:18:02,133 --> 00:18:03,266 to see it broken down as a monthly rate. 388 00:18:03,300 --> 00:18:04,867 Perfect. See, just for budgeting 389 00:18:04,867 --> 00:18:06,133 purposes, which we've tried to provide. 390 00:18:06,767 --> 00:18:09,033 - Excellent. So just wanted to make sure we're all, 391 00:18:09,066 --> 00:18:10,700 like I said, on the same page. 392 00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:13,233 Is there any further discussion or question 393 00:18:13,567 --> 00:18:15,433 or are there questions for Mr. Kelly? 394 00:18:16,166 --> 00:18:20,233 Seeing none, is there a motion? Mr. Kelly? Motion to 395 00:18:20,233 --> 00:18:21,233 - Approve. 396 00:18:21,233 --> 00:18:23,700 - Motion to approve. Seconded by Ms. Raey Thomas. 397 00:18:23,734 --> 00:18:26,266 Further discussion. Seeing none. All in favor? 398 00:18:27,133 --> 00:18:29,834 And that motion opposed as? 399 00:18:29,867 --> 00:18:33,700 No, I think that motion carries unanimously with, 400 00:18:33,900 --> 00:18:35,066 with one absent. 401 00:18:35,266 --> 00:18:38,467 And I think I speak for all of us when I say that 402 00:18:39,066 --> 00:18:42,133 we're very pleased that you heard the community 403 00:18:42,133 --> 00:18:45,367 and the committee loud and clear and worked very hard. 404 00:18:45,834 --> 00:18:50,000 Please express our thanks to Director Pru for coming up 405 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:51,266 with an option that may lead us 406 00:18:51,266 --> 00:18:52,700 to a different place next year 407 00:18:52,900 --> 00:18:56,066 or not as you propose in the future. Thank 408 00:18:56,066 --> 00:18:57,066 - You. 409 00:18:57,066 --> 00:18:57,133 Will do. 410 00:18:58,133 --> 00:19:02,033 - Thank you all for that. The next item is the 20, the FY 27 411 00:19:02,700 --> 00:19:05,100 budget categories recommendation. 412 00:19:06,133 --> 00:19:08,567 And I know we've discussed this a little bit in prior 413 00:19:08,567 --> 00:19:13,000 meeting, at least one prior meeting relative to 414 00:19:13,033 --> 00:19:14,867 that secondary piece. 415 00:19:15,367 --> 00:19:17,500 So if you don't mind Mr. Kelly, what I'd like 416 00:19:17,500 --> 00:19:21,700 to do is just offer that for many, many years in the past 417 00:19:23,133 --> 00:19:25,066 the committee voted salaries 418 00:19:25,233 --> 00:19:28,834 and non salaries, which had benefits 419 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:30,333 and it had some challenges. 420 00:19:31,266 --> 00:19:34,367 The benefits at the time were seen as, 421 00:19:34,700 --> 00:19:36,000 you know, very little. 422 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,133 In fact, I don't recall hardly any transfer among 423 00:19:40,333 --> 00:19:43,000 or between categories. 424 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,233 So, so it, it did take some of the, 425 00:19:46,734 --> 00:19:48,367 the work off the business office, 426 00:19:48,667 --> 00:19:51,834 but there has since been discussion around 427 00:19:52,266 --> 00:19:54,000 being a little more granular so 428 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:55,066 that we have a better understanding 429 00:19:55,066 --> 00:19:56,867 of what's happening at each of our levels. 430 00:19:57,634 --> 00:20:01,500 And so I would welcome you to please speak about 431 00:20:01,500 --> 00:20:04,066 that moving from eight categories 432 00:20:04,500 --> 00:20:06,033 to the seven categories please. 433 00:20:06,100 --> 00:20:08,367 - Sure. Thanks so much. So yeah, as you can see in the memo, 434 00:20:08,433 --> 00:20:10,066 we're proposing these seven categories 435 00:20:10,634 --> 00:20:12,000 and this truly aligns 436 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,734 with the way we set up our line item budget. 437 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,100 Each school and department has its own line cost center, 438 00:20:17,367 --> 00:20:19,767 and then our project codes align with dsi. 439 00:20:19,767 --> 00:20:22,700 So our, our chart of accounts is relatively modern 440 00:20:22,934 --> 00:20:24,734 for, for school districts. 441 00:20:25,100 --> 00:20:28,000 It's easy to track both ways, both internally on a, 442 00:20:28,266 --> 00:20:31,000 on a school side, as well as being able to track for end 443 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:32,367 of your reporting with the DSI projects. 