[Music] good evening everyone uh today is Tuesday March 12th and the time is 6:40 p.m. and I'd like to call this meeting to order first up on our agenda is the consent agenda first item is the minutes from February 27th has everyone had a chance to review the minutes mhm great um if there are no questions or comments I'll take the motion I'll make the motion to approve the minutes from February 27th 2024 can I have a second please second all those in favor I okay next is warrants uh 4654 and 55 which we've sent around for signatures any questions or comments on any of those all right hearing none I'll take the motion I'll make a motion to approve Lawrence 4654 and 55 can I have a second I'll second all those in favor all right next we have visitors comments any citizen wishing to speak before the committee must sign in with the administrative assistant prior to the opening of the regular session of the school committee the visitor will identify themselves by name and address and shall speak for no longer than 3 minutes for anyone unable to sign in ahead of time we ask that you clearly state your name and address so that this information can be included in the record for the meeting do we have any visitors you do so I think um I'd like to request to potentially suspend some of the um rules around the visitors comments the GAA as I I shared with you all last week had some questions and I think comments that they'd like to share regarding the 2425 calendar vote um so if you would all entertain that I think the ga executive board would like to speak can I have a motion you have a motion to suspend the rules to allow them to speak now any discussion hearing none uh can I have a second I'll second all those in favor hi hi who's going to come forward or multiple canas [Music] yeah hi good evening I'm Kristen nager I'm the secretary of the gry Educators Association and I'm Michelle tisdell I'm the vice president of the GAA [Music] okay um just to clarify on January 23rd during our bimonthly superintendent meeting Steven shared with the board two different draft calendars we discussed them and then agreed to present them to the membership which includes administrative assistance PA professionals and teachers membership put serious thought and consideration into both calendars and what they thought would be in the best interest of the students after watching the video of the discussion about the calendar membership brought it to the board's attention that the school committee had questions and concerns regarding the final membership vote Miss baros when you brought up changes being made to either of the calendars the membership had the same questions regarding a few of those dates that we currently have no school such as the Friday before Labor Day the full day before Thanksgiving and Good Friday um through conversations with some of our members it was brought to the board's attention that it had been that if they had been asked that membership would have been agreeable to voting on some of the changes to these days off such as the Friday before Labor Day the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Good Friday those changes could have potentially opened up three additional days so that the calendar could have been more flexible the membership feels that it was unfortunate that it wasn't tabled for further discussion prior to the vote it was stated during the meeting that it had to be voted on that evening was there a reason behind having to vote that night oh I why don't you finish and we'll come back uh unless do we want to have discussion I think maybe finish the whole statement we'll address all the questions all right you want us to go through the whole two pages yep and then we'll come back okay sure okay um membership also understands that um any potential snow days would have affected the calendar by adding additional days to the back end of the year and membership was also informed and reminded about the juneth that could P could potentially affect the end of the school [Music] year oh that's you it's me again okay it's me again miss P here you had mentioned the concern with teachers having to return earlier than the first day of to set up their classrooms and you had mentioned it being about a week which is a valid point because um setting up our classrooms in elementary school especially starts about August 1st um once PD starts there's no time for the classrooms to be set up um we are given at most an hour to work on our own during our PDS and that time's usually spent collaborating with our coach co-workers and discussing students and curriculum so our two days for PD are scheduled um by the district and they're taken up with um mandatory professional development meetings Etc it's me again I have a lot to say sorry about that there's a lot of K she's the one that de the initials by the way I didn't do this she did it yes I did all right Mr Durham had mentioned that in the best interest of the students and continuity with their learning the four consecutive days to start would be more beneficial rather than just two days it's important to note that the students especially at the elementary school level have a much easier adjustment back to full days of school after summer break if they return gradually that time it'll the classrooms to establish their routines as well as for the teacher to build um a classroom climate for successful school year oh it's me again sorry I was going to keep going Mr dur also mentioned his P his perception that the later start date was teachers trying to extend their summer vacation that was never a consideration of our membership since we are required to work the same amount of days a year as determined by this the desie as well any days off from school be it holidays snow days Etc are unpaid days for staff whether they're a teacher a parah or um an administrative assistant we are only paid for 183 days that we are contracted to work it's also important to know that many of our peras um administrative assistant and even some of our teachers hold two and three jobs when we're not required to be here at school prior to the vote Miss Bartos made a comment expressing that she had lots of thoughts none