[0:02] - Okay,

[0:04] - Welcome to the W School Committee for Wednesday,

[0:06] September 9th, 2026.

[0:09] Please stand for the Pledge

[0:10] of Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance

[0:16] - To the flag of the

[0:17] United States of America. And two, the Republic

[0:20] - Forgit stands, - One nation under God,

[0:22] under indivisible liberty and

[0:24] - Justice sprawl.

[0:26] Can we stay standing for a second? Yeah, I would like to,

[0:40] Friday is September up,

[0:44] - And - I would just like to do a moment of silence

[0:49] for the victims of 17th of September 11th.

[0:53] It's been 25 years and less, we forget.

[0:58] So do a moment of silence for

[1:01] September 11th, which will be on Friday.

[1:42] All right. Thank you very much. Alright.

[1:52] Approval of warrants and payroll warrants for

[1:55] 9 9 26. Do we have a motion?

[1:59] - Make the motion to approve warrants

[2:01] and payroll for 9 9 20 26.

[2:04] - Do we have a second? - Second.

[2:06] - All in favor, Kevin? Aye. Julie? Aye. Aye.

[2:09] For myself, Mike. Aye. Mel. Aye.

[2:15] Oh, we did warrants and payroll.

[2:16] Yeah, it's two separate lines there. Sorry.

[2:20] Minutes for August 22nd, 2026.

[2:25] That was the minutes for the walkthrough. Do have a motion?

[2:30] - I'll make a motion to approve the minutes from the

[2:32] walkthrough on 8 20 20 or 8 22.

[2:35] 2026.

[2:36] - Do we have a second? Second. All in favor?

[2:42] The only thing, the only All in favor?

[2:45] Well, it says subcommittee on the top.

[2:49] I'll just have that changed to committee meeting

[2:52] 'cause it was a regular meeting, so,

[2:55] but we can still vote on it as amended.

[2:57] All in favor, Kevin? Aye. Julie, aye. Aye.

[3:01] For myself, Mike. Aye Mel Aye.

[3:04] Minutes for 8 12 26.

[3:09] - Make the same motion to approve the minutes from

[3:11] 8 12 20 26.

[3:13] Regular business meeting and,

[3:14] - Aye.

[3:15] Will second. All in favor, Kevin? Aye. Julie? Aye.

[3:20] Aye. Myself, Mike. Aye Mel. Aye.

[3:24] Superintendent's report?

[3:25] - Yes. Good evening everybody.

[3:27] It's great to be back in the school year

[3:29] and it's a beautiful weather that we're having.

[3:33] We are all in session now. Our preschool is, has joined us.

[3:37] Everything really went well.

[3:38] It's, it's really, you know, very

[3:43] emotional when kindergarten and preschoolers come.

[3:49] Parents are saying, I think they're saying

[3:54] we're so glad that our children are starting this journey,

[3:57] but we're also saying maybe we've got some time on our hands

[4:00] in a different way in our lives.

[4:02] So, but it's part of that journey when you're a parent

[4:06] and we love being part of that.

[4:09] And we were fortunate, we did hire a new preschool teacher

[4:13] who was able to start and join us on the,

[4:18] the initial meeting, the meet and greet last Thursday.

[4:21] So she was here for Tuesdays start of preschool.

[4:25] So that was great. We just hired a librarian today,

[4:28] or in the process of hiring a librarian,

[4:31] media center teacher for here.

[4:33] So I'm gonna say we're about 97% hired,

[4:37] which is pretty, pretty good.

[4:41] We are a hundred percent hired.

[4:42] Really, I'll go with 98% hired than our paras.

[4:45] We have, we have no para positions open

[4:49] that are right now student connected.

[4:53] In other words, there, there was a change in, in the student

[4:57] educational plan over the summer and what have you.

[4:59] So, so we're, we're really in, in good shape with,

[5:03] with hiring and staffing, which helps start the new year.

[5:07] So. Well, and I just on that note, I didn't put it on here.

[5:12] I really should have because it's something

[5:13] everybody should be proud of.

[5:15] We initiated our cell phone policy this

[5:20] start of this new school year,

[5:22] and it is gone extremely, extremely well.

[5:24] Our kids are doing a beautiful, beautiful job

[5:29] managing their, their use of the phones

[5:31] and teachers are noticing it and appreciating it.

[5:34] So kudos to you for, for taking that step.

[5:37] I don't know, I've only seen cursory media reports,

[5:41] but I I I guess

[5:45] that the actual law that is supposed to be passed this fall

[5:52] is still in committee

[5:54] and there's questions about whether or not it'll get passed.

[5:57] So, so we're avantgarde there. Yes. Which is great.

[6:01] But our, our, I think it's best for our kids, what we did.

[6:04] So, so, so pleased with how everybody is doing that.

[6:08] We'll be talking a little bit about the modular unit

[6:11] bathrooms that people were

[6:14] excited about later in our agenda.

[6:18] We are starting off the school year on solid

[6:20] financial footing.

[6:21] We've got, we're, we're in good shape financially

[6:25] with some good hires that,

[6:27] that are also financially supportive of our budget,

[6:31] which is great.

[6:32] And at the moment, again, we have a couple of positions

[6:35] that we don't need to fill right away,

[6:38] but as always, every day is a new possibility

[6:41] and a new story that has to come to be.

[6:44] But so we're, we're taking a look at that very carefully.

[6:48] I did talk to Mr. P about diesel fuel,

[6:52] obviously that price is rising

[6:55] and we do have an escalation clause in our contract.

[6:59] Fortunately again, our bid came up slightly under

[7:02] what we budgeted for

[7:04] because the timing of of the bidding process was later

[7:08] and we'd already passed our budget.

[7:10] So he's not concerned right now.

[7:14] And let's hope that there are opportunities

[7:19] for that event to be winding down.

[7:22] And so our, our fees

[7:24] for diesel fuel will be coming down soon.

[7:28] We've started up with Parents Square,

[7:29] which is our new messaging platform for everybody.

[7:32] It's for our teachers, it's for our administration, for me,

[7:36] it's for our coaches.

[7:38] And again, that's started off well.

[7:41] And so we're, we've got good use parents.

[7:46] I get the dashboard and see the use.

[7:49] So a hundred percent

[7:51] or it's like 96% of the parents

[7:55] who have signed up are accessing our

[7:58] posts, which is great news.

[8:01] We don't quite have a hundred percent of our, our parents on

[8:04] yet, but we're working on that.

[8:06] We we're pretty close. So that's, that's great news.

[8:10] And again, because it's it's district wide, we're,

[8:14] we have a learning curve on our use of that so

[8:17] that we don't innovate parents

[8:18] with the same messages multiple times.

[8:21] You know, for example, if there's something coming out of,

[8:26] out of the, the district office, that's a message

[8:29] that includes something about one or all three schools.

[8:33] We don't want them schools to send something out

[8:35] to d duplicate that

[8:36] because we don't want people to be hit

[8:38] multiple times with the same messaging.

[8:40] So, so we're learning

[8:43] and figuring out our own standard operating procedure

[8:46] around using it as well as media people now.

[8:50] So, but I hope people are enjoying that.

[8:54] What's nice about that particular platform is all

[8:57] of our posts there go directly to Facebook.

[9:00] So it's a, it's an efficient use of time and energy.

[9:03] So that, because I did hear a parent mention that, you know,

[9:07] she does not use Facebook, but she uses Parent Square.

[9:10] So you know, she's getting what she, you know, wants to hear

[9:14] about and see in terms of pictures.

[9:16] So, which is great.

[9:19] Last Friday I had the opportunity to meet

[9:22] with the commissioner along with my colleagues in,

[9:24] in western Massachusetts,

[9:25] in the Connecticut Valley Superintendents Association.

[9:29] It's a, it's always good

[9:30] to have the commissioner come out in and hear from us.

[9:33] Lauren from us, he's from,

[9:37] I think he's originally from Chicago area.

[9:42] And so, you know, he, he has a learning curve of this.

[9:45] He's entering his second year full year

[9:47] of commissioner position.

[9:50] And, you know, we,

[9:52] we've talked a lot about everything from obviously finances,

[9:56] transportation is a big piece.

[9:59] He has a, a very strong vision for

[10:03] teacher recruitment, which is great.

[10:06] And, and we are very supportive of that.

[10:08] 'cause that's obviously something we support immensely.

[10:13] But we are, we are also, you know, it's not,

[10:17] it's not only teacher recruitment at the, at the end

[10:21] of the pipeline that is after they graduate,

[10:23] but it's, it's teacher recruitment to go into the programs,

[10:26] you know, to make the programs attractive

[10:28] and to figure that out along the way.

[10:31] But also, one of the things that we brought up as a, a,

[10:36] a concern, and it's, I I, to be honest, I don't know

[10:41] that he started this, but Desi, department of Elementary

[10:45] and Secondary Education has started this practice when,

[10:48] when they award grants

[10:49] and we were very fortunate to, in two years in a row,

[10:52] get a pretty sizable, what they call PRISM grant

[10:56] for literacy first for four through six

[10:58] and now for pre-K through three.

[11:02] And it's very exciting. And you,

[11:03] and you see the big number, you know, you see

[11:05] that we're gonna get $300,000 for a grant.

[11:08] It sounds great, but they've already committed out of

[11:12] that $300,000, almost $160,000

[11:16] to the professionals that they want us to work with

[11:20] in the PD process.

[11:22] So it's very, it's misleading in some respects.

[11:26] It's still wonderful. The PD is great.

[11:28] We, we've enjoyed our collaboration

[11:32] and it's going to, we believe it'll be the same partner

[11:34] for the pre-K through three work that we have to do.

[11:39] But, you know, we made the pitch to the commissioner

[11:44] that, first of all, we have very, very talented

[11:48] collaboratives in the area with talented professional

[11:51] development units as part of that.

[11:53] And it would be financially beneficial to all of us

[11:57] if they employed them as our professional development

[12:01] staffers as opposed to going outside these,

[12:03] these are often out of state organizations that,

[12:07] that come to work for them.

[12:09] And so I, I wanna believe he heard us.

[12:12] He is o obviously already committed

[12:14] because these contracts go out months in advance.

[12:18] But that's something also that we talked about with him.

[12:23] We were closed for, for the Labor day.

[12:26] And we will be having some activities within the schools

[12:31] for nine 11 as well, honoring those that we lost on on

[12:35] that day and that were impacted as we all were in some way.

[12:38] But in each of the schools, all

[12:43] of our sports teams are fully

[12:47] not staffed, but fully enrolled,

[12:52] rostered enrolled I guess.

[12:53] So they are able to play safely, which is good.

[12:57] I think golf was the only one that, that is a little

[13:01] low on, on enrollment, but it's able to field a team.

[13:05] So that's, that's great. We, we love that

[13:08] the chiller is operational for testing purposes.