444 00:20:32,934 --> 00:20:37,834 So these, these proposed categories do align directly 445 00:20:37,834 --> 00:20:40,533 with our budget and the proposal 446 00:20:40,700 --> 00:20:43,300 to combine middle high school with secondaries is more, 447 00:20:43,700 --> 00:20:46,700 there are some shared staff there, both teaching wise, 448 00:20:46,700 --> 00:20:49,533 administrative wise that, so tracking that 449 00:20:49,533 --> 00:20:52,533 as one secondary category makes sense going forward. 450 00:20:52,533 --> 00:20:54,700 And I'd be happy to answer any questions people may have 451 00:20:54,700 --> 00:20:55,767 about the spending categories. 452 00:20:57,166 --> 00:21:00,266 - Ms. Leo, I just had a follow up question, Mr. Kelly, 453 00:21:00,433 --> 00:21:05,000 on the, the kind shared resources, both staff and curriculum 454 00:21:05,066 --> 00:21:08,066 and things in the current budget, how does 455 00:21:08,066 --> 00:21:09,934 that actually get represented? 456 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,367 Like can you explain how it's a little maybe messier 457 00:21:12,433 --> 00:21:14,333 with the separate separation than 458 00:21:14,333 --> 00:21:16,467 with a single unified secondary code? 459 00:21:16,667 --> 00:21:18,133 - Sure. So for right now, 460 00:21:18,133 --> 00:21:21,033 for payroll purposes in the current eight eight categories, 461 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:25,300 we have the, the payroll assigns. 462 00:21:25,367 --> 00:21:27,467 If a teacher is shared between two different schools, 463 00:21:27,467 --> 00:21:29,033 which is, it's, it's fine, 464 00:21:29,033 --> 00:21:30,100 but it's a little more complicated 465 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,000 to track an audit payroll when you're paying from 466 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:33,066 different lines for the same teacher. 467 00:21:33,934 --> 00:21:35,533 Not that we can't do it, we do it, you know, 468 00:21:35,533 --> 00:21:38,066 every two weeks, but it, it would help us align 469 00:21:39,066 --> 00:21:41,300 and budgeting wise to track spending, to not have to track 470 00:21:41,367 --> 00:21:42,834 so many lines salary wise. 471 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,867 So it's, it's a, just a streamlining of 472 00:21:48,266 --> 00:21:50,066 teachers we know that are going to be in both places. 473 00:21:50,300 --> 00:21:53,100 - Sure. Thanks Mr. Hardman. 474 00:21:53,166 --> 00:21:55,834 - Thank you. And thank you Mr. Kelly for the explanation. 475 00:21:56,867 --> 00:21:59,634 I just, I want to ask some confirming questions. 476 00:21:59,634 --> 00:22:01,867 Make sure I'm understanding the, the difference between 477 00:22:02,100 --> 00:22:03,934 what, what the categories are versus 478 00:22:03,934 --> 00:22:05,367 what the line item budget represents. 479 00:22:05,367 --> 00:22:08,000 Right. Just so that the public understands as well. 480 00:22:08,533 --> 00:22:10,467 'cause I think when we think about looking at categories, 481 00:22:11,100 --> 00:22:13,367 there's a lot of thoughts around transparency 482 00:22:13,433 --> 00:22:16,300 and what we're displaying and, and I wanna make sure that, 483 00:22:16,333 --> 00:22:19,000 that people understand that the line item budget is really 484 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,834 where we're, where the proposal to spend is. 485 00:22:21,900 --> 00:22:24,000 And there's very detailed amounts of that. That's right. 486 00:22:24,066 --> 00:22:28,734 Correct. And the categories are the overriding categories 487 00:22:28,734 --> 00:22:31,934 that the school committee authorizes you to spend between, 488 00:22:32,100 --> 00:22:33,467 and that's sort of a separate piece. 489 00:22:33,500 --> 00:22:35,133 It allows some, some level of transparency, 490 00:22:35,166 --> 00:22:38,834 but the deeper transparency is in larger budget document, 491 00:22:38,834 --> 00:22:39,834 - Right? 492 00:22:39,834 --> 00:22:40,033 That's correct. Yep. And 493 00:22:40,033 --> 00:22:42,000 that is available online if anyone wanted to look 494 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:43,133 and you can follow through, 495 00:22:43,700 --> 00:22:46,266 it rolls up right into the school committee categories 496 00:22:46,667 --> 00:22:50,100 as well as the dsi, you know, spending series. 