[0:00] Okay. So we'll look into the Plainville School Committee regular meeting of Tuesday, June 16th,

[0:05] 2026. We remind everyone that these meetings are taped for later playback and sometimes live on

[0:12] North TV. We have a short agenda tonight. We do have a quorum present and under new business, we have

[0:23] the review of the superintendent's recommendation for the director of student services. I'll turn

[0:27] over to Jen Parson. Okay, did you want to start with the flag or any of that?

[0:32] Well, thank you. Yes, I'll congratulate to my apology.

[0:35] Okay. No problem.

[0:36] But it'll be out of sight. What is the flag?

[0:41] Should be coming on.

[0:46] There we go.

[0:47] Okay. I just to the flag.

[0:54] And to their public for which it stands. One nation.

[1:11] So we are calling the meeting to order an item tonight for new business is a review

[1:22] of the superintendent's recommendation for the director of student services position.

[1:28] Yes, thank you. So this afternoon, the committee should have received a memo for me,

[1:33] outline some of the information about the candidate whom I am bringing forward to you tonight

[1:40] and who I will be recommending for the school committee's appointment to the position.

[1:46] So as people know, Barbara Sir Wonka, our current director, will be joining another school district for the upcoming year.

[1:53] and we've been very grateful for her support of our students and our school district,

[1:58] and she will definitely be missed in the town of Plainville and the community of the Plainville public schools.

[2:05] That said, as much as we miss her, we do need to move on and have another person at the home.

[2:10] So tonight, I am recommending to the committee Ms. Candace Andrade to serve as our next director of student services.

[2:21] We actually received somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 applicants for the position, and as you know, some of them were qualified with the right licensure and the right experience.

[2:32] Some were not, but we did have a robust pool from which to pick, and we brought in a number of those candidates for in-person interviews with an interviewing team.

[2:44] So, to talk a little bit about Candace, she currently serves as the Executive Director

[2:50] of Student Services, Health and Wellbeing for the Newport Road Island Public Schools.

[2:55] Prior to that, she had similar positions all within the State of Rhode Island for the

[3:00] most part.

[3:02] Serving as the Director for the Barraville Road Island Public Schools, the Assistant Director

[3:07] of special education for a collaborative regional school, kind of school collaborative in Middletown,

[3:14] Rhode Island. And she also served as a special ed coordinator and teacher in the East Providence,

[3:20] Rhode Island, and public schools. She actually did begin her career in Massachusetts, working at the

[3:25] New England Center for Children, which is a private educational setting for children with autism.

[3:31] So, she has a long standing career with a lot of experiences both in the educational

[3:37] teaching role and leadership roles within special education.

[3:42] She is well-versed in terms of her leadership skills, and she serves on boards and committees

[3:50] within the state of Rhode Island, all within the realm of special education leadership.

[3:55] She serves as a mentor for new directors of student services and special education.

[4:01] and she's demonstrated over the course of her career, her ability to lead, to develop

[4:07] fiscally responsible budgets, to ensure that decisions are data-driven, and more recently,

[4:16] I think, to become more well-versed in the topics of trauma-informed practices and social

[4:22] emotional learning.

[4:23] So all of those things combined really pull together her package and her kind of why

[4:32] she is appealing to us as the next director for Plainville.

[4:38] I just wanted to highlight a couple of the references and some of the comments that

[4:43] were made about her.

[4:46] Her current superintendent noted that she is widely respected by her peers and colleagues

[4:52] for her collaborative spirit, high standards,

[4:55] and her unwavering professionalism.

[4:58] She supports an empowered staff, her mentorship,

[5:01] resource sharing, and data-informed decision-making.

[5:05] She is a solutions-oriented leader

[5:07] who brings innovative thinking to complex challenges,

[5:11] always striving to make the diverse needs

[5:13] of students across the district.

[5:16] Also noticed by one of her references,

[5:19] was the work that she has done to develop a tiered system

[5:22] of supports in Newport. And for us here in Plainville, this is really timely because this

[5:29] is something that I know that the media has heard us talk about over and over. Are you

[5:34] getting a little bit of food?

[5:38] A little bit. I don't know what it is.

[5:39] Yeah, maybe everybody wants to put on mute just while we, Christine, can you put yourself

[5:43] on mute please?

[5:53] I don't think I hear it now. Does anyone else? Okay. I'm sorry about that.

[5:58] So at any rate, her work with multi-tiered systems of supports is certainly going to be

[6:03] beneficial for us.

[6:04] And we are looking forward to her guidance in that area with the school committee's approval,

[6:09] because that is absolutely a topic that is of great importance to us in plain bill.