[13:12] We, we have tested it. We tested it last week.

[13:15] There's some, still some control

[13:17] work that they're working on.

[13:18] I did get a text yesterday that the,

[13:21] the full on on is gonna be Monday.

[13:25] So we'll, we'll see about that.

[13:27] And I, I did,

[13:30] I don't know if I made this more public than it is.

[13:32] I did ask after everything was already done and so forth,

[13:35] but I said, you know, the work

[13:38] that you're doing is right here above us over the kitchen.

[13:41] Can't we just figure out a way

[13:43] to pipe the chillers that are there?

[13:45] All those, the, the chillers themselves are,

[13:50] or the, the, I'm not using this right terminology,

[13:54] but the equipment

[13:55] to make the water cold is above the kitchen.

[14:00] And I said, can't we just put some kind of vent and blower

[14:05] and put air conditioning into our, our kitchen

[14:10] and in into our cafeteria,

[14:11] because that's a widely used space

[14:14] for two, three hours a day.

[14:16] And on these shoulder days where it's really hot,

[14:20] it's really a tough time to be in there, especially

[14:23] with the kitchen ovens and so forth.

[14:25] Well, as to no to no one surprise,

[14:28] I got an engineering lesson about

[14:29] how, why that could not happen.

[14:32] So, but I asked,

[14:35] but we're looking forward to

[14:36] that coming on this, this coming week.

[14:41] We, we did have considerable rain last week

[14:44] and we did have consider considerable leakage.

[14:47] We, we have a proposal from a firm that's gonna come in

[14:50] and try to do, do one side of the skylight where we,

[14:53] we know there are existing leaks,

[14:56] but when it was inspected last

[14:59] - The skylight at SK - Skylight and SK Okay.

[15:02] When it was inspected by this firm, you know, he,

[15:06] he basically said, you know, and,

[15:08] and which makes perfect sense, it's built in 1974,

[15:13] the all the caulking is shot.

[15:15] And so these leaks are coming in from the caulking.

[15:17] There's no cracked pans or anything damaged to the Oh wow.

[15:20] Glass. So, so we're going, we're, we know

[15:24] where there are leaks coming

[15:26] and so we're, we're going to enter into an agreement

[15:29] to just fix one, one facade of the,

[15:32] it's a four, it's a triangle.

[15:34] So there's four facades.

[15:36] And and we'll see how that works, you know,

[15:39] for at least those leaks.

[15:40] But we, we have to try something.

[15:42] I mean, it's pretty, the, the middle school, the leaks are,

[15:45] are more complicated

[15:48] because it's not as easy as, like with SMK, we know

[15:52] where they are with the middle school

[15:55] and here too, with the, the few

[15:57] that we have here in this building,

[16:00] we don't know where they're starting.

[16:01] You know, they're, they're travelers.

[16:03] So it, it could be, there's a, a leak in a, a drain pipe

[16:07] or a backlog drain pipe.

[16:11] It could be that there's a leak over here in the membrane,

[16:16] but it's, you know, traveling over here

[16:17] because it's just enough of a pitch to come over here.

[16:20] So to actually find the,

[16:24] the hole is really a needle in a haystack.

[16:29] And so, which is why the whole roof needs to be done.

[16:32] And there's certainly enough leaks

[16:35] that the whole roof needs to be done.

[16:37] And you'll see that on our capital plan.

[16:41] And, and so the capital plan is in your packet,

[16:46] there is a capital plan committee for the town.

[16:49] At some point I would like to go

[16:51] with representatives from this body

[16:53] and go and talk with them.

[16:55] We will be putting together

[16:59] a this year proposal.

[17:02] I understand there'll be a town meeting maybe in November.

[17:05] That's what they were talking about.

[17:06] And so we hope to have at least a,

[17:09] a roof replacement at W-I-M-S-A generated replacement at,

[17:14] at SMKA as the two top

[17:18] items that need to be done.

[17:21] And, and so we'll keep you updated on that.

[17:25] And that's my report this evening. Any questions, comments?

[17:31] - I know we hired a new athletic director. Yes.

[17:35] Is there any way that that person could be

[17:37] invited to our next meeting? Just so can

[17:39] - Meet.

[17:40] Oh, of course. Yeah. He's just,

[17:41] - What is his name again?

[17:42] Peter Millett. Peter Millet

[17:45] - Doing a great job and just overwhelmed,

[17:48] but, you know, trying to be at all these events

[17:51] first part of the year.

[17:53] But yeah, I'll get 'em there. Okay. Yeah,

[17:59] - I'm just looking real quick.

[18:02] I think I'm good.

[18:05] - Everybody else? Good? Alright, let's move on

[18:09] to New Business Lions Club donation.

[18:12] $300 to the food pantry.

[18:14] - Yes. So any donations to the school district need to be

[18:19] approved by the school committee.

[18:20] This is significant and very gracious of them.

[18:23] We have a food pantry that we run out of our legal classroom

[18:26] classrooms and downstairs it's a, a great resource

[18:31] for our students and families who are in need.

[18:35] And this was a great kickoff amount to buy product.

[18:39] So we're very appreciative.

[18:42] - How is the food pantry funded

[18:43] and not funded is probably not the right word.

[18:46] How is it replenished?

[18:48] - So it's really all through donations.

[18:51] So, you know, when when product gets low enough,

[18:55] the teacher puts out an all call, you know, to staff

[18:58] or any families, you know, any extra food product

[19:02] that you have, you know, please donate.

[19:04] And it, it gets donated.

[19:06] - Donated. Now, is there a list

[19:08] that they would prefer to go by? Good question. I, I

[19:10] - Don't, I don't, I I think there is, I don't know where

[19:13] that it lives.

[19:15] Okay. But I could find that for you.

[19:17] - Could we put that online on Sure. Website if it exists.

[19:22] Sure. So that if anybody's interested in donating,

[19:25] they're not donating like perishable goods.

[19:28] I mean Yeah.

[19:30] Perishable goods that, you know, we, it's difficult

[19:34] for us to keep like Right.

[19:36] Fresh, fresh vegetables and stuff. Right. Right.

[19:38] And they're not donating, you know, something

[19:40] that needs like five different ingredients Yeah.

[19:44] To put in it. And that way it's more difficult for someone,

[19:47] you know, you just have to add milk or add water.

[19:50] Right. And an egg that's a lot easier than spices coming up

[19:54] and everything with different other things.

[19:55] Yeah. So, 'cause it probably, I'm not gonna say it,

[20:00] probably it, it probably gets, yeah,

[20:04] probably it gets used probably more than we think.

[20:08] Oh. And I think if it was,

[20:12] if more people could donate to it, I, I think it would,

[20:15] it would help probably a lot more, more people.

[20:17] - I totally agree. Totally agree.

[20:24] - So I'll make the motion to accept the Lion Club donation.

[20:28] $300 to the food pantry. Now it was cash then, right?

[20:32] - Gift card. - Yes. Gift card. Okay. Do we have a second?

[20:35] Second. Any discussion? Any questions?

[20:40] All in favor, Kevin. Aye. Julie, aye. Aye. For myself, Mike.

[20:45] Aye Mel. Aye. Thank them for us. Yes, will do. Immensely.

[20:53] Policy first reading tonight. We had a policy meeting.

[20:57] Before this meeting. We went over

[21:00] protect act, AI use in schools.

[21:04] Did we do technology use in schools?

[21:06] - That was part of the, - That was part of the ai. Yeah.

[21:08] And we also did the employment of school

[21:13] and district administrators.

[21:17] Basically we accepted the subcommittee, accepted the

[21:23] interacting with law enforcement officers engaged in civil

[21:26] law enforcement, protect that.

[21:29] We accept it as written.

[21:30] It's been before legal and they made changes to it.

[21:34] So what you received

[21:37] is the final copy.

[21:39] It it is required by law. It is required by the state.

[21:46] It's not necessarily just a federal law. It's a state law.

[21:50] And this is the working

[21:54] with the administration and legal.

[21:56] This is what they've come up with for our procedure.

[21:59] Everybody has to have a procedure on

[22:01] what they call the Protect app.

[22:03] And this applies to all organizations.

[22:09] It's not just ice, it's everybody. Yeah.

[22:12] Who would, who would come looking to

[22:16] and other schools and interact

[22:21] with the school department.

[22:25] Is there any questions?

[22:28] - J And just to clarify, you, if you approve this

[22:32] as a first reading, we can approve it at our next meeting.

[22:35] Finally as the final reading.

[22:37] This is the policy and the procedures, it's

[22:42] - Together. So itll go

[22:43] - Into both the policy manual and the procedural

[22:45] - Manual.

[22:46] - Right. - This is also a totally new policy.

[22:49] - This is totally new. Yeah. - We haven't had this before.

[22:51] - We had guidance last year Right. On Desi.

[22:54] But this year we haven't closed.

[22:57] - It also aligns with the MASE

[22:58] margin. So everything matches.

[23:00] - Yes. Yes.

[23:06] Alright. So we will,

[23:10] we will, this is the first reading.

[23:12] We will vote on this in the next meeting.

[23:14] We will vote on it again to finalize making it a

[23:19] policy for the way of school system.

[23:21] Do we have a motion?

[23:23] - I have a question about if this

[23:29] extends itself to when the kids are traveling on a

[23:33] bus to and from

[23:35] - School. It would.

[23:37] - Okay. - Yeah. Whenever they're in our custody or care.

[23:40] Okay.

[23:46] - I will make the motion to accept protect, act.

[23:51] This is the first reading. Do we have a second?

[23:56] A second. Any more discussion questions?

[24:02] All in favor, Kevin? Aye. Julian. Aye. Aye.

[24:05] For myself, Mike. Aye Mel Aye.

[24:10] AI use in schools? We went through that.

[24:14] Mike has to, we do it. Tweak it. Yeah.

[24:18] There, there, there was some concerns.

[24:20] There was several different ways to approach AI

[24:24] and he needs

[24:27] to give some more important administrators

[24:30] and the teachers need to give some more based on

[24:32] what we were discussing today.

[24:33] So that one is not for a vote

[24:38] or first reading, since we don't have

[24:42] what was sent out is draft definitely gonna change.

[24:46] It was a draft, definitely gonna change progress.

[24:48] It's a work in progress. Technology use in schools

[24:51] is also part of that.

[24:53] And so that will be coming

[24:58] probably to the next meeting, probably a

[25:02] meeting or two after that.

[25:03] Only because it is quite extensive.

[25:05] If you looked at the original one that came out

[25:09] that is quite long sort of has to be in a sense

[25:13] to cover a lot of different areas

[25:16] and especially the use of technology.

[25:20] It needs to update our use of technology

[25:22] and what is good and what is bad.

[25:24] And so those are, those will be forthcoming.

