[0:17] We're good to go to our studio audience.

[0:19] Okay, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to

[0:21] the Penrook School Committee meeting

[0:23] Tuesday, March 17th, 2026. Happy St.

[0:26] Patrick's Day, one and all for

[0:28] evacuation day to anyone in Suffach

[0:30] County. Um hopefully if you're listening

[0:32] to this in Suffach County, good luck to

[0:33] you. Uh this meeting is being recorded.

[0:35] If you have any questions, you can send

[0:36] them to scinfrok12.org.

[0:41] Would you all join me for the pledge of

[0:43] allegiance?

[0:46] >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the

[0:48] United States of America and to the

[0:51] republic for which it stands, one nation

[0:54] under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:57] justice for all.

[0:59] >> Thank you very much.

[1:02] Okay. Public comment. Anyone here to

[1:04] publicly comment? Okay. No. Acknowledge

[1:08] your schedule of visitors. I think we're

[1:10] okay.

[1:12] Superintendent, any adjustments to our

[1:13] agenda?

[1:14] >> Nope.

[1:15] Communications

[1:18] uh 2526 calendar. So, I received a lot

[1:22] of communication um in regards to the

[1:25] 2526 calendar and the dislike of the

[1:28] idea that the final day of school for

[1:30] the school year would be Monday, June

[1:32] 22nd. Um there were several suggestions

[1:35] that I received. Um some involved um

[1:39] lengthening each of the day by days by

[1:41] 15 minutes, using a virtual learning day

[1:44] instead of a snow day. Um, I think the

[1:47] one that had the most traction was

[1:48] whether or not the school committee

[1:49] would consider um reopening this year's

[1:51] school calendar and shifting Friday,

[1:54] April 3rd, Good Friday, to a student

[1:56] day. Um, a couple things about that. Um,

[2:02] our school calendar is set generally in

[2:04] April of each year. Um, by law, we are

[2:07] required to schedule for 180 school days

[2:09] plus five inclement weather days. So,

[2:12] from the beginning of this year, our

[2:14] schedule has always been with the 185th

[2:17] day being on Monday, June 22nd. I

[2:20] appreciate that families have made

[2:22] plans. Um, I would caution anyone to

[2:24] make plans outside of what is the the

[2:26] printed calendar um for the year, but

[2:29] with that being said, if you have plans

[2:31] on Monday, June 22nd, continue with your

[2:35] plans. We are not sending the truency

[2:37] officer to anyone's home for the last

[2:38] day of school. Um, at the high school in

[2:40] particular, the last day tends to be an

[2:41] exam makeup day. Um, it's not a, you

[2:44] know, a full student attendance day. Our

[2:46] sixth grade students at the elementary

[2:48] level have promotion night prior to the

[2:50] last day of school. Um, and the last day

[2:52] of school here in the district is a half

[2:53] day no lunch. So, it is a very short day

[2:55] across the board. Um, when you take a

[3:00] day like Good Friday and switch it to a

[3:02] work day, um, we did do that in um,

[3:06] April of 2015. Um that year in

[3:09] particular, we used seven snow days

[3:10] prior to um Good Friday. We changed Good

[3:14] Friday to a professional development day

[3:16] for staff and then shifted a later day

[3:19] in March to a student day. Um Good

[3:22] Friday can be observed as a religious

[3:25] day, a religious holiday for staff. When

[3:27] we converted it to a professional

[3:29] development day, we did have several

[3:31] staff that put in for a religious

[3:32] holiday. If we were to entertain the

[3:35] idea of opening school on this April

[3:37] 3rd, I cannot tell you how many staff

[3:39] would be putting in for a religious

[3:41] holiday for that day. I can't ask people

[3:42] ahead of time. Um, so I think just

[3:46] overall my stance on it is that it's day

[3:49] 185. If we were talking about it being

[3:51] day 186 or 187, opening the calendar may

[3:55] make sense. I just think if you start

[3:56] opening it ahead of that day 185 now

[3:59] you've opened the door to then have that

[4:01] conversation in future years short of

[4:03] the mandated 185day calendar.

[4:09] But I know you all have gotten feedback

[4:10] from families too. Um I know that

[4:13] there's some staff that have reached

[4:14] out. There's definitely families that

[4:15] have reached out. Um

[4:19] >> well I know there's some concerns about

[4:20] summer camps starting that Monday and um

[4:23] >> go to summer camp. I got it.

[4:25] >> I just say we can't tell you not to come

[4:27] to school technically, but uh if you

[4:28] have a summer camp commitment. Um and I

[4:31] think they're worried about some of the

[4:32] staff being able to work, but again,

[4:34] it's an exam makeup day.

[4:36] >> Well, at the at the high school, it's an

[4:37] exam makeup day, but for the same

[4:39] reason, there's definitely families that

[4:40] have plans on Friday, April 3rd, as

[4:42] well.

[4:43] >> Um so shifting it to a student day at

[4:46] this point would also cause a group of

[4:48] families some sort of

[4:49] >> disruption to their schedule and plans.

[4:51] And I know in the past you've mentioned

[4:53] like not to I've heard it mentioned at

[4:56] this school committee meeting several

[4:57] times not to plan things for that last

[4:59] week in the case that there are snow

[5:01] days. Um so

[5:04] >> it's been a long time since we've used

[5:05] them but they're there for a reason.

[5:07] >> Yeah. Uh I would not want if we're going

[5:11] around with our opinion um would not

[5:13] want to change open up the school

[5:15] calendar. I think we leave it the way

[5:17] that it is knowing that some people

[5:18] won't be able to make it on that last

[5:20] day for plan reasons and that's okay and

[5:23] a personal choice

[5:25] >> and the questions I asked ahead of time

[5:27] that I'm just going to ask again just to

[5:29] make sure. So

[5:31] >> we cannot have school on a federal

[5:33] holiday. So Junth could not have school

[5:35] even if we voted to make that a school

[5:37] day. We're not allowed to.

[5:38] >> And then what happens if devil's

[5:42] advocate we have two more snow days?

[5:44] What happens?

[5:45] >> Um, so the state of Massachusetts

[5:48] expects you to adjust your calendar for

[5:52] snow days all the way up until miday. If

[5:55] weather days or weather, not just snow,

[5:57] if weather days happen after miday,

[5:59] there is some parameters under which you

[6:02] don't have to make up the time because

[6:03] you're so used to the end so close to

[6:05] the end of the school year. Um, if we

[6:07] were to have additional weather days, I

[6:10] don't want to use the word snow. Um, we

[6:12] could talk about changing the calendar,

[6:14] but without I mean we don't have any

[6:17] other days left in there that you

[6:19] >> we So in theory we would then have to

[6:21] potentially go to school Tuesday,

[6:23] Wednesday of that week.

[6:24] >> Correct. Okay.

[6:24] >> If we had more weather days.

[6:25] >> So us change. So that's part of the

[6:28] reasoning for not changing it now

[6:30] because it could just end up

[6:32] >> it could be a new point, right? We could

[6:33] still end up with weather days. There

[6:35] was that year that there was a giant

[6:36] storm at April Fool's Day. 9

[6:39] >> and contractually the teachers can't

[6:42] work past June 30th.

[6:45] >> The

[6:47] in Massachusetts you can't go to school

[6:48] past. So it's not even our a collective

[6:51] bargaining thing. It's a state.

[6:52] >> If 180 days goes to July 1st that's not

[6:56] possible.

[6:57] >> No. Okay.

[6:59] So just to clarify, there was a question around if we can go to school

[7:03] on uh federal holidays or just

[7:06] specifically Junth

[7:07] >> total holiday.

[7:08] >> Okay.

[7:09] >> That Junth question did come up a few

[7:11] years back because if you'll remember

[7:12] Junth was declared a holiday mid school

[7:14] year. It wasn't on our calendar when we

[7:16] approved the calendar. Um so there was

[7:18] some conversation that year on whether

[7:19] or not we had to observe it or not. Um

[7:22] we do

[7:22] >> due to a midyear change. Understand?

[7:23] >> Yeah. And it being that you know on for

[7:26] us it being that it is still part of our

[7:28] calendar you know a lot of places in the

[7:30] country they're they're out anyway in

[7:33] June so it doesn't affect them the way

[7:34] it does like Massachusetts. So

[7:37] >> do we have to take a vote on this or

[7:39] >> No. So I don't have it on your agenda as

[7:41] a voting item. If there was appetite of

[7:43] the committee to take it as a voting

[7:44] item. I would put it on your agenda next

[7:46] week for it to be a voting item.

[7:47] >> And this is all changes to the calendar

[7:50] have to go through school committee.

[7:52] >> You guys set the calendar. Y just making

[7:54] that.

[7:54] >> Yeah, I have no appetite to change it. I

[7:57] think what you said makes sense and we

[7:59] keep it as is.

[8:00] >> Mhm.

[8:01] >> Katrina.

[8:02] >> Agreed.

[8:02] >> Okay.

[8:04] So, kind of called a moot issue.

[8:06] >> Yeah. I just wanted to bring it up

[8:07] because I know that I got several

[8:08] emails. I know that there was a a

[8:10] Facebook kind of campaign to like send

[8:12] this email and I got several of them um

[8:14] and staff asked questions. I proactively

[8:16] did kind of survey staff and say if it

[8:19] were a conversation, which way would you

[8:21] lean? the bulk of the staff were leaning

[8:23] towards scheduling an early release day

[8:24] for Good Friday, but in the same breath,

[8:26] I can't ask them if they're planning on

[8:28] attending work that day. Um, so

[8:32] >> got it.

[8:33] >> Thank you.

[8:34] >> Um, can I add something for

[8:36] communications?

[8:37] >> Sure.

[8:37] >> Okay. Um, I know that the Pembroke um

[8:40] community center recreation department

[8:42] is looking for volunteers for their

[8:44] Easter egg hunt event um as well as

[8:47] people um to stuff the eggs and um to

[8:50] purchase candy. So, if anyone's

[8:52] interested, reach out to the recck

[8:54] department. Um and then coming up on is

[8:58] it April 2nd, David?

[9:00] >> Yes.

[9:00] >> There's a fundraiser um at Tiny and

[9:03] Suns.

[9:03] >> It's going to be at Tiny and Suns.

[9:04] >> Is it at 6

[9:05] >> 6 to 8? six to eight uh fundraiser for

[9:09] um uh the scholarship fund for David's

[9:12] late wife. Um so if people are able to

[9:14] come that would be fantastic.

[9:15] >> Thank you very much. Very nice of you.

[9:18] >> I actually self-promoting. I will be

[9:19] doing a um an interview with Christine

[9:22] James tomorrow on WATD at noon time. So

[9:24] >> nice.

[9:25] >> Thank you.

[9:25] >> Excellent.

[9:27] >> Um approval of bill schedule.

[9:30] >> Um I don't think you got it yet. It'll

[9:31] be good. Okay. Um okay. Okay, I'll take

[9:34] a motion to accept the school committee

[9:36] meetings for March 3rd.

[9:38] >> So moved.

[9:39] >> We have a second.

[9:40] >> Second.

[9:41] >> All those in favor?

[9:42] >> I.

[9:43] >> Any opposed? Any abstaining? 5-0.

[9:47] Natalie.

[9:49] Superintendent report.

[9:51] >> So we have a lot of stuff under my

[9:52] report this evening. We're going to

[9:53] start with um our next installment of

[9:55] budget presentations. And so up first we

[9:57] have um Chapman and she's going to do

[10:00] visual and performing arts.

[10:02] I think you have a question, right? Yep.

[10:04] It should work from your seat. MBTH and

[10:06] I tried it.

[10:07] >> Maybe it will. Maybe.

[10:08] >> Good evening.

[10:09] >> Hello.

[10:09] >> It's always my pleasure to talk about

[10:11] art and music.

[10:12] >> So, we are going to start um with just

[10:15] going over our goals for this year and

[10:17] we're going to uh I'm going to share

[10:19] some things about our accomplishments

[10:21] going through staffing and enrollment

[10:23] and then our maintenance of effort

[10:25] budget and what our next steps will be.

[10:29] So, celebrating goals, we're always um

[10:33] out in the community doing our concerts,

[10:36] having students be able to share their

[10:38] wonderful artwork. Um so, we do

[10:41] celebrate community by singing at

[10:43] Veterans Day, um marching in the parade

[10:47] this year for the first time on Veterans

[10:49] Day, which was wonderful. Uh and our art

[10:51] shows that will be coming up um this

[10:53] spring. So, we're excited about that. As

[10:55] far as our pathways go, um I

[10:58] participated uh at the middle school in

[11:01] late uh oh no, it was early March and

[11:03] presented to the eighth graders

[11:05] everything about the music and art

[11:06] classes and about the pathways. So, we

[11:09] always um look forward to be able to

[11:11] reach them and there's a uh video also

[11:14] on the visual and performing arts uh web

[11:17] page for people if they want to refer

[11:19] back to that. Um excited to share that

[11:21] we've had our first student finish the

[11:24] music pathway this year. He did a uh

[11:26] independent study uh composition and uh

[11:30] wrote his own piece, wrote a labretto,

[11:32] wrote the own his own piece, performed

[11:34] it, videotaped it. Um so we were able to

[11:37] have a videotape and a score. So that's

[11:39] kind of exciting. Um, and as far as PD

[11:42] goes, our visual art educators K through

[11:45] 12 are finishing the second year of

[11:47] their uh, art of education university.

[11:50] And so they have the opportunity to um,

[11:53] self- select pro packs on many related

[11:57] topics to what they're teaching or

[11:59] something that they're interested in

[12:00] exploring that they don't currently um,

[12:03] do. And so that has just the feedback

[12:05] from that has been tremendous and we

[12:06] hope to that's one of our goals uh for

[12:09] pre cons um years coming up that we'd

[12:11] like to be able to continue that um

[12:15] availment of their program there for the

[12:17] art of education university. We've had

[12:20] teachers participate at MASCU, our uh

[12:22] National Association for Art Educators,

[12:25] and at the MAA MEA. I'm I'm headed up to

[12:28] All State uh this coming Friday with

[12:30] three lovely high school students that

[12:32] got into the chorus there. So, that

[12:34] conference is happening this coming

[12:35] weekend. And again, I always do reach

[12:38] out to the staff, especially at the end

[12:39] of the year, to find out what they

[12:41] particularly would like to have targeted

[12:43] for PD. Um so, that helps us plan for

[12:46] the the next year coming up.

[12:50] uh celebrating our accomplishments. So

[12:53] really excited that eight out of 10 of

[12:55] our AP studio art students this year

[12:57] earned a qualifying score last spring on

[13:00] their exam portfolio. It's just an

[13:03] amazing breath of work that they have to

[13:05] prepare and submit for that. Uh we've

[13:07] had PHS artist exhibit works at the

[13:10] Boston Globe Scholastic Art Show,

[13:12] emerging young artists at UMass

[13:14] Dartmouth, Congressman Keading Journeyed

[13:16] Art Show and the Scholastic Art and

[13:18] Writing Awards. And currently we have 10

[13:21] students enrolled in the digital arts

[13:23] pathway and seven students in the music

[13:25] pathway.

[13:27] We also had a number of students this

[13:29] year uh be selected. This is Tyler K's

[13:32] uh photograph called Beauty and Fall. um

[13:35] and he won a gold um award for that. But

[13:38] we've had a number of students there

[13:40] listed, you can see that had their art

[13:42] selected at the Boston Globe

[13:43] Scholastics.

[13:45] We had a number of students um enter the

[13:48] emerging young artist and designers

[13:50] award um at the UMass Dartmouth and they

[13:54] you can see there how many it was

[13:56] wonderful to have that recognition as

[13:58] well for those students.

[14:00] Um for the first time last year we took

[14:03] place um we took part in the Attalboro

[14:06] uh art installation exam um art museum

[14:10] contest and I'm proud to say that PHS

[14:13] took first place. So it was the first

[14:15] time we ever entered and this was done

[14:17] uh mostly by our art club our afterchool

[14:20] group uh led by two of our students. So

[14:22] they uh two of our teachers they created

[14:25] this um

[14:29] what you want to say this exhibit this uh piece collectively. It was done

[14:35] with a lot of 3D materials and then they

[14:38] went down and actually did the

[14:39] installation. They had to move each

[14:41] piece separately and then install it

[14:43] down there and they and they actually

[14:45] took first place. So we were really

[14:46] excited about that. It was the first

[14:48] time that we had been involved in that.

[14:50] One of our teachers had done this

[14:51] previous in another school system and

[14:54] brought it to our attention and so we

[14:55] entered and look what they did. It was

[14:57] pretty amazing.

[14:58] >> Awesome.

[14:59] >> Also, our music department is always

[15:01] very busy. Um especially our uh

[15:04] elementary teachers, our band um Mr. Haw

[15:08] take likes to do lots of outreach and extra things for our students. So,

[15:13] they've already performed at a BC game

[15:15] this year and they have plans to go to

[15:17] Fenway Park. We've done the TD Garden

[15:19] and Celtics. We perform at Derby shops.

[15:22] They're looking to do um we uh excuse

[15:25] me, the middle school um and through the

[15:27] high school are going to Music in the

[15:28] Parks on May 1st this year. And we've

[15:31] also had groups uh the elementary

[15:34] choruses went to sing at New England

[15:36] Village as well as our middle school

[15:37] jazz band to perform for the residents

[15:39] there. And they also the middle school

[15:41] did Providence Bruins this past January.

[15:45] >> That's awesome.

[15:46] This is just a picture of our cast and

[15:48] crew of Susicle that we did in the fall

[15:51] that we also included students in grades

[15:54] five and six, which was a lot of fun to

[15:57] um have our younger students uh be

[16:00] involved in some theater. And our music

[16:02] students have been busy um preparing for

[16:05] festivals. So, we've had 15 students

[16:07] accepted this year to our senior

[16:09] district festival, which was in January.

[16:11] Four students just went last weekend to

[16:14] our um two weekends ago, I'm sorry, to

[16:16] junior district as well as our own Greg

[16:18] Tarbox who was the orchestra director

[16:21] this year for Southeast District, which

[16:23] is fantastic. We've had three students

[16:26] accepted to All State. I take them this

[16:28] weekend. And just last weekend, we had

[16:30] 21 students accepted to uh senior SEMSA.

[16:34] And so they performed down in Plymouth

[16:36] and our own Austin Glass is the

[16:38] president of SEMSA this year. So we are very engaged.

[16:43] Our current staffing is has not changed.

[16:46] So we have two uh full-time teachers at

[16:49] each of the elementary schools, one

[16:51] visual art and one music teacher. At the

[16:54] middle school, we have one visual art

[16:56] teacher and 1.2 music teachers. So

[16:59] that's Mr. Tarbox doing his string

[17:02] program there. At the high school, we

[17:04] have three full-time MU uh art teachers

[17:07] and 1.8 8 music teachers. So that's a

[17:10] full-time teacher. I myself teach 04 and

[17:13] then another teacher teaches point4 to

[17:16] get to that number. And at the

[17:17] elementary level, we have two

[17:19] instrumental music teachers, a full-time

[17:21] band instrumental teacher and a 2 string

[17:25] teacher. I don't know if you have any

[17:27] questions there about staffing.

[17:31] Our instrumental enrollment at the

[17:33] elementary school, we really like to

[17:34] look at these numbers. They have been

[17:36] holding nice and steady. I'm glad to say

[17:39] even with our declining ro enrollment um

[17:42] and just kind of a breakdown overall in

[17:44] that 174 number we're looking at about

[17:47] um 35 strings in the grade five six um

[17:51] if you were curious about how that broke

[17:53] down. Um but that that's the total

[17:56] enrollment. So um we're kind of I like

[17:59] to say the only game in town in grades

[18:01] five and six. So we're we're kind of

[18:03] happy that a lot of students do choose

[18:05] to try an instrument. Um there is a

[18:08] little bit of attrition between five and

[18:09] six and then six to seven. Um but we're

[18:12] so glad that so many families and um are

[18:15] supporting their children in making that

[18:17] decision to try an instrument and to see

[18:19] what that is like.

[18:23] Uh the current VPA class enrollment at

[18:26] the middle school and the high school,

[18:28] there's not a lot of change from last

[18:30] year from the middle school art and

[18:32] music. You can see our numbers there.

[18:35] And at the high school, uh, we have

[18:36] about a 5% increase in both music and

[18:39] art. So, I would attribute this to two

[18:42] things. Yeah, we're excited about that.

[18:44] One, of course, is the new VPA

[18:46] graduation requirement that you all

[18:48] voted on last year. And also um for the

[18:51] music classes, having the ensembles, um

[18:55] having the ability to take it just as a

[18:58] semester class in the fall really did

[19:00] help us capture some students that

[19:02] wouldn't have otherwise um been able to

[19:05] fill it fit it in if it was a full year.

[19:07] So uh we had a lot of students say thank

[19:09] you for that. And um the ones that did

[19:11] it a half year, I know for myself are

[19:13] like I have to do it a full year next

[19:15] year. I just, you know, so we're hoping

[19:17] that that continues. you know, if the there are constraints in the

[19:21] schedule, but it allows students to have

[19:23] that uh opportunity and to get kind of

[19:26] invested in the music department and

[19:28] kind of see what it's all about. So,

[19:30] that has been really wonderful. So,

[19:31] we're pretty happy with those numbers.

[19:34] Awesome.

[19:35] And we're not asking for anything

[19:37] addition um this year. We're just

[19:40] looking to do what we currently do at

[19:42] next year's prices. So our maintenance

[19:44] of effort, you can see the bulk of our

[19:46] um instructional supplies is the bulk of

[19:50] our budget because we have a lot of art

[19:52] consumables. Once we use those, they're

[19:54] gone and we need to purchase them again.

[19:57] Um transportation, we do provide all the

[19:59] transportation to all the festivals that

[20:02] we do. Um per mass principles

[20:04] association, students are not allowed to

[20:06] drive themselves to those festivals. So,

[20:08] we have to uh provide chaperoned uh

[20:11] transportation to and from all of the

[20:13] festivals and the auditions that we do.

[20:15] >> Um I don't know if you have any

[20:17] particular questions. There's a graph of

[20:19] kind of how how it looks uh with a

[20:22] breakdown between middle school,

[20:24] elementary school, and high school.

[20:26] tends to be a little bit

[20:28] more expensive, especially for art. as

[20:31] they're going through the art program,

[20:34] uh, our our projects and things get much

[20:36] more sophisticated as far as the

[20:38] materials that they need to use. We also

[20:42] take care of um a lot of the maintenance

[20:44] of instruments. We have many, many

[20:46] school-born instruments that were um

[20:48] even allowed to uh rent, not rent, but u

[20:52] let students use that may not otherwise

[20:54] afford it. So, we just have them fill

[20:56] out um a rent a little form that they've

[20:59] taken a certain they're all serialn

[21:01] numbered all of our instruments, but

[21:02] sometimes they come back when we need to

[21:05] make sure that they stay in working

[21:06] order. Um so, we do have to um and we

[21:09] have the pianos tuned and things like

[21:11] that. So,

[21:14] and then our we um our next steps, we

[21:19] are very excited that we're going to

[21:20] implement an AP digital photography

[21:23] course next fall. That will be open in

[21:26] for students in grades 10, 11, 12. They

[21:28] will have had to taken digital

[21:30] photography as a semester for a

[21:32] prerequisite. Um but there's a lot of

[21:34] buzz about that among the students.

