[3:54] Mhm.
[7:44] » Mhm.
[15:09] » Okay, good evening everyone. I'm Mayor
[15:11] Ted Bettencourt. I'd like to call the
[15:12] regular school committee meeting to
[15:14] order. Today is Wednesday, June 24th,
[15:16] 2026.
[15:18] And we are beginning our meeting tonight
[15:20] at a 7:12 p.m.
[15:23] Uh tomorrow is the last day of school
[15:24] and we have a lot of ground to cover
[15:26] today. So, look forward to a uh good
[15:28] meeting with everyone. Uh as always, our
[15:31] meetings are being broadcast live on PVD
[15:33] TV. Uh minutes tonight are being taken
[15:35] by our recording secretary as our as
[15:37] always, Laura Bow. And we are going to
[15:40] have the as we always do every agenda,
[15:42] we have an opportunity for public
[15:43] participation. Anyone here that would
[15:45] like to speak at that time, microphone
[15:47] will be open as well as anybody that
[15:49] would like to join us on an online
[15:51] platform, we can welcome them in at that
[15:53] time.
[15:54] Um I'd like to start off with a If
[15:56] everybody could please stand for a
[15:57] moment of silence and then we'll do the
[15:58] pledge of allegiance, please.
[16:13] Thank you.
[16:15] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[16:18] United States of America and to the
[16:20] republic for which it stands, one nation
[16:23] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[16:26] justice for all.
[16:31] I guess there's no sound on the PVD TV.
[16:53] Testing one.
[18:41] » All right, I think
[18:42] we're back.
[18:43] >> We're back.
[18:44] >> All right. Excellent. Um
[18:46] we do have minutes from the June 9th,
[18:48] 2026 regular school committee meeting.
[18:51] I'd open those up for discussion and or
[18:53] vote. Mrs. Dunn?
[18:55] >> Motion to receive and approve.
[18:58] >> Second.
[18:59] >> Thank you.
[19:00] I further motion by Mrs. Dunn for
[19:01] approval of the June 9th, 2026 regular
[19:04] school committee meeting
[19:06] seconded by Mr. Amico. Open that up for
[19:08] discussion. Ms. Melman?
[19:11] >> I do have some concerns about the
[19:12] minutes.
[19:13] Um in particular
[19:16] when there was a discussion about
[19:17] anti-Semitism and the issues being
[19:19] addressed within the district. Um Dr. Vidal had an opportunity to share
[19:24] what was happening and I thought that
[19:26] was wonderful. Um what was not captured
[19:29] in there and in particular when we're
[19:31] talking about a community that lately is
[19:33] being feeling unseen, unheard, and
[19:35] unvalued, what's missing in there was
[19:37] the discussion, albeit briefly, about
[19:40] the swastika that was on the ball field.
[19:43] And in in addition to that as of recent, I
[19:47] also know that there were some
[19:49] words that were there as well. That was
[19:51] not reflected in the minutes and I think
[19:53] it's incredibly problematic.
[19:55] It did make it to the news. Various
[19:57] local um
[19:59] reporters reported on it, but it's not
[20:01] in the minutes and I find it troubling.
[20:03] And I know also, Mayor, that you were
[20:05] looking into that, but um I do see it as
[20:08] a problem of something particularly with
[20:10] that gravity of not being in the
[20:12] minutes.
[20:14] So, I'll be voting no.
[20:15] >> I do remember that that was discussed.
[20:16] Do we want to make a motion to add that
[20:19] item to the minutes? I'm certainly good
[20:21] with that. I think that should be in
[20:22] there.
[20:23] I remember it certainly being discussed.
[20:25] >> It was.
[20:26] >> Yep. I knew I do know that the police
[20:27] were looking into it and there was so
[20:29] but yeah, I I think that should be in
[20:31] there and noted.
[20:33] So,
[20:34] uh could you add to the motion just the
[20:37] um
[20:38] uh discussion um of the
[20:41] uh swastika on the
[20:44] sports field sports field that that was
[20:47] uh discussed at the meeting as well.
[20:49] Mr. Amico?
[20:50] >> Through the chair to the committee as
[20:51] well, if we could also add um
[20:54] Dr. Vidal and his team really put
[20:55] together a uh
[20:57] a wonderful um
[20:59] was it the next next morning or a couple
[21:01] of days later we had the uh foundation
[21:03] come in and and have some discussions
[21:05] with students. I think we could add add
[21:08] something like that. Maybe if you could
[21:10] um
[21:11] give that to Ms. Bell
[21:12] um
[21:13] off air. That way we can put that in
[21:15] there as well. Add that.
[21:17] >> And so that's under item number four in
[21:19] the superintendent's report. We can just
[21:20] expand that paragraph.
[21:21] >> Perfect. Thank you.
[21:21] >> way everything will be included.
[21:23] >> Perfect. Thank you. Great. So, the
[21:24] motion's just been amended to make sure
[21:26] that um
[21:27] that item is mentioned in the minutes as
[21:29] it should be. Um
[21:31] roll call vote. Is that okay, Ms.
[21:32] Millman?
[21:32] >> Yep.
[21:33] >> Roll call vote, please.
[21:35] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[21:36] >> Yes.
[21:37] >> Mr. Olimpio.
[21:37] >> Yes.
[21:38] >> Ms. Millman.
[21:39] Yes.
[21:41] Mrs. Cox.
[21:44] Yes.
[21:44] >> Mr. Amico.
[21:46] >> Yes.
[21:53] » Thank you.
[21:54] Uh next item, approval of bills. We do
[21:56] have four warrants today. I'll turn over
[21:57] to you, Mr. Olimpio.
[21:59] >> Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to
[22:01] approve warrant number 6399
[22:04] in the amount of $10,365.30
[22:09] dated June 24th, 2026 subject to audit.
[22:13] >> Second.
[22:15] >> Okay, thank you. You've heard the motion
[22:16] by Mr. Olimpio for approval of warrant
[22:17] number 6399 seconded by Mr. Amico.
[22:21] Roll call vote, please.
[22:23] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[22:24] >> Yes.
[22:25] >> Mr. Olimpio.
[22:25] >> Yes.
[22:26] >> Ms. Millman.
[22:27] >> Yes. Mrs. Carpe- Oh, sorry. Mrs. Cox.
[22:29] >> Yes.
[22:29] >> Mr. Amico.
[22:30] >> Yes.
[22:31] >> I'd like to make a motion to approve
[22:33] warrant number 6402 in the amount of
[22:35] $1,346,018.60
[22:40] dated June 24th, 2026 subject to audit.
[22:44] >> Second.
[22:46] >> Thank you. You've heard the motion by
[22:47] Mr. Olimpio for approval of warrant
[22:49] number 6402.
[22:51] A motion was seconded by Mr. Amico.
[22:54] Roll call vote, please.
[22:55] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[22:56] >> Yes.
[22:56] >> Mr. Olimpio.
[22:57] >> Yes.
[22:57] >> Ms. Millman.
[22:58] >> Yes. Mrs. Cox.
[22:59] >> Yes.
[23:00] >> Mr. Amico.
[23:00] >> Yes.
[23:02] >> I'd like to make a motion to approve
[23:04] warrant number 6403
[23:06] in the amount of $56,156.18
[23:11] dated June 24th, 2026 subject to audit.
[23:15] >> Second.
[23:17] >> Thank you for the motion by Mr. Limpio
[23:19] for approval of warrant number 6403
[23:22] seconded by Mr. Amico. Roll call vote,
[23:24] please.
[23:25] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[23:27] >> Yes.
[23:28] >> Mr. Limpio.
[23:29] >> Yes.
[23:29] >> Ms. Lowman.
[23:31] Yes. Mrs. Cox.
[23:32] >> Yes.
[23:33] >> Mr. Amico.
[23:33] >> Yes.
[23:35] I'd like to make a motion to approve
[23:37] warrant number 6404 in the amount of
[23:39] $1,421
[23:43] dated June 24th, 2026 subject to audit.
[23:47] >> Second.
[23:50] » Great. Thank you for the motion by Mr.
[23:52] Limpio for approval of warrant number
[23:53] 6404
[23:55] seconded by Mr. Amico.
[23:57] Roll call vote for approval, please.
[23:59] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[23:59] >> Yes.
[24:00] >> Mr. Limpio.
[24:00] >> Yes.
[24:01] >> Ms. Lowman. Yes. Mrs. Cox.
[24:03] >> Yes.
[24:03] >> Mr. Amico.
[24:04] >> Yes.
[24:06] » Great. Thank you. If there's no
[24:07] objection, we have a number of students
[24:09] here. I'd like to go to our students.
[24:11] Um if there's no objection, go out of
[24:13] order, go to public participation at
[24:16] this moment. Um so, we'll go to item
[24:18] number five. No objection?
[24:21] And uh excellent. So, if uh if I know we
[24:24] have our
[24:25] new finance director um
[24:27] who's going to who's going to work with
[24:29] our audio just just for a minute uh
[24:30] which which we appreciate uh
[24:33] So,
[24:35] we are fortunate that the that the
[24:36] budget was passed last night and so, I
[24:38] thank the school committee and the city
[24:39] council for that um and
[24:43] in that budget was a new performing arts
[24:44] director. So, Mr. Vasconcelos is here to
[24:47] talk a little bit about um some of the
[24:49] plans he has for music for K through 8
[24:52] and some of the support that he has. I
[24:53] know we want to hear from our families
[24:55] as well uh but I wanted to have
[24:58] uh
[24:58] Danny V, our music director, come before
[25:00] us and give us a little overview and
[25:02] context. Um and then we'd love to hear
[25:04] from our students as well.
[25:06] >> Good afternoon, everybody. It's a
[25:08] pleasure to be here. Um this is my first
[25:09] Well, first time here as director of
[25:10] fine arts. I want to thank all of you
[25:13] for doing such tremendous work for the
[25:15] city of Peabody. I know it's not easy. I
[25:18] watch these I come here every so often I
[25:20] watch them from home and um I want to
[25:22] thank all of you for doing the hard
[25:25] work, the real lift. It's not always
[25:27] easy. And boy, have I learned that in
[25:29] the last week. Woo.
[25:31] So, um my plans or our plans for the um
[25:35] for the staffing um especially at the
[25:38] elementary at the elementary level. Um
[25:40] the last few years it's been very
[25:42] difficult
[25:43] at the elementary level. We've uh had um
[25:45] we had a
[25:46] uh
[25:47] art teacher uh teach half art, half
[25:50] music. Uh she did a great job, but it
[25:53] just wasn't the right fit. It was We
[25:55] weren't getting the proper and
[25:57] high-quality instruction we want. So,
[26:00] this year we have decided to um
[26:02] restructure and be very efficient in our
[26:04] structuring, especially at the
[26:06] elementary level. At the elementary
[26:08] level, we need five
[26:10] um five teachers to cover a hundred and
[26:16] I think it's a hundred and thirty-eight
[26:18] classes. That leaves us with a around a
[26:22] teacher-to-student ratio about uh mid
[26:24] five hundreds, five twelve, five
[26:27] fifteen, around right there.
[26:29] Currently, we only have four.
[26:31] And that's that just uh four music
[26:33] teachers can only cover a hundred and
[26:35] twenty. So, we're short some. So, and so
[26:38] we restructured. And the plan is to
[26:41] bring a Higgins uh teacher music teacher
[26:44] from the Higgins to the elementary
[26:45] system so that we can have five art
[26:49] teachers for the all the schools and
[26:51] five music teachers for all the schools.
[26:53] Doing this, we are a actually able to um
[26:59] to
[27:00] lessen the burden of uh traveling in the
[27:03] middle of the day.
[27:04] We're also able to leave a teacher to
[27:07] have a teacher
[27:08] dedicate to the Brown School, which we
[27:10] can actually have them do the um general
[27:13] ed classes and the ascend classes for
[27:17] our vulnerable students with AS with
[27:19] ASD.
[27:20] Um because
[27:22] I find it really important that those
[27:24] kids, those wonderful children,
[27:27] get access to music and get access to
[27:29] art with students who they're
[27:31] comfortable with in a smaller classroom
[27:34] environment instead of second graders
[27:36] with kindergarteners and then they go to
[27:37] the concert and they don't know the the
[27:39] songs and sometimes you just you have to
[27:42] approach it differently. In a room with
[27:43] that many students, with 23 and more
[27:46] around there or it's just not the best
[27:49] situation. And uh you know, by bringing
[27:51] someone from the Higgins into uh the
[27:53] elementary system, we can alleviate some
[27:55] of those problems and and really bring
[27:57] high quality fine arts education to
[28:00] those students.
[28:02] >> [clears throat]
[28:03] >> We also end up uh having and um we have
[28:06] a wonderful teacher at the Higgins. We
[28:08] have a lot of great staff there and
[28:10] bringing one in, I think, is going to uh
[28:12] really help us, really help us in this.
[28:14] So, that are our that's our plans for at
[28:17] this time.
[28:20] Thank you.
[28:26] » Thank you, Mr. V. Are there any Anybody
[28:29] else who would like to come and speak?
[28:30] Any of our students or anybody who would
[28:32] like to come forward?
[28:37] Yeah, you can all come up together.
[28:48] Whoever's is if you could just introduce
[28:50] yourself and if you just press the
[28:51] button on the right.
[28:57] » Is it good?
[28:58] All right.
[29:00] Good evening. Good evening, everybody.
[29:02] My name is Leah Blanco and I am in the
[29:04] seventh grade. Well, tomorrow's the last
[29:05] day of school, so as soon as I walk out
[29:07] the doors, I'm going to be an eighth
[29:08] grader.
[29:11] I go to and I go to the Haggensville
[29:12] school. You probably recognize me for
[29:14] speaking at the last student committee
[29:16] for Mr. Simmons' retirement on May 21st,
[29:19] but I was also advocating for the PVD
[29:21] High School and my middle school. But
[29:24] today, I'm here for something different.
[29:26] Mr. Ev-
[29:27] Oh, shoot. Um
[29:29] I'm here for something different. Today,
[29:32] I'm here to defend one of my favorite
[29:33] teachers and my middle school itself
[29:36] and for the people that are interested
[29:38] in the arts like me.
[29:39] Basically, in the last 24 hours, there
[29:41] has been some some things that um have
[29:44] been told that Mr. Every, a current
[29:46] teacher of mine that I have right now,
[29:48] is being moved to the Carroll Elementary
[29:50] School. When I found this out, I was
[29:51] devastated. Mr. Every is literally just
[29:55] like Mr. Simmons, he cannot be replaced.
[29:56] He's literally a unicorn.
[29:58] Um if you didn't know, one of my friends
[30:01] who is actually right here made a
[30:04] petition and went around the school and
[30:07] asked 200 people to sign her petition
[30:10] for Mr. Every to not go to the
[30:12] elementary school.
[30:13] Um
[30:14] and yeah, Mr. Every is probably one of
[30:17] my favorite teachers that I know and I
[30:21] wouldn't have been here today sitting in
[30:23] the seat if it weren't for Mr. Every. He
[30:25] went out of his way and email emailed my
[30:27] mom to let me come here and I explained
[30:30] to her about this meeting. He explained
[30:32] to um my mom about this meeting and I
[30:36] eventually made it here. I bet he's
[30:39] really proud of me for speaking up today
[30:41] and probably really proud of everyone
[30:43] else that here even being here speaking
[30:45] up today as well. Um he's probably one
[30:47] of my favorite teachers and one of the
[30:49] most supportive people I know and one of
[30:51] the nicest people I know. My class has
[30:53] probably been really rowdy this year and
[30:55] really loud but every day that I looked
[30:58] at Mr. Every he was never upset, never
[31:00] mad. He was always so sweet and joyful
[31:02] and he would never roll his eyes.
[31:04] I remember about 2 weeks ago I probably
[31:06] had one of the worst weeks of my life
[31:07] and I wasn't in his class for about 4
[31:10] days and we had a quiz that week as well
[31:12] and I came back on a Friday. Friday was
[31:15] the day of the quiz and I was not
[31:17] prepared. I didn't know what to do. I
[31:19] was panicked and then I heard from him,
[31:22] "Since you haven't been here all week I
[31:23] will excuse you from the test." I didn't
[31:25] know what to say or what to do. I
[31:26] obviously wanted to take the test
[31:28] because I didn't want to um make my
[31:31] family mad or like fail. So with this
[31:34] sweet kind offer I ended up taking the
[31:36] test. The fact that Mr. Every's moving
[31:38] schools this year the year I'm about to
[31:41] go into eighth grade really devastates
[31:43] me because he is offering a lot of
[31:45] classes for the eighth graders like
[31:46] guitar etc. etc. And he's offering
[31:50] guitar for people that want to be
[31:51] musicians like him.
[31:52] If you didn't know some people in my
[31:55] family played guitar. One of them was my
[31:57] uncle. My uncle was really happy when I
[31:59] told him I wanted to play guitar when I
[32:01] was about 11. About 3 weeks ago on my
[32:03] 13th birthday I got a guitar and I found
[32:07] it on the couch. He really wanted me to
[32:08] learn guitar because I always wanted to
[32:10] be like him and he was like a role model
[32:12] to me. After my uncle left the house I
[32:15] found a card in the guitar case. I wish
[32:17] I had it with me right now. Um I would
[32:19] read it. Um and it only said one
[32:21] sentence in it and it probably changed
[32:24] my whole music career. It said, "Leah, I
[32:26] hope your music career can um learn and
[32:28] grow."
[32:30] That was it.
[32:31] Um the next day I brought the guitar to
[32:33] school and asked Mr. Every to tune it
[32:35] for me. He recommended me joining guitar
[32:37] class in the eighth grade. I obviously
[32:39] said yes to make my uncle proud he
[32:41] because he wanted me to learn guitar and
[32:43] I knew a lot of my other friends wanted
[32:45] to play guitar as well and they didn't
[32:47] probably even know one single chord. And
[32:50] they wanted to do the guitar class in
[32:51] eighth grade. But he also led tech crew
[32:54] at the time. And he
[32:56] worked on the set during
[32:58] like the lights in the stage. Um during
[33:01] our this year's production Singin' in
[33:02] the Rain. I played Zelda Zanders and are
[33:05] behind the scenes and our set looked
[33:06] amazing. But now that he's leaving we
[33:09] lose a bunch of things. Kids won't be
[33:11] kids that can't get guitar lessons
[33:13] outside of school will not know how to
[33:14] play guitar if they're willing to
[33:16] um take guitar lessons this year.
[33:19] Without him. We will not have a good set
[33:21] design for we will not have a good um
[33:23] set for our drama club without him. We
[33:26] will not have a really good teacher that
[33:28] will make us smile every day anymore
[33:29] without him. We will lose a bunch of
[33:31] things if he's not here.
[33:33] Um
[33:34] And I feel like and Like I said um all
[33:38] the people that are here are mostly
[33:40] going to eighth grade mostly. Um
[33:43] And it's it will be our last year at
[33:45] Hagans. I know um a lot of people
[33:49] I know a lot of people have a different
[33:50] opinions but this is my opinion. We
[33:52] won't have a good year a good last year
[33:55] if he's not there. He he was our light
[33:57] when we were dark. He supported us and
[34:00] made us feel like a person again. He
[34:01] made he made us feel seen and heard. But
[34:03] now that he's leaving nobody will get
[34:05] the opportunity. The sixth graders the
[34:07] upcoming sixth graders won't be able to
[34:09] have a good opportunity to see what a
[34:10] good teacher was like.
[34:12] Um the seventh graders will miss him and
[34:13] not probably have not have him anymore.
[34:15] And the eighth graders won't get to
[34:17] um off get Oh my god. Do the programs
[34:20] that they offer that he offers. I know
[34:23] that I know we are trying to work on our
[34:24] budget and I would like this to be
[34:27] reconsidered and thought a little more.
[34:28] Like I said last time don't let the
[34:30] outlet disconnect reconsider all of
[34:32] this. Please protect the arts and a
[34:34] losing Mr. Avery is not complete at all.
[34:37] I'm going to make the same little joke
[34:38] like I made last time when I was talking
[34:40] about Mr. Simmons' retirement. Mr. Avery
[34:43] leaving is like not complete. It's like
[34:45] eating a cone without ice cream.
[34:47] Um the only reconsideration that I
[34:51] couldn't probably think of, well, I
[34:53] can't really think of it because I'm not
[34:54] a teacher and I don't know how it works.
[34:56] So, I don't know if it's really that
[34:58] hard or not. Um maybe hiring someone
[35:00] else at the Carol School
[35:02] and maybe keep Mr. Avery at the middle
[35:04] school, but I'm not a teacher and I
[35:06] don't know how that's going to work
[35:07] because I don't know if it's that easy
[35:09] or not.
[35:10] But, yeah. Thank you for your time.
[35:13] >> Thank you, Leah.
[35:19] » Hello. My name is Alicia Sandair. I've
[35:21] been in the music program at Higgins
[35:23] Middle School for the past 3 years and
[35:25] now I'm a rising freshman. All the music
[35:28] teachers at Higgins have all helped me
[35:29] grow and learn as a musician. Taking one
[35:32] of the music teachers away is a really
[35:34] bad decision. As important
[35:38] Mr. Avery's really important for our
[35:40] music program. Mr. Avery runs the tech
[35:43] crew at
[35:44] Gosh.
[35:45] Mr. Avery runs the tech crew at Higgins.
[35:47] He teaches four general music classes
[35:49] and one guitar class. Everyone I know
[35:52] who's taken his classes learned
[35:53] something greatly even if they don't
[35:54] want to become a musician.
[35:57] A good reason to have the music classes
[35:59] is that it is scientifically proven that
[36:01] music benefits your brain in many ways
[36:04] including strengthening your memory,
[36:06] helps with multitasking, and can reduce
[36:08] stress.
[36:09] Helps form new
[36:12] connections and can raise your overall
[36:14] IQ. These benefits help people of all
[36:16] ages, which is why music is important to
[36:19] have in both elementary school and
[36:21] middle school, which I do understand
[36:23] that we have three other music teachers
[36:24] at Higgins, but Mr. G Mr. Gianopoulos
[36:27] strictly only teaches concert band,
[36:29] which isn't very accessible for
[36:31] everybody as not everybody wants to like
[36:33] learn an instrument. And Mr. Stone only
[36:36] teaches choir and theater, which isn't cuz most
[36:40] people a lot of people don't want to
[36:41] take choir.
[36:44] So, Mr. Every teaching his music class is
[36:51] greatly beneficial for everybody in the
[36:53] school.
[36:56] Mrs. Mrs. Jones has been teaching
[37:01] Mrs.
[37:03] Jones teaches one of her
[37:07] Mrs. Jones teaches two music classes and
[37:09] two beginner classes for music. Since
[37:12] the fifth grade music program was cut a
[37:13] few years back, Mrs. Jones has had Mrs.
[37:16] Jones has had to move up to the middle
[37:17] school.
[37:22] Which
[37:25] Having Having Mr. Every gone would mean
[37:27] that Mrs. Jones would have to teach
[37:30] general art and she wouldn't be able to
[37:31] focus on teaching beginners how to play
[37:35] their instruments.
[37:37] Mr. Every personally runs tech crew.
[37:39] Without Mr. Every, most of the
[37:41] operations in Higgins drama club would
[37:43] not be able to run. One example is the
[37:45] lighting and the sound crew.
[37:47] In the start of the year, Mr. Every
[37:48] teaches them how to operate the lighting
[37:50] and the sound panel. This is a very
[37:52] difficult task that they are able to by
[37:55] the end of the school year where our
[37:56] drama club puts on a production. Another
[37:58] job of the tech tech crew is that Mr.
[38:02] Every manages is making sure that all
[38:04] the props and set are sets are perfect.
[38:06] As an actor, going on stage is very
[38:08] stressful. And Mr. Every making sure
[38:11] that everything is perfect by the time
[38:13] of our show makes it a lot less
[38:15] stressful.
[38:18] And I have one question for the school
[38:20] board for the school committee.
[38:24] Why is performing arts always getting
[38:27] this
[38:28] Like, why is performing arts always I
[38:30] feel like getting attacked? Cuz I feel
[38:33] like it's almost like every year
[38:35] something happens in performing arts
[38:37] where it's
[38:38] not helping
[38:40] Something happens to performing arts.
[38:42] I've seen a lot of people who grow out
[38:45] of their shell. This program is
[38:46] beneficial to so many people that I
[38:48] know. I don't understand why we are
[38:50] always the first people to be targeted.
[38:55] Everybody's voice should be heard. And I
[38:58] personally made a petition that has
[39:00] about one I made the petition, I think,
[39:02] about 7 hours ago and it has over 100
[39:06] signatures now.
[39:07] This, in my personal opinion, proves how
[39:09] important Mr. Every is to our school and
[39:12] our community. Thank you for your time.
[39:15] >> Thank you.
[39:19] Welcome.
[39:22] » Hello. My name is Serafina Di Gregorio
[39:24] and I'm a seventh grader here at
[39:26] Higgins. And today, I wanted to bring
[39:28] forward and present a concern
[39:30] of many students.
[39:32] For Mr. Every, one of our music
[39:33] teachers, me and my friend Sophia
[39:35] Downing put together this petition. It
[39:38] started as some silly idea yesterday at
[39:39] lunch, but now it's turned into a
[39:41] showcase of determination, resilience,
[39:43] and passion for musical education. It
[39:46] was incredibly last minute and getting
[39:48] 200 signatures in one day was certainly
[39:49] not easy. I'm so proud of all the
[39:51] teamwork we had, all the help we got,
[39:53] and really thankful for each signature.
[39:55] Music is very important to me and many
[39:57] of my friends and classmates, and it
[39:59] felt like a let down hearing the news of
[40:00] his relocation. But going around the
[40:02] halls collecting signatures was such a
[40:04] hopeful feeling. There's not much
[40:06] convincing I can do with my own voice,
[40:08] which is why me and Sophia felt it was
[40:09] important to ask for others' voices.
