[3:52] meeting. I call this meeting of Westboro

[3:54] School Committee to order. The time is 6

[3:56] p.m. The meeting is recorded live on

[3:58] Westboro TV. All those who can please

[4:01] rise for the pledge of allegiance.

[4:05] I aliance to the flag of the United

[4:08] States of America. and to the republic

[4:11] for it stands one nation

[4:14] indivisible with liberty and justice for

[4:17] all.

[4:22] » Thank you.

[4:24] Um we're going to start our meeting with

[4:28] citizens request. Is there anybody here

[4:30] that would like to speak?

[4:35] Okay.

[4:37] This

[4:39] Good evening.

[4:39] [laughter and clears throat]

[4:40] >> Good evening. Rod Shepard, a Parkland

[4:42] Street. And I know the last thing

[4:43] >> and uh sorry, I just got to read

[4:44] something real quick here. Apologies. Uh

[4:46] so before we begin uh begin, we will

[4:48] remind everyone of the school committee

[4:50] policy regarding citizens request. Uh so

[4:52] you must be a current resident of

[4:53] Westboro. Speakers are allowed to

[4:55] address the school committee about

[4:56] issues within the school committee's

[4:58] purview. Each speaker will be allowed up

[5:00] to three minutes to speak to the school

[5:01] committee. Written comments longer than

[5:03] three minutes may be presented to the

[5:05] presiding chair before or after the

[5:06] meeting. You are welcome to hand the

[5:08] chair additional comments in writing now

[5:09] or send them via email and the chair

[5:11] will share them with the other school

[5:12] committee members. Public comments by

[5:14] residents at this meeting is not a

[5:15] discussion, debate or dialogue between

[5:17] individuals of the school committee. Is

[5:19] an individual's opportunity to express

[5:21] an opinion on issues within the school

[5:23] committee's authority. Our role is to

[5:24] listen carefully to what you have to

[5:26] share with us tonight. Clapping,

[5:27] sharing, calling out or any other noise

[5:29] during the following uh a following

[5:31] speaker is not allowed. At the close of

[5:33] citizens requests, school administrators

[5:34] may address what the sh what was shared

[5:36] by the speakers if they wish to do so.

[5:38] State your full name and street address

[5:40] and speak directly into the microphone.

[5:42] >> Thank you. Rod Shaper, 8 Barkman Street.

[5:45] And I know the last thing you guys want

[5:47] to talk about right now is roofs, but so

[5:49] I'll make this very brief. So I

[5:51] understand from the agenda today that uh

[5:54] one of the things being considered is

[5:56] your capital projects for next year.

[5:58] within those capital projects, there's a

[6:00] number of roofing uh uh proposals. And

[6:04] you know, I've cautioned the school

[6:06] board that uh over the last several

[6:10] roofing projects,

[6:13] the person who's made the recommendation

[6:15] on what to do has been the manufacturer

[6:18] that's provided through roofing systems.

[6:20] And I'm not saying that anybody's trying

[6:22] to do anything uh illegal or anything

[6:25] like that. I just said I think the

[6:27] system is set up right now that we're

[6:30] really limiting ourselves to a

[6:31] proprietary system and I know Jacob has

[6:34] agreed to look into this. Uh but before

[6:37] we go forward with any capital project,

[6:39] I would strongly recommend that we get

[6:41] an independent roofing uh consultant

[6:45] involved.

[6:47] Candly, I'm not even sure that sealing

[6:49] the roofs is the right solution versus

[6:52] uh putting in new roofs. One of the

[6:54] arguments for putting ceiling as opposed

[6:56] to putting in new roofs is you can't

[6:58] reuse the material from the existing

[7:00] roofs. I'm a contractor right now using

[7:04] the insulation that's been taken off

[7:06] roofs as the insulation under the slabs

[7:09] for new buildings. So there are

[7:11] opportunities for recycling, reusing

[7:13] existing roofing products. All I would

[7:15] say is let's do a little more further

[7:17] investigation before we commit ourselves

[7:20] to what's currently being proposed.

[7:22] Thank you. Thank you very much.

[7:26] Okay, I think that concludes our citizen

[7:29] request. We're going to proceed with

[7:31] superintendent update.

[7:33] >> Great. I'm um happy to invite Tammy

[7:35] Castella who comes here every year to

[7:37] give you a little overview of what's

[7:38] happening in terms of our staffing uh

[7:40] particularly after the kind of final

[7:43] push in the summer and uh to give you an

[7:45] update about the start of school. So,

[7:46] thank you Tammy.

[7:48] >> Hello Tammy. Welcome back.

[7:50] >> Thank you.

[7:52] to this. So, I want to hit you point the

[7:54] thing if you point it at me. But yeah,

[7:57] you [laughter]

[7:59] think

[8:00] um thank you for having me. You do every

[8:04] year. I love staffing. I love hiring. I

[8:08] enjoy my job. So, I'm just going to go

[8:10] through um some of the things that have

[8:12] happened since about April, since hiring

[8:14] season. hiring and recruiting and hiring

[8:16] is just one part of what we do, but um

[8:19] it's a very crucial part to get us ready

[8:21] for the school year. So, I will bring

[8:23] you through the slides.

[8:27] Okay. Um one of the actually I sorry

[8:32] there we go. Um so just some hire hiring

[8:35] highlights for the year, things that

[8:37] shaped how we did things. The biggest

[8:39] thing that happened this year was the

[8:41] elementary redistricting. And so what

[8:43] that allowed us to do is to transfer

[8:46] staff from two elementary schools over

[8:48] to fails where um students were being

[8:52] moved. So that was a big big part of our

[8:55] hiring this year, how we did that. Um we

[8:57] had a very large year of administrator

[9:00] hiring which I'll get into. And the

[9:01] other thing that made this year a little

[9:03] bit um different than in previous years.

[9:06] So we have six of our seven um unions.

[9:09] We have new contracts and the unit B

[9:12] which is our para educator unit which is

[9:14] now called ESP which is our educational

[9:17] support personnel. We recognized that

[9:19] there were um different levels of

[9:22] positions within that group. And so we

[9:25] created a two-tier system. So we have a

[9:27] tier two and a tier three. And because

[9:30] of that um how we hired we had to be

[9:32] very specific about which position we

[9:34] were hiring for. So that was just

[9:36] something that was um a little bit

[9:38] different this year.

[9:40] So as I just alluded to, we had a very

[9:43] um gang buster year of hiring

[9:45] administrators for no real particular

[9:49] reason that I can think of with the

[9:50] exception of um I think we've done a

[9:52] good job getting our administrators um

[9:56] very skilled at their crafts. So, we had

[10:00] three of our um longtime administrators

[10:03] leave to go on to other places and be

[10:08] promoted within their um disciplines.

[10:10] So, that was some of what we have. Um

[10:15] so, these are the new administrators we

[10:16] hired this year. Scott Connory at the

[10:18] principal, Mark Levida who's our

[10:20] athletic director,

[10:24] Ryan Dewolf, director of fine arts,

[10:26] Christopher Kitell and Andrea Ostroski

[10:28] are our new student service

[10:29] coordinators, Katherine Faria, who is

[10:33] our um literacy and data coordinator for

[10:36] grades four to eight. and Lauren Dbor,

[10:39] who is one of our high school math

[10:41] teachers, has stepped in the role as a

[10:43] one-year interim assistant principal,

[10:46] which was part of our plan for replacing

[10:49] Brian Callahan. And there's one other

[10:51] administrator I didn't put on here. He's

[10:54] um

[10:55] he's a he's an upandcomer in education.

[10:57] I think he's going to be excellent. His

[10:59] name is Jack Foley and he's taken over

[11:02] um at the high school and I think um I

[11:06] think he's one to watch.

[11:10] » So I usually break down our hiring into

[11:12] classroom staff and everyone else. And

[11:15] so this is the bulk of our um hiring for

[11:19] the classroom. We had 40.2 FTEEs and it

[11:23] was just about half and half. We had 19

[11:26] teachers that we hired which was 18.2

[11:28] two FTEEs, but 19 teachers and then 22

[11:32] PAR educators. You can see that the bulk

[11:34] of the um hiring or the higher uh hiring

[11:38] was done at Mil Pond and Gibbons. You

[11:41] also see that there was more hiring done

[11:42] at fails and a lot of that has to do

[11:44] with switching staff from those

[11:46] elementaryaries to fails. Um and then

[11:49] also having to to beef up staff a

[11:51] little, but all of our staffing was a

[11:53] onetoone. We didn't increase any FTEEs.

[11:59] This is um something I like to go over

[12:01] every year which is this the analysis of

[12:04] the new professional staff unit A. Uh we

[12:07] had nine internal moves which again is

[12:09] mostly because of that redistricting but

[12:11] we also had of those nine we had two

[12:14] special educators transfer within their

[12:17] own schools to general education. So um

[12:20] I have to track internal moves because

[12:22] we have to then backfill them. So, it's

[12:24] considered a hire. Um, we had a Gibbons

[12:27] tutor promoted to a computer science

[12:29] teacher and we had a fails par

[12:31] profofessional promoted to a special

[12:33] educator, which I love when we're

[12:35] promoting our own staff. And we also had

[12:38] an elementary long-term subteer at

[12:40] Armstrong who we recognized was an

[12:43] excellent teacher and she was hired into

[12:45] a permanent position at Mil Pond. of the

[12:48] 18 um teachers new to Westboro, we

[12:51] actually had 19 new teachers that we

[12:54] hired, but one came back. She had been

[12:57] here about five years ago for five years

[12:58] left and now she's back. So we have true

[13:01] 18 new teachers to Westboro.

[13:04] About three of them, out of about three

[13:06] of them are in their first year, which

[13:08] is great. About 60% of them fall in that

[13:10] two to

[13:12] nine year range. And then we had four

[13:16] that were um 10 plus years experience.

[13:18] So that's the breakdown. I like to see

[13:20] that sort of even level of experience.

[13:23] So we're getting all different levels.

[13:25] And um of the 18 that we hired, we hired

[13:28] three educators of color.

[13:34] This is um the teacher retention rates.

[13:37] This is something I started tracking

[13:38] when I got here. Uh 2021, 2022. I wanted

[13:43] to see if we were keeping our teachers

[13:45] and I also was trying to figure out the

[13:47] teachers that left why. So I've been

[13:49] tracking this for a number of years. The

[13:51] important thing about this is that we

[13:52] had really good retention this year. Um

[13:55] we, you know, we lost teachers due to

[13:58] resignations, retirement, and

[13:59] non-renewals. Um and this is a lower

[14:02] than average turnover rate. I was doing

[14:04] some research and DESI's most recent um

[14:09] reported percentage is 90.1% is a

[14:12] teacher retention rate across the state.

[14:14] So we're at 95.4 for this year, which I

[14:17] was really happy about.

[14:22] This is all the other people we hire

[14:25] besides unit A and unit B. Um we don't

[14:29] hire interns, but I like to put that

[14:31] number up there. 34 interns. These are

[14:34] people that might and in some cases do

[14:36] come back and become teachers for us. We

[14:38] also we hire interns for um educators

[14:42] who were in their last year of teaching

[14:44] and so they have to come and do their uh

[14:47] student teaching here. We also hire a

[14:49] good number of school nurse interns. So

[14:53] these are people that are potential for

[14:56] the future that we do tap into. Um,

[14:58] we're always hiring on call substitutes,

[15:01] extended day, uh, partial year long-term

[15:04] subs. We have that for our leaves of

[15:06] absences, most notably maternity leaves,

[15:09] but there are other childbearing leaves.

[15:10] There are others. We've hired five

[15:12] custodians, five coaches, seven new,

[15:15] two food service workers,

[15:18] and a partridge in a pear tree. Mhm.

[15:22] >> Um, I wanted to go over just a little

[15:24] bit about stuff coming up in human

[15:26] resources.

[15:28] The normal dayto-day is hiring and

[15:32] taking care of employee issues and

[15:34] benefits, um, things of that nature.

[15:36] However, this year there are three

[15:39] bigger things going on. We will be

[15:41] hiring a permanent principal for

[15:44] Westboro High School. That will be um a

[15:47] very big hire that we'll be working on

[15:49] and we'll probably start that process in

[15:50] December and hope to have that wrapped

[15:52] up by February.

[15:54] We last year

[15:57] renegotiated uh six of our seven union

[16:01] contracts. So it was an extremely busy

[16:03] year and this year we only have to do

[16:05] one which is our administrator contract

[16:08] which is great. So that is on the

[16:09] docket. We hope to get going on that

[16:11] soon. uh for our administrators in that

[16:14] union. You have your assistant

[16:15] principles, your student services

[16:17] coordinators, and your curriculum

[16:19] coordinators.

[16:21] And then there's also, which you're

[16:22] aware of, the efficiency study that the

[16:24] town's doing just to look at if see if

[16:27] there's any redundancies between the

[16:29] school district and the town.

[16:33] And that's all I have. So, I open it up

[16:36] to you for questions.

[16:38] >> Thank you. I will say that um

[16:41] well I already said it actually so

[16:43] there's more than just hiring that goes

[16:44] on but this time of year I'd love to

[16:46] come and talk to you about the hiring

[16:48] because that's what's been the main

[16:49] focus since about midappril to pretty

[16:52] much now. Um we just landed the plane

[16:56] about a week and a half before school

[16:58] started and we had all our unit A

[17:00] positions filled which was great. It was

[17:02] a very very um tough year for hiring

[17:06] special educators which continues to be

[17:08] the trend of our 19 hires. 10 were

[17:11] special educators and I'm happy to say

[17:13] that we hired them all, but at the end

[17:16] we had two that we were really pushing

[17:18] for. We actually got two excellent

[17:20] hires.

[17:22] >> Thank you. We'll start our discussion

[17:25] questions, Steve.

[17:26] >> Well, I think it's well put together

[17:28] presentation and in fact has all the

[17:30] pieces that we normally would be

[17:32] interested in and you've you've uh

[17:35] defined them very well. Thank you.

[17:37] >> Thank you.

[17:38] Jane.

[17:39] >> Yeah, thank you so much for the update.

[17:41] Um, and it's very busy. Um, one thing I

[17:45] was thinking about with the special

[17:46] education, you know, this is a

[17:48] persistent

[17:50] uh challenge it sounds like. And I

[17:52] wonder, do we ever have um special ed

[17:56] teachers who were on one of the

[17:57] long-term sub type roles? And then, you

[18:01] know, that might be a good person to try

[18:03] to hire.

[18:03] >> We do. We do, but um more often than not

[18:08] the long-term sub, we have we actually

[18:11] hired someone at the high school that

[18:12] started as a long-term sub a couple

[18:13] years ago and now she's permanent at the

[18:15] high school. Um but special education,

[18:19] the actual special educators, I'm not

[18:21] talking about the SLPs and the OT's, the

[18:23] specialists. I'm talking about the

[18:24] actual special education teachers

[18:26] continues to be a dwindling group. And

[18:29] um it's like this. We have a greater

[18:31] need for them and they're dwindling. And

[18:34] so this summer there was lots of emails

[18:36] between myself and my peers at other

[18:38] districts saying, "Do you have any

[18:40] special educators? Do you have any

[18:42] special educators?" That was maybe your

[18:43] number two or your number three. So it

[18:45] wasn't just here. It was pretty much

[18:47] everywhere.

[18:48] >> Yeah. I mean it just seems like if it's

[18:51] something that's a issue for us that's

[18:53] ongoing strategizing um maybe with the

[18:57] student with with Meg Garvey too about

[19:01] um how we can and and I know sometimes

[19:04] we have student teachers maybe come in

[19:07] and or or um you know when they're doing

[19:10] their rotations for school things like

[19:12] that.

[19:13] >> Yeah. And one thing, it doesn't sound

[19:15] like a great number, but for the past

[19:18] four years, every year we've had one

[19:19] pareducator become a special education

[19:22] teacher, which is excellent. They

[19:24] they've gotten the schooling and

[19:25] >> they've the best part about that right

[19:27] now. Um this year, the one that fails,

[19:30] she was there all last year as a par

[19:32] educator. She was, as Maryanne put it,

[19:35] sort of homegrown and then she had an

[19:37] opening and she hired her. And so that

[19:40] happens um often enough here. We've had

[19:42] a couple at the high school that were

[19:43] PAR educators.

[19:45] So, that's

[19:46] >> Yeah, that's great.

[19:47] >> Our sources.

[19:48] >> Thank you.

[19:49] Tim. [clears throat]

[19:51] >> Good evening, Tammy. Thank you for the

[19:52] presentation. Uh, just a couple quick

[19:54] questions. I know we were talking about

[19:56] the uh the 34 interns. I'm curious, is

[19:58] there a budget um that we associate with

[19:59] the intern program or

[20:01] >> No, we don't pay the interns. Um, so the

[20:05] only real expense is what we do in HR to

[20:07] on board them. We just make sure that

[20:09] they're coreied and that they're

[20:11] fingerprinted and we make sure they I

[20:12] have them sign a confident

[20:14] confidentiality agreement and then I

[20:15] have them do some staff training just to

[20:18] make it that much more

[20:20] get them ready and they're in the

[20:22] classroom and they're always our interns

[20:23] are always with someone. So we we don't

[20:25] allow interns to be alone with the

[20:28] students. Not that it's overly a

[20:30] concern, but they're always with

[20:31] someone. It is mostly um teaching

[20:34] interns and nurses

[20:38] >> sense. And I was curious as well, you

[20:40] know, Jane was just asking about the

[20:41] special educators. I'm I'm curious if

[20:43] you could talk maybe briefly just a high

[20:45] level of like how long we've been seeing

[20:46] this going on for like the upward trend

[20:47] and like are we seeing anything from the

[20:49] state or like anything that's giving you

[20:51] hope that that might end? Um,

[20:55] I think that there are more people

[20:56] leaving the field than they used to. So,

[20:59] you have two of our own teachers went

[21:01] from special education this year to

[21:03] general ed. And um,

[21:07] that was great because we got to keep

[21:09] them and they didn't go elsewhere. But I

[21:11] was like, that's two more special

[21:13] educators we have to hire. So, I am

[21:16] hopeful that it'll turn around, but I

[21:18] would say this is year three. Last year

[21:20] was very difficult. this year was more

[21:22] difficult because we had to hire 10

[21:24] which was a lot and uh two years ago we

[21:27] started to see the trend. So

[21:30] I think I think there's just a shift now

[21:33] where you have more people just

[21:35] migrating towards general ed but I'm

[21:37] hoping that'll change.