[6:14] And it's a, it takes up a considerable amount of our efforts in terms of our strategic plan,

[6:22] which is really our roadmap for how we want to move forward in our district.

[6:27] In our, just in terms of how Candice was vetted, we had an interview team, Shannon,

[6:35] who's here with us tonight. I still can remember she served on the interview team. We had 13

[6:40] individuals on that team. So we definitely had wide representation from the school district. We had

[6:47] parents, we had teachers, school administrators, and related service providers. So we had a really

[6:53] nice team who came together for the sole purpose of identifying the next director for us.

[7:01] In addition to coming in for kind of the big group interview, she also returned as did the other

[7:06] candidates to meet in smaller groups in a more informal kind of venue where she met with faculty

[7:14] and staff. She met with our administrative team. Mr. Albert Keman is a representative

[7:20] of the school committee and she also participated. She took tours of the building and then she

[7:26] also in another option or another opportunity. She was participating in a Zoom that we had

[7:34] put together for family members and I was pleased that we had both family members. Victoria,

[7:40] I think you were there that evening and we had a number of staff members there as well

[7:44] that night so our staff I will say our staff was very very invested in this process and

[7:51] making sure that they had a good look at all of the candidates and that they had opportunities

[7:57] to provide their feedback. So feedback forms were provided for all faculty and staff members

[8:03] administrators and parents. And reviewing those feedback forms, I have to

[8:11] really say, and this is definitely a tribute to the town of Claimville in

[8:14] the school district. All three candidates that we identified as finalists who

[8:21] came back received very favorable reviews from our faculty and staff and

[8:27] families and administrative team. And some of the comments that people made in

[8:32] feedback forms. This one in particular, I feel like Candace is as close to a

[8:38] perfect package as you can find. She has a wealth of knowledge. She would be a

[8:43] great resource for new special educators and veterans alike. She presents with

[8:48] great leadership skills. Her knowledge would be helpful during budgeting and

[8:52] applying for grants. One of the only questions that arose in the feedback

[8:58] reforms related to Candace was the fact that she has spent the majority of her career

[9:04] in the state of Rhode Island, and we know that each state does have its own set of rules

[9:08] and regs and laws and procedures. And so what I would like to just reassure the committee

[9:16] and anybody who have those questions, number one, a lot of special education is dictated by federal

[9:21] law, not by state law. So there are many things that she is already well versed in that will not change.

[9:29] She also will have access to opportunities that we will provide for her for joining different types of resources and groups that support directors of student services, whether it be in Massachusetts or what island has their own, but we will make sure that she has the support that she needs to become as proficient as she can in Massachusetts regulations.

[9:57] But at the end of the day, I think there are certain things you can teach people, and

[10:01] there are certain things that you just want them to be able to have that aren't necessarily

[10:06] the teachable skills.

[10:08] And you know, kind of how I left the memo and how I ended the memo was, with one quote from

[10:15] one of her references who stated, Candace Leeds with Integrity Empathy and an unshakeable

[10:20] belief in the potential of every child.

[10:22] She cultivates the culture of high expectations and equitable access, making a lasting impact on every educational environment she touches.

[10:32] And with that, I think that really is the candidate that we saw in in front of us. And why I'm really pleased and excited to recommend Candace Andreid to the committee tonight.

[10:45] She is here. She is in the zoom waiting room. And if we if or when we'd like to bring her in, she's aware that we will be doing that.

[10:55] I'm so I'm happy to turn it back to the committee for any comments or questions.

[11:07] I think I've successfully unmuted. Can you hear me?

[11:11] Okay. Candace is a great candidate. I like meeting her very much.

[11:16] I was very comfortable with her and her philosophy of.

[11:21] I don't want to interrupt you but should we be inviting her into the room because she

[11:26] should hear what we have to say.

[11:31] Would you like to do that now before we vote?

[11:33] I would because she should because if we have questions she should hear,

[11:39] I know the zoom

[11:41] is a little unusual but she should be part of it's an open meeting so she should be part

[11:46] of this open meeting.

[11:47] Okay.

[11:48] Thank you.

[11:50] You're welcome.

[11:50] Jen, can you invite Candice to join us if that's okay?

[11:53] Yes, I am.

[12:03] Oh, there she is. I can't ask.

[12:07] So, Candice, you received the memo for me this afternoon,

[12:11] where I sang all of your praises.

[12:14] So, I just got finished kind of summarizing slash.

[12:18] We're reading that out loud to people who we already know can read themselves.