[40:11] Next year, my friends and I were looking
[40:12] forward to taking a guitar class with
[40:13] him and being in the school musical.
[40:16] With him moving,
[40:17] we won't be able to experience these
[40:19] things. He runs the tech crew and
[40:20] teaches music for all grades, and it
[40:22] wouldn't feel the same without him
[40:23] teaching. With that, I hope me and my
[40:25] classmates' voices can make a difference
[40:27] in this matter because our effort and
[40:29] hope for this has been great to
[40:30] experience, and I want it to count for
[40:31] something. Thank you.
[40:34] >> Thank you.
[40:42] » Hello. My name is Gabriella Monjalo.
[40:45] For me, as a person, music matters to me
[40:47] a lot, and I know for a lot of other
[40:49] people it matters, too. For some people,
[40:52] it's their only outlet. Some people may
[40:54] have bad experiences at home,
[40:56] and they may only have a teacher to rely
[40:59] on. By removing Mr. Every from the
[41:00] middle school, you don't know how many
[41:02] trusts can be lost. Some people are too
[41:05] scared to talk to their guidance
[41:06] counselor, and some people are too
[41:08] scared to talk to their families
[41:11] or even friends.
[41:12] Not only is he beneficial to drama club,
[41:15] which I was personally in,
[41:18] I mean, without him, who would be
[41:19] controlling the lights? I know I can't
[41:21] do that. And he taught my friend Koda
[41:23] very well.
[41:25] Now,
[41:25] if you were to really think about it,
[41:28] especially like me, I am a very shy
[41:31] person, and the people that I reach out
[41:33] to
[41:34] are usually the people I trust the most,
[41:36] and I know tons of people who trust Mr.
[41:38] Every with their information.
[41:41] I think that this
[41:43] decision is not helpful at all for
[41:45] people like that, and not helpful for
[41:47] the music program.
[41:49] By losing Mr. Every, it's like missing a
[41:51] piece in a puzzle. The puzzle cannot be
[41:53] complete if not all pieces are there. By
[41:56] then, you may as well just destroy it.
[41:59] Also,
[42:01] our music,
[42:02] well, you know, the music program at all
[42:04] the schools is already collapsing very
[42:08] much each year. This is because people
[42:10] don't realize how much arts and music
[42:12] benefit people. It helps them express
[42:15] themselves. It helps them express their
[42:18] creativity.
[42:19] And by taking away someone
[42:21] who is really important to that matter,
[42:24] you are destroying the minds of many
[42:26] children who may have gotten a chance of
[42:29] creativity or spark from music or arts.
[42:33] I think that we should rethink this
[42:35] decision.
[42:36] Of course, I'm only just a child, so I
[42:38] wouldn't know much about how this works.
[42:41] But, I do think that all things should
[42:44] be reconsidered,
[42:46] especially this major decision.
[42:49] And in chances like this, if we are
[42:51] trying to make budget cuts,
[42:53] sometimes we have to sacrifice more than
[42:56] just that.
[42:57] And by losing a teacher, that doesn't
[43:00] help a lot of people. Even some teachers
[43:03] may have a great connection with with
[43:05] Mr. Avery, and now they might not be
[43:06] able to see him.
[43:08] I think that this this decision to be
[43:10] rethinked, but of course, this is your
[43:12] decision on the matter.
[43:15] Thank you.
[43:27] » Hi everyone. I'm Lindsey Hatton. I am
[43:30] with the Higgins Performing Arts Parents
[43:32] Group. I'm also the volunteer
[43:34] choreographer for the show every year,
[43:36] um which is incredibly fun, by the way.
[43:38] Um I just wanted to thank you for
[43:40] listening to these students. They really
[43:41] said it all. Um Mr. Avery has a huge
[43:44] place in our hearts. He's very important
[43:46] to our school, to our show, to the
[43:48] technical crew who learns so much from
[43:50] him. Um so, I appreciate you listening
[43:53] to all the students, and just know how
[43:55] important he is.
[43:56] Thank you.
[44:05] » Hi, I'm Gina Miranda. I am the mother of
[44:07] Gabriella Mondello and um um
[44:10] we've been lucky that we reside in
[44:12] Peabody and she's had a great education
[44:14] up to seventh grade. I see the teachers
[44:16] in Peabody going way beyond
[44:19] what's expected of them to give these
[44:21] kids the best experience and I you know
[44:24] I understand you know
[44:26] there's not enough teachers for our
[44:28] elementary school and then here at the
[44:31] Haggerty's I just feel like we have the
[44:33] best group of teachers and individuals
[44:36] and to take one of those away is going
[44:38] to
[44:39] break that up but I know that Mr. Avery
[44:41] will do everything he can in his power
[44:43] to make sure that that doesn't happen
[44:45] and um
[44:47] you know I just want to commend every
[44:49] teacher and for the students in here
[44:51] speaking for the students and the choice
[44:53] for all of the Haggerty's music drama
[44:56] and um we're going to continue
[44:57] supporting them no matter what and
[45:00] just consider you know
[45:02] the decisions you make and then how it
[45:03] impacts the students. Thank you.
[45:15] » Well, thank you to all of our student
[45:18] speakers and and parents. That was
[45:20] excellent. Very well done.
[45:22] Anybody else who would like to speak at
[45:24] the this time? Microphone is open.
[45:28] Do we have any?
[45:34] And those petitions that were mentioned,
[45:36] if those petitions could be sent to
[45:39] Dr. Vidal's office, the superintendent,
[45:41] the petitions, those could be sent to
[45:43] Dr. Vidal's office. That'd be great.
[45:46] That'd be helpful.
[45:47] Okay, thank you.
[45:50] Anybody else who would like to speak?
[45:52] Okay, anybody online?
[46:01] Yeah.
[46:03] I want
[46:09] Okay.
[46:13] Next we're going to continued business.
[46:16] And
[46:18] First item is the Peabody Veterans
[46:19] Memorial High School MSBA project
[46:21] update, Mrs. Dunn.
[46:22] >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm very happy
[46:24] to report that we
[46:26] ended up last week having our
[46:28] appointment with the MSBA
[46:31] design panel selection board. There were
[46:34] uh
[46:35] 13 members of the MSBA and three members
[46:38] from from Peabody. We presented the um
[46:44] four candidates that had applied
[46:47] and the selection board went through
[46:48] them along with us and after a vote, the
[46:52] field was narrowed to two. So, the top
[46:55] two firms from that process have been
[46:58] moved forward and there will be a
[47:01] further process on the 14th of July at
[47:04] which time that 13-member board as well
[47:07] as the three representatives from
[47:08] Peabody will meet again, but we will be
[47:11] able to interview the two firms that
[47:14] uh have been selected to move forward
[47:17] and then at that time after the
[47:19] interviews and there is a lot of
[47:21] research going on right now regarding
[47:24] the projects that those firms have
[47:26] worked on, their references, um just the
[47:28] different types of work they have done
[47:30] and uh all of the subcontractors that
[47:33] they utilize. Those
[47:35] all go into the uh discussion that will
[47:38] come up on the 14th and then at that
[47:40] point we will know who our design team
[47:42] will be for the high school project.
[47:45] The uh school building committee is also
[47:47] planning several trips in the few in in
[47:50] the future, hopefully in the very near
[47:51] future, to go out and look at more
[47:53] schools just to look at the projects
[47:56] that are out there. We're trying to find
[47:58] projects that were completed by these
[48:00] firms as well as others because you can
[48:02] get all kinds of different ideas with
[48:04] all the different schools that we're
[48:06] looking at. So, we're moving forward and
[48:09] everything's going well and on time.
[48:12] So, I'm always happy to answer any
[48:13] questions if anyone has some. Thank you.
[48:17] >> Thank you, Mr. Dunn. Any questions?
[48:19] Okay.
[48:20] Uh next item I asked to remain on Mass
[48:22] Core. I know we spoke about it
[48:24] at length at the last meeting, but I I
[48:25] think we were awaiting maybe some
[48:27] guidance.
[48:29] Um so, is there an update that can be
[48:31] provided?
[48:31] >> And I do have the first item on the
[48:33] superintendent's report. We could roll
[48:34] this right in if that's okay, Mr. Mayor.
[48:36] >> I'm I'm fine with that.
[48:38] >> Thank you. Uh so, if we jump to the
[48:39] superintendent's report, Mr. Mayor, if
[48:40] that's okay.
[48:41] >> If no objection, no objection, we'll go
[48:43] right to that. It's a good idea.
[48:45] >> Excellent. So, the first item is the
[48:46] statewide graduation standards.
[48:48] Uh and so, in the written
[48:49] communications, the full report, the
[48:51] 140-page report uh that I emailed to you
[48:54] is in there. So, I'm not sure if
[48:55] everybody had a chance to read the
[48:57] entire thing, uh but I did give a a
[48:59] brief uh overview of of the areas. And
[49:02] really, the recommendations coming out
[49:03] of the state, uh there are four major
[49:05] recommendations. And the first one is
[49:07] the foundational coursework, and
[49:08] ensuring that all high schools have uh a
[49:11] complete foundational coursework, which
[49:13] includes Mass Core. Uh the completion
[49:15] date for this, they're asking us for the
[49:17] current seventh graders uh who are
[49:19] rising eighth graders, the class of
[49:21] 2031, for it to be fully implemented for
[49:23] their graduating class. And as as you
[49:25] know, uh Ms. Randall and Mrs. uh Finn
[49:29] were before us, and we have a a
[49:31] comprehensive plan to implement this in
[49:33] our program of studies moving forward
[49:34] with the class of 2030. Um so, we are
[49:36] prepared for that. I know that Ms. Dunn
[49:38] and Mr. Olimpio met earlier tonight with
[49:40] a number of policies. Um so, hopefully
[49:42] we'll uh be bringing that up during the
[49:44] policy piece as well and and for a first
[49:48] read. I'll give a quick overview of
[49:50] numbers two, three, and four, and then
[49:52] we can have a a little bit more of a
[49:53] robust discussion.
[49:54] Uh the the other items don't necessarily
[49:56] have a a similar timeline. Uh it's more
[49:59] of these are the recommendations, and
[50:00] then we'll be working together to figure
[50:02] out what that is. So, one of the
[50:04] recommendations is that there will be
[50:06] end-of-course assessments, uh similar to
[50:08] a final exam, uh but it would be a
[50:10] statewide final exam in certain courses,
[50:13] and this will eventually take the place
[50:14] of MCAS.
[50:16] Um
[50:16] I think there's a lot to be teased out
[50:18] here around what courses they will will
[50:21] be I mean, if it's biology, that's
[50:23] similar to the MCAS biology. If it's
[50:25] math, are we doing geometry? Are we
[50:27] doing algebra one? You know, what what
[50:29] does that look like? What does it look
[50:30] like for uh students to do integrated
[50:32] math? Um in the ELA classes, is it ninth
[50:34] grade ELA? Is it 10th grade ELA? So, a
[50:36] lot of questions on that, but the
[50:37] end-of-course assessments is something
[50:39] that they're looking to standardize. Um
[50:41] the third thing is post-secondary
[50:43] planning. So, My Cap is uh
[50:46] is is a program that we use, and uh
[50:49] they're looking to expand this for all
[50:50] students. And it's basically creating
[50:52] individualized post-secondary plans for
[50:54] students. I think this is a wonderful
[50:55] idea. We do this with our special
[50:56] education students in terms of
[50:58] transition planning, and we see the
[51:00] benefit of that for all students. So, uh
[51:02] they're looking to formalize
[51:04] post-secondary plans for everyone, and
[51:06] creating a plan so that everyone has uh
[51:08] sort of a team and a plan and an idea of
[51:10] what they're doing post- high school.
[51:12] And then the third uh the fourth and
[51:14] final one is a culminating experience.
[51:16] And so, that means at some point during
[51:18] your senior year, you'll either present
[51:20] a portfolio of your work, and or you'll
[51:22] do a capstone project, and sometimes
[51:24] that's service learning. A lot of
[51:26] schools are going into this, um and we
[51:27] have some of this. It's not formalized
[51:29] across the entire um grade, but but it
[51:32] is something that we could do. Uh and
[51:33] so, you could choose between a portfolio
[51:35] experience, where you uh presented sort
[51:38] of a portfolio of all your best work,
[51:40] and we had a presentation similar to the
[51:42] civic showcase or something like that,
[51:44] or you did a capstone project, something
[51:46] that you really were passionate about
[51:48] and you went into the community and you
[51:50] were able to do a service learning
[51:51] project and then do a presentation on
[51:52] it. So, it's really real world skills
[51:54] that they're looking at. Again, there's
[51:56] no timeline on this one either. Um so,
[51:59] numbers two through four very ambitious,
[52:01] uh very creative, things that we really
[52:03] enjoy. Uh there's a number of other
[52:05] things in there as well that we can
[52:06] tease into, but really the first one
[52:08] with a timeline is the Mass Core
[52:10] completion for that foundational
[52:11] coursework. Um so, I'm happy to answer
[52:14] any questions. I think a good next step
[52:16] for us is to really take a look at the
[52:17] policy and and see where the School
[52:19] Committee lands. I know that um I don't
[52:21] know what whether we want to bring that
[52:23] up during the subcommittee reports. Um
[52:25] but I think, you know, that that's our
[52:26] logical next step uh for for Mass Core
[52:29] adoption.
[52:32] » Thank you, Dr. Della. Um Ms. Millman,
[52:34] anything on that side?
[52:37] >> Just to add a some clarity to um if you
[52:39] could
[52:40] speak to it um
[52:42] uh of what you know. I mean, the Mass
[52:44] Core I think is the easiest part of it.
[52:45] We're we're almost there. Um I think
[52:48] that's the benefit, the fact that you've
[52:50] endorsed that, the fact that um
[52:52] uh Principal Randall as well, um and
[52:54] guidance, and they've been working on
[52:56] that and and it's important and I think
[52:58] when we look at the over 10 years of
[53:01] data that has supported Mass Core, it's
[53:03] good to be on this road now and to even
[53:05] be 1 year in advance. Just the um a
[53:08] piece of reference or clarification. So,
[53:10] when and your slide indicates about the
[53:13] end of what they're calling EOC, the end
[53:15] of course um assessments will eventually
[53:17] take place of MCAS. It is not going to
[53:19] be high stakes, however, regardless. And
[53:21] I think that's an important thing to
[53:23] know. It's just going to be relative to
[53:26] seeing where students are landing and
[53:28] data collection. It is it will not be a
[53:31] MCAS substitute. It's not taking the um
[53:34] aspect of high stakes that you need to
[53:36] get a particular score um as you did
[53:39] with MCAS in order to receive a diploma.
[53:41] And I think that's one big difference.
[53:44] Albeit, there's a lot to be worked out
[53:46] on all of this, and I believe if my
[53:48] understanding is and been part of some
[53:50] of the background and the a lot of this
[53:51] is yet to come. While there still are
[53:54] districts in doing the capstone, for
[53:55] example, is or the MyCap MyCap capstone
[53:58] projects is something a lot of people
[54:00] are doing, and we're doing parts of
[54:01] that. So, we are in those ways ahead of
[54:03] some things. So, I think it's a great
[54:05] idea. I'm glad we're moving forward with
[54:07] it and it's being endorsed, and it it's
[54:10] really a benefit to our students because
[54:12] why would we not want to be ahead of
[54:14] things? Why would we not want our
[54:16] students to rise to what we have all
[54:18] this documentation and data and
[54:20] information about that is a benefit to
[54:22] students. And for certain, the
[54:24] Commonwealth spoke about MCAS, so that
[54:26] is gone.
[54:28] Yet, we do still want to have
[54:29] information and data how students are
[54:31] performing and and how our schools are
[54:33] doing in meeting basic standards. So, I
[54:35] think it's I think it's great, and it's
[54:37] a great move forward.
[54:40] >> Well said. Thank you.
[54:42] Any other comments on the side of Mr.
[54:43] Mico?
[54:44] >> Through the chair to Dr. Abdalla, has
[54:46] the state given us any guidance on cost, on how this is going to be
[54:51] funded? Because, you know, my 25 years
[54:53] of education,
[54:55] the newest,
[54:56] best, brightest thing that comes down
[54:58] the road, the shiny red car, it's very
[55:00] expensive, and it all looks great. I
[55:03] mean, this is a great menu, looks great.
[55:06] Um but, it's going to cost a lot of
[55:08] money, and I worry about our budgets.
[55:12] Um we're halfway through the year, and
[55:14] it wasn't a good 6 months on the state
[55:17] rolls. So, next year is going to be
[55:19] worse than this year, and, you know, we
[55:21] need we need to catch up. So, my
[55:23] concerns about this is I love the fact
[55:26] that MCAS is being eliminated,
[55:28] but we'll we'll still have data, and
[55:30] we'll still have the communities that will have the high
[55:35] scores, and then, you know, the s-
[55:38] the other communities will not. And it sometimes comes down to funding.
[55:42] Let's not fool ourselves. MCAS was a
[55:44] funding engine by the Commonwealth. And
[55:48] um I have concerns about this moving
[55:51] forward. I'm all for, you know, I want
[55:54] to give the kids the best.
[55:56] But this country has not proven that
[55:58] education is as important as we all
[56:01] think it is.
[56:02] You know, teachers are number one on the
[56:04] list on on burnout in educa- in in any
[56:07] profession. That I'll tell you right
[56:09] there. So, my concerns are on the
[56:10] monetary end. I want to make sure that
[56:13] the state and the feds are funding. And
[56:15] um I just want to
[56:17] basically just back to the question if you've heard anything about funding
[56:21] because unmandated unfunded mandates are
[56:24] uh are something that we've had to deal
[56:26] with for quite some time now. Thank you.
[56:30] » Th- Thank you, Mr. Mico. Uh
[56:32] yes, absolutely. It does feel as though
[56:35] a lot of this may be an unfunded
[56:36] mandate. Uh Mrs. Dunn did send me uh
[56:39] there there are some grant funding out
[56:41] there uh
[56:42] for some implementation and things like
[56:44] that. I do worry, to your point, of the
[56:47] sustainability. You know, there may be
[56:48] some upfront money, and then what
[56:50] happens? Is there going to be a cliff?
[56:52] Is, you know,
[56:53] what happens once you bake that into
[56:55] your budget? Are we able to sustain it?
[56:57] Uh I think in terms of number one,
[57:00] I think we're ready. I think we're we're there. In terms of the other ones,
[57:03] I do have significant concerns as well
[57:05] because the end-of-course assessments,
[57:07] there's going to be a fee, a co- there's
[57:09] going to be a cost for that. Uh
[57:11] and just like MCAS, MCAS is here now,
[57:13] and it doesn't count for graduation, but
[57:15] it counts for our accountability. And
[57:16] so, that's confusing for people. And,
[57:19] you know, it it it matters for our
[57:21] teachers and for our schools and and for
[57:23] our accountability. End-of-course
[57:24] assessments will be the same way. They
[57:26] may not be high-stakes for the students,
[57:27] but they're still go- going to matter,
[57:29] and we're going to be judged on them.
[57:30] And so, I think, you know, a lot of
[57:32] these things are good in in principle.
[57:34] Um I think there's a lot of research
[57:36] around Mass Core being good for kids. Um
[57:38] and I think we can do that and I think
[57:39] we can do high expectations. The other
[57:40] ones I I do I share your concerns and I
[57:43] think we'll we'll tease that out. Um but
[57:45] I I I would be behind number one. Um two
[57:47] through four there's going to need need
[57:49] a lot of discussion around that.
[57:52] >> Thank you, Mr. Mico.
[57:53] Any other comments on this item, Mrs.
[57:55] Dunn?
[57:56] >> Yes, I actually share Mr. Mico's worries
[57:59] as long as the superintendent. My
[58:01] concern is
[58:02] the sustainability of this because it is
[58:05] an unfunded mandate.
[58:07] And we are going to have to
[58:10] realign and
[58:11] reassign our staff to accommodate the
[58:15] change in the graduation requirements on
[58:18] the coursework that's required. Not next
[58:21] year, but probably the year after and
[58:23] further down the road.
[58:25] I'm also
[58:27] concerned
[58:32] because
[58:35] we presently offer a very rich
[58:38] curriculum.
[58:40] Any student in this district who chooses
[58:43] to take the courses that are recommended
[58:45] through the Mass Core recommendations
[58:47] can do so.
[58:49] And many of our students do.
[58:52] It's recommended to them by the guidance
[58:54] department when they're making plans and
[58:55] they choose if they choose to go to a
[58:58] four-year college, they know which
[58:59] requirements they have to take.
[59:03] And we have students who have made it
[59:05] into highly selective colleges, the Ivy
[59:07] League,
[59:08] some very very prestigious schools that
[59:10] have high record high requirements to
[59:12] get in.
[59:14] We also have students who decide to go a
[59:16] different route
[59:17] and go into a different level of
[59:19] college, whether it is a state college
[59:21] or an associate's degree at a local
[59:25] community college.
[59:27] That is a decision that students and
[59:29] families make.
[59:33] We heard our own students discuss this
[59:36] at student government day.
[59:38] And it was one of the most interesting
[59:40] conversations to hear those students
[59:42] debate this back and forth.
[59:45] They voted it down.
[59:47] They didn't want to lose the ability to
[59:49] take the courses that they wanted to.
[59:52] They were afraid how it was going to
[59:54] impact their choices.
[59:57] And I can understand what they were
[59:58] saying.
[1:00:04] This
[1:00:05] entire
[1:00:08] graduation council project
[1:00:11] was very interesting. And if you talk to
[1:00:13] the people who were involved in it, who
[1:00:15] actually sat in those meetings, you can
[1:00:18] actually hear the frustration when they
[1:00:19] were told that
[1:00:22] their voice was not really needed.
[1:00:26] This decision came directly from
[1:00:28] Secretary Tutwiler.
[1:00:30] He was very firm about that.
[1:00:34] The input
[1:00:35] that school committee members,
[1:00:38] superintendents, and educators provided
[1:00:41] at those meetings
[1:00:44] did not carry weight.
[1:00:46] Which is a shame because these are the
[1:00:47] people who are out on the front lines
[1:00:49] and had a good understanding of what was
[1:00:52] coming.
[1:00:54] The fact that they keep trying to assure
[1:00:55] us that the end-of-course assessment is
[1:00:57] not going to be
[1:01:00] determinative of someone graduating.
[1:01:03] No, it's not because if you read the
[1:01:04] language about the end-of-course
[1:01:06] assessments,
[1:01:08] the state's going to dictate what the
[1:01:10] assessment is.
[1:01:12] It's MCAS by another name.
[1:01:15] And it also says
[1:01:17] that it will be required that students
[1:01:21] must pass those.
[1:01:23] Please explain the difference to me on
[1:01:25] that. I don't see any difference.
[1:01:28] And I can only imagine the cost of that.
[1:01:32] Not only the financial cost, but the
[1:01:34] cost if our teachers have to make those
[1:01:36] assessments and create those
[1:01:37] assessments. The amount of time that our
[1:01:39] staff will have to devote to creating
[1:01:41] end of course assessments. Now, they do
[1:01:43] that now.
[1:01:45] But when it's going to be dictated
[1:01:47] with certain parameters by the state to
[1:01:49] meet certain requirements,
[1:01:52] maybe right now it's a it's a
[1:01:56] hidden unfunded mandate. In a
[1:01:59] another year it'll be a definite
[1:02:01] unfunded mandate.
[1:02:04] And then I have another issue, and I know everything I
[1:02:07] say right now is going to be twisted and
[1:02:09] used against me, and I'm going to say it
[1:02:10] anyway.
[1:02:13] We have sat here
[1:02:16] and have heard from many people
[1:02:17] criticizing our district, criticizing
[1:02:20] everything that we offer, criticizing
[1:02:22] our staff, criticizing our programs.
[1:02:26] We have seen data
[1:02:29] and been told we are not servicing
[1:02:31] properly
[1:02:32] our special education students, we're
[1:02:33] not supporting them, we're not
[1:02:35] supporting our ELL students, we're not
[1:02:36] supporting our students, and we're
[1:02:38] creating a huge problem with dropouts.
[1:02:43] How much is it going to cost
[1:02:45] to put in place the appropriate supports
[1:02:47] for our students?
[1:02:51] If we're having that kind of result
[1:02:52] right now with our apparently
[1:02:55] substandard offerings,
[1:02:58] when we put in a more rigorous
[1:03:00] >> [snorts]
[1:03:02] >> curriculum and requirement,
[1:03:06] how much is that going to cost?
[1:03:09] How are we going to protect the kids
[1:03:12] who struggle now?
[1:03:18] They're having trouble now.
[1:03:21] What are we going to do
[1:03:23] with more coursework that's required and
[1:03:26] more rigorous?
[1:03:29] Our dropout rate is something that
[1:03:31] everyone keeps pointing to. We have put
[1:03:33] in so many programs to protect our
[1:03:37] students and help them across the finish
[1:03:39] line.
[1:03:41] We have
[1:03:43] the learning academy.
[1:03:46] We have Peabody Prep.
[1:03:49] We have
[1:03:50] the PANS program.
[1:03:53] We have teachers who work closely with
[1:03:56] our students to help them.
[1:04:00] Our school adjustment counselors can
[1:04:02] only work with special education
[1:04:03] students.
[1:04:07] We have tutors at different stages, but
[1:04:09] we don't have tutors that can work with
[1:04:12] everyone
[1:04:14] because of budgetary considerations. So,
[1:04:17] my next question is, out of the rich
[1:04:19] curriculum that we have,
[1:04:22] what are we going to be forced to cut
[1:04:25] in order to reach these requirements
[1:04:27] because we've had to do that before?