497 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:51,867 So it's, we track it both ways. 498 00:22:52,233 --> 00:22:54,000 It's in that line and a budget for anyone to look at. 499 00:22:54,066 --> 00:22:57,333 And you can see right down each school page has it right 500 00:22:57,333 --> 00:22:58,767 down to the, the penny is what's getting 501 00:22:58,767 --> 00:23:00,100 spent at the school or department. 502 00:23:00,166 --> 00:23:02,533 - Right. And so the school committee's responsibility is, 503 00:23:02,533 --> 00:23:05,467 is on the, the overall spends within the budget categories 504 00:23:05,467 --> 00:23:06,734 that we're discussing right now, 505 00:23:07,166 --> 00:23:10,100 the administration's responsibilities is the individual 506 00:23:10,100 --> 00:23:11,700 items within the line item budget. 507 00:23:11,700 --> 00:23:14,100 That's correct. And, and that's where we, we get 508 00:23:14,100 --> 00:23:17,100 to this place of the secondary, just in particular 509 00:23:17,567 --> 00:23:19,700 with the structure that we have, the schedules that we have, 510 00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:21,700 we have that opportunity for shared resources. 511 00:23:21,734 --> 00:23:23,934 Yep. Which, you know, I think just to be clear, 512 00:23:24,066 --> 00:23:26,300 you're presenting that as a, as a issue of potentially 513 00:23:26,533 --> 00:23:29,266 where you'd have to come back if you have a certain spending 514 00:23:29,266 --> 00:23:31,300 that crosses over too far between the buildings 515 00:23:31,934 --> 00:23:35,100 and ask us to authorize that spend change. 516 00:23:35,100 --> 00:23:37,300 Sure. It's not, not that there's an overspend 517 00:23:37,300 --> 00:23:40,000 or underspend, it's, it's a, it's an issue of just, 518 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,834 you know, where things come in the middle of the year. 519 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,333 It might have to just be exchanged and this alleviates that. 520 00:23:44,367 --> 00:23:46,500 But it is still, still very transparent in 521 00:23:46,500 --> 00:23:49,100 that larger line item budget document, right? 522 00:23:49,266 --> 00:23:51,100 Yes, that is correct. Right. Okay. 523 00:23:51,100 --> 00:23:52,033 Just wanted to clarify that 524 00:23:52,033 --> 00:23:53,367 and make sure that's very clear on 525 00:23:53,367 --> 00:23:55,567 what we're voting on versus what is in the packet 526 00:23:55,667 --> 00:23:56,834 and what's available to the public. 527 00:23:59,266 --> 00:24:04,033 - Further questions or discussion. See none. 528 00:24:04,033 --> 00:24:07,333 What is the will of the committee Chairman Kelly 529 00:24:08,567 --> 00:24:12,500 - Motion to approve the N-P-S-F-Y 27 proposed school 530 00:24:12,500 --> 00:24:15,934 committee categories as followed Franklin pre-K 531 00:24:16,533 --> 00:24:20,033 elementary secondary athletics slash extracurricular 532 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,066 teaching and learning, special education 533 00:24:23,333 --> 00:24:25,567 and administration slash districtwide. 534 00:24:27,100 --> 00:24:28,100 - A - Second 535 00:24:28,266 --> 00:24:31,500 - Motion made by Mr. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Hartman. 536 00:24:31,500 --> 00:24:34,033 Further questions or discussions? Seeing none. All in favor? 537 00:24:34,734 --> 00:24:38,867 Opposed? That motion carries unanimously with one absent. 538 00:24:38,867 --> 00:24:40,934 And that concludes finance facilities. 539 00:24:58,066 --> 00:24:58,367 - That works. 540 00:25:04,767 --> 00:25:07,033 - Okay. So that concludes our subcommittee work. 541 00:25:11,834 --> 00:25:14,300 Hold on. Why don't we take a, a quick pause. Ms. Berman. 542 00:25:14,300 --> 00:25:15,734 Did, was there something that you wanted to go 543 00:25:15,734 --> 00:25:17,033 through on findings and facilities? 544 00:25:17,100 --> 00:25:20,367 - So we just are trying to ensure that our budget 545 00:25:21,033 --> 00:25:24,133 document is reflecting each of our conversations as we kind 546 00:25:24,133 --> 00:25:26,033 of go from week to week and meeting to meeting. 547 00:25:26,333 --> 00:25:28,867 So we had some additions that we had added to our, 548 00:25:29,100 --> 00:25:31,133 our budget book that we just wanted 549 00:25:31,133 --> 00:25:32,734 to highlight for you as the committee. 