[25:28] But those are works in progress.

[25:31] There is one employment of school

[25:34] and district administrators that's not on here,

[25:39] but it was on, I think it was on the original,

[25:42] it was on our original policy.

[25:43] Original. It was on the subcommittee that was sent out.

[25:47] I believe everybody has that. The cross offs are on there.

[25:52] And then the, the reds are

[25:58] additions and we

[26:03] as a subcommittee, we approve with this.

[26:05] The way it is written, basically it clears up,

[26:13] correct me if I'm wrong, so not

[26:15] so much the hiring process, right.

[26:17] As opposed to what happens after they've been hired.

[26:19] Correct. When it comes to, they've worked here

[26:22] for three years or two years, whatever it is,

[26:25] and it comes up for their,

[26:28] the contract comes up and renewal.

[26:31] It was kind of foggy as to where did we get involved

[26:35] with school committee, when did we approve, didn't improve.

[26:40] It alluded to being able to approve principal contracts.

[26:45] And apparently according to the law, we can't. Right.

[26:48] That is not in our wheelhouse.

[26:51] And so the next to the last paragraph

[26:55] that talks about the length of second

[26:56] and subsequential contracts of employment

[26:58] for administrators shall be in

[27:00] accordance with the state law.

[27:02] I guess there was a few things

[27:03] that we weren't doing completely by state law.

[27:05] And so the changes in the language here

[27:09] will put us in compliance with state law

[27:11] and also is a little more clear as to

[27:15] our involvement as the school committee.

[27:17] We, we still approve the director of special needs.

[27:21] We still approve the,

[27:26] the business manager

[27:27] and we still approve the nurses.

[27:32] Right.

[27:33] - I'm sorry, what was - That? The nurses, that's so

[27:37] the initial, we approve the initial, I believe the initial,

[27:39] but then after that, yes.

[27:41] Under your,

[27:43] - There's old law that never got changed with

[27:47] the change in 1993.

[27:48] In fact. Yeah. So at the state level,

[27:52] but yes, you do technically approve the

[27:54] hiring of nurses. Yeah.

[27:55] - But after that it's falls under the superintendent to

[27:59] administer contracts and,

[28:03] and terms and everything else.

[28:10] This allows us to, in some cases

[28:19] say over, I, I would look at overriding

[28:21] and say financials that we could set that, you know,

[28:27] tie it to say the

[28:29] teacher's contract or tie it to something else.

[28:31] It, it allows us to, to do that in case we want

[28:36] to change things.

[28:37] As far as the amount that goes out.

[28:42] We tightened up on the piece that basically said, you know,

[28:45] as long as it fit the budget, if that's no longer, you know,

[28:50] 'cause then you could, the, once the people

[28:55] that had contracts, like the teachers

[28:56] and so forth would be tied to what the agreement was.

[29:00] But it would allow you

[29:01] to do whatever you wanted for everybody else.

[29:03] And so that's sort of been pulled in so that it,

[29:07] it's a much more equal and fair playing field.

[29:10] So we look

[29:15] to make this the first reading and the changes.

[29:19] And also to approve this tonight, since what was sent out,

[29:24] we didn't change in the subcommittee.

[29:26] We looked at it and agreed to the language that was there.

[29:34] Any questions? Any comments?

[29:35] - You have one question On the first paragraph,

[29:37] the last sentence, it says the compensation benefit levels

[29:40] above reference may be exceeded only with the approval

[29:44] of the school committee exceeded.

[29:47] In terms of comparing it to what is there like a baseline?

[29:52] - So for example, this past last year,

[29:56] I did a market analysis for the director's salaries.

[30:00] And because the contracts hadn't been

[30:02] set yet when I arrived.

[30:04] So they were slightly above what was budgeted in,

[30:09] in their lines, not the overall

[30:10] - Budget.

[30:11] So they exceeded what

[30:12] reference directly to what was budgeted. Budgeted.

[30:14] - Yeah. - And that's kind of a number

[30:15] that comes from a market analysis.

[30:17] Right. Okay. Right. Thank you.

[30:22] - Is there any language in here about evaluations

[30:27] and under what circumstances a contract might be

[30:30] renewed versus not,

[30:33] - So - And does that need to be in here?

[30:34] - So there's a separate evaluation policy that describes

[30:37] how all administrators get evaluated.

[30:41] Again, it's all, it's all about the trust and

[30:44] and relationship that you have with your superintendent

[30:47] in terms of, because he

[30:49] or she makes the recommendation that they are

[30:51] to be renewed or not renewed.

[30:54] So again, that, that part

[30:58] of the process is often

[31:01] between the evaluator and the at

[31:06] and usually never even arises to the school committee level

[31:10] because that decision's been made.

[31:12] And to honor the professionalism of,

[31:15] of the individuals involved.

[31:17] It's private, you know, the person resigns or, or,

[31:22] or leaves, you know, under some circumstance.

[31:27] So, you know, I, I wouldn't put anything in policy per se

[31:32] that's different than what's in the evaluation policy.

[31:34] And I can share that with you when I get a chance.

[31:38] But the evaluation policy is pretty clear

[31:40] that everybody has to be evaluated.

[31:42] It has to be recommended by the superintendent for renewal

[31:45] or, or additional contract years and so forth.

[31:49] - Yeah, I guess the, I guess the only language I would be

[31:51] looking for is that like a contract couldn't be renewed

[31:54] unless an evaluation was done.

[31:57] I guess that's the only thing I'm kind of looking for

[31:59] because I know that in the past that has been an issue

[32:02] and people were just renewing contracts

[32:05] and without evaluations being done.

[32:08] Okay. I mean,

[32:10] and again, I don't, I agree with you

[32:13] that we shouldn't be privy to those evaluations.

[32:15] Yeah. But just that one was done. Yeah.

[32:18] - I, I'll have to reread it to see if

[32:20] that specific kind of language is there.

[32:22] I mean, again, because the,

[32:24] the policy does state specifically

[32:26] evaluations have to be done.

[32:28] Okay. If they, if any individual didn't evaluate

[32:32] and still made a recommendation to have a new contract,

[32:35] that is a violation of policy.

[32:37] - Okay. Okay. Yeah.

[32:39] - As far as this, that would be

[32:41] covered in the last paragraph.

[32:42] If that policy says everybody gets an evaluation,

[32:45] then in the last paragraph as a condition of employment,

[32:48] each administrator must maintain curtain certifications

[32:51] as needed, adhere to policies

[32:52] and goals of the school committee.

[32:54] Right. So the policy for evaluations Okay.

[32:57] Would cover that language there.

[32:59] That that would be something that had to be done. Right.

[33:04] Okay. Now the, I'll just throw this out.

[33:10] The only evaluation that's public is the superintendents.

[33:13] Yes. That is done in public. Oh,

[33:15] - I remember.

[33:18] I mean, I wasn't here, I was over there, but I remember

[33:22] - Yes.

[33:23] And I read that one. That was a long night.

[33:26] But his is the only one that is public.

[33:27] That is done in public. And so

[33:34] that, that one is not private.

[33:35] Right. So that

[33:40] being said, I'll make the motion

[33:45] to approve first reading employment of school

[33:48] and district administrators the changes

[33:50] that are being proposed. Do we have a second?

[33:53] - Second? - Any questions? Any discussion? More?

[34:00] All in favor, Kevin? Aye. Julie. Aye. Aye. For myself, Mike.

[34:04] Aye Mel. Aye.

[34:12] Now we'll move on to Capital Plan review.

[34:18] - Do you have that in your - Packet? Yes, we do.

[34:20] - Okay. I got extra copies of Okay.

[34:24] - Sure. Believe everybody does. Yep. Yep.

[34:26] - So to be clear, this is a rough draft,

[34:31] but all the administrators, director

[34:35] of facilities, Mr.

[34:39] Ette, we've, we've pulled this together

[34:45] partly because I've been talking about this almost

[34:47] since I met, got here.

[34:49] But, but we talked about this at our, our

[34:52] walk walkthrough and so forth.

[34:56] You know, there, these are not out of the ordinary kinds

[35:00] of things that school districts

[35:02] or any large organizations need to costs out.

[35:06] There are things on here that I typically have advocated

[35:10] for things to be put on there, like usually a, a school.

[35:14] And what I like to do in a school district is have a,

[35:17] like a, a carpet replacement plan for classrooms

[35:21] that are carpeted or tiled or whatever, you know, that.

[35:23] So every 10 on a cycle of 10 years,

[35:26] we're doing a certain number of rooms every year that,

[35:29] that we have a, a furniture replacement plan.

[35:32] So again, you're not one year spending a hundred thousand

[35:35] dollars on, on furniture

[35:36] and the next year you're not spending anything.

[35:38] So that, you know, everything gets in balance

[35:40] and you can plan for it.

[35:41] And it's thoughtful in that regard.

[35:43] I did not do that in here because it hasn't been done here.

[35:47] And, and also the numbers felt very large to me,

[35:51] but so, so I did not do that.

[35:54] So that's a piece of the puzzle

[35:56] that if you'd like those kinds of things to be looked at,

[35:59] we could, we could actually add that those items

[36:04] technically we could put into our budget as well,

[36:07] even though they meet the threshold

[36:09] for financing on a capital plan.

[36:11] So I'd, I'd want to talk with the town about

[36:14] that when we meet.

[36:17] But we obviously do have some very big

[36:19] expenses on the horizon.

[36:21] The roofs, as I spoke to have to get done.

[36:25] We do, we absolutely have to replace the generator.

[36:27] It simply is it, it no longer functions.

[36:31] These are estimates for the roofs, estimates

[36:36] from, from quotes.

[36:38] So I think they're pretty good as far as, you know,

[36:42] real numbers and you know,

[36:47] things like putting in a sprinkler system.

[36:52] We're not gonna put in a sprinkler system.

[36:54] I I know people would love to have a sprinkler system.

[36:56] You're not gonna put in a sprinkler system.

[36:58] I mean Oh, I thought you meant like a fire sprinkler system.

[37:01] Oh, that's, do you mean like in the grass?

[37:02] No, no, in a fire. Yeah. Gotcha.

[37:05] It, it just isn't gonna happen as a separate add-on. Okay.

[37:09] It's so expensive to do.

[37:10] I mean, that's a very rough estimate.

[37:12] I don't think we would do the whole building for $500,000.

[37:15] It just, it just wouldn't happen.

[37:17] But, you know, I honor the process that it's there.

[37:19] I want you to be aware that our buildings are not sprinkled

[37:22] and that's certainly a concern of everybody's.

[37:24] I know. And,

[37:26] and it would help our insurance costs and, and so forth.

[37:29] And obviously first

[37:30] and foremost safety, if the, if we ever got into a a,

[37:34] a fire situation,

[37:36] but, you know, we, we make sure that all of our furniture

[37:40] that we buy that has fabric is,

[37:42] is rated appropriately and so forth.