[21:40] >> Um I know I don't think any other

[21:42] questions. Um I just do really

[21:43] appreciate the the number from Desi.

[21:44] It's great to hear that we are doing

[21:45] better than the rest. So

[21:46] >> yes yes we are. Thank you.

[21:48] >> I think we're, you know, I always say

[21:51] that we're a great district and I think

[21:53] there's word of mouth out there and we

[21:55] do get teachers from other districts and

[21:59] we get really good comments from

[22:01] teachers saying, "Wow, this process was

[22:03] great and everyone here's so nice and

[22:05] you know, it's just a small thing, but

[22:08] it it's always nice to hear."

[22:09] >> Yeah, it's awesome.

[22:12] >> Sarah,

[22:14] >> you Tammy, this was great.

[22:15] [clears throat] Um I have a couple

[22:17] questions. One is regarding um so the

[22:20] new hires you have you're showing as 18

[22:22] new hires. out of that. How how many of

[22:26] those were went to bails?

[22:29] Um

[22:32] the

[22:35] I want to say

[22:37] four the bulk of the hiring we did

[22:40] wasn't so much at fails as it was for

[22:42] givens in the high school because what

[22:44] happened is it's a it's a little bit

[22:46] skewed because you have teachers from

[22:48] Armstrong and from um Hastings that got

[22:52] sent over or vacant positions got sent

[22:55] over and I can tell you let me just pull

[22:58] it up and

[22:59] So is that not included in the internal

[23:01] moves then?

[23:02] >> It is included in the internal moves but

[23:04] every internal move still is a hire

[23:06] because we have to backfill the person.

[23:08] So the person that moves from Armstrong

[23:13] well we had someone that moved from Mil

[23:16] Pond to fails

[23:19] then we had to backfill at Mil Pond. So

[23:21] it's technically it's a mil pond hire

[23:24] not a fails hire because fails we had

[23:26] already calculated the numbers of

[23:29] teachers but when I say 18 hires um or

[23:34] 19 hires

[23:36] we had 19 vacancies we actually had 21

[23:39] vacancies and we hired 19 people because

[23:41] two positions we didn't fill. So, we

[23:44] hired 19 people and I would say I can't

[23:47] get online for some reason, but I'd say

[23:48] there was about five or six that were at

[23:50] fails.

[23:51] >> And then, so then would you say that the

[23:53] internal moves were those mostly to

[23:56] fails?

[23:57] >> Mostly to fails.

[23:58] >> Okay.

[23:58] >> But there were two that were internal,

[24:00] meaning within their own school. So, Mil

[24:02] Pond and Hastings each had a teacher

[24:05] that went from being special education

[24:07] to general ed within their school. So,

[24:09] those are internal moves. And then we

[24:11] had to backfill and hire the special

[24:13] educators.

[24:14] >> And then I'm just curious because the

[24:17] numbers match, but are the third the

[24:18] three first year hires are they of

[24:21] color? Are they is that where the 17%

[24:23] all three of them or

[24:24] >> No, none of our um three of color three

[24:28] teachers of color are they're in that um

[24:32] one was six years, one was 12 years, and

[24:36] one was nine years. And have we done are

[24:40] we doing anything different or you know

[24:41] I know we've talked about this a few

[24:43] years.

[24:43] >> Yeah, we actually had a a really So last

[24:46] year we hired four teachers of color.

[24:47] This year was three but the percentage

[24:49] was very comparable. Last year was 19%

[24:51] this year was about 17%. Um but we did

[24:54] have a really successful we're part of

[24:56] MPDE which is the Massachusetts

[24:58] Partnership for Diversity and Education.

[25:00] And every year I go with some staff to

[25:03] their job fair. And this year we hired

[25:05] two people from that job fair which I if

[25:08] I hire one person from that job fair I'm

[25:10] over the moon. So we hired two which was

[25:12] excellent.

[25:13] >> Okay.

[25:13] >> So we do that and you know we very much

[25:17] look at the applications that we get.

[25:19] The biggest thing that we do is look at

[25:21] applications and and make decisions

[25:22] based on the totality of the experience

[25:25] they bring to the table.

[25:28] >> Yeah. Diversity being one of them.

[25:30] >> Right. Right. I don't know if we've done

[25:31] anything further. um you know than what

[25:35] we've been doing. Uh I know we had

[25:37] talked about different

[25:39] avenues to try and recruit more, but I'm not sure if there is. So I'm just

[25:43] curious. Yeah, I mean one of the things

[25:46] I do with the principles often

[25:49] pretty much all summer is I look at all

[25:51] the applicants that come in and so I

[25:54] will recommend and we did interview a

[25:58] few teachers and the reason why I say a

[26:01] few is because it was about the number

[26:03] that actually applied not that we didn't

[26:05] extend interviews. So, um, we hired

[26:10] three, uh, not those same three, but,

[26:13] um,

[26:14] it's it's a work in progress. I'm I'm

[26:17] happy the direction we're going in. Do I

[26:19] think it could be better? Yes. But a lot

[26:21] of it, um, some of it has to do with,

[26:24] you know, getting the people to apply.

[26:26] It's not it's it's once they've applied,

[26:28] we have a good system

[26:29] >> for, uh, reviewing applications and and

[26:32] interviewing, but it's it's getting them

[26:35] to apply. And a lot of that has to do

[26:36] with our location

[26:38] >> and the makeup of this location.

[26:41] >> Okay. And lastly, um do you have a

[26:44] timeline for when we're going to be

[26:46] starting the principal search for um the

[26:48] high school?

[26:50] >> Yeah, Allison and I have just started to

[26:52] talk about it, but I think roughly

[26:54] speaking, we're going to get the posting

[26:55] up by winter break, probably, you know,

[26:59] mid to the December the break. We'll

[27:02] have a two to three weekish period into

[27:05] January where we're collecting

[27:07] applications and then we'll do the whole

[27:09] um first round, second round site

[27:12] visits, community forums and we'll have

[27:15] a very um multidisciplinary committee

[27:19] which will probably start

[27:21] reaching out for committee members I

[27:23] would say mid December to get that set

[27:25] up so we have the committee ready to go.

[27:28] This is a all hires are big hires. This

[27:31] is a very big hire and it's probably my

[27:34] top priority this year.

[27:35] >> Yep. Okay. Thank you so much.

[27:38] >> Thank you, Gary.

[27:40] >> Thank you so much. Um, two quick

[27:43] questions. First is just regarding the

[27:45] um Westpro High School principal. Um,

[27:48] you mentioned that uh there would be

[27:50] they would be hired by the end of

[27:51] February. Is that what you said?

[27:52] Ideally,

[27:53] >> ideally it would be great. I mean, in my

[27:55] mind, again, Allison and I haven't

[27:57] finalized it, but I would like to think

[27:58] we would have someone named by February

[28:01] break.

[28:02] >> Okay. Thank you.

[28:03] >> Our goal, I I I think we're hoping that

[28:05] the February 10th school committee

[28:06] meeting um we will be able to make an

[28:09] announcement. That's my sort of target.

[28:11] Um you know, sometimes uh the candidates

[28:13] themselves make it so we have to have a

[28:16] little bit of um flex in the process,

[28:17] but that's really the hope before

[28:19] February vacation.

[28:20] >> Awesome. Thank you. I'm just wondering

[28:21] what the like uh what you see as the

[28:24] student involvement in that um decision.

[28:26] I know that students have served on

[28:27] committees in the past and um I'm just

[28:29] curious about the process for gathering

[28:30] student input on that.

[28:32] >> We will have a student forum. It

[28:34] actually it will mimic um what we did

[28:37] for Gibbons which worked out really well

[28:40] and we had a student group of about 13

[28:44] uh students and I'm sure we're going to

[28:46] do some sort of student participation

[28:48] again. There'll be student forums,

[28:51] parent forums, teacher forums, community

[28:54] forums.

[28:56] Those the big ones.

[28:57] >> In addition, uh we'll have student

[28:59] representation on the hiring committee.

[29:01] Um that was I think very effective in

[29:03] the case uh particularly of the athletic

[29:05] director and the director of performing

[29:06] arts. So we that having a student voice

[29:09] at the table when we're doing

[29:10] interviewing. So we'll be seeking a few

[29:13] you know probably a couple kids.

[29:15] We had a student on our hiring committee

[29:18] for the director of fine arts and she

[29:20] was fabulous and she was very nervous

[29:22] and they said, "Don't worry. Nobody's

[29:25] going to nobody's going to call you on

[29:26] the carpet. You just, you know, you just

[29:28] ask your questions and we're all here to

[29:30] help you." And one of the very first

[29:32] applicants turned to her and said, "Now,

[29:34] I'm going to put you on the carpet here

[29:35] and I have to ask you a question." And

[29:36] I'm like, "Oh." But she handled it fine.

[29:39] And I love when we have students on the

[29:41] committee because they have a different

[29:43] lens that I think is for obvious reasons

[29:45] very important. And um most of the time

[29:49] the students we have we we choose people

[29:52] that are um not shy which is what we

[29:55] want people who are going to give their

[29:56] opinions.

[29:58] >> Uh and then last thing regarding the

[29:59] Wester High School principal um is that

[30:01] open to internal um promotion as well?

[30:03] They would uh go through the Okay. Thank

[30:05] you.

[30:05] >> Yes. I I will say that just regarding

[30:08] the principal search,

[30:11] the word is already out that we have

[30:14] this position coming because of the way

[30:16] we um hired Jack Foley, this again this

[30:19] newcomer to cover at the U high school

[30:23] people that are already reaching out and

[30:25] are interested in the position. So when

[30:26] we um post for it, I anticipate a large

[30:31] response. we will do very similar to

[30:34] what I said to the uh middle school

[30:36] principal last year at Gibbons where we sort of jumped out early and we got a

[30:41] really good pool and I anticipate the

[30:42] same for the high school.

[30:45] >> Thank you.

[30:46] All great questions. Uh Tammy

[30:49] just a few short uh some of mine were

[30:51] already uh asked and I was wondering we

[30:54] had the new contracts uh signed earlier

[30:57] this year. Do you feel like they had any

[30:59] impact on the hiring process for you? Do

[31:00] they help? You know,

[31:02] >> the biggest thing that helps is, and I'm

[31:04] always anxious once this contract is

[31:06] signed, I want to get the salary grids

[31:09] on the website. It's the number one

[31:11] thing teachers would look at when

[31:12] they're looking at other districts. I

[31:15] when we're looking at hiring teachers, I

[31:17] will guess what their salary is by

[31:19] looking at the salary grids from their

[31:21] district to get an idea.

[31:23] >> So, um it's extremely important. Lynn

[31:26] has been my partner in crime all last

[31:28] year getting everything up on the

[31:29] website. Lynn Hurley [snorts] Allison's

[31:32] assistant and as soon as it's up I

[31:34] wanted the teacher contract grids up

[31:37] right away because we were already in

[31:40] starting hiring season. So it does have

[31:42] that impact. Um I do think you know

[31:45] teachers are more savvy if they're if

[31:47] they're teachers that have been teaching

[31:48] a while. They're looking at the benefits

[31:50] within the contract. A big thing right

[31:53] now is FMLA and maternity leave. I'm

[31:56] sure that that was looked at, but the

[31:57] number one thing people are looking at

[31:59] is salary and they're not looking at,

[32:02] but they're considering commute. Those

[32:03] are the two biggest variables I think.

[32:06] >> So, at least one of them we can control.

[32:09] >> The other quick question just I'm uh how

[32:11] many tutors do we have right now in the

[32:13] system?

[32:14] >> Nine. [laughter]

[32:14] Nine.

[32:15] >> It's still okay. Um that's all for me.

[32:19] Thank you very much. Thank you for your

[32:21] update. Okay, thank you. Feel free to

[32:24] email me if you have any other

[32:25] questions.

[32:29] » Thank you. Moving on, we have uh on the

[32:31] agenda district strategy.

[32:35] >> Reorient myself here.

[32:41] I'm gonna load this up.

[32:50] » So, you know, you have seen this in

[32:53] draft form and we've been sort of

[32:54] refining it as as we go along and I'll

[32:57] speak a little bit to process. Um the uh

[33:01] leadership team does a summer retreat

[33:03] and really the main focus of that

[33:05] retreat is to take some time kind of

[33:08] carve out time when it's it's quiet to

[33:10] do some thinking about what is the

[33:12] district uh what direction are we

[33:14] headed, you know, uh kind of reflect on

[33:16] where we've been and where we'd like to

[33:18] go. And um in the case of this district,

[33:21] there are a lot of things that work

[33:22] really well. So it's an exciting time to

[33:24] be able to reflect on where our needs

[33:26] are for improvement and then where we

[33:27] can innovate and get out um and address

[33:30] things similarly to in prior years. It's

[33:33] really oriented around sort of four main

[33:36] um uh strategic objectives. One is

[33:39] academic excellence. Uh the second is

[33:42] caring and supporting school and caring

[33:44] and supportive schools pardon. The third

[33:47] is connected community and the fourth is

[33:49] financial and operational stability. So,

[33:52] those are unchanged from last year. I

[33:54] think what changes is sort of what are

[33:56] our goals year-over-year. And then, um,

[33:59] you know, the back end of this document,

[34:01] if you want to dig back in, has all the

[34:02] sort of more detailed action steps. I'm

[34:04] going to sort of stay high level tonight

[34:06] because it's an overview, but if you

[34:07] have questions about any part of it, um,

[34:09] I would love to hear about that. In the

[34:12] academic bucket this year, we are really

[34:15] looking at um, sort of actions that

[34:18] strengthen our instructional core. We

[34:21] want to make sure that our our work

[34:25] builds a foundation for students to have

[34:26] really strong outcomes as they head

[34:28] through the school. And two places we're

[34:31] thinking about that are early literacy

[34:33] curriculum. You've heard about that last

[34:35] week from uh Matt and Aubrey and Kathy.

[34:38] And then uh robust curriculum maps for

[34:40] our high school courses. This is

[34:42] something that came out of the NEAS

[34:43] report as a need. And you know, it's

[34:47] more than just a documentation issue. I think it's actually a really

[34:52] interesting and substantive exercise.

[34:54] When the departments take time to come

[34:56] together and map out here's what we're

[34:58] doing and how we're doing it, it sort of

[35:01] is an opportunity for reflection and

[35:03] alignment. Um um we are also looking at

[35:06] ways to enhance support for all

[35:08] students. Um and particularly we

[35:12] identified math instruction that is

[35:14] specifically designed to support our

[35:16] multilingual learners. Um that's work

[35:19] that kind of builds on the work we did

[35:21] last year for all students um all

[35:24] multilingual students in all areas. We

[35:27] sort of did this more general work and

[35:28] now we're deep diving into math

[35:31] instruction in particular. Um and

[35:34] [clears throat] math is surprisingly

[35:35] language intensive. you know, you don't

[35:37] think about it that way, but um in a

[35:39] math class, oftentimes students who have

[35:41] a lot of interest or ability may get

[35:44] kind of held back if we're not using

[35:46] really careful instructional strategies

[35:48] to help them kind of get through the

[35:50] language and get to the math part. Um um

[35:53] we're going to continue to look at our

[35:54] co-eing practices um uh strengthen

[35:58] executive functioning support for our

[35:59] middle-grade students. And then the big

[36:01] one that you've heard a little bit about

[36:02] and we'll be reporting out on this year

[36:04] is is my cap, which is an initiative in

[36:07] grades 7 through 12. Um, this is part of

[36:09] an alignment with uh new state

[36:11] graduation requirements, but it's also I

[36:13] think it's just really kind of cool

[36:14] work. Um, it's essentially focused on

[36:17] helping kids think about what is next,

[36:20] you know, what's coming down uh after

[36:22] high school, after college, and doing

[36:24] some early thinking about what are the

[36:26] different pathways out there for your

[36:28] career and your life. um in helping

[36:31] expand their thinking so that they can

[36:34] really tie their academic study now to

[36:36] something concrete which makes it I

[36:38] think more um more motivating in some

[36:41] ways you know um

[36:44] I'll pause after each bucket if you want

[36:46] to or should I just blast through the

[36:47] whole thing

[36:48] >> maybe blast through the whole

[36:49] >> I'm gonna blast through the whole thing

[36:50] okay caring and supportive schools we

[36:52] have these three big buckets one on uh

[36:54] digital wellness and uh school

[36:56] connection and that's really building on

[36:59] some uh work that we started but also

[37:01] focuses on some of our our

[37:03] implementation of the bell to bell p

[37:05] plan um structures for support we really

[37:09] want to look at chronic absenteeism in

[37:11] particular we've um it's been an issue

[37:13] that's sort of burbling out there around

[37:15] the state post pandemic you know some of

[37:18] that I think is um

[37:21] you know that the norms around coming to

[37:23] school have changed so there is that

[37:25] phenomenon right it used to be we would

[37:27] tell you unless your child is really,

[37:30] you know, coming apart at the seams,

[37:31] please send them. After the pandemic,

[37:33] that did shift. However, this is really

[37:35] referring to kids who are missing uh 10%

[37:38] or more of the school year. So, that's

[37:40] 18 or more days. Those numbers have

[37:42] ticked up and what that suggests to us

[37:45] is we have work to do around what are

[37:47] the systems and structures of support

[37:49] that we need. Um, and that's going to be

[37:52] exciting work that we'll report out on

[37:53] this year. Um, I think uh we're looking

[37:57] to implement new timeout and seclusion

[37:59] regulations. You heard about those from

[38:00] me Garvey last spring. Um, we'll be

[38:03] reviewing our SEAL curriculum and and

[38:06] supports and also updating something

[38:07] called the DECAP. Um, we we love uh

[38:11] abbreviations in education. There's all

[38:13] these mysterious sets of letters flying

[38:14] around. So, the district curriculum

[38:16] accommodation plan, the idea behind it

[38:19] is really simple. It's um a set of

[38:21] things that apply in any classroom at

[38:24] any time for any student who might need

[38:26] them. And maybe a concrete example that

[38:28] everybody can get their head around is

[38:30] if you think about if you're given an

[38:33] assignment where you have to fill in

[38:34] blanks for some reason, having a word

[38:37] bank is an accommodation as opposed to

[38:40] having just to pull that language out of

[38:42] your head. It's it's an accommodation

[38:43] that some kids might need and other kids

[38:46] might not, but it doesn't truly impact

[38:48] learning, right? Um, you have to know

[38:51] enough about the words to put the right

[38:52] word in the right place. It doesn't

[38:54] undermine your kind of long-term

[38:56] learning process, but what it does do is

[38:58] it helps students who have word

[38:59] retrieval issues or um or who just have

[39:02] memory issues to be able to actually

[39:04] complete the task. So, those are the

[39:06] kinds of things that happen on a decap.