550 00:25:33,433 --> 00:25:35,367 And I guess we just didn't really put it on the agenda, 551 00:25:35,500 --> 00:25:37,066 so sorry about that. 552 00:25:37,634 --> 00:25:41,700 But we just had some slides to share just, just, just 553 00:25:41,734 --> 00:25:43,767 for the committee and the public of, of how this is, 554 00:25:44,233 --> 00:25:46,233 you know, a document that's going to change 555 00:25:46,233 --> 00:25:47,500 and evolve as we go through. 556 00:25:48,266 --> 00:25:50,867 - So do you wanna go through the slides right now or very 557 00:25:50,867 --> 00:25:51,867 - Quickly. 558 00:25:51,867 --> 00:25:53,500 It'll just be a few minutes. Yeah, so, all right, great. 559 00:25:53,500 --> 00:25:54,767 I'll kick it over to Mr. Kelly. 560 00:25:54,900 --> 00:25:57,133 - Sure, thanks. Just some information, you know, as, 561 00:25:57,266 --> 00:25:59,333 as the committee deliberates and, 562 00:25:59,467 --> 00:26:01,033 and has discussions about the budget. 563 00:26:01,433 --> 00:26:04,033 Just to recap, so the budget book was made available at the 564 00:26:04,033 --> 00:26:05,333 last meeting March 24th. 565 00:26:05,867 --> 00:26:07,867 That's now available on our district website. 566 00:26:08,266 --> 00:26:09,500 Just a little bit more information. 567 00:26:09,634 --> 00:26:12,133 We did add a few informational slides to the book. 568 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,300 One being some, some of highlights, some 569 00:26:15,300 --> 00:26:18,533 of our DESI profile, which is available online. 570 00:26:18,533 --> 00:26:19,567 There's a link right in there. 571 00:26:20,266 --> 00:26:23,066 And just a few highlights as we go through. 572 00:26:23,266 --> 00:26:25,700 Again, as we discussed last time, our drivers, 573 00:26:26,033 --> 00:26:28,000 the key priorities that have already been mentioned tonight. 574 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:29,066 Looking at class size, 575 00:26:29,834 --> 00:26:31,934 restoring team model at the middle school for grade six 576 00:26:31,934 --> 00:26:34,066 and seven, focusing on some high 577 00:26:34,066 --> 00:26:35,467 quality structural materials. 578 00:26:36,066 --> 00:26:38,133 And we are an MTSS multi-tiered systems 579 00:26:38,166 --> 00:26:39,266 of support districts. 580 00:26:39,266 --> 00:26:42,734 So focusing on some tier two interventions as well 581 00:26:42,734 --> 00:26:45,533 as using our, our current strategic plan, 582 00:26:45,934 --> 00:26:47,066 district-wide strategic plan. 583 00:26:48,166 --> 00:26:50,300 And for the budget, obviously pillar, 584 00:26:50,300 --> 00:26:53,033 current pillar number five is, is fiscal responsibility. 585 00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:57,333 So really using those two drivers as we, 586 00:26:58,100 --> 00:27:01,066 you know, shift from a past two cycles of reductions 587 00:27:01,066 --> 00:27:03,000 to looking at some strategic opportunities. 588 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,533 And just two, two informational graphics here. 589 00:27:07,634 --> 00:27:10,500 So this is an extension of 590 00:27:11,233 --> 00:27:14,133 looking at the supplemental budget from our override this 591 00:27:14,133 --> 00:27:18,367 fiscal year FY 26 and how that now flows through to FY 27. 592 00:27:18,367 --> 00:27:20,100 Looking at, obviously we had, 593 00:27:20,900 --> 00:27:24,066 we've talked about the 17 additional FTEs, you know, 594 00:27:24,066 --> 00:27:26,066 that we are generously allowed to bring back 595 00:27:26,900 --> 00:27:29,133 and restore from the override funds. 596 00:27:29,867 --> 00:27:34,834 And that the override very generous, 597 00:27:34,834 --> 00:27:36,066 didn't restore us back to fully 598 00:27:36,066 --> 00:27:37,567 what was reduced over the past two years, 599 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:39,734 but this does bring back 17 600 00:27:39,834 --> 00:27:42,634 and 15 of those positions are proposed for 601 00:27:43,500 --> 00:27:45,033 teaching positions at the classroom level. 602 00:27:45,634 --> 00:27:48,100 Two of them being one administrator at the high school 603 00:27:48,133 --> 00:27:50,367 and one at the the secondary level 604 00:27:50,433 --> 00:27:51,867 and one at the elementary. 605 00:27:54,667 --> 00:27:56,433 And then this also is just another look at 606 00:27:56,433 --> 00:27:58,066 what we were discussing too, budgetwise, 607 00:27:58,066 --> 00:27:59,934 there were the categories. 608 00:27:59,934 --> 00:28:00,934 Thank you for approving those. 609 00:28:00,934 --> 00:28:02,500 That lets us move forward with our, 610 00:28:03,133 --> 00:28:05,066 our school committee categories for FFY 27. 