[1:04:30] And I've seen other high-performing
[1:04:33] wealthy communities
[1:04:36] cut their curriculum
[1:04:39] so that they could meet the requirements
[1:04:42] under MassCore
[1:04:45] and meet those numbers that the state's
[1:04:47] looking for.
[1:04:51] Our students have more to choose from
[1:04:53] here than they do in other places.
[1:04:56] And it's something I still am very, very
[1:04:58] proud of.
[1:05:00] And I will fight
[1:05:03] against cutting our courses
[1:05:07] to realign our staff
[1:05:09] to be able to accommodate
[1:05:11] these more rigorous standards which are
[1:05:14] currently available in our program and
[1:05:17] are there for people who want them.
[1:05:21] And also
[1:05:23] our numbers have been skewed by our
[1:05:26] reporting and I would like to see how
[1:05:28] that changes now that we have
[1:05:30] clarification on some of this.
[1:05:34] But this is this is an unfunded mandate with huge
[1:05:41] consequences and ramifications down the
[1:05:43] road.
[1:05:44] Thank you.
[1:05:47] » Thank you, Mrs. Dunn.
[1:05:49] Uh
[1:05:50] Mrs. Dunn, I I appreciate your your
[1:05:52] passion in this because I I share it. I
[1:05:54] want to make sure our curriculum is is
[1:05:55] protected as well. And
[1:05:58] I do believe that that Ms. Randall and Mrs. Finn have a plan to make sure
[1:06:03] that some of those creative courses are
[1:06:07] graduation requirements and that they
[1:06:09] would meet a fourth year of math or they
[1:06:11] would meet a fourth year of humanities
[1:06:13] or social studies. And and to make sure
[1:06:16] that we're doing a good job with our
[1:06:17] program of studies to make sure that
[1:06:20] it's not that everyone has to take a
[1:06:22] cooker cookie cutter, everyone's going
[1:06:24] to take biochem, physics, and that's
[1:06:26] going to be it. We offer forensic
[1:06:27] science. That's an amazing class.
[1:06:29] They're working now to make sure that aligns and is a lab science and it
[1:06:33] will count. The computer science will
[1:06:35] count. And so, that's what we're going
[1:06:37] to work on moving forward. We do think
[1:06:39] we can do both. We can have our cake and
[1:06:41] eat it, too. We can do math core, but we
[1:06:43] can also offer a creative, holistic,
[1:06:47] you know, very rigorous and
[1:06:50] um
[1:06:51] appropriate curriculum for all of our
[1:06:53] students because it's really not about
[1:06:56] if they don't want to choose the the
[1:06:58] four-year pathway. It's that we want to
[1:06:59] give them the option if down the road
[1:07:01] they want to choose it. They don't have
[1:07:02] to choose it now, but we want to give
[1:07:04] them the option to choose it and that we
[1:07:06] think that if we provide the right
[1:07:07] courses
[1:07:09] and and that we're flexible in what
[1:07:10] they'll count for, and that's what we
[1:07:12] need to do in the next program of
[1:07:13] studies. And I think that's what our
[1:07:14] team is committed to do uh because I
[1:07:17] share your thought. We can't water down
[1:07:20] our curriculum. We can't change that
[1:07:21] That's a badge of honor. Uh I I know Ms.
[1:07:24] Hayes is here. We have the most AP
[1:07:26] courses to offer, and we don't want to
[1:07:28] water that down, either. And so, what we
[1:07:30] want to do is make sure that our courses
[1:07:32] count for the graduation requirements so
[1:07:34] our kids maintain those those flexible
[1:07:36] options. And that's what we're committed
[1:07:37] to, and that's what I know our high
[1:07:38] school team is committed to, as well.
[1:07:39] So, I I appreciate you continuing to
[1:07:41] bring that up because it's important. We
[1:07:42] can't lose that. Um and I and I think we
[1:07:45] can do both.
[1:07:48] » Thank you, Dr. Badalla. Ms. Millman.
[1:07:53] » There's this saying,
[1:07:56] "If I knew then what I know now."
[1:08:01] And one of the things of being part of
[1:08:03] the school committee and running for
[1:08:05] elections as a school committee member
[1:08:09] is the people we are working for most
[1:08:12] don't vote
[1:08:13] yet.
[1:08:14] They're kids.
[1:08:17] If I knew then what I know now, I might
[1:08:21] have taken an added science class.
[1:08:24] If I knew then what I know now,
[1:08:28] I might have taken that language class.
[1:08:32] We're not watering anything down. We're
[1:08:35] rising up to offer more for more kids.
[1:08:40] There's nothing
[1:08:42] more leveling than an education to the
[1:08:46] future of others. Nothing.
[1:08:49] If we look directly at our statistics
[1:08:51] and our information and our data
[1:08:53] available for however you want to look
[1:08:56] at it for however many years, we have to
[1:08:59] recognize that we have some issues in
[1:09:02] this district and we have to rise up to
[1:09:05] meet the needs of all students.
[1:09:09] Not leave others behind, which has been
[1:09:12] apparent for years, unfortunately, based
[1:09:16] on the information that is provided and
[1:09:18] public.
[1:09:20] I'll be more than happy to share that
[1:09:21] with anyone and post it.
[1:09:25] We offer amazing AP classes. I don't
[1:09:28] think we should lose them, but I also
[1:09:30] think we need to recognize the minimal
[1:09:32] amount of students in percentages that
[1:09:35] are taking those.
[1:09:36] Where does that leave others?
[1:09:39] We are not watering down. We are rising
[1:09:42] up. I 100% agree about two, three, and
[1:09:47] four on that list. There are issues and
[1:09:49] the state is going to take their time to
[1:09:51] figure out how they're going to do it,
[1:09:53] but they're letting us know they're
[1:09:54] expecting them. MassCore is not new.
[1:09:59] It's not shiny and new. It has been
[1:10:01] around for decades.
[1:10:05] Boston Public Schools
[1:10:08] grabbed on to it, provided it, has
[1:10:10] provided, and it is public, something
[1:10:12] else I'm more than happy to share of
[1:10:15] what they saw when it was implemented
[1:10:18] and the students that had been
[1:10:19] repeatedly underperforming rose up once
[1:10:23] they were able and knew they had to take
[1:10:26] these classes.
[1:10:27] If I knew then what I know now,
[1:10:32] we are not watering anything down by
[1:10:35] bringing this in, which is endorsed,
[1:10:37] once again,
[1:10:39] by our principal and guidance. This is
[1:10:41] not a heavy lift. We're almost there.
[1:10:45] The difference is we're going to be
[1:10:48] there.
[1:10:49] in advance and
[1:10:51] we're going to offer that rigorous
[1:10:53] education to all with creativity.
[1:10:57] That's still in there. That does not
[1:10:59] come out. That is still there. We have
[1:11:02] amazing teachers in this district doing
[1:11:05] amazing things every day. Repeatedly
[1:11:08] when students sat in that chair
[1:11:11] and talked to us, we heard about those
[1:11:13] teachers. That's what they say. They
[1:11:16] don't say I remember my science class
[1:11:17] was good. They remember the teacher.
[1:11:19] They remember Mr. Brenton.
[1:11:21] I remember him when my daughter had him.
[1:11:24] That's still going to be there. What
[1:11:27] we're What we're doing is making sure
[1:11:29] we're offering a quality rigorous
[1:11:32] education for all.
[1:11:34] And that's the plan and that is endorsed
[1:11:37] by those in education as well as myself
[1:11:40] for over 30 years.
[1:11:43] That's not what this is about. This is
[1:11:45] about what are we doing for the outcome
[1:11:47] for our kids. We're providing at least a
[1:11:50] bare minimum and we're going above and
[1:11:53] beyond because we already have the AP
[1:11:56] classes.
[1:11:57] We're going above and beyond for the
[1:11:59] students who may not take those AP
[1:12:02] classes, but now will be taking the
[1:12:05] baseline of things that have proven
[1:12:08] for being around for a decade
[1:12:11] to offer greater opportunity for the
[1:12:13] future
[1:12:15] of those students. If I knew then what I
[1:12:19] know now.
[1:12:21] And education is a great leveling
[1:12:24] playing field for all to access to grow
[1:12:26] and be further. I'm glad that our
[1:12:29] principal of our high school and Dr.
[1:12:31] Vidala, our superintendent endorses this
[1:12:34] and is on board and is ready to take it
[1:12:36] on even 1 year prior. And we're so
[1:12:39] close. We're so close. It's not an
[1:12:41] issue. It's not going to add anything
[1:12:43] that's going to cost us anything. It's
[1:12:45] not That's not where we're at. That has
[1:12:47] already been already been determined and
[1:12:51] spoken about when Principal Randall sat
[1:12:54] in that seat. As Dr. Vidala has said
[1:12:57] week after week,
[1:12:59] we are making it so that we can give a
[1:13:02] quality education to all and perhaps do
[1:13:04] even what Boston did and see that we
[1:13:07] bring up the numbers of all of our
[1:13:09] students, all of our students. Because
[1:13:12] if you look very carefully, which I
[1:13:14] have,
[1:13:16] our numbers in certain areas are
[1:13:18] problematic.
[1:13:21] Very problematic.
[1:13:23] But we don't want to keep it there. We
[1:13:24] want to make movement and we're planning
[1:13:27] on doing that and that's a good thing.
[1:13:29] And we have the educators right now to
[1:13:32] do it.
[1:13:33] They're there and they want to do it.
[1:13:35] They're moving forward. This is on their
[1:13:37] radar. This is not a huge change. In
[1:13:40] fact, if I remember Ms. Finn,
[1:13:42] the guidance, Ms. Finn had stated she
[1:13:44] was looking carefully even at our
[1:13:46] current freshmen, that are rising
[1:13:48] sophomores, to see that they make they
[1:13:50] even need it sooner than we anticipated.
[1:13:53] That tells me we have progressive
[1:13:55] thinking acade- academic people and
[1:13:57] educators. We have forward-thinking
[1:14:00] educators. We have educators that are
[1:14:02] not sitting at these tables, but are
[1:14:04] there with our kids and are seeing what
[1:14:06] they're doing and recognizing it and
[1:14:08] making sure that they have course
[1:14:11] offerings that are going to give them
[1:14:13] rigorous opportunities and not just
[1:14:15] well, if you want to take that.
[1:14:18] We're going to continue to be creative
[1:14:20] about what we're going to make it
[1:14:22] exciting work. It's not going to be that
[1:14:24] oh, no, I got to sit in chemistry.
[1:14:26] They're going to continue to make it
[1:14:28] exciting work.
[1:14:30] And that's what I expect and that's what
[1:14:32] I anticipate and I'm glad we are moving
[1:14:34] forward with this from our
[1:14:36] superintendent and our principal and
[1:14:39] then I'm looking forward to seeing the
[1:14:40] difference that we make. If I knew then
[1:14:43] what I know now,
[1:14:48] » Thank you, Ms. Milman.
[1:14:50] Any other comments, Mr. Amico?
[1:14:52] >> Through the chair, if teachers
[1:14:55] over the last 35 years knew now what
[1:14:57] they knew then, they would have showed
[1:14:59] up at the State House with pitchforks
[1:15:01] when MCAS was established because that
[1:15:03] was
[1:15:04] ah, no big deal. Don't worry about it.
[1:15:06] We're going to help you pay for it.
[1:15:08] Billions of dollars have been spent and
[1:15:11] when I started teaching in 2001, if a
[1:15:14] kid couldn't pass MCAS,
[1:15:16] see you later, kid. Do you know how many
[1:15:18] kids ended up in jail, on the streets,
[1:15:23] um
[1:15:24] into situations that they shouldn't have
[1:15:26] been in because the state said, "You
[1:15:28] have to pass the test." And here we go,
[1:15:31] 25 years later, this is all nice and
[1:15:34] shiny, but guess what? It's coming
[1:15:37] again. And all I have to know is I've
[1:15:39] only been teaching for 25 years in the
[1:15:41] classroom, but I looked over to Ms.
[1:15:43] Hague when Ms. when through the chair
[1:15:45] when Ms. Dunn was speaking, and 50-plus
[1:15:48] years, 25 years in the classroom, you
[1:15:51] know how much time that is? That's a lot
[1:15:53] of time. 52 years, I'll look at her
[1:15:56] every single time when she's nodding her
[1:15:58] head. I'll go by you. In fact, through
[1:16:00] the chair to Ms. Hague, when when budget
[1:16:03] comes up, I will never support an AP
[1:16:06] class being cut even if there's one
[1:16:07] student in that class, Dr. Abdalla, do
[1:16:10] not bring it to this table. It will not
[1:16:13] be cut because one of the great things
[1:16:15] that we have in Peabody is our AP
[1:16:18] programs. Okay? And we heard from our students earlier, drama, music, and
[1:16:24] the arts. Okay, those are the two things
[1:16:27] that drive Peabody. That's what people
[1:16:29] talk about when they talk about Peabody
[1:16:31] schools. And through the chair to Ms.
[1:16:33] Milman, I just want to let you know that
[1:16:35] Peabody was a great school system before
[1:16:37] you came on in January and still is. The
[1:16:40] teachers have been doing it. Miss Haig
[1:16:43] has been doing it for 50 plus years. We
[1:16:45] They don't need anything from us with
[1:16:48] except for support. And if we're going
[1:16:50] to tell the state that they can come in
[1:16:51] here and give us whatever they want and
[1:16:53] tell us to do whatever they want without
[1:16:55] funding us, then our taxpayers have to
[1:16:57] pay for that. And you were at a You were
[1:17:00] at a budget meeting this week. You were
[1:17:01] at two budget meetings this week. We're
[1:17:03] looking to possibly cut
[1:17:06] public safety in the future.
[1:17:08] And look at our schools, we can't even
[1:17:09] fully fund. And Dr. Vidala mentioned
[1:17:12] that. We can't fully fund our schools.
[1:17:14] We're not fully funded. Okay, we had to
[1:17:16] make cuts. And we're going to make
[1:17:18] changes according to the state, and the
[1:17:20] state's not going to fund us. So, I'm
[1:17:22] going to I'm going to hope that we can
[1:17:23] find some money for that. But Miss Haig,
[1:17:26] you're going to be getting some calls
[1:17:27] from me every budget season moving
[1:17:29] forward cuz I will support whatever you
[1:17:31] want in the classroom. Thank you.
[1:17:35] Miss Dunn?
[1:17:37] >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[1:17:40] As I said earlier, my frustration is the
[1:17:42] knowledge
[1:17:44] that we are not going to have the money
[1:17:46] we need to provide the supports
[1:17:48] to help our struggling students.
[1:17:52] The top students
[1:17:55] work hard, they understand it, they do
[1:17:57] well in school.
[1:17:59] But we are a safety net
[1:18:01] for many children.
[1:18:04] And we currently are unable to provide
[1:18:08] the supports that they need.
[1:18:12] How are we going to pay for more
[1:18:15] supports
[1:18:18] to help everyone excel?
[1:18:22] That is what I am worried about.
[1:18:26] As Mr. Miko said, our budget didn't
[1:18:28] cover what we need. We've heard from
[1:18:30] people.
[1:18:32] We've heard about the need for more
[1:18:33] additional paraprofessionals,
[1:18:36] additional tutors,
[1:18:38] additional programs to help the
[1:18:40] students.
[1:18:42] And it all ends up coming down to money.
[1:18:46] And I know we'll be okay if it Excuse
[1:18:48] me, this year and probably next year.
[1:18:51] And I know our guidance department
[1:18:53] encourages kids to take
[1:18:55] the more rigorous course
[1:18:58] completions for their future.
[1:19:03] But I am worried about the kids who are
[1:19:05] struggling now and wondering
[1:19:08] how will we support them
[1:19:12] with a more rigorous curriculum? And I
[1:19:15] do understand the thought of being able
[1:19:17] to create classes and be creative so
[1:19:21] that we meet the requirements
[1:19:23] of MassCore.
[1:19:27] But
[1:19:33] I'll be honest, I can see the train
[1:19:34] coming.
[1:19:35] And I don't want to see it happen to our
[1:19:37] district.
[1:19:40] I don't want to see us having to cut
[1:19:43] to be able to reach the requirements
[1:19:46] of the graduation standards.
[1:19:49] MassCore is fine.
[1:19:52] We have a lot of kids who take that as
[1:19:53] it is.
[1:19:56] And I will be interested to see the next
[1:19:59] round of data that we were presented
[1:20:02] with, which we knew was incorrect.
[1:20:08] So, basically
[1:20:11] again
[1:20:15] when the math works
[1:20:18] everybody looks good.
[1:20:20] Just like with MCAS.
[1:20:24] You had to have
[1:20:26] your scores come up. It was
[1:20:29] a mathematical game.
[1:20:33] And the pawns were our kids.
[1:20:35] And the cost was borne by the taxpayers
[1:20:38] and people still do not understand how
[1:20:40] much money, in my opinion, was wasted
[1:20:44] on the administration of that test.
[1:20:47] I do not disagree with end-of-course
[1:20:49] assessments.
[1:20:51] Teachers test kids all the time. You
[1:20:53] have to be able to measure people's
[1:20:55] progress and find out did they
[1:20:57] understand what I taught? Where Where do
[1:20:59] we need to go back and help?
[1:21:02] That I have no problem with.
[1:21:05] And I absolutely
[1:21:07] expect
[1:21:09] our students to be able to achieve.
[1:21:14] I don't want anyone to ever say,
[1:21:16] although I know they're going to after
[1:21:18] tonight,
[1:21:19] that I have not got high expectations
[1:21:23] for our students. I have the highest
[1:21:25] expectations for our kids. I have the
[1:21:26] highest expectations for the city and
[1:21:29] for our schools.
[1:21:31] And I also have the experience and
[1:21:33] knowledge to know
[1:21:35] that going forward, it is going to take
[1:21:38] a massive
[1:21:40] shift
[1:21:42] in being able to support
[1:21:44] every single student
[1:21:47] to get them across the finish line.
[1:21:50] And I am worried about the dropout rate.
[1:21:54] Because I think it's going to go up.
[1:21:57] Thank you.
[1:22:00] » All right. Thank you, everyone. Mr.
[1:22:02] Olympia?
[1:22:04] >> Just in real quick in closing, meet uh
[1:22:07] what meet the new boss, same as the old
[1:22:09] boss. That's what comes to mind.
[1:22:11] Thanks.
[1:22:14] » Those were good points raised. Thank you
[1:22:15] for that.
[1:22:16] >> All right. Thank you, everyone. And I I
[1:22:18] know that we have policies later in the
[1:22:20] uh agenda. So,
[1:22:22] >> if you want to bring up the graduation
[1:22:24] policy
[1:22:25] out of order, it's okay because um Mr.
[1:22:27] Olympia and I met this evening. Uh, we
[1:22:30] were bringing that policy IKF forward,
[1:22:33] the new graduation requirements for the
[1:22:35] consideration of the school committee.
[1:22:37] We can hold it and take the vote at the
[1:22:40] subcommittee appointment.
[1:22:41] >> don't we wait Why don't we just go Why
[1:22:43] don't we wait for subcommittee?
[1:22:44] >> Okay. Thank you.
[1:22:45] >> Thank you. Uh, so we just have one more
[1:22:47] item. Uh,
[1:22:49] as tomorrow's the last day of school, I
[1:22:50] want to thank all of our teachers, uh,
[1:22:51] for the incredible work that they've
[1:22:53] done. Uh, it's been a long year with our
[1:22:55] uh, our
[1:22:56] snow days. Uh, but summer is coming and
[1:22:58] I wanted to turn it over to Dr. Chase,
[1:23:00] uh, to just give us an overview of some
[1:23:02] of the wonderful summer programs that we
[1:23:04] have going on in the schools this uh,
[1:23:05] this summer.
[1:23:16] » Oh, it's easier to see from here.
[1:23:18] I may have to change.
[1:23:19] Um, so while the school year has been a
[1:23:21] very long one with our snow days and a
[1:23:23] late ending to the year, uh, the
[1:23:25] learning will still continue over the
[1:23:27] summer. We are very fortunate to have
[1:23:29] several programs running this summer.
[1:23:31] Uh, the first one is an elementary
[1:23:33] program at the Carroll School.
[1:23:36] So, that is Springboard for grades K
[1:23:38] through 3.
[1:23:39] We have up to 15 students per grade
[1:23:41] level. Um, we look at our Renaissance
[1:23:44] Star scores. We look at the data that we
[1:23:47] have and we identify kids that could use
[1:23:49] some help with foundational skills over
[1:23:51] the summer time. Springboard has been a
[1:23:53] super popular program. The kids are
[1:23:55] really engaged in it. The parents love
[1:23:57] it. Uh, there's a component of family
[1:23:59] engagement where they get to go to
[1:24:01] workshops and help become partners in
[1:24:03] reading with their students. We've had
[1:24:05] lots of success stories with kids very
[1:24:08] proudly reading to their parents for the
[1:24:09] first time and getting really excited
[1:24:11] about the books that Springboard offers
[1:24:13] them. Um, that's taught by our teachers
[1:24:16] in the district. Um, so that will be
[1:24:18] running from July 6th through August
[1:24:22] 6th. So, it's a 5-week program, 4 days a
[1:24:23] week, uh for a few hours each day.
[1:24:26] We also have for the older students,
[1:24:28] Springboard focuses on K through 3, but
[1:24:31] our older students in current grade 4
[1:24:33] and 5 could also use some assistance
[1:24:35] with um our Title 1 funding and our
[1:24:37] Title 3 funding. Again, we look at our
[1:24:39] data. We try to make phone call after
[1:24:43] phone call to really recruit students
[1:24:45] that could use that help. It's a short
[1:24:47] program of 4 weeks, a few hours a day,
[1:24:49] but it does focus on the literacy and
[1:24:51] math literacy skills as well.
[1:24:54] Um for our extended school year, that's
[1:24:56] our special education program. That's
[1:24:58] our yearly program run by Dr. Crompton.
[1:25:01] Um that will be happening at the Brown
[1:25:03] School.
[1:25:04] Um FKO is more of a summer program from
[1:25:08] our external partners running at the
[1:25:09] Carroll and Welch.
[1:25:12] In the Higgins, we have summer
[1:25:13] programming for rising 7th and 8th
[1:25:15] graders who could use academic support.
[1:25:17] That includes our gen ed students, um
[1:25:20] along with um
[1:25:22] our MLs and anyone that needs that
[1:25:24] support as they're rising to 7th and 8th
[1:25:27] grade and could use that bridge over the
[1:25:28] summer time.
[1:25:30] Um the Parks and Recreation program will
[1:25:32] be running at four of our schools. And
[1:25:34] then, it's nice that the hours of the
[1:25:36] programs coincide with um Summer Eats
[1:25:39] programming so that students can finish
[1:25:42] up and then grab something to eat at
[1:25:44] many of the sites throughout the city.
[1:25:47] And with that,
[1:25:48] questions?
[1:25:51] » Thank you, Dr. Chase. I'll open up for
[1:25:52] questions, Mr. Amico.
[1:25:54] >> Mayor, Dr. Chase, thank you so much for
[1:25:56] that um rundown on summer programs. On the
[1:26:00] Summer Eats program, um how many days a
[1:26:03] week are we
[1:26:04] It's 5 days a week, and do we have it at
[1:26:06] multiple locations?
[1:26:08] >> Yes, so it is at the public library, uh
[1:26:11] and then we have multiple locations
[1:26:12] throughout the city. Anywhere we're
[1:26:13] having a summer program, we partner with
[1:26:15] our parks program as well. Um so, we've
[1:26:17] really expanded that. I know that there
[1:26:19] was a year that they did one year and I
[1:26:21] know that was a
[1:26:22] the bane of existence for for for many
[1:26:23] people. So, now it's 5 days a week. It's
[1:26:26] free for anyone ages 3 through 18 or 3
[1:26:28] through 19 in in the city. They can come
[1:26:30] and get a free lunch at anytime. Uh, the public
[1:26:33] library's been wonderful with that. They
[1:26:35] really took the lead and now we have it
[1:26:37] partnered with our parks program and our
[1:26:38] FKO program. All of these programs with
[1:26:41] the exception of um, FKO and the parks
[1:26:43] and rec program are free. Um, and so
[1:26:45] they get a free lunch as well. And then
[1:26:47] there's a a small fee for FKO and and
[1:26:49] parks and rec, but they also get the
[1:26:50] free lunch as well.
[1:26:52] >> Thank you and I know Mr. Hawkman thanks
[1:26:54] you cuz I know he put a lot of work into
[1:26:56] this along with Ms. Dunn over the years
[1:26:58] to get this to to 5 days a week. So,
[1:27:01] thank you very much for your your help
[1:27:02] on this. Appreciate it.
[1:27:04] >> Thank you, Mr. Miko. Any other Mrs.
[1:27:05] Dunn?
[1:27:06] >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[1:27:08] Dr. Through you to Dr. Chase
[1:27:10] and Dr. Vedala, these are all for
[1:27:12] elementary and middle school students.
[1:27:14] Do we have any summer programming for
[1:27:17] high school students that need support?
[1:27:21] >> So, not at not at this time. This is
[1:27:22] really focusing on We have grants for
[1:27:25] the elementary students and then that
[1:27:27] bridge program for our middle school
[1:27:29] students. So, that's what's funding
[1:27:31] those younger students.
[1:27:34] >> Okay. We We used to have summer school.
[1:27:39] And we had to cut it.
[1:27:42] » Thank you, Ms. Mrs. Dunn. We'll look
[1:27:43] into that credit recovery cuz I know
[1:27:45] that we in terms of graduation and
[1:27:47] getting people on track, we do want to
[1:27:48] make sure that um,
[1:27:51] that that we have opportunities for kids
[1:27:53] to recover credits. We do a lot during
[1:27:55] the school year. I know we have the
[1:27:56] eighth period and we and we do a lot,
[1:27:58] but you know, any any opportunity we can
[1:28:00] get for kids to recover credits is is
[1:28:01] important.