[39:07] you identify what are the types of

[39:09] accommodations that are out there and

[39:11] available. Um, ours has not been updated

[39:13] for quite some time. Matt's going to

[39:15] spearhead some efforts along with Meg to

[39:17] look at that. The trick to it is making

[39:20] it um, authentic. So, really working

[39:22] with the staff at each building so that

[39:24] they know what's in there and so it kind

[39:26] of gives them permission and and also a

[39:29] philosophical grounding for doing things

[39:31] that help students and and and are clear

[39:34] about what your learning targets are. Um

[39:39] on the connected community front, we're

[39:40] talking about student and family

[39:42] partnerships and school family

[39:44] partnerships. Um we really are working

[39:46] on the transition for families as

[39:48] they're moving from the high school to

[39:50] the burrow program as well as um those

[39:53] entering kindergarten. The kindergarten

[39:54] work, the bulk of it was last year, but

[39:56] there are some things we're going to

[39:57] continue to refine. Um we we got a great

[40:00] start especially with CPAC and

[40:02] revitalizing CPAC. Um, and we want to

[40:04] kind of continue that work into this

[40:06] year. I'm really pleased to let you know

[40:08] that the CPAC leadership along with um,

[40:12] uh, our student service director, Meg,

[40:14] myself, and I think one or two other

[40:17] people are entered into this um, uh,

[40:20] program called Apple. And I, it's

[40:22] another abbreviation. I'm not going to

[40:23] remember it off the top of my head, but

[40:25] um the Federation for Children with

[40:27] Special Needs runs a program and it

[40:28] really is about strengthening the bonds

[40:31] between the parent community and the

[40:33] school when it comes to special

[40:34] education. Um so it's an institute you

[40:36] go through a bunch of work together as a

[40:39] group and set sort of a vision and goals

[40:41] for that for building that sense of

[40:43] collaboration. Um which I think is is a

[40:46] great thing.

[40:48] Um we are looking to promote more parent

[40:50] engagement districtwide in in all sorts

[40:53] of things. Uh we've been talking a lot

[40:56] recently in a bunch of different places

[40:58] about how do we how do we do that

[41:00] effectively? How do we reach the parents

[41:02] who are not typically um involved as

[41:05] much as other parents in the school day

[41:07] and school environment. We're really

[41:08] kind of focusing on our communication

[41:10] tools and you'll see that reflected in

[41:11] my goals when I get there. Um, in terms

[41:14] of infrastructure and long-term

[41:15] planning, um, we are looking to

[41:17] integrate our capital planning process

[41:19] to clarify it and and also work closely

[41:22] with the town. Um, I've been talking

[41:25] about updating the budget structure for

[41:27] a while. Uh, we finally, this is the

[41:28] year I think um, we had to sort of hold

[41:32] on until the town was ready because in

[41:34] order to do it, we have to work through

[41:35] Munis, which is the shared software that

[41:37] both uh, the town and the schools use.

[41:39] But they are doing it and we're doing it

[41:40] right along with them. So, we'll be able

[41:41] to update those budget categories and

[41:43] I'm very excited about that. Um,

[41:47] and we are doing this internal um

[41:51] operation review that kicked off this

[41:53] last week. Um, we actually had our

[41:54] initial meeting with the consultants uh

[41:57] Christy Williams and myself just to kind

[41:59] of get a sense of process. They are

[42:01] starting to gather information and will

[42:03] begin um interviews shortly. So they'll

[42:05] be doing outreach to um uh a lot of the

[42:09] department heads in kind of both the

[42:11] municipal and the school side to sort of

[42:12] understand how things operate. Now um

[42:18] finally um kind of safety is is a piece

[42:21] on here that I again I've been talking

[42:23] about for a bit. I had had this great

[42:25] plan. I was going to hire um Jack Foley

[42:27] to help out of retirement to do a help

[42:30] us with a safety audit and then I came

[42:32] up with a better thing for him to do. So

[42:34] this is now coming squarely in my

[42:36] bucket. Um but we'll be doing an audit

[42:38] um this year of our kind of manuals and then also building out the schedule

[42:42] for um uh training and structures. You

[42:45] know, part of it really is with an eye

[42:46] to having this turnover and

[42:48] administration um means it's even more

[42:51] important that we get things sort of

[42:52] updated in terms of documentation. We

[42:54] have relied on institutional knowledge

[42:56] and that's um it works great when it's

[42:58] there, but once we lose it, we lose it.

[43:00] So we have to get it written down. Um

[43:03] and then finally, school committee

[43:05] operations. Just thinking a little bit

[43:06] about, you know, how does this group

[43:08] operate? How can the work of the

[43:10] district support the committee and vice

[43:12] versa? How do we make sure the work here

[43:14] is thoughtful and transparent to the

[43:16] public, too? So, that's the final bucket

[43:19] there. Um, this hasn't been blasted out

[43:21] broadly except on the school committee

[43:23] agenda. Um, but I will send it out uh

[43:26] after tonight and after you have the

[43:27] chance to review, ask questions, and

[43:29] provide feedback. and uh we will um get

[43:32] to work. Thank you.

[43:35] >> Thank you. Let's start with discussion.

[43:38] Uh Steve.

[43:41] >> Okay, J. Thank you. This is this is

[43:45] great and exciting and um one thing that

[43:49] I just wanted to bring up to encourage

[43:51] you to keep on the forefront and I think

[43:55] it actually crosses

[43:57] um several of our academic excellence

[44:03] objectives

[44:04] um is just maintaining the rigor of

[44:08] [clears throat] um our curriculum and

[44:11] our evaluation of students in areas that

[44:14] can be impacted by AI. So, writing being

[44:17] the biggest one. Um, and I I've said

[44:21] this a number of times, but I'm gonna

[44:23] keep saying it because I continue to see

[44:27] it happening is that there is most of

[44:30] the writing is happening in the

[44:32] classroom.

[44:33] >> And that is we can't do anything but

[44:36] lower the standard of what we expect

[44:38] from our students if we're having them

[44:39] only write in the classroom. um because

[44:42] there's that defined amount of time. It

[44:44] also disproportionately disadvantages

[44:48] our students who require extra time. Um

[44:51] and that is not what we want to be

[44:55] doing. Um and no matter what our

[44:58] students are doing after they leave

[45:00] Westboro, they are going to do some of

[45:02] it outside of their workday or their

[45:04] school day. And so we need them to

[45:06] practice that skill. Um and so I don't

[45:10] know it fits into multiple buckets I

[45:13] think here um in in strategic objective

[45:17] one but I just hope that will be

[45:18] incorporated in because um I I don't

[45:22] really see it here and it just sort of

[45:24] struck me when I um was trying to think

[45:26] about how we would address this but I

[45:29] just hope that will stay on the

[45:30] forefront.

[45:34] » Thank you Jane.

[45:35] >> Yeah,

[45:36] >> thank you for the presentation. Um just

[45:38] a couple quick questions. Um the first

[45:41] regarding uh decap you know so very

[45:43] interesting and I am curious to hear a

[45:45] little bit more um you know just about

[45:46] how um you know this came to be a target

[45:48] for this year.

[45:49] >> I think you know part of it we have been

[45:52] looking at um our systems for support in

[45:56] general. Um, you know, the current

[46:00] thinking in education is around having

[46:01] this notion of tiers, right? Uh, tier

[46:04] one supports are those that happen in

[46:06] the classroom kind of fluidly for all

[46:08] students. It's sort of like um anything

[46:11] that you might need extra help with. It

[46:13] there's a kind of nice medical analogy.

[46:15] A tier one support would be like an

[46:16] over-the-counter thing that you can buy some aspirin, right? um uh tier two

[46:22] or specialized supports that require um

[46:25] more um you know more expertise and a

[46:28] and more of a narrow focus. So like a

[46:30] prescription uh medication, something

[46:32] that you have to kind of get specially

[46:35] um assessed for and get some support.

[46:37] And then tier three may be you may need

[46:40] a fully different approach um like

[46:42] holistic medicine, right? So the decap

[46:45] is designed really to help that first

[46:48] tier access for all students in the

[46:50] classroom. and that um you know our

[46:54] conversation about it really grew out of

[46:56] looking at our tiered structure

[46:58] realizing you know we've got the

[47:00] foundations of it really in place

[47:01] particularly at the elementary level um

[47:04] but have some work to do at the

[47:05] secondary level and before we get there

[47:08] we have to sort of make sure it's really

[47:10] clear what are the things that everybody

[47:12] can do all the time that are going to

[47:13] help make students more successful. um a

[47:15] decap. It promotes um really interesting

[47:19] conversation among teachers around what

[47:21] instruction is supposed to be. So that's

[47:23] kind of the origin story and last

[47:25] updated was 2012 or 2020. Okay. So pre-

[47:29] pandemic it's been a little while. Um

[47:31] and our sense is that you know during

[47:34] that time period that was the time when

[47:37] you know a lot of people had a lot on

[47:38] their minds. So I think being able to

[47:41] get back to it and have more robust

[47:43] conversation is going to be helpful and

[47:44] important.

[47:45] >> Sure. And that just made me think of it.

[47:46] And when did we start roughly like the

[47:48] co-eing model

[47:50] >> that is a historic I'll have to look

[47:52] that up. I don't actually know that. Um

[47:54] it's been in place for my understanding

[47:55] for quite a while here. But

[47:57] >> I mean just something that I'm sure goes

[47:58] handinhand pretty well with you know

[47:59] more student um you know specialization

[48:01] things like that is having another

[48:02] educator in the classroom that's able to

[48:03] take on some of that.

[48:04] >> Absolutely. Well, I think um you know

[48:06] the that is first and foremost a special

[48:09] education initiative. So a way to make

[48:11] sure um students who have learning needs

[48:14] are able to have them in the least

[48:15] restrictive environment. They're right

[48:17] there in class alongside their peers. Um

[48:20] and and it helps everybody, you know, it

[48:22] just happens to have these spillover

[48:23] effects. So it's great.

[48:25] >> And then just one other question. Um I

[48:27] know that you already spoke to this a

[48:28] little bit but um in terms of like the

[48:29] safety nets and updating some of that um

[48:31] could you speak a little bit to you know

[48:33] some of the work that you potentially

[48:34] saw you know kind of Jack coming in like

[48:35] taking on if you were to come back and

[48:37] just like how you know you plan to try

[48:39] to do some of that without

[48:40] >> address that. Yeah.

[48:41] >> Um you know I haven't ruled out the idea

[48:42] of um getting some outside help to do

[48:45] that. Um and it's just a matter of sort

[48:47] of figuring out who and and how. Um but

[48:49] in terms of the work it's updating some

[48:52] documentation is is sort of the not not

[48:54] super exciting but has to get done part.

[48:56] But once that's in place, really

[48:58] formalizing some of the structures. Um,

[49:00] so having what's called an incident um,

[49:02] management team um, at each school site

[49:05] and then a district-wide site and

[49:07] getting those teams a little bit more of

[49:08] a regular training schedule. Um, and

[49:10] what that does is it sort of helps um,

[49:14] uh, spread the knowledge a little bit

[49:16] from just the principles and key

[49:18] leadership people to a few more people

[49:20] in the bucket, which is always good, you

[49:21] know. So,

[49:23] >> thank you.

[49:24] >> You're welcome. Thank you, Sarah.

[49:27] >> Thank you. Um, thanks for this. Uh, this

[49:30] was really helpful to look at. Um, I

[49:33] have a couple questions.

[49:35] So, one of them is around in the

[49:37] academic excellence section, you talk

[49:39] about the robust curriculum maps for the

[49:41] high school. Um, I'm really interested

[49:44] to see what that's going to involve. I

[49:46] think that that's a great initiative.

[49:48] Um, I wanted to make a comment that I

[49:50] did see the email that came through on

[49:52] the APs, which I think is awesome where

[49:54] you guys are um this this must be a

[49:57] brand new initiative about um allowing

[50:00] students to take AP exams as ninth

[50:02] graders.

[50:03] >> That was for self-study. So, a couple

[50:05] we've there a couple things that we're

[50:07] hoping to expand the number of options

[50:09] for students who want access to APs. I

[50:12] know the administrative team at the high

[50:13] school did work last year on the

[50:15] schedule itself. I think there's more

[50:17] that could happen, but it was a good

[50:19] start. Um, you know, we're going to hire

[50:21] a new principal and one of the things we

[50:23] can do in that hire is sort of put out

[50:25] priorities and this is is certainly one

[50:26] is thinking about how do we um work with

[50:30] the schedule so that we're really

[50:31] meeting the demand uh that's out there.

[50:34] Um the self-study option is um it's

[50:37] really for students who there's either a

[50:40] specialized class that we don't offer or

[50:42] they can't get into a class. we do make

[50:45] it possible for them to study on their

[50:47] own and take the exam. Um, and for

[50:50] whatever reason that initial email went

[50:52] out just to 10th, 11th, and 12th

[50:55] graders. Um, there are students who take

[50:58] AP classes at all grade levels

[51:00] throughout the Commonwealth. There's no

[51:01] reason in particular to restrict a nth

[51:03] grade just just because they're a nth

[51:05] grader. Um, so it was to open that up as

[51:07] a possibility.

[51:08] >> So, did we have previous restrictions on

[51:09] that?

[51:10] >> We did not. It just wasn't advertised.

[51:12] >> Ah, okay. Okay, that that's actually

[51:15] really good information because I I do

[51:17] think there might have been a little bit

[51:18] of confusion around that email. Yes.

[51:20] >> I clearly I was confused because I was

[51:22] like thinking um you know it's great

[51:25] because I I've been talking about

[51:26] expanding AP options for

[51:28] >> Yeah.

[51:28] >> since I got on this committee because I think that our students are a great

[51:31] disadvantage when it comes to

[51:34] applications for colleges when there's

[51:36] you know other schools are offering APs

[51:38] and nth grade and we're not. Um, and I

[51:41] think that because we have so many

[51:43] limited years that it's being offered,

[51:45] kids are not able to even as seniors get

[51:47] into the APs that they want to, which I

[51:49] think is very uh

[51:51] >> frustrating.

[51:52] >> Yeah, very frustrating and and I I think

[51:54] we need to fix that. Um, and this email

[51:58] I took as because I was thinking the

[52:00] roll out of this is very strange coming

[52:02] once school has started because some a

[52:05] ninth grader who'd want to pick up a

[52:06] self-study would not want to do that,

[52:09] you know, in after school started in

[52:11] September. I would have thought that. So, I understand now what that's

[52:13] about. I'm glad that I got the clarity

[52:15] because I was

[52:16] >> really uh wondering why the roll out of

[52:19] that was happening at this time when

[52:20] school had started because if somebody

[52:22] was going to want to pick up a

[52:23] self-study, they would have planned for

[52:25] that last year. So, um thank you for

[52:28] that. Um and then also I wanted to just

[52:32] hit on this um piece that you have the

[52:34] belonging piece. Um

[52:36] >> you know that that part is really

[52:39] important to me. I want to just touch on

[52:41] so we you know had the calendar

[52:43] committee. I think that the can the

[52:45] committee came up with certain

[52:46] recommendations at the end which you

[52:48] know I I have my issues with but there

[52:50] were a lot of loose ends um with that

[52:53] committee. It was sort of you know I

[52:55] don't know that we were able to to come

[52:58] to a real consensus and so we kind of

[53:00] left it as this is the recommendation

[53:01] but we don't know how we're going to

[53:03] implement we don't know how we're going

[53:05] to measure. we don't know how we're

[53:06] going to get information from the

[53:07] students

[53:08] >> regarding the impact.

[53:10] >> Um and so I see that you've

[53:12] >> well one from the email that you sent

[53:14] out which is that I think you're um

[53:16] working with

[53:17] >> the staff

[53:18] >> um in trying to create uh a committee

[53:21] and and do some evaluation there.

[53:24] >> Yes.

[53:24] >> Um and I just want to reiterate how

[53:26] important it is that we do come up with

[53:28] some sort of way of measuring the impact

[53:31] of both. Um, I would say not only now,

[53:34] you know, this idea of what we're

[53:36] planning on instituting in two years,

[53:38] but you know, the homework holiday um

[53:41] policy has

[53:43] the Yeah, that's I said that right. Um,

[53:45] has so greatly changed. Um, I'm really

[53:49] concerned about the impact that that is

[53:51] going to have. Uh, and I think like we

[53:54] there needs to be some real measure of

[53:56] what the impact is. And I I don't have

[53:58] the first clue of how you're going to do

[54:00] this, but I would like to follow up and

[54:02] I've said this previously as well, like

[54:04] I would like updates on how this is

[54:06] going and what information and how

[54:08] you're obtaining it. So

[54:10] >> I think that's that's right. I mean in

[54:12] addition to so there's in addition to a

[54:15] staff group internally I think um Roger

[54:18] Anderson and Kim Tinan have put forward

[54:20] a grant proposal to form a student group

[54:23] and um which will follow kind of a

[54:26] similar trajectory. We've identified an

[54:29] outside facilitator to come and train

[54:31] both the staff group and the student

[54:32] group in in terms of thinking about what

[54:35] is the work of supporting belonging and

[54:37] equity within the district. How do we do

[54:39] that well? Um so year one is really

[54:41] going to focus on a lot of sort of

[54:43] foundation building. Um we'll be looking

[54:45] at at data but also doing outreach so we

[54:48] can understand how things are impacting

[54:50] students directly. I think that's really

[54:52] important. Um and that's part of the

[54:55] reason we need to kind of get those

[54:57] groups up and running. So

[54:58] >> yeah. So once you figure out a mechanism

[55:00] by which you're going to measure, gather

[55:02] data, if you could please update the

[55:04] committee on that, that would be I just

[55:06] don't want to come up on the two-year

[55:07] mark and then

[55:09] >> we don't have the information we need.

