[0:00] So, we are calling to order. Uh, it is

[0:03] 5:05 p.m. on January 13, 2026. This is a

[0:07] meeting of the Central Elementary School

[0:09] Committee. Uh, this meeting is being

[0:11] recorded. Um, the first order on the the

[0:14] first item on the agenda is to review

[0:15] and approve the minutes of October 21st,

[0:17] 2025.

[0:21] We have a motion to approve.

[0:24] >> I'll make a motion to approve the

[0:25] minutes. I will second the motion as the

[0:28] note taker takes the notes.

[0:31] >> Thank you. Is there any discussion of

[0:33] those minutes?

[0:35] >> Yeah. Uh so we need to do a roll call

[0:37] vote because our committee members are

[0:40] um both online and in person. Um do you

[0:42] want to call it off Amanda? Um for the

[0:46] notes Megan?

[0:47] >> Yes.

[0:48] >> Joe?

[0:49] >> Yes.

[0:50] >> Loi?

[0:51] >> Yes.

[0:53] >> Jessica?

[0:53] >> Yes.

[0:54] >> Amanda? Yes. Okay, they are approved by

[0:57] zero. Uh on to financial statements.

[1:00] >> All right. Um 32 warrants were signed

[1:04] since the last meeting uh digitally

[1:06] totaling $225,9461.

[1:12] Um I sent you out the general fund

[1:13] expense report. If you looked at that

[1:15] and saw the teacher line has an overage,

[1:17] it's about $121,000

[1:19] listed as an overage on that expense

[1:21] report. I have my payroll staff looking

[1:24] into that. My hunch is that someone's on

[1:26] the wrong funding source, which just

[1:27] means that we need to move it internally

[1:29] and then I have the town reallocate it

[1:32] appropriately. Um, we definitely don't

[1:34] have not even one extra teacher and that

[1:37] would indicate possibly one and a half

[1:39] extra teachers. There is some overage

[1:42] that I've talked about already from our

[1:44] placeholder and then the contract

[1:46] settlement was a little bit high, but

[1:47] it's certainly not to that degree. So, I

[1:50] am looking in that looking at that

[1:51] further on my end. Um, central office

[1:55] benefits still need to be fully

[1:57] encumbered for the year. We've talked

[2:00] about the impact of health insurance

[2:02] primarily on our other towns and

[2:04] Frontier because Sunderland is with Maya

[2:06] and they did not have that October 1st

[2:09] mid-year increase on insurance, but

[2:11] Sunderland does pay a portion of central

[2:14] office benefits um based on the cost

[2:16] share agreement. So, we're going to

[2:19] exceed that budgeted amount. So, if you

[2:21] look at that line right now, I believe

[2:22] it shows about 20,000 available. That's

[2:25] going to go over this year. Um, I'm

[2:27] working with my team on what the amount

[2:28] to be encumbered is. So, hopefully we'll

[2:30] get that updated for next month. So, the

[2:32] reason I'm sort of talking about those

[2:34] two things is the bottom line budget

[2:36] shows 110,000 available. That's not

[2:39] really a true amount for us right now

[2:41] because of those two changes that need

[2:42] to be made. So, um,

[2:46] 110,000 is a little bit low for this

[2:49] time of year. We still have a good 5 and

[2:51] 1/2 months to get through of purchases.

[2:54] On the positive side, salaries and wages

[2:56] are fully encumbered and with those

[2:58] adjustments will recoup some of that.

[3:01] Um, the primary reason I'm telling you

[3:03] this is there's two pieces. One, we may

[3:06] be talking about the impact of this

[3:08] year's budget on next year and whether

[3:09] or not we need to look to capture any

[3:11] savings. Um, once you see next year's

[3:13] budget, you'll understand that a little

[3:14] bit better. And then two, we have had um

[3:18] one new student enroll at the school.

[3:21] They're currently enrolled that does

[3:23] have uh some higher needs. We thought we

[3:25] were going to have to hire a onetoone

[3:27] IIA. Turns out that student is able to

[3:29] bring the BCBA that it is a BCBA, right,

[3:32] that was working with them um a

[3:34] contracted service provider externally

[3:36] and we won't have to cover those costs.

[3:38] The students insurance is going to cover

[3:40] the cost of that BCBA. So there's no

[3:42] additional cost for us there. Um, but

[3:44] Bed did also learn recently that there

[3:46] may be siblings moving into district

[3:49] from a neighboring town that will have

[3:51] an impact on our finances potentially

[3:53] and the number of IAS that we need.

[3:55] We're still talking about what that

[3:57] looks like if they're really coming

[3:58] because they're not officially enrolled

[4:00] yet. Correct.

[4:01] >> Uh, paperwork has been collected. So

[4:05] >> um and then you know talking with Darius

[4:07] closely between Ben and Darius and and

[4:09] other staff on the ground here of can we

[4:12] cover those needs with exist existing

[4:14] staff. Are we going to need one new IIA

[4:16] versus two and what does that look like?

[4:18] So that has an impact in the current

[4:20] year and next year assuming that those

[4:22] students stay in district. So there's a

[4:25] lot going on in Sunderland as usual. Um,

[4:28] not as pretty of a picture as some of

[4:29] the other schools, but you know, we're

[4:32] not negative funds in the general

[4:37] fund yet. So, we'll we'll keep

[4:39] monitoring it closely

[4:43] as we go through the next few months.

[4:45] So,

[4:46] >> can you tell us a little bit about what

[4:47] circuit breaker reimbursement might look

[4:49] like?

[4:50] >> Um, regarding ones,

[4:52] >> I don't know.

[4:55] I don't want to give you wrong

[4:56] information, but sorry, I have a little

[4:59] bit of a cough from a lingering cold.

[5:02] Um, I just sent an email about this. So,

[5:07] we will see about $55,000 for circuit

[5:10] breaker in the current year. Um, I don't

[5:14] think there's going to be

[5:17] any extraordinary relief, which we did

[5:19] see last year. If your expenses go up

[5:21] suddenly, even though we have these

[5:23] changes in student enrollment and their

[5:25] needs, I don't think we're going to hit

[5:26] the threshold. We have to cover like the

[5:29] first, say it's $45,000 of expenses. Um,

[5:33] so we can potentially tap into circuit

[5:35] breaker to cover some of these needs uh

[5:38] in the current year or talk about using

[5:41] that to help supplement next year

[5:43] because we can roll it over to the next

[5:45] year. So,

[5:50] Are there other questions for Shelley?

[6:00] » Thank you, Shelly.

[6:03] » Uh, principal's reports.

[6:05] >> Great. So, we have a um, you know, I'm

[6:07] going back a couple months here since

[6:09] our last uh, school committee,

[6:11] Sunderland school committee was in

[6:13] October. Then there was the joint one in

[6:15] November and no meeting in December. So

[6:18] again, going back a couple of months, on

[6:20] Friday, November 7th, we held our annual

[6:22] Veterans Day observance ceremony. Once

[6:25] again, we had participation from the

[6:27] local BFW, Post 3295 out of South

[6:30] Deerfield, and the color guard from

[6:31] UMass. Um, the guest speaker this year

[6:35] uh was Sunderland resident um and former

[6:39] Sunderland Elementary School parent uh

[6:41] Lieutenant Colonel Steven Burgess. He's

[6:44] with the Ma Massachusetts Air National

[6:46] Guard at the 104th Fighter Wing um based

[6:50] at Barnes Air National Guard Base in

[6:52] Westfield. Um he's had uh quite the

[6:55] distinguished career. Um multiple

[6:58] deployments in support of different

[6:59] operations. Uh he also served our

[7:01] community as a state police officer for

[7:04] 23 years. Part of his career he worked

[7:06] in the K9 unit and um brought his dog

[7:09] here a few times to um interact with the

[7:12] students.

[7:13] Um, winter concert was held in December,

[7:17] uh, the highlight year of celebrating

[7:19] our growth and successes. Um, it's

[7:22] really, um, incredible seeing the growth

[7:24] of our musicians from that first, uh,

[7:28] lesson up until the concert in December,

[7:30] then even more so in the spring. Um, our

[7:33] music department is super dedicated and

[7:37] um, it's just it's noticed and felt

[7:39] every day. Led by a general music

[7:41] teacher, Sue Matsui, band teacher Megan

[7:43] Carr, and strings teacher Mia

[7:46] Freriedman. So, they put on a wonderful

[7:47] winter concert for our families. Um, as

[7:50] we've talked about in the past, um, we

[7:53] hold monthly meetings, uh, all school

[7:56] meetings as a way to build community. Um

[7:59] the December meeting was held on

[8:00] December 18th. That that was a Thursday

[8:03] hosted by grades three and four. So they

[8:06] co-led the meeting. Um they their focus

[8:10] was on bravery. We also introduced a

[8:12] different character trait of the month.

[8:14] Um December's character trait was

[8:16] bravery. And um they highlighted youth

[8:21] uh throughout the world who um have

[8:24] demonstrated bravery by making

[8:26] significant impacts on um their own

[8:29] surrounding communities and extended

[8:33] um upcoming events. We have our

[8:35] international night celebration

[8:36] scheduled for Thursday, January 22nd.

[8:40] This longstanding Sunderland tradition

[8:43] um is going from 5 to 7. starts off with

[8:45] a potluck meal, potluck dinner. Um,

[8:49] families bring um food in that are

[8:52] important to their own cultural

[8:54] heritage. Um, the group performing this

[8:57] year is Pioneer Valley Performing Arts

[9:00] Schools, um, African and Drum, African

[9:04] drum and dance troop, WOFA. Um, so they

[9:07] are going to perform a, uh, do a

[9:09] presentation on International Night and

[9:11] actually this Thursday they're coming to

[9:13] the school as well.

[9:15] and providing both um dance and drum

[9:18] workshops for students across all grade

[9:21] levels, pre-K through six, and then a

[9:24] having an all school assembly at the end

[9:27] of the day on Thursday as well. We're

[9:29] also using this um the SOPA uh was

[9:34] created by um teacher and artist Alfa

[9:37] Kabiscoco Cabba um also known as Bisco.

[9:40] He's a a teacher at PVPA.