[21:36] They're very excited about that course.

[21:38] So I I expect that we'll see some some

[21:41] good um enrollment there. And we are

[21:44] always always thinking about

[21:46] recruitment. We are an completely

[21:48] elective department other than the 0.2

[21:52] graduation requirement at the high

[21:53] school. So to capture students, we we

[21:57] really do as much as we can. things like

[21:59] doing Susicle, having the younger grades

[22:01] come in, doing the all town concerts

[22:03] like we put on last week where we're

[22:05] letting especially caregivers and the

[22:08] students see what is it going to be like

[22:10] if you stay in the programs. We plan

[22:12] trips. We try to do things that are fun

[22:14] to um give outreach but also to give

[22:17] them that extra experience. You know,

[22:19] you have to make it it has to be fun,

[22:21] you know, to be to be involved. So, we

[22:23] are continuing to think about ways um

[22:27] that we can always reach those students.

[22:29] But I would say to caregivers too, it

[22:31] it's up to them too to help support and

[22:34] to make those decisions. I would say

[22:36] especially six to seven and grades 8 to

[22:39] nine. Sometimes it is the caregiver

[22:42] giving that extra why don't you just try

[22:44] it and see what happens because the

[22:46] experience might be different than what

[22:47] you had in the previous school. So, um,

[22:50] I would just encourage people to stay

[22:51] with it so we can see those numbers

[22:54] continue to grow. We did have quite a

[22:56] number of eighth graders do marching

[22:58] band this year for the first time and so

[23:00] we'd like to continue that for next

[23:02] year. We also have our color guard um

[23:05] involvement and actually Miss Haley just

[23:08] went and performed with the elementary

[23:09] color guard at NESPA and they did really

[23:12] well. They got a gold medal last

[23:13] weekend. So, that's the first time.

[23:15] Thank you for your support, Mrs. Zobie

[23:17] for that um helping there pay for all

[23:20] the dues and everything, but that was

[23:22] the first time that we had the younger

[23:23] color guard compete. So, they did

[23:25] fabulous. So, we'd like to see that come

[23:27] up so the seventh and eighth graders can

[23:29] be a part of the color guard uh in the

[23:31] fall as well. And like I mentioned

[23:33] before, I I really would like to keep um

[23:36] the offering of the art of education

[23:39] university. I believe the line item is

[23:41] actually going to be in the teaching and

[23:42] learning PD budget. Um, but it's kind of

[23:45] short money for a two-year um,

[23:47] commitment for all of our art teachers

[23:49] to be able to have that targeted

[23:51] professional development. That's the

[23:53] thing I hear from the staff the most is

[23:55] that sometimes it's not always music and

[23:57] art specific. So, this is a way we can

[23:59] really offer um, and to move their own

[24:02] professional practice forward uh, having

[24:05] those options. So, that's

[24:08] slid

[24:11] questions. Yeah, I just wanted to say um

[24:14] fantastic job. You know, seeing the

[24:16] increase in music and art enrollment is

[24:17] really to be celebrated and uh credit to

[24:20] all the work that you and others have

[24:22] done to get there.

[24:23] >> Um and then I just wanted to mention to

[24:25] highlight I know you said Mr. Mr. House,

[24:28] >> Mr. Hos,

[24:28] >> Mr. Haw. Okay, there we go. Mr. Haw. Um

[24:31] having those elementary performances in

[24:33] different places, right? Like I think

[24:35] that's also going to um create those

[24:37] core memories for those students to be

[24:39] able to want to continue in high school.

[24:40] And so I just wanted to

[24:41] highlight that. That's fantastic. Um,

[24:43] continuing to do those and it's

[24:45] wonderful that he seeks those

[24:47] opportunities out. Um, and yeah, that

[24:50] was it. Just excited to see the increase

[24:52] in enrollment and ideas for the future.

[24:54] >> Thank you very much. Thank you.

[24:56] >> Alison,

[24:57] >> does the school own uh the cameras like

[25:00] digital cameras? Are these like for the

[25:01] or the kids own them and are

[25:03] >> it's a combination of like cell phone?

[25:05] No, we do own digital cameras and iPads

[25:08] that they use in the digital the digital

[25:10] classes

[25:10] >> and they're learning because you know I

[25:12] grew up doing film processing and all

[25:14] that. Do they get to do any of that?

[25:16] >> You mean like a dark room situation? We

[25:18] don't do that. Okay. We don't have the

[25:20] capability,

[25:20] >> but but they're still I know I know but

[25:23] I know there's other photography classes

[25:25] that still do that but they're still

[25:27] learning you know the aperture and the

[25:30] >> they are they are so with the digital

[25:32] and they a lot of it as times they're

[25:34] taking it into Photoshop or using

[25:35] Procreate on the iPad so that they can

[25:38] learn to manipulate as well. So, not

[25:39] only are they doing all of the um you

[25:42] know, rules of thirds and all of that

[25:43] with the digital work, but then they're

[25:45] able to do it both physically and um

[25:48] with the computers.

[25:49] >> Okay, very cool.

[25:51] >> Thank you.

[25:51] >> So, well, uh you know, I'm going to echo

[25:54] what Katrina said about the, you know,

[25:55] recruitment and, you know, getting the

[25:57] numbers up. I think that's fantastic. I

[25:59] love having that you have the eighth

[26:01] graders join. I think that's probably

[26:03] key,

[26:04] >> you know. Yeah, absolutely. And, um

[26:06] obviously Mr. Pause does an amazing job

[26:08] every year. So, um I just wanted to, you

[26:11] know, we had like a really interesting

[26:13] conversation today in budget sub about

[26:16] um what PAPA does and how they

[26:18] contribute financially because they do a

[26:19] lot of fundraising and I thought it's

[26:22] this is an a good time to just let

[26:24] people know what they do. So, I was

[26:25] explaining that sometimes like they

[26:26] bought the trailer uh for the

[26:29] instruments, they bought um you know

[26:32] they do like a lot of fundraising. They

[26:33] you know they do the mattress sale. They

[26:36] do, especially when we're planning our

[26:38] big trips like next April. But even with

[26:40] music in the parks coming up, students

[26:41] have the a chance. So, we're not allowed

[26:44] to fund raise as a department, of

[26:45] course. So, it's all done through um POPA or the booster group.

[26:49] So, they um plan out kind of depending

[26:53] on what the trip year is, um they plan a

[26:56] number of different fundraisers that

[26:57] students and families can get uh

[26:59] involved in so that students can help to

[27:01] offset that course. And what they

[27:02] decided this fall um was because we're

[27:05] doing a big trip next April, our our

[27:07] Florida trip, that students could bank

[27:09] that money so they could work multiple

[27:12] years towards offsetting the cost of a big trip. But yeah, they've they've

[27:16] been incredible. They've bought color

[27:18] guard flags. They've bought wireless

[27:20] microphones. They've bought the trailer,

[27:22] which is huge for us when we have to go

[27:24] to do a parade or like going to Florida.

[27:27] We take we send the equipment truck down

[27:30] so that we don't have to check all those

[27:31] instruments and play all those extra

[27:33] fees. They actually arrive safely.

[27:36] >> Um but it does save a ton of money

[27:38] having uh parents volunteer. They they

[27:40] just do so much for us. They're a

[27:42] wonderful organization.

[27:44] >> I feel like they bought a couple of

[27:45] instruments here and there too.

[27:46] >> They have bought instruments in the

[27:47] past.

[27:48] >> Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Thanks for thanks for

[27:50] they almost try to fund every everything

[27:52] that we ask for and of course they fund

[27:54] awards as well and the senior

[27:56] scholarships that happen. So

[27:58] >> yes absolutely okay thank you so much

[28:01] >> Katrina

[28:01] >> nothing to add. Thank you so much.

[28:03] >> You're welcome.

[28:03] >> Well just closing comment is a lot of

[28:06] time people talk about the penro public

[28:08] schools two things that come up are the

[28:10] music program and I will defer to my

[28:12] good friend over here Brian the sports

[28:14] programs. Um a lot of parents are

[28:16] thrilled and a lot of out of town

[28:17] parents are jealous. So,

[28:21] >> Brian, I think we're on to you, sir.

[28:23] >> Before I let Brian start, I'm going to

[28:25] let Gwen go. I know she was traveling

[28:26] today and

[28:28] >> thank you.

[28:29] very much for all your work.

[28:30] >> Well done.

[28:31] >> Have a great day.

[28:32] >> Thank you, Gwen.

[28:35] >> Make sure this works.

[28:41] » All right, we'll jump right into

[28:42] athletics. Thanks for having me tonight.

[28:43] I put this picture on this slide. really

[28:45] encapsulates a lot of what I feel about

[28:48] our athletic program right now. And it's

[28:50] interesting because I feel like this

[28:52] senior group, our student athletes in

[28:53] general, this senior group is so dynamic

[28:56] and they're so connected and they're so

[28:58] they're connected in a way that I

[28:59] haven't seen any group we've had in the

[29:01] past where there's no silos, there's no

[29:02] clicks, there's no this group and that

[29:04] group, there's no teams. Our student

[29:06] athletes seem so connected in the senior

[29:08] class. Like I feel like I could talk

[29:10] about them all day cuz they just

[29:11] >> they fulfill what you want them to look

[29:13] like. Um, so that's why I put this

[29:14] picture on here. They've, this

[29:16] volleyball team had a ton of success.

[29:18] That's honestly helps. But their

[29:20] connectedness just kind of shows and how

[29:22] I feel that our student athletes are

[29:24] right now. So this slide, any any um

[29:28] sports night that I do, I I show this

[29:30] slide. So some of you might have seen it

[29:31] before. People might get sick of it, but

[29:33] I think it's critical that we define our

[29:35] why of what we're trying to accomplish,

[29:36] what we're trying to do each and every

[29:38] season. And we go over this. This is

[29:40] really our philosophy with it's a

[29:41] student athlete center model. We can see

[29:42] them in the middle and there's three

[29:44] principles below it of educational based

[29:46] athletics, competitive excellence and

[29:47] transformational coaches. And it really

[29:49] takes these three areas to be aligned to

[29:52] come together and have belief to achieve

[29:54] what we want to achieve. And that's

[29:55] creating a great environment. That's

[29:57] having a great experience for all

[29:58] student athletes and educational based

[30:00] athletics. Um, which you'll see on this

[30:02] next slide right here is really we want

[30:05] our athletes to win in the classroom

[30:06] first, right? We have extreme um

[30:09] academic and rigorous standards that

[30:10] they need to take care of. They need to

[30:11] make sure obviously they're they're

[30:13] passing their coursework and doing great

[30:14] in the classroom before they can be an

[30:16] athlete at Penrook High School. So just

[30:18] some data to support and some evidence

[30:20] to support how well our student athletes

[30:21] are doing. This is from the class of

[30:23] 2026

[30:24] um that grade 10, grade 11, and grade

[30:27] 12, 28 of the top 30 um highest ranking

[30:31] students are all student athletes, which

[30:32] is tremendous, right? They're checking

[30:33] that box. That's what we want them to

[30:35] do. 31 of 36 of the NHS inductees are

[30:39] student athletes. So, they're checking

[30:40] that box again. Those are all the things

[30:41] that we want them to be great students

[30:43] first using a uh academics as an

[30:46] extension of athletics. And then the

[30:48] next piece, you know, you can see on

[30:49] there that we had 17 student athletes

[30:51] commit to play college athletics, which

[30:53] is just a a benefit and a bonus to

[30:55] having great kids, a great program, and

[30:57] they've put in the work to achieve those

[30:59] things to to get to that next level.

[31:02] The next piece of that uh that first

[31:04] slide, that Y slide is, as you can see

[31:07] up here, is our competitive excellence

[31:08] piece. And I could talk once again about

[31:10] our student athletes all day, but it

[31:13] just shows, and just to put this into

[31:15] context, this um presentation covers our

[31:18] spring 25 season, our fall 25 season,

[31:21] and our winter 2526 season. So, it does

[31:23] not cover the spring season that we're heading into right now. So all

[31:27] these awards are from those three

[31:28] seasons. But you can see through this

[31:30] winter time, Alyssa Marcella, thousand

[31:32] point scorer, Logan Shipper, 100 career

[31:34] wins, Kevin Mur 100 career points. Those

[31:36] three tremendous individual awards will

[31:38] have banners put up in the gymnasium for

[31:40] them so they can accomplish those and

[31:41] come back and see those accomplishments

[31:43] and what happened. So super excited

[31:45] about those three. I think Alyssa was

[31:47] the only four the fourth person in

[31:48] Pemrook um basketball history to eclipse

[31:51] that mark and she went over 1100. 112

[31:53] was her career number. So, a tremendous

[31:55] career for for PER girls basketball. Uh,

[31:58] state champion shot putter, a ton of

[32:00] Patriot League MVPs, girls and boys out

[32:02] to a track, girls tennis, boys soccer,

[32:04] boys into a track, and girls basketball.

[32:06] Um, so each side of the Patriot League

[32:08] gets one MVP selected and that's voted

[32:10] on by the coaches in that division. So,

[32:12] it just shows how what they provide to

[32:14] the league, not just the Penrook, but

[32:15] the whole entire Patriot League, the 12

[32:17] member league that we're in. Boys and

[32:19] girls track, we're outdoor track stay

[32:21] runner up, not a surprise to many. um

[32:23] eight Patriot League Fisher Division

[32:24] titles, 82 Patri League All-Stars, 12

[32:27] teams qualifying for the state

[32:28] tournament, six of them being a round of

[32:31] 16 finalist, four round of eight

[32:32] finalist, and then finally, we're the

[32:35] fifth uh we're fifth in the Patriot

[32:36] League in the Boston Globes Classic

[32:37] standings. So, the only schools in front

[32:39] of us are Marshfield, Ducksberry,

[32:41] Hangingham, and Hanover. So, we're that

[32:43] fifth school. So, we're we're above a

[32:45] bunch of, you know, highly competitive

[32:46] schools like Situ and some others that

[32:48] are around us. And um this past year has

[32:50] been tremendous. And that that

[32:52] scholastic standings is a win- loss

[32:53] result from your fall, your winter, and

[32:55] your spring season. It's an aggregate

[32:57] number that they put together. So

[32:59] overall, this this winter, the fall, and

[33:02] the spring have been certainly a time of

[33:04] a lot of competitive excellence that we

[33:05] chase, but I think the important part of

[33:07] that competitive excellence side is that

[33:09] I truly believe the platform of

[33:11] athletics is the greatest tool that we

[33:13] have to really teach the things that are

[33:15] necessary to be successful in life.

[33:16] There's no shortcuts to be successful in

[33:18] life. There's no shortcuts to be

[33:20] successful in sports. And I really think

[33:21] that platform that we have that our

[33:23] coaches are providing, um, our student

[33:25] athletes are are putting in the work,

[33:27] they're being committed, they're being

[33:28] resilient, they're they're working

[33:30] through adversity. I think those are all

[33:31] the things that we want all our students

[33:34] to to have. And I think the platform

[33:36] that we have here at Penrook has just

[33:38] been doing a great job for for our

[33:40] student athletes.

[33:43] >> Next slide. A little bit of of community

[33:45] service. Obviously, this is just as

[33:47] important as anything that any of our

[33:49] student athletes do. But we we hosted

[33:51] Morgan's message this year for the first

[33:52] time our girls basketball team. Um, and

[33:56] Morgan's message is really a nationwide

[33:58] message to kind of fight the stigma of

[34:00] mental health. And it just helps support

[34:02] um and get the the voice out and the

[34:04] word out and exposure out to mental

[34:06] health and who's fighting it and that

[34:08] you have help and there's people there

[34:09] that are willing to help you and ask for

[34:11] help and it's okay. So, we hosted that

[34:13] night u when we played Norwell in

[34:14] basketball. We had a great turnout. Uh

[34:17] it was a great first time that we've

[34:18] done it and we're certainly going to do

[34:19] that in the future moving forward. Our

[34:21] boys hockey team, uh they played a game

[34:23] that was dedicated to local food pantry.

[34:25] They spent a ton of time with those

[34:27] folks donating hours um doing whatever

[34:29] they can with with with that group and

[34:31] um they've done a great job. Our

[34:33] volleyball hosted their pink night which

[34:35] they do annually for cancer awareness.

[34:37] Uh we have a ton of youth camps that we

[34:39] host from uh pretty much year round,

[34:42] mainly in the summertime, but we host

[34:44] some during some school breaks and some

[34:46] holidays and you know extra dates we can

[34:48] get in. But we had some youth camps for

[34:49] soccer, both boys and girls, basketball,

[34:52] lacrosse, cheerleading, baseball, and

[34:53] softball. So that that importance of

[34:55] getting our youth connected with our

[34:57] high school aged um folks is is is

[35:00] something that we need. We're obviously

[35:01] not the biggest town. So when we can

[35:02] create those connections and those

[35:04] relationships early on, I think they

[35:05] really pay dividends down the road. and

[35:07] something our our kids and our coaches

[35:09] are doing a great job with. And then

[35:11] lastly, Alyssa Marcelo, once again to

[35:13] shout her out, she was a member of the

[35:14] MIA student advisory committee. There's

[35:16] only 26 student advisory committee in

[35:18] the entire state. It's a super rigorous

[35:20] um path to get there. You have a resume.

[35:23] You need to go through an interview

[35:23] process with the MIA executive director.

[35:26] They have monthly meetings at in

[35:28] Franklin MA headquarters. They they give

[35:30] back a ton. In this picture, you

[35:32] probably can't really see it well, but

[35:33] she actually spoke. This was at Gillette

[35:35] Stadium at the 31st um annual

[35:37] sportsmanship summit in front of like a

[35:39] thousand people and just that experience

[35:41] alone was was awesome and once again

[35:43] just representing what we're about at

[35:44] Pemrook and doing a great job

[35:47] >> uh in that role.

[35:50] >> All right, moving forward. I don't know

[35:51] if that top piece is on there, but I

[35:53] think you have it in your slide. So,

[35:54] this is going to start with the fall

[35:55] sports really our five-year um numbers

[35:57] from 2021 up to 2025 participation wise.

[36:01] Um, nothing drastic and major in here. I

[36:04] think you see our percentage of

[36:05] enrollment for athletics. We're down 1%

[36:08] from our 5-y year roll on average. So,

[36:10] nothing that's um drastic one way or the

[36:12] other. I think this is probably pretty

[36:14] consistent and and steady um expectation

[36:17] of where I hope we're at. That 40%

[36:19] number and above is is a healthy number

[36:20] and something that we we push to to keep

[36:23] going. Um the biggest drop off from the

[36:25] fall 2025 to 2024, girls soccer was down

[36:29] about nine. uh student athletes and

[36:31] football was down about seven. So that's

[36:33] that was a 16ish uh student athlete

[36:35] reduction from year-over-year. And then

[36:38] um volleyball has actually become pretty

[36:40] much our most robust and popular sport

[36:42] in the fall. We have we offer three

[36:43] levels of freshman JV and varsity. We

[36:45] have to make cuts unfortunately because

[36:46] we have so many girls who uh and boys

[36:49] who try out for that team which is

[36:50] awesome. Uh but it's a super it's

[36:52] healthy, it's growing and it's um it's

[36:54] been a great experience for all athletes

[36:57] moving forward.

[36:59] the that looks like it's fall right

[37:02] there.

[37:02] >> There we go. Winter,

[37:04] >> same thing. Five-year averages from 2021

[37:07] to our current winter that we just

[37:09] finished up last week. The winter sports

[37:11] numbers are down slightly more um in

[37:15] terms of from last year, but really that

[37:17] number last year I think had a lot of

[37:18] noise in it. I don't think it had much

[37:19] signal. that that uh indoor track number

[37:22] had like 125 last year

[37:26] >> where our 5-year average was like

[37:27] between 95 and 100 right in that range

[37:30] >> and that's where we're back at this

[37:31] year. So it looks like we're down kind

[37:33] of a healthy chunk but I think there was

[37:35] a lot of noise in that number from last

[37:36] year. I don't expect it to be that high

[37:38] moving forward which kind of shows where

[37:40] that drop off is coming from. But once

[37:42] again we're above that 40% threshold

[37:44] which is I think a critical number a

[37:46] number that we're trying to stay at and

[37:47] above moving forward.

[37:51] spring. So, I just updated this with our

[37:54] actually our current spring numbers.

[37:55] Spring sports started yesterday. Can't

[37:57] believe that the field's out there on

[37:58] spring like, but uh we're doing our

[38:00] best. These numbers are are pretty

[38:02] accurate. We had about 13 uh folks

[38:05] register between yesterday and today.

[38:07] So, we're still we're still adding to

[38:08] this, which is a good thing. Um

[38:09] registration, although I put a deadline

[38:11] on it, it never seems to close. We're

[38:13] always taking those those late ads. Um

[38:16] but once again, you can see our numbers

[38:17] are staying pretty steady. uh they look

[38:19] a little bit low. They'll come up to be

[38:20] about 39% of our enrollment. Um to be,

[38:23] you know, just right below our 5-year

[38:25] moving average. Um the two declines for

[38:28] this spring season that I've seen right

[38:30] now are girls lacrosse in baseball. Um

[38:33] but like I said, we still have a few

[38:35] late enrollies, and we'll see what those

[38:36] numbers uh kind of finalize as we, you

[38:39] know, get through this first week of of

[38:40] spring sports.

[38:47] » All right.

[38:49] budget overview. Let have this right.

[38:52] It's a little bit over here. Okay. So,

[38:54] just what it looks like from our fiscal

[38:56] year 26 overview. The next slide will be

[38:58] in detail. So, this is just a kind of

[38:59] the macro look at it. Athletic director,

[39:01] our coaching stipens. We have about

[39:03] roughly 60 to 61 coaching stipens and

[39:06] that makes up both our uh Penrook

[39:07] Community Middle School and our Penrook

[39:09] High School coaches uh in all three

[39:11] seasons. So, roughly about 61 coaching

[39:13] stipens to make up that number. athletic

[39:16] maintenance custodian, contracted

[39:17] services, officials, um supplies and

[39:20] equipment make up that 827 720. So this

[39:23] next slide you can see a little bit of

[39:24] detail to break those numbers down to

[39:26] give some context to them. Our biggest

[39:28] and largest expense year over year is

[39:30] going to be our rentals. Um our ice

[39:32] rinks are continue to um give us a cost

[39:35] that we have to pay and it's obviously

[39:37] expensive, but we that's it is what it

[39:39] is. That's a cost of doing business.