[55:10] We're just moving forward with a

[55:12] decision that's based on right. Um and

[55:14] then my other question is um

[55:20] I don't know. So I lost that train of

[55:23] thought. Um

[55:24] >> yeah, but thank you. You're welcome.

[55:27] >> Thank [snorts] you, Sarah. Gary.

[55:29] >> Hi there. Thank you so much. Um couple

[55:32] of quick questions. Um the first thing I

[55:34] just wanted to mention with um what you

[55:36] described about the decap. Um just

[55:38] because students uh this mainly affects

[55:41] probably middle and mainly high school

[55:42] students um not having access to phones

[55:44] now and how that's also um changing

[55:46] education. uh speaking with peers I know

[55:49] that often phones while they absolutely

[55:51] in school had harmful effects that were

[55:53] pointed out um they were also used as

[55:55] coping mechanisms by students in various

[55:58] different points.

[55:59] >> Uh so I'm just curious or actually I'm

[56:01] just wanted to point out um as the decap

[56:03] is being rethought kind of how some of

[56:05] those same supports can be included even

[56:06] without uh phones.

[56:08] >> Um

[56:09] >> and then just kind of letting students

[56:10] know about that.

[56:11] >> That's great. Thank you.

[56:13] Um and then uh the other thing I just

[56:15] wanted to uh mention was um broader like

[56:18] student communication regarding um the

[56:20] district plans. I think that especially

[56:22] at high school when um when we as high

[56:25] school students know why certain things

[56:27] are happening even if they are probably

[56:29] above our pay grade to an extent of um

[56:32] like the exact educational reason for

[56:34] it. I do think that in uh classes there

[56:36] tends to be more cooperation between the

[56:38] teacher and the student for why

[56:39] different decisions are being made. Um,

[56:42] and because ultimately we're all on the

[56:44] same team there, I just wanted to also

[56:46] emphasize making sure students are aware

[56:47] of these district plans and the

[56:49] reasoning behind them and that they're

[56:50] ultimately to help students.

[56:52] >> Absolutely. I mean, I think one of the

[56:53] things happening also is um, and you'll

[56:56] also see that reflected in my goals is a

[56:59] student advisory committee that works

[57:01] with district administration. Um, this

[57:03] is actually not my not my big idea.

[57:05] There were a couple of high school

[57:06] seniors who had approached me last year

[57:08] and my initial conversation with them.

[57:11] They a lot of the issues they were

[57:12] focused on were really high school

[57:14] issues. So I said, well, you know, maybe

[57:15] this is something to bring to the high

[57:17] school administration, but then with the

[57:18] turnover um and a little time to reflect

[57:21] over the summer, I I kind of thought,

[57:22] you know, I think students need a voice

[57:24] at the district level. So I reached back

[57:27] out to them. We had a meeting. they've

[57:28] got they're about to send out um a form

[57:31] basically to the student body asking for

[57:34] interested students who might want to

[57:36] sit on that representative group and I

[57:38] think that is something we'll talk about

[57:40] how do we get the word out about

[57:42] initiatives that are coming and also

[57:44] that group can be a sounding board and

[57:46] really give some helpful feedback in

[57:48] terms of direction and communication. I

[57:50] mean I I think we will always um you

[57:54] know make decisions that are going to be

[57:56] uncomfortable sometimes. I think the

[57:57] phone is a good example of one where um

[57:59] some sometimes I may see something that

[58:01] I believe is in students best interest

[58:03] and the research suggests it is even if

[58:05] it's you know not what not what people

[58:07] want you know for a short term and but

[58:09] to your point if we can communicate

[58:10] about it well it can help ease the

[58:13] transition so I appreciate that a lot

[58:15] you're welcome

[58:19] » thank you Allison for the uh thorough

[58:21] presentation and the and the goodlook

[58:23] plan for next year I I'm I I mean

[58:26] everybody seems to have some something

[58:28] of uh of focus for me I guess would be

[58:30] the AI road map and it implementation I

[58:33] mean that's a lot of people are are

[58:35] looking at that and so I'll be following

[58:37] that closely I have two questions one is

[58:40] very specific the other one is more

[58:41] general

[58:43] >> um the could you speak a little bit more

[58:45] to the chronic absentism uh um

[58:49] forgive me for ignorance but does it

[58:51] count students for instance who leave

[58:53] the country

[58:54] >> yes

[58:54] >> it does that counts as absent because

[58:57] that's a different kind of absent

[59:01] being anxious to come to school.

[59:05] >> some numbers to see, you know, what kind

[59:08] of absentism we are we are mostly

[59:09] concerned with or maybe you can just

[59:11] speak to that.

[59:12] >> Right. I I think you know one of the

[59:13] things I I pushed out like last year the

[59:15] year before just

[59:18] update for families if uh families leave

[59:20] for beyond that chronic absenteeism

[59:23] threshold we do encourage them to

[59:25] unenroll um in part because you know um

[59:29] they're technically not accessing school

[59:30] during that time they're we're not

[59:32] actually students we're not providing

[59:33] them an educational service and um and

[59:36] it's just not it's not a great practice

[59:37] but um but you know that's really a

[59:40] family's choice about making that

[59:42] decision. Um, in terms of being able to

[59:45] monitor which students which, it's a

[59:47] little hard to tell. However, in the

[59:49] data, it has very different data

[59:50] patterns, right? A student who's gone

[59:52] one big chunk of days, it looks very

[59:54] different than a student who misses

[59:55] every, you know, Monday and Tuesday um,

[59:58] in November. Um, so I think part of what

[1:00:01] um, Kim Tinen's role is going to be this

[1:00:04] year is p pulling together a committee.

[1:00:06] um she's working with a couple of the

[1:00:08] principles and as a sort of subgroup of

[1:00:10] the leadership team and the data is

[1:00:12] where they'll start looking at you know

[1:00:15] where are um the pockets of students you

[1:00:18] know what are are there characteristics

[1:00:20] of students in particular that we should

[1:00:21] be mindful of are there programs and

[1:00:23] supports that we can put in place um for

[1:00:26] example there's um there are a number of

[1:00:29] districts that have now joined um I'm

[1:00:32] not going to remember the name uh

[1:00:34] there's um a program out there that is

[1:00:38] uh helps families connect with mental

[1:00:41] health services online and uh the

[1:00:44] districts that have used it have said

[1:00:45] it's incredibly effective, very

[1:00:48] powerful, really helpful and often uh

[1:00:50] the underlying causes of school

[1:00:52] avoidance are things that need to be

[1:00:55] addressed that we may not have the

[1:00:56] bandwidth to help families address. So

[1:00:58] helping to sort of build in structures

[1:01:00] and supports can work and be very

[1:01:03] effective. So, those are the kind of

[1:01:04] things we're going to be looking at.

[1:01:07] I don't know. I don't know if I just got

[1:01:08] to your question or just talked all the

[1:01:09] way around it and came back.

[1:01:11] >> You did both, but

[1:01:14] >> uh the other question is more is more

[1:01:16] general. Which of these maybe more than

[1:01:19] one uh goals you find most challenging

[1:01:22] for the district right now?

[1:01:25] >> Um it's it's interesting. I think the AI

[1:01:27] is the thing that I'm the most

[1:01:31] I think it's the thing you know Matt and

[1:01:32] I talked about this too. I think it's

[1:01:34] the hardest thing because um I think

[1:01:39] educators have a responsibility, a deep

[1:01:42] responsibility to be mindful of what's

[1:01:45] in the best interest of children. And I

[1:01:47] think sometimes there are very different

[1:01:49] intuitions about what those things are.

[1:01:52] And um so helping move educators towards

[1:01:56] something when we don't really know what

[1:01:59] the outcomes look like for anybody

[1:02:01] because it's new. we find ourselves in a

[1:02:03] strange place. Um and um you know I and

[1:02:08] I think it's not helpful that the

[1:02:09] external conversation right now in the

[1:02:12] news media is about how it's just going

[1:02:13] to kill us all soon, right? That's super

[1:02:16] unhelpful to us in this moment. Um

[1:02:19] >> um so we I think have this very

[1:02:24] challenging task of helping to get our

[1:02:28] educators comfortable and familiar

[1:02:31] enough about what do what are these

[1:02:33] tools? What do they actually do? What do

[1:02:35] they not do? Uh because I do not believe

[1:02:38] we'll get any kind of buy in from them

[1:02:40] until that happens. Um, and I think it's

[1:02:44] important that we do because to Jane's

[1:02:47] point, you know, we're sending kids out

[1:02:49] into a universe where these tools are

[1:02:51] everywhere. And um, and if our students

[1:02:54] don't know how to use them um, and what

[1:02:56] they do not do well as well as what they

[1:02:59] do well, we are setting them up. So,

[1:03:01] it's uh, that one that one's tough and

[1:03:04] uh,

[1:03:05] >> well, I'm glad you're not going to be

[1:03:06] distracted by redistricting or

[1:03:09] >> other projects. So we got more energy

[1:03:11] for this.

[1:03:12] >> There's always something distracting.

[1:03:15] >> Thank you very much. And now we can

[1:03:18] proceed to very related next agenda item

[1:03:21] which is your goals for

[1:03:24] so 26 27 goals.

[1:03:27] >> Yeah. And these are are very connected

[1:03:30] as you can see. Um and I I want to speak

[1:03:32] to how I chose these. I I think um my

[1:03:36] job is interesting in that there are so

[1:03:38] many different things I could uh focus

[1:03:40] my time and attention on. And I think in

[1:03:42] order to

[1:03:44] um specifically think about my role

[1:03:47] here, I did a couple things. One was to

[1:03:50] think about the district strategy and

[1:03:52] what are the things where I could have

[1:03:54] particular I could be a particular help

[1:03:57] or influence. Um the second thing was to

[1:04:00] think about feedback um internal

[1:04:02] feedback from the leadership team. uh

[1:04:04] from teachers um you know what am I

[1:04:08] learning from people around me about the

[1:04:10] work that I'm doing and the third is

[1:04:12] feedback from you all actually looking

[1:04:13] at end of the year feedback last year

[1:04:15] that had a heavy influence in terms of

[1:04:17] thinking about where and and you and the

[1:04:20] community you as representatives of the

[1:04:22] community so those are the things that I

[1:04:24] really kept in mind in terms of choosing

[1:04:26] areas of focus um and uh I put these in

[1:04:32] this order for this reason you know I I

[1:04:34] do think um

[1:04:36] thinking about community engagement and

[1:04:39] really expanding the reach of

[1:04:41] communication from the district feels

[1:04:43] very important to me. Um I think that

[1:04:46] this uh it is the thing that is the

[1:04:49] superintendent's job more than anything

[1:04:51] else. Um and it's the thing that

[1:04:53] sometimes to me feels like the last

[1:04:55] thing I get to. So, by putting it here

[1:04:56] and prioritizing it as a goal, it kind

[1:04:59] of makes it concrete and hopefully will

[1:05:02] kind of help me keep that uh in my sites

[1:05:05] all the time. Um,

[1:05:09] you know, a couple of the things that

[1:05:11] I'm hoping to do here. One is an audit

[1:05:13] of what's happening with our

[1:05:15] communication. And I've mentioned this

[1:05:16] in kind of offhand way that we have

[1:05:18] tools that don't seem to be reaching

[1:05:20] everybody, but I want to be able to

[1:05:22] provide you with more data about what

[1:05:24] that looks like. Um,

[1:05:27] I do thinking about school committee and

[1:05:31] thinking about the time at school

[1:05:32] committee, we've had conversation about

[1:05:33] this as well. um you know, how do we get

[1:05:36] more people involved in understanding

[1:05:38] this board's role in sort of shaping the

[1:05:42] schools uh and really committed to

[1:05:44] showing up and telling you what they

[1:05:46] think. I think that's actually important

[1:05:47] that that folks do do that. Um so I've

[1:05:50] thought about engagement and engagement

[1:05:52] with the schools and with the community.

[1:05:54] Um the partnerships I already mentioned

[1:05:57] and then uh student advisory council and

[1:06:00] student voice um is an important piece

[1:06:02] too. So, I've um kind of advocated for

[1:06:04] that since coming here. I want to

[1:06:06] formalize it and expand it. Um I I think

[1:06:09] I don't know of any situation ever where

[1:06:12] we um didn't benefit uh enormously from

[1:06:16] seeking input from students and

[1:06:17] listening to what they had to say. So,

[1:06:20] um,

[1:06:22] thinking about instructional leadership,

[1:06:24] um,

[1:06:26] I I really wanted to think again about

[1:06:28] where is it that, um, we have work to do

[1:06:32] that I can be helpful with. The AI work

[1:06:34] was a big piece. Um, and I think my part

[1:06:37] of that is going to be working alongside

[1:06:39] Matt to help create the the steering

[1:06:42] committee advisory group. I can't

[1:06:44] remember what we're calling them.

[1:06:45] Advisory group, I think it is. um that

[1:06:47] has a little broader representation. So

[1:06:49] looking for some parents. We've spoken

[1:06:51] with a couple parents in the community

[1:06:52] who have background and expertise um and

[1:06:56] trying to kind of pull them together

[1:06:57] with staff and with some leadership to

[1:07:00] help us oversee the implementation of

[1:07:01] that plan. So that's a group that can

[1:07:03] kind of keep that work on track and um

[1:07:06] and I think that's important. Um,

[1:07:10] you know, we've had internal

[1:07:11] conversations about achievement gaps and

[1:07:12] I think we do need to sort of bring that

[1:07:15] out and highlight it in a more public

[1:07:17] way. Um, it's sometimes within a really

[1:07:20] high performing district. Uh, we have a,

[1:07:22] you know, we have great results in the

[1:07:24] aggregate. Things look really, really

[1:07:25] good, but they don't look um, great for

[1:07:27] everybody all the time. And by looking

[1:07:29] at those gaps, it allows us to um,

[1:07:32] notice what's working um, and what isn't

[1:07:35] and for whom. and then we can sort of

[1:07:37] refine our our work. Um, and then we'll

[1:07:41] be updating about secondary my cap

[1:07:43] implementation. I just think that's an

[1:07:45] exciting one. I want to kind of keep my

[1:07:46] finger on the pulse of that. Um, um, in

[1:07:50] terms of staff and professional culture,

[1:07:52] I've thought a lot about this. You know,

[1:07:54] I think one of the hardest things in my

[1:07:56] job is to be able to get out of my

[1:07:58] office and do stuff in the schools and

[1:08:01] see firsthand what's going on. And I

[1:08:03] think people value that. they need to be

[1:08:05] seen and heard. Um, but it it's it's a

[1:08:08] hard thing to do unless I sort of force it to happen. Um, and so I'm

[1:08:12] trying I keep trying kind of new

[1:08:14] thoughts or new structures. Um, you

[1:08:16] know, last year I uh started the office

[1:08:18] hours. I think some people like them,

[1:08:20] some people said, "Why are you just

[1:08:22] sitting around with plate of cookies? I,

[1:08:24] you know, go do something else." I was

[1:08:25] like, "Okay." Uh, so [laughter]

[1:08:28] it's, you know, you get it on both ends.

[1:08:30] Other people are like, "Great, great to

[1:08:31] see you. Nice. Thank you for the

[1:08:32] cookie." Right? So, I'm trying to find

[1:08:34] uh ways to reach people that work for

[1:08:37] them. Um

[1:08:39] and we, you know, we hit on the um the

[1:08:41] group around belonging and uh and

[1:08:43] equity. I think that's really important.

[1:08:45] And not only important, it's legally

[1:08:47] mandated. So, uh there there was a law

[1:08:49] passed um and signed by um the Healey

[1:08:53] administration that that actually

[1:08:54] dictates that uh every district is

[1:08:57] supposed to have either a DEI director

[1:08:58] or a team that does this work. And um in

[1:09:02] the absence of a director, pulling

[1:09:04] together a team is the thing that we

[1:09:06] need to do. And I actually think it's

[1:09:07] more effective anyway. Um it's work that

[1:09:09] really should be distributed across the

[1:09:11] district and should have a lot of people

[1:09:13] advocating for it.

[1:09:16] Um and then in terms of uh the sort of

[1:09:18] safety and management part, I think um

[1:09:21] for me it gives me a chance to sort of

[1:09:23] really hone in on this safety goal that

[1:09:26] um you know Tim asked questions about

[1:09:27] earlier. um it is the thing that um that

[1:09:30] I worry about, you know, uh in my uh

[1:09:34] sleepless hours and so being able to

[1:09:36] address it is important. And then also

[1:09:39] working with the town and with our

[1:09:41] operations folks on um just making

[1:09:44] everything work as well as it can.

[1:09:47] I think that's it. Um put together like

[1:09:51] a summary table at the end. Um and this

[1:09:54] is helpful for me too so I can track

[1:09:55] deadlines. I've got a few things coming

[1:09:57] up soon. Um, but my hope is to be able

[1:10:01] to report out both at the district

[1:10:04] strategy level and at my own goals

[1:10:06] level. So, as we're giving I'm giving

[1:10:08] you updates in school committee

[1:10:09] meetings, sort of tagging them to this

[1:10:11] so you can kind of see the progress as

[1:10:13] we go.

[1:10:16] >> That's it. That was a lot of me talking

[1:10:17] in two different presentations.

[1:10:19] Apologize for

[1:10:20] >> All right. Thank you, uh, Steve.

[1:10:24] Well, I guess first of all the the goals

[1:10:26] and effort are

[1:10:29] the second part that I worry about as a

[1:10:31] member of this school committee is to be

[1:10:33] careful of burnout.