[9:43] And so we're using this as an

[9:45] opportunity for extended learning

[9:47] opportunities um uh of West African

[9:50] culture and uh doing that a few

[9:52] different ways. So say our cafeteria is

[9:57] actually um making a coconut rice

[10:01] pudding dish which is a popular dessert

[10:04] throughout the world um in many

[10:06] different cultures but um in West

[10:08] African uh countries as well. And then

[10:11] our specials teachers are providing

[10:14] extended learning activities whether

[10:16] it's through stories, um art, music,

[10:20] games. Um earlier this week, our PE

[10:23] teacher, uh Christa Merrill was playing

[10:26] Mamba Tag, um so snake tag and um she

[10:29] needed to make it clear that although

[10:31] the snake is poisonous, the tag game is

[10:34] not um for the kids. So, uh, yeah. So,

[10:37] lots of great things happening and, um,

[10:40] we're excited for the upcoming events.

[10:44] >> Yeah. Any questions?

[10:48] » Thanks, Ben. Do we have anybody for

[10:50] public comment? There is nobody in

[10:52] person, only members of the public

[10:54] online.

[11:01] Like a no. Uh, we have no unfinished

[11:02] business. We do have new business. um a

[11:06] budget uh preview.

[11:12] » Darius is going to share a screen. I'll

[11:15] send you out the slide deck tomorrow.

[11:18] That way you have it for your records.

[11:20] >> I sent it to Joe so that you have it

[11:26] » just a minute ago. So it's probably in

[11:27] your inbox.

[11:27] >> All right. Thank you.

[11:28] >> Yep. Sorry. Present.

[11:34] All right. So, first draft of our

[11:36] budget. Um, town meeting for Sunderland

[11:39] is in April. So, the timeline for

[11:41] Sunderland is a little bit more crunch

[11:43] than some of the other towns. But, um,

[11:46] we'll take a deep dive at the first

[11:48] draft. Usually, this is sort of a quick

[11:50] little preview and then we get much more

[11:52] into it in February. But, there's a lot

[11:53] to talk about tonight. Um, so the first

[11:55] thing we're going to talk about is what

[11:56] the level service budget presents as.

[11:58] So, just as a reminder, and especially

[12:00] because we have so many folks online

[12:01] that may not have heard the budget

[12:03] presentation before, uh, level service

[12:05] budget takes the existing staffing and

[12:08] existing programs from the current year,

[12:10] plops them into the new year, and then

[12:12] we develop the budget from there,

[12:14] including cost of living adjustments for

[12:16] the contract and any other um non-wage

[12:19] expenditures that we know are going to

[12:21] have an increase. So the first pass at

[12:24] the budget considering all of those

[12:26] factors brings us in with level service

[12:28] at 7.67%

[12:31] just shy of $300,000 gross. The

[12:34] categories on the screen are the

[12:36] categories that you see in your monthly

[12:38] expense reports. So those are set by

[12:40] DESIE and they dictate where um staff

[12:44] and expenditures fall within the budget.

[12:46] So instruction is primarily related to

[12:48] anyone exactly what it sounds like on

[12:51] the ground in the building teachers IAS

[12:54] um principal

[12:55] any other school-based staff secretaries

[12:58] those kind of positions uh so there is a

[13:01] significant level of growth here that is

[13:03] primarily related or or solely related I

[13:06] should say to cost of living adjustments

[13:08] whether it's for our contracted staff or

[13:11] non-contracted staff. Student services

[13:14] uh is your health office. So any nursing

[13:16] staff as well as transportation. There's

[13:19] some other minor expenses in there, but

[13:21] those are the two big drivers. Uh

[13:23] operations and maintenance is exactly

[13:26] what it sounds like. Building and IT

[13:28] related. Administration is school

[13:31] committee, business office, and

[13:33] superintendent's office. Benefits and

[13:36] insurance is also self-explanatory, but

[13:38] I want to point out here and make clear

[13:40] for everyone is that benefits only

[13:42] pertains to central office when it comes

[13:44] to Sunderland's budget. The town covers

[13:47] benefits for all school-based employees.

[13:49] So, when we're talking about benefits

[13:51] and insurance, we're only talking about

[13:53] Sunderland's portion of central office

[13:55] costs for healthcare. Out of district

[13:57] placement, also self-explanatory.

[14:00] So, we're going to break this down in

[14:01] the next few slides of where that growth

[14:03] is coming from in the 7.67%.

[14:06] First piece we're going to talk about is

[14:08] our wage obligation. So, of the 7.67%,

[14:13] 5.02 is related to wage obligations,

[14:16] about $180,000.

[14:19] The left side of the screen outlines

[14:22] what we have in as placeholders for

[14:24] anyone who's non-union. Uh principal, uh

[14:28] assistant principal, secretary,

[14:29] custodian, cafeteria, any other

[14:32] contracted staff for central office that

[14:35] Sunderland pays a portion of. That's all

[14:37] been taken into consideration in the

[14:38] level service budget. On the right hand

[14:41] side of the slide,

[14:44] you can see um the growth from the unit

[14:47] A and the unit C contract. For unit A,

[14:50] the top step is receiving a 4% COLA. If

[14:54] you are stepping, you're going to

[14:55] receive 3% COLA plus the step averages

[14:58] about 3.22%.

[15:01] And then we do have four faculty who are

[15:03] advancing column. So they've furthered

[15:04] their degree. They're moving up on the

[15:06] salary schedule as far as column

[15:08] placement. those staff depending on the

[15:11] column movement and the step they're in

[15:14] the total increase varies whether it's

[15:16] 6% or 9% there's some range in there

[15:19] some around 7% so it really just depends

[15:22] on where you are in the salary schedule

[15:25] and then um there's minimal growth on

[15:27] unit C and

[15:30] it's not that unit C is not receiving

[15:33] wage increases all of our unit C

[15:35] employees will receive a 5 and a half%

[15:38] because there's a 2 and a half% cola

[15:40] plus a 3% step. We added a new step. So,

[15:43] everyone is moving up. It really just

[15:46] depends on how those positions are

[15:48] funded and where we may have funded them

[15:50] from the prior year. It's always a

[15:52] moving target in this category.

[15:55] And then we did increase summer stipens

[15:57] um by about $9,000 based on actual wages

[16:01] for the current year and the structure

[16:03] that we had in summer programs. were

[16:05] over budget slightly in that line item

[16:07] currently and the structure is going to

[16:08] remain the same moving forward. So of

[16:11] the 7.67%

[16:13] the most significant component for

[16:15] Sunderland is wages. Um part of that I

[16:18] didn't mention this already in talking

[16:20] about uh primarily the unit pay wages.

[16:24] Part of that is in the current year like

[16:26] I just mentioned we had a placeholder in

[16:28] for FY26 when we were doing our

[16:30] negotiations. We settled our contract

[16:33] after the budget was already set. So,

[16:35] we're making up for some portion of that

[16:37] in the new year because it wasn't

[16:40] budgeted. So, um all it's a little bit

[16:43] deceiving of what those numbers look

[16:44] like, but it is an actual increase to

[16:46] cost. The next slide shows our non-wage

[16:49] obligations. There's two factors being

[16:52] attributed here. One is transportation

[16:56] which other than a minimal increase for

[16:59] cola based on the contract the the

[17:02] growth in student services for

[17:04] transportation costs is primarily

[17:06] related to a funding source change. So

[17:08] in the current year we use rural aid to

[17:10] supplement the budget.

[17:12] Um I always back that out so that we can

[17:15] have the conversation about how to use

[17:17] rural aid particularly this year. it

[17:20] could come into play if we actually do

[17:21] need multiple IAS where we have to use

[17:24] that to help fund the current year

[17:25] budget. Um I anticipate that at a

[17:28] minimum some portion even if it's

[17:31] $20,000 of our rural aid allocation will

[17:34] go to help supplement the budget. So

[17:36] that growth will drop down slightly, but

[17:38] I want you to see what that funding

[17:40] source looks like should we not have

[17:41] those funds available. It is not a

[17:44] consistent guaranteed streamlined. We

[17:47] saw that this year in where we were

[17:49] promised consistent growth and there was

[17:52] a reduction at the state level. So I

[17:53] just want us to be aware of that

[17:56] there is real growth under benefits and

[17:58] insurance for the central office portion

[18:00] of the health insurance that Sunderland

[18:02] covers. Um similar theme we had a 101

[18:06] increase of central office insurance

[18:08] benefits because they fall under

[18:09] Frontiers insurance plan which is

[18:11] through Hampshire County Group Insurance

[18:13] Trust. That 20% growth that came in on

[18:16] 101 is unbudgeted, so we're having to

[18:19] cover that in our new budget. Plus,

[18:21] we're projecting a growth for central

[18:23] office health insurance benefits again

[18:25] in the new year of 20%. Um, I will say

[18:29] this that it again it does not cover

[18:32] school employees. I know I mentioned

[18:34] that already, but I just want to hone in

[18:36] on that point because

[18:38] we're hearing rumors that Maya is going

[18:40] to have an increase of somewhere 15 20%

[18:44] as well, which means that the town costs

[18:46] are going to go up. Um, so it's a

[18:48] minimal hit here, but a larger hit to

[18:50] the town's overall budget.

[18:53] Um, next couple slides, uh, we are going

[18:56] to look at grants and revolving funds

[18:58] and then total budget. So, grant and

[19:01] revolving funds, uh, there's a slight

[19:03] dip here. I didn't put in any circuit

[19:05] breaker allocation. Um, we can talk

[19:08] about what that looks like. As Jessica

[19:10] asked, we have about $54,000 available,

[19:13] whether we have to use some of that in

[19:14] 26. We use it all in 27 or we carry over

[19:18] some of it to um the next year. We can

[19:21] add that fund those funds back in and

[19:23] then we can apply some rural aid should

[19:25] we choose to do that as well. So, we'll

[19:26] continue that conversation as we go

[19:29] through the process, but that's

[19:30] primarily why there's a dip because I

[19:31] did not allocate for any rural aid. Um,

[19:34] expenditures otherwise are remaining

[19:36] relatively steady for revolving funds.

[19:41] Next slide shows the total budget uh

[19:43] which comes in at about 4 and a half

[19:45] $4.4 million. Uh, you can see the total

[19:48] general fund plus the revolving funds

[19:50] there which is a growth um of a couple

[19:52] hundred thousand from the prior year.

[19:56] level service budget per student costs.

[19:58] We're coming in at 175 students, almost

[20:01] the same as the prior year. This is

[20:03] based on 101 enrollment. So, when when

[20:06] Ben and Darius and I looked over the

[20:08] projections, those numbers have already

[20:10] changed since 101, whether we've had

[20:12] students come or go. Um, but the way

[20:14] that the state handles uh chapter 70

[20:17] reimbursement and any other kind of

[20:18] reimbursement, it's based on that

[20:20] October 1 deadline. Uh, so just shy of

[20:24] 25,500 per pupil per student.