[39:41] We're fortunate they're in our backyard

[39:42] and uh you know it helps from a

[39:44] transportation perspective, but our our

[39:46] ice for our boys and girls team make up

[39:49] roughly 65,000 of that 90,000. Um and

[39:53] then our gymnastics program, our swim

[39:55] program,

[39:57] our two big other rentals, we use the

[39:58] Southshore YMCA and handover for

[40:00] gymnastics, we use a Kingsbury Club and

[40:02] Kingston um for our swim team. And that

[40:05] makes up that that 90,000 roughly for

[40:07] our rentals. Our league dues are

[40:10] consisted of our Patriot League dues and

[40:12] our MIA league dues and then we have

[40:14] entry fees for our cheerleading

[40:15] competitions, our wrestling events and

[40:18] our track um events that we that we

[40:20] regularly attend. Field maintenance,

[40:23] that's just our, you know, the stuff we

[40:24] need year-over-year. Like training

[40:26] services, that is the cost of Grace

[40:29] Walsh, our athletic trainer, and or any

[40:31] additional help that we um get provided

[40:33] by Mass General Brighgam, who our

[40:35] contractor is with for athletic training

[40:37] services. So at times uh if we need

[40:40] additional athletic trainer, if we have

[40:41] multiple events going on, they will

[40:42] provide that to us as kind of part of

[40:44] our contract. Um and it covers

[40:46] everything that way. Reconditioning,

[40:48] police details, repairs, uniform

[40:50] replacement cycle, and transportation

[40:52] make up the rest of that. Um 285, the

[40:55] contracted services, game officials, we

[40:57] host we host roughly 270 home events. Um

[41:00] and for each of those home events, we

[41:02] have athletic officials and that makes

[41:04] up that 5896A price. And then our

[41:07] training supplies broken up through our

[41:09] three seasons in our athletic training

[41:11] room make up that remaining 3160.

[41:16] So that's kind of the the budget

[41:17] breakdown and overview last year moving

[41:20] forward to uh 27. Some of our goals as

[41:23] we look forward to continue to you know

[41:24] try to provide the best experience that

[41:26] we can is obviously our athletic

[41:28] facilities is something we're always

[41:29] looking to invest in. That's going to be

[41:30] um you know an always an important and

[41:33] critical part of our of our program. So

[41:36] once again, an athletic press box that

[41:37] you've heard me say for some time. Um

[41:40] our grass fields certainly after this

[41:42] winter are going to need some extra TLC.

[41:44] Um they've been white for a long time

[41:47] and they get a ton of use. So they're

[41:49] and there's not great drainage. So I'll

[41:51] be very curious over the next 7 to 10

[41:52] days how they they shake out um in some

[41:56] better weather. And then in our

[41:57] gymnasium, our basketball hoops, we

[41:58] replaced two systems over the past two

[42:01] years and slowly been chipping away at

[42:02] it, but they are getting older in our

[42:04] gym and they get a lot of use, not only

[42:06] from our sports programs, but our our PE

[42:08] programs as well and our youth folks on

[42:10] the weekend. So, they're pretty um you

[42:12] know, a pretty popular piece in our

[42:14] school. The next goal moving down is

[42:17] once again to strengthen our

[42:18] relationship with our our youth uh

[42:19] sports folks. They're they're a critical

[42:22] part of what we do and if we want to

[42:24] continue to have success, we need to

[42:25] invest in them to get them involved as

[42:28] early as we can. Like uh Gwyn's talked

[42:30] about recruiting for her folks. It's

[42:32] we're recruiting for our own kids in our

[42:33] town as well. As you guys know, there's

[42:35] so many options from private schools and

[42:38] um just so many more options nowadays

[42:40] for kids to go. Uh we want to keep our

[42:42] own in town and we're trying to get a hold of them at a young age to

[42:45] have a chance to do that.

[42:47] >> We continue to live stream our athletic

[42:48] events through Huddle. It's been um

[42:51] we've got a ton of feedback on it. We

[42:52] get over 2,000 uh 2,000 10,000 views

[42:54] yearly. Um it's a free platform for

[42:57] parents, family, people afar uh to check

[43:00] in and watch their their family and

[43:02] friends compete at Pepper High School.

[43:04] And they continue to provide a holistic

[43:06] student athlete experience. Grace does a

[43:08] tremendous job in the training room uh

[43:09] taking care of our student athletes. And

[43:11] then the strength conditioning program

[43:12] is something that on the next slide um

[43:14] I'll talk about a little bit but it's been a a very popular uh place in

[43:19] our athletic department as well.

[43:22] So we kind of put this all together.

[43:24] Some of the capital items obviously the

[43:26] press box is is is the biggest cost. Um

[43:29] that cost year over year goes up a

[43:31] little bit more and more as the cost of

[43:33] new business goes up. Um, but I I hope

[43:36] it's something we can try to, you know,

[43:38] put our our work work in and and get a

[43:41] find a way to get that accomplished

[43:42] because I do think it impacts so many in

[43:44] this town, like I said, from our youth

[43:46] programs to to the high school program.

[43:48] So, I think there's there would be a lot

[43:49] of support behind trying to find a way

[43:51] to to raise that money if that was a

[43:53] path in in the town. Um, I do think

[43:56] there's a lot of support. basketball

[43:58] hoops I talked about and the strength

[43:59] conditioning coach. This would be a

[44:01] stipen position kind of like our coaches

[44:02] are per season. We have almost every

[44:06] single one of our teams use the weight

[44:09] room at at some point in time or the

[44:11] other throughout the week or or the

[44:12] individual season. So all our teams we

[44:15] probably have I wish I had a a number to track how many kids were in there

[44:19] each day, but we probably have at least

[44:21] 100 student athletes who enter that

[44:22] weight room every single day. all

[44:24] different sports um

[44:25] >> and all different music genre tastes,

[44:27] >> all different genres.

[44:29] >> I'm like, "Oh goodness, what's happening

[44:30] in there today?"

[44:31] >> Playlist and all all the fun stuff. But

[44:33] it it really has become a place that um

[44:36] it welcomes everyone. It's not just the

[44:38] football team or this group or this

[44:40] group. All our groups are in there. Um,

[44:43] and I'd love to keep that a place where

[44:45] we can, uh, provide some coaching and

[44:47] some, you know, u, year each season so

[44:49] we have some consistency for all our

[44:51] team and student athletes to have that

[44:53] because I do think that is an edge. I do

[44:54] think having a strength conditioning

[44:56] coach in the high school level is an

[44:58] edge and it's something that our student

[44:59] athletes really they they they enjoy

[45:01] being in there. Um, so I think that

[45:04] would be a great addition to our our

[45:06] program. And then the turf field one to

[45:08] two years away. I got it tested in

[45:10] April. We're our our GMAX testing and some other testing. We're we're good

[45:16] from those ratings. Some of our um seams

[45:19] and our busy areas are starting to decay

[45:21] a little bit, but we're uh we're in good

[45:23] shape. We added another maintenance each

[45:25] year to try to push that longevity out

[45:28] of the turf and um it's a it's a busy

[45:30] place for us. We get a lot of use out of

[45:31] it. So, that will be down the road.

[45:36] All right. I think that is the end. So

[45:39] happy to talk about anything athletics

[45:40] or whatever anyone wants to talk about.

[45:43] >> Start on the end, Katrina.

[45:45] >> Yeah. Um

[45:48] I guess thank you so much for this. It's

[45:50] really helpful to see kind of how things

[45:52] are going over time and um all the

[45:54] accomplishments of um the our student

[45:56] athletes. Um, one question about um, in

[46:00] terms of your big biggest budget ask,

[46:03] like if you were to pick from the

[46:05] capital items, what do you feel like is

[46:07] the most um, pressing?

[46:10] >> It's a good question. It's really I I

[46:12] think I think they both I think the

[46:14] press box and the transitioning coach

[46:17] are both super pressing, but they're

[46:20] almost in two different avenues where I

[46:21] think we get way more student athlete

[46:23] touches obviously by the transition

[46:24] coach, which has those benefits. I think

[46:27] the press box obviously has a benefit

[46:29] from a facility usage, from a game

[46:31] operations and logistics perspective. So

[46:33] I it's a good question because I think

[46:35] they have kind of a little bit of

[46:36] different path.

[46:38] >> Yeah.

[46:38] >> Um

[46:39] >> Got it.

[46:40] >> So it's kind of hard to pick. Well,

[46:42] since you mentioned raising money, um so

[46:44] we did start last year to reinvigorate

[46:47] the um PEO Education Foundation, but we

[46:50] need somebody to help us with the um

[46:52] taxes and all the things that fell off

[46:54] when it stopped being functional before.

[46:56] Um so if anyone wants to help with that,

[46:58] would love to raise money for this um

[47:00] turf field press box because we can use

[47:02] that. Um but we do have some work to do

[47:04] in terms of the um nonprofit status and

[47:07] things like that. But if we can get that

[47:08] worked out and there's folks who want to

[47:10] volunteer to help make that a reality, I

[47:12] think we could totally do fundraising

[47:14] for the press box.

[47:15] >> I think you should partner also with the

[47:17] boosters on that because I know there

[47:18] was an appetite a couple years ago to

[47:21] contribute toward it.

[47:22] >> Yes. And I candidly don't have a ton of

[47:24] time to do that. So if anyone wants to

[47:25] help, please reach out to me.

[47:27] >> Tell me what to do. I'll go picketing

[47:29] around town. Whatever I have to do

[47:30] holding up signs,

[47:31] >> we'll have an opportunity with the

[47:33] replacement of the turf field to

[47:35] potentially put together a project,

[47:36] right? like a athletic enhancement.

[47:39] >> Okay.

[47:39] >> Maybe like a capital.

[47:40] >> Two years from now, we're still

[47:42] >> Can we do CPC funds for that or no?

[47:44] >> Um, no. I think it has to be grass. I

[47:46] think

[47:46] >> it has to be grass. Can't be grass. I

[47:48] don't know that much about CPC, but we

[47:50] couldn't use it to replace the turf

[47:51] field. So, I can't imagine that you

[47:53] could use it for

[47:54] >> I did have one other question.

[47:56] >> The I'm I'm sorry. Can you let me jump?

[47:58] I was saying drop for a minute,

[48:00] >> but didn't we use CPC funds to do the

[48:02] playgrounds?

[48:03] >> The playground. Yes. But like I feel

[48:04] like Madakisa works because it's grass.

[48:06] I there's there's some weird

[48:07] stipulations to it. I don't know.

[48:09] >> But the press box

[48:10] >> Yeah, I don't know that the press box

[48:12] would fall under CPC, but

[48:13] >> I'm happy to explore it.

[48:14] >> Yeah, why not?

[48:15] >> Happy. Yeah, do that.

[48:16] >> I'm sorry, Katrina.

[48:17] >> No, you're totally fine. Um I was just

[48:20] curious too if we've looked into and it

[48:22] may be a no, but um if we've looked into

[48:24] any grants for um any of these any of

[48:28] these, like if there are grants that are

[48:30] available to potentially fund any of

[48:32] them. I have not looked into a grant for

[48:34] the press box or I don't think the the

[48:37] stipen coach position would fall into

[48:39] any grants be aware of but

[48:42] >> press box I don't

[48:44] >> once again I could look into that I'm

[48:45] not

[48:45] >> Brian just one off the board for a

[48:47] second what about having Springfield

[48:49] background that you and I both have what

[48:51] about an intern strength and

[48:52] conditioning person would that

[48:55] >> I would that kind of cover us or not I

[48:56] just

[48:57] >> that would be my next step kind of

[48:59] envision where we get a strength

[49:00] condition certified and then we can

[49:02] start having interns to make that

[49:03] program kind of more hands-on, get more

[49:05] touch points, and then we can get kids

[49:06] from Bridgewwater State Springfield.

[49:08] We're going to we can have a ton of

[49:09] those departments

[49:11] >> that are local that probably want to

[49:12] come get some hours.

[49:14] >> Yeah, I'm just let me talk to my

[49:16] brother. Um I'm sure he's got some

[49:18] resources there that I could tap in on.

[49:20] >> Great.

[49:20] >> So,

[49:21] >> I'm done. and Alison.

[49:24] >> So, if I remember correctly for the the

[49:25] press box, part of the

[49:28] process is it has to have sprinklers and

[49:31] ADA and all things that we don't

[49:34] currently have

[49:36] >> anywhere within that area really. Right.

[49:38] >> So, we have water. When we put the

[49:40] sprinkler system out to the brack field,

[49:42] we did run the the conduit for those

[49:45] pieces if there were to ever be a press

[49:48] box. So the the press box would be its

[49:51] own entity behind like is there even

[49:55] like a conceptual idea of where this

[49:57] would be or

[49:58] >> Yeah. So I I have some

[50:00] >> I'm just curious diagrams and some some

[50:02] u things that companies given us. So

[50:05] there's so many options now. Some come

[50:06] prefabed or they ship them in and they they build a foundation. That's

[50:09] kind of the work and they're prefabed

[50:10] and they're kind of nice and easy

[50:12] >> like on the ground.

[50:13] >> Not on the ground but they're they're

[50:14] already built and then they yeah they

[50:16] put them up on that. Um,

[50:17] >> so are we talking like an elevator or is

[50:19] this would be ramps or like how do you

[50:21] >> It would probably be an elevator process

[50:23] to have a ramp to that in the back would

[50:25] be

[50:26] >> it would be we don't have enough space.

[50:28] There's not enough space.

[50:29] >> Yeah. No, that's why I was just trying

[50:30] to pro like cuz you know I think that

[50:33] whether CPC can be used but then all the

[50:35] youth sports that use the fields like it

[50:37] would obviously be beneficial to

[50:40] >> the whole town

[50:41] >> a lot of places a lot of people. Um

[50:45] yeah, that's definitely something I

[50:47] think that could be explored in

[50:48] different avenues of outside of just

[50:51] like our budget um within the school.

[50:54] But I also want to just also shout out

[50:56] the basketball I mean the baseball and

[50:58] softball players because I've been part

[51:01] >> so first of all congratulations and all

[51:03] the successes for all the sports teams

[51:05] like I'm just really impressed. The

[51:07] volleyball team this year was

[51:09] unbelievable. And

[51:10] >> there was a dusty banner up there we had

[51:11] to clear off for New Year's.

[51:13] >> Oh my gosh. Yeah. It was just I mean and

[51:16] honestly I mean in the track program and

[51:19] cross country and so many amazing

[51:20] athletes and I think that they can't be

[51:23] developed without good leadership,

[51:25] right? So we really appreciate

[51:26] everything you're doing for the program

[51:28] which is pretty amazing. Um a couple of

[51:31] questions I had. First one is uh

[51:34] regarding the budget detail. Is there

[51:36] anything in here? Is this just

[51:38] maintenance of effort budget detail or

[51:39] is there any sort of um items in here

[51:42] that are increased from last year that

[51:45] should be called out or

[51:46] >> the the biggest increase is really come

[51:48] back to that contracted services piece

[51:50] for the rentals. So that just goes up

[51:52] yearly based off whatever the rink

[51:53] decides they want to charge next year.

[51:55] It's not like a a price that we know

[51:57] we're getting.

[51:59] >> So yeah, so our maintenance of effort

[52:00] budget includes an increase in those

[52:02] type of services. You know, we kind of

[52:04] guess at it. I I think we'll we're

[52:06] pretty close. But

[52:07] >> so basically this is maintenance of

[52:08] effort. Correct.

[52:09] >> Okay. So that's that's kind of my

[52:11] question trying to figure out. And then

[52:13] the other question we we talked briefly

[52:15] today in budget sub about potential for

[52:17] track at some point. Uh the so would the

[52:20] how is the track doing right now? Have

[52:22] you had that checked?

[52:23] >> Yeah. So it's it's actually become a a

[52:25] very niche market. The Cape Islands who

[52:28] have done a lot of u the track work in

[52:30] this area. They've kind of gone away

[52:32] from doing repairs. now they just want

[52:34] to do brand new construction. So, it's

[52:36] been a challenge to get them here. Um,

[52:37] with that being said, there's definitely

[52:39] some usage and wear and tear in some of

[52:41] those hight traffic areas. Uh, it's

[52:43] probably going to be along those same

[52:44] lines as our turf field timeline. Like

[52:47] Aaron said, it might be a project piece

[52:48] where we come in and resurface at all.

[52:50] It's not going to be need to be

[52:51] reconstructed, but it'll be need to be

[52:53] resurfaced sooner than than later. It's

[52:56] a ton of use, you know, and we we host

[52:58] some MSTC events which add to that,

[53:01] >> right? Um, but that's a great, you know,

[53:03] opportunity for our town to host that,

[53:04] which is why we do. Uh, but it's

[53:07] probably on that turfield timeline of

[53:08] needing to be resurfaced.

[53:10] >> Okay. All right. Good to know. Thank

[53:12] you.

[53:15] » Nothing. Thank you so much. Again, I'll

[53:18] kind of come to a close and I will say

[53:20] um Brian, I still remember the first

[53:22] time someone asked me if uh we would

[53:24] interview for this position and I having

[53:27] a very athletic background, a

[53:29] Springfield College guy, I looked at

[53:31] your resume and I said, "Why in heaven's

[53:33] name would this guy want to come here?"

[53:35] I said, "He is so grossly

[53:36] overqualified." And then I honestly

[53:38] said, "He'll last about a year and some

[53:40] school will scoop him up." How many

[53:42] years you here now, sir?

[53:43] >> Six years.

[53:44] >> We have an agreement.

[53:47] Well, I I just want to say I'm I'm I'm

[53:48] honored to have you here. Um, as with

[53:51] all the faculty and stuff, but I just

[53:52] remember seeing your resume and I was

[53:54] saying to myself, "Holy heaven, they

[53:56] said, "If we can land this guy, this is

[53:58] like big time." So, and your results

[54:00] have proven it. Everything you've done,

[54:02] and again, similar to the other people,

[54:03] you know, Gwen's music program,

[54:05] whatever, it it's just what we're known

[54:07] for. So, thank you for all you do.

[54:09] Again, I've always said you call the

[54:11] kids student athletes. It reminds me of

[54:13] my dad. I think that's the greatest

[54:15] compliment in the world. I've never

[54:16] heard you once say he's a football

[54:18] player, a basketball player, track,

[54:20] whatever. Um, so thank you. Great

[54:22] presentation. Um, we got some things to

[54:25] look at in the future.

[54:26] >> Thank you guys.

[54:27] >> Thank you,

[54:28] >> Brian. You can go if you want. Do

[54:30] >> you want me to hang on the waver?

[54:31] >> Uh, no, there I got it. That's fine.

[54:34] >> Thank you.

[54:34] >> Thanks.

[54:36] >> Have a good night.

[54:37] >> No pressure now. Yes.

[54:40] >> If you do well, you get to leave. Yeah,

[54:42] you have to stay.

[54:44] >> We had two amazing presentations. So

[54:47] >> I uh I don't have Great job. Right. I

[54:50] don't have any gold medals.

[54:53] It's

[54:53] >> not true. You still appreciate it.

[54:55] >> So and in fact um the irony is when my

[54:59] department does their job well, nobody

[55:01] notices.

[55:04] >> That makes it tricky because we

[55:05] certainly notice when things are not

[55:06] working.

[55:07] >> Yeah, that's true. Right.

[55:08] >> If that screen doesn't work, we are in

[55:10] big trouble.

[55:13] Uh nevertheless, um I'm going to follow

[55:15] the same format as as our colleagues

[55:17] did. Uh we'll talk about an overview of,

[55:19] you know, the historical information. Um

[55:22] update on the fiscal year 26 goals that

[55:24] we put into place, take a look at what's

[55:26] coming for 2027, and uh outline the

[55:29] priorities where we're headed. I

[55:32] finished a really

[55:35] I I don't use the term rigorous lightly.

[55:38] This was a rigorous course I took um

[55:40] where on the first day the the professor

[55:42] stated that technology in schools has

[55:44] quietly become infrastructure and it

[55:47] really truly has. Um th this department

[55:50] um has two sides and I have to forever

[55:54] look at this with two minds. I'm an

[55:56] educator first. I was an educator for for 20some years and I bring that to

[56:01] the educational technology portion of

[56:03] it. But then

[56:05] there's there's a ubiquity to technology

[56:08] in everything we do now. So, you know,

[56:10] the the Wi-Fi, the the HVAC systems, you

[56:13] know, we're responsible for keeping all

[56:15] of that going and and if it's too warm

[56:18] or too cold, the learning management

[56:20] systems, uh the the network security,

[56:23] student data protections, delivery of of

[56:26] instructional materials, the point of

[56:27] service machines at the in the cafeteria

[56:29] for the kids, the huddle cams that Brian

[56:32] uses um in in security, pick a time for

[56:36] parent teacher conferences, the voice

[56:38] over internet protocol telephones like

[56:39] we we have our our our hands in

[56:41] everything. Um and it's not something I

[56:44] take lightly and in fact I I take it

[56:46] very very seriously. Um so

[56:50] to that end our foundational principles

[56:53] and strategic outlook remain uh from

[56:56] last year. Um at the nucleus of it all

[57:00] kids are first. We're we're a school

[57:01] district. Kids are always first. um when

[57:05] I speak to um you know this sort of wish

[57:08] list of things that we're looking at for

[57:09] the budget, I' I I try to approach it

[57:11] pragmatically with a very realistic

[57:13] outlook. Um I'm I'm not sort of unaware

[57:17] of of the lift that the citizens of the

[57:21] town will will need to look at in in the

[57:24] coming months and things like that. Nor

[57:26] unaware of all of the things happening

[57:27] sort of with tariffs and supply chains

[57:30] for the things we need. So this isn't

[57:32] the year for a moonshot.

[57:34] Um maybe next year we'll see how it

[57:36] goes. Um but it's that pragmatic

[57:38] approach to all of this that that we

[57:40] keep at it at our heart. Um transparency

[57:43] of practices for our department.

[57:46] If if we think about the way our data

[57:48] was used 10 years ago compared to now

[57:51] where where everything is for sale.

[57:54] having transparency in our practices

[57:56] when we're working with these other

[57:57] vendors and and and how are we using the

[58:00] kids data. All of that um needs to be

[58:03] crystal clear. So, we keep that to heart

[58:05] and we keep respect to our funding

[58:07] sources. We know that our stakeholders

[58:08] are those families with Pembro Public

[58:10] School students and there are some

[58:12] families and in residents who don't have

[58:14] kids here. I look at those as our

[58:16] investors. So, what's their return on

[58:18] investment going to be? And I'll do my

[58:19] very best to to keep uh respectful of

[58:21] that. Um, in terms of our outlook, I

[58:25] spoke last year about the exponential

[58:27] growth of technology and the linear path

[58:30] of schools. I was asked not to show that

[58:31] slide again this year because it is very

[58:33] overdone by me at this point, but

[58:35] nevertheless, it's still there. Um, the

[58:38] feedback look to pull a page from from

[58:40] director Phillips's uh book, we're we're

[58:43] trying to skate toward where the puck is

[58:45] headed. Um, we I I don't know of any way

[58:48] to stay ahead of technology. It moves

[58:50] too fast. Chat GPT came out four years

[58:53] ago. It's on its fifth iteration and

[58:55] we're still trying to figure out how the

[58:56] whole thing works. Um, so it it's it's

[58:59] an outlook that way where if we can

[59:02] enable our students, empower our

[59:03] students with transferable skills so

[59:06] that no matter what comes out, they will

[59:08] have something to put towards it. That's

[59:09] our goal.

[59:17] Our state of tech, um, Titan Tech in

[59:20] particular, uh, is kind of interesting.

[59:22] It's been an interesting year. We've had

[59:24] a decrease in our department staffing.