[37:45] And in fact we just made some teachers remove things

[37:48] that were not graded and so forth.

[37:50] So, you know, I think we do our best to make sure

[37:53] that what's in the buildings is, is going to slow

[37:58] any kind of fire.

[38:00] It's not gonna, obviously put it out.

[38:03] If you wanted to consider a sprinkler system to me,

[38:07] I would start advocating that we're gonna rebuild,

[38:12] have a plan for building a new school or a new addition

[38:15] because that's only gonna come

[38:18] to fruition if we do something that goes above the code for

[38:24] cost or square footage and,

[38:26] and then having to put in a, a sprinkler.

[38:29] Yeah. You know, it's gonna be part of a project

[38:32] and you know, that we could have some

[38:35] conversations about that at some point.

[38:38] But it, but it's on here

[38:39] because it's, it's wanted and, and it's valid.

[38:43] And I, I honor that, that desire.

[38:46] It's just a religiously expensive to do. Is

[38:49] - That a concern on a specific school or all three schools

[38:54] - Suppression system?

[38:55] We, we have them here somewhere. I see, I see.

[38:58] Though we have them here,

[39:01] but they don't, we don't have it in the middle school

[39:03] or, or SMK.

[39:04] So it's just that, those two schools.

[39:07] But you know, again, it, it would be

[39:13] SMK in, in my non-engineering opinion,

[39:19] you know, the safety of that building is,

[39:22] is very good in the sense that every room has a means

[39:26] of egress to the outside.

[39:28] Not to just another hallway, but to the outside.

[39:31] So to me that's almost as good as,

[39:36] I shouldn't say that publicly.

[39:38] It's great. It's very good. It's very good. It's very

[39:40] - Good.

[39:41] You took the words outta my mouth.

[39:42] Common sense would tell you every

[39:43] classroom has a means of egress.

[39:44] Exactly. Right to the outside Exactly. Press to say no,

[39:48] - Knock it out.

[39:49] So, but then you get,

[39:50] you have the middle school, which doesn't have that.

[39:52] Right. You know, all the classrooms get to a

[39:54] but it's also made of concrete.

[39:56] It is made of concrete,

[39:58] which is helpful, you know, it's good.

[39:59] It's got those beautiful straw

[40:00] and floors, you know, which is certainly helpful.

[40:03] So it will definitely slow, slow things down and so forth.

[40:07] But, so, you know, it just, and,

[40:11] and the boiler room frankly is, is away from

[40:16] the, the kids, which is really good.

[40:20] So, you know, I think that that's, those are pluses,

[40:25] but again, I just, I just don't think it's feasible

[40:28] to think about a sprinkler system

[40:29] unless you're gonna do a project,

[40:31] in which case it would be mandated.

[40:33] - Do you know the annual savings of what the insurance

[40:36] - Is charging us, - What we would pay otherwise?

[40:39] - Yeah, I don't, I don't have that.

[40:40] - Can, can I get a return on your rent investment number?

[40:43] Yeah. Is it five years, 10 years

[40:44] and how much we'd have to spend it,

[40:47] - It would take a, - Because we're paying

[40:48] the insurance company

[40:48] - Anyway.

[40:49] Yeah, it would, it would, it would take a while.

[40:51] It really would. I I mean the, what what we would have is,

[40:55] is the return of that good feeling.

[40:58] Like, you know, we have the extra layer

[41:00] of protect protection for our students

[41:03] and faculty and staff.

[41:04] - Well you mentioned we're paying more for insurance

[41:07] because we do not have, well,

[41:08] - Our premium definitely looks different

[41:09] because we don't have sprinklers for

[41:11] that size building and so forth. Yeah,

[41:13] - I'd be curious to know - That number.

[41:14] Yeah. So,

[41:18] but so I I I wanted to share this with you tonight.

[41:22] Again, we're gonna, we're gonna go forward

[41:24] with more descriptive pages that we have to fill out

[41:28] for the capital planning committee for the town

[41:32] to get on the ballot or on the town meeting

[41:35] floor for November.

[41:37] Our, our priorities right now are the,

[41:40] the roof at WMS at the middle school, we're going to go

[41:45] for the, to the generator.

[41:49] And I, I've gotta talk a little bit more with Bill.

[41:52] We do have an, we have two aging pieces of equipment

[41:56] that are pretty expensive.

[41:58] A a dump truck, which,

[42:04] because it's used pretty much only for plowing

[42:09] and sitting, when it's not plowing and sanding and,

[42:14] and salting it, it has rusted because of the salt.

[42:19] And so, and it sits.

[42:22] And so like, he just came to me the other day

[42:24] and said, I, he, he was shocked that the rear, rear wheels,

[42:29] rear tires have have dried right out

[42:33] because they haven't used it since the

[42:34] last snowstorm pretty much.

[42:37] So these are some of the issues you have when you have

[42:42] sort of job or task specific kinds of equipment like this.

[42:48] So I gotta, I gotta talk

[42:50] to him about which he would prioritize

[42:52] whether we would do that.

[42:53] That the dump truck

[42:56] or the mower, I put it down as a lease to spread it out.

[43:01] I don't know if the town does it that way here.

[43:04] Typically I would do a, a lease purchase agreement,

[43:08] but again, I don't know if the town wants to do it that way

[43:10] or if they wanna do a, a, a full on purchase,

[43:13] - How could we get a number on a lease purchase agreement?

[43:15] - What's that? - How could we get a number?

[43:17] Because a hundred thousand I'm gonna say

[43:19] is purchase the truck.

[43:22] - So Yes, but it's over those five years. Right.

[43:27] Or six years, whatever. I I spread it out.

[43:29] I, so it's, it's what we, what they put in their budget

[43:32] that, you know, the, the 20,000 to make that happen.

[43:36] So the, the, the cost

[43:38] of the truck is roughly about a hundred thousand when,

[43:41] when you get all the equipment that he's looking for.

[43:44] So, and then it, it's slightly more

[43:49] to lease it, do the lease purchase.

[43:53] But it's, it's worth it in terms of, again,

[43:55] managing your budget because in their capital plan now

[43:59] they could put a piece of equipment every five years and,

[44:03] and essentially have the money built in there without,

[44:06] you know, escalating their budget.

[44:09] So, but I I, I have to have

[44:11] that conversation with this committee.

[44:12] I don't know how they do that.

[44:14] Here again, I,

[44:19] I know the, the mower broke down for a significant amount

[44:23] of time a few weeks ago

[44:26] and we had to rent one to replace it.

[44:29] You know, they, they,

[44:30] equipment always breaks down when you need it, right.

[44:34] It's not when it's parked for the most part.

[44:38] So I know he, he would like this to see that replaced.

[44:43] And again, because we, we,

[44:45] I mean our campus isn't terribly large.

[44:48] We only have really one major

[44:52] piece of mowing equipment for that purpose.

[44:57] And so when it goes, it also doubles as a snowblower.

[45:02] It does in the winter. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah.

[45:08] So, and then, you know, the athletics, we've,

[45:12] we've put these on here.

[45:15] Drainage is a big issue. Dugouts are a big issue.

[45:19] I I think lights would, would help us greatly.

[45:24] We just gotta figure out which ones to do and to do first.

[45:29] So lights were looking to do well, the,

[45:33] I would say the football has lights, football has lights.

[45:37] It's the only field that does, I would say we want

[45:40] to do the upper field where we have soccer

[45:42] and

[45:44] baseball at some point.

[45:48] And I, I was chastised about this and I'll own it

[45:51] because I'm not from where,

[45:52] but I, I always like my teams to play on my fields,

[45:58] but there's a lot of affinity for the town field

[46:02] and so they wanna stay there and I get that.

[46:06] I really do. And, and so,

[46:08] and now they have, they have lights and so,

[46:10] but, but we're limited.

[46:12] You know, I went to a a, a park, park

[46:15] and recs meeting last year.

[46:16] We're gonna be limited to

[46:17] how many night me night events we can have.

[46:20] So I think we've gotta understand

[46:24] that impact and whether

[46:26] or not that's how we wanna run our, our game schedule so

[46:30] that, you know, our varsity games can't be played there.

[46:38] All of them at least. So,

[46:41] and you know, yes, it gets lighter.

[46:44] So do you need your lights? Well, I don't know.

[46:50] You know, that's, that's a good question.

[46:52] But there's also soccer. That's a soccer field.

[46:54] So if we could position them in such a way

[46:56] and do our home varsity soccer there and,

[47:00] and have night games there, I, I think that's, that's great.

[47:04] I mean that's a town event that's building up a,

[47:08] a repertoire of, you know,

[47:10] what if we designed them so they would swivel.

[47:12] Well that's it. That, that's,

[47:14] I would love to see that happen.

[47:16] You know, I, I've not seen that done yet,

[47:18] but I, I gotta believe that technology exists.

[47:21] It's gotta be there. You know, it's,

[47:23] it's gotta, it's gotta be there.

[47:25] And I gotta believe that there's a way

[47:27] to involve solar somehow so that we could generate the power

[47:33] on the same poles.

[47:34] That would be the lights.

[47:36] But again, we haven't looked into it that deep.

[47:38] So it is just, it's part of our dream.

[47:42] So, you know, that's there we would love to get,

[47:46] we've gotta get power out there.

[47:49] That's a big part of the issue.

[47:50] Anyway, we'd like a scoreboard out there

[47:56] and we're gonna talk a little bit about the,

[47:59] the permanent bathrooms for the football field,

[48:02] which would actually be available

[48:04] for the softball field too,

[48:05] where we're thinking about placing them so that,

[48:08] that's a, a two for one.

[48:12] And I, I think we actually can take the scoreboard off

[48:16] of the football field because they, there was a, an issue

[48:19] with it, with the,

[48:24] the board that manages it

[48:27] and they've been able to fix that.

[48:29] So I think that will actually come off this, this draft.

[48:34] So, and then for technology,

[48:40] the, the big thing at this point really is to

[48:46] keep and maintain our servers

[48:50] and then, which is that first 150,000.

[48:55] And then we have some work that we need

[48:57] to do in the auditorium

[49:00] around the lighting and the projector.

[49:04] The, the issue there for the lighting is that

[49:10] the, again, the control board is antiquated.

[49:15] I mean it was installed in 1998.

[49:17] So it, and there's much

[49:20] more efficient lights now that can be brighter

[49:25] and a board that could be more technologically

[49:30] efficient in terms of being able to be in the audience

[49:34] and do it as opposed to being, you know, behind the scenes,

[49:37] all those kinds of things that needs to happen.

[49:42] And so, and then just replacing our screen

[49:44] and the projector for that would be helpful as well.

[49:50] So I, I don't think any of the items are out of,

[49:53] out of reach.