[20:28] >> What's that?

[20:31] >> Why do I Can I ask a quick question? So

[20:32] it's 25,000 center elementary school.

[20:35] What is it at Frontier per It's a lot

[20:38] lower, right?

[20:39] >> Um, no, it's not.

[20:40] >> It's about the same. It's still 25 27.

[20:43] >> Okay.

[20:46] >> Secondary is usually higher.

[20:48] >> Okay.

[20:49] >> State funding is higher.

[20:50] >> Yeah. I didn't know it kind of is a

[20:51] scale like I

[20:52] >> thought

[20:58] I'm just making programs for secondary

[21:01] students.

[21:03] >> Okay.

[21:05] Next piece of our puzzle is going to be

[21:07] to talk about principal's requests. And

[21:09] when I say principal's requests, um the

[21:11] next slide demonstrates it's principal's

[21:14] needs, not necessarily requests. uh

[21:16] because we are going to talk about the

[21:18] impact of those three students that are

[21:20] coming in uh potentially this year. Uh

[21:23] so the next slide grows our budget by an

[21:26] additional $120,000

[21:28] of which $105,000 is projected for um

[21:32] possible three new instructional

[21:34] assistants and that is based on IEP and

[21:36] student needs for new students uh that

[21:40] are residents of Sunderland. The other

[21:42] requests are minimal, about $15,000,

[21:45] which is about half a percentage point.

[21:47] So, it does make a difference in the

[21:49] budget. Uh, but you can see it's minor

[21:52] to each of those lines. And this is

[21:54] really just based on cost of services,

[21:57] our cost of goods. Um, building general

[22:00] repairs, I don't have to tell any of

[22:01] you, we have deferred maintenance on our

[22:04] building for years and years and years.

[22:06] We have grown that budget slightly over

[22:08] time. I don't think we did last year,

[22:10] but the year before. So, we're trying to

[22:13] ease a little bit more money in there

[22:15] and the cost of repairs is going up.

[22:17] Contractors are costing more. Um, same

[22:20] with general supplies, contracted

[22:22] services, and then curriculum. We are

[22:24] talking with uh Laura Ramsey, our

[22:26] curriculum director, about uh the

[22:28] possibility of covering the curriculum

[22:30] supplies or general supply increases

[22:32] with um a grant or another funding

[22:34] source. So, we can pull that money off

[22:36] of here. But if we could really have all

[22:39] of the needs, this would be what the

[22:41] true cost is. So, our level service uh

[22:44] plus principal request, which I'll give

[22:46] that caveat again, it's not really

[22:49] request, it's me, because we're talking

[22:50] about meeting the needs of our students.

[22:52] We have an obligation to provide special

[22:54] education services where required per

[22:57] IEP. So, this is a little bit different

[22:59] than us saying, "We don't have a math

[23:01] interventionist in Sunderland. We would

[23:03] really like a math interventionist." uh

[23:05] it's a different conversation when we're

[23:07] talking about our requirements for

[23:08] special education. So, we are looking at

[23:12] just shy of $400,000 or just over 11%

[23:16] with the level service plus the

[23:18] principal's budget.

[23:22] Next slide shows uh general fund

[23:24] historical information. I did put some

[23:27] notes on here just as reminders, not

[23:29] even for myself but for all of us of why

[23:31] we had these couple of years that were

[23:34] um a little bit higher than the 3 three

[23:36] and a half%. So in 2024

[23:40] um we adjusted facilities expenditures

[23:42] some based on actuals but also to grow

[23:45] that maintenance budget a little bit and

[23:47] then we added a school adjustment

[23:49] counselor position at $60,000 which am I

[23:53] remembering right that that position no

[23:56] that was the educational team lead that

[23:58] became your vice principal position so

[23:59] you still have this position um in the

[24:02] building and then uh last year we had or

[24:06] 2025 I'm Sorry, last year, not last

[24:08] year, 2025, we had an increase in the

[24:10] transportation contract. That was due to

[24:12] our bid and our contract renewal. It was

[24:14] not actually increased services for

[24:16] transportation, just the growth in the

[24:18] contract.

[24:20] Last year, we did add one new IIA

[24:22] position. Um, what I will say here is,

[24:28] nope, I'm going to speak and I'm going

[24:30] to be wrong. So, I'm going to take that

[24:31] back. I didn't say anything. I was

[24:34] thinking about the 22 that we didn't end

[24:36] up filming this year. Um, so we did add

[24:39] the one new IIA position last year. So

[24:42] we have 21 IAS in the budget. So you can

[24:45] see historically Sunderland has

[24:47] fluctuated I think a little bit more

[24:48] than some of the other elementary

[24:50] schools, but we have advocated for some

[24:53] needs. If you remember with the school

[24:54] adjustment counselor, that was a

[24:56] multi-year conversation um where we

[24:58] really fought to add that position to

[25:00] the building. Um, and then 2026, you

[25:04] know, even at 3.71 without adding a new

[25:07] position, that's not a terrible

[25:09] increase.

[25:11] Uh, projected enrollment is on the next

[25:14] slide. We're looking to be roughly the

[25:17] same next year. Uh, kindergarten is

[25:20] always a point of conversation for us

[25:22] based on the census and what we know

[25:24] right now. We're looking at about 19

[25:26] students in kindergarten. We don't

[25:28] expect that'll stay the same. It rarely

[25:31] does in Sunderland and there could be

[25:33] conversation about needing a second

[25:35] classroom. So let's talk about that a

[25:37] little bit further. The current budget

[25:40] has 12 grade level teachers in it

[25:43] because we have two sections of

[25:45] kindergarten currently. In this model of

[25:48] projection, you can see under K, there

[25:50] is only one section of kindergarten. The

[25:53] odds of us staying there are really low.

[25:55] we're going to need that um additional

[25:58] grade level teacher for kindergarten.

[26:00] However, I wanted to demonstrate based

[26:01] on the data that we have right now. So,

[26:04] that could change by our February

[26:05] meeting where we're sliding that

[26:07] additional teacher back into

[26:08] kindergarten. Um, alternatively, you

[26:11] know, if nothing comes to fruition, we

[26:14] could essentially drop a teaching

[26:15] position. Um, which is always a little

[26:18] bit of a risk here in Sunderland and

[26:19] part of our conversation because we have

[26:21] such a fluid community compared to some

[26:23] of the other elementary schools. So, at

[26:25] this point, the second K teacher is

[26:28] still in the budget. Um, I just wanted

[26:31] you to see enrollment wise what the

[26:32] numbers look like.

[26:36] And finally, on the last slide, uh, just

[26:38] ongoing topics of conversation, thing

[26:41] that things that we're talking about

[26:43] internally as an administration and

[26:45] things that we will need your input on.

[26:47] We're not necessarily

[26:49] um looking for advice or decisions or or

[26:53] um movement moving from this meeting,

[26:55] but next month there will be some more

[26:57] conversations for us to make some

[26:59] decisions. So, we're at about 11%

[27:01] increase for level service and principal

[27:03] budget. 1% budget growth is almost

[27:06] $36,000. So, to put that in perspective,

[27:09] it's about an IIA position at 1%. Uh we

[27:13] have 27.5 unit A members in the

[27:16] building, 21 IAS at level service or 24

[27:20] with the new request which is the 11%

[27:22] increase. I am concerned about early

[27:26] childhood revenues. Uh if you remember,

[27:28] I think in September I shared that we

[27:30] ended the year with a negative balance

[27:32] in early childhood. We had to balance

[27:34] that out with school choice money

[27:35] because it's our only option for quote

[27:38] unquote free cash.

[27:40] Um I am expecting that we're going to

[27:42] have to do some of that again this year.

[27:45] How much is still being determined and

[27:47] some of that uh comes to fruition if we

[27:50] have midyear you know students that turn

[27:53] age three that might be getting special

[27:55] education services through reach and are

[27:58] now eligible to come into the building.

[28:00] So some of that is still a moving target

[28:02] for us. Um school choice revolving funds

[28:06] expenses are exceeding revenues. This is

[28:09] typical conversation in Sunderland. We

[28:11] talk a lot about school choice in the

[28:13] budget process. However,

[28:16] with the school shrinking and some of

[28:18] the changes we've made, if you go back

[28:19] to the enrollment slide, not all of our

[28:22] enrollment has two sections anymore.

[28:24] It's very limited, which means our

[28:26] opportunities for growth in school

[28:28] choice enrollments is minimal, which

[28:30] means our revenue growth is minimal. So,

[28:33] um, when we have outgoing sixth graders,

[28:36] that really creates our opportunity to

[28:38] bring in new students, um, potentially

[28:41] with the new class moving up. But if you

[28:44] look even one year from now, the fifth

[28:47] grade will be at 21 with the existing or

[28:49] the sixth grade, I'm sorry, will be at

[28:51] 21 with the existing three school

[28:53] choice. There's not a lot of opportunity

[28:55] for growth there once those four current

[28:57] sixth graders go out. So, um, it really

[29:01] is it it's a positive thing to right

[29:05] side our budget as our community

[29:07] changes, but it also limits the amount

[29:09] of school choice students that we can

[29:11] capture, which has an impact on us

[29:13] because then it means that we may not

[29:16] necessarily be able to cut the staffing

[29:17] that's being paid from school choice.

[29:20] So, that's where the hardship comes in

[29:21] if we have to roll something onto

[29:23] budget.

[29:24] >> Well, it's really interesting. I need to

[29:25] go 14 217 19 27

[29:28] >> switch that one.

[29:31] >> Yeah. So there's fiveyear plan it's up

[29:36] and down. Up and down.

[29:38] >> Yeah.

[29:40] >> And those class those one classrooms for

[29:42] next year tight. You get 18 19 21.

[29:46] >> Yeah.

[29:47] >> Aside from our current fifth grade group

[29:50] tight. And then in a few years, you

[29:53] know, when those cur when those fourth

[29:55] graders for 27 and 29 become sixth

[29:58] graders, we could have the conversation,

[30:01] do we do reduce the next grade level

[30:04] down to one, but then you have a larger

[30:06] class coming up for second grade. So, it

[30:09] is a moving target. I think eventually

[30:11] we will end up with one section at each

[30:14] grade level, which really impacts the

[30:15] school choice further. So, we're going

[30:17] to have to look closely at

[30:20] staffing compared to enrollment and and

[30:23] see what the impact is um to make some

[30:26] decisions moving forward.