[1:28:04] Thank you. Mr. Bowman?
[1:28:06] >> Just on that, I know that sometimes
[1:28:08] credit recovery is also available online
[1:28:10] and high school kids can do credit
[1:28:11] recovery kind of things online. So, I'm
[1:28:14] assuming that we offer some of that,
[1:28:15] okay?
[1:28:16] >> Yeah, and we still have that through the the virtual program and
[1:28:19] through the Simon New Foundation
[1:28:21] K12 Learning Academy. So, we do have
[1:28:23] those licenses and we can we can do
[1:28:25] that. So,
[1:28:27] we'll work on on tightening that up and bringing something back to the to
[1:28:30] everyone. So, thank you.
[1:28:31] >> Um
[1:28:32] just on another note in looking at this
[1:28:35] and who knows what the weather will
[1:28:36] bring, but just to question um
[1:28:39] and ask the question about the
[1:28:40] facilities. I know that these are
[1:28:42] buildings that air conditioning
[1:28:44] has been looked at and is going through.
[1:28:47] I know there have been some ups and
[1:28:48] downs and I think anytime we have a
[1:28:50] season change, we're going to find out
[1:28:52] what is and isn't working, but um are
[1:28:54] all of those programs currently in
[1:28:55] buildings that have been prepared for
[1:28:58] that?
[1:28:58] >> Yes, they are. Thank you. Um and we also
[1:29:01] are doing some roof projects
[1:29:02] and the facilities team has been
[1:29:04] phenomenal. So,
[1:29:05] we'll work with them over the summer and
[1:29:07] we'll provide a comprehensive list of of
[1:29:09] what they did. Um and and we'll we'll
[1:29:11] talk about how we're planning for the
[1:29:12] year. I know we've talked about having
[1:29:13] some of those benchmarks and Mrs. Dunn
[1:29:15] has has mentioned, you know, putting
[1:29:17] together a plan and and a report from
[1:29:20] our facilities department. So, we'll get
[1:29:22] that together for the summer and be able
[1:29:23] to report that out. They They do a lot
[1:29:24] of work over the summer. So, we're we're
[1:29:26] excited about that.
[1:29:30] » And I think I think everybody knows or
[1:29:31] may know that we have three roof
[1:29:33] projects set
[1:29:35] for this summer, approved by school
[1:29:37] committee, approved by city council for
[1:29:39] funding. Uh the South School, the West
[1:29:41] School, and the Center School. So, I'll
[1:29:44] keep people updated on that.
[1:29:46] I think we have a building and grounds
[1:29:48] committee meeting coming up which we can
[1:29:49] get more detail. Um but I'm really
[1:29:51] pleased that we've been able to move
[1:29:52] forward with those projects. So,
[1:29:54] we'll keep people updated on those.
[1:29:58] >> All right, thank you, Dr. Jason. Any
[1:29:59] other items?
[1:30:00] >> That That concludes the superintendent's
[1:30:02] report and we completed public
[1:30:04] participation, so
[1:30:07] >> Okay, thank you, Dr. Vidala. We'll go to
[1:30:08] written communications. We do have one
[1:30:09] item, the final report of the Statewide
[1:30:12] Graduation Council. I'd open up that for
[1:30:15] receipt, and if there's any comments or
[1:30:17] questions.
[1:30:18] >> Motion received.
[1:30:20] >> Further motion by Mrs. Dunn for uh
[1:30:22] receiving the final report of the
[1:30:24] Statewide Graduation Council, seconded
[1:30:26] by Mr. Olimpio.
[1:30:27] All in favor of a receipt, that's a
[1:30:29] unanimous vote.
[1:30:31] All right, next we'll go to subcommittee
[1:30:33] reports, and let's run through the list.
[1:30:35] Uh education.
[1:30:37] Mr. Miko.
[1:30:38] >> Mr. Chair, thank you. Uh
[1:30:40] I almost called you Dr. Mr. Mayor. Um
[1:30:43] we had a um really nice ceremony uh
[1:30:46] earlier today to recognize our retiring
[1:30:48] teachers.
[1:30:50] Thank you so much for all your time and and how many people you've shaped over the years, including
[1:30:58] our uh honorable mayor. Um
[1:31:01] and um just just thank you so much to
[1:31:04] you and all your colleagues over the
[1:31:06] years. Um I've only been doing my end
[1:31:08] for 25 years. I uh
[1:31:11] it's it's it's an awesome experience. It's an
[1:31:15] awesome profession,
[1:31:16] but we need
[1:31:18] people to support us. We need everyone
[1:31:21] to support teachers. I know it's you
[1:31:23] know, it's it's overstated, but
[1:31:26] the stakes are way too high. The money's
[1:31:28] not there. Society is changing.
[1:31:33] Um not for the good in many cases, so uh
[1:31:36] we need a ton of support in education.
[1:31:38] So, I just want to uh just put that out
[1:31:40] there that um
[1:31:41] again, thank you to all our teachers,
[1:31:43] all our staff here in Peabody Public
[1:31:44] Schools. My kids came through here and
[1:31:47] got an incredible education, and um just
[1:31:50] met so many great people. So, this is a
[1:31:52] great city.
[1:31:53] Um you know, I've said it before, we've
[1:31:55] got about 10 or 15 people in the city
[1:31:57] who dislike the city, and you know, for
[1:32:00] whatever reason, love to take shots at
[1:32:02] us and the things that we're doing.
[1:32:03] a lot of great things. We're
[1:32:05] not perfect. We never will be.
[1:32:07] But, um we just need that support and uh
[1:32:10] we need that money. So,
[1:32:11] to our state officials, to our feds,
[1:32:13] keep it coming. The stakes are way too
[1:32:15] high. Thank you.
[1:32:17] >> Thank you, Mr. Amico.
[1:32:19] Finance subcommittee, Mr. Amico?
[1:32:21] >> Uh nothing new to report.
[1:32:22] >> School safety subcommittee,
[1:32:24] >> Um yes, so
[1:32:26] uh so PBD uh the safety task force
[1:32:28] received an award. I'd like to maybe
[1:32:30] turn that over to Dr. Bedell or Ms. Dunn
[1:32:32] if they have anything to add to that.
[1:32:37] » Uh yeah, so I I I I do believe this is a
[1:32:39] leftover one from last last meeting. Uh
[1:32:41] but, we did have Maria Sherry here uh at
[1:32:43] the last meeting. And what is exciting I I like to just build off of it a
[1:32:47] little bit. Uh they did receive the Safe
[1:32:49] Routes to School Community Collaboration
[1:32:50] Award, uh which was wonderful, the
[1:32:52] safety task force for the bus arm stop.
[1:32:55] And uh so, the the the stop passing
[1:32:58] uh
[1:32:58] the the bus when the arm is out. And
[1:33:01] they did an unbelievable job and were
[1:33:03] able to get legislation changed. So,
[1:33:04] their next task that they're that
[1:33:06] they're willing to take on is uh e-bikes
[1:33:08] and e-bike safety. Uh and so, that's
[1:33:10] very important for our community. We see
[1:33:12] a lot of kids out there and we just want
[1:33:13] to make sure that there's education and
[1:33:15] awareness and safety for our for our
[1:33:17] students. Our police department's done a
[1:33:18] wonderful job uh you know, getting bike
[1:33:21] helmets out there and working with kids.
[1:33:23] But, uh we're seeing uh e-bikes are are
[1:33:25] picking up more speed and and becoming
[1:33:27] more dangerous. So, that is the next
[1:33:29] step uh for the safety task force. So,
[1:33:31] uh thank you, Mr. Amico.
[1:33:34] >> That is all.
[1:33:36] Thank you.
[1:33:38] Oh, Ms. Millman?
[1:33:40] >> I know that um
[1:33:41] I believe somebody was going to give an
[1:33:43] update about the cameras on the buses.
[1:33:47] >> So, happy to give an update as to where
[1:33:49] we stand now. We have signed a contract
[1:33:52] with Bus Patrol, which was the provider
[1:33:54] uh of the um work we did
[1:33:58] um, last year,
[1:34:00] gathering the data in order to put
[1:34:02] forward to the state, and thankfully the
[1:34:04] state,
[1:34:05] um, adopted, uh, this law, uh, last
[1:34:08] January. So, um,
[1:34:10] we would be with a second city in the
[1:34:12] state, uh, behind Chicopee,
[1:34:14] uh, to sign a contract with the
[1:34:16] provider. Uh, the intention is to start
[1:34:19] uh, with our own fleet right now. Um,
[1:34:23] the 10 or so buses that we have,
[1:34:26] and then we're going to be bringing in
[1:34:27] Healey. Healey's been terrific, they've
[1:34:28] been working with us, and the hope is to
[1:34:31] have a, uh,
[1:34:32] large number, we won't have every bus
[1:34:34] ready to go, uh, but a large number of
[1:34:36] buses set for September 1st or the start
[1:34:39] of the new school year. So, um,
[1:34:41] uh, they're working on a little bit of
[1:34:43] logistics with the police department,
[1:34:45] and, um, the process there, and, uh, but
[1:34:49] it will be collection of any fines that
[1:34:52] will run through the city, and then bus
[1:34:54] patrol will get a percentage of those
[1:34:56] fines, so there's no money up front, uh,
[1:34:58] installation cost, everything is is done
[1:35:00] through bus patrol, so, um, really
[1:35:03] excited. I don't have a number yet as to
[1:35:05] how much, how many of the buses we will
[1:35:07] have ready to go, um, but we are the
[1:35:11] second city in the state to do that,
[1:35:12] and, uh, of all cities, Chicopee was
[1:35:15] beat us.
[1:35:16] Don't know how they got ahead of us,
[1:35:17] but, um,
[1:35:19] but I'll keep people updated. Thank you
[1:35:21] for bringing that up.
[1:35:22] Chicopee.
[1:35:23] is that even a real city?
[1:35:26] >> No, watch out.
[1:35:28] Um,
[1:35:31] » [laughter]
[1:35:35] » I
[1:35:40] Two things on that point, Mr. Mayor. I
[1:35:42] think Chicopee used some of our data in
[1:35:45] order to to, um,
[1:35:47] speak about getting involved in in the,
[1:35:50] uh, bus zone the cameras.
[1:35:53] And because of the data that was shown
[1:35:56] in Peabody by the use of those cameras,
[1:35:59] it was so compelling that many many
[1:36:03] communities in Massachusetts and others
[1:36:05] across the country are using the data
[1:36:09] from our incidents
[1:36:11] to show the necessity for their
[1:36:13] community to participate in that kind of
[1:36:15] program.
[1:36:16] And it really is
[1:36:18] much more far-reaching than we realize.
[1:36:22] So,
[1:36:23] Peabody really did something very very
[1:36:25] spectacular in getting this rolling and
[1:36:28] uh
[1:36:29] it's nice to see that. And I will check
[1:36:31] and see. I think Chicopee used our
[1:36:33] numbers.
[1:36:34] >> I think you're right and and I I uh
[1:36:36] Chicopee we actually work with Chicopee.
[1:36:39] Uh they exchange information with us, we
[1:36:41] with them. Uh I want to credit Dan
[1:36:43] Doucette, Sam Rippin. Um
[1:36:46] and uh yeah, I just didn't like how they got ahead of us and got the first
[1:36:50] one, but um but a number of communities
[1:36:53] now uh or over the last couple of months
[1:36:55] have been reaching out to us. Uh we did
[1:36:57] have an interview process. We were other
[1:36:59] contenders that also provided good
[1:37:01] programs, but we felt that bus patrol,
[1:37:03] based on some of the familiarity we had
[1:37:05] with them, but also about their product
[1:37:07] uh was really top-notch. So, uh I'll
[1:37:09] keep everybody updated, but we should
[1:37:10] have a number of buses in the city set
[1:37:12] to go
[1:37:13] uh with routes uh set uh for the
[1:37:16] beginning of the new school year.
[1:37:18] >> Plus, it changed the law. Convinced the
[1:37:20] legislature to change the law to allow
[1:37:23] the camera evidence to be used.
[1:37:25] >> Oh, yeah. No, we That was us. That was
[1:37:27] the city of Peabody.
[1:37:28] >> That was, so
[1:37:29] good work.
[1:37:30] >> All right. Thank you.
[1:37:31] Athletics and health subcommittee. It's
[1:37:34] Mayor through the chair to Dr. Vidala.
[1:37:36] Um
[1:37:37] we have to prepare for next year. Um
[1:37:40] as much as this would pain me to to do
[1:37:42] any or make any cuts that are in
[1:37:44] athletics, but could we get some data on
[1:37:47] our um all our sports programs at the
[1:37:50] high school and to see what the
[1:37:51] subscription is, how many players are
[1:37:53] playing, cuz if we do have some sports
[1:37:54] that are under subscribed, we may uh
[1:37:57] we may have to look into those uh next
[1:37:59] year.
[1:38:00] >> Thank you. Yeah, we we did actually just
[1:38:01] pull that information. Uh so, that it
[1:38:03] it's it's a very timely topic. Um I
[1:38:05] believe
[1:38:07] So, we're at the end of this school
[1:38:09] year, call it FY school year 26. In
[1:38:11] school year 25, I think we had 1,075.
[1:38:14] Uh
[1:38:16] We just We just pulled it up. And I I
[1:38:17] think it was
[1:38:19] A- And now I I think we went down
[1:38:21] slightly.
[1:38:22] Uh
[1:38:24] But, I I believe
[1:38:28] Yep, I think we we had Yes, there it is.
[1:38:31] Um we had
[1:38:34] I'm sorry. Yep, so we went from um
[1:38:37] 1038
[1:38:39] to 975. So, we did see a drop, uh but
[1:38:42] not a significant drop. We still have
[1:38:43] the same number of sports. We do have
[1:38:45] some co-op programs now, uh but it is
[1:38:48] something we're looking at. We currently
[1:38:49] will have the same number of coaches,
[1:38:50] but it is something we want to monitor.
[1:38:52] Some of our sports are smaller. We do
[1:38:53] have a couple that have increased. Uh
[1:38:55] track is very vibrant. Um and so, they
[1:38:57] have they do have um higher
[1:38:58] participation numbers. But, I'll share
[1:39:00] uh the the whole spreadsheet with the committee. Thank you.
[1:39:03] >> Sure.
[1:39:09] Thank you. Uh Quality and Standards, I
[1:39:11] know we have a number of items. Mrs.
[1:39:12] Dunn, I'll turn it over to you.
[1:39:13] >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um
[1:39:15] Excuse [clears throat] me. Quality and
[1:39:16] Standards Subcommittee meeting was uh
[1:39:19] this evening prior to the regularly
[1:39:21] scheduled meeting. Mr. Olympio and I
[1:39:23] went through the policies, and um I'm
[1:39:26] going to go through the policies that we
[1:39:29] had already presented, which are
[1:39:30] definitely all up for second reading
[1:39:32] this evening. So, if I can.
[1:39:35] The
[1:39:36] first policy for second reading is J And
[1:39:39] just so everyone knows, there there were
[1:39:41] no changes or or
[1:39:43] uh
[1:39:44] no changes to any of these policies.
[1:39:47] They're the same as they were at the
[1:39:48] last meeting. So, the first policy for
[1:39:50] your approval I'd like to make a motion
[1:39:52] that the committee approve policy JICFB,
[1:39:56] the anti-bullying policy.
[1:39:58] So moved.
[1:40:00] For a second reading, sorry.
[1:40:01] >> Second.
[1:40:02] >> Heard the motion by Mrs. Dunn for
[1:40:04] adoption of the anti-bullying policy,
[1:40:06] seconded by Mr. Olympio.
[1:40:09] Seeing no comments, roll call vote for
[1:40:10] approval, please.
[1:40:12] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[1:40:12] >> Yes.
[1:40:13] >> Mr. Olympio.
[1:40:14] >> Yes.
[1:40:14] >> Ms. Nolan.
[1:40:15] >> Yes.
[1:40:15] >> Mrs. Cox.
[1:40:16] >> Yes.
[1:40:16] >> Mr. Amico.
[1:40:17] >> Yes.
[1:40:18] >> Okay, thank you. The next policy for a
[1:40:21] second reading
[1:40:22] is ECAB, access to buildings and
[1:40:25] grounds. I'd like to make a motion that
[1:40:27] the committee approve for second reading
[1:40:30] policy ECAB, access to building and
[1:40:33] grounds. So moved.
[1:40:35] >> Second.
[1:40:36] >> Thank you. You've heard the motion made
[1:40:37] by Mrs. Dunn
[1:40:39] uh for the adoption of the access to
[1:40:40] building and grounds, seconded by Mr.
[1:40:42] Olympio.
[1:40:43] Roll call vote, please.
[1:40:45] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[1:40:45] >> Yes.
[1:40:46] >> Mr. Olympio.
[1:40:46] >> Yes.
[1:40:47] >> Ms. Nolan.
[1:40:48] >> Yes.
[1:40:49] >> Mrs. Cox.
[1:40:49] >> Yes.
[1:40:50] >> Mr. Amico.
[1:40:50] >> Yes.
[1:40:52] >> Thank you. The next policy bringing
[1:40:54] forward for a second reading is policy
[1:40:57] EEAEA,
[1:40:59] bus driver examination training. I would
[1:41:01] like to make a motion the policy EEAEA
[1:41:06] be approved for second reading. So
[1:41:08] moved.
[1:41:09] >> Second.
[1:41:10] >> Thank you. You've heard the motion by
[1:41:12] Mrs. Dunn for approval of the bus driver
[1:41:13] examination training policy seconded by
[1:41:16] Mr. Olympio.
[1:41:17] Roll call vote, please.
[1:41:19] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[1:41:19] >> Yes.
[1:41:20] >> Mr. Olympio.
[1:41:20] >> Yes.
[1:41:21] >> Ms. Nolan.
[1:41:22] >> Yes.
[1:41:22] >> Mrs. Cox.
[1:41:24] >> Yes.
[1:41:24] >> Mr. Amico.
[1:41:25] >> Yes.
[1:41:27] » Thank you.
[1:41:28] The next policy for a second reading is
[1:41:31] policy JFBB,
[1:41:33] school choice. So, I'd like to bring
[1:41:36] that forward for a second reading. So
[1:41:38] moved.
[1:41:39] >> Second.
[1:41:41] >> Thank you for the motion uh for adoption
[1:41:44] uh of the school choice policy made by
[1:41:47] Mrs. Dunn, seconded by Mr. Olimpio. Roll
[1:41:49] call vote, please.
[1:41:50] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[1:41:51] >> Yes.
[1:41:51] >> Mr. Olimpio.
[1:41:52] >> Yes.
[1:41:52] >> Ms. Melman.
[1:41:53] >> Yes.
[1:41:54] >> Mrs. Cox.
[1:41:54] >> Yes.
[1:41:55] >> Mr. Amico.
[1:41:56] >> Yes.
[1:41:57] >> Thank you.
[1:41:58] Next policy is policy KBG, parent
[1:42:01] advisory councils. I would like to bring
[1:42:03] forward policy KBG for a second reading.
[1:42:06] So moved.
[1:42:07] >> Second.
[1:42:10] >> Thank you for the motion by Mrs. Dunn
[1:42:11] for approval of the parent advisory
[1:42:13] councils policy, seconded by Mr.
[1:42:15] Olimpio.
[1:42:16] Roll call vote, please.
[1:42:17] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[1:42:18] >> Yes.
[1:42:18] >> Mr. Olimpio.
[1:42:19] >> Yes.
[1:42:19] >> Ms. Melman.
[1:42:20] >> Yes.
[1:42:21] >> Mrs. Cox.
[1:42:22] >> Yes.
[1:42:22] >> Mr. Amico.
[1:42:23] >> Yes.
[1:42:25] >> Thank you. Next policy is policy JLCD,
[1:42:29] administration of medication to
[1:42:31] students. I would like to bring forward
[1:42:34] policy JLCD for a second reading. So
[1:42:37] moved.
[1:42:38] >> Second.
[1:42:39] >> Thank you for the motion made by Mrs.
[1:42:41] Dunn for approval of the administration
[1:42:43] of medication to students policy,
[1:42:45] seconded by Mr. Olimpio. Roll call vote,
[1:42:47] please.
[1:42:48] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[1:42:48] >> Yes.
[1:42:49] >> Mr. Olimpio.
[1:42:50] >> Yes.
[1:42:50] >> Ms. Melman.
[1:42:51] >> Yes.
[1:42:51] >> Mrs. Cox.
[1:42:52] >> Yes.
[1:42:53] >> Mr. Amico.
[1:42:53] >> Yes.
[1:42:55] >> Thank you. And then
[1:42:56] policy JLCDC,
[1:42:59] self-administration and self-carry of
[1:43:01] medications.
[1:43:02] I would like to bring forward policy
[1:43:04] JLCDC for a second reading.
[1:43:08] >> Second.
[1:43:10] >> Thank you for the motion by Mrs. Dunn
[1:43:11] for approval of the policy
[1:43:13] self-administration and self-carry of
[1:43:14] medication, seconded by Mr. Olimpio.
[1:43:17] Roll call vote, please.
[1:43:18] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[1:43:20] >> Yes.
[1:43:20] >> Mr. Olimpio.
[1:43:21] >> Yes.
[1:43:21] >> Ms. Melman.
[1:43:22] >> Yes.
[1:43:22] >> Mrs. Cox.
[1:43:23] >> Yes.
[1:43:23] >> Mr. Amico.
[1:43:24] >> Yes.
[1:43:26] >> Thank you.
[1:43:27] Now, the policies that we would dis-
[1:43:29] that we discussed this evening for a
[1:43:32] first reading
[1:43:34] are policies IKF, graduation
[1:43:37] requirements, policy JKAA,
[1:43:40] which is a policy regarding the um
[1:43:44] time out, seclusion, and physical
[1:43:46] restraint of students,
[1:43:48] and policy BDE, subcommittees of the
[1:43:50] school committee.
[1:43:53] So, this evening, after discussion and
[1:43:55] vote, we have brought forward for your
[1:43:58] approval for first reading
[1:44:00] policy IKF, graduation requirements.
[1:44:05] So, I would like to make a motion that be approved for first reading.
[1:44:09] >> So moved.
[1:44:10] >> Second.
[1:44:11] >> Thank you. Further motion by Mrs. Dunn
[1:44:13] for approval of the graduation
[1:44:14] requirements policy, seconded by Mr.
[1:44:16] Olimpio.
[1:44:18] Roll call vote, please.
[1:44:20] >> Mrs. Dunn.
[1:44:21] >> No.
[1:44:22] >> Mr. Olimpio.
[1:44:23] >> No.
[1:44:24] >> Ms. Noman.
[1:44:25] >> Yes.
[1:44:27] >> Mrs. Cox. Yes.
[1:44:28] >> Mr. Amico.
[1:44:29] >> No.
[1:44:31] >> Okay.
[1:44:34] The next policy is policy JKAA,
[1:44:39] and I will let you know we have
[1:44:42] a policy that was provided to us by Ms.
[1:44:45] Compton.
[1:44:46] I don't know if that was in our
[1:44:50] packet
[1:44:52] or if the
[1:44:54] state issued
[1:44:57] policy was in our packet.
[1:45:05] The one from Ms. Compton
[1:45:07] is much much shorter than the one from
[1:45:12] MASC.
[1:45:14] And
[1:45:15] having spoken with Ms. Compton,
[1:45:19] she explained that the policy she has
[1:45:21] provided to us, for one thing, it is
[1:45:23] much more it is much clearer than the
[1:45:25] policy that came from the state.
[1:45:28] And I can tell you that there is
[1:45:30] discussion at MASC concerning the policy
[1:45:33] that they sent out because um there was
[1:45:36] quite a bit of confusion among school
[1:45:39] districts that was reported back to the
[1:45:41] DESC. And there is some work that needs
[1:45:44] to be done on the language in the policy
[1:45:47] that came out from the state.
[1:45:50] Now, the difficulty with this is this
[1:45:52] policy needs to be approved
[1:45:55] by August 17th, so it does need to be in
[1:45:59] place.
[1:46:01] Um
[1:46:05] The the policy that Ms. Crompton gave is actually very thorough.
[1:46:11] And it's two pages.
[1:46:14] Did you receive that one?
[1:46:16] Okay.
[1:46:17] So, I think that what we what we need to
[1:46:19] do is hold off so that members can
[1:46:22] review it.
[1:46:25] We will be having meetings during the
[1:46:26] summer
[1:46:27] for policy.
[1:46:28] July, we always have subcommittee
[1:46:30] meetings.
[1:46:31] And um at that time we can bring it
[1:46:33] forward.
[1:46:34] Um unless members would like to approve
[1:46:37] the current policy JKAI,
[1:46:40] I'm sorry, JKAA.
[1:46:42] Um
[1:46:44] it is actually undergoing review
[1:46:48] before it gets implemented, but we're
[1:46:50] under that time frame.
[1:46:52] Um I would hope that we could have a
[1:46:54] meeting in August prior to August 17th
[1:46:56] to be able to put something in place.
[1:46:59] We are
[1:47:01] in good hands. Ms. Crompton has met with the attorney.
[1:47:06] He is the one who has been preparing
[1:47:08] this these materials. I saw the um
[1:47:12] the the the the procedures, the manual
[1:47:15] that goes along with this, which
[1:47:17] committee doesn't approve, but it's
[1:47:19] really very very well done.
[1:47:22] And um
[1:47:24] I think we can work through this and be
[1:47:25] able to have this in place in time
[1:47:27] without worry. Dr. Pelino?
[1:47:29] >> So, I know um
[1:47:31] Ms. Magarelli sent a 33-page document, a
[1:47:34] PDF to everyone. It included both
[1:47:36] policies.