[1:10:34] >> Yeah.

[1:10:35] >> Every single one of these strategies is

[1:10:37] a full time.

[1:10:39] Yeah. And I think one of the things

[1:10:44] about you is your attempt perhaps to do

[1:10:47] more possible.

[1:10:49] >> And there's two outcomes. You're very

[1:10:51] successful, super tired. or you burn up.

[1:10:54] And so obviously we know the strength of

[1:10:58] our school system and all the people who

[1:11:00] work in it and work for you

[1:11:03] >> is to engage them to help you attain

[1:11:05] these goals.

[1:11:07] >> Indeed.

[1:11:07] >> And so having said that, we'll watch to

[1:11:10] make sure you don't burn out.

[1:11:11] >> Thank you.

[1:11:13] >> But thank you. Thank you.

[1:11:14] >> I appreciate that. I I do want to say my

[1:11:17] goals are not just my goals. I mean, I I

[1:11:18] have such a I work with such a fantastic

[1:11:20] team. Um, and I I cannot thank you

[1:11:24] enough for it. I I I don't know of any

[1:11:26] other superintendent that feels super

[1:11:28] lucky,

[1:11:31] period. Really. [laughter] Um, and I do.

[1:11:33] Um, and I think part of that is a

[1:11:34] testament to the people that I work

[1:11:36] with. Um, the district level team and

[1:11:38] just the school leaders here are

[1:11:40] phenomenal. And, um, and because of

[1:11:42] that, it's it's it's fun. You know, I

[1:11:44] enjoy it. I deeply

[1:11:46] >> Well, that's the important thing about

[1:11:47] any job. It's got to be fun.

[1:11:48] >> Yeah. I mean, not every single load of

[1:11:50] every day, but a lot of it.

[1:11:54] >> That's true.

[1:11:56] >> Jane.

[1:11:57] >> Um, yeah, these I am very impressed with

[1:12:01] the goals and echo what Steve said that

[1:12:04] they're ambitious and um will do a lot

[1:12:07] for our district. And that's something

[1:12:10] that um I've been impressed about um

[1:12:13] your leadership that you're not afraid

[1:12:15] to take on very difficult things. And

[1:12:17] many of these are very difficult. So,

[1:12:19] thank you.

[1:12:22] » Yeah. Um, no real comments. I mean, it's

[1:12:25] always great to see people, you know,

[1:12:26] implementing the the smart goals and

[1:12:28] doing that. Uh, and so I'm just really

[1:12:30] excited to, you know, I appreciate the

[1:12:32] deliverables, the timeline, and I'm

[1:12:33] really just excited to see how we, you

[1:12:35] know, start checking these off. So,

[1:12:36] >> thank you.

[1:12:37] Sarah.

[1:12:38] >> Yeah, I'm going to echo what everyone

[1:12:40] said. Um, I think that this is great. I

[1:12:42] really uh think that your goals are also

[1:12:45] quite ambitious, but I too have seen

[1:12:48] that you um

[1:12:50] you know put hold yourself to very high

[1:12:53] standards. So I I appreciate this and

[1:12:55] I'm I'm hoping that um we're able to see

[1:12:58] especially in the piece around family um

[1:13:00] and community engagement and data

[1:13:02] collecting around how we're going to be

[1:13:04] able to you know what's the current

[1:13:06] status and how we're going to be able to

[1:13:08] get more community engagement um and

[1:13:10] connect with parents. uh when there's

[1:13:12] barriers. So, I I appreciate that. So,

[1:13:15] thank you. Thank you.

[1:13:17] >> G.

[1:13:18] >> Thank you so much. I really appreciate

[1:13:19] it. Um three quick actually no, two

[1:13:22] questions. Um the first one is with the

[1:13:24] student advisory council. Um is that b

[1:13:28] is that going to be implemented in the

[1:13:30] um way that the um state describes in

[1:13:33] some cases of districts having the

[1:13:35] student advisory council or is that a

[1:13:37] more internal?

[1:13:39] the the two young men who approached me

[1:13:41] were part of a kind of statewide

[1:13:43] conversation. So I think they are

[1:13:45] pulling um from their experience and um

[1:13:49] and having

[1:13:52] sat in on some sort of conversations

[1:13:54] with other districts and hearing about

[1:13:56] what what it looks like. Um so very much

[1:13:59] informed um but I also you know we want

[1:14:02] to make sure there's room for it to

[1:14:04] really meet the needs that are here at

[1:14:07] the high school especially. But I I have

[1:14:09] also talked to them a little bit about I

[1:14:10] I'd love to get that group thinking

[1:14:12] about how do we expand so that they're

[1:14:14] thinking about students at all grade

[1:14:15] levels, you know.

[1:14:17] >> Uh and then the second question is just

[1:14:19] around student belonging. Um is there a

[1:14:21] way that that's being tracked and

[1:14:22] measured right now? And I'm just curious

[1:14:24] what an improvement in that area would

[1:14:25] look like.

[1:14:26] >> It's a it's a great question. So um

[1:14:28] there is actually there are a few

[1:14:30] instruments that we've we've looked at

[1:14:32] some initial data around. Um first of

[1:14:35] all the vocal survey which is uh

[1:14:37] administered at the end of MCCAST

[1:14:40] testing um wasn't being administered

[1:14:42] before I uh asked people to start doing

[1:14:46] it. Um and it's um it's it looks at

[1:14:50] safety environment and engagement and

[1:14:53] asks students a lot of questions around

[1:14:56] how they're feeling about their school

[1:14:57] experience. It's incredible data. Um,

[1:15:00] and so we have it for Mil Pond and

[1:15:02] Gibbons, grades four, five, and eight, I

[1:15:05] believe. Um, it's also given at grade

[1:15:07] 10. Um, so my hope is to get the 10th

[1:15:10] grade implemented this year. Um, now,

[1:15:12] you know, uh, survey data that's taken

[1:15:15] at the end of the MCCAST test, you know,

[1:15:16] I is understandably, you know,

[1:15:20] >> might be a little skewed toward the

[1:15:21] negative, right? I I totally get that.

[1:15:23] But it also, you know, everybody

[1:15:25] district statewide is doing that. So

[1:15:26] it's at least like with like um so it

[1:15:28] gives us a sense of how we're doing

[1:15:30] compared to the state and how we're

[1:15:31] doing year-over-year. It breaks out into

[1:15:33] subgroups so we can see what's happening

[1:15:35] with particular groups of students and

[1:15:37] um and that's incredibly useful. So we

[1:15:40] did a first pass with leadership team

[1:15:42] this summer at looking at those

[1:15:43] preliminary um data. They weren't

[1:15:45] published yet. Uh the second set of data

[1:15:47] that we have already in hand is from the

[1:15:50] Metro West Adolescent Health Survey and

[1:15:52] that's um it's less asking directly

[1:15:54] about how kids are feeling and more

[1:15:56] asking about what they're doing, you

[1:15:58] know, um whether it's things that are

[1:15:59] risky or things that are healthy and

[1:16:01] that can be kind of a an indicator of

[1:16:04] how you're feeling about school,

[1:16:05] [clears throat] whether you're engaged

[1:16:06] in the the kind of things that we're

[1:16:08] trying to do to help feel help folks

[1:16:11] feel attached to school and like they

[1:16:12] belong or not so much, you know. And so,

[1:16:16] um, there are other tools out there and

[1:16:17] that's something that we may well end up

[1:16:20] exploring, um, at some point as well.

[1:16:22] So,

[1:16:22] >> thank you.

[1:16:23] >> You're welcome.

[1:16:24] >> Thank you, Gary. Um,

[1:16:27] and thank you, Alison, for this

[1:16:28] presentation. I'm not surprised the

[1:16:31] goals are ambitious. I I know I've

[1:16:34] learned enough that you respond to any

[1:16:35] feedback, critical feedback with even

[1:16:37] more work. So

[1:16:39] >> uh just I I think it will be your

[1:16:42] success in achieving these goals will be

[1:16:43] our success uh you know the whole

[1:16:45] district. So I wish you all the best. I

[1:16:48] just one specific question.

[1:16:50] >> Sure. Um, you mentioned the the position

[1:16:52] of DEI director. Uh, so if you could

[1:16:55] help me understand the timeline because

[1:16:56] I remember a couple years ago there was

[1:16:58] MAC resolution that we I believe we

[1:17:00] voted against it and I believe that that

[1:17:02] resolution failed but then is is it the

[1:17:04] case that the state went ahead and still

[1:17:06] established that as a mandate? Yeah,

[1:17:09] there there is a state law that was

[1:17:11] passed um and uh I'll I'll get the

[1:17:15] citation and send it along to you, but

[1:17:17] um and so yes, I think it was 2024, I

[1:17:22] want to say. Um and you know, it's I I

[1:17:27] think the idea was that there's been

[1:17:29] important work that's happened around

[1:17:32] thinking about, you know, making sure

[1:17:34] we're really paying attention to

[1:17:35] everybody who's here. Um, and not to

[1:17:38] lose ground and to lose sight of that.

[1:17:40] Um, so Matt, do you want to just say

[1:17:43] [laughter]

[1:17:44] >> Matt's looking it up for me?

[1:17:45] >> Yeah. So, Matt's general law, Chapter

[1:17:48] 70, section 101,

[1:17:50] uh, Massachusetts public school district

[1:17:52] and charter schools required by state

[1:17:53] law to hire and appoint a diversity,

[1:17:54] equity, inclusion, DEI officer or

[1:17:56] establish a diversity team.

[1:17:59] >> Okay.

[1:18:00] >> Yeah.

[1:18:00] >> So, it doesn't have to be necessarily

[1:18:01] position. It can be

[1:18:02] >> It can be a great team. And did does the

[1:18:05] state provide any funding for this or

[1:18:06] no?

[1:18:07] >> Just a requirement. [laughter]

[1:18:10] >> And to date, they haven't offered

[1:18:12] guidance either. I mean, usually when

[1:18:13] there's a kind of a mandate, there's

[1:18:15] some guidance and that is still pending.

[1:18:17] Um, so I'll be curious to see what they

[1:18:20] come out with. You know, I'm attending

[1:18:21] tomorrow a webinar on the Protect Act

[1:18:25] guidance. So, um, they've they've kind

[1:18:26] of hustled it up on with that one in

[1:18:28] particular. This will be interesting to

[1:18:30] see. Uh the good news is I've um you

[1:18:32] know I've found a a consultant who's

[1:18:35] somebody I I know and have worked with

[1:18:37] and trust before who's done a lot of

[1:18:39] work around facilitating training for

[1:18:40] teams uh who do this work. And I think

[1:18:42] it's really important to get that group

[1:18:44] trained well um so that they're

[1:18:46] approaching the work in a way that's

[1:18:48] thoughtful and welcoming and really um

[1:18:52] you know helps it be a thing that pulls

[1:18:55] the community together and doesn't pull

[1:18:56] it apart.

[1:18:59] >> Thank you. Welcome.

[1:19:00] >> Okay.

[1:19:01] >> I just have a follow to that.

[1:19:02] >> Yes, absolutely.

[1:19:03] >> So, um, this came up a couple years ago

[1:19:06] as well, um, about the DEI director and

[1:19:08] I understand that now, you know, you can

[1:19:10] either go with that or have a task force

[1:19:12] of some sort. Um, and you know, I I want

[1:19:15] I wonder uh because you referenced that

[1:19:18] you think it's actually a better idea to

[1:19:20] have a team, but um, absent any

[1:19:23] budgetary constraints,

[1:19:24] >> would I want both?

[1:19:26] >> Yes.

[1:19:26] >> Yeah. I mean because I [laughter] have

[1:19:27] seen a lot of districts who do have this

[1:19:29] um and my understanding is that it

[1:19:31] allows you know that one person to be

[1:19:35] focused on this solely and so the really

[1:19:37] move the work ahead. So I'm curious as

[1:19:39] to

[1:19:39] >> yeah I mean in an ideal universe uh

[1:19:42] where funding is no object I think

[1:19:43] having both is great um in part because

[1:19:45] of that you have built-in leadership um

[1:19:48] and I think the danger of having just a

[1:19:52] leader and not another structure is then

[1:19:55] that single person is carrying the

[1:19:57] weight of this whole project and it can lead to dynamics that I think are

[1:20:02] really hard and um having known and and

[1:20:05] worked with and interacted with a lot of

[1:20:07] people who've held that position in the

[1:20:09] state. That has very much been their

[1:20:11] experience that they feel isolated and

[1:20:14] um and you know they do a lot of putting

[1:20:17] out fires and feel like it's very hard

[1:20:20] to get the strategic work going um if

[1:20:23] it's just a single person. So I think a group is a necessary component. A a

[1:20:29] director would be a nice to have thing

[1:20:31] too.

[1:20:33] >> Thank you. You're welcome. And we're

[1:20:35] moving on to the next item on the agenda

[1:20:37] to our excellent student representative

[1:20:40] Gary.

[1:20:40] >> Hey there everyone. Thank you so much.

[1:20:42] Um yeah, starting with the elementary

[1:20:44] schools. Uh this week Fails is having

[1:20:47] its uh first Wester food pantry

[1:20:49] collection for breakfast items. Uh that

[1:20:51] goes to the end of this week. Uh and

[1:20:52] over at Armstrong tomorrow is the book

[1:20:54] fair uh for families and students 6:00

[1:20:56] p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Uh also we have open

[1:21:00] houses for all of the elementary schools

[1:21:02] tomorrow. And uh Mil Pond is happening

[1:21:04] tonight um at Gibbons and the high

[1:21:07] school clubs are starting up for the

[1:21:09] year um at Westboro High School. I think

[1:21:11] we had uh yeah uh nine clubs were

[1:21:14] announced uh over the loudspeaker for

[1:21:16] their first meeting just today. Um so a

[1:21:18] lot of different communities uh

[1:21:19] community events happening there. Um and

[1:21:21] late buses began last week for both uh

[1:21:24] Gibbons and the high school. Westpro

[1:21:26] High School is having its homecoming

[1:21:28] dance on October 2nd and then the

[1:21:29] homecoming festival which is available

[1:21:31] to the entire community on October 3rd

[1:21:33] 12 to 3 p.m. And Gibbons is also having

[1:21:36] an upcoming fall dance. Um as we

[1:21:38] mentioned earlier uh the new holiday

[1:21:40] guidelines are in place are in place for

[1:21:43] uh homework um which we had the first

[1:21:46] instance of happening uh over this uh

[1:21:48] long weekend with Yamapor. Um I think

[1:21:51] that right now students are still uh

[1:21:53] understanding the way the new system

[1:21:54] works. there was some surprise around um

[1:21:56] how homework was still offered because

[1:21:58] we were used to the category 1 system uh

[1:22:00] that was before but um that's starting

[1:22:02] to get rolled out uh and students are

[1:22:04] becoming familiar with the

[1:22:05] [clears throat] new way that it's going

[1:22:06] to work. Um my cap was used for the

[1:22:09] first time I believe at Gibbons today.

[1:22:11] Um and students uh seem to like both at

[1:22:14] the high school and Gibbons the idea of

[1:22:15] focusing on the future as opposed to

[1:22:17] just the content. So incorporating into

[1:22:20] the um three pillars of my cap. um today

[1:22:23] they completed a vision or some students

[1:22:24] completed a vision board uh at Gibbons

[1:22:26] during their structured time for it. Uh

[1:22:29] and then the other thing I just wanted

[1:22:30] to uh bring attention to is um I think

[1:22:33] Miss Owens you were saying the uh

[1:22:35] writing in class and um how that works

[1:22:38] given the new um concerns around AI and

[1:22:41] uh many students have um reported both

[1:22:44] this year but also a lot last year about

[1:22:46] the way that we do um writing systems uh

[1:22:50] in when we're in class or when we're

[1:22:52] outside of school to ensure that AI

[1:22:54] isn't being used. Um, I'm curious if uh

[1:22:57] there's been any thought towards

[1:22:59] specific software that students can

[1:23:00] write in. Right now, we used locked

[1:23:02] Google Forms on schoolisssued devices in

[1:23:04] our English classes or wherever else

[1:23:06] that's needed, but Google Forms isn't

[1:23:07] really designed for like the word

[1:23:08] processing environment. So, I'm just

[1:23:10] curious uh if there's anything else um

[1:23:13] that's happening there. And then aside

[1:23:14] from that, happy to take any questions

[1:23:15] about any student affairs that are going

[1:23:17] on.

[1:23:18] >> Excellent. Thank you, Gary.

[1:23:21] Um gonna move on to the financial

[1:23:24] update.

[1:23:27] Wonderful.

[1:23:29] Hand things off to Anita here.

[1:23:32] [laughter]

[1:23:34] » So, we had a couple sections here. Uh

[1:23:36] capital planning first. So, I'm going to

[1:23:38] let

[1:23:39] >> Okay, it is capital season

[1:23:42] >> and budget season. Um okay, so starting

[1:23:46] with the capital projects. Um if you

[1:23:49] look on this spreadsheet um the first

[1:23:51] six tabs um they show the capital

[1:23:54] projects um that we have um for FY28. Um

[1:23:59] you can see that there's two of them

[1:24:01] that are highlighted in red. Those are

[1:24:03] for um two possible projects that we can

[1:24:07] go out for MSBA funding.

[1:24:10] We did do a lot of um research. We spoke

[1:24:12] to our internal um subcommittee and

[1:24:16] after doing um talking to everyone we

[1:24:20] kind of decided that it was best and for

[1:24:23] the um sake of time efficiency and cost

[1:24:26] efficiency that we actually don't go

[1:24:28] through MSBA because when you look

[1:24:30] through the spreadsheet you can see that

[1:24:31] it would cost us more and um the MSBA

[1:24:34] funding would be two to three years out.

[1:24:36] So by the time we get it the project

[1:24:38] would be even more than what we think it

[1:24:40] would be as of today.

[1:24:43] Um the second two um are for the

[1:24:47] Hastings um parking lot expansion and

[1:24:50] the Hastings playground replacement. Um

[1:24:53] we are um actively getting um quotes for

[1:24:56] the playground replacement right now and

[1:24:59] we are putting together a um scope of

[1:25:02] services for our parking lot right now.