[49:55] We've just gotta be planful about 'em and,

[49:57] and manage people's

[49:59] expectations about when they're gonna happen.

[50:04] - I noticed for where junior senior high school,

[50:07] you've got the stair tread

[50:09] and floor treatment that we talked extensively

[50:11] about on the walkthrough.

[50:13] Is that 50,000 just the

[50:18] portions we talked about?

[50:19] Or is that like everywhere

[50:21] that those circles are, they get replaced?

[50:24] - It's, it's mostly that 50,000 would

[50:27] mostly probably only cover.

[50:30] And we did, we could make this decision as to whether

[50:32] or not it's the stair treads

[50:34] or the entryways at the lower level

[50:37] because that lower level, just

[50:39] because of where this building is built, gets a lot

[50:42] of moisture that wicks right up

[50:43] and that tile is coming up all through that hallway.

[50:47] So we did a section of it I think a few years ago,

[50:50] maybe very successful.

[50:52] Looks great. So he would really like to see

[50:55] that whole hallway done.

[50:57] And then we would do the two main

[51:02] stairwells, stairwells that come up from there up up

[51:06] to this, the eighth grade wing.

[51:08] Okay,

[51:13] - Now the roofs we are gonna work on the state program.

[51:19] - We are. So, so this is

[51:24] part of a, it's, it is gonna be a scheduling nightmare

[51:28] in terms of this because the,

[51:33] if I understand the process that they've outlined in the,

[51:37] we would go to the accelerated repair projects

[51:42] and they don't put those out,

[51:43] those applications out until January.

[51:47] And part of that is we need to do a study

[51:54] that informs how much of a roof needs to be done.

[51:57] You know, there needs to be some engineering work

[51:59] that needs to be done.

[52:02] So part of the money that I would propose to raise

[52:07] would be essentially doing the research

[52:11] that would need to be done, that engineering study

[52:14] and then whatever matching piece that we would have to do.

[52:17] I mean the state may come up

[52:19] and say we're gonna give you all of it,

[52:21] but I believe we are, excuse me,

[52:23] I think we're a 60% community.

[52:26] - I think that's what they mentioned last time.

[52:29] - So we would have to come up with at least 40% of the cost.

[52:33] So whatever if, if this is too much, obviously if the,

[52:37] if the voters vote for it, it just stays

[52:40] in their capital plan, it doesn't get spent on,

[52:43] on another element of that.

[52:46] But the, the town manages the capital plan, not the schools.

[52:53] - So is the research study like an independent firm

[52:55] that comes out and validates the quotes that you have? And

[52:59] - It's, so I, I think it's even

[53:01] before we, we generate the quotes.

[53:04] My recollection, the last time I did an accelerated repair,

[53:09] we had to do the engineering study to get the extent

[53:14] of what the damage was to the roof

[53:19] and an estimate and some proposals

[53:24] that the engineering firm said, you know, this is,

[53:27] this is best practice, this is good practice, this is okay.

[53:31] Practice kind of thing. And then, you know, you breed that

[53:34] to MB MSBA in terms of the application.

[53:38] And then they, they come out

[53:40] and they do their own engineering study

[53:43] and they will tell you whether

[53:44] or not, you know, where they land

[53:46] on it in terms of the priority.

[53:48] 'cause obviously there's 351 towns in the Commonwealth

[53:52] and so everybody's looking for some support.

[53:55] - Does that study include like a design, feasibility design,

[53:58] what they recommend to fixing?

[53:59] - It would be at some point? Yes. Not that part though.

[54:03] I think that part would strictly be

[54:06] an understanding of what the damage is.

[54:07] Would just say you need the whole roof,

[54:08] you need this section of the roof.

[54:10] Right. Like they just come out and say Yeah.

[54:12] Whether you actually need it or not

[54:14] and how much you need. Correct.

[54:15] - So you mentioned we had the quotes.

[54:17] How long are those quotes valid for?

[54:20] - I, I mean I think for us, I,

[54:25] I wouldn't go longer than a year.

[54:28] You know, I think that's gonna be, so if we,

[54:33] so the town will have to make a decision, you know,

[54:37] if this amount will actually cover the entire project

[54:40] based on that engineering study

[54:41] and we don't get MSBA support, the town would have

[54:46] to probably have another vote to decide to go forward

[54:49] with the actual doing it on our own

[54:53] because that's a, a bigger commitment. You

[54:57] - Might not be able to answer this,

[54:58] but I see like the capital improvement plan, we,

[55:00] we span out, we parse out 10 years.

[55:02] Yeah. So I'm curious as to how long

[55:05] have the roofs been on our capital improvement plan?

[55:10] Is this the first year that they've,

[55:11] or have they been sitting on this plan knowing

[55:14] that they're deteriorating?

[55:16] You know, when we did the walkthrough it was pretty

[55:18] eye-opening to see, especially in the middle

[55:19] - School. Yeah.

[55:21] - You know, your assets are underneath your roof

[55:23] and here we have our assets being flooded when it rains.

[55:26] So

[55:29] - This is the first time, this is the first document

[55:32] that I could find that the school produced.

[55:35] I I have not seen what the town has had

[55:37] for an improvement plan.

[55:39] I've been told, they've been told

[55:42] that roofs have been on the docket for a long time. So is

[55:45] - This something we review annually every year at this?

[55:50] - We will start to, - Yeah,

[55:51] I was gonna say I think you should

[55:53] annually don't think we've been doing it

[55:54] - Consistently.

[55:56] - Capital plan. - I mean we're looking at 9 million and

[56:00] and five plus million are the roofs.

[56:01] - Yeah. Yeah. And, and that's only gonna go up. Right?

[56:05] Right.

[56:07] - But if we do get 60% Yeah that pulls that number down.

[56:10] - Absolutely. Yep. - And they're not gonna agree

[56:14] to do all three roofs at once. Oh

[56:16] - No, - No, no.

[56:17] So we do one at a time. So that makes it a little more,

[56:22] I don't want to use the word acceptable,

[56:23] but a little more palatable.

[56:25] - Yeah, yeah. We agreed to prioritize.

[56:27] It sounds like the middle schools, the Yeah,

[56:29] definitely the middle schools first.

[56:31] SMK is right up there.

[56:32] And then I would lowest of the three. Yeah,

[56:34] - There, there's a lot of discussion on the middle school.

[56:38] Is that the original roof? Yeah.

[56:40] And I think from what we've been able to find out,

[56:42] it's the original roof that's been sort

[56:45] of repaired a couple times,

[56:47] but it's been so long since it's even had repairs that

[56:50] you're talking 1960. Yeah. Bill,

[56:52] - Bill said something about the membranes being

[56:56] redone at some point, some at point.

[56:57] At this point, all those membranes are old,

[57:00] - Dried out. So

[57:00] - Yeah.

[57:01] All all the, the gravel

[57:03] or the ted is all gone, gone, gone for the most part.

[57:06] So it's, it's been a long time. A long time.

[57:14] So do we have to have the study done before January?

[57:18] - I gotta find that out. Okay.

[57:20] I I I we probably are

[57:23] because I think we need some information Right.

[57:25] To go into the application. For

[57:28] - Sure.

[57:29] Do we know roughly what the study would cost?

[57:31] - I have not gone. Okay.

[57:32] I have not done that work yet. Because

[57:33] - Basically we're doing one at a time.

[57:35] Yes. 'cause they're not gonna, I I believe the, the,

[57:39] the meeting that was held a year ago

[57:44] with them was Yeah, we're,

[57:47] we're not funding three roofs at once.

[57:49] - Right. And I I perfectly understand that.

[57:51] - Yeah, that's understandable. Yeah.

[57:53] But it doesn't mean we can't go back every year

[57:55] 'cause we're doing different roofs.

[57:56] No, no, absolutely. So, but we're starting the process

[57:59] and that's the important thing.

[58:00] We're, we're not saying the roofs leak. The roofs leak.

[58:03] We are starting a process.

[58:06] I would, once we have more information, I would like to

[58:10] invite the selectmen to come on a Saturday so we could,

[58:15] and and we won't make it a huge major walkthrough probably

[58:19] of either that building or that building in SK

[58:23] to talk about the roofs

[58:25] and talk about a few other things like the generator

[58:28] and some other things that well let, let priorities

[58:31] - The chiller too, you know. Yeah.

[58:33] - And show 'em the chiller firsthand.

[58:34] This is what, this is what you pay for.

[58:36] It's, it's pretty, and

[58:38] and I think at some future meeting,

[58:41] once it's done once stuff

[58:42] and running a hundred percent

[58:44] that we should throw it on the screen so

[58:46] that it gets broadcast out.

[58:47] Yeah. Just because let tell you that chiller the

[58:50] outside unit, to me that's pretty impressive. It is

[58:53] - Pretty impressive.

[58:54] - It's pretty impressive. Yeah.

[58:55] And, and so it's, it's time we

[59:01] feed back, you know, people vote Yes.

[59:04] Spend money on things.

[59:06] Well this is what it looks like, right.

[59:07] This is what it's doing, it's working

[59:08] and this is what we paid for.

[59:10] And it, to me, it it is a pretty

[59:13] impressive piece of equipment.

[59:15] So, but I, I would like to get, I'm not looking

[59:19] to get selectman necessarily on our side

[59:22] or try to bribe her any way.

[59:24] I, I just want to inform them that yeah, we're asking,

[59:27] we're doing, we're we're going into the state program

[59:31] to get some reimbursement and this is why.

[59:34] And you know, we need their support.

[59:36] We need them to throw in with us

[59:38] because it's, you know, to the point of

[59:43] I think the library and the middle school

[59:45] and SMK, they both leak.

[59:48] So there's a lot of investment in, especially in SMK,

[59:51] but a lot of investment in books and stuff.

[59:53] And it's like, we're also protecting the assets. Yeah.

[59:56] And besides that, it's also, yeah,

[59:59] without getting into too much quality of life

[1:00:02] and everything, it's like who wants to be in a building that

[1:00:05] you'd be far drier standing

[1:00:07] outside than you would be in a hallway

[1:00:09] or something, or a classroom.

[1:00:11] So it, it's about time. It it's long overdue.

[1:00:14] It's long overdue that we don't, I mean this is a wishlist,

[1:00:17] you know, if the town won the lottery tomorrow, it's like,

[1:00:20] okay, fill this out.

[1:00:22] But I, I think it's a good start to,

[1:00:25] and then we can zero in like on roofs, the generator,

[1:00:29] I would even go on a limb

[1:00:30] and say I'd like to see a generator for the middle school.

[1:00:33] - I would like that too. But I can commit.

[1:00:36] I understand why they don't have one there.

[1:00:37] - One at a time, one at a time, one at a time.

[1:00:40] But we gotta have at least two.

[1:00:41] Yeah, there's one here and that one needs to be replaced.