[30:27] >> 3K, early educate, early childhood 27,

[30:31] but that's third and fourth the three

[30:33] and four, right? Third, four. So, it's

[30:36] hard to know what the breakdown probably

[30:38] three. And what's our retention using

[30:40] prek? Do we keep mostly the ones that

[30:42] come to prek? They stay here.

[30:45] We usually keep the Sunderland

[30:46] residents, but our prek will bring in

[30:49] others from other towns. Yeah.

[30:51] >> Yeah. And of the current um anticipated

[30:56] 19 kindergarters,

[30:58] um it's looking like one is would be

[31:01] school choice uh sibling

[31:05] at this point.

[31:06] >> When does this committee vote on school

[31:07] choice for next year?

[31:09] >> Um next month.

[31:10] >> Okay.

[31:15] let's flip back to the um info and

[31:17] ongoing topics. The last slide, please.

[31:19] serious.

[31:21] I think you know the only thing I want

[31:22] to say about school choice before we

[31:24] move that is some people one would

[31:26] question like why do we end up having

[31:28] numbers like 27 when we could have

[31:31] reduced at that time and just there's

[31:34] these numbers change so much because of

[31:38] you know of the

[31:40] people coming and going from Sunderland

[31:42] and so there's a lot more um movement at

[31:44] Sunderland than you know other

[31:46] elementary schools and so I just want to

[31:48] state that that that's not the number

[31:49] that started in first grade as for

[31:52] resident stuff. That's I know you folks

[31:53] probably know this, but for anybody

[31:55] listening like

[31:56] >> well this is next year's um

[31:59] >> class and this that next year's um

[32:02] second grade started off as one class in

[32:04] kindergarten and we had you know a bunch

[32:06] of families move into town.

[32:08] >> Right.

[32:08] >> So,

[32:09] >> right. Yeah. There's a story behind

[32:11] those numbers because if you looked at

[32:12] it and say, well, why didn't you just,

[32:14] you know, why don't you just get rid of

[32:16] seven and you could have one teacher

[32:17] here, right? It would make sense. But

[32:19] that's not how it evolved. There's a

[32:21] story behind those things because if

[32:23] someone looks at this alone, they would

[32:25] say this is proper poor management, you

[32:28] know, because you have two sections when

[32:30] you only have, you know, you shouldn't

[32:31] have taken school choice. But it didn't

[32:33] evolve that way. I just want to say

[32:34] there's a story there because when I

[32:36] look at those numbers like what are we

[32:38] doing, you know, but then you remember

[32:39] that how we got there.

[32:43] » Okay. Um rural aid, I did mention this

[32:46] already. uh we may have the potential to

[32:48] use this 57,000 or 47,000. That is a

[32:52] drop. In the current year, we're using

[32:54] about 65,000. So, this is a decrease in

[32:57] rural aid for us. However, it would be

[33:00] 1.3% which makes a big difference. So,

[33:03] um we'll have to make that decision at

[33:05] some point. I would I would like to sit

[33:07] on that and give us a little bit more

[33:09] time looking at um you know these

[33:12] potential new enrollments and what the

[33:14] impact for the current year is. Um but I

[33:17] would expect that we can use at least

[33:19] some of that money to help supplement

[33:21] next year. Um sick buyback is minimal.

[33:25] Um and the retirement is happening

[33:28] midyear next year. So while we were

[33:31] notified

[33:33] and we have to pay it in fiscal year 27,

[33:36] it's not being paid in July and it's a

[33:39] insignificant amount compared to what it

[33:41] has been in prior years when we've been

[33:42] paying out two or three teachers. So I

[33:45] wouldn't recommend right now that we put

[33:47] this anywhere in our budget. I would

[33:49] recommend that it's on our radar and we

[33:52] talk about it as we go through the next

[33:54] school year. We could use next year's

[33:57] relay allocation even at 47,000 if we

[34:00] had to take 10 out of it for sick

[34:02] buyback. We would still have one

[34:03] percentage point to apply to the budget.

[34:06] We could also look at other funding

[34:08] sources. Um there may also be budget

[34:10] savings next year from vacancies or

[34:12] personnel changes that we can capture

[34:14] that money from. Um, and we're fortunate

[34:18] this year that we're not having to go to

[34:19] the town to ask for an additional

[34:22] warrant article, which is what we have

[34:23] done in prior years to cover sick

[34:25] buyback. So maybe that's beneficial for

[34:28] us because all in all, the school's

[34:32] portion of the town's budget, even if

[34:34] we're asking on a separate warrant, it's

[34:36] still for school funding. So maybe

[34:37] that'll help us fund this budget at a

[34:40] little bit higher percentage point. So

[34:42] retire, someone's going to retire midway

[34:44] next year or we pay them midway.

[34:46] >> Um, they're retired mid year.

[34:48] >> So does that mean we have to replace

[34:49] midy year?

[34:50] >> Yes, that's already accounted for.

[34:51] >> Oh, that is accounted for. Okay, good.

[34:54] >> Um, and I threw this on here today. We

[34:57] don't have to talk about it immediately

[34:59] unless we're feeling like we really have

[35:01] to make some decisions. But what would

[35:03] the midyear Darius is referring to it as

[35:06] a budget frost instead of a budget

[35:08] freeze? um meaning that we're not

[35:11] restricting all dollars of the current

[35:13] budget. If there really is a need,

[35:16] someone would be able to go to Ben for

[35:18] approval of those things. However, we

[35:20] are looking at items um particularly

[35:23] instructional hardware. There may be

[35:26] $20,000 that we could recoup from that

[35:29] line. So, uh Darius is in conversation

[35:31] with Scott Hall about what that would

[35:34] look like if we didn't buy the

[35:36] Chromebooks this year that we would

[35:37] normally buy. um what is that multi-year

[35:40] impact if we don't replace the existing

[35:42] lot. So, we're having those

[35:45] conversations internally as well to see

[35:47] if there's anything that we can save

[35:48] from the current year to put into um

[35:52] school choice as our free cash and use

[35:54] to help supplement next year. Having

[35:57] said all of that, at 11% to get us

[36:01] anywhere near even say five, it's a

[36:04] significant amount of money. So, if we

[36:07] could come up with, you know, 1% from

[36:09] the current budget, 1% from rural aid,

[36:12] um, if we use the circuit breaker money,

[36:16] you know, we're really looking at maybe

[36:18] we're down around 7%.

[36:21] Which still is going to require some

[36:23] conversation, I think, of us and and how

[36:25] we proceed moving forward

[36:27] >> because last year we were 3.8, right?

[36:30] >> Uh, yeah. 3.7, I think. And that's after

[36:33] you went through the budget three times,

[36:35] right? three different drops.

[36:36] >> Yeah,

[36:37] >> but it started not this high. It started

[36:39] more like at six down, right?

[36:41] >> It's pretty high this year compared to

[36:43] prior years.

[36:43] >> Why wouldn't we use the whole rule 1.3

[36:46] and why just try to use some of it?

[36:48] >> So, I think we're going to have to

[36:50] continue to talk about the impact on

[36:51] this year a little bit from having

[36:53] students come in. I mean, Darius and Ben

[36:55] had a conversation in our budget meeting

[36:57] the other day about how this really is

[36:59] an anomaly. Um, there was a student in

[37:02] the fall that came in. So, this makes it

[37:03] four students that became residents of

[37:06] Sunderland in one school year that had

[37:10] special education needs that we were

[37:12] required to meet. So, um, those are

[37:15] challenges that we just have to work

[37:17] through.

[37:18] >> And have we looked at anywhere where the

[37:19] CES can help with any of that? like

[37:24] >> I don't know what

[37:25] >> the things could be one onone's written

[37:30] into their IEPs.

[37:31] >> So here in this building

[37:33] >> well they come to us with that in their

[37:34] IP and we have to honor the IEP until

[37:37] they can be written in. It's hard to

[37:39] remove those kind of supports once

[37:41] they're in there.

[37:43] Um

[37:45] the other side to understand is that

[37:48] when you get up to the 11% the actual

[37:50] growth of the town of Sunderland

[37:54] I don't know the exact number but they

[37:56] were some somewhere under between

[37:58] $400,000 and a half million dollars of

[38:00] growth as a town.

[38:03] If Sunderland's budget is 300,000,

[38:07] Sunderland will also be, you know,

[38:09] Frontier, we're working on what their

[38:11] assessment's going to be. Sunderland has

[38:13] a growth in student population at

[38:15] Frontier, so I think they're going to

[38:16] get hit with a higher assessment.

[38:19] We're going to have to have

[38:20] conversations with the town about how

[38:22] much money does the town have,

[38:23] >> right? Let alone you know what portion

[38:27] do they does the town and this is this

[38:30] is your your work ahead of you as well

[38:33] in the sense of what portion of the town

[38:34] wants to put of their increase in growth

[38:37] goes to education versus the other

[38:39] competitors you know all the other needs

[38:41] of the town so I'm just kind of saying

[38:43] the sense of

[38:46] their big growths and I don't know

[38:50] you know as between now and our next

[38:53] meeting. We have to find out, you know,

[38:56] in conversations and we probably have to

[38:58] do a meeting earlier with do a joint

[39:01] select board finance committee once we

[39:02] understand Frontier's

[39:05] um general ask and that's been arranged.

[39:07] frontier, you know, their committee

[39:10] right now is is waiting, you know,

[39:11] waiting for the assessments to come out

[39:14] and looking at red reductions to that

[39:16] budget, but how far do they have to go

[39:19] has to be determined, right, in

[39:21] reductions um and other ways of

[39:24] supporting, you know, moving them

[39:26] different kind of money, using rural

[39:27] aid, looking at school choice money, you

[39:28] know, that kind of stuff. That all has

[39:30] to be played out. But my concern is the

[39:33] total dollar sign coming from education

[39:35] this year is going to be a tough for the

[39:37] town

[39:39] and it's going to require conversations

[39:41] and maybe it's either town picks it up

[39:43] and says the other groups are going to

[39:45] get less within the town. Maybe you know

[39:47] all the other things you know that could

[39:49] apply to that. Um and I don't know what

[39:53] they have in reserves. I don't know what

[39:55] they have for free cash. Those are kind

[39:56] of things that we'd have to go to the

[39:57] select board and finance committee to

[39:59] have a conversation about. Um

[40:02] there's also the concern that you know

[40:05] this the insurance thing is also hitting

[40:08] the town. So

[40:12] if we we did some quick math in

[40:14] Deerfield

[40:15] that if we were to pick up the growth of

[40:19] the

[40:21] um insurance alone on teachers and staff

[40:24] there it was over two and a half%.