[12:22] But I wanted to make sure that we highlighted all of your strengths

[12:25] and things that your references had shared about you.

[12:29] And the committee has just finished listening to that, and they will be starting their deliberations, and they wanted to make sure you were here.

[12:38] Would you like to unmute and just say hello?

[12:45] I thought I had already done that, apparently not.

[12:48] Hi, thank you for having me tonight.

[12:51] I'm really excited about playing the bill, and I can't wait to get started.

[13:02] Do any of the committee members have any comments or questions for Candace? Please feel free.

[13:09] See, can you hear me?

[13:11] Yes, I can hear you, Sean.

[13:12] All right, I thought I'd moved it, but then I'll move it.

[13:15] I just want to talk about the fact that I was part of this interview period.

[13:21] Period.

[13:22] And I did do the first round of interviews.

[13:24] I know that after my interviews with, I believe, Jen said there were 13 of us.

[13:30] And that is a very tough group to have to come in front of to interview in front of 13 people

[13:36] that you're coming cold. And honestly, Canvas was our first person that we interviewed for

[13:43] her to come in and be our guinea pig. It was a little bit hard as we were feeling out.

[13:51] I mean, honestly, by the fifth one, I was used to asking questions, but by that first

[13:56] one was a little tough.

[13:59] I did not participate in the faculty or the tour or with the parents

[14:02] because I wanted to give everyone else their own answer to deal with Candace and have her feel free to answer whatever questions they had because she had answered all of my questions in that interview process and I am honestly very

[14:18] excited that she was my first choice and the fact that she has been nominated by the committee and by Jen and recommended by Jen as our choice. I'm very happy.

[14:30] I don't have any questions for her, I heard all of her answers and I interview that we went through a lot of them.

[14:41] So I personally know her the background from reading all of her stuff, but I just wanted to put it out there that I am very happy with the fact that this was our first choice.

[14:54] Thank you.

[14:57] Very good. Any other members have some comments or questions?

[15:02] I

[15:05] just want to say thank you so much for going through the process, and I'm thrilled to hear about the recommendations and the references that Dr. Parsons just shared with all of us. And as a parent and a school committee member, it's really nice to hear all the experience you're bringing. And I was not part of the interview process. So I guess my only question would be just that I would love to hear what interest

[15:32] you in Plainville which I'm sure you've shared with others but I would love to hear what's kind

[15:38] of inviting you to Plainville. Yeah so I apologize to people who were on the other because that was a

[15:44] question that was asked in different venues before but you know I'm really excited about just the

[15:50] Pre-K to 6 district. I've spent all of my career in Pre-K to 12 districts and I've been a special

[15:59] education administrator in pre-k to 12 districts for the last 12 years. And you just get spread

[16:08] really thin. And, you know, I was a special teacher in an elementary school. So, you know,

[16:15] that's sort of my roots. So, I'm excited to just really be able to focus my energies on that

[16:20] early childhood and elementary model.

[16:25] Thank you. You're welcome.

[16:29] Victoria, do you have anything you'd

[16:31] I'd like to share, if you can hear me.

[16:37] I can hear you.

[16:38] Candace, I was only able to participate in the Zoom,

[16:42] but I really appreciate you taking the time.

[16:44] I know it was interview after interview

[16:46] and talking, I have to talking and probably answering

[16:48] the same questions.

[16:49] My son is currently in the special education program

[16:53] on Claimville.

[16:54] I have been with all the teachers there,

[16:56] most of them consistently since he joined in November

[16:59] of, I want to say, 20, it was almost right, right, I think like the first year of COVID because he had to wear a mask, I didn't really have to go into school.

[17:11] And I will say knowing F so well and everybody in that program who's so amazing, I think you are a great fit.

[17:21] And the other thing that was just kind of top of mind for me was just making sure we had

[17:25] somebody that, you know, like my son, when he talks, when he has a story to tell, he

[17:30] wants to get it out and sometimes it takes him a little while to gather everything.

[17:35] And I just wanted somebody that I felt like if they were walking down the hall and he stopped

[17:39] them to tell them a story about a Red Sox game that they wouldn't look at they watched, they

[17:43] would say and listen.

[17:44] And I really felt just from missing to you talking all the feedback.

[17:48] So I'm excited.

[17:50] Me too.

[17:56] Very good. Any of the comments or questions from the committee are from the superintendent?