[59:26] We were small before. We're we're teeny

[59:28] now. We were a skeleton crew at one

[59:29] point. Now we're a couple of bones. Um,

[59:31] but it's all for good reason, too. Um,

[59:35] Ken Cruz was our media technician who I

[59:38] believe started prior to Pemrook split

[59:42] from Silver Lake, but I know he had been

[59:44] here for 22 years. He retired uh in in

[59:47] uh December uh excuse me, in January of

[59:50] this year. Um couldn't be more grateful

[59:52] for all of his hard work. He was he he

[59:54] did great things. Um and our digital

[59:57] learning specialist made sort of a

[59:58] lateral movement from that position to

[1:00:00] the high school librarian. It could not

[1:00:02] be a better fit. It could not be it was

[1:00:04] as if there was a a a hole shaped

[1:00:08] exactly like her that she just stepped

[1:00:10] into for this. And and she mentioned it

[1:00:12] was her dream job as well. Um we've had

[1:00:14] some system level disruptions that

[1:00:16] required some shifting of priorities and

[1:00:19] a definite heightened focus on um

[1:00:23] security and compliance.

[1:00:30] But our tenacity

[1:00:34] is greater than the adversity. And

[1:00:36] despite it all, we I'm I'm a judo guy at

[1:00:39] heart. It's my secret life. We fall

[1:00:41] seven times in stand 8 and we will

[1:00:44] continue being committed to reliable

[1:00:45] network access to to compliance with

[1:00:48] state and federal regulations with

[1:00:50] things like data privacy and all of that

[1:00:52] uh filtering. Um a a hyper responsive

[1:00:56] technical support team. Even though

[1:00:58] we're small, we try to get to you the

[1:01:00] day those tickets come in. and

[1:01:02] continuation of uh of instruction based

[1:01:05] around all of those network needs.

[1:01:12] So in terms of our expected outcomes,

[1:01:15] our core goals, we need to strengthen

[1:01:17] our cyber security posture. Um things

[1:01:21] have changed again, you know, thinking

[1:01:22] about data in the last 10 years, things

[1:01:24] have changed considerably. Um I'll speak

[1:01:26] a little bit more to that as as we move

[1:01:28] forward. um increasing our department

[1:01:31] agility. Although we're a small team,

[1:01:33] we've outsourced. We this is our first

[1:01:35] full year of working with Oak's

[1:01:36] technology to sort of um help us with

[1:01:39] the lift with a lot of the updates to

[1:01:41] our services. They can kind of get in

[1:01:43] and um do a lot of the work that our

[1:01:46] network manager normally would do, but

[1:01:47] he's stretched with me too. So, it's a

[1:01:50] help. Um device equity and connectivity

[1:01:53] ubiquity remains a core goal, as well as

[1:01:55] best practices from professional

[1:01:56] learning uh with our teachers. so that

[1:01:58] they can deliver their best to our

[1:02:00] students. And continuing on with our

[1:02:02] replacement cycles,

[1:02:04] um we'll also continue to support all of

[1:02:06] the digital community that we have. Um

[1:02:09] there are over 100 edte software

[1:02:11] programs that we're using from preK to

[1:02:14] 12. That includes um instructional and

[1:02:17] non-instructional components. support of

[1:02:19] all of the standardized testing that's

[1:02:21] all digital now as well from MCCAST to

[1:02:24] WEDA to to the AP tests

[1:02:28] around 3,600 enduser devices. An end

[1:02:30] user is just anyone that's using a

[1:02:33] computer right so it could be an iPad or

[1:02:34] it could be a Chromebook or a laptop of

[1:02:37] some sort. Um but supporting all of

[1:02:39] those the the VIP phones voiceover

[1:02:42] internet telephone system that that goes

[1:02:45] uh within and among the schools security

[1:02:48] cameras our key fob security entry

[1:02:51] systems all of the audio video

[1:02:52] projection devices and our in internet

[1:02:56] our penrook internet as well.

[1:03:02] We have had some successes. It's neat

[1:03:04] hearing Director Phillips and Director

[1:03:07] Chavin talk about the kids because I see

[1:03:09] the same things. Um I have a a help desk

[1:03:13] course that is run at the high school.

[1:03:15] Uh there are six seniors that are

[1:03:17] absolutely remarkable. They're

[1:03:19] innovative and persistent and and do

[1:03:23] such great things. So that's a semester

[1:03:25] long course. Um they have repaired,

[1:03:29] salvaged or recirculated 200 Chromebooks

[1:03:32] um which is remarkable. And when Mr.

[1:03:37] Cruz retired,

[1:03:40] it left me sort of with the the the load

[1:03:42] of getting to all the schools and doing

[1:03:44] the physical repairs. It was great

[1:03:46] knowing I could bring a pack of

[1:03:48] Chromebooks labeled Brianville and drop

[1:03:50] it off at the table outside of my office

[1:03:52] at the high school and the kids would

[1:03:53] get to work and know just what to do,

[1:03:55] how to troubleshoot it, how to repair

[1:03:56] it. So, we had kids repairing other kids

[1:03:58] Chromebooks within the district and

[1:03:59] that's great. Um, and in fact,

[1:04:02] >> part of the course that we run is to

[1:04:04] take a really hard look at the way that

[1:04:07] we use our tech in the district and are

[1:04:10] there any, you know, areas that could be

[1:04:12] built up. And in fact, they found one.

[1:04:14] Um, when I was looking over the the

[1:04:17] feedback we received for the strategic

[1:04:19] planning team, there were some

[1:04:23] despite having new devices,

[1:04:26] there were still some gaps that some of

[1:04:29] the kids were saying and in particular

[1:04:30] the Chromebooks were operating really

[1:04:32] slowly even though they were new. And

[1:04:36] the kids took a deep dive into it and

[1:04:38] realized that

[1:04:41] without getting too technical, Google

[1:04:43] Chrome takes up a lot of memory

[1:04:45] >> when it runs. So when the kids had one

[1:04:49] tab of Google Chrome open, it was just

[1:04:51] over half of the Chromebook's memory

[1:04:53] being used at one time. So you can

[1:04:55] imagine if they had like five tabs open,

[1:04:57] everything comes to a stop. Um, so as a

[1:05:00] result of their work, um, we we sort of

[1:05:02] reimagined how Chromebooks would look

[1:05:04] for the kids for next year, uh, with

[1:05:06] some increased memory, but we'll speak

[1:05:07] to that in a few slides. But that's

[1:05:10] because of the kids. It's because of our

[1:05:12] seniors, Tyler K, uh, Michael Madden,

[1:05:15] and just think they're names that we all

[1:05:19] hear. Um, Nick McCarthy and and Aiden

[1:05:22] Donahue and Chris Linsky. They're just

[1:05:24] remarkable. Oh, John Vieira, another

[1:05:26] one. just absolutely outstanding kids

[1:05:28] and incredible troubleshooters and they

[1:05:31] could leave and get a job at any tech

[1:05:33] service now except for Johnny Studio but

[1:05:36] the other

[1:05:40] uh faculty and staff. We've done I think

[1:05:41] a nice job of centralizing our tech

[1:05:43] department. It used to be we had a

[1:05:44] couple of free agents that sort of came

[1:05:46] under our umbrella too and that offers

[1:05:48] up a little bit more um leverage when it

[1:05:50] comes to assignments and getting things

[1:05:52] uh you know where we need them to be.

[1:05:55] Our building based lead technology

[1:05:57] teachers have been fantastic too.

[1:05:59] There's one at each school. They are

[1:06:01] classroom teachers and will help

[1:06:03] support. A lot of times they're our

[1:06:05] first line of defense. So if a device

[1:06:07] comes in broken, um they will be the

[1:06:10] ones to send the support ticket and then

[1:06:11] my team can kind of go from there, go

[1:06:13] from that. But they are very

[1:06:17] wellrespected and sought after

[1:06:19] presenters at conferences on technology

[1:06:21] because of the innovative things that

[1:06:22] they're doing in their classes. um and

[1:06:24] they contribute to our weekly techt tip

[1:06:26] newsletter uh that comes out on

[1:06:27] Tuesdays. In terms of our adjustment to

[1:06:30] practices, we're at almost full

[1:06:32] enrollment with multiffactor

[1:06:34] authentication, our Google accounts as a

[1:06:36] um safety measure. It's another lock to

[1:06:38] the door to to keep the bad guys out. Um

[1:06:42] we have a strong presence in state and

[1:06:44] regional tech leadership. Uh we've been

[1:06:46] featured speakers at conferences on

[1:06:48] artificial intelligence and assisted

[1:06:50] technology. Um, and then, uh, there's

[1:06:53] also leadership, um, on a regional

[1:06:56] assisted technology special interest

[1:06:58] group that meets, uh, bimonthly. Um, so

[1:07:01] I'm lucky to kind of be that guy. We've

[1:07:04] had a few highle certification

[1:07:06] acquisitions as well, and we're working

[1:07:08] on developing uh, guidelines on

[1:07:11] artificial intelligence in the industry.

[1:07:13] Matter of fact, tomorrow

[1:07:20] our end user hardware um has also been a

[1:07:24] success. We have implemented the

[1:07:26] business computer lab uh and it's it's

[1:07:28] very well used at the high school. Uh

[1:07:31] Taran Lang uh is the the teacher there

[1:07:34] who is also one of those people I spoke

[1:07:36] of a moment ago about presenting. her

[1:07:38] command of a of an auditorium when she

[1:07:39] presents is remarkable and and just

[1:07:43] we're very lucky to have her. She's

[1:07:45] fantastic. Um our high school staff

[1:07:47] device replacement continues the Windows

[1:07:49] laptops and Chromebooks uh for for

[1:07:51] faculty. We use Chromebooks for our PAR

[1:07:53] educators and Windows laptops for for

[1:07:56] the classroom teachers. And uh 575

[1:07:59] Chromebooks had been replaced. It's our

[1:08:01] cycle of renewal that we began recently

[1:08:04] uh beginning in grade two, moving on to

[1:08:06] grade seven and then again at grade 9.

[1:08:14] We're also working towards making our

[1:08:17] infrastructure less fragile. Uh so these

[1:08:22] are some things I'm particularly proud

[1:08:23] of actually. So um we we've completed

[1:08:27] our upgrades to the wireless internet.

[1:08:29] There are access points. You can see

[1:08:30] them in this room. Um they're they're

[1:08:32] more robust. They'll handle a lot more

[1:08:34] data uh being sent to and from the

[1:08:37] backup systems have been built uh and are robust. They are in the case of

[1:08:43] some sort of catastrophic failure, what

[1:08:45] we turn to to restore everything. That's

[1:08:47] part of the restoration process. We've

[1:08:49] completely replaced all wireless access

[1:08:51] points at the middle school and the high

[1:08:53] school. So now all five schools are on

[1:08:55] the cloud. Um that was a three-year goal

[1:08:58] that stretched out to I think five and

[1:09:00] uh and and that's great. Um so the

[1:09:03] reliability and all of that we we don't

[1:09:06] have to rely on some old device in a

[1:09:09] dusty closet that someone will trip on a

[1:09:11] cable and and knock the network down

[1:09:12] from which is is actually what would

[1:09:15] happen. Uh we've moved the HVAC systems

[1:09:18] to the cloud. So that's all controlled

[1:09:20] through uh through the web at this

[1:09:22] point. Um, we had our hands on

[1:09:24] installations of new PA systems that

[1:09:27] attach with our network as well at Hava

[1:09:28] and at the middle school. And I

[1:09:30] mentioned before it was our first year

[1:09:32] of full managed services with ochres

[1:09:34] technology.

[1:09:35] Super easy to work with.

[1:09:38] >> And what does um ochres do? Again,

[1:09:41] >> ochres is a so

[1:09:44] a number of things. They supply a lot of

[1:09:47] the materials that we use, but they

[1:09:49] provide a service sort of like the guy

[1:09:51] in the chair. they'll have an overview

[1:09:53] of all of the things that are happening

[1:09:54] on our network. Okay.

[1:09:55] >> So, if I notice, oh, the library lost

[1:09:57] connectivity at North Benro, I can reach

[1:10:00] out to them and they'll have someone on,

[1:10:02] not necessarily on site. If we need

[1:10:04] that, they would uh but they can adjust

[1:10:06] things on the back end. That's the

[1:10:07] benefit of having things on the cloud.

[1:10:09] We no longer necessarily have to have

[1:10:11] somebody come in to get hands on a

[1:10:13] gadget.

[1:10:14] >> Yeah,

[1:10:14] >> it's done.

[1:10:15] >> Got it. Okay. Perfect. Thank you.

[1:10:17] >> Absolutely. Great question, too.

[1:10:22] In terms of transparency of our

[1:10:23] practice, um this is an important one. I

[1:10:27] mentioned that that

[1:10:30] personal data is is sought after um by

[1:10:34] thread actors for a number of reasons

[1:10:37] >> and the ways in which businesses use

[1:10:41] data um is is

[1:10:45] it's critical to make sure that it's

[1:10:47] protected. Um so what are we doing with

[1:10:50] the kids data because there's a lot of

[1:10:52] it. So um we recently signed on with the

[1:10:55] student data privacy consortium and and

[1:10:57] that is um the industry standard of we

[1:11:01] have to have a signed contract with them

[1:11:03] that they're going to keep the data

[1:11:04] protected and not sell it to vendors and

[1:11:06] that sort of thing. Um if they are

[1:11:08] unwilling to sign that contract, we are

[1:11:10] unwilling to work with them.

[1:11:11] >> Awesome.

[1:11:12] >> Um the district website also has our

[1:11:14] data privacy practices on there too.

[1:11:16] It's all within three clicks. So, if you

[1:11:18] go into the um the district technology

[1:11:21] page, there's a big purple shield on the

[1:11:23] right side. Now, that sort of opens up

[1:11:24] what what we do with the kids data and what we don't do. Um there was also

[1:11:30] sort of a gray area with the whole

[1:11:32] repair process and billing of families

[1:11:34] too. Um so, we we made an overhaul to

[1:11:37] that. Um

[1:11:41] in the past there was no process. um

[1:11:45] things would get dropped off, parents

[1:11:46] would get build,

[1:11:48] it's on the bottom of a report card, but

[1:11:52] I mean

[1:11:54] I I was a little bit surprised. I think

[1:11:55] it was last May when I went to the the

[1:11:58] main office of the high school and there

[1:12:00] was a line of panicked kids from Mrs.

[1:12:03] Sarington's desk, I'm not exaggerating,

[1:12:05] clear into the auditorium, um, holding

[1:12:08] checks and and wondering how to write

[1:12:10] checks because their iPad broke when

[1:12:13] they were in second grade and they would

[1:12:14] build for it and somewhere in the mix.

[1:12:17] Who likes getting an unexpected bill,

[1:12:19] too? And

[1:12:21] >> so, we we switched things up a little

[1:12:22] bit. Um there's a process now when a

[1:12:25] device is broken. Um it's brought to the

[1:12:28] office or those lead technology teachers

[1:12:31] I mentioned let us know. At that point

[1:12:34] we send an email notification to

[1:12:36] families that something happened with

[1:12:37] their device that just says that they're

[1:12:40] your student paid a visit to the tech

[1:12:42] department today. We're going to look

[1:12:43] things over but um there may be a bill

[1:12:46] coming so just be prepared. We assess

[1:12:49] the device from there. If it needs

[1:12:50] repair, we do that in two ways. Either

[1:12:54] um it's done with the kids at the high

[1:12:57] school. Uh if we can use salvaged parts

[1:13:00] and the kids do it, we do that as sort

[1:13:02] of a teaching moment, you teaching

[1:13:04] material that we don't charge. If it

[1:13:06] needs more experienced um you know,

[1:13:10] hands-on sort of thing, um then then

[1:13:12] we'll have our technician look at that

[1:13:14] and and repair. And then there are fees

[1:13:16] that apply for there. At that point, we

[1:13:19] put the fee into P school, which

[1:13:20] automatically pushes it to my school

[1:13:22] box. And then the parents will get a

[1:13:24] push notification there that there's the

[1:13:26] bill. They could pay with a credit card.

[1:13:27] They don't have to write a check

[1:13:28] anymore. There'll be no kids holding

[1:13:30] socks full of coins for this desk

[1:13:33] anymore. Um, we can do payment plans and

[1:13:37] there's a dispute form in case they feel

[1:13:39] as if they uh had been charged unfairly.

[1:13:42] uh on the district website as well. We

[1:13:44] take photographic evidence of the things

[1:13:46] that we do and put it in in a file, too,

[1:13:48] just in case um you know, there are

[1:13:50] questions about that. So far, uh the

[1:13:52] tech department's got back about $2,000

[1:13:54] in outstanding bills. And I think

[1:13:56] overall, we kind of pushed it to all the

[1:13:57] other departments, too, for like missing

[1:13:59] textbooks. I think I think it's about $4

[1:14:01] or $5,000. I can get a a solid number,

[1:14:03] but it's working well so far. Nice.

[1:14:05] >> And the disputes have been reasonable.

[1:14:08] They've been very, very reasonable.

[1:14:12] Um our staffing is small and mighty.

[1:14:16] Uh we we obviously have our director of

[1:14:18] instructional technology. Uh Aaron

[1:14:21] Tinker is our data and software manager.

[1:14:23] James Eliss uh again another person that

[1:14:27] started at uh Silver Lake and and

[1:14:29] brought his skill to here. He's been

[1:14:30] here over 20 years as our network

[1:14:32] manager. And our newest hire, I think

[1:14:34] this is week two and a half. He was

[1:14:36] supposed to start on the the blizzard.

[1:14:39] That didn't work out. But uh Patrick

[1:14:41] McGovern uh is he's a 2011 graduate of

[1:14:45] Pemrook High School. Actually absolutely

[1:14:47] remarkable human being. His technical

[1:14:50] knowledge is only matched by his

[1:14:52] personality. It's ironic to think that

[1:14:54] the the the most

[1:14:57] important aspect of our technology

[1:15:00] department has nothing technical at all.

[1:15:02] It's about relationships. And he's got

[1:15:03] that personality where he can reach out

[1:15:05] to people and

[1:15:06] >> and he does great work. Um and and we're

[1:15:08] lucky to have him. We still have our

[1:15:10] five building based uh lead tech

[1:15:12] teachers. Sarah McNelte at Bryantville,

[1:15:15] Mindy Murphy at Hobok, um Katie Roger at

[1:15:18] the middle school, Greg Zapati at the

[1:15:20] high school, and of course Kate Nent uh

[1:15:23] here at North Penroke. And Thursday

[1:15:26] through the Pathways program, we're

[1:15:28] interviewing four senior interns. So

[1:15:31] we'll have three or four guys working

[1:15:32] with us um all with driver's licenses so

[1:15:35] I can send them off to other schools.

[1:15:37] We'll take all the help we can get.

[1:15:41] >> In terms of um you know sort of regional

[1:15:45] numbers, uh we're we're the smallest

[1:15:48] around. We have our four people. You

[1:15:51] know, these are the dart schools. Um

[1:15:53] comparable numbers of devices and

[1:15:55] students. Uh but but some of them almost

[1:15:57] double what we have going on.

[1:16:00] >> Yeah. Yeah. There's like all these other

[1:16:02] numbers for folks at home. It's like 9

[1:16:04] 12 6 9 7 8. getting more complicated. Um

[1:16:08] I I I I mean I can I can speak, you

[1:16:11] know, with the wisdom of experience

[1:16:13] after Mr. Cruz left things got a little

[1:16:15] bit tricky. Um I I would never go lower

[1:16:18] than what we have now.

[1:16:19] >> Got it. Very helpful to know.

[1:16:23] >> Um it's reflected in our tech tickets.

[1:16:25] This is from August of February. We had

[1:16:27] our media tech uh completing 220 service

[1:16:31] tickets. Our network manager was 72, the

[1:16:33] digital learning specialist at the time

[1:16:35] at 36, the software data integration

[1:16:38] person had 172, and the tech director

[1:16:41] had 255. It was a lot. It was sweaty.

[1:16:48] So, in terms of our recurring costs, um,

[1:16:52] using our tech interns and salvage parts

[1:16:56] for Chromebooks, um, that costs us

[1:16:59] nothing and and it saves us a lot. When

[1:17:02] we're looking at new devices, I make

[1:17:04] sure that they are compatible with some

[1:17:06] of the older parts that we have. As they

[1:17:08] get more advanced, that changes a little

[1:17:10] bit. Um, and of course Apple, you know,

[1:17:13] when we talk about iPads for the

[1:17:14] littles, those aren't really compatible

[1:17:16] with with parts. We have to send those

[1:17:18] off for repair. Um, but that's actually

[1:17:20] few and far between. Those are always a

[1:17:21] good investment because they're pretty

[1:17:23] beefy. Um,

[1:17:24] >> with with a case, we can get a solid six

[1:17:27] years out of them, which we'll speak to

[1:17:29] in a moment, too. Our software licensing

[1:17:32] and support for instructional and

[1:17:33] non-instructional software. Um, so I I

[1:17:38] worked with assistant superintendent

[1:17:39] Bruss last year and the the uh teaching

[1:17:42] and learning team and we took a deep

[1:17:43] dive into the instructional software

[1:17:45] that's being used or not being used as

[1:17:48] much and sort of shifted things. So

[1:17:51] we're saving a little bit of money there

[1:17:53] either by not renewing some or or

[1:17:56] placing more emphasis on other software.

[1:17:59] Um, internet

[1:18:01] that that provides the service to our

[1:18:02] district doesn't change. That's at

[1:18:04] status quo now. This is the portion that

[1:18:06] we paid from E- rate. Supplies and

[1:18:08] materials we cut back on a little bit

[1:18:10] too. Um I don't think that we needed uh

[1:18:13] the the the full 30 from last year. So

[1:18:16] we'll scale it back and save a little

[1:18:17] bit that way. Um bringing us to a total

[1:18:19] savings of about $57,000 for this

[1:18:22] company.

[1:18:24] >> Nice.

[1:18:26] >> In terms of the devices that we need for

[1:18:28] the coming year, um there there's a few.

[1:18:33] The elementary laptops are starting to

[1:18:36] fall apart. We get about four solid

[1:18:38] years out of them. Um and and indeed

[1:18:40] this is where we're at now. So we'll be

[1:18:42] looking to replace 130 of those. The

[1:18:45] elementary paraprofessional Chromebooks

[1:18:48] are a little bit more than we asked last

[1:18:49] year simply because there are more of

[1:18:51] them at the elementary school.

[1:18:54] Um we got our money's worth out of those

[1:18:57] iPads that the the kindergarteners and

[1:18:59] first graders have been using. Um,

[1:19:02] when I was a classroom teacher, I heard

[1:19:03] this statistic once that you have half

[1:19:06] of a child's biological age and minutes

[1:19:08] of attention.

[1:19:11] So, if you're a first grader and you're

[1:19:13] spending five minutes troubleshooting an

[1:19:15] iPad, the moment's gone. So, let's maybe

[1:19:18] we could look to replacing those slow uh

[1:19:20] iPads for uh kindergarten, first grade.

[1:19:23] Uh, and of course the replacement cycle

[1:19:25] for the student Chromebooks, um, a

[1:19:27] little bit more this year because we're

[1:19:29] boosting up the the the ability of them.