[1:25:04] And I'm actually working with Tim on

[1:25:06] that. Um Tim and um Kelly Jackapello on

[1:25:09] that.

[1:25:15] Those are the four kind of things that

[1:25:17] we anticipate moving before the kind of

[1:25:21] capital expenditures committee. Um, and

[1:25:25] we put together the information about

[1:25:28] both the MSB and and nonMS MSB versions

[1:25:30] because we believe that question will

[1:25:32] come up and so we wanted to have it

[1:25:34] there. Um, and you know, I appreciate

[1:25:37] Anita kind of she's spent a lot of time

[1:25:40] uh kind of on the phone with MSBA

[1:25:42] digging into sort of back um background

[1:25:46] um research about cost per per square

[1:25:48] foot, whatever we could kind of get our

[1:25:49] hands on. Um because the reimbursement

[1:25:52] rate, it looks like this great thing,

[1:25:54] but when you actually kind of look

[1:25:56] around at what those cost per square

[1:25:58] foot report outs are, it it kind of

[1:26:01] washes out. And in addition to the wash

[1:26:04] out, because the involvement delays the

[1:26:06] process, we're concerned that in those

[1:26:08] intervening years, the price point might

[1:26:10] ratchet up. Um, you know, you heard from

[1:26:12] a community member this evening about

[1:26:14] the restoration versus replacement. Um,

[1:26:17] and you know, that's something we can

[1:26:19] bring back to the capital subcommittee

[1:26:20] for conversation. Um, you know, I think

[1:26:23] our director of facilities has has noted

[1:26:26] that restoration is becoming an

[1:26:28] increasingly popular option uh out

[1:26:31] there. It's been done all around um the

[1:26:33] state and seemingly with good results,

[1:26:36] but that's a conversation we can look at

[1:26:38] too.

[1:26:40] >> Before we begin the the discussion and

[1:26:42] question, I just have

[1:26:43] >> Yeah,

[1:26:44] >> I'm confused about these two two tabs.

[1:26:46] We have one Hastings Elementary School

[1:26:49] parking lot redesign.

[1:26:51] >> And then following is parking lot and

[1:26:55] playground redesign.

[1:26:57] Is that just a

[1:26:58] >> That is just a typo that should have

[1:27:00] been edited. So,

[1:27:01] >> sorry.

[1:27:02] >> At one point we had those glombmed

[1:27:04] together and then we pulled them apart.

[1:27:05] So,

[1:27:06] >> okay, that's

[1:27:07] >> the first is parking lot and this one

[1:27:09] should be just a playground.

[1:27:11] >> Yep. So, I'm going to do that right here

[1:27:13] in real time about there. [laughter]

[1:27:17] >> Excellent.

[1:27:18] >> Thanks for catching that.

[1:27:19] That would be

[1:27:20] confusing for anybody.

[1:27:23] >> Thank you. Okay. Uh can you start with

[1:27:25] questions Steve?

[1:27:27] >> Uh no I think you answered one of my

[1:27:30] questions which was the combination and

[1:27:32] the wording of them. I think it's

[1:27:35] clarified now. Uh, and I guess I would

[1:27:38] comment on on the

[1:27:41] work that you did to look at what it

[1:27:43] would cost us to do the work directly in

[1:27:46] our own schedule with our own hired

[1:27:48] people uh versus the quote contribution

[1:27:52] to Comwalth Massachusetts or for similar

[1:27:56] projects

[1:27:57] and hit the nail on the head that unless

[1:28:01] it's a borrow and unless it's really

[1:28:03] beyond the capital capacity of the to do

[1:28:07] a plan. It is much more expensive using

[1:28:11] the MSBA

[1:28:13] term.

[1:28:15] And one of the things I didn't didn't

[1:28:17] mention was probably no and that is that

[1:28:19] they also don't um consider the entire

[1:28:23] cost as reimburseable by the state.

[1:28:26] That's the allowable piece. for example

[1:28:29] for uh

[1:28:31] fails out of the 50 something million

[1:28:34] dollar project with all the piece that

[1:28:37] the MSBA was contributed to was around

[1:28:40] 36 million. So there's quite a bit that

[1:28:43] the town has to carry on their own in

[1:28:45] regards to the way the MSBA works.

[1:28:48] >> Uh which I'm sure you will have to

[1:28:50] answer before the finance committee when

[1:28:52] they discuss these two numbers versus

[1:28:56] for the same project.

[1:28:59] I think additionally with that, you

[1:29:01] know, uh the other thing Anita sort of

[1:29:04] in her math looked at is the fact we're

[1:29:07] sitting on already um sort of mostly

[1:29:11] completed schematic designs for both of those projects. If we were to go

[1:29:16] through MSBA, we would have to redo

[1:29:18] those. Um

[1:29:18] >> yeah, because they want to hire their

[1:29:20] own engineer and their own

[1:29:22] >> OPM. So, so there's a cost savings in

[1:29:25] kind of working off what we have

[1:29:27] already.

[1:29:29] >> Thank you, Jane.

[1:29:31] >> No questions. Thank you,

[1:29:33] >> Tim. So, I'm I'm fully on board with

[1:29:36] everything we're talking about here with

[1:29:37] MSBA, but can you just walk me through a

[1:29:39] little bit more like how that can

[1:29:40] happen? Like looking at the numbers, how

[1:29:41] one is so much higher than the, you

[1:29:43] know, if we did it ourselves.

[1:29:44] >> Yeah. So, the cost if you go through

[1:29:46] MSBA, it's um anywhere between $41 to

[1:29:49] $55 per square foot and versus um if we

[1:29:54] were to do the project right now, it

[1:29:57] would be approximately $25.66

[1:29:59] per square foot.

[1:30:00] >> And do we know is that because of the

[1:30:01] approved contractors? Like what is

[1:30:03] driving that that large price increase?

[1:30:06] >> I think it's a combination of um the

[1:30:08] MSBA. They have so many different um

[1:30:11] areas that the contractors have to look

[1:30:13] at and they have to go through. So they

[1:30:15] set their own prices and I think Steve

[1:30:18] can probably answer it answer that

[1:30:20] question better than me.

[1:30:20] >> And they also review the scope of work.

[1:30:23] For example, there there is new uh

[1:30:27] oversight if you will that they require

[1:30:29] in regards to any project that their

[1:30:32] agents i.e. the hired engineer requires

[1:30:38] terms of state oversight in terms of

[1:30:41] what you have to build. For example, if

[1:30:44] we wanted to build a new high school and

[1:30:47] we wanted to put an auditorium in it,

[1:30:49] they would not carry any of that.

[1:30:53] So that's why it gets bigger. uh if you

[1:30:56] want to get what what you need isn't

[1:30:58] necessarily going to be supplied by the

[1:31:01] school

[1:31:02] and that was the case with our high

[1:31:04] school. We had to limit the size of the

[1:31:06] auditorium

[1:31:09] to what their standard was.

[1:31:13] >> Another question. Thank you. Thank you

[1:31:15] Sarah.

[1:31:16] >> Um I just have a couple questions. One

[1:31:18] is regarding the milon roof. So we had

[1:31:22] this was before us what three years ago

[1:31:24] I want to say and then we had pushed it

[1:31:26] off

[1:31:27] >> because we had something else that was

[1:31:29] there at that time.

[1:31:31] >> Um

[1:31:32] >> just to tell you the finance committee

[1:31:33] wouldn't support what we asked for.

[1:31:35] >> Sorry they didn't support it.

[1:31:36] >> Right. Yeah.

[1:31:37] >> So that was the so that blew it up.

[1:31:39] Okay. Um, so my question though is

[1:31:42] because it's interesting that we were at

[1:31:45] the prime time at that time

[1:31:47] >> to have the sealant done and now we're

[1:31:49] still at the prime time have the sealant

[1:31:51] done.

[1:31:52] >> So window

[1:31:53] >> Yeah, it's a window. I understand. I

[1:31:55] just want to understand a little bit

[1:31:57] more as to

[1:31:59] >> how long that how long we can stretch

[1:32:01] that, right? Because we want to be able

[1:32:02] to do that as long as we can. And I'm

[1:32:04] just trying to I don't know who can

[1:32:06] answer that. you know, at the time it

[1:32:09] was offered, it was um brand new. There

[1:32:12] wasn't any experience about it or

[1:32:15] whether any of it would work. Uh

[1:32:17] obviously, there's now three three more

[1:32:19] years worth of experience with it. Uh

[1:32:21] and going forward with that approach

[1:32:24] might be easier to offer and support

[1:32:28] based on other history of other work in

[1:32:30] the meantime. Uh but the the secret to

[1:32:33] it all is

[1:32:35] if the manufacturer will provide the

[1:32:39] warranty,

[1:32:41] okay, then it works because they have to

[1:32:44] go back and fix it at their cost,

[1:32:47] which I I pretty sure we we didn't bring

[1:32:52] that forward at the time, but it was

[1:32:54] what was offered. They were going to

[1:32:56] offer a warranty for that repair, which

[1:32:59] would have added for

[1:33:01] approximately half the cost using that

[1:33:04] method. Um, another 20 years worth of

[1:33:09] capacity, if you will, under warranty.

[1:33:12] >> Um, but at the time the town was

[1:33:14] strapped with other projects that needed

[1:33:16] to get done and it just didn't get into

[1:33:18] the mix.

[1:33:20] >> Are you asking to the urgency of of this

[1:33:23] project?

[1:33:24] >> Um, not really question. I mean in

[1:33:27] general I think like since we presented

[1:33:29] it or it was potentially something that

[1:33:32] we were considering three years ago and

[1:33:34] at that time we were able to defer it

[1:33:36] you know I'd just like to be to know

[1:33:39] when somebody asks me you know why can't

[1:33:42] you defer it again sort of thing right

[1:33:43] so I'm just trying to yeah what what are

[1:33:45] what is the criteria but I understand

[1:33:47] that's probably not something I would

[1:33:49] answer

[1:33:50] >> in the bigger picture I think for the

[1:33:52] school committee to bring forward any

[1:33:55] article We need to do all the research.

[1:33:59] Okay. And then present that and present

[1:34:01] it uh with the

[1:34:04] support of all the players on our side

[1:34:07] and hopefully we could get the board of

[1:34:08] selectmen and and the town manager to

[1:34:11] agree with us. Obviously the role of the

[1:34:14] finance committee is to query

[1:34:15] everything. Uh but if ultimately the

[1:34:18] town doesn't have enough money to do it

[1:34:20] and all the other things, we have to

[1:34:22] stand back and in effect try again.

[1:34:25] >> Yeah.

[1:34:26] >> So here we are.

[1:34:27] >> That makes sense.

[1:34:29] >> Yeah. So Sarah, so I'll add that we're

[1:34:32] actually going to get the roofs

[1:34:33] rescanned just to make sure that they're

[1:34:35] um eligible for the restoration itself.

[1:34:38] >> Okay. So we're not we don't know that

[1:34:40] right now they are

[1:34:41] >> correct.

[1:34:41] >> Oh, okay. That's that's good

[1:34:43] information. They're still within the

[1:34:45] window of time that we believe. Uh and

[1:34:47] you know in terms of the shape they're

[1:34:48] in, we're you know they are requiring

[1:34:52] ongoing maintenance and repair work. Um

[1:34:54] which is why the restoration is is

[1:34:56] important to do. Um so we're optimistic

[1:34:59] but we just want to make sure that it's

[1:35:01] actually

[1:35:02] >> it would be interesting to find out from

[1:35:03] them what the criteria is just so that

[1:35:05] we have an idea um for other Absolutely.

[1:35:08] >> Who's them?

[1:35:09] >> So actually that's a good question. And

[1:35:12] who who is it that's going to be

[1:35:14] evaluating or scanning and doing the

[1:35:16] roof to see if it it's eligible for

[1:35:18] this?

[1:35:19] >> Well, as Rod brought up earlier, we do

[1:35:21] have a consultant. Uh certainly the the

[1:35:25] statement that in fact that our

[1:35:26] consultants in cahoots with a specific

[1:35:29] manufacturer I think requires some

[1:35:30] research to either affirm or deny

[1:35:35] because it's the consultant that we're

[1:35:37] using to tell us what we need to do. And

[1:35:40] that's an important understanding maybe

[1:35:42] different than what happens in

[1:35:43] Washington but I think in our case we

[1:35:45] need to do it right.

[1:35:46] >> Right.

[1:35:47] >> And in fact uh I believe we have been

[1:35:50] doing it right because I don't believe

[1:35:51] that the individual works for any

[1:35:54] manufacturer

[1:35:56] but let's make sure we know that

[1:35:58] >> and that was actually my second

[1:35:59] question. So um this came up at town

[1:36:02] meeting as well. Um I believe somebody

[1:36:04] had come up and it may have been him. I

[1:36:05] don't recall.

[1:36:06] >> It was Mr. Hley. No, it was it was

[1:36:08] >> right, but it was to the same um

[1:36:11] >> it was a concern about that and u we had

[1:36:13] conversation in the wake of that and I

[1:36:15] think want to be able to look to

[1:36:18] engineers and independent people to to

[1:36:21] make that assessment uh as much as

[1:36:24] possible. So just to say that um you

[1:36:26] know since this has been brought to our

[1:36:27] attention as a potential

[1:36:30] >> um we want to make sure that we're

[1:36:31] looking into this as

[1:36:33] >> but but keep in mind it's not that

[1:36:35] single individual that agrees or

[1:36:37] disagrees. The engineer's responsibility

[1:36:39] is then to listen to um the the issues

[1:36:43] if you will of all players including the

[1:36:45] consultant and and provide a document

[1:36:48] that in fact meets state law and has all

[1:36:51] the the bells and whistles of what's

[1:36:53] required in public bidding. uh and uh as

[1:36:58] was done particularly as a result of the

[1:37:01] discussion at town meeting was to make

[1:37:03] sure that the contractor who was the low

[1:37:07] bidder

[1:37:09] actually

[1:37:10] was performing and asking questions

[1:37:13] according to state law that was

[1:37:16] documented as part of this project. So

[1:37:19] I think u and and the outcome of the

[1:37:23] work so far uh has been beneficial to

[1:37:26] the town.

[1:37:27] >> Sure. So I guess I guess the question is

[1:37:30] and it may be just that I don't

[1:37:32] understand which I don't think I

[1:37:33] understand. So the consultant the the

[1:37:36] allegation or what what's being stated

[1:37:38] is that the consultant is um

[1:37:40] >> was a manufacturer's rep

[1:37:44] >> right? So engineering the basically

[1:37:47] engineering the plan such that you know

[1:37:49] only specific people would be eligible

[1:37:52] to bid. Correct.

[1:37:53] >> That was the second.

[1:37:54] >> No not people specific material uh could

[1:37:58] be used.

[1:37:59] >> Right. So engineering the plan so that

[1:38:01] basically stating that this is the type

[1:38:03] of

[1:38:05] >> the specs the specs that were set were

[1:38:07] favorable to a specific vendor. Right.

[1:38:10] >> Or bidder rather.

[1:38:11] >> Yeah. That was the second state.

[1:38:13] >> Right. And so did we

[1:38:14] >> we corrected any misunderstanding there

[1:38:17] was about the rights of contractor to

[1:38:20] offer any product he wanted that quote

[1:38:23] unquote would meet the spec and was not

[1:38:26] uh a a single

[1:38:29] manufacturer's product that you would

[1:38:31] have to hire or buy that product u

[1:38:35] contrary to state law

[1:38:37] what was done was in in in that

[1:38:41] particular issue

[1:38:43] was that the contractor was allowed to

[1:38:46] offer anything they wanted in the

[1:38:49] anticipation of meeting the

[1:38:51] specifications offer and under review

[1:38:55] everything that they offered was

[1:38:56] accepted.

[1:38:59] >> Right. And I I concur with everything

[1:39:01] you're saying. I what I'm trying to

[1:39:02] understand is so I don't know that there

[1:39:04] was a question of whether or not it was

[1:39:06] in compliance with state law. I I think

[1:39:08] that the the question was whether or not

[1:39:11] we are getting the best pricing that's

[1:39:14] out there. Um

[1:39:16] >> that's why you bid a specific scope of

[1:39:19] work,

[1:39:20] >> right,

[1:39:20] >> with a specific requirements of that

[1:39:23] work and it goes out to bid and the low

[1:39:26] bid is the one that we selected and

[1:39:28] awarded to. That's how you make that

[1:39:30] statement.

[1:39:31] >> But if we are skeptical of the actual

[1:39:33] specs being put out, that that's my

[1:39:36] question. I'm not saying that we are.

[1:39:38] I'm just saying that I hope that we're

[1:39:39] evaluating the prospect of that.

[1:39:41] >> Let me chime in. I you know my

[1:39:44] understand

[1:39:44] >> say one thing that might be helpful

[1:39:45] which is in terms of like looking ahead

[1:39:47] the the uh scanning is actually going to

[1:39:50] be done by the engineering firm not by a representative of any company. So in

[1:39:54] terms of the analysis looking forward we

[1:39:56] are sort of sensitive to this.

[1:39:58] >> That's something else in here. It is.

[1:40:00] >> I mean,

[1:40:02] >> obviously if you're talking about a

[1:40:03] project um of this magnitude, there's

[1:40:08] it was 150 pages maybe of the

[1:40:10] specification.

[1:40:12] But uh the research was done. The issue

[1:40:16] of whether the contractor had the

[1:40:18] opportunity to offer something that in

[1:40:21] their opinion met our specs

[1:40:24] u was uh they didn't take advantage of

[1:40:27] it upfront. But we ask them specifically

[1:40:30] under the terms of the state law as to

[1:40:32] how you bid, particularly whether or not

[1:40:34] you have uh another offering, if you

[1:40:38] will, other than what was specified

[1:40:41] to to submit it, have it reviewed and

[1:40:45] approved.

[1:40:47] And that's what happened.

[1:40:50] Yeah, you were saying.