[18:05] No, I, as I said earlier, I think we had a very viable group of candidates, and Candace

[18:13] was absolutely impressive in both her experience, her knowledge, and truly what I see as her

[18:20] potential to take clean the where we are today and help move us forward. And I think all

[18:25] of the things that people just mentioned, including what you said, Victoria, about how important

[18:31] it is, especially in a district of our size for administrators to develop relationships

[18:36] with our students. I really feel like we have the potential for great things to happen with

[18:42] Candace by our side. So, very happy to have this recommendation tonight.

[18:49] Excellent. The chair echoes what the comments have been made. It's certainly an exciting time

[18:55] for us as we welcome a new Director of Special Services and we all have high hopes and high expectations

[19:01] of course and we're confident that your qualifications will enable you to do the job and do the job

[19:06] very well and we please will be pleased to welcome you on board after we vote.

[19:16] So I will be asking

[19:18] for a motion that we appoint Candace Andrade as the new Director of Special Services for the

[19:23] a plain bill public schools. I'd like to make a motion to make

[19:30] candidate, the Director of Student Services, what kind of schools.

[19:35] The second.

[19:37] Moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Hearing none, this will be a roll call vote.

[19:44] Shannon Carrigan. Shannon Carrigan, I say yes.

[19:48] Catherine Stoddard.

[19:49] Catherine Stoddard is a yes.

[19:56] Victoria Lowne.

[19:57] Victoria Lowne is a yes.

[19:59] And the chairman is a yes as well.

[20:00] So we have a unanimous vote.

[20:03] Congratulations to Candace Andrade,

[20:05] our new Director of Student Special Services.

[20:08] Excellent.

[20:09] Thank you so much.

[20:10] I am very excited to come to play in Bill.

[20:14] So just for the committee of information,

[20:16] Candace and I have spoke a little bit.

[20:17] we talked over the weekend and we are starting to put together a little timeline in the event that

[20:24] this vote did go this way this evening. For her starting day, Barbara Sarwanka has committed to

[20:30] remaining in the Planned Old Public Schools through July 10th and so I believe that Candace will be

[20:37] able to work out that she'll be able to begin immediately upon Barbara's departure so we will not

[20:41] have any break in service and she will also work with Barbara to identify some transition

[20:48] days where the two of them will be able to work together and support the transition

[20:54] and make things as smooth as possible.

[20:57] And I will say that because this particular position is one where there tends to be movement

[21:02] among districts, Plainville is now working very collaboratively with Medway, which is where

[21:09] Barbara will be going.

[21:10] and we will continue to work collaboratively with Newport, so if either of these two administrators needs to provide additional support over the summer, they will be able to, the super tensile working out, so every district will have what it needs to make sure that students and all three districts are taking care of obviously most importantly plain fill, but this is kind of how we'll do business to make sure everybody is meeting all of their needs.

[21:35] And Candice and I will talk offline over the next couple of days about her contract and we will get that all set and signed and sealed and delivered and ready for the upcoming year.

[21:53] Good. That sounds like a great plan.

[21:57] Thank you.

[21:59] We do have an agenda item that we're going to take on today for finish with our voting for the moment.

[22:06] any item not anticipated at the time of the posting it's come to my attention that in our

[22:11] zeal to make subcommittee appointments at our last meeting we left out a couple of things

[22:16] and so there is an opening for a vice chairman and we can discuss this and have a vote on who would

[22:25] be interested in serving as vice chairman the vice chairman's duties are largely to fill in the

[22:31] chairman, if he is unable to make a meeting, to work collaboratively with the chairman

[22:36] and the production of the agendas, and basically to be the backup for the meetings.

[22:43] The last vice-chairman went on to become chairman, and that was me, so it does happen that

[22:50] way sometimes.

[22:54] Is anyone particularly a school committee?

[22:56] Well, Steve, I would like to, with that being said, I am on a lot of committees and I have a lot of responsibilities right now.

[23:09] So with taking that responsibility on, not at this very meeting today, but I would like to do this job and maybe restructure after the fact.

[23:25] Some of the other committees that I've volunteered for, to give you a chance to jump on those.

[23:34] I will say Shannon, I would be very happy to jump on a couple of the, I know you're on the wellness committee.

[23:41] If that's something that you'd be interested in offloading, when we discuss at a later point, that's something.

[23:46] I just even want to overload anyone today.

[23:49] I wanted everyone to have a chance to look at where we're all structured.

[23:58] I can take on the sick bank committee.

[24:03] If we can get past this month and then our next one,

[24:07] I'm happy to withdraw from a lot of the committees to make sure that it's spread out more evenly.

[24:16] because I know both of you are very interested in those and then we have Kevin, you know,

[24:24] unfortunately who's on a plane right now, I know that he's interested in some.