[1:19:31] Um, and that cycle goes through grades

[1:19:34] 2, six, and nine. As we had mentioned, I

[1:19:36] don't think that a second grader's first

[1:19:38] experience with a Chromebook should be

[1:19:39] troubleshooting, which is why I'll

[1:19:40] insist on starting them off there. Um,

[1:19:43] right now the oldest Chromebooks in the

[1:19:45] district are in grade five and grade 12.

[1:19:48] So we can salvage those parts u

[1:19:52] if and hopefully as new ones come in

[1:19:55] our network equipment needs. So when I

[1:19:59] came on as director the priority was to

[1:20:02] shift away from those on premises

[1:20:03] devices because they kept breaking. Um

[1:20:06] they they were super vulnerable. So when

[1:20:09] we're thinking about network needs for

[1:20:10] next year we're in a pretty good spot.

[1:20:12] Um, looking at where the trends were

[1:20:14] headed, um, we, you know, we we'll we'll

[1:20:16] stick to managed services and we'll need

[1:20:19] to strengthen our cyber security stance

[1:20:21] as well.

[1:20:27] This is the not as fun stuff. Um,

[1:20:32] in terms of a justification for the

[1:20:33] cyber security stance, I I have some

[1:20:35] alarming statistics to share. Um,

[1:20:38] there's

[1:20:40] a good part of my week where I spend

[1:20:42] much of the day stopping cyber attacks

[1:20:45] and fishing campaigns and things like

[1:20:47] that. It it's it's a lot. Um, data from

[1:20:51] um, you know, the the the research that

[1:20:52] I've shared here indicates that there

[1:20:55] are 4,388

[1:20:57] cyber attacks per week, per

[1:20:59] organization. On an annual scale, that's

[1:21:01] 228,000 per school per year. um and and

[1:21:07] as it says in context more than double

[1:21:09] the global a uh average for other

[1:21:11] sectors. Schools are easy targets

[1:21:13] because they know that budgets can be

[1:21:16] tight and infrastructure can be weak and

[1:21:19] practices can be weak

[1:21:21] >> and and and if we can boost that up that

[1:21:24] makes us less of a target. Um 82% of

[1:21:27] kindergarten through 12 schools report

[1:21:29] experiencing at least one significant

[1:21:31] cyber threat over the course of 18

[1:21:33] months. That's a lot. that that's daily.

[1:21:36] Um so my hope is that we can sort of uh

[1:21:40] you know boost and and at least

[1:21:42] amilarate all of the constant attacks

[1:21:44] because they really are they're

[1:21:45] aggressive. Um we have some threat

[1:21:47] actors actually calling the schools and

[1:21:48] demanding to speak to teachers that they

[1:21:50] find you know information from a website

[1:21:53] or something like that. Um this is a way

[1:21:56] that that could be slowed down.

[1:21:58] So, um, in summary,

[1:22:02] 2027 requests, uh, we're looking at, uh,

[1:22:05] district-wide tech and software programs

[1:22:07] at 444,000. E- rate continues on. Um,

[1:22:10] this is the district's cost. Um, and in

[1:22:13] our device replacement cycle, uh, also

[1:22:16] around $447,000.

[1:22:20] Um,

[1:22:22] looking towards the future,

[1:22:26] I'd like to continue with the uh

[1:22:28] replacement cycle of the Chromebooks for

[1:22:29] the kids. Uh, it's a great tool for them

[1:22:31] to use. Um, the engineering lab will

[1:22:35] take a closer look at in fiscal year

[1:22:37] 2028. The secretaries and central office

[1:22:40] staff will need some new devices also in

[1:22:42] 2028.

[1:22:43] um the digital arts lab. This is what um director Javin was speaking of.

[1:22:49] You know, all of the the the new

[1:22:51] courses, these are the devices that will

[1:22:53] facilitate the new courses that are

[1:22:54] coming, digital photography, things like

[1:22:56] that. Um VMware, server replacement, VM

[1:23:01] stands for virtual machine. Essentially,

[1:23:03] if if you imagine a power strip that you

[1:23:05] it's like a plug that you can put a

[1:23:06] bunch of other plugs into, virtual

[1:23:08] machines are a computer that pretend

[1:23:10] that they're a bunch of other computers,

[1:23:11] too. Those are something that we use to

[1:23:13] run P schoolool and things like that. Um

[1:23:15] so uh the replacement for those uh

[1:23:18] sometime in 2029 firewall updates and

[1:23:21] replacements as well, backup solutions.

[1:23:23] And I'd like to eventually move Power

[1:23:25] School off premises to the cloud as

[1:23:27] well. That'll offer more stability. That

[1:23:29] one breaks down a lot. Um we have a a

[1:23:31] great team that works with us to build

[1:23:33] it back up again, but it'd be nice to

[1:23:35] not need them. Um, and also a shift away

[1:23:41] or or a shift back towards the

[1:23:43] instructional technology portion of my

[1:23:46] job as well. So, I'd like to see and and um assistant superintendent Russ

[1:23:50] will speak to this I think as well, but

[1:23:52] looking at some more teachers um

[1:23:55] especially where um

[1:23:58] there there's so much coming.

[1:24:00] >> Yeah,

[1:24:01] >> there's so much coming. You know,

[1:24:03] artificial intelligence is only part of

[1:24:05] it. um and and having people who are

[1:24:07] dedicated, highly qualified instructors

[1:24:10] to facilitate that learning will only

[1:24:13] benefit all of us.

[1:24:15] >> Thank you.

[1:24:16] Thank you.

[1:24:17] >> Amazing. Katrina,

[1:24:19] >> uh yeah, just a question on the um

[1:24:23] I know you had mentioned the

[1:24:26] um stronger cyber security stance. Yes.

[1:24:29] >> And just wondering if there's any um

[1:24:31] budgetary

[1:24:33] >> It's a great question. I left it blank

[1:24:35] on purpose.

[1:24:36] >> Okay.

[1:24:36] >> Um part of that is

[1:24:39] we could put it in towards um the

[1:24:42] managed services portion of it. Um -

[1:24:46] won't pay for

[1:24:49] cyber security.

[1:24:52] Um

[1:24:54] we need to see what's out there really.

[1:24:55] There's a number there's Arctic Fox is a

[1:24:58] company that does it. Um uh you know

[1:25:00] there's Sentinel One. There's a number

[1:25:02] of them. So once we get a little bit

[1:25:05] more clear and and there's also that and

[1:25:07] I don't mean to sound paranoid but

[1:25:08] there's that security component of it

[1:25:10] too. I don't want people to know what

[1:25:12] we're doing

[1:25:13] >> in terms of of of protecting ourselves.

[1:25:15] >> Yeah. Yeah. It is a yeah it's a public

[1:25:17] meeting so understood. Um I was mostly

[1:25:19] just wondering like the cost associated.

[1:25:22] Um is there any possibility and this

[1:25:24] might be a no but um to partner with the

[1:25:27] town on cyber security or is it

[1:25:29] something where we should be completely

[1:25:30] separate?

[1:25:31] I think there's always a possibility to

[1:25:33] do things like that. Of course. Yeah.

[1:25:35] >> Cool. I don't know that they're any

[1:25:36] further along than we are, but happy to.

[1:25:38] >> Right. Yeah. I just mean like it could

[1:25:40] there be a cost savings if we like went

[1:25:42] in on it.

[1:25:42] >> If we both use like if the town used one

[1:25:44] company and we jumped on with the two.

[1:25:46] >> Yeah,

[1:25:46] >> we can absolutely look into that.

[1:25:48] >> Yeah. As long as it meets the needs of

[1:25:49] the school and, you know, upholds that

[1:25:52] goal of stronger cyber security. Yeah.

[1:25:55] >> Great. Thank you so much.

[1:25:56] >> Thank you, Alison.

[1:25:59] So I wasn't aware that our digital learning

[1:26:03] specialist is no longer a digital

[1:26:05] >> it's part of our budget. She just has

[1:26:07] shifted roles.

[1:26:08] >> So are we hiring for that?

[1:26:09] >> So

[1:26:10] >> because there's no people being asked

[1:26:11] for right now and that concerns me.

[1:26:13] >> So we intend to fill the digital

[1:26:14] learning specialist role. Um, as you can

[1:26:17] imagine, the the digital learning

[1:26:19] specialist is probably somebody that

[1:26:20] already exists here within our

[1:26:22] organization, and pulling them out of a

[1:26:24] classroom in March or April doesn't make

[1:26:27] a lot of sense for students. So, the

[1:26:28] intent is to post it as we get closer

[1:26:30] towards the end of the school year

[1:26:31] because there are several um internal

[1:26:33] candidates for that.

[1:26:34] >> So, we filled one internal need with

[1:26:36] another internal need, leaving another

[1:26:38] internal.

[1:26:38] >> Correct. Correct. So I'm just concerned

[1:26:40] that that happened without I guess being

[1:26:43] aware because we were already on the low

[1:26:45] side. So I'm concerned why you're not

[1:26:47] asking for people.

[1:26:48] >> So I mean he is asking for people on the

[1:26:50] back there. He's asking for another

[1:26:52] network

[1:26:52] >> but not this year.

[1:26:54] >> You don't Well,

[1:26:56] >> in the back.

[1:26:57] >> So some of this educational technology

[1:26:59] teachers can show up in Mary Beth's

[1:27:01] presentation. Some of this can show up

[1:27:03] in the as

[1:27:04] >> because if we're half the size or

[1:27:08] a third the size of some

[1:27:13] I'm concerned that we're not asking for

[1:27:16] enough and that concerns me.

[1:27:19] >> Yeah. So the the tech integrator

[1:27:20] position isn't a position that is though

[1:27:24] in the past we've assigned tickets to

[1:27:26] them in certain places. the the basis of

[1:27:29] that role is to get into classrooms and

[1:27:31] facilitate um technology for teachers to

[1:27:34] work with teachers to you know

[1:27:36] troubleshoot in the classroom in the

[1:27:37] moment. It's they're it's a teacher

[1:27:39] role. It's not a tech role. It's not

[1:27:40] like a technician. It's not a repair.

[1:27:42] It's none of those.

[1:27:43] >> They work as a coach for

[1:27:44] >> right. They're an instructional coach

[1:27:46] for teachers. Um

[1:27:48] >> well, I'm just looking at like schools

[1:27:49] that have less students and less

[1:27:52] teachers and they have seven. One

[1:27:53] director, three media tech, one data

[1:27:55] manager, two digital learning. Y

[1:27:57] >> so I just feel that we're I mean even

[1:28:01] some of the higher

[1:28:02] >> Yeah, we've always been low. I think I

[1:28:04] know each year we're at

[1:28:06] >> we're at five. There's five positions.

[1:28:08] Only four of them are filled right now.

[1:28:10] No, no one is saying that all of these

[1:28:11] are filled in all of these places

[1:28:13] either. They're just what's budgeted

[1:28:14] for. Um

[1:28:15] >> do any of these other Dart schools, you

[1:28:17] know, do as the what we do in terms of

[1:28:21] replacing having the students do all of

[1:28:23] that tech work? I've had a number of

[1:28:26] them reach out to ask about our program

[1:28:28] actually. So there there are some that

[1:28:29] do. Um but we have a really nice model

[1:28:32] with that.

[1:28:32] >> I'm just wondering if that has something

[1:28:34] to do with why our staff is a staff is

[1:28:37] slightly lower.

[1:28:38] >> Um I think that the low staff is a

[1:28:41] reflection of the old way of doing

[1:28:44] things in a time that that

[1:28:48] >> is it's moving faster than we think.

[1:28:52] Mhm.

[1:28:53] >> Before we know it, you know, suddenly

[1:28:55] everyone has an iPad suddenly. So, so I

[1:28:58] don't know that it's we can work with

[1:29:01] five. I would love to have more. I don't

[1:29:03] know that this is the time to ask for

[1:29:05] more.

[1:29:05] >> Mhm.

[1:29:06] >> Um and and it's absolutely something

[1:29:08] that that we're looking to do. I mean,

[1:29:11] in an ideal world,

[1:29:12] >> we would have

[1:29:14] so junior network admin, additional

[1:29:16] media tech have always been part of our

[1:29:18] admin recommended budget. In previous

[1:29:20] years, they've been level two

[1:29:21] priorities. So that this is not a new

[1:29:23] thing. I would expect and foreshadow

[1:29:26] that you will see some sort of tech ask

[1:29:28] in presentations that you'll see at the

[1:29:31] next meeting as well as on our running

[1:29:33] list of priorities.

[1:29:34] >> Well, that's why I just not seeing it

[1:29:36] here kind of caught me off guard.

[1:29:38] >> It's also the reason why we move towards

[1:29:39] managed services too to act as sort of a junior network administrator. Mike

[1:29:43] works handinhand with the content

[1:29:45] supervisors in our teaching and learning

[1:29:47] meeting and we have discussed this at

[1:29:48] length and we are aware of the fact that

[1:29:50] we need digital literacy teachers

[1:29:52] educators probably in each building to

[1:29:55] help students today start to navigate

[1:29:57] some of these challenges that we're

[1:29:59] talking about. They fall a little bit

[1:30:00] outside the scope of what he does, but

[1:30:02] they fit a little bit better into the

[1:30:04] scope of asking.

[1:30:05] >> Well, and I know I bring this up a

[1:30:07] million times and it again falls between

[1:30:09] the two, but like the kids aren't

[1:30:10] learning how to type

[1:30:12] >> and that drives me insane

[1:30:15] >> cuz I the only of my four who knows how

[1:30:17] to type I had to teach.

[1:30:18] >> You're not wrong.

[1:30:19] >> So that's a problem. like you know so

[1:30:23] how we and again this is split but I

[1:30:27] don't know this just is kind of I'm

[1:30:29] hoping to see more numbers for people

[1:30:32] because I think a lot of what's come out

[1:30:34] of

[1:30:36] >> be really happy next week

[1:30:37] >> okay that's the need of the community

[1:30:40] >> slightly horrified

[1:30:41] >> and the need

[1:30:42] >> perfect that'd be hard to do at this

[1:30:44] point and the need of what you know with

[1:30:47] the the struggles that we have the fact

[1:30:51] that I think a lot of it falls in places

[1:30:55] that shouldn't always have to fall in

[1:30:57] those places and that's where

[1:30:59] >> I think this number and it whether you

[1:31:03] know moving internally to like there's

[1:31:07] holes that aren't I'm not okay with I

[1:31:09] guess

[1:31:10] >> and keeping in mind that managed

[1:31:11] services is in a way the equivalent of

[1:31:13] having a person on staff. So, you know,

[1:31:16] a junior network admin is the pretty

[1:31:19] similar to the 60,000 that we would pay

[1:31:21] for purchased services.

[1:31:23] >> So, there's other ways around it. Again,

[1:31:24] as to the point that Mike was making a

[1:31:26] minute ago, our student help desk,

[1:31:28] >> it's not a one for one for another media

[1:31:30] tech, but it's a fraction of the work

[1:31:32] that that person would be doing. So,

[1:31:33] there there's there's some places where

[1:31:35] it's not as big of a hole as it might

[1:31:36] look like from this.

[1:31:37] >> Yeah. Well, just like knowing that, you

[1:31:38] know, like again, we're filling from one

[1:31:40] side to another, but it's again there's

[1:31:42] now a gap that some of our students

[1:31:44] possibly aren't having.

[1:31:45] >> Yeah. And so the reason why we move

[1:31:47] forward with filling the librarian

[1:31:49] position at the high school is because

[1:31:50] it's student facing, right? So being

[1:31:52] able to have students access the library

[1:31:55] as opposed to being able to provide the

[1:31:57] instructional coaching support to

[1:31:59] teachers in the in the realm of in

[1:32:01] instructional technology was a a choice

[1:32:03] that we made. both positions are

[1:32:05] budgeted and as Mike alluded to, um

[1:32:07] Naomi is the exact person for the

[1:32:09] Pemrook High School librarian position.

[1:32:12] Um that is great things are going to

[1:32:15] come out of of that that pairing. So

[1:32:19] we try to be as least disruptive as

[1:32:22] possible when we're making moves during

[1:32:24] the school year.

[1:32:26] >> All right. Uh so

[1:32:28] >> yes. So, first of all, I mean, you're

[1:32:30] doing a great job with very little, like

[1:32:33] cuz you really I mean, this stuff is

[1:32:35] really needed and you're somehow

[1:32:36] managing to juggle it all and still make

[1:32:39] it work. And I do have to say the one

[1:32:41] thing that I really love about the way

[1:32:44] Aaron prioritizes things is it's so

[1:32:47] student centered. It's always about how

[1:32:50] we can best serve the kids and get the

[1:32:52] kids as much as possible. And that's one

[1:32:54] of our strengths. But at the same time,

[1:32:57] I do see Allison's point and I feel like

[1:33:00] um at some point we really need to start

[1:33:03] focusing

[1:33:05] more on, you know, getting our tech up

[1:33:08] to par with other districts. You know,

[1:33:10] not that it's not cuz he's still he's

[1:33:12] doing a lot with very little. Um but I

[1:33:15] would like to see us make some sort of

[1:33:17] an investment toward that goal because

[1:33:20] it is like it is the infrastructure now.

[1:33:23] This is this is what we do, right? like

[1:33:25] everybody everything is tech now

[1:33:27] everything is online everything I you

[1:33:29] know we can't survive unless we foc like

[1:33:33] you know we have to work on on um making

[1:33:36] sure it's staff so uh but with that said

[1:33:39] I do have a couple questions I just I

[1:33:41] wanted to know um you know you you

[1:33:44] everything's going toward the cloud

[1:33:46] which I think is obviously needed so you

[1:33:48] have a backup system so if for some

[1:33:51] reason the cloud is attacked in any way

[1:33:54] whatsoever. The backup system do you do

[1:33:56] like that daily? Is that like a daily

[1:33:58] backup?

[1:33:59] >> So the cloud works sort of differently.

[1:34:01] Um the cloud is the method by which we

[1:34:05] won't need the backups which is neat. So

[1:34:07] it it would be like if somebody attacked

[1:34:10] Google

[1:34:12] >> their infrastructure is so much more

[1:34:14] robust and and honestly the threat

[1:34:16] actors are they're they're great at what

[1:34:18] they do and they have advanced

[1:34:19] equipment. So getting into an

[1:34:21] infrastructure like that is safer for us

[1:34:23] so that we won't need those backup

[1:34:24] systems.

[1:34:26] >> But our backups update

[1:34:28] >> regularly. They do.

[1:34:29] >> They do. Yeah. Yeah. Daily.

[1:34:31] >> Um

[1:34:32] >> I know. I I I understand that and the

[1:34:34] concept. But then there's this piece of

[1:34:36] me that's like well whoever owns the

[1:34:39] cloud owns us. Do you know what I mean?

[1:34:42] So like it makes me nervous to think

[1:34:44] about it.

[1:34:44] >> You're a conspiracy theorist. This is

[1:34:46] why

[1:34:47] >> this is why having really solid um data

[1:34:51] >> privacy is is critical,

[1:34:54] >> right?

[1:34:54] >> Because of that very reason. You're

[1:34:56] right.

[1:34:57] >> Sure. So I I feel like comfortable as

[1:34:59] long as we're we're still backing it up

[1:35:01] because I don't really know that the

[1:35:02] cloud.

[1:35:02] >> No, that's a critical part of our

[1:35:04] infrastructure, the backups. Yes. Um,

[1:35:06] and then, um,

[1:35:09] oh, I wanted to mention also the, um,

[1:35:12] the having the my school bucks piece.

[1:35:16] >> I actually got to use it because TA

[1:35:18] owed, it wasn't for tech though. It was

[1:35:19] for for a club fee. It was like $25. But

[1:35:22] I was like, "Oh, we can finally pay

[1:35:24] with,

[1:35:24] >> you know, my school bucks. I think

[1:35:26] that's like a really value ad." Because

[1:35:28] I'm like, "Oh, I got to remember to

[1:35:29] write our check." I was thinking in the

[1:35:30] back of my head, she needs a check. This

[1:35:32] is so much easier. Good. I'd rather pay.

[1:35:34] >> That was the idea is to to modernize it,

[1:35:36] but also make it a living take.

[1:35:38] >> I think you'll have more people paying

[1:35:40] their fee if they know they can just go

[1:35:42] online and do it rather than have to

[1:35:44] bring it to the school or remember.

[1:35:45] >> I feel like people are accustomed to

[1:35:46] paying online.

[1:35:47] >> Yes.

[1:35:48] >> When we first started it was scary.

[1:35:49] >> Yeah.

[1:35:50] Absolutely. But I do want to

[1:35:53] reiterate that I'm I am with Allison on

[1:35:55] this. I do really feel like, you know,

[1:35:58] it it's really difficult because every

[1:35:59] year we add more emotional supports for

[1:36:02] the kids, which I'm not saying we don't

[1:36:03] need because we do, but I feel like this

[1:36:07] is just as important,

[1:36:08] >> right? I feel like the tech department

[1:36:09] is emotional support for our staff.

[1:36:12] >> I feel like Mike probably feels that

[1:36:13] way, too.

[1:36:14] >> Yeah.

[1:36:15] >> So, I just wanted to throw that out

[1:36:16] there. But, thank you so much for

[1:36:17] everything.

[1:36:18] >> I think it speaks to the nature of how

[1:36:19] it's all changed, too. You know, the

[1:36:21] future's faster than we all think. and I I I I'm complete alignment with

[1:36:27] you. Um I think we do need more.

[1:36:30] >> I think once, you know, Assistant

[1:36:32] Superintendent Rust presents, you know,

[1:36:34] we'll have sort of a a more clear path.

[1:36:37] This couldn't be better news for me

[1:36:38] actually hearing these questions come

[1:36:40] up.

[1:36:40] >> Don't get your hopes up.

[1:36:41] >> So I I I will try. Um but also, thank

[1:36:45] you.

[1:36:45] >> Got a couple rounds to make it through

[1:36:47] still.

[1:36:47] >> Great.

[1:36:49] >> Katrina,

[1:36:50] >> no questions. Thank you.

[1:36:51] >> Thank you. I just had one other

[1:36:52] question. Sorry. Um in I know you

[1:36:55] mentioned so similar to what Allison and

[1:36:57] Sue had said around um getting

[1:36:59] instructional positions. Um are there

[1:37:02] districts around us that are doing it

[1:37:03] right or like would be really good

[1:37:05] examples to look at with AI instruction

[1:37:08] or you know security for students

[1:37:11] understanding a digital world?

[1:37:13] >> Another great question. Um, yes. And

[1:37:17] with all respect in the world, there

[1:37:19] were some others that I know I'd like to

[1:37:21] sort of steer clear from as well that maybe

[1:37:27] » developing policy for something that

[1:37:28] moves so quickly like AI is tricky.

[1:37:31] >> Yeah.

[1:37:31] >> Because by the time it's written and

[1:37:34] implemented, it's already on its fifth

[1:37:36] iteration.

[1:37:37] >> It's more like a living document.

[1:37:38] >> It's it's like a living document.

[1:37:39] Precisely. Um, so Burlington is a great

[1:37:43] example to look at. Um,

[1:37:46] there are a number of them. Um, MASHP

[1:37:49] has a really robust program. That's

[1:37:50] another great one to check.

[1:37:53] >> Are you going to list off the ones you

[1:37:54] don't want to look at or

[1:37:55] >> Sure.