[1:40:51] >> Yeah, I just want to add I I I don't I

[1:40:54] believe we looked into it and we

[1:40:55] determined that the spec was not written

[1:40:57] to favor a single vendor. That was not

[1:40:59] the case. And I I do support uh hiring a independent roofing

[1:41:06] consultant uh just to I don't know

[1:41:10] reassure

[1:41:11] the residents that we doing our due

[1:41:13] diligence. But uh I don't I think the

[1:41:15] due diligence due diligence was done in

[1:41:18] the first place.

[1:41:19] uh as far as I understand.

[1:41:23] >> Okay, thank you.

[1:41:24] >> I think we can move on. Uh Gary, any

[1:41:26] other questions?

[1:41:27] >> Oh, uh nothing major. I just wanted to

[1:41:29] say uh great to see all of the uh

[1:41:32] improvements that are planned and I'm

[1:41:33] sure Hastings is going to be super happy

[1:41:34] with the new um playground. Um, I just

[1:41:37] wanted to mention one thing um that I've

[1:41:39] just noticed at town meeting where

[1:41:40] there's always someone that's asking

[1:41:42] like why wasn't a capital expenditure

[1:41:43] budgeted for which obviously they work

[1:41:46] different than um recurring budget items

[1:41:48] but um just want to encourage that it

[1:41:50] the school communicates it um about why

[1:41:53] uh these are capital projects versus

[1:41:55] budget items to the broader community

[1:41:56] just so that we ensure these get passed.

[1:41:58] >> Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate

[1:42:00] >> Thank you. Okay. Now, just add just

[1:42:02] >> Well, I mean, the first answer is

[1:42:04] there's no way that we could out of the

[1:42:06] school budget in any given year. Um, you

[1:42:09] know, carry a million dollars, $2

[1:42:11] million, $5 million project by

[1:42:13] definition. You don't do them very

[1:42:14] often. They're that's what makes them

[1:42:16] capital.

[1:42:17] >> Yeah.

[1:42:17] >> But, but the definition of capital in

[1:42:20] terms of let's say the finance committee

[1:42:22] is their definition.

[1:42:24] >> Yep.

[1:42:24] >> Right. So, I mean, actually, that's

[1:42:26] where to point that question and we

[1:42:27] react to it in either or.

[1:42:30] >> Yep. Right.

[1:42:31] >> I just want to uh say one one thing at

[1:42:34] the end. I don't know if that was very

[1:42:36] clearly presented that if if all these

[1:42:38] ask go through the process and they end

[1:42:41] up on the Tom Warren, we would be asking

[1:42:43] for the wing the seawing roof

[1:42:46] restoration design money for the for the

[1:42:49] mill pond and uh the parking lot

[1:42:54] redesign and and the Hastings

[1:42:56] playground.

[1:42:57] >> So all four of them.

[1:42:59] >> All four of them. And with the with the

[1:43:01] mil pond, if if it if it gets to that uh

[1:43:05] then the following year we we'll be

[1:43:07] going to ask for the for the full uh

[1:43:10] actual project.

[1:43:12] >> No, So that 1.7 million and that 2.276

[1:43:17] million that includes the project costs

[1:43:19] as well because we already have the

[1:43:21] design money because we already did the

[1:43:23] design, right?

[1:43:24] >> So we already have that in hand. So that

[1:43:26] money is for the project work, for the

[1:43:28] OPM work, and for the um architect.

[1:43:32] >> Okay.

[1:43:33] >> If we were to go through the MSBA, then

[1:43:36] it would stretch out and be a a bigger

[1:43:38] time.

[1:43:38] >> I was looking.

[1:43:39] >> Yeah.

[1:43:41] >> Thank you.

[1:43:43] >> Okay.

[1:43:46] Moving on to budget summit preview.

[1:43:48] >> That's great. Um

[1:43:51] I shared a draft of this earlier uh with

[1:43:55] um the advisory finance committee

[1:43:59] leaison uh that work with the school and

[1:44:01] I'll I'll sort of I I will go through it

[1:44:04] quickly because I want to keep us on

[1:44:06] time here. Um but uh I welcome your

[1:44:11] feedback because you know part of my job

[1:44:14] in the budget summit is to sort of put

[1:44:16] forward to um the other boards in town,

[1:44:19] the advisory finance committee and the

[1:44:21] select board sort of a little bit of the

[1:44:23] state of affairs of the the school

[1:44:25] department and try and help them

[1:44:28] understand some of what we're grappling

[1:44:29] with. So, in doing so this year, I

[1:44:32] started where I always like to start,

[1:44:33] which is bragging a little bit about the

[1:44:35] school district. Uh, saying, um, you

[1:44:36] know, our our students do really well,

[1:44:38] they perform well, there are great

[1:44:39] things happening, and they're very

[1:44:41] exciting. One of my favorites is this

[1:44:43] best, uh, bang for your housing buck,

[1:44:45] uh, uh, note, which we've been on that

[1:44:48] list a couple years in a row. It's a top

[1:44:50] 10 list. So, that's top 10 in the state.

[1:44:52] That's pretty good. Um, and although

[1:44:54] these ratings, they move up and down. I

[1:44:56] think we're up in Boston magazine. were

[1:44:58] down slightly in US News and World

[1:45:00] Report because they have slightly

[1:45:01] different metrics. Um, Westboro always

[1:45:03] is really reflected and that is a

[1:45:06] testament to the incredible work of of

[1:45:08] the staff here. So, I like to give them

[1:45:10] a lot of proper credit for this. Um, so

[1:45:14] major categories I I put out so people

[1:45:16] have a sense of scale, right? Where does

[1:45:18] their money go? And the overwhelming

[1:45:20] majority of our money goes toward people

[1:45:22] toward the staffing. Um, the kind of

[1:45:24] next greatest category is special

[1:45:25] education. Uh then transportation, other

[1:45:28] non-s salary which is going to include

[1:45:30] all materials and supplies and kind of

[1:45:32] everything else under the sun. Uh

[1:45:34] buildings and grounds and then utilities

[1:45:37] and um I got some help with updating the

[1:45:41] pie chart. You remember my pie chart

[1:45:43] with a really tiny writing. So this we

[1:45:44] did this instead the donut. Um and this

[1:45:47] is just nice to show the percentage of

[1:45:49] how these different things appear in the

[1:45:51] budget. And it's also helpful for folks

[1:45:52] to understand what the levers are in the

[1:45:54] budget. you know, we really can't make a

[1:45:57] big impact on savings in the budget by

[1:46:00] looking at non- salary items because

[1:46:02] they're such a tiny portion of the

[1:46:04] budget. If we ever need to make

[1:46:06] reductions, unfortunately, the place we

[1:46:08] have to look uh inevitably is in uh

[1:46:11] salary and in staffing. So, that's just

[1:46:14] an important thing for people to

[1:46:15] recognize. One important note too here,

[1:46:17] our salary is has actually shrunk as an

[1:46:20] overall percentage and that's for two

[1:46:23] reasons. one is our FTE has shrunk a

[1:46:25] little bit over the past couple years,

[1:46:26] but also um the the costs that we don't

[1:46:30] control have escalated and that's a big

[1:46:32] focus of this presentation is helping

[1:46:34] people understand how our our universe

[1:46:37] is impacted by these other things. Um so

[1:46:40] I'll talk about these four main buckets.

[1:46:42] The first is enrollment, what's going on

[1:46:44] there. Um the second is out of district

[1:46:46] costs. So tuition and transportation for

[1:46:48] students who attend schools out of out

[1:46:50] of the district. um student needs. Uh I really want to focus on that this

[1:46:55] year. In the past couple years, I've

[1:46:57] talked about spec especially last year.

[1:46:59] Um I talked about level services and

[1:47:01] kind of just keeping things stable. I

[1:47:04] don't think we can do that anymore and I

[1:47:05] think I need to be able to address that

[1:47:07] publicly right now. Uh and then also

[1:47:09] state mandates um which are kind of

[1:47:11] coming at us fast and furious. So I want

[1:47:13] to be able to to note that we need to be

[1:47:15] responsive to things that are happening

[1:47:18] at the state level. Total enrollment

[1:47:20] continues to come down. We are down

[1:47:22] between last year and this year. These

[1:47:23] are estimates based on Septemberish

[1:47:26] numbers. I'll have like a very robust

[1:47:28] enrollment presentation for you next

[1:47:30] time u when we meet in October. But uh

[1:47:33] this is just the the big picture and you

[1:47:35] can see this is sort of a a long-term

[1:47:37] trend of kind of coming slightly down.

[1:47:39] This is not unique to Westboro. It's

[1:47:41] happening in a lot of places in the

[1:47:42] state. Um but interesting when you break

[1:47:46] it apart into different groups. Um, you

[1:47:49] know, we are down at These are tiny, so

[1:47:52] they're hard to see. I apologize. Um,

[1:47:54] but we're down at the high school, we

[1:47:56] are down in grades four to six, we're

[1:47:58] down at the middle school. Uh, we are up

[1:48:00] slightly at the preschool this year, and

[1:48:02] that's great to see. That's partly due

[1:48:04] to the fact the preschool was able to

[1:48:06] offer extended day this year, and I

[1:48:07] think that has had a positive impact on

[1:48:09] our enrollment, uh, which is great. That

[1:48:11] is a, uh, tuitionbased program, too. So,

[1:48:14] there's a kind of revenue income. Uh the

[1:48:17] most interesting thing though is right

[1:48:18] here. So this is K to3 um has rebounded

[1:48:22] a little bit and what I would say is

[1:48:24] this is a thing to watch. Uh enrollment

[1:48:26] cycles in schools tend to go in about a

[1:48:28] 20-year arc. They go kind of up and down

[1:48:30] in waves. So uh and if you notice this

[1:48:32] has been down down down. Uh if this

[1:48:35] continues in next year to kind of keep

[1:48:38] on the upswing, I'd say we could

[1:48:39] probably expect there may be more of

[1:48:41] that to come. Um so and that will then

[1:48:44] wave out through the school levels just

[1:48:46] as the downward enrollment has trended

[1:48:48] through the school levels. Um um the

[1:48:52] good thing about keeping an eye on this

[1:48:54] is that it has implications for

[1:48:55] staffment. We just need to be really

[1:48:57] cautious about any staff reductions

[1:48:58] because we don't want to reduce and then

[1:49:00] have to add back next year. Uh it just

[1:49:02] creates churn.

[1:49:05] Um we've talked about this before but I

[1:49:08] think one of the big drivers in our

[1:49:09] budget is special education. Uh it's an

[1:49:11] important investment and really uh

[1:49:13] creates programming that's strong and

[1:49:15] supportive for our students. It's a

[1:49:16] responsibility I take very seriously. Um

[1:49:19] the costs for our outofd district

[1:49:21] placement have skyrocketed in the past

[1:49:23] few years. So um as you're aware, we

[1:49:25] have a handful of students in the

[1:49:26] district um whose needs can't be met

[1:49:28] here in the in the district. We do a lot

[1:49:30] to try and build programming to keep

[1:49:32] kids here. Uh but in some cases, their

[1:49:35] needs uh are specialized and need to be

[1:49:37] met elsewhere. um when we send students

[1:49:41] out of district there are two types of

[1:49:43] schools collaboratives and private

[1:49:45] schools and you can see the cost per

[1:49:47] year per student are pretty incredible

[1:49:49] here. Um so collaboratives and these are

[1:49:52] updated costs this year are now running

[1:49:54] in the 70 to $80,000 range and these are

[1:49:57] sort of based on our numbers. Uh private

[1:49:59] day placement between 80 and 183,000 and

[1:50:02] then uh private residential trait

[1:50:05] placement is $300,000 and up. Um, as you

[1:50:09] know, we do get some partial

[1:50:11] reimbursement for this from the state

[1:50:12] for some of these services and tuitions.

[1:50:16] Uh, but it is partial and it comes the

[1:50:18] year after the expense. So, it's a very

[1:50:20] tricky thing to budget with that in

[1:50:22] mind. What I'm showing here is actual

[1:50:24] cost, not the cost after the application

[1:50:27] of uh circuit breaker because I think

[1:50:29] it's important to see the total cost

[1:50:30] escalation over time. Uh the good news

[1:50:33] is there is substantial advocacy going

[1:50:36] on at the state level not only for

[1:50:38] addressing circuit breaker which is that

[1:50:40] reimbursement program but also for um

[1:50:44] seeking more transparency from the

[1:50:46] private schools around cost escalation.

[1:50:50] Uh we've seen some schools apply for um

[1:50:54] tuition increases above and beyond what

[1:50:56] the state allows uh through um

[1:51:00] restructuring their programs. And

[1:51:02] there's a movement right now among the

[1:51:04] superintendent association to try and

[1:51:06] create some legislation to mandate uh

[1:51:09] much more transparency so that so that

[1:51:12] the communities have insight into what

[1:51:13] exactly is happening and is it serving

[1:51:15] the needs of students. Um these are our

[1:51:17] students. We take that very seriously.

[1:51:19] If these are necessary costs, so be it.

[1:51:22] If they are not, then people should

[1:51:24] know. Um I do feel like these are important

[1:51:29] numbers to share because they also

[1:51:31] indicate when we have invested really

[1:51:33] heavily in special education

[1:51:34] programming, in co-eing and in all the

[1:51:37] things that we do to support students

[1:51:39] here. It is an investment in keeping as

[1:51:42] many students in district as possible,

[1:51:43] which is the most cost-effective thing

[1:51:45] we can do. So, it's also just a

[1:51:48] wonderful thing to do.

[1:51:50] Um, out of district transportation

[1:51:53] continues to be another area that's

[1:51:55] really volatile. This is one of the

[1:51:56] hardest things for us to predict

[1:51:57] year-over-year. Um, these contracts are

[1:52:00] tricky and also um we don't always know

[1:52:04] uh we may have an idea that a student's

[1:52:06] going to be um heading toward a private

[1:52:09] placement, but we might not know where

[1:52:10] how far it is, what kind of

[1:52:12] transportation needs are going to be

[1:52:13] required. So that's so individually it

[1:52:15] adds up really quickly.

[1:52:17] >> Really quickly I have a quick question.

[1:52:19] Um can you remind me is the

[1:52:21] transportation cost also factored into

[1:52:23] for um circuit

[1:52:24] >> circuit breaker. It is reimburseable.

[1:52:26] We've over the past few years our our

[1:52:28] costs are high enough that we've applied

[1:52:31] our circuit breaker reimbursement

[1:52:33] primarily to tuition um because we have

[1:52:36] enough of it to you know eat up all the

[1:52:38] circuit breaker. Um, but we we have a a

[1:52:42] just incredible person who works for us,

[1:52:44] Lisa Ber, who works in this special

[1:52:46] education department, does our circuit

[1:52:48] breaker claiming, and she's excellent at

[1:52:49] it. It's a it's an important job in the

[1:52:52] district in terms of making sure we're

[1:52:54] getting as many of those dollars back as

[1:52:56] possible. Thank you.

[1:52:59] >> Um, our total transportation costs have

[1:53:02] really escalated too over the past

[1:53:03] several years. If you notice like what

[1:53:05] it looked like back in 22 um versus what

[1:53:08] it looks like uh this past year um it's incredible. Um and you know I I'm

[1:53:17] grateful right now we're in a contract

[1:53:19] that is stable because with fuel prices

[1:53:22] and everything else going on. It's nice

[1:53:24] to know it's going to be a controlled

[1:53:25] cost for this year and next. After next

[1:53:28] year we'll have to go out back out to

[1:53:30] bid. So um this will become another

[1:53:32] issue for us.

[1:53:34] Yes.

[1:53:35] >> Are we subject to escalation relative to

[1:53:37] fuel cost within the contract based on

[1:53:39] the fact that when it was bid it was

[1:53:41] probably three bucks a gallon and it's

[1:53:43] now six. So we have to adjust I think

[1:53:46] based on the cost of fuel.

[1:53:49] >> I didn't know that.

[1:53:49] >> Not so good. [laughter] But that's it.

[1:53:51] >> Thanks for telling me that.

[1:53:54] >> Um I was unaware of that until right

[1:53:56] now. Um yeah that's a bummer. Uh so

[1:53:59] [laughter]

[1:54:01] >> all right we'll get ready. Um I think uh

[1:54:04] and that may impact how we think about

[1:54:06] budgeting moving forward if things don't

[1:54:08] sort of stabilize in the next little

[1:54:09] bit. Uh we're going to hope for you know

[1:54:11] the end of you know we're going to hope

[1:54:14] for peace and lower prices and fuel for

[1:54:17] many reasons. Uh

[1:54:20] um so other kind of driver I wanted to

[1:54:25] talk about this year and I did not do

[1:54:27] this last year was really talk about

[1:54:28] student need and specifically three

[1:54:30] areas. I talked a little bit about this

[1:54:31] earlier, but um when we've gone through

[1:54:34] the budget process the last couple years

[1:54:36] and also in the strategic planning

[1:54:37] process, some things have emerged as

[1:54:39] areas that we really want to focus on as

[1:54:42] a district. Uh one is early support for

[1:54:44] our youngest learners. Um we are one of

[1:54:45] the few district that doesn't have ESP

[1:54:48] eSPs in all kindergarten classrooms. Um

[1:54:52] which is a pretty um wonderful support

[1:54:55] for kids as they make that transition

[1:54:56] from preschool into kindergarten. And

[1:54:59] because we're seeing kids have a harder

[1:55:01] time with that transition in general, we

[1:55:03] think that's a worthwhile investment

[1:55:04] that we're going to be looking to

[1:55:05] pursue. Um whether we do it all at once

[1:55:08] or we do it in phases, it's definitely

[1:55:10] going to be on our list of things to

[1:55:12] look for. Additionally, we had talked

[1:55:14] last year a little bit about

[1:55:15] transitioning from um math tutors to

[1:55:18] math specialists in the early grades.

[1:55:20] really bolstering up our our work

[1:55:22] supporting math instruction in K to3 and

[1:55:24] building that really strong foundation

[1:55:26] together with the literacy initiative

[1:55:28] which is uh even above and beyond the

[1:55:30] grant going to cost us something to

[1:55:32] implement. So we're kind of keeping an

[1:55:34] eye on all that early support work.