[40:27] So that means they're if they're if

[40:30] they're going to budget similarly hold

[40:32] doing you know 20% holder that's with a

[40:34] 20% holder you know with the my

[40:36] insurance

[40:38] you know that's going to be several

[40:40] percentiles of our budget as well. So

[40:42] you can add that kind of on. So it's

[40:44] probably going to be I'm doing some kind

[40:46] of rough numbers and percentage and you

[40:47] know shoot me down if you think I'm

[40:48] getting a little too crazy but you know

[40:50] they're going to have you know $80,000

[40:52] increase on insurance alone from their

[40:54] budget. So if you add that to this, the

[40:57] growth of last year's town is going to

[40:59] be

[41:01] pretty much absorbed just by the

[41:03] elementary school alone. We haven't even

[41:04] talked about where the other schools are

[41:07] coming in, where police and fire are

[41:08] coming in and so forth. And so is it

[41:11] screaming that they may have to do an

[41:12] override? You know, that's going to let

[41:14] them have that conversation. But there's

[41:16] a lot of um

[41:18] conversations that you we're going to

[41:19] have with them because I don't know how

[41:22] this gets funded straight up. I agree. I

[41:24] think we started finance last night and

[41:27] we had the police and the highway. They

[41:30] were talking about 18%

[41:32] estimated insurance impact. They were

[41:35] talking about colas. They all had some

[41:39] pretty important things they to take

[41:40] care and they're working as hard to keep

[41:41] their budget as low as possible. They

[41:44] understand, but we still got a lot of

[41:47] budgets to go over and I think as soon

[41:49] the school gets in there and just says,

[41:50] "Listen, this is where we're at." um is

[41:53] really important. We we talked I talked

[41:56] last night about how well you guys did

[41:57] last year, you know, cutting it down,

[41:59] cutting them down, but I didn't see

[42:00] these numbers yet. So,

[42:02] >> sure.

[42:02] >> Um I I agree you should. We're having

[42:05] we're actually having a South County

[42:08] meeting. So, Weightley, Deerfield, and

[42:11] Sunderland,

[42:12] but not Conway because it's about South

[42:14] County

[42:15] >> EMS.

[42:16] and um in the senior center. Uh we

[42:20] talked about maybe trying to have all

[42:21] four towns come together financing to

[42:24] hear Frontier and also hear um the text.

[42:29] So that may be an opportunity. So all

[42:31] those things we haven't done before, but

[42:33] we were talking about trying to it

[42:34] actually borrows something that we've

[42:35] been doing with joint meetings with

[42:39] our our smaller towns like the Deerfield

[42:41] Sunderland joint meetings. So um to be

[42:44] more efficient but also to get

[42:45] everything out on the table. So yeah, I

[42:47] agree. you probably should give contact

[42:49] them. Yeah, I I think the we we're kind

[42:52] of I've had you know because I've been

[42:55] talking with the town administrators

[42:56] like alluding to doing this but it

[42:58] really is until we have the assessment

[43:00] numbers it's a lot of spitballing and

[43:02] you know we can we know it's going to be

[43:05] we can guess where it's going to be

[43:08] um higher than others you know um but I

[43:11] just don't just don't I don't know the

[43:12] numbers as we said we can

[43:15] I think a lot of it's going to get

[43:16] really busy after the 23rd

[43:19] And so we can figure out, you know, um

[43:24] I think there will be outreach to figure

[43:25] out do we do a joint meeting, we

[43:27] certainly have to. There's going to be a

[43:28] lot of more meetings in the sense of um

[43:31] communicating with those those bodies

[43:33] about this is what it means, right? And

[43:36] so if we say we have to reduce budget,

[43:38] they have to understand what it means to

[43:40] do our with our programming and that

[43:41] kind of stuff. And I don't know um what

[43:45] the you know semolin just has a the

[43:47] price per student as you brought up

[43:48] earlier is the highest but the needs are

[43:51] higher here um and it's just based on um

[43:55] the different populations that were

[43:56] we're serving here that isn't as high in

[43:58] some of the some of the other schools

[44:00] and so

[44:02] um yeah it's that's the road ahead

[44:10] » in terms of state funding. This is just

[44:13] assuming hold harmless.

[44:19] Yeah, I don't think there's definitely

[44:20] not been enough growth in resident

[44:23] um enrollment to impact where

[44:30] » I saw on the division of local services

[44:32] website that allegedly Sunderland's um

[44:36] per capita income made a huge jump this

[44:38] year, but we'll just

[44:40] >> that'll impact Frontier.

[44:41] >> Okay, that was kind of what I was

[44:43] wondering. I was realizing that's not

[44:44] for this meeting. Yeah, it won't impact

[44:46] the elementary school, but it will

[44:48] impact how much the state says

[44:50] Sunderland can afford to pay for

[44:52] Frontier.

[44:53] >> Okay.

[44:53] >> Which is always the moving target.

[44:55] >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[44:58] >> Um, it's always the moving target in the

[45:00] assessment. I mean, I could calculate

[45:02] what the rest of the local contribution

[45:04] is right now, but we don't know what the

[45:06] state says that each town can afford.

[45:09] >> Okay.

[45:10] And if it's a double hit where

[45:12] enrollment went up for Frontier in

[45:15] Sunderland for for Sunderland residents

[45:17] that go to Frontier and the income grew

[45:20] and house values went up, like it could

[45:23] be

[45:26] multi- impact,

[45:29] >> right? But Sunderland for Frontier has

[45:31] and I know Jessica knows because she's

[45:32] there, but has an enrollment increase in

[45:34] percentage where the other towns have

[45:37] come down even though it's only up a

[45:38] few. It's going to because the others

[45:39] went down as well. It's going to be a

[45:41] double hit on the assessment.

[45:44] >> Now,

[45:46] what about again, we'll shift to the

[45:48] frontier, but I heard there's between 20

[45:50] and 30 kids applying out. Is that

[45:53] accurate?

[45:54] >> Out to where?

[45:55] >> Out to private schools. And would that

[45:58] change? But you won't know that.

[45:59] >> Well, it it's not money going out. If

[46:01] they go to private schools, we don't

[46:03] obviously there's no funding that

[46:04] follows them. Um but

[46:06] >> but the foundation enrollment would come

[46:09] down from those towns.

[46:11] >> But when do they calculate the following

[46:13] year, right?

[46:14] >> The following October one report.

[46:15] >> Oh, they do. Okay.

[46:19] So we wouldn't there would be into the

[46:21] next year that would if that was the

[46:24] case

[46:24] >> and you know um

[46:28] we lose we can range for that many

[46:30] students you know that that do that go

[46:33] to private um between five and 13

[46:38] depending on

[46:39] >> depending on the class depending on um

[46:42] >> 20 seems high though

[46:43] >> 22 seems high

[46:45] >> um and then als Also, some of those

[46:46] students may be choice students,

[46:48] >> right?

[46:48] >> Sometimes we you know, you know, they've

[46:50] been part of our community forever,

[46:51] though. We don't look at it that way.

[46:52] But,

[46:53] >> you know, the same thing kind of happens

[46:55] when um

[46:57] you know the leaks you drop with tech

[47:00] students. Not many students who choice

[47:02] to us then go to tech. They usually

[47:03] choice to us and stay with us.

[47:05] >> Um but there are a few that you know

[47:07] sometimes do lose numbers that way. But

[47:10] >> and the tech the students leave in our

[47:13] system and go to tech. Is that deter

[47:15] when is that determining?

[47:17] That's junior high kids, right? Mostly,

[47:19] right?

[47:20] >> Yeah. So, 8th grade, they start the

[47:22] application process now. Um,

[47:27] we usually know in April.

[47:29] >> Okay. And how does that affect our

[47:31] funding? Just

[47:32] >> it doesn't affect Well, if we lose

[47:35] students on the overall,

[47:38] again, a foundation numbers go down. Um

[47:43] but then you know then the bill comes

[47:45] from the new students going to tech and

[47:47] tech is is tough to regulate and we had

[47:50] this conversation today in another

[47:52] meeting because

[47:54] >> you know they have 13 or 18 communities

[47:56] I mean they serve it's it's a crazy

[47:58] number and

[48:00] you know your cost goes up by a student

[48:03] or drops by a student one or two in most

[48:05] of our small towns

[48:07] >> um of not one or two students more but

[48:09] one or two whatever the average is like

[48:11] you have 10 going out, then you have

[48:12] nine going out, then you have 12 going

[48:14] out. And the statement that they say at

[48:16] town meeting is, yeah, their budget

[48:18] keeps going up. They never talk about

[48:19] that. They just say, oh, you're you're

[48:21] thinking up is up this year due to

[48:23] increased enrollment.

[48:24] >> And there's never really a collective

[48:26] conversation about what the overall cost

[48:28] of the budget is. And so, um, there's a little bit less accountability

[48:33] there. Um I would say within that I

[48:37] don't think that they've gone crazy with

[48:39] their increases but um it's just that's

[48:42] how it comes through and so I don't have

[48:44] no idea what the tech budget is or the

[48:46] VO budget.

[48:47] >> Yeah. When we look I mean just maybe I

[48:49] should get back to something but when we

[48:50] look at it it's it's such a small amount

[48:54] compared to our budget for Frontier that

[48:56] it's kind of like just a rubber stamp

[48:57] like yeah that's doesn't seem like that

[48:59] much seems like a deal. All right, here

[49:00] we go. And he's going to the tech is

[49:02] going to 18 19 different town meetings

[49:06] and and the ones that are the biggest

[49:08] are Falls and Greenfield. You know, they

[49:10] have they're the ones that have the big

[49:12] expenses, but not really us. So, we're

[49:14] really focused on Frontier and

[49:17] Sunderland.

[49:27] » Any further questions or discussion? I

[49:29] had um All right. So, what was it? Um

[49:34] the 20% placeholder that's just we're

[49:36] just assuming, right? That's based on

[49:39] what happened with the other insurance

[49:42] company for the other towns and because

[49:45] we did 18 for our MI for MIA.

[49:49] >> Um

[49:50] >> so, the town may have some info from

[49:53] Maya already about the range that

[49:56] they're looking at. Yeah,

[49:57] >> we don't have that yet for Hampshire

[49:59] County Group Insurance Trust for

[50:01] Frontier, which is where the central

[50:02] office benefits come from.

[50:04] >> Okay, that's why.

[50:05] >> Um, and I'm trying to be

[50:08] as most prepared as possible. So, the

[50:11] 20% could be a little bit high by a

[50:14] couple of percentage points, but I

[50:16] certainly don't want to be on the other

[50:18] end where I only budgeted 15 and it

[50:20] comes in at 20.