[1:00:44] We gotta have two. Yeah.

[1:00:45] Because we run into a problem with power.

[1:00:49] The generator basically does some basic things,

[1:00:52] but the biggest thing it does is food service.

[1:00:57] It is the middle school. It does the freezer shelter.

[1:01:00] No, no. It was supposed to be,

[1:01:03] yeah, I think back in the sixties.

[1:01:05] 'cause this, there is the area shelter

[1:01:07] that's in the basement and we saw the beds in the Yeah,

[1:01:12] it is not a bad thought.

[1:01:13] It was, but apparently they decided

[1:01:15] to put the money into the senior center

[1:01:17] and that's why that has a better generator.

[1:01:19] And I believe it's a new one. Fairly new.

[1:01:22] And that is the emergency place.

[1:01:24] And I guess they also use the great room at the town hall if

[1:01:28] they had to as an overflow.

[1:01:29] I don't know if it's generated there or anything.

[1:01:32] So that's probably why the middle school never got one.

[1:01:35] But at least if we have a generator at SMK

[1:01:39] and this one running, if we had to move food stops out

[1:01:42] of there, we'd have two places to put it as opposed

[1:01:45] to just try to put everything in one.

[1:01:47] And there is an alternative

[1:01:50] and I would not go with the dry ice,

[1:01:52] dry ice alternative trust them.

[1:01:55] I've been there. And that is not fun.

[1:01:58] It's pretty cool when you get rid of it and you,

[1:02:01] and you watch the fog spread all over the place.

[1:02:03] But it's, that's, that's no way to run a railroad.

[1:02:08] So yeah, it's, it's, this is a lot of wishlist

[1:02:12] and we can get creative with some things,

[1:02:15] but I, I think it's time that we start looking at

[1:02:17] what we need and start

[1:02:22] could offend someone when I say this, start asking for it,

[1:02:26] you know, a lot of money was spent on these buildings

[1:02:29] and they do need some help.

[1:02:34] Whether it's roofs, whether it's floors, they, they do see,

[1:02:38] need some basic help.

[1:02:40] So I'm done. I lost my soapbox.

[1:02:43] - Well the, the second half of that conversation is

[1:02:47] you put this roof on

[1:02:48] and this roof is supposed to last, let's just say 15 years.

[1:02:53] Let's say we put the roof on in 2030, like it says here.

[1:02:58] So in 2030 that school is going to be

[1:03:02] how old it's going to be

[1:03:04] - 1960.

[1:03:05] So 40 plus. That's 70 years old. Be 70 years

[1:03:07] - Years old.

[1:03:08] That's a 70-year-old school That's too old. So,

[1:03:12] - So on the flip side of that conversation, yeah,

[1:03:15] you're putting money into a 60, 70-year-old building.

[1:03:18] But look at the floors in that place. It is

[1:03:21] - Concrete.

[1:03:22] Do Oh no, I was, I was talking about do you walk I was

[1:03:23] talking about SMK sorry.

[1:03:24] - Oh, SMK. Sorry,

[1:03:25] I thought you was talking the middle school.

[1:03:27] - Oh what SMK was built in 70, 74. Yeah.

[1:03:30] So a a 60-year-old building.

[1:03:34] So I guess, I guess my thought to it is

[1:03:37] that if we have a middle school that is old

[1:03:41] and a lower elementary school that is old

[1:03:44] and we're gonna put in two point,

[1:03:48] almost 2.3 million at SMK

[1:03:50] and 1.8 at the middle school, at

[1:03:54] what point does it make more financial sense

[1:03:57] and more longevity sense to say, alright, we're gonna build

[1:04:01] a pre-K to six elementary school

[1:04:06] instead of having basically

[1:04:09] - Elementary - Schools.

[1:04:10] What? Well, that's, that's the thing is that, is

[1:04:12] that if you, if you take, if you take the,

[1:04:16] the $4 million here

[1:04:19] and shift it toward the cost of building a new building,

[1:04:22] which is obviously way more than $4 million,

[1:04:24] all I'm saying is that a new building with a new roof

[1:04:27] is gonna last lot longer than an

[1:04:29] old building with a new roof.

[1:04:32] - But if the new building that replaces two say is,

[1:04:37] and I'm just throwing a number out there, 50 million,

[1:04:42] - I was gonna say 40.

[1:04:43] So we're in the same ballpark ish. Right,

[1:04:47] - I know a few years ago and - Right.

[1:04:50] But that must it just, I to say it some place

[1:04:52] - That - A, a large percentage of that

[1:04:55] - Newton South did a high school for 75 million,

[1:04:59] that's a addition that's got everything in it.

[1:05:01] So 50 million is probably a safe number

[1:05:06] up higher for a building to replace these two. Yes.

[1:05:09] - Oh yeah. Yeah. - I I I would be surprised you could get

[1:05:13] it for less than 85, 90 million.

[1:05:16] - What was David Proudy?

[1:05:17] That's probably the newest woman over there.

[1:05:18] - Proudy. Yeah. Yeah, right.

[1:05:22] - Yeah. I don't know how much that was. That's up there.

[1:05:26] - Seventies. - Yeah, so

[1:05:30] - I mean 'cause because we're in the buildings, there's also

[1:05:35] land acquisition if, you know, how, where,

[1:05:39] where would we be able to put it?

[1:05:42] I think we go on this site, don't get me wrong,

[1:05:44] but, you know, so that, that part of the conversation.

[1:05:47] Right. But land might be a part of the price too.

[1:05:49] To, or, or, or re re reclamation

[1:05:54] of land, you know, cutting down trees and so forth. 'cause

[1:05:58] - Yeah, 'cause I mean you would, you would build it probably

[1:06:00] where SMK is but it would eat into the soccer

[1:06:02] field and the baseball field

[1:06:03] - Behind it.

[1:06:04] I was gonna say it would probably have to go on the

[1:06:05] soccer field and baseball field.

[1:06:06] Yeah. So that you don't disrupt what goes on at

[1:06:09] - SK.

[1:06:10] Yeah. And like while it's being built,

[1:06:11] we've got the middle school and the high school.

[1:06:13] I mean, we could, we could figure out where

[1:06:14] to put kids within this campus.

[1:06:16] Yeah. I feel like for the short term of it being built,

[1:06:20] I don't think we would have to buy land.

[1:06:21] I think we would, I think we could use what we have.

[1:06:23] And I'm not saying it would be cheap, I'm just saying that

[1:06:26] if we put a roof on a building

[1:06:29] that's already 60 years old

[1:06:32] and we expect it to last for 15 years,

[1:06:36] - I would expect it to last 20, 25 years easy.

[1:06:40] - So by then the school is almost a hundred years old.

[1:06:45] - I think a conversation that has to happen at that point is

[1:06:50] what's our student population?

[1:06:55] What's our student population?

[1:06:58] - Is enrollment trending upwards? Anywhere? Anywhere?

[1:07:03] - Yeah. The whole state is coming down

[1:07:05] - Western west of 4, 9, 5.

[1:07:10] - All right. I I mean, - It was just

[1:07:11] because that would determine the size, but,

[1:07:15] but that might also work against it in the fact

[1:07:17] that you wanna do that much

[1:07:19] for a population that's declining.

[1:07:21] I mean, look at Mohat.

[1:07:24] We've lost in 10 years a third of their student population.

[1:07:27] Look at Munson down the road.

[1:07:30] They're at least, what, 25% if not more.

[1:07:34] They can't feel certain athletic teams

[1:07:36] 'cause they don't have enough kids.

[1:07:39] - But are the elementary schools also suffering?

[1:07:45] - I can't answer that because I don't,

[1:07:46] when they throw numbers out, they don't

[1:07:48] take it down. Permit S okay

[1:07:50] - Is good.

[1:07:51] - But then where are they going? What is happening?

[1:07:53] If, if, say in in Munson, their elementary numbers are good

[1:07:57] and then all of a sudden they get to the seventh

[1:07:59] and eighth grade, where are they going?

[1:08:01] If it falls that much? Right.

[1:08:03] It's probably across the board

[1:08:05] that is slowly going down.

[1:08:10] I would say, I would just guess,

[1:08:12] but, you know, how would we want to be

[1:08:17] look to the future as far as a declining population?

[1:08:20] And no offense, but do we want to build a Taj Mahal?

[1:08:26] And when we probably field of dreams,

[1:08:30] fiscal wise, field of

[1:08:31] - Dreams, - If you build it, they

[1:08:32] - Will come. Yes.

[1:08:34] - I'm just - Kidding. There's data to support that.

[1:08:37] But there, yes.

[1:08:38] The schools, if you build a new school,

[1:08:40] your enrollment usually grows, ticks up for a short time.

[1:08:44] But obviously it's, it's all about housing

[1:08:46] units and, and Right.

[1:08:47] Replenishing existing unit.

[1:08:49] So if the town has an aggressive housing plan

[1:08:53] or development is gonna happen in the town on, on existing

[1:08:57] land, then you, you look at that

[1:09:00] and you see if there's gonna be growth.

[1:09:03] So

[1:09:04] - Yes, I think we need to take care of what we have

[1:09:08] as a start and then we can, if things get

[1:09:12] to a point where the numbers are high

[1:09:17] and considering a new building,

[1:09:19] I think then we have that discussion.

[1:09:21] But I think for now we need to fix what we have

[1:09:24] because it's not getting any better.

[1:09:28] - I wonder if part of the research study

[1:09:30] tackles a little bit of this,

[1:09:32] like the research study might unpack, well,

[1:09:35] you're gonna put $5 million into two roof or three roof.

[1:09:38] Perhaps it might be more value to look at building.

[1:09:43] Yeah. If that's part of a re I don't know.

[1:09:45] I'm asking. I wonder that. Well,

[1:09:47] - I I think that that's, that's the value of working

[1:09:50] with MSBA, to be honest with you,

[1:09:52] because they have a, a statewide view of

[1:09:55] what, what's been happening.

[1:09:56] And so they can, they could share some of their experience

[1:10:00] around, you know, enrollment growth.

[1:10:06] You know, what happens with 68-year-old buildings versus,

[1:10:10] you know, a hundred year old, old

[1:10:12] - Buildings.

[1:10:13] My guess is there's more beyond the roof

[1:10:14] that potentially needs to

[1:10:15] - Be upgrade for.

[1:10:16] And they would, they would, would definitely wanna be part

[1:10:18] of a conversation with the community about that.

[1:10:20] Definitely. Perhaps

[1:10:22] - You could look into that if there's a component

[1:10:24] of the research study that we give an analysis of,

[1:10:27] - Well, because we're, we're, we designed this study

[1:10:30] that we want done, we do.