611 00:28:05,533 --> 00:28:07,066 This now looks at the DESI series. 612 00:28:07,233 --> 00:28:09,667 There's two slides in the budget book that reference this. 613 00:28:10,033 --> 00:28:13,066 And this just shows the increase from FY 26 to FY 27. 614 00:28:13,500 --> 00:28:16,133 Pretty considerable investment from the city into the school 615 00:28:16,133 --> 00:28:20,000 system, about a 12% increase going from the start 616 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,300 of fiscal year 26 at the supplemental budget. 617 00:28:23,433 --> 00:28:26,133 And then where we proposed for FY 27. 618 00:28:27,166 --> 00:28:28,500 So that just shows the increase. 619 00:28:31,634 --> 00:28:34,333 And again, as we build our budget, a budget is a plan. 620 00:28:35,433 --> 00:28:37,166 We are things that we know, things we don't know. 621 00:28:37,767 --> 00:28:41,834 So we are looking at the things, the, the known things. 622 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,066 And then unknown being, we're in current negotiations 623 00:28:45,066 --> 00:28:49,333 with our MEU, we have awaiting the, 624 00:28:49,533 --> 00:28:52,667 the legislative approval of the FY 27 state level budget. 625 00:28:53,500 --> 00:28:55,533 We have our cherry sheet estimates to go off of 626 00:28:55,533 --> 00:28:57,066 for things like charter school assessments, 627 00:28:57,367 --> 00:28:59,734 vocational school assessments, those are our 628 00:28:59,834 --> 00:29:01,133 city, city side expenses. 629 00:29:01,266 --> 00:29:04,133 But those are things that we watch as we move forward 630 00:29:04,133 --> 00:29:05,133 to FY 27. 631 00:29:07,467 --> 00:29:09,300 And this is just our gotta have some fun. 632 00:29:09,300 --> 00:29:12,834 Here's our, our mascots for the Melrose Public Schools. Very 633 00:29:12,834 --> 00:29:13,834 - Cute. 634 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,467 - So yes, again, as the committee deliberates and, 635 00:29:17,467 --> 00:29:19,066 and has discussions on FY 27, 636 00:29:19,066 --> 00:29:20,033 we'd be happy to answer any questions. 637 00:29:21,533 --> 00:29:24,266 - Great. Thank you. I know we kind 638 00:29:24,266 --> 00:29:25,467 of jumped around a little. 639 00:29:25,467 --> 00:29:28,300 Does anybody have any questions before we move finally 640 00:29:28,333 --> 00:29:29,367 into announcements of the chair? 641 00:29:29,834 --> 00:29:31,033 Mr. Re, Thomas? Yeah, 642 00:29:31,100 --> 00:29:35,567 - Just there's that one slide that shows the impact 643 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,133 of the, the override 644 00:29:38,333 --> 00:29:41,033 and then kind of where we're going to be putting that money. 645 00:29:41,567 --> 00:29:43,834 And that's not yet in our packet. 646 00:29:44,266 --> 00:29:46,834 - So this, we can certain we have Ms. O'Connor add this 647 00:29:46,834 --> 00:29:47,834 right into the, the minutes over. 648 00:29:47,867 --> 00:29:49,033 - That'd be great. Yes, that'd be great. 649 00:29:49,100 --> 00:29:51,233 Just if we can also load it into, you know, 650 00:29:51,233 --> 00:29:53,734 the budget book in some way so people can see it too. 651 00:29:53,767 --> 00:29:55,767 It's really helpful. That's a, I know, I, 652 00:29:55,867 --> 00:29:57,767 I can't really see it from here. Sure. 653 00:29:57,834 --> 00:29:59,000 - We can add it to our website too. 654 00:29:59,133 --> 00:30:01,066 - I'd love to study it. Look, thank you so much 655 00:30:01,066 --> 00:30:03,233 and I really appreciate all the work that you're doing. 656 00:30:03,867 --> 00:30:07,767 I know it's kind of always in motion and I'm, I'm excited. 657 00:30:07,867 --> 00:30:10,333 It's just such a relief this year that we have 658 00:30:11,133 --> 00:30:13,467 had the successful passage of the override, so we're not, 659 00:30:13,734 --> 00:30:17,033 you know, biting our nails about everything 660 00:30:17,900 --> 00:30:19,000 as we go through this budget. 661 00:30:19,133 --> 00:30:20,133 Thank you very much 662 00:30:21,634 --> 00:30:22,634 - Mr. Hartman. 