[1:47:37] And so, I I do believe this was in your
[1:47:39] email. I'm not sure if it was in the
[1:47:40] packet. Um but so, on page
[1:47:44] 29 out of 33, what I'm presenting here,
[1:47:47] this is the two-page policy that uh Ms.
[1:47:50] the Dr. Compton has worked on. Uh and
[1:47:52] it's it's a very comprehensive policy.
[1:47:55] If everybody has seen this one, uh and
[1:47:57] it it is paired with a 50-page
[1:48:02] manual about timeout and seclusion. Um
[1:48:05] so,
[1:48:06] this this is what I believe the
[1:48:08] committee has. Um and and so,
[1:48:11] this is the the policy
[1:48:14] uh
[1:48:14] that that you were looking at.
[1:48:16] >> Yes, and that's the one that um
[1:48:18] this is the one that Mr. Olimpio and I
[1:48:22] would like to bring forward this evening
[1:48:25] for a first reading.
[1:48:28] >> Yeah, and so, I think that the challenge
[1:48:29] with the six-page document is
[1:48:31] it tried to put in a lot of the
[1:48:33] implementation plan in it and it got
[1:48:36] very confusing. And so, what a lot of
[1:48:38] districts have done is they adopt this
[1:48:41] language here and they pair it with a
[1:48:43] 50-page document with all the
[1:48:46] um the forms that you fill out and all
[1:48:48] of that. And it's it's it's very
[1:48:49] comprehensive but it includes all the
[1:48:50] training. So, we have both of those
[1:48:52] documents. This here that is being
[1:48:54] projected is the policy that we would
[1:48:56] endorse. And that is policy JKAA timeout
[1:49:00] and seclusion.
[1:49:01] >> And the one on the screen is the one we
[1:49:04] would bring forward and I'm happy to
[1:49:05] make that motion that this be um
[1:49:08] brought forward for first reading.
[1:49:11] >> So moved.
[1:49:13] » Second.
[1:49:17] » Thank you. Further motion by Mrs. Dunn,
[1:49:19] seconded by Mr. Miko. Let's open that up
[1:49:21] for discussion. Ms. Millman?
[1:49:23] >> Um I first would like to ask Ms. Dunn,
[1:49:25] is this the one that um Attorney Joyce
[1:49:27] did look look at, the one that was
[1:49:28] prompting? Because I know that this is a
[1:49:31] big This is This is significant. This is
[1:49:33] a regulation that goes into place in
[1:49:35] August. There's lots of history behind
[1:49:37] this. There's an MCLE and Mass Legal Ed
[1:49:40] whole thing that's being done, which
[1:49:41] Michael actually was a co-chair of. Um
[1:49:44] Attorney Joyce was a co-chair of, so um
[1:49:47] I it it is very complex. Um and knowing
[1:49:50] that he's
[1:49:51] been part of this, I think is incredibly
[1:49:53] helpful and important to know. I do
[1:49:55] think there may be some more coming from
[1:49:57] this, as you said, Ms. Dunn. I do don't
[1:49:59] I don't think this is finished, but
[1:50:01] because we have to have something in
[1:50:03] place, because the reg by regulation of
[1:50:06] by August, I think it's 17th, I think
[1:50:08] it's very important that we do move
[1:50:10] forward with something.
[1:50:12] >> And I will also tell you
[1:50:14] and I wish he wanted a copy.
[1:50:17] >> Yes, this this is excellent. I would
[1:50:18] endorse this in and if we were to adopt
[1:50:21] this as a first reading tonight, we
[1:50:22] could we do the second reading at the
[1:50:25] next scheduled meeting on on August 13th
[1:50:28] at the latest and it still meets the
[1:50:29] deadline. So
[1:50:30] >> Exactly.
[1:50:30] >> So
[1:50:31] I know I know there may be some meetings
[1:50:32] in July or whatever the plan is, but
[1:50:35] regardless of that, if we do a first
[1:50:37] reading tonight, we have the option to
[1:50:38] do August 13th and and we meet we meet
[1:50:41] the August 17th deadline.
[1:50:42] >> Thank you and that was our hope as well.
[1:50:45] >> Good. Thank you for that.
[1:50:46] Anybody else have any comments on this
[1:50:48] item?
[1:50:49] Okay. Roll call vote, please.
[1:50:52] >> Mrs. Dunn?
[1:50:52] >> Yes.
[1:50:53] >> Mr. Olympia?
[1:50:53] >> Yes.
[1:50:54] >> Ms. Millman?
[1:50:55] >> Yes.
[1:50:55] >> Mrs. Cox?
[1:50:56] >> Yes.
[1:50:56] >> Mr. Miko?
[1:50:57] >> Yes.
[1:50:59] >> Okay.
[1:51:01] Thank you. Policy BDE, subcommittees of
[1:51:04] the school committee. This was a policy
[1:51:06] that was
[1:51:08] brought up at the last meeting and
[1:51:10] referred to subcommittee on quality and
[1:51:12] standards.
[1:51:14] I can let all of you know that the
[1:51:15] subcommittee on quality and standards is
[1:51:17] actually meeting with the MASC staff to
[1:51:20] review and update all of our policies.
[1:51:23] Presently, they are reviewing policy
[1:51:27] section A and section B.
[1:51:29] Then they're going to move on to C and
[1:51:31] D.
[1:51:32] This is going to take place throughout
[1:51:33] the summer and our hope is to finish by
[1:51:37] the beginning of the year, but it does
[1:51:38] depend on a lot of different variables.
[1:51:41] However, what we would like to do is
[1:51:43] just to forward this policy along with
[1:51:47] all
[1:51:48] of the other section B.
[1:51:51] And we will be approving the school
[1:51:53] committee will be approving
[1:51:56] or reapproving
[1:51:58] and reauthorizing all of our policies
[1:52:00] once they come back to us, and we will
[1:52:02] again be doing that in stages.
[1:52:05] So, the recommendation was just to be
[1:52:07] able to send this to MASC, put it with
[1:52:09] section B. We should be getting section
[1:52:11] B back soon, and we'll be approving all
[1:52:12] of section B.
[1:52:16] So, there's no action to
[1:52:18] >> No action on that item. Thank you.
[1:52:20] All right. Well, thank you, Mrs. Dunn.
[1:52:22] Appreciate your work.
[1:52:24] Uh next is Oh, sorry. Dr. Cox.
[1:52:30] » Just a quick question. Looking at it, um
[1:52:33] we have the
[1:52:35] um athletics and
[1:52:37] wellness on this. Did we want to change
[1:52:40] that to the athletics and health before
[1:52:41] we send it?
[1:52:43] >> It It would be It would be changed when
[1:52:45] we send it in. They'll be They'll be all
[1:52:46] kinds of work done. Yeah.
[1:52:49] >> Perfect.
[1:52:50] >> So, it will be athletics and health
[1:52:51] that's sent over the MASC.
[1:52:53] Okay. Good. Thank you.
[1:52:56] All right. Next item, building and
[1:52:57] grounds.
[1:52:59] >> Oh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are
[1:53:01] having a building and grounds
[1:53:02] subcommittee meeting on June 30th, next
[1:53:04] Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m., and our
[1:53:07] guest will be Jim Politanos, the
[1:53:09] director of facilities. What we are
[1:53:11] going to do at that meeting is go
[1:53:13] through um a review of where we are now
[1:53:16] with our buildings, but more so a
[1:53:19] discussion on the plan for the summer.
[1:53:22] We know there's a lot of very specific
[1:53:24] work that takes place over the summer
[1:53:26] for maintenance and a lot of different
[1:53:28] repairs that take place once the
[1:53:29] students are and teachers are out of the
[1:53:31] building. So, that's what Mr. Politanos
[1:53:33] will be speaking with us about. He'll
[1:53:35] also address special projects, as
[1:53:38] always. He'll be talking about the roof
[1:53:40] projects. We will probably get into a
[1:53:42] discussion of security, which at that
[1:53:45] point it may require an executive
[1:53:46] session during that subcommittee
[1:53:48] meeting, and we'll be prepared to do
[1:53:50] that. I'm also going to ask um Mr. Bloom
[1:53:53] if he could come in at that time and
[1:53:54] give us some advice as well.
[1:53:57] So, that will be next Thur- uh I'm
[1:53:59] sorry, next Tuesday on June 30th. Thank
[1:54:02] you.
[1:54:02] >> Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Dunn.
[1:54:04] District and organizational
[1:54:06] subcommittee, Ms. Millman.
[1:54:12] » So, um
[1:54:14] we met um yesterday
[1:54:17] um
[1:54:18] uh as a committee, um but prior to that
[1:54:21] um we did some background work with the
[1:54:24] um meeting with two representatives from
[1:54:27] the Collins Center of um
[1:54:29] UMass Boston,
[1:54:31] um and
[1:54:33] um it was uh it was a great
[1:54:35] conversation. Um
[1:54:37] what the process that we're working on
[1:54:39] with them, um as we talked about before,
[1:54:42] is to do what they call an organizational review.
[1:54:47] Um and Dr. Bedard had the opportunity to
[1:54:49] talk to them a little bit ahead of time,
[1:54:51] and as we move forward with that, um the
[1:54:54] idea is uh once again, this this was
[1:54:57] part of the district and organizational
[1:54:59] structure and looking at what has been
[1:55:01] often brought up.
[1:55:03] You know, are we top heavy and that was
[1:55:05] a piece of this and looking at the
[1:55:07] organization in general and creating
[1:55:12] an organizational chart. So, we gave
[1:55:14] them some information ahead of time. We
[1:55:16] met with them to further understand
[1:55:19] honestly what they do and what we're
[1:55:20] looking for
[1:55:22] to have done
[1:55:23] and it looks like we'll be moving
[1:55:25] forward. It was actually they gave us a
[1:55:28] quicker timeline than I anticipated. Um
[1:55:30] which was October.
[1:55:32] Yeah, October that they would have a
[1:55:34] report
[1:55:35] ready for us after we provide them
[1:55:37] further information. Which will include
[1:55:39] they will interview folks from the
[1:55:41] school committee. I believe staffing.
[1:55:44] They'll look at what we have currently
[1:55:46] of
[1:55:48] job descriptions, which is provided to
[1:55:50] us, which has been provided as well.
[1:55:53] We have the opportunity to
[1:55:56] have this done and then they come back
[1:55:58] and share with us their findings of
[1:56:01] you know, suggestions, recommendations,
[1:56:04] things like that. It seems to be pretty
[1:56:07] comprehensive and informative. I think
[1:56:09] that one of the benefits as well of
[1:56:11] having this group do it is one of the
[1:56:13] women that
[1:56:15] would be cheering it I believe.
[1:56:17] She's a former superintendent herself
[1:56:20] and been in education and does this now.
[1:56:22] It's kind of her passion I think as
[1:56:24] well.
[1:56:26] What we started with was discussing
[1:56:31] what some of the comparisons will be.
[1:56:34] They shared different ways that they
[1:56:35] would make suggestions of some
[1:56:37] comparisons. So, they would look at both
[1:56:40] dart districts, gateway districts, based on area location,
[1:56:45] demographics, demographics, all sorts of
[1:56:48] things. And then
[1:56:50] we'd narrow it down to I believe they
[1:56:52] said
[1:56:53] eight to 10 that we'd make some kind of
[1:56:56] looks and comparisons at. Again, you
[1:56:58] know, the the um report is going to
[1:57:01] start with like the rationale and part
[1:57:03] of that rationale was what is our
[1:57:06] administration look like, what is our
[1:57:08] district look like organizationally to
[1:57:11] make it
[1:57:12] something that we can kind of answer
[1:57:13] that question better
[1:57:15] for for those asking. So, I know that
[1:57:18] there are very clear channels
[1:57:21] in some ways and in other ways perhaps
[1:57:22] not.
[1:57:23] And I think that that's this is a piece
[1:57:25] of it.
[1:57:26] I don't know Dr. Vidala or Dr. Cox if
[1:57:29] either of you want to add to that from
[1:57:30] your impressions of meeting with them.
[1:57:36] » I I thought it was great. I'm really
[1:57:37] excited about it. I think it it will
[1:57:39] help and
[1:57:40] they also talked about the messaging and
[1:57:42] the communication on it and I think that
[1:57:44] was also very helpful. And I think that
[1:57:46] they were very thoughtful around size of
[1:57:48] schools, similar schools, the
[1:57:50] comprehensive high school was a big part
[1:57:51] of it to make sure that we're looking at
[1:57:53] other districts that also have
[1:57:54] comprehensive high schools. It was funny
[1:57:56] a lot of the building projects that we had shared were part of
[1:57:59] you know, similar high schools. Uh uh
[1:58:01] Medford, Waltham, Attleboro, things that we're going to. So, I I
[1:58:05] thought that I thought that was
[1:58:06] interesting. And similar to where we are
[1:58:08] in the pipeline with MSBA. So,
[1:58:10] I I'm excited about it and I think it's
[1:58:12] going to give us some really good
[1:58:13] information.
[1:58:14] >> And and this is not an audit. This is an
[1:58:17] organizational review and I and we
[1:58:19] talked a lot about that. This is an
[1:58:20] organizational review. It's not an
[1:58:22] audit. It's not a gotcha. It's not a
[1:58:24] anything of that sort. It is a review to
[1:58:26] see where we are,
[1:58:27] give us information and then we take
[1:58:30] that and decide what we'll want to we
[1:58:31] want to do with that. They will be at
[1:58:33] some point reaching out to school
[1:58:34] committee.
[1:58:36] And I think it was really very
[1:58:37] beneficial. And and I'm excited about
[1:58:40] it.
[1:58:42] >> Great. That's excellent.
[1:58:44] I'll go to Mr. Mico then to Mrs. Dunn.
[1:58:46] >> Just one quick question either to Dr.
[1:58:48] Vidala or Ms. Millman.
[1:58:49] We're a little bit different than even
[1:58:51] those districts uh because of our
[1:58:53] elementary schools. You know, we have a
[1:58:54] eight elementary schools. Will they take
[1:58:57] that into account? Because that
[1:58:58] obviously our structure is different
[1:58:59] because of that.
[1:59:00] >> Yes.
[1:59:01] >> Yeah, I I'm I'm glad you brought that up
[1:59:03] because in fact some of the districts
[1:59:05] that they were showing us we were all
[1:59:06] like, "Well, wait a minute." But
[1:59:08] something like um
[1:59:09] Woburn has a similar. I think they have
[1:59:11] seven elementary schools, but they have
[1:59:12] two middle schools, right? So, nothing
[1:59:14] is that exactly perfect. And then we did
[1:59:16] want to make sure as Dr. Vidal was
[1:59:18] saying we look at um schools that have
[1:59:20] CTE within their own high school like
[1:59:23] Medford. And so, I think what what we
[1:59:26] all what we recognized and and um any
[1:59:30] further information that anybody wants
[1:59:31] to ask
[1:59:32] by all means, please do is that you
[1:59:34] know, not we're not going to be exactly
[1:59:36] like any other, but I think it's
[1:59:37] important to have some components that
[1:59:39] are. So, what they are looking at it,
[1:59:41] which includes the fact that we are
[1:59:43] building a high school. Um so, we want
[1:59:45] another community that's in that similar
[1:59:47] vein whether they have already built or
[1:59:49] they're also in the process. Um um as
[1:59:52] well as there were a couple other things
[1:59:53] I think we mentioned just as far as
[1:59:55] where our city that that actually is
[1:59:57] another piece I think that's importantly
[1:59:59] comparable. But when they shared just to
[2:00:01] give you an idea, when they shared
[2:00:03] certain communities there were some I
[2:00:05] was like, "No, that makes no sense."
[2:00:06] Like Cambridge was on there and I don't
[2:00:08] think that makes sense. And so, we kind
[2:00:10] of discussed that that's not really
[2:00:11] comparable for any particular purpose. I
[2:00:14] was trying to think, "Well, what would
[2:00:16] we have, you know?" But I don't think
[2:00:18] that was comparable. So, I think what
[2:00:20] they're going to come back with is a
[2:00:21] list that we're going to narrow down and
[2:00:23] those are the things that we're going to
[2:00:24] look at.
[2:00:26] >> Thank you. Mrs. Dunn?
[2:00:28] >> Just out of curiosity, how much does the
[2:00:30] study cost?
[2:00:32] >> Uh I believe it's 12,000.
[2:00:37] >> Thank you.
[2:00:39] All right, thank you for that report.
[2:00:41] >> Wait, there's more.
[2:00:41] >> Oh, sorry.
[2:00:43] >> Um ju- just a a bit more on that and I think this is going to lend itself
[2:00:47] to some of the new business as well. One
[2:00:49] of the other things that um we talked
[2:00:51] about in looking at kind of the
[2:00:53] structure and the things in the way in
[2:00:54] which we're doing things is um you know, at some point and I might
[2:00:59] be jumping ahead of myself, but at some
[2:01:01] point um looking at the the calendar of
[2:01:04] the year that we have set forth for us
[2:01:06] um and when and how things happen. So,
[2:01:09] what we do know is by a lot of our um
[2:01:12] operating bylaws as well as our school
[2:01:14] policies, there are certain things that
[2:01:16] need to happen within a certain period
[2:01:18] of time as dictated by those bylaws and
[2:01:21] by those policies and even further some
[2:01:25] Mass General Laws and whatnot. So, one
[2:01:26] of the things that I'm hoping to um to
[2:01:30] be able to work collaboratively in our
[2:01:32] uh August meeting, our retreat meeting
[2:01:35] is discussing um some sort of way to for
[2:01:38] us collectively and we can do the work a
[2:01:40] little bit beforehand on our own is to
[2:01:43] take a look at our things that we can
[2:01:44] create a governance calendar that has
[2:01:47] these things kind of addressed in terms
[2:01:49] of being able to know that at certain
[2:01:51] times of the year, there are certain
[2:01:53] things we need to have forward. So, for
[2:01:55] example, the school um
[2:01:57] improvement plans um are provided to Dr.
[2:02:00] Vidala and then they come to us in a way
[2:02:04] like there's a variety of different
[2:02:06] things that require votes and timelines
[2:02:08] and so that if we can create
[2:02:10] collectively some sort of governance
[2:02:12] calendar within the calendar that we
[2:02:14] have, that's also a fluid document, but
[2:02:17] if we can create that perhaps at the
[2:02:19] retreat to just help us move throughout
[2:02:21] the year um and making sure we're
[2:02:23] meeting those timelines that we were
[2:02:25] required to meet.
[2:02:26] >> Yeah. And if I could just say and if
[2:02:28] it's like a checklist, it would help me
[2:02:30] and then I could I could upload it as my
[2:02:32] evidence for you at the end of the year.
[2:02:33] It would be a very clean for everyone to
[2:02:35] see. Here's a checklist of all the
[2:02:36] things that we did and here are the
[2:02:37] dates that we did it. So, I think
[2:02:39] putting it all together in a document
[2:02:40] and sort of in a checklist form, it
[2:02:42] helps, you know, sort of keep me
[2:02:43] organized and keep us organized and then
[2:02:45] I can provide it at the end of the year.
[2:02:47] Look at all we did, this is part of our
[2:02:48] evidence as as we upload that as part of
[2:02:50] our our normal procedures.
[2:02:52] >> That's a good idea.
[2:02:54] >> We
[2:02:55] >> Please, Dr. Cox, go ahead.
[2:02:57] >> Um we did chat a little bit about um
[2:03:00] possibly creating like a template like
[2:03:02] to show and have it be part of either
[2:03:04] the next meeting that we have or uh just
[2:03:06] as an example so everyone can kind of
[2:03:08] get a visual of what it could look like.
[2:03:10] Um and so we would be working with you
[2:03:12] uh Dr. Bedolla on setting it up to make
[2:03:14] it the most functional it can be.
[2:03:21] » Thank you, Mr. Melman.
[2:03:23] All right, parent and student advisory
[2:03:24] boards, any report today, Mrs. Dunn?
[2:03:27] >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm going to
[2:03:28] address parent advisory board and then
[2:03:30] student advisory board.
[2:03:31] Parent advisory board, due to the
[2:03:34] extremely busy PTOs,
[2:03:38] was unable to hold a final year meeting,
[2:03:41] which would normally just be a wrap-up
[2:03:42] anyway.
[2:03:43] So, first I would like to make
[2:03:48] a special statement to thank all of our
[2:03:50] parent teacher organizations because we
[2:03:52] know without them, we would never have
[2:03:55] such a successful year.
[2:03:57] The amount of activities they have done
[2:03:59] this year has been absolutely
[2:04:01] outstanding.
[2:04:03] Every single one of the schools
[2:04:06] has had
[2:04:07] very successful events.
[2:04:11] And
[2:04:12] what they've done, those PTOs have not
[2:04:15] only created happy memories for their
[2:04:17] kids,
[2:04:18] but they have contributed financially to
[2:04:21] programs in the school, to supplies,
[2:04:24] to uh
[2:04:26] the good feelings in the building,
[2:04:28] honoring teachers, honoring staff
[2:04:30] members.
[2:04:32] It's just been an amazing year to see it
[2:04:35] unfold. So, I want to thank them and I
[2:04:37] know we all agree to thank them for
[2:04:40] their work because it's just this has
[2:04:43] been an amazing year. So, for the Parent
[2:04:45] Advisory Board, what I'm going to do is
[2:04:48] I've got an email going out to all the
[2:04:50] principals to obtain the names of the
[2:04:53] new incoming PTO officers to reach out
[2:04:57] to them this summer, perhaps to be able
[2:04:59] to have a quick get-together before the
[2:05:02] beginning of the school year. It's
[2:05:03] sometimes difficult with tried it
[2:05:05] different years,
[2:05:06] but I would like to do that. And then be
[2:05:09] able to work on our agenda for the year
[2:05:11] and be able to address the issues that
[2:05:13] the parents would like to discuss and as
[2:05:15] we go through the year, we know
[2:05:16] different things come up and they need
[2:05:18] to speak with us. So, that's where we
[2:05:20] are with Parent Advisory Board. With
[2:05:22] Student Advisory Board, I have a meeting
[2:05:24] next week with Deborah
[2:05:27] Melnick.
[2:05:28] She is the National Student Board Member
[2:05:31] Association Membership and Program
[2:05:34] Officer.
[2:05:35] The students
[2:05:37] have their own organization.
[2:05:39] And it is really
[2:05:43] very very helpful for Student Advisory
[2:05:47] Board members to be able to learn their
[2:05:50] role, their responsibilities,
[2:05:52] and to be able to stress to the students
[2:05:54] the power that they have and the civic
[2:05:56] obligation they have when they take on
[2:05:58] the role of a Student Advisory Board
[2:06:00] member. Um, she is the Northeast
[2:06:03] representative. And so, she is going to
[2:06:07] meet with me to help provide some of the
[2:06:09] new materials. Mass Association of
[2:06:11] School Committees helped to get this
[2:06:13] organization off the ground and is still
[2:06:16] involved a bit with some guidance and
[2:06:19] did do some financial assistance to help
[2:06:21] the students because we are one of the
[2:06:24] few states in the country that has a
[2:06:26] mandated Student Advisory Committee that
[2:06:29] we meet with on on a regular basis.
[2:06:33] Other states are looking at this. Some
[2:06:36] of the states, their student advisory
[2:06:37] board members are actually voting
[2:06:39] members of the school committee. And
[2:06:42] it's really interesting to hear about
[2:06:43] the different things that the students
[2:06:45] work on,
[2:06:47] hear about the similarities between our
[2:06:50] boards and boards from across the state.
[2:06:53] I participated in a nationwide
[2:06:55] discussion and it was really interesting
[2:06:57] to talk to people from the West Coast.
[2:07:00] That was a lot of fun because we spoke
[2:07:01] with the kids and heard about their
[2:07:03] experiences. And
[2:07:06] it's just something to really help our
[2:07:07] advisory board members with their job.
[2:07:10] So, I'm going to find out what she has
[2:07:12] and then of course I'll coordinate with
[2:07:14] Ms. Randall and the student advisory
[2:07:16] council
[2:07:17] representative, the teacher advisor,
[2:07:20] and try to schedule some things at the
[2:07:22] beginning of the school year, give them
[2:07:23] a good start.
[2:07:25] So, thank you.
[2:07:27] >> Thank you, Ms. Dunn.
[2:07:29] All right, we'll hold City Council
[2:07:30] Legislative Delegation and send want to
[2:07:32] send
[2:07:34] well wishes to
[2:07:35] Randy Carpenter on her recovery.
[2:07:38] And Special Education,
[2:07:40] Ms. Milman.
[2:07:42] >> I don't have anything to report
[2:07:43] specifically.
[2:07:45] >> Thank you.
[2:07:46] All right, let's get into new business.
[2:07:47] We have a number of items to to discuss
[2:07:50] and let's first start Ms. Milman with
[2:07:51] the Open Meeting Law.
[2:07:55] » So, I have a couple of matters to bring
[2:07:57] up
[2:07:58] that come under the Open Meeting Law.
[2:08:01] So, I just to to start to refresh what
[2:08:03] people might know and for the sake of
[2:08:05] those that are listening even in
[2:08:07] Chicopee,
[2:08:09] we know that Open Meeting Law requires
[2:08:12] public bodies to create and maintain
[2:08:14] accurate minutes of all meetings. When
[2:08:16] reviewing minutes for compliance with
[2:08:18] Open Meeting Law, what is they look for
[2:08:20] is substantial compliance, which is the
[2:08:23] def- which they then define as meeting
[2:08:25] them meaning the minute should contain
[2:08:28] enough detail and accuracy so that a
[2:08:30] member of the public who did not attend
[2:08:32] the meeting could read the minutes and
[2:08:34] have a clear understanding of what
[2:08:36] occurred. It is insufficient to simply
[2:08:39] state that an a discussion was had about
[2:08:42] a particular topic. Rather, the minute
[2:08:44] should include sufficient detail about
[2:08:46] the discussion so that a member of the
[2:08:49] public who is not present for the
[2:08:50] meeting could understand what in fact
[2:08:52] was discussed.