[1:37:57] >> Well, I think that everyone was a little

[1:37:59] shell shocked, right? Like we

[1:38:01] >> there's an adoption policy for

[1:38:03] technology where we we vet vendors and we trial and pilot and all of that

[1:38:08] stuff. And one day we came into work and

[1:38:11] suddenly there was an AI agent and all

[1:38:12] the things that we were using already.

[1:38:14] There was no vetting process. It just

[1:38:16] arrived,

[1:38:16] >> right? We had that singularity moment in in 2022 when it all sort of started

[1:38:21] and it's just moved faster than anyone

[1:38:24] can keep up with. So, it's two-sided.

[1:38:27] It's a great tool to use. Um, but it

[1:38:30] needs it needs careful consideration and

[1:38:34] a close look at at the ways that we can

[1:38:37] teach our kids to use it responsibly.

[1:38:40] >> Kids didn't start cheating when AI was

[1:38:42] invented,

[1:38:43] >> right?

[1:38:43] >> Um, but that's the easiest lowest

[1:38:46] hanging fruit that we can look at as

[1:38:48] soon as it arrives,

[1:38:49] >> right?

[1:38:49] >> So, let's teach them to collaborate with

[1:38:51] it in

[1:38:53] >> 100%. That's awesome. Yeah. I'm just

[1:38:55] thinking like um in planning out

[1:38:57] whatever those instructional needs are

[1:38:58] if there's ways that I'm sure you guys

[1:39:00] will do like visits or talk with those

[1:39:02] districts, things like that. But I think

[1:39:04] that would be helpful just to see

[1:39:06] >> we're we're very well connected.

[1:39:08] >> You might already be doing some

[1:39:10] I meet monthly with tech directors from

[1:39:13] around the state and and we talk about

[1:39:15] their programs and all of that. Yeah. So

[1:39:18] >> yeah, there's fantastic

[1:39:20] >> there's a vision.

[1:39:20] >> Cool. Thank you.

[1:39:24] question from the audience. Is that

[1:39:25] okay?

[1:39:26] >> Sure.

[1:39:26] >> You don't mind? The name

[1:39:28] >> lean flashman school street. Um I'm a

[1:39:30] network professional so I just have a

[1:39:32] question that might help also them

[1:39:33] understand a little bit. Um for your

[1:39:35] managed services is it just

[1:39:36] infrastructure maintenance or are you is

[1:39:38] it a collaborative team? So when you're

[1:39:39] having an issue you have access to all

[1:39:41] sorts of people. It's a little bit of

[1:39:43] both actually. That's normal.

[1:39:44] >> Yeah. So when that on on premises when

[1:39:47] the on when the people do have to come

[1:39:48] on site we have a lot in time that where

[1:39:51] they do that but it's it's sort of an on

[1:39:53] demand sort of thing where like I

[1:39:55] mentioned if we notice that the Wi-Fi is

[1:39:57] slow or down in one particular room they

[1:39:59] can go in and get it up and running for

[1:40:00] us. So they can do a lot more while it

[1:40:02] doesn't it's not a replacement for

[1:40:03] people

[1:40:04] >> if he needs something he can reach out

[1:40:05] to people for support or different ideas

[1:40:07] or solutions to complex issues. So

[1:40:10] that's something that you may not

[1:40:11] realize why he's able to do so much. Um,

[1:40:13] and I had a small question about the

[1:40:15] VMware server. Sure. Um, is it just

[1:40:17] replacing one of the VMware servers and

[1:40:18] not the sand or anything else or

[1:40:20] >> just the one? That's what I figured.

[1:40:21] Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you.

[1:40:24] >> Thank you. We'll let you off the hot

[1:40:26] seat. Thank you so much.

[1:40:28] >> What else? Well, there you go. You

[1:40:31] earned it.

[1:40:32] >> Thanks for your time.

[1:40:33] >> Thank you very much.

[1:40:34] >> Thank you for the presentation.

[1:40:35] >> Absolutely.

[1:40:37] >> All right. Well, as we can see, there's

[1:40:39] nobody over there with the name tag that

[1:40:40] says director of facilities. So, I am

[1:40:43] going to get the maintenance department

[1:40:45] putting on your third hat.

[1:40:47] >> Um, we'll see how it goes.

[1:40:52] » So, similar to how maintenance has been

[1:40:55] prevented uh presented in the past, it's

[1:40:57] not a flashy department, right? It's not

[1:40:59] um a lot of accolades for our current

[1:41:03] facilities department, but um we have

[1:41:05] made some improvements in the past year.

[1:41:07] Um, the high school has been on a summer

[1:41:10] painting project schedule for the past

[1:41:11] several years where uh designated areas

[1:41:14] of the building are identified for

[1:41:15] painting, which painting is one of those

[1:41:17] tasks that we just never seem to get to.

[1:41:19] Um, so Mark and the maintenance staff at

[1:41:21] the high school has made great progress

[1:41:23] um by sticking to a schedule each

[1:41:25] summer. We have been um doing ongoing

[1:41:28] roof repairs. So our roofs were replaced

[1:41:30] at four of our five schools um every

[1:41:32] school except Brianville um between 2011

[1:41:35] and 2012. Um so they are relatively new

[1:41:38] in the scheme of roofs but they do still

[1:41:41] um occasionally need repairs. So we are

[1:41:42] chasing a lot of roof repairs across our

[1:41:44] buildings. Um again I think at the high

[1:41:47] school in particular the roof repair

[1:41:49] center around that atrium. It is I think

[1:41:51] in 1980 was probably a beautiful design.

[1:41:54] Um there's so many different high school

[1:41:57] construction models now but I'm sure

[1:41:59] back then that was the model school. um

[1:42:00] that is the area that causes us the most

[1:42:02] trouble when it comes to roof um leaks

[1:42:05] and repairs at Peenrook High School, but

[1:42:06] we are actively working on them. Um when

[1:42:09] the elementary and secondary principles

[1:42:11] were here the other day, they did

[1:42:12] highlight some of these projects as

[1:42:14] well. So, you heard about the uh

[1:42:15] additional water filtrations here at

[1:42:17] North. Um North is in a three-phase

[1:42:19] lighting project. Um you've seen our

[1:42:21] lovely um visitors have been walking

[1:42:23] around to help the lights stay on. Um

[1:42:25] so, that is a project that is ongoing

[1:42:27] here at North. All of the classroom and

[1:42:29] the shared spaces are done. The hallways

[1:42:31] are the third phase that is left. Um

[1:42:33] Habamok has a new playground. Um thanks

[1:42:35] to the uh suggestion of Allison and

[1:42:38] exploring that with the community um

[1:42:40] preservation funds, we were able to get

[1:42:42] a new playground at Hobok. We also

[1:42:44] replaced the bulk of the carpeting at

[1:42:46] Hobok this past summer. There's only um

[1:42:48] two areas at Hobok left with carpeting.

[1:42:50] It's the main office and the ensemble

[1:42:52] room. As you can imagine, the ensemble

[1:42:54] room requires a flooring material other

[1:42:57] than lenolum. So, carpet makes sense in

[1:43:00] there. Um, but we'll look to replace

[1:43:01] that carpet this summer. And Habamok

[1:43:03] also received a new PA system over the

[1:43:06] course of August. Um, at the middle

[1:43:08] school, we have done some significant

[1:43:10] HVAC repairs. They also got a new PA

[1:43:13] system, and we continue to look at roof

[1:43:15] repairs. Um, finally, Brian Phil got a

[1:43:17] new gym roof. Um, I think David is

[1:43:20] probably the person that emails me the

[1:43:22] most to say there's shingles in the

[1:43:23] parking lot at Bryantville after a

[1:43:25] windstorm. So, I'm happy to say that the

[1:43:27] Bryant Blue roof has been replaced. Um,

[1:43:30] there was some additional plumbing

[1:43:31] upgrades that happened at Bryantville

[1:43:32] and we continue to work on HVAC repairs

[1:43:35] there as well. Um,

[1:43:38] the maintenance budget on paper looks

[1:43:40] huge. So, let's talk a little bit about

[1:43:42] it. We have 18 custodial personnel. So

[1:43:44] there is um one dayshift custodian in

[1:43:47] each of our buildings. Our elementary

[1:43:49] schools and our middle school have two

[1:43:50] evening custodians. Our high school has

[1:43:52] three evening custodians. We have um an

[1:43:55] athletic custodian that Brian talked a

[1:43:57] little bit about. We have a position for

[1:43:59] a wastewater treatment operator. That

[1:44:01] position is a 6 wastewater treatment

[1:44:03] operator and a point4 custodian. We have

[1:44:06] not found anybody to be the wastewater

[1:44:08] treatment um operator. So, though that

[1:44:09] position is budgeted, it is unfilled

[1:44:11] right now. And those services are being

[1:44:13] provided by Weston and Samson. And we

[1:44:15] just most recently um had a retirement

[1:44:17] in our department in Diane Elliot, who

[1:44:20] everybody knows and loves. Our part-time

[1:44:22] custodian, part-time bus driver did

[1:44:23] retire um at the end of February

[1:44:25] vacation. So, that position is currently

[1:44:26] posted. Um the bulk of the money in

[1:44:30] maintenance, it goes to contracted

[1:44:31] services. So, those are our um

[1:44:33] agreements with vendors for plumbing,

[1:44:35] HVIC, electrical. Um we uh participate

[1:44:39] in an annual collaborative buy with

[1:44:41] other Southshore towns that allows us to

[1:44:43] get paper towels, toilet paper um at a

[1:44:45] much reduced rate um based off of the

[1:44:48] volume that's being purchased by that

[1:44:50] consortium. Um we do try to cover our

[1:44:53] custodial absences with substitutes when

[1:44:56] we can. Um so we do spend about $50,000

[1:44:59] a year on substitute coverage and then

[1:45:01] another big portion of the budget is

[1:45:02] utility services. So that includes heat,

[1:45:04] electric, phone, water, all all the same

[1:45:07] ones that you have at your home.

[1:45:12] A breakout of um that contracted

[1:45:14] services line. Just kind of a snapshot

[1:45:15] of where we are today. There's currently

[1:45:17] $61,000 available in that budget line.

[1:45:20] Um that is

[1:45:23] probably not enough money to get us to

[1:45:25] the end of the year. So as we get to the

[1:45:27] latter part of May and early part of

[1:45:28] June, we start talking about, okay,

[1:45:29] what's an emergency that needs to be

[1:45:31] fixed and what can we wait for July 1.

[1:45:33] um to address. So, we do keep an eye on

[1:45:34] that number. Um the miscellaneous pieces

[1:45:36] are um reimbursements for some of the staff if we're asking them to travel

[1:45:43] between buildings or um some

[1:45:45] professional development stuff for those

[1:45:46] staff. It's it's not a big number.

[1:45:48] Preventative maintenance, that's like

[1:45:50] the belts and um whatnot for our rooftop

[1:45:53] units. We do a whole lot of repairs. And

[1:45:56] so when you're talking about five school

[1:45:58] buildings that um were renovated or

[1:46:00] remodeled in 1999 or 2000, every single

[1:46:03] thing in this district is about the same

[1:46:06] age. Every toilet is 26 years old. Every

[1:46:09] faucet and fixture is 26 years old. So

[1:46:12] we do a whole lot of repairs. Um and

[1:46:16] that makes sense, right? That's that's

[1:46:18] where the bulk of our money would be

[1:46:19] spent. Um you know, it's not anything

[1:46:22] that's outrageous. I would say the

[1:46:24] biggest driver in that repair number

[1:46:25] right now is HVAC and plumbing. Um, in

[1:46:28] the past 18 months or so, we've seen

[1:46:30] significant plumbing concerns in all of

[1:46:31] our buildings, but the plumber that that

[1:46:34] we contract with, Holdley, told us as

[1:46:36] soon as it starts, it's going to keep

[1:46:38] going, right? Um, so they have been

[1:46:40] great. They're super responsive and they

[1:46:41] come out all of the time that we call,

[1:46:43] but it's it's a larger issue. some of

[1:46:45] the way that the pipes are um

[1:46:47] constructed from you know most of the

[1:46:49] buildings were existing to remain the

[1:46:50] pipes are from 1976 in some places um

[1:46:54] and you know plumbing technology has

[1:46:56] come a long way as well um so you know

[1:46:57] switching out some of the the

[1:46:59] connections and whatnot is really where

[1:47:01] we find the bulk of our funding going

[1:47:04] service agreements so we have a um

[1:47:05] agreements for some of our equipment

[1:47:07] whether it's our lawnmowers we have um

[1:47:11] Mike talked a little bit about the HVAC

[1:47:13] and how that's um run through the cloud

[1:47:15] Now, so we have a service agreement with

[1:47:16] Automated Logix. They run all of our

[1:47:17] rooftop units through the buildings. Um

[1:47:20] we do have a a a bit of um supply money

[1:47:23] that happens through May's contract

[1:47:24] services. That's, you know, going to

[1:47:26] Rockies to get whatever we need over the

[1:47:28] course um of the school day or school

[1:47:30] year. Um and as I said before,

[1:47:32] wastewater treatment is a a position

[1:47:34] that is budgeted in our budget, but

[1:47:36] right now we are using a um contracted

[1:47:39] services model for that.

[1:47:40] >> And how much does that cost to cut that?

[1:47:42] >> That is it. It's 66,000. So, so what we

[1:47:45] would be paying a person, we're paying a

[1:47:46] service.

[1:47:47] >> Correct.

[1:47:52] » Okay. Like every department, we have

[1:47:53] goals too in the maintenance department.

[1:47:55] Um, so we have some projects that are on

[1:47:59] the capital warrant for the spring. Um,

[1:48:01] we have been really taking a a look at

[1:48:03] HVAC across the district, focusing a lot

[1:48:05] of our energy at the elementary level.

[1:48:07] So, we have um a request on there for

[1:48:09] the funding associated with three new um

[1:48:11] HVAC units at the elementary level. Um

[1:48:14] we also have phase two of the flooring

[1:48:16] project on the capital warrant. So, we

[1:48:18] would be looking to complete the project

[1:48:20] at Habamok and take a look at some of

[1:48:21] the spaces um in the other buildings

[1:48:23] that have um carpet that is 26 to 30

[1:48:27] years old. Um continuing our roof

[1:48:30] repairs. Um each year Mark identifies

[1:48:32] that rear courtyard of Pemrick High

[1:48:34] School as an area that could use some

[1:48:35] love and attention if you've entered or

[1:48:37] exit the building from that side. You

[1:48:38] can see um there's a lot of um

[1:48:40] disintegrating bricks and a lot of

[1:48:42] masonary work that needs to happen back

[1:48:44] there. Um the Bryant build rooftop unit

[1:48:47] in the library needs to be replaced. So

[1:48:49] again, using some of the capital funds

[1:48:50] for that. Um Jen Simmons when she was

[1:48:52] here the other day also mentioned the

[1:48:54] desire to have um at least one more

[1:48:56] water filtration system. maybe not the

[1:48:58] eight that they have here at North

[1:48:59] Denver, but at least one more. Um, a lot

[1:49:01] of brick work needs to happen at the

[1:49:03] middle school. Again, um, you know, the brick repointing is something that's

[1:49:07] on our capital plan, but is not

[1:49:09] something that gets funded

[1:49:09] year-over-year. So, really targeting

[1:49:11] some funds towards that. Continued HVAC

[1:49:14] repairs is really a common theme across

[1:49:16] the mall. And as I mentioned, North

[1:49:18] would be entering its third phase of its

[1:49:20] lighting project.

[1:49:21] >> Can I ask a question? How did North end

[1:49:23] up with eight and the other online

[1:49:25] preschools? Not

[1:49:26] >> a grant. So they he used the swag grant

[1:49:28] for that.

[1:49:29] >> But it was only for one school. They

[1:49:31] couldn't be split.

[1:49:32] >> So the north PTO and Mr. Murphy wrote

[1:49:35] the grant together. So the um grant

[1:49:37] covered a portion of it and then the PTO

[1:49:39] covered a piece of the plumbing

[1:49:40] associated with it. Each of the schools

[1:49:42] can apply. Um North was the only one

[1:49:44] that applied last year. Jen and the

[1:49:45] Brianville P2 are applying this year as

[1:49:47] well.

[1:49:47] >> Did they So it was known that this was

[1:49:50] an option that the schools could have

[1:49:51] done at the same time. So I think Mike

[1:49:53] was a little bit further along in the

[1:49:55] process and shared how it was going with

[1:49:57] the other two buildings and then they

[1:49:59] would get it to the next cycle.

[1:50:01] >> So there still a grant that's a

[1:50:03] possibility of school.

[1:50:04] >> Yes.

[1:50:07] » Um quick question. um and not making any

[1:50:11] assumptions or anything like that for

[1:50:13] the future and what happens with um

[1:50:15] Southshore VOTE and all that, but are

[1:50:17] there any of these projects that could

[1:50:19] eventually like if we were if that does

[1:50:22] end up happening? Would any of these

[1:50:24] projects be something that we could

[1:50:26] utilize students to help with a project

[1:50:28] on?

[1:50:28] >> Sure. I mean, Southshore Tech has a

[1:50:30] metal fabrication shop. Um they don't

[1:50:33] have a masonary shop. They do have a

[1:50:35] landscape shop. So there's definitely

[1:50:36] some some pieces where we could

[1:50:38] capitalize on that, but you can also

[1:50:40] engage with Southshore Tech as not a

[1:50:42] member town.

[1:50:44] >> Um so happy to to explore that as well.

[1:50:47] I know Brian um was talking with Bristol

[1:50:49] Plymouth um about softball dugos, right?

[1:50:52] So there's we're we're we're kind of

[1:50:54] marketing ourselves out there. Um one of

[1:50:57] the other large capital projects for the

[1:50:59] schools is the parking lots. Um we get a

[1:51:02] lot of feedback about the potholes and

[1:51:03] the sinking drains. Um, it is at all

[1:51:06] five of our buildings an area that needs

[1:51:08] further explanation. And I will be

[1:51:09] transparent and say parking lots has

[1:51:11] been on the maintenance department goals

[1:51:12] now for six years. Um, we have not made

[1:51:15] much progress in that other than

[1:51:17] plugging the holes or relin parking

[1:51:19] lots. We have not made any huge capital

[1:51:22] improvements to digging them up and and

[1:51:23] re

[1:51:24] >> and we're separate from the town. Like

[1:51:25] we can't be added to their

[1:51:26] >> No, we're not part of their pavement

[1:51:28] management plan.

[1:51:29] >> Could we be?

[1:51:30] >> No. Okay. And we don't the chapter

[1:51:33] whatever funds

[1:51:35] >> cannot be used for

[1:51:36] >> Okay.

[1:51:39] » I mean we'd like to get some days in the

[1:51:41] facility department too. So um

[1:51:44] heck why not start with a full-time

[1:51:46] director of operations an operations

[1:51:48] manager. Let's go for that. Um we've

[1:51:51] obviously had conversations in the past

[1:51:52] about is there some capacity to share a

[1:51:55] facilities director with the town.

[1:51:57] Obviously still open to those

[1:51:58] conversations. I'm not sure that our

[1:52:00] timelines will ever sync up like that.

[1:52:02] Um, but I do think given this the the

[1:52:04] age of all all five of our buildings, we

[1:52:06] do need to start moving in the direction

[1:52:08] where some a portion of somebody's

[1:52:10] full-time job is maintenance. Um, and in

[1:52:13] really planning out the projects. I do

[1:52:16] not want to be in the position where

[1:52:17] we're asking for five school buildings

[1:52:18] over the course of three years. We have

[1:52:20] to be thoughtful about how we're looking

[1:52:21] whether we're looking for new buildings

[1:52:23] or to remodel um or renovate what we

[1:52:25] have, but really, you know, giving lead

[1:52:27] time to the community. I'm far ahead of

[1:52:29] that.

[1:52:30] >> Um I think we will look to increase

[1:52:33] contracted services. The repairs are

[1:52:35] getting more costly to the point that

[1:52:37] has been made previously about the cost

[1:52:39] of materials has increased. The cost of

[1:52:41] labor has increased. Um so we are seeing

[1:52:43] some of that. Um and we did used to have

[1:52:46] one additional custodian in the

[1:52:48] district. It was cut in 2013. Um you

[1:52:51] know we may want to look at adding that

[1:52:52] position back in to flow between the

[1:52:54] buildings. We do have um a solid amount

[1:52:57] of custodial absence across the

[1:52:59] district. If we had a body that could

[1:53:00] kind of fill in when we can't find a

[1:53:02] sub, that would be great. And also

[1:53:03] somebody that could focus some of their

[1:53:05] energy on the outside maintenance.

[1:53:06] That's our custodians do get to that,

[1:53:08] but it is really at the bottom of the

[1:53:09] list when we're talking about getting

[1:53:10] the buildings ready um for occupancy the

[1:53:13] next day.

[1:53:15] >> Um between those requests, is there one

[1:53:18] that's more like most important to you?

[1:53:21] Um, I I think the director of operations

[1:53:24] is something that you'll hear again as

[1:53:26] we continue to go through the position.

[1:53:28] I think adding other pieces to the

[1:53:31] department don't make sense until you

[1:53:32] have somebody that's really

[1:53:33] >> directing it. Yeah. And one other quick

[1:53:36] question with the um our strategic plan

[1:53:39] is kind looking at and obviously we

[1:53:42] don't have a copy yet but um looking at

[1:53:46] um kind of the timeline for facilities

[1:53:49] and um all of that part going so as I

[1:53:53] said in the budget subcommittee meeting

[1:53:55] that we had earlier today I just want to

[1:53:57] temper your expectations when it comes

[1:53:58] to what the strategic plan looks like in

[1:54:00] its current form. So it's really big

[1:54:02] rocks, right? It's really the ideas.

[1:54:03] It's the action steps that really

[1:54:05] dictate the work that we're going to

[1:54:06] undertake for the next 5 years. So if

[1:54:09] something says to evaluate

[1:54:12] um scheduling of buildings, to me, one

[1:54:15] of those action steps is looking at

[1:54:17] grades span schools, looking at closing

[1:54:18] a school, looking at all of that. So I I

[1:54:21] think really how much we get out of the

[1:54:23] strategic plan is really a function of

[1:54:24] you know how

[1:54:26] >> how much administration is is looking to

[1:54:27] take on and how much accountability

[1:54:29] you're looking for us to have as working

[1:54:31] towards those milestones. So when you

[1:54:33] get the strategic plan it is not going

[1:54:34] to say um move to gradespan schools by

[1:54:38] 2031. It doesn't say that. Um, but it

[1:54:41] does there's several places where it

[1:54:43] says to evaluate some of the makeups and

[1:54:45] the components that we would need to

[1:54:46] have a better handle on in order to make

[1:54:48] that recommendation. That makes more

[1:54:50] sense. Thank you.

[1:54:55] » Any questions?

[1:54:56] >> Fewer maintenance questions.

[1:54:58] >> So exciting.

[1:55:00] >> All the questions were answered.

[1:55:02] >> Yeah.

[1:55:02] >> All right, let's jump in. Uh,

[1:55:05] consideration first read the

[1:55:07] superintendent. I'm sorry.