663 00:30:23,233 --> 00:30:25,000 - Building off Mr. Thompson's comments as well. 664 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:26,500 And thank you for the additional information 665 00:30:27,233 --> 00:30:29,834 as we head into next week where I think, you know, 666 00:30:29,900 --> 00:30:32,233 we'll be maybe looking at our budget for the, the last time, 667 00:30:33,900 --> 00:30:35,533 can we make sure that this is included in the 668 00:30:35,533 --> 00:30:36,767 packet for next week as well? 669 00:30:36,834 --> 00:30:38,333 As well as any additional information 670 00:30:38,533 --> 00:30:43,333 that would be helping us on navigating the budget into 671 00:30:43,333 --> 00:30:47,000 that final week and making sure that we have, you know, 672 00:30:47,867 --> 00:30:50,467 a clear delineation on, on what we're working through there. 673 00:30:52,133 --> 00:30:56,333 - Yes, we can do that. - Okay. 674 00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,000 Moving into announcements of the chair. 675 00:31:00,567 --> 00:31:02,767 Well first I think I'd like to congratulate you Ms. Berman. 676 00:31:02,767 --> 00:31:04,834 This is probably the fastest budget hearings 677 00:31:04,834 --> 00:31:06,000 that we've had in my three years 678 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:07,033 here on the school committee. 679 00:31:07,634 --> 00:31:11,567 Must be your luck. We do have another meeting 680 00:31:11,567 --> 00:31:12,834 where we'll have the public meeting, 681 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,133 but this is certainly going quite quick. 682 00:31:16,700 --> 00:31:18,533 So going into announcements of the chair, 683 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:20,567 we have a handful of things to do tonight. 684 00:31:21,266 --> 00:31:25,000 First one just in order is our rolling agenda, Mr. Hartman, 685 00:31:25,367 --> 00:31:26,934 superintendent Berman, Ms. O'Connor 686 00:31:26,934 --> 00:31:29,767 and I have met to reconfigure some of the 687 00:31:30,934 --> 00:31:33,867 rolling agenda over the next couple of meetings. 688 00:31:34,567 --> 00:31:36,867 I think the, the big things is 689 00:31:36,867 --> 00:31:38,734 that we are gonna be doing policy reviews 690 00:31:38,734 --> 00:31:40,100 after the budget's concluded, 691 00:31:40,700 --> 00:31:42,567 which everyone within the policy 692 00:31:42,634 --> 00:31:45,266 and planning world has been hard at work trying 693 00:31:45,266 --> 00:31:46,533 to get our policies organized. 694 00:31:46,533 --> 00:31:48,533 So I do think that that'll probably be the next big 695 00:31:50,066 --> 00:31:51,367 thing after the budget. 696 00:31:51,834 --> 00:31:54,000 In addition to other things that are previously scheduled, 697 00:31:54,066 --> 00:31:55,734 does anybody have any outreach reports? 698 00:31:58,734 --> 00:32:01,700 - Okay. - Okay. Alright. 699 00:32:01,900 --> 00:32:04,033 So we do have a need for a couple of votes. 700 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,000 The first one is to 701 00:32:09,567 --> 00:32:12,100 accept the donation report 702 00:32:12,333 --> 00:32:14,300 for the Roosevelt School playground. 703 00:32:15,767 --> 00:32:17,033 Would anybody like to make a motion? 704 00:32:19,433 --> 00:32:21,867 - Motion - To approve? Motion approved by Ms. Holleran? 705 00:32:21,867 --> 00:32:24,100 Seconded by Ms. Ozzie Thomas on discussion 706 00:32:25,133 --> 00:32:26,100 Ms. Driscoll? Yeah, I, 707 00:32:26,100 --> 00:32:27,100 - So - I had a question. 708 00:32:27,100 --> 00:32:28,567 How far along is this project? 709 00:32:30,867 --> 00:32:34,533 - So currently the, the leadership of the PTO is discussing 710 00:32:34,533 --> 00:32:39,300 with DPW parks about best place this potential could go. 711 00:32:39,433 --> 00:32:42,000 So it's, they're, I'd say still planning stages. 712 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,000 - Okay. I just wanna make sure that when donations come 713 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,467 before us, they are still in the planning stages 714 00:32:48,634 --> 00:32:52,000 and they have not been even started to execute 715 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:53,734 because this is the purview of the committee. 716 00:32:54,367 --> 00:32:57,834 And I, I appreciate of course, everything 717 00:32:58,300 --> 00:33:00,934 that community members wish to do 718 00:33:00,934 --> 00:33:02,867 to support students in the district. 719 00:33:03,033 --> 00:33:04,634 I just wanna make sure that we 720 00:33:04,634 --> 00:33:07,033 as a committee are using our authority appropriately 721 00:33:07,133 --> 00:33:09,266 and for the safety and consideration of our 722 00:33:09,500 --> 00:33:10,500 - Students. 