[2:08:54] This is something we know.
[2:08:56] We what we are looking at and in
[2:08:59] particular
[2:09:01] I'm drawing attention to some of the
[2:09:03] things that I do have some concerns over
[2:09:05] of whether we're consistently meeting
[2:09:07] that in the way that we should be
[2:09:09] and that we need to take a look at that.
[2:09:11] I have particular concerns and I have
[2:09:14] had some correspondence with the folks
[2:09:16] from the Assistant Attorney General's
[2:09:19] Office Division of Open Government
[2:09:22] about our um compliance around open
[2:09:25] meeting law. And basically you have to
[2:09:29] file a complaint if we haven't done it
[2:09:31] right. If somebody could be filing
[2:09:32] complaint, but what's better is if we
[2:09:34] cure it ourselves first and foremost and
[2:09:37] move forward to do that. And so one of
[2:09:39] the concerns that I have and that I was
[2:09:42] looking into
[2:09:43] and um really mean to make this we all
[2:09:48] have areas to improve and and I myself
[2:09:51] have noted to to one of those in our own
[2:09:53] minutes of our the DOS and
[2:09:56] District Organization Structure
[2:09:58] Committee needed to do subcommittee
[2:10:00] needed to do a bit better um because we
[2:10:02] perhaps didn't meet that. So what we
[2:10:05] have done um is we created um part of
[2:10:09] our own recognition of this because
[2:10:11] subcommittees
[2:10:13] are subject to open meeting law.
[2:10:17] And I have concerns that we are not
[2:10:19] meeting that and I have that concern
[2:10:21] because it also is stated in our own
[2:10:25] operating bylaws
[2:10:27] um
[2:10:28] section BEBA
[2:10:31] where it says a court um a subcommittee
[2:10:34] um
[2:10:35] can do a oral report in lieu of a
[2:10:38] written report.
[2:10:40] And that is not what the open meeting
[2:10:43] law folks are telling us is okay.
[2:10:46] And so in order to kind of cure
[2:10:49] ourselves, we need to look back and make
[2:10:51] some decisions about quickly curing that
[2:10:53] as well as moving forward of what we're
[2:10:55] going to do.
[2:10:57] With Dr. Cox's amazing savvy technical
[2:11:00] assistance, once again um to give her
[2:11:03] that credit, we have provided and it's
[2:11:05] been there for months now a template
[2:11:07] document um of of what we can use and
[2:11:11] it's on the drive that we all have
[2:11:13] access to and
[2:11:16] you can put that up. Yes, thank you. Um
[2:11:18] and the document being shared right now
[2:11:20] on the screen is is just a template.
[2:11:24] It's not
[2:11:25] you it's not a must do, but the template
[2:11:27] is there that will likely meet um all
[2:11:31] the required things of open meeting law.
[2:11:33] What has come to some attention is just
[2:11:37] bullet points are not okay unless again
[2:11:40] they fulfill the definition of
[2:11:42] substantial compliance, but we did put
[2:11:44] bullet points cuz we felt used it and we
[2:11:46] thought it was effective as well as
[2:11:47] check boxes because we can also then go
[2:11:50] back and and as we approve our own
[2:11:53] minutes within the subcommittees, we can look back and see did we meet
[2:11:58] these next action steps in each move
[2:12:00] forward moving one. So as you can see
[2:12:03] this was put here with the a reference
[2:12:05] to the master general law open meeting
[2:12:07] laws at the bottom for for an
[2:12:09] understanding. Um we've had that up for
[2:12:12] a while. Um I've actually had members of
[2:12:15] the public ask for minutes of other
[2:12:16] meetings and where they can find them.
[2:12:18] Um and there are we haven't seen any
[2:12:21] what from from the commit subcommittees.
[2:12:24] Um so
[2:12:25] I I I bring this to our attention
[2:12:27] because we're better off curing it than
[2:12:29] having a complaint against us on it. And
[2:12:33] this is
[2:12:34] not that hard for us to do. If we have
[2:12:37] met this year, we have had an agenda. If
[2:12:40] you had an agenda,
[2:12:41] it'll probably be easier. Hopefully,
[2:12:44] you'll be able to if there were
[2:12:45] questions asked in the meeting, you'll
[2:12:47] be able to put these the information
[2:12:49] they are question asked wherever you
[2:12:51] seem to have um
[2:12:53] fit whether it goes under your action
[2:12:55] items or next steps or in the meeting
[2:12:57] minutes that a question was asked. So,
[2:13:00] my my um
[2:13:02] what I'd like to do at this time is to make a motion. Um um
[2:13:08] and I move my motion would be that I
[2:13:10] move that all subcommittees of the
[2:13:12] school committee maintain meeting
[2:13:14] minutes in accordance with our open
[2:13:16] meeting laws, a Mass General Laws
[2:13:18] chapter 30A um inclusive of sections 18
[2:13:22] to 25, and that our minutes be prepared
[2:13:25] um for every meeting um
[2:13:27] then approved in a timely manner and
[2:13:29] made available to the public as required
[2:13:31] by law, um which could be as we're doing
[2:13:34] it now with uh uploading um
[2:13:37] the minutes um to the public website
[2:13:40] that we do have available. We have a
[2:13:42] public drive available. And that we at
[2:13:44] the same time, my suggestion is going to
[2:13:46] be that we um
[2:13:49] put a link to that on the website as we
[2:13:51] move forward as well. So, um
[2:13:54] not to complicate things further, but um
[2:13:58] I'd like to move forward the motion that
[2:13:59] um
[2:14:00] we
[2:14:02] use appropriate documentation and
[2:14:04] information to be sure that we are
[2:14:06] complying with open meeting law. Um so
[2:14:12] » Second.
[2:14:14] >> Thank you for the motion by Ms. Millman.
[2:14:15] That has been seconded by Dr. Cox. On
[2:14:17] the motion, Mr. Miko.
[2:14:20] >> Mr. Chair, and thank you Ms. Millman for
[2:14:22] bringing this up.
[2:14:23] Um I do have a a couple of questions and
[2:14:25] concerns about this. I know we are
[2:14:26] having a retreat in uh August, and I
[2:14:29] know someone from uh
[2:14:31] you know, the former superintendent. Um
[2:14:33] but I would also like to get the MASC's
[2:14:36] um
[2:14:37] take on this and possibly our own legal
[2:14:39] counsel.
[2:14:41] Um
[2:14:42] especially where the Assistant Attorney
[2:14:43] General's office has been somehow
[2:14:45] notified. I think it's um it's best that
[2:14:48] we
[2:14:49] you know, if if we're going to make
[2:14:51] changes that we get
[2:14:52] you know, we have we have uh city city
[2:14:55] solicitors, we have our own legal team.
[2:14:58] I I think we should get it from our
[2:14:59] legal team. Personally. Thank
[2:15:03] » Thank you, Mr. Miko.
[2:15:06] All right. Uh Ms. Dunn?
[2:15:08] >> I'll be honest, I think honestly that
[2:15:10] MASC would probably
[2:15:13] say the same thing. That's what's in the
[2:15:14] training about uh providing the the
[2:15:17] written minutes.
[2:15:19] Um so
[2:15:21] I mean
[2:15:24] it's only difficult compiling all the
[2:15:27] minutes and then filing them.
[2:15:29] And that's that's one of the problems. I
[2:15:32] would like to ask if we would be able
[2:15:35] to increase the pay of our
[2:15:37] uh record keeper, Ms. Bold.
[2:15:40] Or find out if we would be able to have
[2:15:43] um
[2:15:45] a record keeper note taker at some of
[2:15:48] the subcommittee meetings.
[2:15:49] Some of them are pretty extensive
[2:15:52] and may need more uh
[2:15:56] more detailed minutes than others.
[2:16:01] » Okay, well we have a motion on the floor
[2:16:02] right now. Um
[2:16:04] on on motion, Ms. Millman.
[2:16:06] >> Just to add, um, my first contact
[2:16:08] actually was the MASC. Um, so I I do
[2:16:11] appreciate you saying that, too, because
[2:16:13] that was the first contact. Um, and the
[2:16:16] connection with the Attorney General's
[2:16:17] office as anybody as an elected
[2:16:19] official, there's lots of, um, resources
[2:16:21] that we have available to us to make
[2:16:23] sure that we're doing the things that we
[2:16:24] need to do. And quite frankly, as one of
[2:16:26] four attorneys sitting on here, this
[2:16:28] came up as a concern for me. Um, and
[2:16:30] that's why I reached out just as if
[2:16:32] there were certain things relative to,
[2:16:34] uh,
[2:16:35] conflict of interest. We have We're fortunate we have that. There is
[2:16:38] no legal advice they will give out to
[2:16:40] you when you make those calls in
[2:16:42] particular. It's just kind of
[2:16:43] informational purposes and so that it
[2:16:45] can guide you whatever you're thinking.
[2:16:47] But again, I started out with the MASC
[2:16:49] and they were a fantastic resource. Um, as the Mass Association of School
[2:16:54] Committees, I always like to say what
[2:16:55] I'm talking about when I use the, um,
[2:16:58] acronyms. Um, but, um, I think once
[2:17:01] again, it's it's almost ironic because
[2:17:04] we actually
[2:17:05] my motion in some ways to me feels a
[2:17:07] little bit odd, albeit I'm making it,
[2:17:10] because we're we're charged to do it
[2:17:13] anyway.
[2:17:15] » Okay. Thank you. You have the You have
[2:17:17] the motion on the floor.
[2:17:19] Roll call vote, please.
[2:17:21] >> Mrs. Dunn?
[2:17:22] >> Yes.
[2:17:23] >> Mr. Olimpio?
[2:17:24] >> Yes.
[2:17:24] >> Ms. Millman?
[2:17:25] >> Yes.
[2:17:26] >> Mrs. Cox?
[2:17:27] >> Yes.
[2:17:27] >> Mr. Amico?
[2:17:28] >> Yes.
[2:17:31] » Okay. Thank you. Ms. Millman.
[2:17:36] » That's all.
[2:17:38] >> All right. And I know we did touch on
[2:17:40] this, uh, earlier, uh, but just wanted
[2:17:42] to bring it back. Uh, item number two,
[2:17:44] the School Committee Governance
[2:17:45] Calendar. Ms. Millman, anything to add
[2:17:47] on that?
[2:17:48] >> No, I'll leave that to kind of where we
[2:17:50] left it and just would say it's a
[2:17:51] follow-up for for for as well as our
[2:17:54] retreat. And I think, um, the idea, um,
[2:17:57] and as Mr. Amico had said, I do believe
[2:17:59] that bringing in MASC for pay perhaps a
[2:18:01] portion of that retreat would certainly
[2:18:03] be very very helpful.
[2:18:05] Um and I would really like to see that.
[2:18:07] Um perhaps we can do that and that could
[2:18:08] be a piece of what they um support us
[2:18:10] with, too.
[2:18:14] » All right. Thank you. Uh next item uh is
[2:18:17] public forum for superintendent's
[2:18:19] evaluation. Dr. Cox, I'll turn it over
[2:18:20] to you.
[2:18:21] >> Thank you so much. Um okay, so
[2:18:24] um
[2:18:25] I just want to kind of circle back to
[2:18:27] where we were back in May.
[2:18:30] Um so, the uh
[2:18:32] Mayor Bettencourt requested that we had
[2:18:34] all of our superintendent evaluations
[2:18:36] submitted by the end of May to allow him
[2:18:38] sufficient time to compile the report.
[2:18:41] Um Mayor Bettencourt, are you able to
[2:18:43] confirm that you've received all of our
[2:18:46] >> I do have all the reports. Thank you for
[2:18:47] that. I failed to get that done by
[2:18:49] tonight's meeting. Uh I will have that
[2:18:52] for the next meeting whenever we
[2:18:53] reschedule or whenever we schedule that.
[2:18:55] Um
[2:18:57] but yes, I do have all the reports.
[2:18:58] They're lengthy,
[2:18:59] uh which is terrific. Um
[2:19:01] and I will have a full report at the
[2:19:03] next meeting. I wasn't able to get it
[2:19:04] done by the meeting tonight.
[2:19:07] >> Thank you. We're busy doing other
[2:19:08] things.
[2:19:09] >> [laughter]
[2:19:10] >> Um
[2:19:11] which is totally fine. I that just
[2:19:13] brings me to like the step five when we
[2:19:15] are looking at the DESE
[2:19:17] um like
[2:19:18] rotation of how the year looks for an
[2:19:20] evaluative process. And so, that just
[2:19:22] looks at, you know, um us scheduling
[2:19:25] that public meeting in order to um allow
[2:19:27] us to
[2:19:29] complete our performance appraisals uh
[2:19:31] our our performance review and end of
[2:19:33] cycle summative evaluation within the
[2:19:35] public uh within a public forum. And so,
[2:19:39] um
[2:19:41] I just really wanted to have try to have
[2:19:42] an open conversation about when
[2:19:45] the what the timeline looks like for us
[2:19:46] to get this done before we start back in
[2:19:50] August or if it's something that we can
[2:19:52] try to do that first meeting that we're
[2:19:54] back in August.
[2:19:55] Um because then we're really looking at
[2:19:57] starting the cycle all over again and
[2:19:59] looking at your new goals and what we're
[2:20:02] going to be doing starting the new year.
[2:20:03] So I really want to try to wrap this up.
[2:20:05] So
[2:20:06] opening it up to the discussion for a
[2:20:08] timeline that the school committee might
[2:20:11] seem reasonable for us to meet for a
[2:20:14] public forum.
[2:20:16] >> All right. Thank you. I'll bring that up
[2:20:17] open it for discussion, Mrs. Dunn.
[2:20:21] >> I'll be honest. I know that the
[2:20:22] terminology is a public forum
[2:20:25] for the superintendent's evaluation.
[2:20:27] However,
[2:20:29] the evaluation needs to be presented and
[2:20:32] brought forward in an in a public
[2:20:34] meeting.
[2:20:35] We have always brought that forward at
[2:20:37] our regular meetings.
[2:20:41] The use of the word public forum almost
[2:20:44] sounds like a public hearing on the
[2:20:46] student on the
[2:20:48] Sorry, on the superintendent's
[2:20:49] evaluation and that is not
[2:20:53] the purpose of the public forum. The
[2:20:55] public forum is that that
[2:20:58] product
[2:21:00] the compilation of all of our
[2:21:01] evaluations
[2:21:03] after being prepared by the mayor
[2:21:05] is released to the school committee as a
[2:21:09] regular document. It would be
[2:21:12] discussed at a regular meeting.
[2:21:15] The public is able to speak at public
[2:21:17] participation.
[2:21:19] But that
[2:21:22] is the way that it needs to take place.
[2:21:25] So if we're going to have that at our
[2:21:27] first meeting of the
[2:21:29] at our first meeting after July
[2:21:33] then we would let people know that would
[2:21:35] be on the agenda.
[2:21:41] » Sorry, my back's bothering me a little
[2:21:42] bit. Thank you, Mrs. Dunn. Mr. Amico.
[2:21:44] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, through the
[2:21:45] [clears throat] chair. Yeah, so when I
[2:21:46] first saw that public forum, I I thought
[2:21:48] it was cuz there was there was mention
[2:21:50] of
[2:21:51] earlier in during budget season that the
[2:21:54] superintendent's eval evaluation should
[2:21:55] be in public and
[2:21:57] but you know, we all evaluate the
[2:21:59] superintendent. We all gave
[2:22:02] through the chair we gave the mayor all
[2:22:04] our findings and to to what Miss Dunn
[2:22:08] has said, it's just brought brought out
[2:22:10] at a regular meeting. It's an agenda
[2:22:12] item.
[2:22:13] Um so I I do question the wording public forum for
[2:22:19] superintendent's evaluation. That's very vague. I I think that should
[2:22:22] be tightened up a little bit. Um I think
[2:22:24] it's just a um
[2:22:27] it's a report on the superintendent's
[2:22:29] evaluation. That's that's basically what
[2:22:32] we've done for the last 10 years and
[2:22:33] what I think you've done for the last 20
[2:22:35] plus years.
[2:22:38] >> And it would certainly be a
[2:22:40] couple of page report based on the
[2:22:42] length of the of the evaluations and I I
[2:22:45] would read that at the the forum.
[2:22:47] >> a summary.
[2:22:48] >> So um
[2:22:50] but yeah, that uh
[2:22:51] >> And that's and I'm comfortable changing
[2:22:53] the language. It's
[2:22:54] I've going through like DESE um
[2:22:57] like the language that they're using in
[2:22:59] their documentation for it
[2:23:02] and you know, knowing that they're at a
[2:23:04] minimum DESE you know, reflects saying
[2:23:07] that they there needs to be at minimum
[2:23:09] three public meetings each year that
[2:23:11] looks specifically at the evaluation and
[2:23:13] if those are
[2:23:15] designated as part of our
[2:23:17] regular school committees, that's fine
[2:23:20] if we think that it's something.
[2:23:22] >> Yeah. And so in in general uh
[2:23:25] what I what I would recommend for the
[2:23:26] three would be
[2:23:28] in August I'll I'll be doing my goals
[2:23:30] again, right? And so we'll do the goals.
[2:23:31] That should be the first one. Um at some
[2:23:33] point we should do a meeting where I
[2:23:35] present progress towards those goals and
[2:23:38] then towards the end of the year the
[2:23:39] third meeting would be
[2:23:41] uh for next year would be a formative
[2:23:42] and then the following year we would do
[2:23:44] the same process and end with a
[2:23:45] summative. Um and so each year we would
[2:23:47] have three meetings. One would be goal
[2:23:48] setting, one would be evidence and and
[2:23:51] um
[2:23:52] you know,
[2:23:52] >> Mid-cycle review.
[2:23:54] >> review. And and then we would do that.
[2:23:55] So, yeah, I'm happy to do that and I
[2:23:57] think this this ties in nicely to our
[2:23:59] process as long as we can get um the
[2:24:02] official report shared publicly uh
[2:24:05] in August. I'll share the uh the goals
[2:24:07] for next year in August as I do each
[2:24:09] year because we want to do that on
[2:24:10] opening day, August 31st, I'll be
[2:24:12] sharing the district goals with the
[2:24:14] teachers. Um so, you know, I look
[2:24:15] forward to receiving that feedback and then we'll prepare our goals for uh
[2:24:19] for next year as well.
[2:24:20] >> That's actually one of the reasons why
[2:24:22] we traditionally have the retreat in
[2:24:24] August before the school year begins.
[2:24:26] >> And
[2:24:28] would those dates be a part of uh I
[2:24:30] really do like the idea of this
[2:24:32] governance committee setting the
[2:24:33] schedule and time frame? Would that be
[2:24:34] part of of that? Is that what you want
[2:24:36] to speak to, Ms. Milman?
[2:24:37] >> Exactly. Um that's what actually I was
[2:24:40] going to bring up is that because we're
[2:24:41] required to do it three times a year and
[2:24:44] regardless of what we've always done, I
[2:24:45] think we're trying to improve upon
[2:24:47] ourselves and to move forward and have
[2:24:49] an understanding and expectation so that
[2:24:52] perhaps we can create that calendar so
[2:24:54] that we know exactly which meeting it
[2:24:55] will be on, um you know, what the date
[2:24:58] will be. And I I keep hearing and I just
[2:25:00] need to clarify a couple things. I keep
[2:25:02] hearing we're going to meet in July, but
[2:25:03] I don't have July dates yet. So, I'm
[2:25:05] hoping we're leaving with that. Oh,
[2:25:07] sorry. Um sorry. Sorry. I'll back off on
[2:25:09] that. And the other thing was is when
[2:25:12] we're saying the word retreat, but we're
[2:25:15] determining we're going to use that for
[2:25:17] this purpose is does that turn our
[2:25:18] retreat into a public meeting?
[2:25:21] >> It is a public meeting. It has to be
[2:25:23] posted.
[2:25:24] >> So, the retreat itself is a public
[2:25:26] meeting for people
[2:25:27] to attend?
[2:25:28] >> They can if they want to, they'll be
[2:25:30] sitting in the corner, but they're
[2:25:31] welcome to attend.
[2:25:32] >> Okay, I just wanted to be I just wanted
[2:25:34] to clarify that because I know we're we're having that on in August and
[2:25:37] I know we're having that over at
[2:25:39] beautiful Endicott College campus. Um
[2:25:42] and so I just was curious if that's in
[2:25:45] fact an open meeting that would cover
[2:25:47] for that. But that is the exact point.
[2:25:50] >> and so so technically yes that's that's
[2:25:52] an open meeting.
[2:25:53] I would not recommend that's where we
[2:25:55] share the superintendent's evaluation
[2:25:56] because it's not a televised meeting.
[2:25:57] >> No, it's not that kind.
[2:25:58] >> That's not a televised meeting so we
[2:26:00] could certainly discuss that and I'm
[2:26:01] happy to receive feedback and and talk
[2:26:02] about that. Typically we would you know
[2:26:05] if there is a review of it it may be an
[2:26:07] executive session but the final report
[2:26:09] must be shared on the floor which we
[2:26:10] should do at the televised meeting in
[2:26:12] August.
[2:26:13] >> So so that's where I was going just to
[2:26:15] try to clarify because again this is
[2:26:17] going to be about dates and I know that
[2:26:19] everybody
[2:26:20] likes to take some summer time dates and
[2:26:23] just to clarify that we're able to do
[2:26:24] that and that and creating that calendar
[2:26:27] I think is going to be important even if we get and I'm more than happy
[2:26:31] with anybody else's input to share a
[2:26:33] draft of some sort so that we come in
[2:26:35] with something and go from there.
[2:26:38] >> Okay, thank you. This is a
[2:26:40] >> Thank you Mr. Chairman. Just so that
[2:26:41] everyone understands that the retreat
[2:26:45] is posted. It is an open meeting anytime
[2:26:50] this body meets it as a group.
[2:26:54] If we had a holiday party, it would be
[2:26:56] posted
[2:26:57] and the public could come
[2:26:59] and watch us have a dinner.
[2:27:02] So for the retreat
[2:27:04] if people want to come and sit there
[2:27:06] they are not allowed to speak.
[2:27:08] They can come
[2:27:11] but
[2:27:13] the purpose of that retreat really is
[2:27:15] for team building
[2:27:18] and to accomplish some work so that we
[2:27:20] can move forward.
[2:27:22] And that's the real purpose of that
[2:27:24] retreat.
[2:27:25] So if people wanted to attend and watch
[2:27:30] they're more than welcome to. It's not
[2:27:33] videoed.
[2:27:34] It's not
[2:27:36] broadcast but they are always posted as
[2:27:39] an open meeting.
[2:27:42] >> Thank you.
[2:27:43] I'll turn it back to you, Dr. Cox. Um
[2:27:47] Uh thank you for bringing this item
[2:27:49] forward.
[2:27:50] >> Okay.
[2:27:51] >> Any other discussion?
[2:27:53] All right, good.
[2:27:55] Okay, and that kind of
[2:27:57] flows nicely into the next item.
[2:28:00] So, I'll turn it over to you, Dr. Cox,
[2:28:01] for the July School Committee meeting
[2:28:02] dates.
[2:28:03] >> Um and this is again I'm looking more of
[2:28:05] our discussion. Everyone's looking at
[2:28:07] their summers. Summer starts tomorrow
[2:28:10] for our students here in Peabody.
[2:28:13] Um and so,
[2:28:14] as we voted and accepted the 2026-2027
[2:28:19] School Committee schedule um at our last
[2:28:21] School Committee meeting
[2:28:23] with our first scheduled meeting on
[2:28:24] August 25th. Um I just as we're going
[2:28:28] through all of these things, there's oh,
[2:28:29] we're going to do that that first
[2:28:30] meeting in August. We're going to do
[2:28:32] that It's that first meeting in August
[2:28:33] seems like it's getting loaded with
[2:28:36] items. Is there any um
[2:28:39] thoughts or discussion around the
[2:28:41] possibility of having a regular School
[2:28:43] Committee meeting in July to maybe start
[2:28:46] working on the and getting the first
[2:28:48] drafts of this calendar or those like
[2:28:50] first steps done? So, it come August,
[2:28:53] we're setting ourselves up
[2:28:55] for a little bit easier of a start.
[2:28:59] >> Okay, thank you. I'll just put that out
[2:29:01] on the floor and open it up for
[2:29:02] discussion. Any thoughts on this item?
[2:29:04] Mr. Dunn.
[2:29:05] >> I think historically July's a very tough
[2:29:08] month for a lot of people, and quite
[2:29:10] honestly, I'm more than open to when we
[2:29:13] meet in August, if it's got to be a
[2:29:15] 4-hour meeting, it has to be a 4-hour
[2:29:17] meeting, but I think
[2:29:19] a lot of people's schedules during the
[2:29:21] month of July, it's
[2:29:22] I mean, we've never been able to We've
[2:29:24] tried a couple of times, but
[2:29:26] um so, August, you know, typically is a
[2:29:29] long meeting.
[2:29:32] » Thank you, Mr. Dunn.
[2:29:34] >> And typically, that is a time where we
[2:29:37] are able to have some subcommittee
[2:29:39] meetings for the smaller groups because
[2:29:41] it's easier to
[2:29:43] uh work around people's vacations to
[2:29:45] hold a meeting and make sure that we're
[2:29:48] continuing on with any of the things
[2:29:50] that a subcommittee has been addressing.
[2:29:53] So, July
[2:29:56] it's not off
[2:29:58] the table,
[2:29:59] but it's just a bit different as far as
[2:30:01] trying to schedule a full school
[2:30:04] committee meeting for everyone.