of which are appropriate to be speaking right now the membership is genuinely curious about the con context of that statement and would appreciate any clarification that you could provide [Music] in the future is the school committee amendable to the board and or its membership being brought into the conversation to discuss any questions that you may need clarify before your final vote on The Following Year's calendar we do have some members here tonight excuse me and we also have several responses regarding questions the school committee discussed in the last meeting the membership does understand that it will not affect this year's vote but the board would like to share with you their Anonymous responses so you have some insight into their reasoning finish it sure we appreciate that you took the time to have a thoughtful conversation regarding the school calendar at your last meeting as well as your time this evening the GAA and its membership hope that we can continue to have a collaborative relationship going forward thank you thank you okay um thanks for coming appreciate it thank you um so I don't remember saying that we had to vote but we had had we had had it on about three I two or three agendas so we were trying to just finalize it because we did feel like we were a little bit later getting the calendar out than we had been in the past so um we wanted to try to get that so I don't I truly don't remember the context I would have to go back and um and watch [Music] um for one of your other comments talking about um collaboration we've invited a Jeep or an and asked for a GAA representative to come and be a part of those meetings and that's what I had always intended and what I had known since being on the school committee um previously Robin Lam morar would come um for several meetings Cheryl um dette did come for several meetings and then stopped coming because she had said that she didn't feel necessarily comfortable unless there was something particular m is that how you remember it yeah so um but that was what our Envision was so the the agendas are posted you're listed on almost every agenda as a GAA representative so we would love to have representation to come and be a part of that um we used to vote to allow Robin to speak quite often and she would bring forth concerns as the representative attending the school committee meetings and that's what I've envisioned so we'd love to have you um or somebody come may I reply to that please of course okay so yes Robin did do that um at that time there was less collaboration with the superintendent now we meet by weekly with Stephen and we're able to take care of many things um behind scenes so um some of those things don't necessarily need to be brought forth um in this kind of a a setting the other thing is too is that there were many times even when I was President um that the school committee doesn't have questions or have anything on their agenda that would require information from um the perspective of the teachers the parents or the administrative assistants so it does make for an extremely long day so like I've been here since 7 and you know and then going home it's another 45 minutes so we try to take turns because at one time it was always Cheryl but it can't always be that way but if we knew ahead of time like even a week ahead of time that there was something in particular that you felt you might need feedback on we'd be happy to be here and I I'm not trying to be Flip or difficult but the agendas are posted so if there's something that you feel that you see that's on there that would need input then you're welcome um welcome to come cuz I we don't always know how the conversations are going to go right so it's you know um I I don't know how to answer answer that necessarily but the agendas are posted 48 hours in advance um if you have questions on the agenda but if there's something in particular you know we've had Stephen has reached out you know we we've done that but we're going to be in a different situation we're going to have a new superintendent um going forward at some point and so we're going to have the the relationship is going to be different right we're going to have somebody that's new to new to the district coming in so we are going to have to come forward a lot a lot more we're not going to be able to sit idly by necessarily and wait for you know we're going to have to to do that um collaboration ourselves I I agree with you so when we are in that situation we will definitely um you know look at that a little bit differently because we're all going to be learning somebody new absolutely yes I thank you and for the one where I had a lot of thoughts that weren't appropriate it was just really rapid fire questions for the Comm for our committee like why do we always seem to get ourselves tangled up into these things you know um maybe the the calendar is the school committee view are we doing ourselves a disservice because we're never going to be able to make everybody happy this the um membership vote was 46 to 40 it's not even I don't think fully representative of the entire membership so you know we're putting ourselves out we spent almost 40 minutes discussing that and we ended up really it wasn't even a unanimous vote right so there was still we could have probably talked for another 3 hours and still had people unhappy with us so that's just my ation level like I could sit here and just expound on that but it's not really appropriate it's a waste of time gotcha right because at some point we need to make a decision and we have to be comfortable with that and we did I think I even said on that we don't have to be unanimous in this vote but we have to make it have to make a vote so I AP I you know I don't even feel like I need to apologize but it's what I do so you know I apologize if that kind if there was seemed like there was something untour or anything about that it was just you know how do we get get through this because I knew sitting there that night and I think I said it that we're going to have a that we're going to have people unhappy and you know and we do so I I get that so you have to understand too the executive board which is our Treasurer