[1:55:36] Wraparound partnerships is this idea of

[1:55:39] looking to build structures and services

[1:55:41] that are going to help kids who need um

[1:55:45] kids and families really who need um

[1:55:47] more extensive support than what is sort

[1:55:50] of typically provided through the

[1:55:52] school. So, uh, if students are are

[1:55:55] coming to us with, um, learning needs

[1:55:58] and a trauma background, for example,

[1:56:00] and, um, in their family, they've had a

[1:56:02] hard time accessing mental health

[1:56:04] supports and services, that really

[1:56:06] impacts a student's success in school.

[1:56:09] And if we aren't able to kind of help

[1:56:11] connect that student to to the support

[1:56:13] they need, it's going to undermine their

[1:56:16] uh, attendance and probably their

[1:56:18] long-term um, capacity to achieve in

[1:56:20] school. So, we're looking at how do we

[1:56:22] build some structures. We've kind of

[1:56:24] been handling this on a um case-byase

[1:56:27] basis, really trying to um wrap around

[1:56:30] arms around kids and families and and

[1:56:32] help them, but we need to take a more

[1:56:34] systems approach to it and build in some

[1:56:38] um kind of consistent structures so that

[1:56:42] uh we're not always solving the same

[1:56:45] problem over and over again in a

[1:56:46] different space. Um that's part of the

[1:56:48] work that Kim Tinen will be engaging in

[1:56:51] this year and leading and along with

[1:56:53] that chronic absenteeism and those two

[1:56:55] kind of go hand inand because sometimes

[1:56:56] these things run parallel. Um you know

[1:56:59] students are who are coming with a lot

[1:57:01] of complicated needs. Um sometimes

[1:57:03] school avoidance is in the mix with

[1:57:04] those needs as well. So um all of these

[1:57:07] things we're looking to address and we

[1:57:09] anticipate there'll be some cost to

[1:57:11] doing this and doing it well.

[1:57:15] uh state mandates. You know, we've

[1:57:16] talked about the early uh literacy

[1:57:18] legislation. Uh we've talked about the

[1:57:20] bill to bill cell phone fan. We ban we

[1:57:22] uh were very grateful for Senators

[1:57:25] Moore's office for earmark funding that

[1:57:27] came through. Yay. Uh which helped

[1:57:29] offset the cost of the uh initial

[1:57:31] investment in yonder pouches. And uh in

[1:57:34] order to make sure we maintain that

[1:57:35] program, we are going to need to add in

[1:57:38] uh some amount to the budget. It's not a

[1:57:40] huge amount, but we want to make sure

[1:57:41] we're able to have that stable for at

[1:57:43] least the next few years. Um, you know,

[1:57:45] it's possible in the long run there'll

[1:57:47] be a different solution that's a cheaper

[1:57:49] solution, but for now the pouches seem

[1:57:51] to be the thing that people are saying

[1:57:53] works best.

[1:57:54] Um, there are these new high school

[1:57:56] graduation requirements. We want to be

[1:57:58] thoughtful about potential costs

[1:58:00] associated with those, especially as we

[1:58:02] see sort of the myap development. At the

[1:58:05] end point of that, we're looking to add

[1:58:07] uh things like more robust internships

[1:58:09] and kind of career coaching kinds of

[1:58:13] opportunities and that may take some

[1:58:15] staffing changes. Um so we want to think

[1:58:17] about that and then again this diversity

[1:58:19] team that we're looking to put together.

[1:58:21] Um you know this year we are going to

[1:58:24] try and find ways to do it on a

[1:58:25] volunteer and um some like PDP credits

[1:58:28] and and things like that. going forward,

[1:58:30] we'll be looking to create stipens so

[1:58:32] that those positions are really stable

[1:58:34] and people are compensated for their

[1:58:36] time and effort. [snorts]

[1:58:39] Um, I will also provide people with a

[1:58:41] snapshot of our federal grant funding.

[1:58:43] Um, I've done this the last couple

[1:58:44] years. You know, I I put it here just to

[1:58:47] say that this is a pot of money that's

[1:58:49] been relatively reliable. And yet, over

[1:58:52] the last few years, it hasn't felt like

[1:58:55] um we could 100% rely on on on this from

[1:58:59] the federal government. Um and in

[1:59:01] particular, the the highlighted ones

[1:59:04] here, the pink ones are the ones we feel

[1:59:06] are the most vulnerable. Now, I've said

[1:59:08] this and it it keeps showing up, so

[1:59:10] we're grateful for this so far, but I

[1:59:12] don't, you know, I don't know what will

[1:59:14] happen in the future. So, as we budget,

[1:59:17] we really need to think about um what

[1:59:20] would happen if this pot of money

[1:59:22] disappeared and how we would backfill

[1:59:23] for it.

[1:59:25] Um, finally, kind of looking at

[1:59:29] what the year-over-year cost increases

[1:59:32] have been, you know, we have been able

[1:59:34] the past two years to sort of start to

[1:59:36] bring the overall percentage increase

[1:59:38] down, and I'm I'm proud of that work. I

[1:59:40] think um, Anita and the business office

[1:59:42] have done an incredible job. We've also

[1:59:44] really asked the leadership team to kind

[1:59:46] of look at reallocation and reduction

[1:59:49] where that was responsible. Um, I don't

[1:59:53] know that we're going to be in that

[1:59:54] position this year. I think it's um, you

[1:59:56] know, we'll do our best to to bring a

[1:59:58] number that is reasonable to the

[2:00:00] community and that can get passed. At

[2:00:02] the same time, I think if there are

[2:00:04] savings that we realize from decreasing

[2:00:07] enrollment, we may need to reinvest them

[2:00:10] in those things that support our student

[2:00:12] needs. So, that's really going to be my

[2:00:14] main focus in talking to folks tomorrow.

[2:00:17] um you know, we have these things that

[2:00:19] have changed over the last few years in

[2:00:21] terms of kids school readiness, in terms

[2:00:23] of the need for additional supports for

[2:00:25] students at all levels and um we have a

[2:00:29] responsibility to do what's right for

[2:00:30] kids and I want to make sure we're we're

[2:00:32] putting that in the mix. So um that is a snapshot. If you have

[2:00:38] feedback, you can either share it now,

[2:00:40] send it to me in an email, but I will

[2:00:41] see you hopefully there tomorrow night,

[2:00:43] too. And I I got some nice feedback. The

[2:00:46] uh uh AFC leazison had a few

[2:00:49] recommendations. I did not have time to

[2:00:50] implement them because they came at me

[2:00:52] at 3:00 today. Uh but I'll be working on

[2:00:54] that tomorrow to kind of put up a little

[2:00:56] more emphasis on a few of these things.

[2:00:59] >> Thank you, Allison. Um since we are 20

[2:01:02] minutes behind schedule, I would uh ask

[2:01:04] that we limit our questions to maybe one

[2:01:07] or two. I already asked my questions

[2:01:08] earlier during the presentation to AFC.

[2:01:11] So um um I'll let you Steve start.

[2:01:14] >> Yeah, I don't have any real questions

[2:01:15] about it. I I think it's it's um you

[2:01:18] know the full presentation that will be

[2:01:20] presented tomorrow night. I think it's

[2:01:21] very good. I think it's an eyeopener for

[2:01:25] the team teams AFC boris selectman and

[2:01:29] ourselves. Um and I I think it's a fair

[2:01:33] place to start. Obviously we're going to

[2:01:35] have comments

[2:01:36] u but um I think it's well done. Thank

[2:01:39] you.

[2:01:39] >> Thank you.

[2:01:41] Jane.

[2:01:43] >> Yep. Thank you. I agree. It's great.

[2:01:45] Very clear. Um, and one thing that I

[2:01:49] think I'm sure you'll emphasize is that

[2:01:51] these investments that you're you're um

[2:01:55] wanting to make in our students,

[2:01:57] especially the early grades, really do

[2:02:00] bear fruit down the road in probably

[2:02:04] lower special education um uh costs and

[2:02:08] just, you know, in in addition to

[2:02:11] improved probably educational outcomes.

[2:02:13] If we're talking about the money of it,

[2:02:15] you know, if we intervene early, we know

[2:02:18] that the students need less support

[2:02:20] later.

[2:02:20] >> Absolutely. I think their experience is

[2:02:22] better, too. I mean, I think that just

[2:02:24] and it all kind of goes together often.

[2:02:26] When kids are engaged and they feel

[2:02:27] successful, everything just goes better.

[2:02:31] >> Thank you, Tim.

[2:02:33] >> Thank you for the presentation. Um, just

[2:02:35] one quick question regarding the

[2:02:36] enrollments. Um, I know that you said

[2:02:38] that uh typically like you see kind of

[2:02:40] 20-year trends and I'm curious like is

[2:02:41] that within schools? Is that like within

[2:02:43] the state? Like I'm just curious if you

[2:02:44] could expand on that a little bit.

[2:02:46] >> It's interesting. I got that um so

[2:02:47] NASDAQ that does these enrollment

[2:02:49] projections has just sort of said that

[2:02:51] and I it seems to be true broadly with

[2:02:53] looking at the data here, looking at

[2:02:55] data from other places, it kind of waves

[2:02:57] um like this and I'm not sure why. Um um

[2:03:00] I don't know if it's true in all

[2:03:01] districts. Um it may be in certain types of districts. I've only worked in

[2:03:05] districts sort of similar to to

[2:03:06] Westboro. So um I c I couldn't speak for

[2:03:09] the urbans. Um that's a different ball of wax. time.

[2:03:12] >> Yeah.

[2:03:13] >> Thank you.

[2:03:14] sir.

[2:03:15] >> I don't have any questions. The

[2:03:16] presentation is very thorough. Thank

[2:03:17] you.

[2:03:18] >> Thanks.

[2:03:19] >> No questions. Thank you.

[2:03:20] >> Thank you.

[2:03:21] very much. And can move on to

[2:03:25] the next item, which is uh student

[2:03:27] activities account approval.

[2:03:30] >> So, this is something that we ask school

[2:03:32] committee to do um annually. Um you have

[2:03:36] to approve all of the student activity

[2:03:38] accounts. There's one located at each

[2:03:40] school. Um if you see on the paper um

[2:03:44] you can see what the ending balance was

[2:03:46] um for FY26. I'll add that these um

[2:03:49] these balances are for the checking

[2:03:51] account. Each [snorts] checking account

[2:03:53] has a companion money market account and

[2:03:56] that account earns interest.

[2:04:01] » Thank you. And since this is our uh our

[2:04:03] first um discussion item under under new

[2:04:07] business, I think we just we can just

[2:04:08] move on uh to that point.

[2:04:11] And do I have a motion before we start a

[2:04:14] discussion to vote to approve the

[2:04:16] student activities account?

[2:04:18] >> So move.

[2:04:19] >> Is there a second?

[2:04:20] >> Second.

[2:04:21] >> Is there discussion?

[2:04:25] >> No. Thank you. All those in favor?

[2:04:28] >> I.

[2:04:28] >> Okay. 500. The motion passes.

[2:04:32] Thank you. Uh

[2:04:35] our next action item today out of three

[2:04:39] is uh vote to approve SRO agreement.

[2:04:43] >> Yeah, just in brief, this is just the

[2:04:45] agreement that we make with the um town

[2:04:48] to um have our uh SRO who serves really

[2:04:52] as the point person uh in a kind of

[2:04:55] communication link between the police

[2:04:56] department and the schools. Um and uh

[2:04:59] working with Detective Delight has been

[2:05:01] great. His office is directly below mine

[2:05:03] and in in his words, all I need to do is

[2:05:05] like stomp on the floor and he'll come

[2:05:06] right up. And um I'd say Chip has been

[2:05:10] really critical in a number of things.

[2:05:11] One is some training and outreach for

[2:05:13] staff and leadership around safety

[2:05:15] protocols, but also whenever there's

[2:05:17] anything happening in town, he's able to

[2:05:19] communicate back to us so we know what's

[2:05:21] going on. If there's a major issue or

[2:05:23] accident or something like that, he's in

[2:05:25] touch with our school principles, our

[2:05:26] bus coordinator. um you know he has you

[2:05:30] know he's boots on the ground he's at

[2:05:31] the schools kind of getting to know

[2:05:32] students seeing what things are like and

[2:05:35] really with that eye for safety and it's

[2:05:37] a it's a bargain we pay the town exactly

[2:05:40] $1 a year for um having him uh part of

[2:05:43] our school community and I'm grateful

[2:05:45] for that this goes alongside the um uhou

[2:05:49] and that's actually signed by the the

[2:05:50] chief of police and the superintendent

[2:05:52] but that's sort of our how we

[2:05:54] communicate between departments which is

[2:05:56] regulated through the date. So, um, but

[2:05:58] this is a kind of companion document

[2:06:00] that the school committee signs.

[2:06:02] >> Thank you. Do I have a motion to vote to

[2:06:04] approve uh student activities? I'm

[2:06:07] sorry. Want to approve the SRO

[2:06:08] agreement?

[2:06:09] >> So, move.

[2:06:10] >> Is there a second?

[2:06:11] >> A second.

[2:06:12] >> Um, I'd like to just ask one question.

[2:06:14] Does this contract

[2:06:17] um agreement rather differs in any way

[2:06:20] from the previous uh version of this?

[2:06:22] >> Nope.

[2:06:24] >> Uh, is there any discussion? Yes, Gary,

[2:06:27] >> just a quick question. Is I know we were

[2:06:29] discussing the protect Act um last

[2:06:31] meeting. Is theou publicly available or

[2:06:33] is that kept private?

[2:06:34] >> That can be public. I mean, it's should

[2:06:35] be part of public record. So, I'm happy

[2:06:37] to share that and we can post it

[2:06:39] anywhere. It probably needs to be posted

[2:06:41] somewhere. So, I'll make sure it's out

[2:06:42] there.

[2:06:43] >> Thank you.

[2:06:43] >> You're welcome.

[2:06:45] >> Okay. Uh we'll proceed to the vote. All

[2:06:48] those in favor?

[2:06:50] >> I I 500. The motion passes. Thank you.

[2:06:54] And we have one more agenda item action

[2:06:57] item in our discussion uh section which

[2:07:00] is vote to approve donation from Eel

[2:07:04] Harvey.

[2:07:05] >> Want to show a photo of the guys who

[2:07:07] came to donate this. Um this is a

[2:07:08] wonderful donation. Um and this is above

[2:07:11] and beyond. I know the youth and family

[2:07:12] services does outreach in a backpack

[2:07:14] drive which is fantastic. And then on

[2:07:16] top of that Yale Harvey sort of swooped

[2:07:18] in and donated 75 backpacks filled with

[2:07:21] school supplies. So 25 at Mil Pond, 25

[2:07:24] at the middle school, 25 at the high

[2:07:26] school. And I can tell you this is it's

[2:07:29] just such an incredible thing to have

[2:07:31] this. They're brand new. They're totally

[2:07:33] stocked. So when whenever we have uh

[2:07:35] even if we don't use them all at the

[2:07:36] start of the year, we have them. So if a

[2:07:38] new family moves into town, we've got

[2:07:39] them right at the h at the ready. Um so

[2:07:42] we're really grateful to Harvey for

[2:07:44] their donation. It's worth a little over

[2:07:46] $4,000. So, it's nice and uh had some

[2:07:50] help from our facilities department like

[2:07:52] moving these uh around wherever they

[2:07:54] needed to go. So, thank you to them,

[2:07:55] too.

[2:07:57] >> Thank you. I'd like to say, you know,

[2:07:58] this is first of all, thank you uh to EA

[2:08:01] Harvey for this generous donation. you

[2:08:03] know, we we receive them every once in a

[2:08:05] while and and I was wondering if do we

[2:08:08] have any kind of recognition wall or

[2:08:10] some website or something where we can,

[2:08:12] you know, list all the different people

[2:08:14] that are so generous over the years and contribute to our to our schools. I

[2:08:17] think I don't know if we have something

[2:08:19] like that in place or not.

[2:08:20] >> It' be nice. Yeah, it'd be neat on the

[2:08:23] almost like on a website like a photo

[2:08:24] thing or something. It' be great. Uh so

[2:08:26] it's out there too. But um I love that

[2:08:28] idea. Thank you.

[2:08:30] >> Thank you. Okay. Do I have a motion to

[2:08:34] approve donation from Eel Harvey?

[2:08:36] >> I move that we accept the donation from

[2:08:38] Eel Harvey with appreciation.

[2:08:43] >> Second.

[2:08:44] >> Thank you. Any discussion?

[2:08:47] All those in favor?

[2:08:49] >> I 500. The motion passes and thank you

[2:08:53] again to Y Harvey.

[2:08:56] Okay. U we're going to proceed to school

[2:09:00] committee reports. Steve,

[2:09:02] >> none.

[2:09:03] >> Jane,

[2:09:04] >> nothing to report.

[2:09:06] >> Tim,

[2:09:07] >> nothing to report. Jane,

[2:09:09] >> just there.

[2:09:10] >> Nothing to report.

[2:09:11] >> I'm sorry. And same for me. Nothing to

[2:09:14] report. Uh, this means we're moving on

[2:09:17] to the next item, which is the consent

[2:09:20] agenda. And

[2:09:23] do I have a motion to approve the

[2:09:25] minutes from meetings on August 31st,

[2:09:29] September 4th, and September 9th?

[2:09:31] >> I move that we accept the minutes of

[2:09:33] August 31st,

[2:09:36] uh, September the 4th, and minutes of

[2:09:40] the 9th of September as well as written.

[2:09:43] >> Is there a second?

[2:09:45] >> I'll second.

[2:09:48] >> Okay. Uh, we'll proceed to the vote. All

[2:09:50] those in favor?

[2:09:51] >> I I 500. Motion passes. Thank you. Do I

[2:09:56] have a motion to adjurnn?

[2:09:58] >> I move that we adjourn the meeting.

[2:10:00] >> We have a mover today. Do I have a

[2:10:02] second?

[2:10:02] >> Second.

[2:10:04] >> Uh all those in favor.

[2:10:06] >> I 500. The meeting is adjourned. Thank

[2:10:09] you very much. And we are ending three

[2:10:11] minutes before the schedule time.

Westborough School Committee Meeting - September 23, 2026

Transcript