[50:21] >> No, it's better to budget that one

[50:23] especially because you can, you know, if

[50:24] you don't make it, you can borrow, but

[50:25] you don't, you're right. you don't want

[50:26] to be under. And then the question for

[50:28] Ben, any any turnover anticipation

[50:32] except for that person retiring next

[50:34] year

[50:36] >> of staffing.

[50:37] >> Yeah,

[50:38] >> we well we have our wonderful longtime

[50:41] English learner teacher Matthew Hell.

[50:43] He's um retiring in at the end of March

[50:47] of of this year.

[50:48] >> Okay. Um we our plan is we've posted for

[50:52] a long-term sub uh to carry us through

[50:55] the end of the year but we will be um

[50:58] you know opening up a search position

[51:01] >> and that's not a position that could be

[51:03] built internally like an IIA moving out

[51:05] no one is anyone qualified internally.

[51:08] >> Yeah we we definitely have some folks uh

[51:10] qualified internally for that position.

[51:13] Um you know there's just a lot of

[51:15] different moving parts.

[51:18] Yeah,

[51:18] >> but that's not going to be a reduction,

[51:20] >> right? Well, reduction higher on the

[51:23] scale versus lower on scale

[51:24] >> which is already incorporated into the

[51:26] budget. So any retirements that I know

[51:28] of or anyone leaving for any reason that

[51:31] I know of at this point, I've already

[51:34] accounted for a reduction in where

[51:35] they've gone.

[51:36] >> And how do you do it? You account for

[51:38] You don't go the lowest step. You count

[51:40] >> No, we go middle range. And actually, I

[51:42] go a little bit higher because our

[51:45] applicant pools have been so small.

[51:47] districtwide for any position,

[51:51] >> you know, and you know, right now we're

[51:53] not anticipating any other faculty

[51:56] member changes um for instructional

[51:59] assistance. That, you know, historically

[52:01] has been a position that there is some

[52:03] fluctuation each year.

[52:10] » Last week, you had the Frontier School

[52:11] Committee vote on a soft freeze. Do you

[52:13] want any action from us this evening?

[52:18] Um

[52:25] we

[52:27] some of the biggest areas uh uh soft

[52:30] freeze is technology.

[52:33] Um and we reached out and I reached out

[52:36] we had meetings with you know um Scott

[52:38] Paul our technology director to talk

[52:40] about what the impact of that is and

[52:42] what the musthaves he has. Um he kind of

[52:45] reported back that he absolutely needs

[52:46] about 10 rounding up slightly but at

[52:49] around $10,000 to redo the server.

[52:52] Without it, we won't be protected going

[52:54] into the next year because it's it's uh

[52:57] falling out of warranty or something

[52:58] like whatever the story is. Is it the

[53:00] must?

[53:02] He talked about

[53:04] the Chromebook buys from this year being

[53:05] pushed to another year, but then they

[53:07] would be musts next year. Um he kind of

[53:10] gave us a rundown of that. So when we do

[53:12] a frost, that would be one area where we

[53:14] would see the most gain. Um the

[53:16] daytoday, I don't know what you there's

[53:18] not a lot of day-to-day

[53:20] um needs

[53:24] that

[53:26] they're coming across as wants.

[53:28] >> No, there's really not. Um, so the other

[53:30] piece at times is just our our general

[53:33] repairs, but like

[53:35] >> you know, we sometimes look forward to

[53:38] extra money at the end of the school

[53:39] year for just the deferred maintenance.

[53:42] Um, but you know, a lot can happen

[53:44] between now and the end of the school

[53:46] year. So, but I guess by I guess I guess

[53:49] it would be good to do a vote on that

[53:50] because what you're saying is that you

[53:52] want the administration to prioritize

[53:54] saving money, not saving money for the

[53:56] end of year to do some painting and do

[53:58] some whatever. But we are saving to

[54:00] offset next year's budget. And if we're

[54:04] going to start doing that, I think it

[54:05] should come from the top. And that

[54:07] that's what we want to do here. But I I

[54:09] want people to know when I say frosting

[54:11] the budget, we're going to stop we're

[54:12] going to slow teacher spending

[54:15] and you know teach all the teachers

[54:16] online can say we're not spending a

[54:18] whole lot. You know what I mean? It's

[54:19] not like it's not like you know you know

[54:21] it's especially at this point of the

[54:22] year you've already got the basic

[54:23] classroom supplies but as I you know I

[54:25] explained I had a meeting with frontier

[54:27] teachers today to talk with them about

[54:29] the frontier budget and and one of my

[54:31] definitions well sometimes you go and

[54:33] buy posters right you don't need to buy

[54:35] posters sure you know I mean it's a

[54:37] that's a that's a want not a need um if

[54:40] you need you know there are needs in

[54:42] your classroom where you have to get the

[54:44] manipulatives for the certain unit that

[54:46] you're working on in order for it to be

[54:47] successful and and Ben becomes the

[54:49] gatekeeper of that and so um you know

[54:53] and it's also about cost and impact and

[54:55] number of students you know it's that

[54:56] kind of stuff that he can you know we we

[54:58] normally do but with a little bit more

[55:01] um fidelity I guess and then

[55:04] >> and I I think there's plenty of lines

[55:05] where we can capture 1% of the budget

[55:08] without impacting

[55:10] um student you know needs and and

[55:13] teacher needs. You know, I I think

[55:15] people should be mindful of what they're

[55:17] purchasing and make sure that you're

[55:19] getting it from a preferred vendor and

[55:22] at the cheapest price possible. And you

[55:25] know, when you would normally buy five

[55:27] dozen of a folder so you have some for

[55:29] next year, just buy what you need right

[55:32] now. But between the tech line, which

[55:35] does have an impact in the long run, but

[55:37] if we can put it off for one year,

[55:40] that's a good position for us to look at

[55:42] or or account for us to look at. other

[55:44] things like superintendent's office. If

[55:48] Darius and I don't do our PD this year,

[55:50] that money automatically gets recouped.

[55:52] You know, our association memberships

[55:54] are already paid for, but I don't have

[55:56] to go to the conference for my

[55:58] association in May this year. You know,

[56:01] those kind of things. Um, you didn't

[56:03] make it to MASC, so there's savings in

[56:06] those lines. Um, you know, the little

[56:08] bits and pieces I think will help us add

[56:11] up. Um, while we can't, uh, freeze PD

[56:15] without negotiating as part of the

[56:17] contract, they're typically in

[56:19] Sunderland is some money left there. Um,

[56:22] normally I would say the substitute

[56:24] line, but that's you've you've had quite

[56:26] a few subs in. So, I don't think that'll

[56:28] be an option, but I do think there's

[56:30] other places besides classroom supplies

[56:32] and materials and general supplies and

[56:34] materials. But just having that

[56:35] awareness, you know, I don't know if

[56:37] this happens here, but I know at

[56:38] Frontier if the custodian has the

[56:41] opportunity to stock the closet in May

[56:44] of toilet paper and paper towels, he

[56:46] will do that if he has budget money

[56:47] available. But don't do that. Wait till

[56:50] July one and restock your closet. So

[56:53] just those sort of conscious um

[56:55] purchasing decisions I think will help

[56:57] us save. And it is unfortunate because

[56:59] we we have benefited from several years

[57:02] now of being able to do some deferred

[57:04] maintenance. We painted the building

[57:06] last year um internally a bunch of of

[57:08] spaces and I just don't think those are

[57:10] going to be an option for us. But what

[57:12] are our priorities? You know, repainting

[57:15] the classroom or saving a position that

[57:17] we need in the budget to meet the needs

[57:19] of our students. So, we're just sort of

[57:22] talking about prioritizing how we spend

[57:25] our money in a different way than we

[57:27] usually do.

[57:28] If that ice

[57:33] » now with PD you the cloud offers a lot

[57:37] of PD

[57:39] have we and we're paying for members pay

[57:42] four four bucks a person I think or 450

[57:46] in looking ahead to next year can the

[57:49] schedule utilize the collaborives PDS at

[57:52] a lower cost than will it outside be

[57:55] better without

[57:57] changing

[57:58] the value of the PD. You know, I despise

[58:00] something you and Laura have to work on.

[58:01] But that's just a thought. I know we,

[58:03] you know, I've just been getting more

[58:04] and more involved with this

[58:05] collaborative. I'm just wondering where

[58:07] we can use it for Frontier and for

[58:09] Sunland. Um because it offers a lot um

[58:13] but a lot of it's special ed, but there

[58:16] are a lot of PD that they have. So, just

[58:20] a thought I can I'll dig deep into and

[58:22] I'll talk to you more about what you

[58:23] mean. Great. I hope you get a lot of

[58:25] notes. I mean grants.

[58:28] >> Yeah. And when you talk about also about

[58:30] PD, so anything that's in a teacher's

[58:33] contract is contractually driven. So if

[58:36] teachers are I forget I should know on

[58:39] top of my head and I don't but um what

[58:41] the proportion they get through the

[58:43] contract that for professional

[58:45] development isn't frozen.

[58:47] >> So we are contractually obligated. Um,

[58:51] the way around that is you you could

[58:54] technically meet with the association

[58:55] and see if they would agree to freeze

[58:57] their professional development, but I

[59:00] don't think that's that's necessary that

[59:01] they could agree to you can always alter

[59:05] within the with within an

[59:06] >> tuition reimbursement.

[59:09] >> For example, tuition reimbursement,

[59:10] whatever. I'm just talking about like

[59:12] you're not allowed to touch anything

[59:13] that's in the contract. So if we have

[59:16] tuition reimbursement or you know for

[59:18] their own personal PD and that kind of

[59:20] thing that's not affected by the freeze.

[59:22] However um if you ever if it was

[59:25] something was

[59:26] >> more even more catastrophic you could

[59:28] meet negotiate with the association

[59:30] about limiting something within their

[59:32] contract. We're just talking about how

[59:33] it works

[59:34] >> and those listening we're not there yet

[59:36] but I just want it's important to

[59:37] understand when people say well I heard

[59:38] another district said they did that.

[59:40] Well, this is what you can do. Meaning

[59:42] in the contract can be discussed, right?

[59:43] It's just we can't unilaterally do

[59:45] something without them.

[59:59] Thank you all for your hard and

[1:00:00] thoughtful work on this

[1:00:04] » a difficult thing

[1:00:07] I

[1:00:07] >> say and articulation. I appreciate all

[1:00:09] that you do to explain that for us.