723 00:33:10,500 --> 00:33:11,734 Agreed. Thank you. I can't speak to the PTOs process 724 00:33:11,734 --> 00:33:13,066 of like fundraiser or anything like that, 725 00:33:13,066 --> 00:33:14,634 but for us, we're looking at parks 726 00:33:14,634 --> 00:33:17,300 and DPW about best place where this could go to, to, 727 00:33:17,367 --> 00:33:19,033 you know, let students have a enjoy 728 00:33:19,033 --> 00:33:20,233 the, the activity outside. 729 00:33:22,834 --> 00:33:25,000 - Okay. So we had a motion to approve. 730 00:33:25,834 --> 00:33:29,100 Does anybody else have any other questions? Okay. 731 00:33:29,634 --> 00:33:34,133 All in favor? That passes any abstentions ab Okay, 732 00:33:34,133 --> 00:33:37,266 that passes with five in favor and one abstention. 733 00:33:39,066 --> 00:33:42,166 Okay, next up. Somebody pulled testing kits. 734 00:33:42,533 --> 00:33:44,133 Ms. Driscoll. Yeah. 735 00:33:44,133 --> 00:33:48,634 - Happy to speak to that. What are these? Sorry. Thank you. 736 00:33:48,867 --> 00:33:50,233 I like don't speak acronyms. Sorry. 737 00:33:50,567 --> 00:33:52,133 - No, that's fine. Thank you. Great question. 738 00:33:52,066 --> 00:33:55,900 So the, and I would defer to Superintendent Berman for more, 739 00:33:55,900 --> 00:34:00,467 but it's, it's the materials they use for assessing students 740 00:34:00,734 --> 00:34:02,367 for special education supports, 741 00:34:02,367 --> 00:34:03,934 potential special education supports 742 00:34:04,066 --> 00:34:06,467 and Superintendent Berman can, can be a great resource. 743 00:34:06,567 --> 00:34:08,867 - The evaluation process for special education eligibility, 744 00:34:08,934 --> 00:34:10,867 many of these are test kits 745 00:34:10,867 --> 00:34:14,734 that are assessing cognitive abilities, academic abilities, 746 00:34:14,867 --> 00:34:16,266 different speech 747 00:34:16,266 --> 00:34:17,900 and language pathologists may use something. 748 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,567 So, so our specific special 749 00:34:21,066 --> 00:34:23,266 education related service providers 750 00:34:23,300 --> 00:34:25,000 and they do have expiration dates 751 00:34:25,533 --> 00:34:27,066 and then new testing kits come out. 752 00:34:27,066 --> 00:34:28,867 So we purchase new ones and then we obviously need 753 00:34:28,867 --> 00:34:31,166 to dispose of the ones that are out of date. 754 00:34:31,700 --> 00:34:33,433 - Okay. That's very helpful. I heard the why. 755 00:34:33,700 --> 00:34:35,166 - Yes. - Is it a book? 756 00:34:35,500 --> 00:34:38,700 Is it a, like what is, is it a tangible thing? What is it? 757 00:34:39,033 --> 00:34:41,233 - Yes. So often, so often a lot of these have moved 758 00:34:41,233 --> 00:34:44,266 to online pieces, but like students are still writing. 759 00:34:44,266 --> 00:34:46,000 There's certain like protocols 760 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:47,000 and different things that we will, 761 00:34:47,100 --> 00:34:48,133 but it's like, yes, it's a book. 762 00:34:48,133 --> 00:34:49,734 It's a manual. Okay. 763 00:34:49,834 --> 00:34:51,066 Essentially that someone 764 00:34:51,100 --> 00:34:53,467 who is assessing a student would follow 765 00:34:53,634 --> 00:34:55,133 and then there's like a scoring guide 766 00:34:55,133 --> 00:34:56,266 that goes along with it. 767 00:34:56,367 --> 00:35:01,033 So they're in like, like almost like binder type boxes 768 00:35:01,533 --> 00:35:04,166 and the person who's assessing come picks it up 769 00:35:04,166 --> 00:35:06,233 and borrows it and brings it back when they're done. 770 00:35:06,867 --> 00:35:09,000 So yes, it is actually a tangible thing 771 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:10,266 that we are disposing of. Okay. 772 00:35:10,266 --> 00:35:12,934 - Now I can visualize it. Yes. I'm, I'm in my happy place. 773 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,133 I, I I had to move outta conceptual into 774 00:35:15,133 --> 00:35:16,233 like, kit do you touch it? 775 00:35:16,233 --> 00:35:17,934 Like, so thank you for that. 776 00:35:18,300 --> 00:35:20,333 - Hey, any, any other questions about the kits? 777 00:35:21,867 --> 00:35:22,867 Anybody wanna make a motion? 778 00:35:23,100 --> 00:35:26,133 I'll Motion to 779 00:35:27,033 --> 00:35:28,033 prove by Ms. 780 00:35:28,033 --> 00:35:31,934 Driscoll, seconded by Ms. Razzi Thomas, any discussion? 