[1:10:32] So we could ask, you know, for, for firms to do an, our

[1:10:37] request for proposals, we could ask from a firm

[1:10:40] to make sure they have an enrollment piece done

[1:10:45] or that they have a, a statistical analysis of, you know,

[1:10:49] what, what really is the best

[1:10:54] year for a building to be retired?

[1:10:57] You know, is it there 60th years? If there's 75th years,

[1:11:00] - We could spit ball up here all night and knock it anyway.

[1:11:03] Oh yeah. Evidence is in front of us.

[1:11:04] We could probably make a better decision.

[1:11:06] - Oh, absolutely. And we can write our study how we want

[1:11:09] for the information that we Right.

[1:11:11] If we need those questions answered, we can,

[1:11:12] we can get answered for sure.

[1:11:13] Right. Yeah.

[1:11:15] - So as a follow up, we need

[1:11:19] what the study's gonna cost. Yep.

[1:11:21] - And - Is that funded?

[1:11:23] The study's funded solely by our operating budget?

[1:11:27] - The initial one is, yes. Oh wow. Yeah.

[1:11:31] - Okay. Yeah. - And we

[1:11:36] need to find out how soon we need to do it.

[1:11:38] - Yes. - So if

[1:11:43] we need to now, would we go for a warrant based on,

[1:11:47] well we should have a cost rough cost.

[1:11:50] So we could do the warrant based on that as opposed

[1:11:53] to throwing out a number and saying, well,

[1:11:54] if you don't use it all, we'll give it back to you.

[1:11:56] But that's not always a No.

[1:11:58] - We'd wanna give them specifics about what's a to

[1:12:00] - Fill go. Good information

[1:12:01] - We can give them. Yeah.

[1:12:02] - Yeah. Okay. And same

[1:12:03] with the generator. Oh, the generator we have.

[1:12:05] - Yeah. That's a, a - Pretty 65,000. That's

[1:12:08] - A solid cost.

[1:12:09] - Okay. Quote.

[1:12:16] All right. We definitely will do this once a year,

[1:12:21] maybe every six months.

[1:12:24] - Thank you for putting the time into that.

[1:12:25] Yeah, thank you. It was an excellent

[1:12:27] - Document.

[1:12:28] We haven't had anything like this in a long time.

[1:12:29] It's kind of nice to have it all there

[1:12:31] and I know it's in a sense, a wishlist,

[1:12:34] but yet it's something we can work towards

[1:12:36] and something that Yeah.

[1:12:40] We can work towards. It's

[1:12:50] Any other questions or comments?

[1:12:51] Capital improvement.

[1:12:54] - I guess last one, just in regards to like operation

[1:12:57] and maintenance, I do feel a lot of questions about like

[1:13:00] what is the operation

[1:13:01] and maintenance schedules of anything

[1:13:04] that might appear on here.

[1:13:05] I mean, I would assume that we have, you know,

[1:13:07] somebody maintaining our equipment, doing

[1:13:11] what they need to do to service it.

[1:13:12] Yep. Yearly, monthly, bi-annually.

[1:13:17] Can you talk a little bit about like what, what we do

[1:13:19] to maintain what we do have so

[1:13:21] that we're not overlooking anything so

[1:13:24] that it pops up when it should.

[1:13:25] Yeah.

[1:13:28] - Yeah. I think, you know, from what I can see and, and,

[1:13:31] and how Bill talks about, you know, what, what he's doing

[1:13:34] and how he's mapping things out.

[1:13:35] You know, I think he's got a good handle on what the,

[1:13:39] what the schedule of maintenance is needed

[1:13:41] for, for everything.

[1:13:43] And it's, you know, well documented

[1:13:45] and you know, people who come in and work on our, our

[1:13:49] - So that falls to Bill and the maintenance staff.

[1:13:51] - Yeah. Yeah. - Okay.

[1:13:53] - And we've come a long way.

[1:13:54] We used to like fund them for nothing. Yeah.

[1:13:57] - Kitchen equipment that went

[1:13:58] - Across the board.

[1:13:59] We would end up giving them a a a new box

[1:14:01] of duct tape every year and that was all we could afford

[1:14:04] and hold it together. My

[1:14:06] - Point is, it's a heavy lift for

[1:14:07] one person, right? Right. To

[1:14:08] - Go through all - These R one

[1:14:10] M'S for everything that we own.

[1:14:11] But it could potentially be a cost savings to the right.

[1:14:14] Offset the local assessment when people are saying,

[1:14:16] well take care of what you have.

[1:14:17] Right, right. Before we buy it, we,

[1:14:19] we ask the town to buy us something new.

[1:14:21] - So Jeff Nichols is our food services

[1:14:23] and he oversees the, the kitchen equipment.

[1:14:25] I mean they, they work together,

[1:14:27] but Jeff has a good handle on what the schedule

[1:14:31] for main maintenance and

[1:14:32] because he's also inspected obviously that, that

[1:14:37] puts the pressure on making sure that it's maintained.

[1:14:40] But he's got a good replacement cycle

[1:14:43] of his equipment as, as well. So good

[1:14:46] - To hear.

[1:14:47] So you're comfortable saying we we maintain what we have.

[1:14:49] - Yeah. I'm seeing good things. I think that's important

[1:14:51] - Information to get - Out there.

[1:14:52] And Jeff is pretty good at finding

[1:14:55] or applying for grants

[1:14:56] to replace things too, from time to time.

[1:14:58] Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing what he will get a grant for

[1:15:01] to replace the dishwasher or whatever.

[1:15:02] Yep. And that equipment is old.

[1:15:06] It's, but it is maintained

[1:15:08] and when it's replaced it's, he,

[1:15:13] he does an excellent job with doing that.

[1:15:15] I'll, I'll give him that right now.

[1:15:17] - And I only bring it up because it's the first per

[1:15:18] thing someone's gonna ask me.

[1:15:19] Oh, absolutely. When we ask for something new, well,

[1:15:21] how well are you taking care of the old stuff? So,

[1:15:24] - And, and that's an excellent point

[1:15:25] because MSBA actually f has least focused on that.

[1:15:29] Have you've been taking care of what you have. Right.

[1:15:31] 'cause if they, if they find evidence that you haven't been,

[1:15:35] they back away very quickly.

[1:15:37] - Thank you. - Veteran

[1:15:41] field bathroom installation.

[1:15:44] - Yes. So I know this has been around for a topic

[1:15:48] and for a while.

[1:15:50] Couple years. Yeah. And so we do have a current quote.

[1:15:55] This is for the product that is, you know,

[1:15:59] essentially they, they are portable, they can be moved,

[1:16:04] but they're essentially, you know, stationed there.

[1:16:07] So we would buy a handicapped accessible

[1:16:09] port, portable restroom.

[1:16:12] So we would have that. And next to

[1:16:15] that we would have two private stalls, toilet stalls.

[1:16:19] Next to that they would be positioned next to the

[1:16:26] bleachers on veterans field so that they can near the,

[1:16:30] near the concession stand, but far enough away,

[1:16:34] but also be available to the softball field so

[1:16:37] that they could be used for the, for that game as well.

[1:16:41] And so we have the 20,000 from the

[1:16:47] T-Mobile to T-Mobile company.

[1:16:49] And so we would have to contribute some

[1:16:51] and we're looking for those funds now to do that.

[1:16:54] We would like to do that, you know, do this,

[1:16:59] this fall would be great,

[1:17:00] but it's probably gonna be next spring

[1:17:02] because we do have to do some groundwork for the plumbing,

[1:17:07] which would be about $7,000 more to, to take care of.

[1:17:12] - This is a direct tie in.

[1:17:14] - It's a direct tie in. Oh, nice. Yeah. Yeah.

[1:17:16] - What do we currently pay for what we have?

[1:17:19] - I don't know the answer to that question,

[1:17:21] but it's pretty expensive actually.

[1:17:22] You know, when you think about it, it's, it's less,

[1:17:24] it's less than this, but Yeah.

[1:17:26] But it's annually, so it's compounding.

[1:17:28] You know, every year you do it.

[1:17:31] - Now I dig out the stuff from last year

[1:17:34] and the estimates were

[1:17:39] the nine and the 5,600.

[1:17:41] So it has gone down, which is good.

[1:17:44] They, he also had given us 7,000 bucks for plumbing.

[1:17:50] 'cause this is just for the equipment

[1:17:51] then we have to do the plumbing after.

[1:17:53] - That's correct. Yes. I say we do

[1:17:57] - It now.

[1:17:58] Do we have 25,000 we got from T-Mobile or do we have 20? 20.

[1:18:02] 20. Okay.

[1:18:04] So with this

[1:18:06] and estimate of roughly 7,000,

[1:18:08] it's not gonna cost us a thing.

[1:18:10] - It's Yeah,

[1:18:11] we're gonna have to kick in a little bit, right?

[1:18:12] Yeah.

[1:18:14] - Yeah. We'll have to get a better estimate on

[1:18:16] the, the plumbing. Right.

[1:18:17] - Has anybody looked into that? Is it a gravity fed sewer?

[1:18:20] Like how far away are there any turns

[1:18:22] in the pipe? I just don't,

[1:18:24] - I'm relying on bill's expertise in that get

[1:18:26] - Rot router involved.

[1:18:27] You know, the public's throwing stuff down there. They

[1:18:29] - Shouldn't.

[1:18:30] Yeah. I mean, from what I understand, the,

[1:18:34] these particular units work,

[1:18:35] they work pretty much like a regular bathroom.

[1:18:37] Yep. And that you wouldn't notice the difference,

[1:18:42] you know, if they're, if they're again, maintained Well and

[1:18:46] because they do have running water, you don't have the issue

[1:18:51] of the smell To the extent for you to, for a,

[1:18:56] - To be tying into the utilities up here.

[1:18:57] - Yes. At the high school. Yeah. Yeah.

[1:19:01] Well to middle school, but yes. Yeah,

[1:19:08] - I think it's a good deal.

[1:19:09] - I think it's great. You, it's time to be done to do it.

[1:19:13] I move, I move that we do this.

[1:19:18] - Do we have a second? Starts getting

[1:19:19] - Late second.

[1:19:21] - All in favor? Any more discussion? Okay.

[1:19:24] All in favor, Kevin? Aye. Julie. Aye.

[1:19:27] Aye for myself, Mike. Aye

[1:19:29] - Mel.

[1:19:30] Aye. Great. A lot of people very happy.

[1:19:38] - It takes care of a lot of problems.

[1:19:39] - Yeah. So

[1:19:44] hearing what you just said, I I'm not trying

[1:19:47] to make the meeting move faster,

[1:19:48] but I, the MOU for the, we're not ready to, I'm not ready

[1:19:53] to move forward for the association has been great.

[1:19:56] They just had other things to deal with.

[1:19:58] So I, I don't have, they don't,

[1:20:02] they have not looked at the job description

[1:20:06] that I gave to them.