[1:00:11] >> Yeah.

[1:00:12] >> That was very informative.

[1:00:14] >> When is our next meeting? Let me know. I

[1:00:17] thought I found it. Um

[1:00:20] is the February 11th.

[1:00:26] his vacations the following week.

[1:00:28] >> Yeah.

[1:00:29] >> I was just trying to think like

[1:00:32] >> as soon as we have the frontier

[1:00:37] numbers and such, we really do need to

[1:00:39] start reaching out and talking with town

[1:00:40] about what kind of conversation they

[1:00:42] want to have with us in February.

[1:00:44] >> And so I'm just saying that to kind of

[1:00:46] close this conversation for next steps.

[1:00:48] one is that you know we're going to you

[1:00:50] know is opening of that conversation. So

[1:00:55] um

[1:00:57] I'm just looking at for thoughts on

[1:00:58] that.

[1:00:59] >> So we finance select board is talking

[1:01:02] budget on the 9th.

[1:01:03] >> Okay.

[1:01:04] >> Now that possibly could be moved to 10th

[1:01:07] or the 11th if they're off or we can

[1:01:09] move ours but that's our next so we

[1:01:12] we're basically doing every two weeks

[1:01:13] from now until the end of time. But um

[1:01:19] And I could I could look ahead to see

[1:01:21] what budget

[1:01:22] I can I can tell you.

[1:01:25] I mean, keep doing what you're doing,

[1:01:26] but I'll tell you what is actually

[1:01:28] scheduled for that budget. Right now,

[1:01:31] >> it might be the tech school.

[1:01:35] » All right. I guess so. We'll we'll we

[1:01:37] can talk more about that's you know,

[1:01:39] that's scheduling a meeting so that can

[1:01:40] actually talked about away from the

[1:01:41] meeting. We don't actually have to do

[1:01:43] that. We don't have to do that now. And

[1:01:44] that's something that can be discussed

[1:01:45] via email. scheduling of meetings can

[1:01:47] be. So, I just wanted that to be on

[1:01:50] people's radar that we really aren't

[1:01:51] going to put the whole thing on hold

[1:01:52] until we see you again in February. We

[1:01:54] really once we get this information, we

[1:01:56] got to start reaching out, start talking

[1:01:57] to people so that um everybody knows

[1:02:00] what's going on and then we can have

[1:02:01] more constructive conversations.

[1:02:03] >> Great. Thank you.

[1:02:05] >> Moving on to the school improvement

[1:02:07] plan.

[1:02:08] >> Great. Um our school council has um met

[1:02:14] a couple times so far this year. We have

[1:02:19] a couple staff members as part of our

[1:02:21] team. We have two caregivers and have

[1:02:24] been struggling to line up a community

[1:02:26] member up until last week I met with

[1:02:28] someone who was going to be joining our

[1:02:30] group. So um good news on that front.

[1:02:33] Our school improvement plan uh flows

[1:02:36] down from the district's strategic plan.

[1:02:39] This year we have three overarching

[1:02:41] goals with a lot of action steps under

[1:02:44] each of those goals. Uh the goals are

[1:02:47] ensuring a positive school climate. Um

[1:02:51] then goal two is based on curriculum and

[1:02:54] instruction where we're ensuring

[1:02:55] rigorous, accessible, and inclusive

[1:02:57] educational experiences for all

[1:02:59] students. And then finally, goal three,

[1:03:01] school culture and community, where

[1:03:04] we're ensuring uh sustaining high

[1:03:06] community involvement through

[1:03:07] accessible, frequent, inclusive events

[1:03:09] and initiatives. Um the community

[1:03:13] includes caregivers, students, staff,

[1:03:16] and uh community organizations.

[1:03:20] So we restructured the plan a little bit

[1:03:22] from previous years. Um one example is

[1:03:25] that we had previously had um

[1:03:28] implementing responsive classroom

[1:03:30] protocols

[1:03:32] um and a responsive classroom as it as

[1:03:35] an individual goal that has since been

[1:03:37] moved to um an action step under goal

[1:03:41] one um ensuring a positive school

[1:03:43] climate and um yeah so overall we're

[1:03:47] making really good progress at at this

[1:03:50] point. Um, one of the, you know, I guess

[1:03:53] somewhat exciting components of this,

[1:03:56] um, when it, uh, specifically involves

[1:03:59] the school extended school community has

[1:04:02] been our farm-to-school initiative. Um,

[1:04:07] uh, Megan is on the committee for the

[1:04:10] district and we've already connected

[1:04:13] with local farms, um, at times this

[1:04:16] school year and we've had a couple

[1:04:19] different field trips taking place. Um,

[1:04:21] our fifth and sixth graders went to

[1:04:23] Warner Farm. Um, we had students in

[1:04:26] grades one,

[1:04:28] uh, grade three, four, and grade six go

[1:04:33] to Thomas Farm. Um, and then we've had

[1:04:37] donations from both Warner Farm and

[1:04:40] Smaroski Farm as as well. So, you know,

[1:04:44] I I sent this out. Um, we you'd received

[1:04:48] this in advance. Do you have any

[1:04:49] specific questions about the school

[1:04:51] improvement plan at this point?

[1:04:56] >> I don't

[1:04:58] speak to everyone, but

[1:05:00] >> Well, yeah. Are you gonna say something?

[1:05:03] The only thing we talked about in the

[1:05:05] council, similar to sharing the well,

[1:05:07] because we talked about our school

[1:05:10] council interacting with the other town

[1:05:13] school council, see what their their

[1:05:14] plans look like too, to see are they

[1:05:17] very similar, are they very different?

[1:05:18] And so we've been that's something that

[1:05:20] came up.

[1:05:20] >> Correct. And and um we are waiting for

[1:05:23] those plans and I've already been in

[1:05:26] touch with the other principles. So,

[1:05:27] we're waiting for those plans to be

[1:05:29] finalized and then I'll bring them to

[1:05:31] our next our next meeting

[1:05:33] >> and also the work that you're doing with

[1:05:34] the other principles in your

[1:05:37] >> learn your

[1:05:39] studies, right?

[1:05:40] >> Y um uh also for the past couple years

[1:05:44] we've used uh the school council as an

[1:05:46] opportunity to do a book study and we're

[1:05:48] once again uh doing that this year. We

[1:05:51] are reading What Happened to You um

[1:05:54] which is a book co-written by Oprah

[1:05:56] Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry. Um the book

[1:06:01] uh focuses on how child one's childhood

[1:06:04] experiences whether from uh being in

[1:06:07] utero to the first few weeks, months um

[1:06:10] of life uh then shape behavior later on.

[1:06:15] So, it's been a really interesting read

[1:06:17] up to this point. And um yeah, I think

[1:06:22] we're pretty pretty decent shape.

[1:06:25] >> And yeah, the key point is the common

[1:06:28] question I've done it coaching teaching

[1:06:30] before like what's wrong with you,

[1:06:33] right?

[1:06:33] >> And not that comment and like you know

[1:06:35] what's happening you put me in this

[1:06:37] place. So, it's it's been really

[1:06:39] informative.

[1:06:43] I appreciated the book study when I was

[1:06:45] on Yes. school council. It was a really

[1:06:46] good experience.

[1:06:49] >> I appreciate the uh school improvement

[1:06:52] plan that it's very clear and concrete.

[1:06:54] Familiar?

[1:06:55] >> Yes.

[1:06:56] >> Any more questions or discussion about

[1:06:59] the school improvement plan before we

[1:07:00] vote on it?

[1:07:02] Right. We need a motion to approve the

[1:07:04] school improvement.

[1:07:06] A

[1:07:06] >> motion to approve. A second.

[1:07:09] Thank you. Any further discussion?

[1:07:13] And then do we do the roll call?

[1:07:15] >> Megan,

[1:07:16] >> yes. Blue eye.

[1:07:18] >> Yes.

[1:07:20] >> Joe,

[1:07:20] >> yes.

[1:07:22] >> Amanda, yes.

[1:07:24] >> All right. The school improvement plan

[1:07:25] has been approved. 5-0. Moving on to

[1:07:28] appointing a member to the

[1:07:29] superintendent agreement subcommittee.

[1:07:31] Do you want to explain this?

[1:07:32] >> Sure. the a few years back we created a

[1:07:35] superintendent agreement to kind of

[1:07:38] supplement the fact that we don't have a

[1:07:40] strong or 38 agreement. Um

[1:07:44] >> I'm just going all the town archives

[1:07:45] that

[1:07:47] >> no one's found it. If someone finds

[1:07:48] their attic, please bring it forward. Um

[1:07:52] and part of that so in that plan

[1:07:54] basically um you know it gave some

[1:07:56] guidance on how to um hire dismiss the

[1:08:00] superintendent

[1:08:01] um and gave some some language in there.

[1:08:04] it says that we will review it

[1:08:06] every two years um and so we're due to

[1:08:09] review it. At the same time, there's

[1:08:10] also talk about um should we start

[1:08:12] adding to it and adding some of the

[1:08:15] other things that we do collectively as

[1:08:16] a joint committee to just formalize it

[1:08:19] in language and structure so that the

[1:08:21] good practices that we're doing can

[1:08:23] carry on and be formalized. And an

[1:08:26] example of that would be um let's say we

[1:08:29] went to approve the school calendar and

[1:08:32] um this committee was just diehard

[1:08:35] summer people and like we're not coming

[1:08:36] back to school till after Labor Day and

[1:08:39] you know and the rest of the committee

[1:08:40] is like well we usually go back before

[1:08:42] Labor Day and they said nope we're

[1:08:43] voting to you know what that would have

[1:08:45] consequences if one group went road

[1:08:48] without having you know some sort of

[1:08:50] structure about how do we vote the

[1:08:52] school calendar but there's a lot of

[1:08:53] other things in there as too there we

[1:08:55] can talk about but from how to evaluate

[1:08:57] the superintendent um how to you know

[1:09:00] some of the other kind of ins and out

[1:09:01] workings that we do um just so that we

[1:09:04] have a process that can outlive the the

[1:09:07] people in the room who have done it for

[1:09:09] so long you know what I mean because

[1:09:10] that's a lot of our and I think I had

[1:09:12] this conversation

[1:09:14] maybe it was at it was at Frontier but

[1:09:17] there's no UN38 agreement but one did

[1:09:19] exist and the reason why I know that is

[1:09:21] that a lot of our practices look just

[1:09:24] like um Lake Silver Lake Regional

[1:09:28] District

[1:09:29] >> which is was also is down in kind of

[1:09:32] southeastern Massachusetts. Um when you

[1:09:34] look at some of the practice they had

[1:09:35] they looked very similar to what we did

[1:09:38] as a regional group in how decisions

[1:09:40] were made and that kind of stuff. So

[1:09:42] there was institutional knowledge that

[1:09:43] started from something. So there had to

[1:09:45] be a regional agreement somewhere. I

[1:09:46] don't think people say they can't find I

[1:09:48] really do think it existed. So, um I I

[1:09:51] think we slowly want to rebuild that. If

[1:09:54] we try to do it all, I think what

[1:09:56] happens is um there's a lot of like

[1:09:59] really touchy subject about funding and

[1:10:01] that kind of stuff that we have set that

[1:10:03] you try to open that can of worms,

[1:10:05] you're not going to get be able to get

[1:10:06] the operations done. So, this is kind of

[1:10:08] like a kind of a sideway of doing um

[1:10:12] getting some of the stuff that we're

[1:10:13] already doing kind of functional and

[1:10:15] then eventually if we ever have a

[1:10:17] regional discussion, it can be folded in

[1:10:19] easily and and like this works, you

[1:10:21] know, that kind of thing. That's the

[1:10:23] idea anyway. So, we want to get so all

[1:10:25] that to say, we want to get the

[1:10:27] subcommittee together and we need

[1:10:28] someone um appointed from this

[1:10:30] committee.