[2:30:06] Especially
[2:30:08] I mean, we all try to get away.
[2:30:10] But, our staff
[2:30:12] their vacation time is really limited.
[2:30:15] So, we need them here at our meetings.
[2:30:19] And that was really why the July meeting
[2:30:23] started to go. We have the ability, if
[2:30:26] we needed to, to hold a July meeting.
[2:30:29] That's always been available in case
[2:30:32] there was some type of a pressing issue
[2:30:34] that needed to be taken care of. But,
[2:30:36] for the most part, we've been able to
[2:30:38] have a bit I would say a bit of a
[2:30:41] catch-up for the school committee to be
[2:30:43] able to
[2:30:44] have those subcommittee meetings, take
[2:30:45] care of some of the smaller details,
[2:30:47] bring everything back in August, start
[2:30:49] fresh. It's just like starting the new
[2:30:51] school year. We start off again.
[2:30:56] » Thank you. Any other comments, thoughts,
[2:30:57] Mr. Mico?
[2:30:58] >> Yeah, I agree. We we tried that a couple
[2:31:00] a few years ago.
[2:31:02] And [clears throat]
[2:31:03] I think five out of the six members had
[2:31:05] vacations planned on the different
[2:31:06] weeks. And then, to your point for the
[2:31:08] chair to Ms. Dunn, you know, our
[2:31:10] valuable team here, they deserve so I
[2:31:12] mean, they've been all out. I mean, Dr.
[2:31:14] Vidalis just gave his presentation, you
[2:31:17] know, less than 24 hours ago to the city
[2:31:19] council. They've been all out, you know,
[2:31:22] I notice Mr. Rippons not here and well
[2:31:24] deserved uh cuz I know he was burning
[2:31:26] the midnight oil uh with charts and
[2:31:29] whatever he does. Uh,
[2:31:31] Um, so I just don't I
[2:31:34] You know what? We work our tails off. I
[2:31:36] almost said something else. I I I I
[2:31:38] actually would say it is it after 9:00
[2:31:39] now. But, uh, we deserve we deserve some
[2:31:41] time off. And if there's anyone who
[2:31:43] thinks otherwise,
[2:31:45] I don't care.
[2:31:46] Personally.
[2:31:47] >> And there is a lot of work that goes on.
[2:31:50] >> Thank you.
[2:31:51] >> And that's exactly why I wanted to open
[2:31:54] it up for the discussion for us to have
[2:31:56] a conversation about what August is
[2:31:58] going to look like, what we can do in
[2:32:00] July, and
[2:32:02] I'm okay with that if the team's okay with that.
[2:32:05] >> Thank you. Ms. Millman.
[2:32:08] >> Yeah, I mean, I think that probably the
[2:32:10] most important thing is let's get a date
[2:32:12] because if we wait through July,
[2:32:15] people also do things in August. I'm
[2:32:17] more concerned in making sure we have
[2:32:18] the dates to do the things. And I kept
[2:32:20] hearing in the last few meetings, we
[2:32:22] meet in July, we meet in July, we meet
[2:32:24] in July, and and now I'm hearing we
[2:32:25] don't really meet in July. Um, perhaps
[2:32:27] it's just subcommittees that we'd meet
[2:32:29] in July. Um, I'm fine with it, too.
[2:32:31] Believe me, calendars are flying
[2:32:34] already. I just don't want to walk away,
[2:32:36] hopefully tonight, without at least
[2:32:38] having some understanding of if we're
[2:32:40] going to have two August dates or we're
[2:32:42] just going to have one and it's going to
[2:32:43] be a marathon. I want to be prepared.
[2:32:47] Um, you know, I'm all about I think
[2:32:50] folks around this table have been
[2:32:51] working incredibly hard. I really think
[2:32:53] that um, if if there's anything pressing
[2:32:56] that we should have it, I don't know because I mean, we have
[2:33:01] said repeatedly over some meetings, we
[2:33:04] meet in July. So, when those things were
[2:33:06] said, I think myself and perhaps Dr.
[2:33:09] Cox, maybe is why you brought this is
[2:33:11] because we've said that and um, I'm sure
[2:33:13] you're trying to get away as well with
[2:33:15] your little ones. So, um,
[2:33:18] I I'm hoping we can perhaps set a date
[2:33:21] or
[2:33:23] I I don't know.
[2:33:24] >> I think the dates are set. So, August
[2:33:27] 13th is the retreat, so that's one like
[2:33:29] meeting technically, and then August
[2:33:31] 25th.
[2:33:32] So, we'll have the two in August and
[2:33:36] >> And then we have our And then we go back
[2:33:38] to our regular schedule the second and
[2:33:40] fourth Tuesdays.
[2:33:42] So, yeah, that's the dates we have right
[2:33:44] now.
[2:33:45] >> As long as the committee is comfortable
[2:33:47] and that's
[2:33:49] I just wanted the discussion to be up
[2:33:51] there.
[2:33:52] >> Thank you, Dr. Cox.
[2:33:54] All right, next item, subcommittee
[2:33:55] meeting documents. Turn it back to you.
[2:33:58] >> It's already pretty much been discussed.
[2:34:00] Um I wanted again just to follow up with
[2:34:03] how the Google Doc has been utilized or
[2:34:06] not utilized. If there's anything any
[2:34:08] feedback that you guys can give me
[2:34:10] on how I can make it more accessible. Um
[2:34:14] either during meetings or after
[2:34:15] meetings, um feel free to let me know,
[2:34:19] send me an email about the format of it,
[2:34:21] if there's anything I can do to make it
[2:34:23] better or easier. It is a live document,
[2:34:26] so if you are taking notes in it
[2:34:28] directly during the meeting, somebody
[2:34:30] who is at home that knows the meeting is
[2:34:33] going on can see your notes going in. Um
[2:34:36] if you're in our public files, you can
[2:34:38] make a copy of the document and have it
[2:34:40] on your own drive and then upload it
[2:34:42] into our live our public folder drive.
[2:34:46] Um
[2:34:46] but
[2:34:48] I just wanted to see if there was any
[2:34:49] feedback, any additional comments,
[2:34:52] concerns, questions about it. Um
[2:34:54] especially as we're wrapping up this
[2:34:55] year going into the next year, what we
[2:34:58] can do to improve upon it.
[2:35:00] >> All right, thank you. I'll open that up.
[2:35:02] Any thoughts?
[2:35:06] Ms. Dunn?
[2:35:06] >> Just just a bit of history.
[2:35:09] Subcommittees used to have to turn in
[2:35:11] written minutes. They were attached to
[2:35:14] the minutes of the school committee, and
[2:35:16] then they had to be approved.
[2:35:19] What ended up happening over time was
[2:35:21] that they became integrated into the
[2:35:25] minutes via
[2:35:28] the oral dictation.
[2:35:30] So,
[2:35:31] now with the state requiring the minutes
[2:35:34] to be written
[2:35:35] again, it was it was actually it was
[2:35:39] actually burdensome, and I can see how
[2:35:41] it is again.
[2:35:42] That's how it goes.
[2:35:48] » So, any feedback on the forms when we
[2:35:50] start to use them more consistently, let
[2:35:52] me know and I can help you get it once
[2:35:55] if we get more guidance from mass or
[2:35:56] anything about how we can take them.
[2:36:00] Easy to edit.
[2:36:02] >> Well, thank you. Thank you for working
[2:36:03] on that. That's very helpful. Oh, Ms.
[2:36:05] Bowman, do you do you want to comment?
[2:36:07] >> Um I'm just wondering Dr. Cox if the
[2:36:11] aspect of it being in the drive where
[2:36:13] it's at where you're typing when and
[2:36:16] somebody can see it if we need to change
[2:36:18] that and put that into it could be in
[2:36:21] the sub in the only the school
[2:36:23] committee's
[2:36:25] um
[2:36:25] drive so that if any one of us is on it
[2:36:28] and even that I wonder if that creates a
[2:36:31] potential issue. I don't know. No,
[2:36:33] actually it shouldn't. But, I think if
[2:36:35] it was just um accessible to the school
[2:36:37] committee and after the minutes are
[2:36:40] approved, then it moves over to the
[2:36:42] public file um
[2:36:44] as minutes in the public files other
[2:36:46] minutes would be so that we're not you
[2:36:48] know, I know that I'm not great at
[2:36:49] typing and if I'm typing and then
[2:36:51] somebody's on and they're like, oh, you
[2:36:52] need I just I just feel like it it's
[2:36:55] something that it we want to have it
[2:36:56] between us is as um accessible first and
[2:37:00] then moved over. Um that's just a
[2:37:02] thought uh based on what you said. Um
[2:37:05] it just makes it kind of a little bit
[2:37:07] more
[2:37:08] um
[2:37:10] kind of the work product of the sub
[2:37:11] committee be there. If somebody wants
[2:37:14] to, as we know, the subcommittees are
[2:37:15] open to open meeting. People can
[2:37:17] certainly come and sit there. Um but I
[2:37:19] think having our minutes done um in
[2:37:22] within us and then once they're
[2:37:23] approved, they're available to the
[2:37:24] public.
[2:37:27] >> Thank you, Ms. Moment. Mr. Micco, did
[2:37:28] you want to
[2:37:29] >> Yeah, I was going to say the same thing.
[2:37:30] They should be restricted initially cuz
[2:37:31] you're typing, you're putting in uh
[2:37:33] there may be uh you may have changes to
[2:37:35] it, you may have additions, you may add
[2:37:37] a document to it. So, I would I would I
[2:37:39] would agree with Ms. Moment on that.
[2:37:40] >> Thank you.
[2:37:41] >> Perfect. I can make that change.
[2:37:43] >> Right. Excellent. That's helpful. Thank
[2:37:45] you.
[2:37:49] want to roll, Dr. Clark? Next item.
[2:37:51] >> Going quick. I'm trying to be quick for
[2:37:53] everyone.
[2:37:53] >> No, no.
[2:37:54] >> Um this also kind of goes along with our
[2:37:56] live drive folders that we have. Um so,
[2:38:00] I
[2:38:01] um have had several really great um
[2:38:03] conversations with, you know, different
[2:38:06] stakeholders, community stakeholders,
[2:38:08] families, um staff members regarding
[2:38:10] access to like the documents that we're
[2:38:14] using, that we have access to, that are
[2:38:16] all part of our agenda. Um and so, just
[2:38:21] how we get we hand out our packets here.
[2:38:23] If somebody's not here, but they're
[2:38:25] connecting with us online. I know this
[2:38:27] week all of our items were added to our
[2:38:29] folder. It's the first week that it
[2:38:31] happened, which was really great. I'm
[2:38:33] wondering if it's something that we can
[2:38:34] do um
[2:38:36] that we just have it all of our written
[2:38:38] communication, all of the superintendent
[2:38:40] reports, everything that we are
[2:38:41] presenting and doing during our school
[2:38:43] committee meetings to be added to those
[2:38:45] drives where our agendas are posted.
[2:38:47] Therefore, anyone who's meeting who's
[2:38:49] joining us at home has all the written
[2:38:51] communication. Um this came up the first
[2:38:54] time um to me when um one of our very
[2:38:58] well-respected teachers sent her letter
[2:39:01] of uh retirement. And I got teachers
[2:39:04] asking me to send the letter to them
[2:39:06] because
[2:39:07] they didn't get to see her letter. Um, but it was in our written
[2:39:10] communication. So, that was kind of the
[2:39:12] first thing that sparked being like,
[2:39:14] "Oh, well, everyone should have been
[2:39:15] able to see this really nice letter."
[2:39:17] Um, so, uh, I don't know if that has to
[2:39:19] be
[2:39:21] proposed as a motion or how that would
[2:39:23] work.
[2:39:24] Discussion, I'm open to.
[2:39:27] >> Thank you. So, was that not in the
[2:39:28] agenda packet that is posted in the
[2:39:30] >> So, the
[2:39:31] >> So, I know like the city council, the
[2:39:33] you can click on the agenda and it's got
[2:39:34] everything in it. The documents that we
[2:39:36] receive
[2:39:37] >> Typically, everything that's just been
[2:39:39] going into our folders right now are
[2:39:41] just our agendas and our minutes when
[2:39:44] they go through. So, our whole entire
[2:39:45] packet is not going in.
[2:39:47] Um, therefore, I'm like, if we could I
[2:39:49] don't know if it's just something that's
[2:39:51] as easy as, "Yeah, we all agree." or if
[2:39:53] it has to be a discussion.
[2:39:54] >> Yeah, I don't know what would prohibit
[2:39:56] us from doing that. I I don't know.
[2:39:58] >> All right. I'm I'm surprised because I
[2:40:00] thought that our entire packet, uh, was
[2:40:04] available to the public, say, on Monday
[2:40:08] before our school committee meeting on
[2:40:10] Tuesday.
[2:40:11] So, I know it is sent out. It's
[2:40:13] definitely appearing on the city
[2:40:15] website.
[2:40:16] >> I think the warrants have to be pulled
[2:40:18] out of it.
[2:40:19] >> Mhm.
[2:40:19] >> So, I think it's our it's the packet
[2:40:20] that the school committee really
[2:40:21] receives minus the warrants.
[2:40:24] Okay. So,
[2:40:25] but but that's not going up there, but
[2:40:27] that's what can go up there. Okay. So,
[2:40:29] we would need two separate packets, one
[2:40:31] with warrants, one without. The one
[2:40:32] without is is public.
[2:40:34] >> What's with the warrants? It's public
[2:40:36] document. Why wouldn't that be okay to
[2:40:38] go up?
[2:40:44] I can't I can't hear you.
[2:40:46] >> Yeah, I don't know if it's account
[2:40:47] numbers or
[2:40:49] I'm not sure. We can look into that as
[2:40:51] well. I can ask that question.
[2:40:52] >> document.
[2:40:54] Just making sure that it has to Yeah, it
[2:40:57] has to be available cuz
[2:40:59] >> No, I can
[2:40:59] >> If we look at it here,
[2:41:02] it's available to the public.
[2:41:04] >> Well, let's ask. I can ask that
[2:41:05] question. Can I just answer pretty
[2:41:06] quick?
[2:41:07] >> Yeah, we should ask. Yeah.
[2:41:08] >> All right. You
[2:41:10] Mr. Amico.
[2:41:11] >> Yeah, I and and I'll I'll go back to the
[2:41:13] superintendent's evaluation. You know,
[2:41:15] by having those um
[2:41:17] superintendent's reports, I'll be honest
[2:41:19] with you, that's where I drove all my
[2:41:21] data from. I looked back at all of Dr.
[2:41:23] Vidala's superintendent reports and I
[2:41:25] said, "Oh, there's there's a goal that
[2:41:27] he set at the beginning of the year and
[2:41:29] he's reporting on it here." So, you
[2:41:31] know, almost like a tea you know, the
[2:41:33] teacher up uploading evidence, that's
[2:41:35] what Dr. Vidala is doing. So, I'm in
[2:41:37] favor of that. It'll make the uh evaluation process
[2:41:41] that much easier cuz you'll have it
[2:41:42] right there for him.
[2:41:43] That's fine.
[2:41:44] >> Ms. Millman.
[2:41:46] >> Yeah, I think that um this also was a a
[2:41:48] question ongoing because the lately, for
[2:41:51] some reason, after the fact, we're
[2:41:53] getting a lot of calls on even where is
[2:41:55] the school budget? Where can I find it?
[2:41:56] And that hasn't been
[2:41:58] um accessible to the public either on
[2:42:00] our site. Um and with that same kind of
[2:42:03] notion of uploading the the documents is
[2:42:07] whether or not I mean, this is a little
[2:42:08] bit out of
[2:42:10] uh little bit out, but um
[2:42:12] the city's website and the school's
[2:42:15] website have two separate different
[2:42:17] things and they're not connecting either
[2:42:19] for some reason and maybe that's
[2:42:21] something that IT in the city and the IT
[2:42:23] from the school can better connect
[2:42:24] because agendas are on there on some
[2:42:26] places
[2:42:28] where and and not on others. Some say
[2:42:30] there's a meeting, but doesn't have the
[2:42:31] agenda and so there's a discrepancy
[2:42:34] between the two. So, if we are uploading
[2:42:36] these um documents, which I also think
[2:42:39] we should, um to have it
[2:42:42] exist in the places both places or one
[2:42:45] link to the other would be helpful.
[2:42:51] » Ms. Dunn.
[2:42:51] >> I do know that question has come up in
[2:42:53] the past and at the time we were We were
[2:42:55] the two systems could not connect.
[2:42:58] So, I know like
[2:43:00] probably Mrs. Macarelli probably had to
[2:43:02] send over the materials that were
[2:43:04] appearing on the city website
[2:43:07] because
[2:43:09] it couldn't that the two systems don't
[2:43:11] uh
[2:43:13] the two websites don't talk to each
[2:43:14] other. That That was my understanding.
[2:43:16] May have changed now, I don't know. It's
[2:43:19] worth looking into it and I also think
[2:43:20] any of this discussion needs to involve
[2:43:23] Mrs. Macarelli to find out exactly how
[2:43:25] things are done on that end because um
[2:43:28] she is the person who knows more than
[2:43:29] anyone about this.
[2:43:31] >> No, good topics.
[2:43:32] >> for Mrs. Macarelli.
[2:43:33] >> No, good topics. We can look into this
[2:43:35] more.
[2:43:36] >> Uh
[2:43:37] and then just uh wrap up with adding
[2:43:39] things to our drive. Um I would like to
[2:43:42] um
[2:43:43] once the um
[2:43:46] uh superintendent report is done and um
[2:43:49] we've discussed it, having it all be put
[2:43:52] in a folder within our drive for the
[2:43:53] school year as well. So, there's all of
[2:43:55] our evaluations as well as the summative
[2:43:58] report will be there as well.
[2:44:00] Um just on the drive so it's all in an
[2:44:03] easily accessible place.
[2:44:05] >> Okay.
[2:44:06] >> I think we need to check though. I do
[2:44:08] not know if our evaluations
[2:44:12] would be released. That I'm not sure of,
[2:44:15] but we should check into that as well.
[2:44:16] >> Okay. We can definitely check. I believe
[2:44:18] I did read that our evaluations are
[2:44:21] public as well.
[2:44:22] >> They could be.
[2:44:23] >> Um but we can I can definitely look back
[2:44:26] at where I read that.
[2:44:28] >> Is it Dr. Pedda?
[2:44:30] The summary, yeah.
[2:44:34] They're put into a document.
[2:44:38] » And then I believe that
[2:44:40] the mayor completes
[2:44:42] one for that compiles everything. And
[2:44:44] so, it still gives ratings in each of
[2:44:46] the four standards and and it's but it's
[2:44:48] one evaluation that is shared and that's
[2:44:50] the superintendent's evaluation. It's a
[2:44:52] compilation of the six. There's one
[2:44:54] evaluation report that is that is the
[2:44:56] compilation. The six individual ones are
[2:44:59] kind of part of my personnel file, not
[2:45:01] part of the public document. The one
[2:45:03] summary and
[2:45:05] the the the rubric can be completed and
[2:45:07] all of that can be completed as one
[2:45:09] compilation of the
[2:45:10] >> So, the chairperson?
[2:45:11] >> The chairperson completes that, yeah.
[2:45:13] Takes all the input involved and then
[2:45:15] provides one document. Just so there's
[2:45:17] not seven documents. There's there's
[2:45:18] one.
[2:45:19] >> Well, like at least that like I I just
[2:45:21] want it to be on our drive for the
[2:45:23] school year. That it's there.
[2:45:28] » All right, thank you. Dr. Cox, next
[2:45:30] item. Um
[2:45:31] turn it over to you.
[2:45:32] >> All right. Um okay.
[2:45:34] So, I'm going to
[2:45:36] more so read um something that I wrote
[2:45:39] for this.
[2:45:40] Um
[2:45:41] and then it's going to be again just
[2:45:43] kind of a discussion on where we can
[2:45:46] move forward with. So,
[2:45:48] um I want to start the conversation with
[2:45:50] the committee regarding the culture
[2:45:51] within our district. And to be clear, I
[2:45:53] am not referring to our student culture,
[2:45:55] our school spirit, or whether people
[2:45:57] genuinely enjoy their jobs here. We know
[2:45:59] that our Peabody staff love being part
[2:46:02] of Peabody school systems. Um rather,
[2:46:05] I'm referring to the professional
[2:46:06] culture experienced by our teachers,
[2:46:07] staff, administrators, and faculty
[2:46:09] members. Um since joining the school
[2:46:11] committee, one of the most consistent
[2:46:13] pieces of feedback that I have received
[2:46:15] from employees across multiple roles,
[2:46:16] buildings,
[2:46:18] multiple roles and buildings has been
[2:46:19] fear of speaking openly about concerns,
[2:46:22] um offering differing viewpoints, um or
[2:46:25] challenging existing practices.
[2:46:27] Many individuals have expressed that
[2:46:29] they are hesitant to rock the boat out
[2:46:31] of concern that doing so could
[2:46:32] negatively impact their professional
[2:46:34] relationships, opportunities, or
[2:46:36] standing within the district.
[2:46:38] Whether these perceptions are accurate
[2:46:40] or not, um the fact that they are being
[2:46:42] expressed repeatedly warrants our
[2:46:44] attention, I believe. Um a healthy
[2:46:47] organizational culture is one which
[2:46:49] employees feel safe to ask questions,
[2:46:52] provide feedback, identify problems,
[2:46:54] um, and engage in constructive
[2:46:56] disagreement without the fear of
[2:46:57] retaliation or adverse consequences. As
[2:47:00] a school committee, we have a
[2:47:01] responsibility to ensure that our
[2:47:03] district fosters an environment where
[2:47:05] our honest communication is valued and
[2:47:08] where employees feel empowered to
[2:47:09] contribute to, um, continuous
[2:47:11] improvement. Some of the most important,
[2:47:13] uh, some of the most meaningful growth
[2:47:15] occurs when individuals feel comfortable
[2:47:17] identifying challenges and proposing
[2:47:18] different solutions.
[2:47:20] Um, I'm not raising the issue to assign
[2:47:22] any blame or accusations to anyone.
[2:47:24] Rather, I believe it's important that we
[2:47:25] acknowledge these concerns seek and seek
[2:47:28] better understanding of our employee
[2:47:30] experiences, um, and explore ways to
[2:47:33] strengthen the trust, um, and
[2:47:34] communication throughout our school
[2:47:36] district. Um, again, like I said before,
[2:47:39] this is just opening a discussion about
[2:47:41] how we can assess the current climate
[2:47:42] within our district, identify
[2:47:44] opportunities for us to, uh, ensure that
[2:47:46] our employees feel like they can be
[2:47:49] heard safely and supported, um, in
[2:47:51] sharing their perspectives, um, and
[2:47:53] needs. Um, again, this is, I
[2:47:57] whether they are perceived notions or it
[2:48:01] is something that has happened in the
[2:48:02] past, um, this is something that I have,
[2:48:05] um,
[2:48:06] had several, uh, teachers and family
[2:48:09] members come to me, um,
[2:48:11] and just at my very first park meet up
[2:48:12] that I did, I had three different staff
[2:48:14] members talk to me about this, um,
[2:48:16] saying that they did not want their
[2:48:18] names, um, connected to the concerns
[2:48:20] that they were bringing up to me, um,
[2:48:23] due to the fear of their job. So, um,
[2:48:27] I just I'm putting it out there for us
[2:48:29] and it's just something that we can talk
[2:48:31] uh, our retreat about. Um,
[2:48:36] that is that is what I have to say right
[2:48:38] now on it.
[2:48:39] >> So, I I I just like to make a statement
[2:48:40] of that. And so, I appreciate you
[2:48:42] bringing this up.
[2:48:43] Um
[2:48:44] and I think that we all have an
[2:48:45] obligation to have real honest
[2:48:47] conversations with people.
[2:48:49] Uh and anonymous complaints and Facebook
[2:48:52] complaints are not productive.
[2:48:55] Uh and I will say
[2:48:57] putting an agenda item that says
[2:48:59] retaliation in schools
[2:49:01] is leading. And I think we are a
[2:49:04] district that has never been with a day
[2:49:09] without a contract
[2:49:11] since pre-COVID. That is amazing. Uh
[2:49:14] when we have teachers come to us from
[2:49:15] other communities that went in under
[2:49:17] strike, we talk about the healthy
[2:49:18] relationship that we have with the
[2:49:19] union. Uh when people bring things up,
[2:49:22] they have union representation and we
[2:49:24] encourage them to do so.
[2:49:26] Uh we had a a very robust conversation
[2:49:29] about a a move that some people did not
[2:49:32] like, uh the TLC move. And people came
[2:49:35] before us and they spoke at public
[2:49:36] comment.
[2:49:38] Were they retaliated against? No, they
[2:49:39] were rewarded by being put at the top of
[2:49:41] the transfer list and granted whatever
[2:49:43] position they wanted. When people speak
[2:49:45] out,
[2:49:46] they get it's productive. And and I
[2:49:48] think that we want to foster that. And I
[2:49:50] think we don't want to perpetuate a
[2:49:53] stereotype that is not true. We don't
[2:49:55] want to perpetuate something we want to
[2:49:57] encourage people. So, if people say,
[2:49:59] "Oh, there's a fear of retaliation or uh
[2:50:02] I want to remain anonymous." That's also
[2:50:04] not productive. We are professionals
[2:50:06] here. We should engage in conversations
[2:50:08] and uncomfortable conversations where we
[2:50:10] have respectful discourse and we may
[2:50:11] disagree. They have union
[2:50:13] representation. It's a violation of the
[2:50:15] contract if someone retaliates against
[2:50:17] them and they have protection. We've
[2:50:19] received zero grievances about
[2:50:20] retaliation.