[1:55:08] >> We're still going, David. Here we go. So

[1:55:09] in your packet you have for first read

[1:55:11] the 26 27 school year calendar. Um

[1:55:15] couple of things that are different

[1:55:16] moving into next year than our of from

[1:55:19] this current year and for previous

[1:55:20] years. So with the newly ratified

[1:55:23] collective bargaining agreement, we are

[1:55:25] doing open houses. Um so that's really a

[1:55:28] meet and greet at the schools with

[1:55:29] students and staff um the day before

[1:55:32] school starts. So those are on your

[1:55:34] schedule um for 91. Um it's the

[1:55:37] afternoon, the day before school where

[1:55:39] kids can come in with their parents or

[1:55:40] caregivers, see the classroom, meet the

[1:55:42] teacher so that the first day is a

[1:55:43] little bit less scary. Um but there is

[1:55:45] still a tremendous value to what we used

[1:55:47] to call an open house, which we're now

[1:55:49] calling a curriculum night where parents

[1:55:50] and caregivers can come in, meet with

[1:55:53] students, um teachers, and find out what

[1:55:55] the curricular expectations are for the

[1:55:56] course. Right? That's still something

[1:55:57] that needs to happen. So those dates are

[1:56:00] listed on the calendar as well.

[1:56:02] Um we played a little bit with um

[1:56:05] conferences. Um so previously we had two

[1:56:09] iterations of conferences in the fall

[1:56:11] and early winter. One um that last week

[1:56:14] of October and one that first week of

[1:56:15] December. The feedback that we got um

[1:56:18] from staff at the elementary level is

[1:56:20] with having conference those two

[1:56:22] conference options so far apart, they

[1:56:24] were seeing that many elementary

[1:56:26] families were registering for an October

[1:56:28] conference and a December conference.

[1:56:30] that was not the intent. Um so we have

[1:56:33] gone down to one conference um for each

[1:56:36] of those those grade levels. So October

[1:56:39] 28th would be conferences for 7 through

[1:56:40] 12. That lines up with when term one

[1:56:42] ends and then um o December 2nd would be

[1:56:47] conferences for K through 6. That lines

[1:56:49] up with when the the term ends um the

[1:56:52] term one ends at the elementary level.

[1:56:54] You'll remember in previous years we've

[1:56:56] had a November professional development

[1:56:58] day um that synced up with election day

[1:57:01] um and we were using half of that day

[1:57:03] for day conferences for folks. We do not

[1:57:05] have that in this calendar. Um you know

[1:57:08] having a a professional development b

[1:57:10] day day that early on in the year wasn't

[1:57:12] super productive for us. now that all of

[1:57:15] the voting takes place outside of our

[1:57:16] schools, we'd rather have it as a

[1:57:18] student day and save that professional

[1:57:20] development day, that third day for a

[1:57:23] date later in the year. Um, it also

[1:57:25] gives us some flexibility with the

[1:57:27] current situation that we're in right

[1:57:29] now. If you have a professional

[1:57:30] development day scheduled for March

[1:57:33] 29th, you can make a decision about

[1:57:36] March 29th in midFebruary if there's a

[1:57:38] need to adjust your calendar or do

[1:57:40] something like that. So our third

[1:57:42] professional development day for staff

[1:57:44] is currently on March 29th. Gives us a

[1:57:47] little flexibility that we don't have um

[1:57:49] this year to the attune of the

[1:57:52] conversation we were having at the

[1:57:53] beginning of the meeting. Um half days

[1:57:55] or early release days have shifted a

[1:57:57] little bit in this version of the

[1:57:58] calendar. Again, as part of our

[1:58:00] collective bargaining agreement, we have

[1:58:01] agreed to have the student day be the

[1:58:03] same length elementary and secondary. um

[1:58:06] before the student day at the middle

[1:58:08] school and high school was significantly

[1:58:09] shorter than it was at the secondary

[1:58:11] level. We shifted this the day across

[1:58:14] the board at all five schools. That's a

[1:58:15] little bit longer at the secondary level

[1:58:17] and a little bit shorter at the

[1:58:18] elementary level. Um the intent on those

[1:58:20] half days is to not serve a full lunch

[1:58:22] in the cafeteria. We do not serve a

[1:58:24] lunch on those days at the secondary

[1:58:26] level. Right now at the elementary

[1:58:27] school, we don't serve snack on half

[1:58:29] days. So we'd go back to more of a

[1:58:31] robust snack model than serving lunch.

[1:58:34] um grab-and-go lunch would still be

[1:58:35] available for students that have um that

[1:58:37] we have concerns about food insecurity

[1:58:39] for, but the day would not be um

[1:58:42] scheduled around a formal 25minute lunch

[1:58:44] period.

[1:58:47] With the late start of school and the

[1:58:49] Junth holiday in June, our tentative

[1:58:53] last day of school is Thursday, June

[1:58:55] 17th. So that means with one weather

[1:58:57] day, we're already into Monday. Um the

[1:59:01] 185th day for next year would be Friday,

[1:59:04] June 25th. Again, with a late start,

[1:59:06] we're significantly later in June um

[1:59:09] than we have been in years past.

[1:59:13] >> This is a first read,

[1:59:14] >> open to any and all feedback.

[1:59:16] >> Can I ask some questions now?

[1:59:17] >> Of course. You can go in whatever order

[1:59:19] you want. Okay.

[1:59:20] >> Oh,

[1:59:21] >> I feel like she was first. She started.

[1:59:24] I just was curious why we're doing the

[1:59:26] later start like the

[1:59:28] >> So we can't start before Labor Day. So

[1:59:31] Labor Day is late this year. Um Labor

[1:59:33] Day is the Monday June uh September 7th.

[1:59:38] >> We can't start. Well, okay.

[1:59:41] >> Teachers can't start any earlier than

[1:59:42] the Monday before Labor Day. So you can

[1:59:44] see we have them coming Monday, August

[1:59:46] 31st and Tuesday, a uh September 1st.

[1:59:49] And then students traditionally the

[1:59:50] Wednesday and Thursday of that week is

[1:59:52] just the late Labor Day that

[1:59:53] >> throws the whole thing off a little bit.

[1:59:55] Got it.

[1:59:56] >> Late Labor Day.

[1:59:57] >> This is the Labor Day.

[1:59:58] >> Yes.

[1:59:59] >> Give it down the thing. Trina, you have

[2:00:00] a question or good?

[2:00:01] >> No, no, I'm good.

[2:00:02] >> Okay, Alison, we'll give you a shot.

[2:00:03] We'll work backwards.

[2:00:04] >> Um, okay. So,

[2:00:07] we all know school days in the beginning

[2:00:10] of the year are more important because

[2:00:12] of, you know, MCCAST and APs and

[2:00:16] whatnot.

[2:00:18] How

[2:00:19] in this? I don't know if Mary Beth or

[2:00:21] who, but are AP tests and MCCAST

[2:00:25] unchanged even though this is like a

[2:00:27] whole week basically later because

[2:00:29] >> I think the MCCAST window will shift. Um

[2:00:31] >> MCAST will be the 24 it'll start the

[2:00:34] 24th of March at the high school.

[2:00:36] >> And what about the AP test? Those

[2:00:38] >> the AP tests are generally the first two

[2:00:40] weeks in May. So they would start um the

[2:00:43] 3rd of May. that's generally it's a

[2:00:45] nationwide

[2:00:46] >> and so that's where like the concern of

[2:00:48] and I get it we can't do differently. Um

[2:00:55] it's this is just a lot there's just a

[2:00:57] lot of time off and having it the

[2:00:59] potential of having to go to school

[2:01:01] until you know almost the end of June.

[2:01:07] So, there's no time off built into this

[2:01:09] calendar other than observances of

[2:01:11] federal holidays in the three

[2:01:12] professional development days that are

[2:01:14] outlined in the collective bargaining

[2:01:15] agreement.

[2:01:16] >> Yes.

[2:01:16] >> Um there's, as you can see, fewer half

[2:01:19] days in next year's calendar than there

[2:01:21] was in previous year year's calendars,

[2:01:23] keeping in mind that a full day of

[2:01:24] instruction in January is more valuable

[2:01:26] to us. Um you'll see that the half day

[2:01:28] or early release day in May moved to a

[2:01:31] Friday. um thought process being that

[2:01:34] the high school is looking to have a

[2:01:36] Friday prom instead of a Saturday

[2:01:37] potentially and we wanted to give them

[2:01:39] some flexibility um there. So, we're

[2:01:41] trying something new with that day, but

[2:01:42] there's I think two less early release

[2:01:44] days in the calendar for next year than

[2:01:46] there is for this year. So,

[2:01:48] >> but having like two days off in March

[2:01:52] and then you don't know I I guess

[2:01:55] >> 26th is Good Friday.

[2:01:57] >> Yeah.

[2:01:57] >> So, we're we're pretty much off that

[2:01:59] day. um or and you know when we look at

[2:02:02] putting that professional development

[2:02:04] day that third one somewhere in the

[2:02:06] calendar we we generally look to back it

[2:02:08] up against another day off so it's

[2:02:09] something that

[2:02:10] >> Massachusetts has always done instead of

[2:02:13] doing like spring break around

[2:02:16] >> March having February

[2:02:18] >> February and April that's just

[2:02:20] >> nobody's trying to change that

[2:02:22] >> no

[2:02:22] >> in New England

[2:02:23] >> it wouldn't make any sense to try to go

[2:02:26] to school six weeks you

[2:02:27] >> did it one year it did not go well for

[2:02:29] April. So that's not

[2:02:30] >> Yeah.

[2:02:31] >> So I'm just looking at like how many you

[2:02:32] know we end up having

[2:02:33] >> I know but getting rid of February and

[2:02:36] getting rid of April and then putting a

[2:02:38] twoe break in March is

[2:02:39] >> the same.

[2:02:40] >> Well, no, but I'm I'm looking at more

[2:02:42] like how many days of school can we get

[2:02:44] before May 3rd basically,

[2:02:46] >> right? So again, putting a spring break

[2:02:47] in March and here in April doesn't give

[2:02:49] you any more days before.

[2:02:51] >> Well, it's it's just there's a there's

[2:02:53] going to be like how many is that? one

[2:02:55] like a lot of weeks of school of

[2:03:00] >> but not for seniors. So

[2:03:02] >> yeah, not just it's just after MCCAST

[2:03:04] and after AP tests and it's just it's just the schedule just does not make sense in New England to

[2:03:11] me. But I

[2:03:11] >> it's not just Pinrook.

[2:03:12] >> I No, I I understand that. It's just

[2:03:14] >> it's really I mean the College Board

[2:03:16] could be more responsive to and have a

[2:03:18] different schedule for more different

[2:03:20] regions. So

[2:03:22] >> yeah. No, I know. And that's where it's the fight to the end of where this

[2:03:27] is what it is. So, um,

[2:03:30] >> are we able to post this online so

[2:03:31] people can see?

[2:03:32] >> We can post it as a draft. Yes.

[2:03:33] >> Yeah. So, people can see what the early

[2:03:34] release times are and whatnot so that

[2:03:37] people can if they have feedback.

[2:03:39] >> Feedback. Um,

[2:03:41] >> part of the problem too is like just the

[2:03:42] start of is when Labor Day is.

[2:03:45] >> It couldn't come at a word like it's the

[2:03:47] latest it could possibly be.

[2:03:49] >> It is the latest it could possibly be.

[2:03:50] So, it's going to be

[2:03:51] >> which is annoying. a potentially long. I

[2:03:53] don't know if it's still a normal amount

[2:03:54] of weeks of summer, but I just think

[2:03:56] it's kind of

[2:03:57] >> I I I

[2:03:58] >> our hands are tied on this. I just don't

[2:04:00] like it and I know that we don't have

[2:04:02] any choice and it's just like having a

[2:04:05] Wednesday off in November. That's

[2:04:08] >> that's what it is.

[2:04:10] >> I will I don't want to beat a dead horse

[2:04:12] with something we can't fix. So,

[2:04:14] >> and is it is it a state thing here

[2:04:17] >> or is it in our contract that they can't

[2:04:19] we can't have school on

[2:04:20] >> contract? I think they're holiday.

[2:04:22] >> Oh, just like the labor law.

[2:04:24] >> The labor law. No, in Virginia. In

[2:04:26] Virginia, they go to school in Veterans

[2:04:28] Day.

[2:04:29] >> So that's the only reason I know my

[2:04:31] daughter. It's my daughter's birthday.

[2:04:32] >> So none of this has anything none of

[2:04:34] that has anything to do with our

[2:04:35] collective bargain. Holidays are not

[2:04:37] spelled out.

[2:04:38] >> No. No. This was when I when I had her,

[2:04:39] I was like, "Oh my gosh, she's never

[2:04:41] going to have to go to school on her

[2:04:42] birthday." And then we she absolutely

[2:04:44] went to school in Fairfax County on

[2:04:45] Veterans Day.

[2:04:46] >> Interesting.

[2:04:48] >> Yeah. It wasn't until

[2:04:49] >> it must be a state. Well, that's what I

[2:04:50] was just wondering.

[2:04:51] >> Is Veterans Day a state holiday?

[2:04:53] >> I don't know.

[2:04:53] >> I'm gonna do some research holiday, but

[2:04:55] maybe the state

[2:04:56] >> dictates how I don't know.

[2:04:58] >> I just know that the kids went to school

[2:05:00] today. She went to school up until we

[2:05:02] moved here on her birthday.

[2:05:03] >> We should also I feel like not you're

[2:05:05] not saying that, but we could also check

[2:05:08] with a veteran service agency. I feel

[2:05:10] like we don't want to

[2:05:12] >> take away the Somebody has a real big

[2:05:15] problem. No, I'm not I'm not suggesting.

[2:05:16] I'm just more wondering.

[2:05:20] >> It is an interesting point. Could it not

[2:05:21] be? I mean, I Veterans Day, I think, is

[2:05:23] the only one that's actually celebrated.

[2:05:24] Whenever November 11th is, there's no

[2:05:26] school. Correct.

[2:05:27] >> It could be a Monday or Friday or

[2:05:28] Thursday.

[2:05:29] >> Always in states like Massachusetts,

[2:05:32] public schools are legally required to

[2:05:33] close legal holiday.

[2:05:37] Yeah.

[2:05:38] >> But it must be statewide. I mean, it

[2:05:40] must I was convinced like when she had

[2:05:43] when I had

[2:05:43] >> I didn't know that. I I thought it was

[2:05:45] nationwide.

[2:05:46] >> Yeah, I Yeah, that's why I was like I

[2:05:48] thought so too until I had a kid that

[2:05:50] had to go to school on Veterans Day. So,

[2:05:51] Yep. Okay. I would like this posted just

[2:05:54] so that people can see that the you know

[2:05:55] because I think people will have to

[2:05:56] adjust for the early release times

[2:06:00] >> um being different.

[2:06:03] >> All right.

[2:06:03] >> And maybe even consider having

[2:06:06] >> Fairfax County Public Schools says they

[2:06:08] do not have school on Labor Day on

[2:06:09] Veterans Day. says they do not students

[2:06:12] usually do not have classes.

[2:06:14] >> No, they

[2:06:15] >> and they often use this day for

[2:06:17] professional development.

[2:06:20] >> Maybe they've changed since I've

[2:06:21] movement.

[2:06:21] >> Yeah.

[2:06:21] >> So, but I'm curious too if we can do bag

[2:06:25] lunches like as a standard

[2:06:27] >> for kids.

[2:06:28] >> Yeah.

[2:06:29] >> Across the board. Yeah.

[2:06:30] >> Yes. Because I think it's funded as an

[2:06:32] enterprise, right? Like I don't know if

[2:06:34] we have it where they opt out instead of

[2:06:36] opt in.

[2:06:37] >> Nope. So, in order for us to give a

[2:06:40] student a bag lunch and have it qualify

[2:06:42] as a reimburseable meal, we have to get

[2:06:44] their um my school box number. So, they

[2:06:48] have to opt into it and say, "I'm going

[2:06:49] to take a meal on the way."

[2:06:51] >> Okay. But I think I'd like to have that

[2:06:53] be

[2:06:54] >> a norm.

[2:06:55] >> Yeah.

[2:06:56] >> That that's a conversation we had with

[2:06:57] the principles when we talked about not

[2:06:59] universally serving lunch. Well, cuz

[2:07:01] it's also part of the whole thing if of

[2:07:04] if a kid feels weird about like, oh, I'm

[2:07:06] the one taking a lunch home, why is

[2:07:08] other kids on the bus if we have it be

[2:07:11] >> I mean, I'm going to publicly out Dave

[2:07:12] Ricks and he eats a whole bunch of the

[2:07:14] school lunches in the office.

[2:07:17] >> So, they do them at um exam times at the

[2:07:20] high school and so there's like 20 bag

[2:07:22] lunches or something in the office and I

[2:07:24] Dave's in there picking out the

[2:07:25] goldfish. They also have a ice cream

[2:07:28] maker there that

[2:07:29] >> we have frozen yogurt that we have also

[2:07:31] not been invited to try yet. So,

[2:07:33] >> I'm glad you brought that up, Alison. I

[2:07:35] think that's a good point. We don't want

[2:07:36] to make any kids feel uncomfortable

[2:07:38] >> cuz I think if the kids are used to,

[2:07:41] especially elementary kids, it's I mean,

[2:07:43] >> it's a difference.

[2:07:44] >> Yeah. I mean, 12:25 for elementary kids

[2:07:48] not getting home till 1:00 potentially,

[2:07:51] >> that's a long day,

[2:07:52] >> but they'll have a snack, right? And as

[2:07:54] a parent, you can send whatever you

[2:07:56] think

[2:07:57] >> isn't isn't the

[2:08:00] school provided free lunch.

[2:08:01] >> So, we did talk about potentially having

[2:08:03] the school lunch be the provided snack

[2:08:05] on those days for students so that

[2:08:06] they're getting the the balanced meal.

[2:08:09] >> Yeah. I' I'd like to I'd like it to be a a normalized thing rather than a

[2:08:15] >> you have to opt in. Here's here's the

[2:08:17] kids that might

[2:08:20] >> How do we end up with a whole bunch of

[2:08:21] trash bags on the side of this road?

[2:08:24] >> We know who to ask that Mr. Rick.

[2:08:27] >> Yeah. Then we know that that's not

[2:08:28] working.

[2:08:28] >> I think some of it has to do with what you're serving as

[2:08:31] well. Um, you know, there's maybe not a

[2:08:33] ton of interest in the sun butter

[2:08:34] sandwich, but if we can come up with

[2:08:36] some options that are

[2:08:37] >> Can we not serve peanut butter?

[2:08:39] >> No.

[2:08:41] >> I just say if you talk about food,

[2:08:43] there's going to be an issue because I

[2:08:44] have not eaten dinner. So, NO MORE

[2:08:47] MOVING ON. OKAY.

[2:08:48] >> Katrina had a question.

[2:08:49] >> I just had one quick question for the

[2:08:50] North Penroke. Is that the early release

[2:08:52] time for preschool as well?

[2:08:54] >> Well, please preschool's an entirely

[2:08:56] different.

[2:08:57] >> Yeah. So, they don't get out at the same

[2:08:59] time now.

[2:09:00] >> So, it'll be different.

[2:09:02] >> Okay. Am I getting an hour and 20 25

[2:09:05] minutes more on the half?

[2:09:08] >> Yeah. Because these are the new people.

[2:09:11] >> That would be helpful for my brain.

[2:09:13] Absolutely. And then just and I know I

[2:09:15] asked this one time, but I always

[2:09:17] >> put the start time in the delay and

[2:09:19] notification.

[2:09:20] >> Yeah. No, I know because that's super

[2:09:22] helpful.

[2:09:22] >> So you all need to take it as a first

[2:09:24] read. Okay.

[2:09:25] >> So the only the only question I have on

[2:09:27] this comment is I'll be honest with you,

[2:09:28] I don't like these hours for the parent

[2:09:31] teacher conferences. I think 1 to 6:00.

[2:09:33] If you have, and I'm going to say

[2:09:34] respectfully, a real job and you get out

[2:09:36] of Boston at 5:00, there's no way in

[2:09:38] hell you're getting here at 6:00 for a

[2:09:39] conference. and I was the one that used

[2:09:41] to attend most of those and I didn't get

[2:09:43] most of my conferences till 7 or 7:30.

[2:09:45] So I'd be interested. I wanted I'd like

[2:09:47] to know what the attendance numbers are,

[2:09:49] what the feedback is from parents

[2:09:51] because I don't like this at all.

[2:09:53] >> So the 6 and 6:30 have been our practice

[2:09:55] now for the past four years and it is

[2:09:56] spelled out in our collective bargaining

[2:09:58] agreement that they can't be start later

[2:10:00] than 6:30. Um, but we do offer families

[2:10:03] the option, the first hour is reserved

[2:10:05] for virtual conferences. And we have

[2:10:06] seen, to your point, David, a lot of

[2:10:08] people that can't possibly get from

[2:10:10] their day job to, right,

[2:10:11] >> North Pin Brook Elementary School for a

[2:10:13] conference often offer to take it during

[2:10:15] their lunch break or a break at work.

[2:10:16] But, um, I've also asked and we have

[2:10:19] been tracking attendance um, at

[2:10:20] conferences for the past couple of years

[2:10:22] because I think it's something that

[2:10:23] we're overly interested in um, both from

[2:10:26] a standpoint of parent and caregiver

[2:10:28] participation as well as equity amongst

[2:10:30] staff. Um it's very different if you're

[2:10:32] a teacher that just has two conferences

[2:10:33] over the 5 hour window versus 27. So

[2:10:37] taking a look at that as well. So happy

[2:10:38] to share back out about that too.

[2:10:40] >> Nope. I appreciate. Okay. So we have to

[2:10:42] take this as a first read. Do I get a

[2:10:44] motion please?

[2:10:44] >> So moved.

[2:10:45] >> Second.

[2:10:45] Uh all those in favor?

[2:10:47] >> I opposed. Abstain. 50. Natalie.

[2:10:52] >> Uh the next item in my packet is uh the

[2:10:56] trip that Gwen spoke about. Um so this

[2:10:58] current coming weekend March 20th and

[2:11:00] 21st is the all state music festival in

[2:11:04] Worcester at the DCU center. Generally

[2:11:06] um a trip like this would not be an

[2:11:08] overnight request. Um if you take a look

[2:11:11] in the packet you'll see that the start

[2:11:13] time on the Saturday is quite early. Um

[2:11:15] and so given the fact that it was just

[2:11:17] three students, a conversation was had

[2:11:19] um with those three students and their

[2:11:20] families and the desire to stay

[2:11:23] overnight. Um the rules of the

[2:11:25] organization are if we have students

[2:11:27] staying, a chaperone must stay. So

[2:11:29] that's why you're getting it in a field

[2:11:30] trip format.

[2:11:32] >> All right. Could I get a motion for the

[2:11:34] overnight field trip high school musical

[2:11:36] to the DCU center in Worcester?

[2:11:38] >> So moved. Second.

[2:11:39] >> All those in favor?

[2:11:41] >> Opposed? Abstained. Natalie 5-0.