[1:20:08] To make a long story short,

[1:20:09] the district has had this position

[1:20:12] for at least over 25 years.

[1:20:14] It's paid out this position for over 25 years.

[1:20:18] The two people that have had the position have never

[1:20:21] received any kind of letter or agreement.

[1:20:23] It has been a $2,500 for, for the whole 20 to 25 years

[1:20:28] that it's been in existence.

[1:20:30] We're just trying to tighten up our rules and regulations

[1:20:33] and follow our standard procedures.

[1:20:36] It's also, you know, for the purposes of retirement,

[1:20:40] if you don't have, if it's not tied to a contract

[1:20:45] in some way, you can't claim it for retirement purposes.

[1:20:49] Oh. And so, so my my recommendation

[1:20:54] to the committee is that we enter this

[1:20:58] as a stipend deposition.

[1:20:59] It goes into our unit, a contract

[1:21:02] and it's paid.

[1:21:04] I, I'm recommending to increase the stipends

[1:21:09] for a slight amount to $3,100 just

[1:21:11] because that has never gotten a raise in 25 here, 22 years.

[1:21:15] But, so, and then, you know, obviously we'll post it

[1:21:19] and hire for it.

[1:21:22] Great.

[1:21:24] - Yeah. But it's not ready to do today. Let us

[1:21:26] - Know when you get that.

[1:21:27] Yeah, I, I just, they haven't given me the Okay.

[1:21:29] They wanna move forward on it.

[1:21:30] I, I don't think there's any disagreement with it.

[1:21:34] It's just a time timing issue. Great.

[1:21:39] - No old unfinished business comments

[1:21:41] and concerns of citizens.

[1:21:47] The subcommittee discussions on here, just briefly,

[1:21:52] I hope to after this weekend get you some information

[1:21:56] on the superintendent search.

[1:21:58] - Oh good. That was on my notes to talk about

[1:22:01] - And I was hoping to do it for this meeting,

[1:22:03] but things were kind of tight.

[1:22:06] But there's some information, I've gotten some information.

[1:22:10] I want to do a roughly a timeline

[1:22:15] and cover some other things.

[1:22:19] But the job description of other things

[1:22:21] that we will discuss at the next meeting.

[1:22:24] I'm just doing this so that there's something

[1:22:27] to work off of.

[1:22:29] And I sort of, and when it comes to scheduling meetings,

[1:22:32] I sort of like the doing every other Wednesday.

[1:22:34] 'cause pretty much everybody has Wednesday's block.

[1:22:37] So, and then we can appoint,

[1:22:42] we can vote on establishing the subcommittee next meeting

[1:22:46] and we can get going on it and starting on it.

[1:22:49] And, but I want to get information out to everybody ahead

[1:22:53] of time so we're not like sitting here going,

[1:22:56] what are we gonna talk about now?

[1:22:57] Well not give us a, give us an outline

[1:23:00] and we can add to it, take away whatever it is.

[1:23:02] But give us something to be able to discuss with.

[1:23:05] So I will have that for the next meeting so

[1:23:07] that we can start that process of searching for

[1:23:11] a superintendent.

[1:23:14] - Yes. I was gonna add

[1:23:17] that the timeline we had last year was fine,

[1:23:20] but it did very much work around the, the holiday break.

[1:23:25] So we,

[1:23:29] we put out like the notice, like we want people to join

[1:23:32] and then the committee was formed like

[1:23:36] early December, I think.

[1:23:37] I feel like it was around my birthday,

[1:23:38] like December 10th ish.

[1:23:40] And then we posted,

[1:23:44] 'cause the, the, the committee met

[1:23:45] and went over the job requirements and everything that like,

[1:23:48] and what what we wanted the, the, the posting to look like.

[1:23:51] We posted it over the break

[1:23:54] and then we had meetings after the break.

[1:23:57] So it, it worked out.

[1:24:00] But I just want to point out that it was very much working

[1:24:03] around that winter break.

[1:24:04] And if we want to avoid that,

[1:24:06] then we would have to change the timeline.

[1:24:07] If we're okay with that, then we can stick with what we had.

[1:24:10] It's just something to think about.

[1:24:12] - Thought was maybe too, I'm just throwing this out there.

[1:24:17] I haven't really laid too much out,

[1:24:18] but I'm, I'm gonna have it this weekend.

[1:24:21] Haven't done by Christmas.

[1:24:24] I don't know if that's kind of ambitious,

[1:24:28] but I'll see how it lays out.

[1:24:29] It's because we do have holidays

[1:24:31] and stuff coming up in, in different things. So it's

[1:24:33] - Only ambitious just

[1:24:34] because it's really early in the school year

[1:24:36] and some people aren't thinking about new positions at

[1:24:39] that point in the school year.

[1:24:40] Right. They're, they're very much

[1:24:43] entrenched in whatever position

[1:24:44] they have currently at the time.

[1:24:46] And a lot of people aren't looking.

[1:24:48] - Are you saying have the posting

[1:24:50] - Out by Christmas or the committee?

[1:24:51] No, he's saying have it done, have someone selected.

[1:24:53] Oh, hold on.

[1:24:56] And I, and I, I just don't, I don't know that we would have,

[1:24:59] I don't know that we would have a strong applicant field.

[1:25:02] I feel like if we, if we have our ducks in a row,

[1:25:08] post it over the break, see

[1:25:11] what we've got when we come back from the break,

[1:25:13] maybe post again and then have it done by early March.

[1:25:18] Like we did. I feel like, I feel like

[1:25:21] that was much more reasonable and we had a,

[1:25:23] and we would have a stronger,

[1:25:24] stronger applicant pool later in the school

[1:25:27] year versus earlier.

[1:25:29] I'm not saying we, we couldn't find someone.

[1:25:31] I'm just saying that not a lot of people are looking

[1:25:34] in October and November for a new job

[1:25:36] because they've just started the one they have.

[1:25:38] - Are we able to open it up

[1:25:39] and then potentially extend it based on the

[1:25:42] - Candidates?

[1:25:43] Yeah, so I mean we could post in October

[1:25:46] and see what we've got

[1:25:48] and if the committee feels that we've got, you know, two

[1:25:52] or three, or not two, not two, three

[1:25:55] or four really strong candidates, then we could go ahead

[1:25:59] with a, with the interviews and do the whole thing.

[1:26:02] And if it doesn't work out, then we have the January

[1:26:05] through March cushion to work with.

[1:26:07] I mean there, there's always kind

[1:26:08] of like a double dip there if you are so inclined. Hmm.

[1:26:12] - We're doing this ourselves again.

[1:26:14] - Yes. Sooner,

[1:26:16] but it might be better to get the process out.

[1:26:18] Sure.

[1:26:20] - Well that's why I'm, that's why I'm gonna set something up

[1:26:23] and then we'll discuss it at the next one.

[1:26:24] Yeah, for sure. And we can extend it, cut it back,

[1:26:27] do options and probably need

[1:26:31] to tweak the description a little bit and, and a few things.

[1:26:35] But one question I do have for everybody is

[1:26:39] do we want to get MA SC involved?

[1:26:42] No. Or do we wanna do it ourselves? We wanna

[1:26:44] - Do it ourselves.

[1:26:46] - Anybody else? I don't know.

[1:26:47] - I think there is some merit to having MASC involved.

[1:26:51] Not at all. And I think we should discuss that for sure.

[1:26:53] Yeah,

[1:26:56] - I don't like having them handle it.

[1:26:57] I will say that much. Sure.

[1:26:58] I think we've, I think we've done basically a couple,

[1:27:02] I think we have learned from it

[1:27:04] and we will, we can discuss that,

[1:27:07] but I think we are totally capable of handling it

[1:27:11] and I just think they, I,

[1:27:17] how do I put this and be nice.

[1:27:21] I think they have an agenda

[1:27:26] sometimes with people. They,

[1:27:28] - They definitely stick their thumb on

[1:27:29] the scale if they feel

[1:27:31] - That way.

[1:27:32] That's a good way to put it. Yeah.

[1:27:33] And so I,

[1:27:35] I think we can be much more impartial and we can be much more.

[1:27:39] And I think, like I said,

[1:27:40] we've done a basically done a couple, I think

[1:27:44] we have a pretty good idea of what we're doing

[1:27:46] and not pretty good idea.

[1:27:49] I think we have a good idea of what we're doing

[1:27:51] and I, I definitely think that we can handle it

[1:27:53] with some adjustments that based off of

[1:27:57] what people didn't like and like before.

[1:27:59] So I think we should be doing it. Why not?

[1:28:04] - Yeah. Alright.

[1:28:06] - Without being rude

[1:28:07] or anything, we have to sort of live

[1:28:10] with whoever gets chosen, so we probably should

[1:28:14] have our fingers into everything we can

[1:28:17] and instead of relying on someone else to, to sort of

[1:28:22] drive the bus, I guess is the best way to put it.

[1:28:26] - That's a little on the nose for you there, Brian. Yes,

[1:28:28] - It's, yeah, I know. That's

[1:28:29] - Okay. I'll allow it.

[1:28:30] - I know. So

[1:28:36] if there's no more discussion on that,

[1:28:38] we will have no communications.

[1:28:40] Our next meeting is 9 23.

[1:28:42] - Oh, I actually just wanted to say

[1:28:43] just really quickly Okay.

[1:28:44] With me having the day off today

[1:28:46] because of, you know, Springfield being closed,

[1:28:49] the principals graciously welcomed me into their schools

[1:28:52] today and I was able to kind of walk around

[1:28:54] and get a feel for how the year is starting out

[1:28:57] and I could not be more impressed

[1:29:00] what a difference the leadership at this

[1:29:02] high school has made.

[1:29:04] I mean, I walked around for a good bit.

[1:29:06] I didn't see any stray kids just wandering around,

[1:29:09] peeked my head into classrooms.

[1:29:10] Nobody was on their phones. Every classroom I looked in,

[1:29:14] the kids were engaged,

[1:29:15] they were doing what they're supposed to be doing.

[1:29:17] The teachers were actively involved.

[1:29:21] And I just, I just want to give a big shout out

[1:29:24] to all three principals

[1:29:26] and assistants that are supporting them

[1:29:29] and I just feel like we're off to a really good start

[1:29:32] and you could feel it in all the buildings.

[1:29:34] So I just wanted to make sure I put that out there

[1:29:38] - To you inform the central office you were doing that?

[1:29:42] Yes. Okay. Anything else?

[1:29:49] No communications nor other business.

[1:29:52] I'll make the motion to adjourn at 8:07 PM We have a second.

[1:29:57] Second. All in favor, Kevin? Aye. Julie? Aye. Aye.

[1:30:01] Myself, Mike. Aye Mel.

[1:30:03] - Aye.

School Committee Mtg. - 9.9.26

Transcript