[2:50:22] And the and the and the six years that
[2:50:23] I've been here, we've received zero
[2:50:24] because we work together and they are
[2:50:27] well represented. We have a great
[2:50:28] relationship with our union. The mayor
[2:50:29] has a great relationship with the union
[2:50:31] and and we meet all the time. And so, uh
[2:50:34] it's frustrating when you hear things
[2:50:35] like this because I don't want people to
[2:50:37] feel like that, but I also want to
[2:50:39] encourage anyone who feels like that to
[2:50:41] go to their union representation who
[2:50:43] will protect them, who will speak on
[2:50:45] their behalf on their behalf and will
[2:50:46] guarantee that there is no repercussions
[2:50:49] that will happen. And I and I want to
[2:50:50] put that out there because I'm very
[2:50:52] accessible and and and my staff is as
[2:50:54] well. And if people feel that way, they
[2:50:56] should go through their union and they
[2:50:57] should come before us because we also
[2:50:59] want to hear them. And so not hearing
[2:51:02] the conversations that they're upset
[2:51:03] about or that they're concerned about is
[2:51:05] not productive either. So we want to
[2:51:07] embrace that and public comment is here.
[2:51:10] People have spoken out and things get
[2:51:13] done when when people speak out. That's
[2:51:15] healthy and I encourage that and and
[2:51:17] when we stop talking, bad things happen.
[2:51:19] But let's let's encourage those
[2:51:20] conversations and so if anybody brings
[2:51:22] that up, encourage them to go to their
[2:51:24] union so that they have protection and
[2:51:26] they have that and the union will bring
[2:51:28] it to me. They they are not shy and and
[2:51:30] I am happy to meet and so when when I
[2:51:32] hear that, um
[2:51:34] I don't love the fact that the word
[2:51:36] retaliation is is on the agenda because
[2:51:40] it it's leading and and and it makes
[2:51:42] people think that maybe that is
[2:51:43] happening and
[2:51:45] we will not tolerate retaliation. And and you know, and I'm here to
[2:51:48] protect that and so I appreciate you
[2:51:50] bringing this forward and hopefully this
[2:51:51] sparks another conversation that says
[2:51:54] if you say that or you feel that way,
[2:51:56] you should go to your union member and
[2:51:58] they should speak to their principal or
[2:52:00] director or or the superintendent
[2:52:02] directly because we will not allow that.
[2:52:03] We we have a very strong relationship
[2:52:05] with the union and we have a very
[2:52:07] our union president is very accessible,
[2:52:09] so is the vice president. They're at
[2:52:11] everything and and we're happy to meet
[2:52:13] anytime. So I appreciate you bringing
[2:52:14] this up and and I hope that we can
[2:52:16] dispel these rumors and encourage more
[2:52:19] conversation.
[2:52:20] >> Thank you and I was very hopeful that is the exact way that you were
[2:52:24] going to respond. Um that the
[2:52:26] conversation, the floor is open, that we
[2:52:28] are available and wanting to have the
[2:52:30] conversation and open to
[2:52:33] seeing the differences and accepting
[2:52:35] changes and you know, that idea that
[2:52:37] there's not always one way to do
[2:52:39] something but there are many paths and
[2:52:41] many different viewpoints and many ways
[2:52:43] to achieve success. So,
[2:52:45] um I appreciate your response.
[2:52:48] >> Thank you.
[2:52:51] Mr. Mico.
[2:52:53] Thank you for bringing that up and thank
[2:52:55] you Dr. Abdalla for your response. I
[2:52:56] mean, does that happen in some places?
[2:52:58] I'm sure it does, right? People are
[2:53:00] human, it happens. There are also state
[2:53:02] laws against that, too.
[2:53:04] Um so, um
[2:53:07] I started off earlier in the night when
[2:53:09] I said that the profession with the
[2:53:11] highest turnover and the highest burnout
[2:53:14] is teaching.
[2:53:15] There's a reason for that and I think
[2:53:17] over the years,
[2:53:19] you know, um if you look in football,
[2:53:21] the uh the most the the most uh not
[2:53:24] important but the the the most valuable
[2:53:26] player is always the backup quarterback.
[2:53:28] They always want the other guy. You
[2:53:30] know, we see that with the 10 to 15
[2:53:31] people in the city who uh you know, want
[2:53:34] to bash us. You know, they know who they
[2:53:35] are. You know, bashing the mayor,
[2:53:37] bashing Dr. Abdalla. We see that, right?
[2:53:40] And unfortunately, do things happen?
[2:53:43] Possibly. They certainly happen in other
[2:53:45] places, but you know, I've I've
[2:53:47] witnessed it firsthand with Dr. Abdalla
[2:53:49] calling in union members and and we saw
[2:53:52] that with with our with our finance
[2:53:53] meetings. We were very, very clear and
[2:53:56] open about uh discussions about, you
[2:53:58] know, our budget. Um these are
[2:54:00] conversations that are ongoing and and
[2:54:02] if you have great communication, I and I
[2:54:04] know we do. We have great communication,
[2:54:06] the door is open. Um you know, I I've
[2:54:08] seen it, I've witnessed it firsthand
[2:54:10] here in Peabody. So, um if people have
[2:54:12] issues, call us. I I got two text
[2:54:15] messages last night.
[2:54:17] And and you know what? It It's not a
[2:54:19] bother. All our phone numbers are are
[2:54:21] public. You know, Dr. Abdalla is
[2:54:23] available. Uh Dr. Chase is available.
[2:54:25] We're all available. Um
[2:54:27] so, I I I would just say that yeah, I I
[2:54:30] there's something in there that we can
[2:54:32] certainly use.
[2:54:34] Um
[2:54:34] is morale where it is? I don't think
[2:54:36] morale is great anywhere. I'm going to
[2:54:38] be honest with you. When when when
[2:54:40] teachers are at the top of the burnout
[2:54:43] list
[2:54:44] of professions,
[2:54:46] okay, where you are, whether you're in
[2:54:47] Wellesley, you know, or Winchester or
[2:54:49] Peabody, wherever, you're going to have
[2:54:50] morale issues. You certainly are. You
[2:54:53] know, we'll we'll be you know, you want
[2:54:54] to have honest conversations. We would
[2:54:55] be lying to ourselves and to the public
[2:54:58] if we didn't say that there are morale
[2:55:00] issues. There are morale issues
[2:55:01] everywhere. That's That's a microcosm of
[2:55:04] this country, like I said earlier. When
[2:55:06] we start taking education and teachers
[2:55:08] serious, we'll see improvements in
[2:55:10] education. And until then, we're going
[2:55:13] to still have the same.
[2:55:14] Thank you.
[2:55:15] >> Thank you, Mr. Mico. Ms. Milman.
[2:55:19] » Um I appreciate you putting it on for
[2:55:21] the agenda because I think everything
[2:55:23] that everyone's saying is so true and it
[2:55:25] but it wasn't being said on the floor
[2:55:27] and aloud.
[2:55:29] And and that's the point and I believe
[2:55:31] that was the point of bringing it up
[2:55:33] because we did hear this. We did hear it
[2:55:35] last year. City Council heard it and
[2:55:37] then people felt it fell on deaf ears
[2:55:39] because it wasn't addressed. I know that
[2:55:42] emails that I'm receiving and phone
[2:55:43] calls I'm receiving, I am telling people
[2:55:46] there's a chair, we have public comment
[2:55:48] all the time, come and speak up. I have
[2:55:51] referred folks also to talk to the
[2:55:53] union. I have referred them to talk
[2:55:55] directly to people. Um I think that it
[2:55:58] is important that we do address when
[2:56:00] these things come up so it isn't because
[2:56:03] we're not permitted,
[2:56:04] albeit I'm sure we can be, to talk
[2:56:06] during back to people at public comment,
[2:56:09] the people want to know it's not falling
[2:56:11] on deaf ears. And so I think just that
[2:56:14] we're having this discussion and you
[2:56:16] rightfully responded in the way you did,
[2:56:18] doesn't negate the fact that that's the
[2:56:19] way people feel. But if they also don't
[2:56:22] take the next step and go the channels
[2:56:24] that need to go, then there's nothing
[2:56:27] more we can all do collectively than
[2:56:29] they're just talking in my ear or
[2:56:30] emailing to my for my read. The
[2:56:32] important thing is we hear people. We
[2:56:35] want them to continue to talk to us and
[2:56:37] know that you have said exactly what we
[2:56:40] would anticipate you to say as well as
[2:56:42] what Mr. Amico said as well. We are all
[2:56:44] available. We do want to hear it, but
[2:56:46] there are the right channels. And it's a
[2:56:48] matter of saying we do hear you. That
[2:56:50] was what was felt. Those were the words
[2:56:52] used. I know you don't like it, but
[2:56:54] those were the words used and I think it
[2:56:56] was right to be put on the agenda like
[2:56:59] that so that was heard. We heard it and
[2:57:01] we're addressing it. And so and people
[2:57:03] know that we were the their comments are
[2:57:06] not falling on deaf ears. In relation to
[2:57:09] specifically the note of retaliation,
[2:57:12] there are avenues to go. If you're an
[2:57:14] employee here, there are avenues to go
[2:57:17] and you should know what they are and we
[2:57:18] can help you find them if you're unsure.
[2:57:21] Um but it but but this is what it's
[2:57:23] about. Not everybody is going to always
[2:57:24] be happy with even the response, but
[2:57:26] that doesn't mean it's retaliatory. And
[2:57:29] so um I appreciate it and I'm glad we're
[2:57:31] having this discussion and it's not an
[2:57:33] easy one, but it's one that again if
[2:57:35] people do come to public comment, know
[2:57:37] we are hearing them and we're going to
[2:57:38] follow through.
[2:57:41] » Thank you. This is done?
[2:57:53] Mr. Olimpio?
[2:58:01] » I'd like to say it's very good that
[2:58:02] people trust you enough to come to you,
[2:58:04] which is always the position as a school
[2:58:06] committee member we want to be. We want
[2:58:08] to be open. We want to hear what people
[2:58:10] have to say and then we need to be able
[2:58:12] to follow through.
[2:58:13] It happens all the time.
[2:58:16] And I can tell you that when people call
[2:58:18] me and they're talking about their fears
[2:58:21] and they have, you know, concerns or
[2:58:23] examples of retaliation,
[2:58:26] what I always ask them is,
[2:58:28] "Can I Can I bring this to the
[2:58:30] superintendent?"
[2:58:31] Many times they'll say, "Please do."
[2:58:33] Other times they'll say, "I don't want
[2:58:34] my name used." I always ask, "Do you
[2:58:36] want my your name used? Do you want me
[2:58:38] to share your email?"
[2:58:40] I always call the superintendent
[2:58:43] to give him heads-up about what's going
[2:58:45] on.
[2:58:46] And if someone didn't want their name
[2:58:47] used, and if I and if I'm able to give
[2:58:51] him
[2:58:52] examples of what's going on without
[2:58:53] being really truly too specific where if
[2:58:56] there is retaliation going on with that
[2:58:58] person their privacy would be violated,
[2:59:01] their confidence to me would be
[2:59:02] violated, I won't do it. But Dr. Vidal
[2:59:05] and I have had numerous conversations.
[2:59:09] Sometimes I have called him
[2:59:12] raging
[2:59:13] >> [laughter]
[2:59:14] >> about something that was brought to me,
[2:59:17] and he has always followed through. And
[2:59:19] I have always followed through with the
[2:59:20] people just to let them know that I did
[2:59:22] hear them. I did what I could, but at
[2:59:25] some point it does end up on them.
[2:59:28] But I also want them to know they are
[2:59:31] not alone,
[2:59:32] that I do appreciate what they're
[2:59:34] saying.
[2:59:35] And if you hear it from enough people,
[2:59:38] then Dr. Vidal
[2:59:40] has
[2:59:41] that capability of saying, "Wait a
[2:59:43] minute.
[2:59:44] This is going on
[2:59:45] continuously."
[2:59:46] And he looks into it, and I know he
[2:59:48] does.
[2:59:49] So, it's a tough situation,
[2:59:52] but it's one that we all face as a
[2:59:54] school committee member, and the only
[2:59:56] thing we can do is be able to support
[2:59:58] people
[2:59:59] to be able to feel
[3:00:01] secure
[3:00:02] and heard.
[3:00:05] » Thank you, Mr.
[3:00:06] Olimpio.
[3:00:08] >> Thank you, and thank you for bringing
[3:00:09] this up, Dr. Cox. Um yeah, I mean,
[3:00:11] that's what
[3:00:13] Imagine in this day and age
[3:00:16] people, if there was some retaliation
[3:00:18] going on
[3:00:19] ev- everyone, all there's all eyes on
[3:00:22] everybody. Uh, maybe 30 years ago, uh,
[3:00:25] things were different, but in this day
[3:00:27] and age, I can't imagine
[3:00:29] uh, a staff, you know, an employee, uh,
[3:00:33] being retaliated against a superior, you
[3:00:35] know, from the superior or even a
[3:00:37] parent. I mean, I know a lot of parents
[3:00:40] I mean, I have a special needs child
[3:00:41] myself, so
[3:00:43] their fear is, "Gee, if I say something,
[3:00:46] then
[3:00:47] they're going to hold it against me."
[3:00:49] And I encourage them that that is simply
[3:00:51] not the case. And some people have that
[3:00:53] perceived notion. I mean, I know I've
[3:00:55] felt that way at times when things
[3:00:58] weren't going exactly correct, but you
[3:01:00] do have to speak up and I encourage them
[3:01:03] to do it, you know, in a respectful way
[3:01:05] and usually there's a lot of traction
[3:01:08] from that. A lot of positive outcomes,
[3:01:10] uh,
[3:01:11] come from it over the past, uh, 6 years
[3:01:13] or so
[3:01:14] to Ms. Dunn's point, uh, parents have
[3:01:17] said to me, "No, don't use my name." So,
[3:01:19] I'll reach out to the proper people and
[3:01:22] somehow it gets it does get resolved.
[3:01:24] And sometimes if there isn't a situation
[3:01:27] that can't be resolved, then I mean, it
[3:01:29] does, okay? Um, nobody
[3:01:33] I'm not saying that's never happened,
[3:01:34] but I can't I In this day and age, it
[3:01:36] just doesn't it just won't happen. It
[3:01:39] just it won't be tolerated, either. Can
[3:01:41] you imagine
[3:01:43] a parent being retaliated against and
[3:01:45] it's documented? I mean, heads would
[3:01:47] roll. I mean, heads I mean, heads would
[3:01:49] roll.
[3:01:50] And, uh, so, I mean, that's a great
[3:01:53] you're bringing it up. We all deal with
[3:01:54] it but, you know, you just have to make,
[3:01:56] you know, those parents comfortable
[3:01:58] that, you know, their voices will be
[3:02:00] heard. I mean, I
[3:02:01] I'm there. I mean, my son can't talk for
[3:02:03] himself.
[3:02:05] So, I'm just I'm in that boat. Some
[3:02:07] people forget that. They forget that I
[3:02:10] have a child in in the you know, in the
[3:02:12] district. So.
[3:02:14] Thank you.
[3:02:15] >> Thank you, Mr. Olympia.
[3:02:17] All right. Good discussion.
[3:02:18] >> Yeah, I really appreciate everyone's
[3:02:20] input.
[3:02:22] I I brought it up as you know, Ms. Dunn
[3:02:24] said like you want that trust. You want
[3:02:26] them to keep coming back. I've I wanted
[3:02:29] to bring it to the table as it was
[3:02:30] something that was brought to me by
[3:02:32] several people and so I'm very very
[3:02:34] happy with this discussion that we've
[3:02:36] had. So, I appreciate it. Thanks
[3:02:37] everyone.
[3:02:38] >> Thank you.
[3:02:40] All right. We have a last item, Dr. Cox.
[3:02:42] I'll turn it back to you.
[3:02:44] >> All right. After our lively end of our
[3:02:48] last school committee meeting discussing subcommittees,
[3:02:53] I wanted to bring forth
[3:02:55] I know
[3:02:57] Ms. Carpenter's not here cuz she was the
[3:02:59] one that requested to have something
[3:03:01] more formally presented on what type of
[3:03:03] committee or liaison position
[3:03:06] I would be interested in proposing.
[3:03:09] And so
[3:03:11] after lots of different um
[3:03:15] renditions of this
[3:03:17] and through talking and looking at other
[3:03:20] school committees and other
[3:03:21] subcommittees that are in various
[3:03:23] districts around us and dark districts,
[3:03:27] I have come up with student engagement
[3:03:29] and community relations liaison. So,
[3:03:32] similarly to how we have our parent and
[3:03:34] student advisory boards, our city
[3:03:36] council and legislative delegation and
[3:03:38] then our
[3:03:39] special education parent advisory board,
[3:03:41] this would be essentially your
[3:03:44] connection to our student engagement,
[3:03:46] right? So, the purpose of this liaison
[3:03:50] position would be to strengthen
[3:03:52] connections between students, schools,
[3:03:54] families and the broader community by
[3:03:56] promoting awareness, accessibility and
[3:03:58] participation in district programs,
[3:04:00] activities and initiatives. The liaison would
[3:04:04] review and recommend strategies that can
[3:04:06] enhance student engagement, create
[3:04:08] celebrate student achievement, support
[3:04:10] transparent communication, and foster
[3:04:12] meaningful community involvement in the
[3:04:14] life of the district.
[3:04:16] Um
[3:04:17] some potential areas of responsibility
[3:04:20] could be reviewing participation,
[3:04:23] accessibility, and engagement trends in
[3:04:25] extracurricular and co-curricular
[3:04:26] activities, which could include arts, um
[3:04:30] government, student um
[3:04:32] clubs, enrichment programs, all of that.
[3:04:35] Um supporting
[3:04:36] efforts to expand equitable access to
[3:04:39] student activities, clubs, and athletic,
[3:04:42] performing, visual arts, performances,
[3:04:44] programs, etc. Um
[3:04:48] identifying opportunities to strengthen
[3:04:49] student engagement,
[3:04:51] um supporting the
[3:04:53] dissemination of information regarding
[3:04:55] school committee initiatives, student
[3:04:56] programming, district-wide events,
[3:04:58] community opportunities within our
[3:05:00] schools.
[3:05:01] Um so, just kind of all the things that
[3:05:03] we've been saying that I think are just
[3:05:05] getting pieces that are missed. This
[3:05:07] could kind of be that like
[3:05:08] all-encompassing liaison of people would
[3:05:10] send people, clubs, organizations would
[3:05:13] have one point of contact, that one
[3:05:15] point of contact would get the
[3:05:16] information out to everyone in uh
[3:05:18] whether it be Facebook, website,
[3:05:21] whatever is deemed appropriate. Um
[3:05:24] that way
[3:05:27] all of the different groups and
[3:05:29] organizations would be more
[3:05:32] um included in
[3:05:34] the dissemination of all the information
[3:05:35] that's happening and all the good that's
[3:05:37] going on within our district.
[3:05:41] » Okay, thank you.
[3:05:42] Open that up. Yes, Ms. Dunn.
[3:05:46] » I'm going to be really honest.
[3:05:49] To me, it sounds like
[3:05:52] we have staff that are charged with with
[3:05:55] doing that, and I just think that this
[3:05:58] is something that
[3:06:00] we should probably refer to the
[3:06:01] superintendent
[3:06:03] to possibly clarify how the staff
[3:06:09] do all of that work with the
[3:06:12] um coordination of activities, the
[3:06:14] coordination of calendar, the uh
[3:06:17] distribution of information, the
[3:06:19] publications. I've always said we need a
[3:06:21] PR person. I have I will continue to say
[3:06:24] that because there is so much going on
[3:06:26] in the district.
[3:06:28] But,
[3:06:29] it really sounds more like a
[3:06:33] is a a a
[3:06:35] list of duties for a staff person as
[3:06:37] opposed to a school committee member
[3:06:39] doing that. Um
[3:06:42] that is that is really
[3:06:44] uh
[3:06:46] really a huge amount
[3:06:48] of information to be coordinating,
[3:06:51] um looking at data
[3:06:54] for student engagement. I mean, every activity Dr. Chase, everything you
[3:07:00] have done, everything that um
[3:07:02] you know, all of those activities that
[3:07:04] the district has done
[3:07:06] have always been
[3:07:08] analyzed afterwards to see did we get
[3:07:11] the message out to people? You know, I I
[3:07:14] think it goes back to our
[3:07:16] Honestly, our website, which you know I
[3:07:18] complain about all the time. If we could
[3:07:21] make that better, I think that would
[3:07:22] help with people being engaged. But, I
[3:07:25] do think that that is so vast, it's more
[3:07:28] of an employee
[3:07:29] than it would be for a school committee
[3:07:32] subcommittee or liaison. I really really
[3:07:34] do think it needs to be looked at
[3:07:36] further, and I'd like to
[3:07:38] refer it to Dr. Vedala.
[3:07:40] >> I'd like to jump in cuz I think this is
[3:07:42] a another discussion that we need to
[3:07:44] have cuz I think a lot of what Dr. Clark
[3:07:46] has brought up, there there's better
[3:07:49] there's there's better ways for us to do
[3:07:51] it as a as a committee, as a district.
[3:07:54] And that's that's on the city side as
[3:07:56] well.
[3:07:57] Sometimes I feel like a lot of the
[3:07:58] information isn't getting out as it
[3:08:00] should on the city side as well. Um
[3:08:03] Dr. Carcs, I wanted to ask
[3:08:05] Can we take this in and can we have this
[3:08:07] as a point of discussion at the retreat
[3:08:09] cuz I think this could be a
[3:08:11] really important topic for the at the
[3:08:13] retreat to have a real robust discussion
[3:08:15] on cuz I do think this is an area not
[3:08:17] again not just on the school side but on
[3:08:19] the city side as well that um we could
[3:08:22] do a better job with. So we rather than
[3:08:24] getting into it tonight um I think it
[3:08:27] might be helpful to take that in
[3:08:30] have give it some thought in
[3:08:31] anticipation of the retreat uh in August
[3:08:34] and I think this could be a real good
[3:08:35] discussion point at that at that time.
[3:08:37] >> And thank you. I would be very open to
[3:08:39] this as well. I do I do see there's a
[3:08:41] need here. You know, and I think there's
[3:08:42] a need on the city side as well. So uh
[3:08:44] you know, I encourage this type of
[3:08:46] discussion and I think this is a a good
[3:08:48] thing to discuss moving forward.
[3:08:50] >> I'm I'm comfortable with putting it on
[3:08:53] the docket for the retreat as well.
[3:08:54] >> Great.
[3:08:55] >> Just wanted to continue what we started
[3:08:57] last
[3:08:58] >> Yep.
[3:08:58] Oh, good topics tonight. These These
[3:09:01] were really good discussions I thought
[3:09:02] we had as a committee tonight. Um
[3:09:05] Yeah, I thought I thought this was very
[3:09:06] well done. Really good points made
[3:09:09] uh in a number of areas that I think we
[3:09:10] needed to discuss as a community. So
[3:09:12] that's great.
[3:09:13] All right, that completes our agenda. So
[3:09:16] we do have those August meetings lined
[3:09:17] up. Certainly if there does comes
[3:09:19] something comes up of
[3:09:21] real great magnitude or importance
[3:09:24] we can always set up a meeting.
[3:09:26] Uh but let's keep those dates for now.
[3:09:29] Um
[3:09:30] And yes, I hope uh
[3:09:33] another successful school year comes to
[3:09:35] a close. A lot of work ahead of us. So
[3:09:37] thank you everybody and I hope everybody
[3:09:39] has a terrific summer.
[3:09:40] >> tomorrow we have Brooksby Farm?
[3:09:42] >> Oh, I do sure.
[3:09:45] Um
[3:09:47] Brooksby Farm tomorrow. I I frightened
[3:09:49] some people cuz tomorrow and I put out a
[3:09:51] community message that we're having a
[3:09:53] ceremony at Briggsby Farm at 10:00 a.m.
[3:09:56] tomorrow uh to announce the 50th
[3:10:00] anniversary of the city's purchase of
[3:10:01] Briggsby Farm, which was an amazing
[3:10:03] community effort that took place 50
[3:10:05] years ago. Want to identify a number of
[3:10:07] people, unsung heroes, people that
[3:10:09] really made that happen. It is one of
[3:10:11] the the true jewels of our community and
[3:10:13] we'll speak more to that. But So I had
[3:10:16] people reaching out about thinking it
[3:10:17] was a celebration. The celebrations are
[3:10:20] coming later in the fall. Uh we're going
[3:10:22] to speak to that tomorrow. But yeah,
[3:10:24] there's no celebrations tomorrow.
[3:10:26] Tomorrow's just a ceremony. We're going
[3:10:27] to have a couple of speakers. Um and
[3:10:30] I'll talk about a little bit of the
[3:10:31] history. So if anybody's able to join
[3:10:33] us, come down. It should be really
[3:10:34] interesting. I've learned a lot about
[3:10:36] the city. I thought I knew a lot about
[3:10:38] the what took place with the Briggsby
[3:10:40] Farm. But we have 275 acres of land in
[3:10:43] the city that is just beautiful. Uh that
[3:10:46] was the result of a lot of hard working
[3:10:47] people that um volunteers came together
[3:10:51] to preserve a great asset for us. So
[3:10:54] But yeah, there's no music. There's no
[3:10:56] hay rides tomorrow. There's no Well,
[3:10:58] maybe a hay ride or two. There's no
[3:10:59] music. There's no games. There's It's
[3:11:02] not uh That stuff's coming later in the
[3:11:04] year.
[3:11:07] Chicopee does exist. I maybe should make
[3:11:09] sure I
[3:11:10] >> [laughter]
[3:11:11] >> I might have got I might have got myself
[3:11:12] in trouble with that.
[3:11:16] Motion to adjourn everyone. Thank you.
[3:11:18] Chicopee does exist.
[3:13:39] » Mhm.