[2:11:45] >> Next up is consideration for approval of

[2:11:48] MIA middle level waiverss. Um, so this

[2:11:50] is the waiver that we file with the

[2:11:52] athletic association to allow eighth

[2:11:53] graders to participate in some of our

[2:11:56] sports. As Brian said, our spring

[2:11:58] numbers are still kind of rolling at

[2:12:00] this point. Um, we are in a pretty good

[2:12:04] place with most of these. We have asked

[2:12:06] for the past three years um for a waiver

[2:12:08] for boys and girls lacrosse as well as

[2:12:10] softball. Um, at this point, I think

[2:12:13] Brian had uh the middle of last week

[2:12:16] only 12 girls register for lac lacrosse,

[2:12:18] 17 boys for boys lacrosse, and 12 um

[2:12:22] students for softball. That number has

[2:12:23] grown. He now has 22 for boys lacrosse,

[2:12:26] 20 for girls lacrosse, and 14 for

[2:12:29] softball. But he is still looking for

[2:12:30] some flexibility with the waiver. As far

[2:12:32] as boys tennis, um when we posted the

[2:12:35] agenda, um there was only six students

[2:12:38] registered for boys tennis. Um, you need

[2:12:40] seven in order to have the singles and

[2:12:44] the three singles and two doubles teams.

[2:12:46] There are currently seven registered.

[2:12:49] Um, but Brian would like a little bit of

[2:12:50] flexibility if another student or two

[2:12:52] doesn't come out in the next day or so

[2:12:54] to to extend it to eighth graders. So,

[2:12:56] that's the only new one. The boys and

[2:12:58] girls lacrosse and softball have been

[2:12:59] previous requests in years past.

[2:13:01] >> So, would for softball would we be

[2:13:03] looking at that the eighth graders being

[2:13:05] on the varsity team?

[2:13:06] >> Eighth graders can only play the lowest

[2:13:07] level that you offer. So, they have to

[2:13:09] be on the JV team,

[2:13:10] >> but 14 is not enough to

[2:13:12] >> He has both.

[2:13:13] >> He's He would It would be fielding a JV

[2:13:16] team

[2:13:18] >> with all eighth graders.

[2:13:19] >> No, there's there's some students that

[2:13:21] could play both.

[2:13:24] >> Okay. Because softball has nine players

[2:13:27] on the field.

[2:13:27] >> I understand. Okay.

[2:13:28] >> I Googled it. So, I just dumped it up.

[2:13:31] >> Well, sometimes 10, but it depends on

[2:13:32] the age.

[2:13:33] >> Because when Brian sent it to me, I

[2:13:34] think he was tired of me asking how many

[2:13:36] people play at a time.

[2:13:36] >> Yeah. I don't know lacrosse and then for

[2:13:38] tennis when that's it's seven you also

[2:13:42] we don't technically have JV but we also

[2:13:47] >> the so

[2:13:48] >> so this this eighth graders can only

[2:13:50] play on the lowest level you offer just

[2:13:52] like girls hockey the eighth graders are

[2:13:53] playing varsity girls hockey because

[2:13:54] that's the only level we offer.

[2:13:56] >> Okay.

[2:13:56] >> Yeah.

[2:13:56] >> So that's for lacrosse.

[2:13:58] >> She was talking about tennis. Oh. Um

[2:14:00] they would the boys and girls would be

[2:14:02] playing JB lacrosse. We'd be having J

[2:14:04] there's a JB team. I was Brian and I had

[2:14:06] a lot of conversation about boys

[2:14:07] lacrosse. I'm not comfortable with

[2:14:08] eighth graders playing varsity lacrosse

[2:14:10] because of this and it's not it's we

[2:14:11] have a JV lacrosse team that would play.

[2:14:13] >> I'm not even sure because it's such a

[2:14:15] physical sport that even eighth grade

[2:14:17] boys I mean there's so much of a

[2:14:19] difference in

[2:14:19] >> Yeah. I think it was three years ago

[2:14:22] when we did the waiver first and you'll

[2:14:23] remember there was quite a few um eighth

[2:14:25] grade lacrosse families that came.

[2:14:27] Obviously, safety is one of the

[2:14:28] decisions that um one of the things that

[2:14:31] comes into account in the decision of

[2:14:33] the students that are invited to

[2:14:34] participate and not size is part of

[2:14:36] that. So, just not all eighth graders

[2:14:38] that are interested in playing JV

[2:14:40] lacrosse will get the opportunity to

[2:14:41] play JV lacrosse.

[2:14:42] >> Okay.

[2:14:43] >> Safety is a driving factor.

[2:14:45] >> All right.

[2:14:46] >> And there's additional safety equipment

[2:14:48] that they can also utilize as well um if

[2:14:51] there are concerns.

[2:14:53] >> Sure.

[2:14:54] >> As with all sports, right? There's the

[2:14:55] padding you can buy that goes

[2:14:56] underneath. There's there's all kinds of

[2:14:58] things.

[2:14:58] >> Are we fully staffed with coaches?

[2:15:00] >> Uh I think they're still looking for a

[2:15:02] JV girls lacrosse coach um and a middle

[2:15:06] school volleyball coach, I think is what

[2:15:08] they're looking for.

[2:15:09] >> Okay. If you know anybody, middle school

[2:15:12] volleyball hasn't started yet, but

[2:15:14] >> I will take a motion for the MIAA middle

[2:15:18] level waiver for boys and girls lacrosse

[2:15:19] softball and boys tennis.

[2:15:21] >> So moved. Second.

[2:15:23] >> Okay. First, I have a second. And all

[2:15:24] those in favor?

[2:15:25] >> I.

[2:15:26] >> All those opposed. Anyone abstaining? 5

[2:15:29] nothing. Natalie.

[2:15:30] >> Last thing is my contract. Um, so so

[2:15:34] great to be evaluated in public and talk

[2:15:36] about my contract in public. It's just

[2:15:38] one of the great perks of this job. Um,

[2:15:41] I have a contract that currently runs

[2:15:42] through June 30th of 2029, but there's

[2:15:45] no salary set for each year. So, the

[2:15:47] purpose of this wording on this is to

[2:15:49] set my salary for fiscal year 26. Yes,

[2:15:52] we are in March of that that year. Um,

[2:15:55] but we did we've had extensive

[2:15:56] conversations um in executive session

[2:15:58] and I think we are in a great place. Let

[2:16:00] me first say that I am fortunate to work

[2:16:03] here and to work with a group of school

[2:16:04] committees that understand members that

[2:16:06] understand the work and give us the

[2:16:07] space to do the work. That is not the

[2:16:09] case everywhere. Um, you know, we are a

[2:16:11] lean leadership team, but we are very

[2:16:14] appreciative of the support that we

[2:16:15] receive. by you guys are always on those

[2:16:17] nasty posts sticking up for us or if you

[2:16:20] have a question call this person or

[2:16:21] Allison was the first one today that

[2:16:22] said all five schools have power when

[2:16:24] somebody said what a horrible idea to

[2:16:26] have school today. Um so I very

[2:16:28] appreciative of that. Um you know as

[2:16:31] with any contract negotiation I take a

[2:16:33] look at kind of what I make what other

[2:16:35] department heads in the towns make. But

[2:16:37] in addition really looking at the market

[2:16:38] for superintendent. Um I do think I

[2:16:41] provided you guys with any any and all

[2:16:43] backup that you had asked for. um and

[2:16:45] you all did um you know come to an

[2:16:47] agreement that was greater than what I

[2:16:49] had asked for and so I am very

[2:16:51] appreciative of you guys valuing my

[2:16:53] position in my role here. Um my

[2:16:57] current compensation package totals just

[2:17:00] under 238,000.

[2:17:02] Um and what you all have set for next

[2:17:04] year is 265,000. So you all have to take

[2:17:07] a motion and do whatever it is that you

[2:17:09] do.

[2:17:10] >> So moved. Second.

[2:17:11] >> Well, you know what? I I want to Okay,

[2:17:13] we have the first second. Um I I do want

[2:17:15] to give some feedback on this and it's

[2:17:17] been my pleasure for 9 years to be on

[2:17:19] this committee and to be the chairman

[2:17:20] this year and I think if there's anyone

[2:17:22] listening out there in the um viewing

[2:17:24] public that hasn't gone to bed at this

[2:17:26] point, I'm very happy.

[2:17:29] >> They're not used to feel like they're

[2:17:30] not used to two and a half hour

[2:17:31] meetings.

[2:17:32] >> Shout out to Karen who's still here

[2:17:34] >> to the studio audience. Thank you. We

[2:17:37] appreciate it.

[2:17:39] I think it's important to point out that

[2:17:40] one, the superintendent runs the largest

[2:17:42] department, you know, with inside the town of Peer by far. Um she

[2:17:46] basically wears two hats as a

[2:17:48] superintendent and the business manager.

[2:17:50] And if you knew what it cost us to get a

[2:17:51] superintendent and a business manager,

[2:17:53] um that would be um far more than this

[2:17:56] number would exceed. So to say you have

[2:17:59] um earned this and put you uh I

[2:18:01] hopefully like to think within your um

[2:18:04] upper end of your competitive set or

[2:18:06] your peers, whatever we care to say. So

[2:18:08] I wholeheartedly endorse this contract.

[2:18:10] Um I'm a big believer in it. And now I'm

[2:18:13] happy to take a vote. Um we have a

[2:18:15] first, we have a second. All those in

[2:18:16] favor?

[2:18:17] >> I.

[2:18:17] >> Any opposed? No one abstains. Now it's 5

[2:18:20] nothing. Thank you, Erin.

[2:18:22] >> Of course.

[2:18:22] >> Yay.

[2:18:24] >> Um next is subcommittee updates. These

[2:18:26] are quick, I promise. Um, so budget

[2:18:28] subcommittee met last week and this week

[2:18:30] just to talk about um some of the

[2:18:32] upcoming budget items, but we also um

[2:18:33] went through a topic calendar. So in

[2:18:35] your packet, you have a calendar of what

[2:18:37] we believe to be the outstanding budget

[2:18:40] items that need to be covered between

[2:18:41] tonight's meeting and town meeting on

[2:18:43] May 12th. Um you'll see there in red

[2:18:46] that it is the recommendation of the

[2:18:47] budget subcommittee that you add an

[2:18:49] additional March meeting. Um I selected

[2:18:52] the 24th and we talked about a little

[2:18:53] bit it doesn't if the 24th isn't the

[2:18:55] right day the 31st is also

[2:18:59] >> an option as well um up to you all but

[2:19:02] you can see that in addition to the

[2:19:03] teaching and learning budgets there's a

[2:19:05] fee discussion um we want to give a

[2:19:07] vocational presentation the strategic

[2:19:09] planning presentation um you know budget

[2:19:12] subcommittee feels strongly about the

[2:19:14] admin recommending recommended budget

[2:19:16] being a standalone item one night for

[2:19:18] just you all to talk about it before you

[2:19:20] invite the select board and advisory for

[2:19:22] a joint meeting. So, um looking at the

[2:19:25] breadth of those topics and the meetings

[2:19:26] that were currently on the calendar, um

[2:19:29] the recommendation is to add an

[2:19:30] additional day in March. The asterk

[2:19:32] there with the fee discussion um budget

[2:19:34] subcommittee met today at this point not

[2:19:37] necessarily um proposing any additional

[2:19:40] fees. Um, so it's possible that that

[2:19:42] discussion could take just one night,

[2:19:43] but understanding if there's um

[2:19:45] additional information that's sought. It could go to the seventh as well as a

[2:19:48] second night of that discussion. We

[2:19:50] don't want you to be having discussion

[2:19:52] and making decisions at the same time.

[2:19:54] We want you to be able to think about

[2:19:55] it. Um, you know, those the fee

[2:19:57] discussions are are big ones. It's

[2:19:59] >> it's a lot that we're asking of

[2:20:00] families. So, um, I do have a meeting

[2:20:04] that was scheduled on the 24th. I could

[2:20:06] always move it or just not really I just

[2:20:09] can't go to whatever it is. But um

[2:20:12] depends on if people are available on

[2:20:13] the 31st

[2:20:16] >> because I'm just saying if we do the

[2:20:17] 31st that's I mean we're already going

[2:20:20] to do like three there's going to be

[2:20:22] three meetings in a row no matter how we

[2:20:23] do this. So four meetings in a row

[2:20:26] whatever it is. But yeah losing the

[2:20:28] February one kind of threw us off. And

[2:20:30] the other thing we can if I can just

[2:20:33] back up one second too is David, do you

[2:20:35] think you can reach out to the

[2:20:36] legislators to see if they can join us?

[2:20:39] What did we talk about?

[2:20:39] >> I think we talked about 4:14. So

[2:20:41] >> 414 for that for the budget discussion.

[2:20:44] So 4:14 at 6 p.m. I would assume.

[2:20:49] >> Okay, let me get that on there.

[2:20:50] >> So for the 24th,

[2:20:54] which would be

[2:20:56] from tonight?

[2:20:56] >> Yeah. teaching and learning, student

[2:20:58] services, and the fee discussion. Um,

[2:21:02] Katrina, you

[2:21:04] >> I'd prefer the 31st, but if like that

[2:21:06] messes up things for other people, then

[2:21:09] I can just not go to the event and I can

[2:21:11] probably find other people to help with

[2:21:13] the work event I have.

[2:21:14] >> What about other people?

[2:21:18] >> All these dates are good for me as of

[2:21:20] right now.

[2:21:21] >> I could do the 31st if we needed to.

[2:21:23] That's not a problem.

[2:21:25] Does it make a difference like in terms

[2:21:27] of the the timeline for anything in

[2:21:29] terms of folks on the budget? So,

[2:21:31] >> no. Okay.

[2:21:33] >> Sue, are you are you good with switching

[2:21:36] the 24th to the 31st?

[2:21:37] >> Yeah, I'm good with that.

[2:21:38] >> Okay.

[2:21:38] >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you. I just had an

[2:21:41] event.

[2:21:41] >> Does that work for you, Aaron?

[2:21:42] >> Yeah, that's really fine.

[2:21:43] >> Good. We're going to take the 24th out

[2:21:44] and make that the 31st.

[2:21:46] >> Yep. Okay.

[2:21:46] >> Okay.

[2:21:47] >> So, we get next week off.

[2:21:48] >> Sure.

[2:21:49] >> Oh, nice.

[2:21:50] >> Really? But

[2:21:52] >> and then the other

[2:21:53] >> the other thing we talked about is the

[2:21:54] meeting on the 28th, the joint meeting

[2:21:56] with the select board and advisory. I

[2:21:58] know that we generally have a 6:00 start

[2:22:00] time. Those two boards have later start

[2:22:01] times just taking into account um their

[2:22:04] members. Um I think it would be a nice

[2:22:07] gesture to offer a a later start time. I

[2:22:09] know advisory meets at 6:30 and select

[2:22:11] board generally meets at 7. Um because I

[2:22:15] think last year like the reason I kind

[2:22:17] of mentioned that is I think last year

[2:22:18] we had other things on the agenda. So,

[2:22:20] we started our meeting

[2:22:22] >> and then I think we might have gone over

[2:22:24] or late, whatever. But I think the idea

[2:22:27] in my head is we either don't have other

[2:22:29] stuff on that meeting, which probably

[2:22:32] can't happen or doesn't happen, but have

[2:22:34] it be

[2:22:36] >> a like a 7:00 start time and if we do

[2:22:38] need to meet, we start at 6 and then we

[2:22:41] recess and come back at seven instead of

[2:22:44] >> Yeah. Is everyone comfortable with them

[2:22:46] with me offering them a seven o'clock

[2:22:48] start time for the joint meeting? And

[2:22:49] then as it gets closer, we'll decide if

[2:22:50] you all need to meet before that.

[2:22:52] >> Yes, sure.

[2:22:52] >> Okay.

[2:22:55] >> Got it.

[2:22:57] >> And when

[2:23:00] are we going to ask them tomorrow?

[2:23:02] >> I'm going to ask them tomorrow.

[2:23:03] >> Okay. cuz I'd like to have that like

[2:23:05] kind of semi finalized so that if we

[2:23:08] can't do that

[2:23:11] >> I mean I I think it's yeah

[2:23:13] >> it's it's on both of their radars. Um we

[2:23:15] I've spoke about it when I went to

[2:23:16] advisory the last time and Bill has

[2:23:18] shared with the select board that

[2:23:19] >> and for some reason it worked so well

[2:23:21] for the past couple of years that the

[2:23:22] interest is there to do it as well. The

[2:23:24] other thing you all need to decide is on

[2:23:25] 47 the plan was to give the vocational

[2:23:27] presentation ahead of um the meeting. Is

[2:23:30] a 5:30 start time okay for folks for

[2:23:32] that and then we'll just do the im the

[2:23:34] meeting immediately to follow.

[2:23:35] >> Yes, definitely.

[2:23:37] >> We don't want to do it as part of our

[2:23:39] meeting at 6. I'm just questioning

[2:23:42] >> you can we can I think at when we

[2:23:44] originally started it was there was

[2:23:46] other big things on that agenda. Um

[2:23:49] >> I mean

[2:23:49] >> strategic plan is a pretty big thing.

[2:23:51] >> Yeah. Well and we're we are inviting the

[2:23:53] 20some members.

[2:23:55] >> I would leave it as a 5:30 and then have

[2:23:57] your regular meeting start at 6. Would

[2:23:58] it still be a public like we open a

[2:24:01] meeting or would it we

[2:24:02] >> Yep.

[2:24:02] >> It's not Yeah.

[2:24:03] >> Okay. So, it would be just this

[2:24:06] >> just like when you do executive session

[2:24:07] at the beginning of a meeting, you're

[2:24:08] going to open it and then have the

[2:24:09] regular meeting to follow.

[2:24:12] >> Okay. So, it wouldn't just say like

[2:24:14] school committee meeting starting at

[2:24:16] 5:30. It would be two separate start

[2:24:18] times.

[2:24:18] >> I would post it. Yeah. on the same

[2:24:20] agenda but two separate sometimes

[2:24:21] because there are some people that are

[2:24:22] just coming for the vocational um

[2:24:25] >> and so

[2:24:25] >> and then there are some people that will

[2:24:26] be joining us just for the strategic

[2:24:28] plan

[2:24:29] >> and you would suspect that the vocation

[2:24:31] will take 30 minutes

[2:24:32] >> I think it would the the slides will

[2:24:34] probably be 20 minutes and then allowing

[2:24:36] 20 to 25 minutes for question and answer

[2:24:38] or not um

[2:24:39] >> well that's why I just worry about

[2:24:40] putting a start time on strategic like a

[2:24:42] six o'clock start time if we're possibly

[2:24:45] >> could be an yeah we can I I was thinking

[2:24:49] saying that it would start immediately

[2:24:51] to follow but not before 6:15 so that

[2:24:53] people can plan to get here for 6:15

[2:24:56] when we wouldn't be starting before

[2:24:57] that.

[2:24:57] >> Uhhuh. That makes sense. So

[2:24:59] >> we are completely overthinking it for

[2:25:01] the two people in the audience. What

[2:25:02] time would you like to come?

[2:25:07] » Oh my goodness.

[2:25:08] >> Okay. Um

[2:25:09] >> it wouldn't be

[2:25:11] >> and and just so everybody's clear, this

[2:25:12] does not include all of the agenda

[2:25:14] items. This is just

[2:25:15] >> this is just budget topics, right? We

[2:25:16] have those the public hearing on school

[2:25:18] choice. Um you all when you get to talk

[2:25:20] future meeting dates and topics need to

[2:25:22] talk about your MIA conversation and

[2:25:23] where that falls here. These were just

[2:25:24] budget related topics. That's what this

[2:25:26] calendar is. Um speaking of budget, the

[2:25:29] vocational regional planning committee

[2:25:31] has not met since we last met, but I

[2:25:33] will be attending the select board

[2:25:34] meeting tomorrow evening in order to

[2:25:36] potentially answer questions associated

[2:25:38] with um the placement of the two

[2:25:41] overhead questions on the ballot. Um I'm

[2:25:43] not giving a presentation tomorrow

[2:25:45] evening. I've shared um through Bill the

[2:25:48] latest version of our slides. They were

[2:25:50] provided to the select board ahead of

[2:25:51] time. I'm only going to answer

[2:25:53] questions. Um I've given the same

[2:25:55] presentation eight or nine times. We

[2:25:56] have another presentation scheduled for April 7th. So just there to answer

[2:26:00] questions if there are questions.

[2:26:03] Perfect. Um and then the last one is

[2:26:05] policy sub. you have in your packet um

[2:26:08] the second read of those series B

[2:26:11] policies that we looked at the last time

[2:26:12] I took the edit um that we all had

[2:26:14] discussed about just adding the word

[2:26:16] Peendrick to resident um in each

[2:26:18] instance that it showed up in those

[2:26:19] policies

[2:26:22] to take them as a vote

[2:26:23] >> you have to take them for second read

[2:26:24] and approval

[2:26:25] >> okay

[2:26:25] >> you can take them all at once you don't

[2:26:27] have to do three separate

[2:26:28] >> All right if I could get a motion to

[2:26:30] take consideration of second reading or

[2:26:31] approval revised policy beb revised

[2:26:35] policy B E D H in revised policy B E.

[2:26:40] >> So moved. Second.

[2:26:42] >> All those in favor?

[2:26:43] >> I opposed abstain.

[2:26:46] >> 5 nothing Natalie across the board.

[2:26:50] >> Committee dates and topics. I think we

[2:26:51] just covered.

[2:26:52] >> Yep. So you usually do your school

[2:26:53] choice hearing the same day that you do

[2:26:55] your public budget hearing. So that

[2:26:56] would be May 5th. Um it's up to you all.

[2:26:59] I know at your last meeting you talked

[2:27:02] about um discussing

[2:27:06] a potential correspondence to the MIA or the topic in general. Um you just

[2:27:11] need to let me know where where you want

[2:27:12] to put that whether it's 331 47. I would

[2:27:16] shy away from those two budget meetings

[2:27:18] on 414 and 428. I think they should

[2:27:20] solely be for budget.

[2:27:22] >> Let's do a 331. We Yeah.

[2:27:24] >> 331 for which one? The

[2:27:25] >> the MA. Yeah, let's do that. That's

[2:27:27] good.

[2:27:27] >> Yeah. We don't want to delay that

[2:27:28] anymore. Yeah.

[2:27:30] >> Great.

[2:27:34] » And what is it exactly that you want the

[2:27:36] agenda item to say? Is it discussion of

[2:27:38] potential correspondence to the MIA?

[2:27:41] Okay.

[2:27:41] >> And a and a vote

[2:27:44] on that.

[2:27:46] >> I'd imagine.

[2:27:47] >> Yep. Discussion, potential vote, right?

[2:27:50] >> Yep. Got it. I'll find the right words.

[2:27:56] That's it.

[2:27:59] Okay. There. Okay. I will take a motion

[2:28:03] for adjournment.

[2:28:04] >> So move. Second.

[2:28:05] >> All those in favor?

[2:28:06] >> I

[2:28:07] >> opposed. Abstain. 50. Thank you very

[2:28:11] much for your time, ladies and

[2:28:12] gentlemen. To the viewing audience.

[2:28:13] Thank you to the studio audience and to

[2:28:15] the man behind the booth.

[2:28:17] >> Thank you all.

Pembroke School Committee: 3/17/26

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