[24:28] So I'd like to try to let everyone know that I am willing to be vice chair,

[24:34] but I am also willing to call the other ones that I am on to balance everything out so that we're more of a,

[24:43] It's not all one sided on me, that's not it's a committee we're supposed to be sharing

[24:48] all the students and I don't want it to be my one to be our opinion.

[24:54] I agree.

[24:55] I just, um, Katherine, I think I am on the sick leave, thank you.

[25:00] Oh, sorry.

[25:01] I'm fine.

[25:02] I was right.

[25:02] She didn't take on so many.

[25:04] I just assumed she didn't.

[25:05] No, I think I have, I have sick leave.

[25:07] We have a negotiation committee, we also have a communications committee, you also have

[25:17] the wellness representative and the policy committee.

[25:20] Right.

[25:22] And Shannon, if you just to kind of put out there, if you are interested, I know wellness and

[25:29] policy would definitely things.

[25:30] I was interested in jumping on if they are available.

[25:33] So just when we do it that time, I'd love to put my name in there for those of those.

[25:38] Again, I know Steve, you're looking for this one part.

[25:43] I'm not trying to overload the committee with everything else.

[25:46] And I would like to have Kevin here so he gets his vote and his pick of what he would like to do.

[25:52] Because I know everybody wants to do stuff.

[25:56] but I would give my name all for the vice chair for now.

[26:02] And even that could be redone when Kevin shows up.

[26:06] You know, I know he's he couldn't make it today.

[26:09] And I don't want to take anything from him either.

[26:14] Well, I think the best way to move forward and I'll ask the committee if they agree,

[26:19] would be to accept a nomination for Shannon Carrigan to become Vice Chairman tonight so that that position does not go unfilled in the event that anything changes between now and our next meeting.

[26:31] And we can reconsider the heavy load, heavy load, Shannon is taking on with committee work and reassign some of those at the next meeting if that's the way you'd like to proceed.

[26:44] That's the way I'd like to proceed as long as that's good with everybody else.

[26:48] any feedback on that idea that sounds great sounds good good so I'll accept

[26:56] the nomination to name Shannon Carrigan Vice Chairman of the Plainville Public

[26:59] School Committee I

[27:07] can do that I just don't know the exact wording that I'm

[27:09] supposed to say but I you can say so moved if you like they'll move please thank you

[27:15] is there a second second moved and seconded any further discussion hearing none

[27:22] We'll put the vote and this will be a roll call vote. I believe as well. Is that right? Yes, Dr. Parsons. Yes. Okay, Victoria Lown

[27:33] Catherine. Yes.

[27:37] Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I heard you say yes already. I apologize. These zoom meetings are a little bit challenging for me.

[27:43] So we have a yes vote from Victoria Lown.

[27:47] Catherine started. Yes. Shannon Carrigan. Yes.

[27:52] And the chair agrees and votes yes.

[27:54] So congratulations you are the vice chairman chairman.

[27:56] Thank you.

[27:57] Thank you.

[27:59] And as I said at our next meeting, Dr. Parson, you and I will talk, come up with a little

[28:06] list of who's doing what, which I've kind of put together here on my own.

[28:09] And we can discuss at the next meeting who's going to wind up on what subcommittee.

[28:16] Okay.

[28:17] Good.

[28:19] Before we adjourn, we have to ask, I'm not sure who is in the Zoom call, but if there are

[28:23] any public comments from citizens of faculty.

[28:30] There's no one else.

[28:31] Nothing else.

[28:33] Okay, just wanted to be sure.

[28:35] Now we will be adjourning,

[28:36] but we will be adjourning to executive session briefly.

[28:40] And I will read the reasoning to discuss strategy

[28:43] with respect to collective bargaining or litigation.

[28:45] If an open meeting may have detrimental effect

[28:47] on the bargaining of litigating position

[28:49] of the public body and the chair so declares,

[28:52] to conduct strategy sessions in preparation

[28:54] for negotiations with non-union personnel

[28:56] or to conduct collective bargaining sessions

[28:58] or contract negotiations with non-union personnel.

[29:01] And this will be a roll call vote as well.

[29:04] All those in favor of adjourning to executive session

[29:08] will start with Victoria Lowne.

[29:12] Yes.

[29:13] Thank you. Shannon Carrigan.

[29:15] Yes.

[29:16] Catherine Snowing.

[29:18] Yes.

[29:19] And the Chair votes yes.

[29:20] So we are adjourned to executive session.

[29:22] Thank you very much, all of you.

Plainville School Committee 6-16-26

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