who isn't here tonight um our president the vice president and myself the secretary we are actually a 50/50 vote so for um I mean for myself you know I voted differently but um just because of the majority um staff felt that it was important to just um give you the answers that you might have been looking for last week even though we know that it's not going to change anything moving forward just wanted to know you know let you guys inform you of what their thought processes were any questions or comments no I appreciate the dialogue I think you know just in kind of with every statement or consideration there can be different perspectives and if we have that two-way communication kind of opened up where you know people are taking a look at the agendas ahead of time and potentially coming on their own or we may foresee something that we'd like to have some additional information on I think that's important to kind of think about going forward agreed yeah it would be great you're always welcome here and uh for the last meeting would have been beneficial had somebody been been here to interject those thoughts I know would then it would have it would have been also good just to table it and just have us come in we would have been happy to I mean I know that you know you said that you were under you felt like you needed to do it because you were already later so I get it and just even taking this into consideration again not being Flip or anything um coming here it's still a pretty close vote right 4640 and we could go I I I feel bad that people are unhappy but I'm comfortable with my vote to do that and I don't know that a lot more necessarily discussion would have necessarily changed how I voted based on the on the two options so um just to shed some light on the way people feel it wasn't so much which calendar at the end of the day we work anyway so it's whichever calendar gets picked um people felt a little disrespected because and yes not a lot of people responded but those that did took the time to be thoughtful we spent a lot of time with Steph discussing all of these different dates like we went back and forth um about it so there was thought put into it and to take the time to do that and then not even really have our thoughts considered and so I guess some people are feeling like wh why even bother like our opinion didn't matter we're the ones that we are we right not me we um are the ones that are here yes thank you I'm new at this the membership are the ones that are in the building doing the work um and that includes Administrative Assistant par professionals and teachers most of the vote was par professionals um but they just you know the members ship just kind of feels like they weren't heard like it shouldn't matter that it was 40 to 46 just as your vote was close our vote was close but so I so taking that I don't understand why people don't think that their thoughts were being concern uh considered we had lengthy discussion about it for however many minutes it was it was the longest agenda item that we spoke about on there and there was a lot of ful consideration a lot of good dialogue a lot of questions that we had that we were answering you know going through answering with input from Steven who was your liaison so I respect respectfully don't understand why they don't feel heard because there was a lot of and it wasn't a unanimous vote so things are being considered I think that some of our membership may not agree with your thinking that your conversations were thoughtful a lot lot of it seemed like we were derogatory we were extending a vac that was never a consideration of anyone's ever we they had some for that's not true I'm sure there are some staff that were like you know I want to go on vacation so I want to start later right there's always um some one-offs but the majority of Staff it had nothing to do with extra vacation or wanting the summer off or not caring about the student students we wouldn't be here if we didn't care so I think some staff members really just felt like they were were being slapped in the face with disrespect we get the membership gets enough disrespect in not in this community no no no I'm not saying from you guys I'm saying collectively our profession Prof has in the past not gotten the most respect and I'm not saying that's anyone here I'm not you're making I'm not saying that's anyone here but just out there in the world during Co you guys all are aware of how hard we worked all of us had to work hard to get through all of that but I just think you know people just felt like some of the comments were were a little disrespectful um just like you want us here you're welcome to come and visit my classroom anytime and spend the day to really get a a fair picture of what it's like um so I I think some of the membership felt like they just they weren't heard like why did we bother voting if we honestly didn't feel like it was going to even be an issue I guess I don't know how else to explain it do you know what I mean yeah absolutely yeah so I'm going to take an opportunity to jump in um I've talked to Michelle and Kristen about the schedule more times than we could probably count and we went through a lot of the same exercises that people went through when probably considering their own vote I think couple things that I can own and some feedback that we talked about a week or two ago um I think we were pretty clear in our conversations that any vote would be advisory or recommendation it was still the purview of the school committee to vote on the calendar absolutely I think we both missed on that that email that was sent to staff to really be explicit about there was some staff that interpreted it incorrectly so I think like in that way an opportunity to learn from it in the past the three calendars prior to this one that I've been a part of the process has been more like here's a couple calendars give me your thoughts the actually the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was a day that was taken off the calendar at a recommendation or a suggestion from the GAA um so we have considered it and Michelle and Kristen will tell you we looked at a hundred different ways in the