[1:10:33] >> Amanda, you said you would be willing to

[1:10:34] serve on this committee.

[1:10:35] >> I'm happy to. Yeah. Thank you.

[1:10:37] >> I'm also interested because I helped

[1:10:40] write the original the document two

[1:10:42] years ago. So was on that committee. So

[1:10:45] I'm okay either way. I mean new blood is

[1:10:47] good but knowing the history.

[1:10:49] >> Um I know Amanda's interested and I'm

[1:10:52] interested in spreading around the

[1:10:53] opportunities.

[1:10:55] So I I will appoint Amanda.

[1:10:56] >> Oh not voted on. Okay.

[1:10:58] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[1:11:01] All right. Uh reports any committee

[1:11:04] reports?

[1:11:07] I'm still working on rural aid. Um we

[1:11:10] might get a restoration of the cut for

[1:11:12] FY26. There is going to be a fair share

[1:11:14] supplemental budget. So there might

[1:11:16] still be some money coming there. And um

[1:11:20] uh the rural schools committee is trying

[1:11:21] to meet with a member of the governor's

[1:11:23] team to try to get more in rural aid in

[1:11:25] the governor's budget very very soon.

[1:11:30] Any other committee updates? Capital committee hasn't met,

[1:11:37] >> Okay. Uh collaborative update, Joe.

[1:11:39] >> Yep. Tomorrow's a big day. We have three

[1:11:42] finalists. I can tell you there. They

[1:11:44] came out public yesterday. Some of you

[1:11:46] might have seen them

[1:11:47] >> for executive director.

[1:11:48] we started with

[1:11:51] 40 something applications nationwide. We

[1:11:53] hired a company from uh Texas who's been

[1:11:57] excellent um

[1:12:00] really knowledgeable and worked well

[1:12:02] with a really diverse team. We have 10

[1:12:04] people on the executive uh search

[1:12:07] committee. Three staff the staff at the

[1:12:10] collaborative have felt they needed more

[1:12:12] voice over the last two searches. So

[1:12:15] they add it this time uh the the we went

[1:12:18] from the 42 he narrowed it down to 19

[1:12:21] and then we took the 19 and narrowed it

[1:12:23] down to five semi- finalists and now we

[1:12:26] have three finalists.

[1:12:28] one five just in alphabetical order is

[1:12:31] um Porsche Bonner who's a superintendent

[1:12:35] Northampton right now and then we have

[1:12:40] um

[1:12:42] uh Thomas Deni who's actually

[1:12:45] chair the exec director is retiring of a

[1:12:49] Connecticut ACES program uh very big

[1:12:53] $150 million budget there uh so about

[1:12:57] three times times the size of what we

[1:12:59] do. Uh but so he's uh second um uh

[1:13:05] member of this finalist group. And then

[1:13:07] the third one is Andre Morgan who's

[1:13:12] actually he's done a bunch of different

[1:13:14] things. He's actually head of school at

[1:13:15] a school in Texas at one point. He's

[1:13:18] from this area, not this area, but from

[1:13:20] New England. currently is the HR in

[1:13:22] Beverly for their school district which

[1:13:24] has had some interesting

[1:13:27] notary in the news. So those are the

[1:13:30] three. Uh it was interesting.

[1:13:34] We we voted with a um point system

[1:13:37] 54321. We had won those finals and these

[1:13:41] three were 37 35 and 35. So it's going

[1:13:44] to be interesting when we sit down

[1:13:47] tomorrow. starts at five o'clock, you

[1:13:49] know, so turn it on TV if you want. It's

[1:13:52] public hearing.

[1:13:53] >> Uh, but I think it's going to be a long

[1:13:56] each candidate will interview for 70

[1:13:58] minutes and then we'll start

[1:14:00] deliberating around 8:30 or 9.

[1:14:02] >> Wow.

[1:14:04] >> And is the deliberation public?

[1:14:06] >> Uh, the deliberation goes into um

[1:14:08] >> executive session. Yes. Okay.

[1:14:10] >> Yeah. So, all the interview questions.

[1:14:13] So there's we we created a set questions

[1:14:16] that the chair is going to read just for

[1:14:18] efficiency.

[1:14:19] >> Uh Kathy Inglehart will read each one

[1:14:21] and then there is a brief moment or time

[1:14:24] for uh the rest of the board because the

[1:14:27] board's 37 people uh to ask questions

[1:14:30] but it's limited time limited. So those

[1:14:32] are already asked questions. We're not

[1:14:34] asking it. if other people have um extra

[1:14:36] and then there's time for the candidate

[1:14:38] to say their piece at the beginning and

[1:14:41] at the end, but it will be it's going to

[1:14:44] be a long night I think. So, we'll see.

[1:14:46] But I'll let you all know when we after

[1:14:49] that the the chair and the vice chair

[1:14:51] will negotiate the rest of the contract.

[1:14:56] » Yeah, I've learned I mean I've learned a

[1:14:58] lot. Um one of the candidates that

[1:15:01] didn't quite make it was the CFO. You

[1:15:04] probably know her from um the Pioneer

[1:15:06] Valley, lower valley. Pioneer Valley.

[1:15:09] She helped she's been there 25 years and

[1:15:13] she helped negotiate the the lower

[1:15:15] valley's transportation system for SEIS.

[1:15:20] So they have 250 vehicles that they help

[1:15:25] their all their member schools get

[1:15:26] supports. I mean started small. I asked

[1:15:29] her I said how do you do that like but

[1:15:30] what wouldn't that be great if we had it

[1:15:32] with the collaborative here? So, um,

[1:15:35] it's just economy scale. I mean, they'll pick up kids that are coming

[1:15:39] from, you know, they could go to Conway,

[1:15:42] Weightley, Sunderland, and then take

[1:15:44] them to Hec Academy or wherever you're

[1:15:45] going to take them. And it was pretty

[1:15:47] interesting to hear something we might

[1:15:49] want to tap later down, you know, down

[1:15:51] the road is like, okay, how do we do

[1:15:54] that? You know, slow and build. You

[1:15:57] know, they talked about economy of scale

[1:15:59] and bidding with transportation

[1:16:00] companies that you're so much more

[1:16:02] powerful when you have more people to

[1:16:04] bid, you know, to offer the bid to. So,

[1:16:06] you know, we know we we have just not a

[1:16:09] lot of people to ask the bid for, but

[1:16:10] that's some ideas that come out. Learned

[1:16:13] a lot about PD that the collaborative

[1:16:14] has. So, you know, in upcoming months,

[1:16:18] maybe I'll bring some more stuff that

[1:16:19] the collaborative could help us with,

[1:16:22] especially with our budget issues.

[1:16:26] Thank you for serving on that committee.

[1:16:27] That sounds like that was a really big

[1:16:28] commitment.

[1:16:31] >> Last week it was uh we l luckily an ice

[1:16:33] storm so it went from instead of from 9

[1:16:35] it went from 11:00 to 5:00 and then

[1:16:37] Thursday was 9 to5. So there's a lot

[1:16:41] >> but it's interesting because all those

[1:16:43] it's just western Massachusetts and all

[1:16:46] the different

[1:16:47] >> um schools and the different needs and

[1:16:49] the different focus points and

[1:16:51] perspectives.

[1:16:53] I I I watched the movie Angry Men from

[1:16:56] 1957

[1:16:58] with Henry Bond just because it's feels

[1:17:00] a little like that sometimes you're in

[1:17:01] this room and you're deliberating. You

[1:17:02] start a little bit on one side and by

[1:17:04] the end it's changed um because people

[1:17:07] have voiced

[1:17:10] worthwhile opinions.

[1:17:14] » Thank you.

[1:17:15] >> Thanks for the update and a

[1:17:17] superintendent report. Um yeah, should

[1:17:20] be part of your packet. I included the

[1:17:23] statewide graduation council update. Um

[1:17:26] and it's in the handout with that. Um

[1:17:29] just just so you know what's going it

[1:17:30] doesn't really affect the elementary,

[1:17:31] but you know what's happening at the at the in the end zone of of

[1:17:36] secondary and what's going on there. And

[1:17:39] I just give the outline to this that the budget timeline for the state budget

[1:17:43] for a reminder about how that process

[1:17:45] works because I kind of have to review

[1:17:46] it every year too because I forget how

[1:17:48] the timeline. It's a long one and it's a

[1:17:51] lot of back and forth and a lot of

[1:17:52] discussions along the way.

[1:17:57] » Well, thank you. There's no further

[1:17:59] business. We could take a motion to

[1:18:00] adjurnn.

[1:18:02] >> A motion to adjourn. A second.

[1:18:06] >> All right. All in favor of adjournment,

[1:18:09] can you do a roll call?

[1:18:10] >> Megan,

[1:18:11] >> yes. Live,

[1:18:13] >> yes.

[1:18:14] >> Joe,

[1:18:15] >> yes.

[1:18:15] >> Jessica,

[1:18:16] >> yes.

[1:18:16] >> Amanda, yes. All right. And we are

[1:18:18] adjourned at 6:23 p.m. Thank you

[1:18:21] everybody.

Sunderland School Committee - January 13, 2026

Transcript