781 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:34,467 All in favor? Any opposition? Okay. 782 00:35:34,467 --> 00:35:37,934 And that passes unanimously. Okay. 783 00:35:38,667 --> 00:35:43,033 Alright, so now we are going to discuss the reasons 784 00:35:43,133 --> 00:35:44,266 for our executive session. 785 00:35:45,700 --> 00:35:47,834 The first reason to go in executive session is 786 00:35:47,834 --> 00:35:49,734 to conduct a strategy sessions in preparation 787 00:35:49,734 --> 00:35:51,567 for negotiations with non-union personnel. 788 00:35:52,133 --> 00:35:53,734 Can Kelly? The second is 789 00:35:53,734 --> 00:35:57,700 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations 790 00:35:57,700 --> 00:35:59,033 with non-union personnel. 791 00:35:59,033 --> 00:36:03,000 Linda Chase and Mark Kurbo for the job share position 792 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:04,533 of special education director. 793 00:36:04,934 --> 00:36:06,533 At the conclusion of executive session, 794 00:36:06,700 --> 00:36:08,033 we will come back into session 795 00:36:09,333 --> 00:36:10,634 and potentially consider 796 00:36:10,634 --> 00:36:12,033 what is occurred in executive session 797 00:36:12,033 --> 00:36:14,066 and then we'll likely adjourn for the night. 798 00:36:14,367 --> 00:36:17,000 So is anybody want a motion to go into executive session? 799 00:36:17,500 --> 00:36:20,700 Okay. Made by Ms. Razzie Thomas, seconded by Mr. Hartman. 800 00:36:20,700 --> 00:36:22,066 Ms. O'Connor, would you please call the role 801 00:36:22,367 --> 00:36:23,367 - Ms. 802 00:36:23,367 --> 00:36:25,734 Driscoll? Yes. Mr. Hartman? Yes. Ms. Hollerin? Yes. 803 00:36:25,867 --> 00:36:29,367 Mr. Kelly? Yes. Ms. Leo? Yes. Ms. Razzie Thomas? Yes. 804 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:31,867 - Okay. We're now going into executive session. 805 00:36:32,433 --> 00:36:34,233 As I mentioned, we will come back in 806 00:36:34,667 --> 00:36:36,767 what I expect would be a very brief return 807 00:36:37,066 --> 00:36:38,066 from executive session. 808 00:36:38,233 --> 00:36:41,367 So thank you. We're back from executive session. 809 00:36:42,467 --> 00:36:45,033 We have two remaining items on the agenda coming out 810 00:36:45,033 --> 00:36:46,300 of executive session tonight. 811 00:36:47,266 --> 00:36:50,133 The first one is to 812 00:36:51,300 --> 00:36:55,033 address the contract with non-union personnel, Ken Kelly, 813 00:36:55,934 --> 00:36:59,634 that the committee addressed in, in executive session. 814 00:36:59,634 --> 00:37:03,467 Would anybody like to make a motion, a motion by Mr. Hartman 815 00:37:03,467 --> 00:37:05,266 to approve the contract for Ken Kelly? 816 00:37:05,266 --> 00:37:09,100 Seconded by Ms. Rossley Thomas. Any discussion? 817 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:11,500 Ms. O'Connor, would you please call the role 818 00:37:11,700 --> 00:37:12,700 - Mr. Hartman? 819 00:37:12,700 --> 00:37:16,100 Yes. Ms. Holleran? Yes. Mr. Kelly? Yes. Ms. Leo? Yes. Ms. 820 00:37:16,100 --> 00:37:17,233 Rosie Thomas? Yes. 821 00:37:17,634 --> 00:37:21,000 - Okay. That passes 4, 2 0. Okay. 822 00:37:21,066 --> 00:37:25,100 Next up we have contracts for non-union personnel. 823 00:37:25,100 --> 00:37:28,500 Linda Chase and Mark Kbo for the job share position 824 00:37:28,567 --> 00:37:30,100 of special education director. 825 00:37:30,367 --> 00:37:32,066 This was approved in executive session. 826 00:37:32,066 --> 00:37:35,033 Would anybody like to make a motion? Okay. Motion by Ms. 827 00:37:35,500 --> 00:37:40,000 Leo to approve. To approve? Yes. Okay. Seconded by Ms. 828 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:41,100 Holleran. Any discussion? 829 00:37:41,367 --> 00:37:43,300 Okay, Ms. O'Connor, would you please call the role Mr. 830 00:37:43,300 --> 00:37:46,266 - Driscoll? Yes. Mr. Hartman? Yes. Ms. Holleran? Yes. 831 00:37:46,333 --> 00:37:49,934 Mr. Kelly? Yes. Ms. Leo? Yes. Ms. Razzi Thomas? Yes. 832 00:37:50,033 --> 00:37:52,567 - Okay. And that also passes unanimously. 833 00:37:53,133 --> 00:37:57,100 So thank you for that. That concludes our business. 834 00:37:57,100 --> 00:37:59,000 Would anybody like to make a motion to adjourn? 835 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:01,000 Motion to adjourn. Mr. Ajour by Ms. Razzi Thomas. 836 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:03,300 Seconded by Ms. Holleran. 837 00:38:03,333 --> 00:38:06,000 All in favor and we are now adjourned. Thank you.