three days that they mentioned are only three of the days that could have been played with there are other days that certainly could have been played with but 180 or 183 days is 180 or 183 days and I think I had some concerns about this going out to a vote because of some of this because a hundred I said the three of us or four of us at one point having these conversations we we couldn't even land on like the same one and not because it wasn't contentious or anything but there's just a million different factors and sure I will say extending the vacation was not a primary factor in any of our conversations and I apologize to the membership or to the committee if it was if people thought that if that was a perception that was certainly not the perception I was trying to make and I don't think the committee but I certainly understand how it could have been perceived that way after but I don't think there was any ill will around that um um but I think that's one of the places maybe where I missed or we missed to say like maybe we should have crafted that email together and been really clear about that this is advisory this is a recommendation to the committee um yes new staff had a hard time wrapping around that and that was an error on my part as the secretary um and being you know an old member of the school it wasn't something I was thinking of and we did have a few new members that we're like but that's the calendar and I'm like we just have a say like we just are recommending like this is what we chose so yes that was totally my bad and I think the other place I missed was saying this is on the agenda two weeks ago maybe we should have a representative from the GAA there because I do think I have I think a really good relationship with the GAA and I feel like there are some things that when the committee ask I feel comfortable speaking to and I don't think I'm speaking out of turn and I think in this instance I did not intend to speak out of turn but the comments that I may have made were probably more connected to a a small number of individuals not the membership as a whole and I was relaying some of our conversations and I think that probably didn't provide the committee the information they needed and then kind of reflecting back was like I don't want it to seem like I'm the voice piece of the G and I don't think anyone thought that but um like so those are just a couple of things that I've reflected on that I think could have done better on so I can certainly own those pieces um and I think the process probably just needs to be a little more clear I think the fact that we got to two calendars was progress cuz I think at one point we were looking at three or four different calendars and we like how do we put these out to a vote um and then um so I think some of those things are just opportunities to be in a better place but um I appreciate what Michelle said specifically earlier that like the days are the days and the teachers are here and the staff is here and the staff are committed and um I certainly recognize that and know that that's what's most important and be it a Tuesday Wednesday or Thursday Friday in August really makes no difference to the staff but I recognize why they want their voice to be heard and um you know I think we certainly tried to do that in this process um but I recognize why some people don't feel like their voice was heard well it's definitely difficult with so many people involved that makes it a million times harder and we do the board and I think most of the membership do appreciate the opportunity to even have two calendars to look at and you know vote on so I don't want you to think that we weren't grateful for that opportunity we definitely were um it was nice to be part of the conversation ahead of time you know as you were um stepping into the time of picking a calendar yourselves yeah I think we thought like we were going to figure it out like we're going to break it up in a way that everyone's going to like and I think that's situation 300 plus districts in Massachusetts and there's probably 300 plus different calendars sure yep so I just want to say one thing if I may I do want to apologize if anything I said kind of rung in a disrespectful or dismissive tone cuz that was certainly not my intention in kind of talking about all of this um I certainly understand what it feels like to want to be heard and validated and you know the in in all the work you do and the time you put in and the effort in all those pieces um I do think it's just I'm still kind of hung on this one point and I feel it's kind of an interesting one in terms of the very staggered start of you know a two-day week versus like a 4day week into a 4 day week or two into a four you know depending on which calendar was voted on um because I think in my mind the intention was to provide the ability to have that time to establish those routines um and you're saying the same thing but in a different way agreed is so can I just speak to that as a classroom teacher um of younger children um and it may be different at the high school I can't speak for that I've never worked with kids those age that age um I don't think at the end of the day it matters all that much but it is difficult for students especially how they are now I don't know how else to say that without well times have changed since postco they experience transition the way that they handle those things is a lot different so there's a lot of that you know social emotional kind of a thing that comes into play more so than it's ever and so coming in for a couple of days giving them a couple of days to recuperate and us as well to be perfectly honest um it's a huge adjustment even if we're in here setting up our classrooms and getting ready for the school year it's a big adjustment when you physically have a class full of kids in front of you um and then the following week right it's after Labor Day so it's like four days which again is another great slow start it's not a full week and typically we're not getting into curriculum yet um so it's nice to have that broken up because four straight days of no curriculum can be difficult so you kind of have to find a balance because the kids may get bored and when they get bored it's not great um but then having so the two days having a few days off the four days having the weekend and then coming back and like we're hitting the ground running our first full week um because we have to like some of the high school teachers had mentioned that they're already behind in some of the curriculum just from any start at the beginning of the school year um but yeah we typically will get right into curriculum at that point because there's not enough days in the school year to get it all done the other thing too is that um you had mentioned about when you were talking about the calendar um if that Friday were a day of school um this could have been maybe a different conversation and we totally agree and that was something that we had um we had talked about we have discussed but that's we can't change that and so when the calendar was presented to us it it to us it's that day is going to stay so there wasn't that opportunity to pluck it out um many staff had mentioned that that would be a day you know and I do know that people were like well you know about attendance but for us the continuity we're here so if you know if people can be here and the students can be here cuz we're here um then it's great you know so anyway so that might be something to think about you know yeah I in the future yeah no not a [Music] problem anything else see behind you hi hi you want me to go over there yes please uh I forget the procedure State my name yeah your name is good just so everyone knows who you are Norman racing I teach next FL um we're all parents too most of us um a lot of my friends are going to have to make a choice in August whether they're dropping their kids off at college or they're coming here for PD if we start the 22nd and I want them to drop their kids off of college but I feel that's the right thing for a parent to be doing and my son's going to be a senior next year yeah uh and and I agree with that Norm if I can piggy tail off that because right now we do have an administrator who is willing this past year I dropped my son off at college and in our cont contract it reads that we cannot take any time off the first two weeks of school we need to be here for ourselves and for the children um Steph is um very thoughtful and considerate and he knew that he knows that there are certain things that um are necessary in our world too um so with Stephen here it's been great he's able to say yes I will allow that to be missed and with him leaving I don't know that the next person is going to be that amenable to giving people those types of exceptions and so I was never hear that we don't know anything about when the new person right right so I was never looking out for an extra long vacation or anything like that it was always a question of can I be here for work or do I need to be with my family and with the second is a start date it's pushing a lot of us against having to make that choice about here or home that's not an easy choice for any of us to make um so I mean I I think anytime we start school in August it doesn't matter cuz my senior that graduated from grany high last year and started school this year she didn't start until September 2 so so she was moving so anytime I have friends that they're dropping their kids off August 7th as late as September 5th so anytime we started oh absolutely you know and I think we as the school committee can certainly talk to whoever is in place for the next time because we've had we you know we sort of have precedent set for that to be able to make those kinds of accommodations and I think when we're talking about taking vacation clearly if someone's in the hospital sick it's not like you're going to get in trouble if there you know what I mean like I I think we can be reasonable about those things and if there's something that's clearly we're not asking you to choose school over your family dropping a child off for a monumented you may not be right but I don't know that other people aren't you may not be here for however however many terms like all of this to me is impermanent all of these people like I've been here for 24 years there have been so many other different people on the school committee you're my seventh super thanks wish you by last um I know so all of this is fine and I feel as though we can come to you and have an open conversation but that wasn't always the case for those of us that have been here a long time and it always has been a thing where I have felt much more comfortable if it's in writing I have felt much more comfortable if it's not just a handshake but if this is like no this is how it's going to get done you're abely right some people do go to school significantly later like September 5th that kind of thing um but the earlier in August to me ran into that College schedule a little more than say August 2 what did we come back this year the 26th the 28th whatever week wasth and 5th right yeah and it it looked as though so much more of the schedule was being backed up because of it um whether it's the new teachers starting on the 20th and then the potential for the middle school orientation or the stepup day whatever it is that they do in the summer for the junior he it's being up the 15ish can't remember the exact days um but those kinds of days were concerning um the other thing which I'm sure you've heard is the temperature next door um isn't great most of the time um because of the lack of air conditioning and the the heating system yes we get hotter days but it seems like the further into artist we go it's more likely to be an issue um the two or three days this year that were incredibly [Music] hot and I'm looking I'm looking at September 2026 if everybody's wondering we're in like two more years of this cycle where Labor Day is on the early end so Labor Day being like the 3rd the 2 the first is pushing it and then Monday September 7th 2026 is the other swing it swings it back where it probably feels more tenable for teachers because then we're saying even if you're back a week and a half you're looking at August 26 27 I think is what I'm here right like cuz the regular calendar is not stagnant but in some ways our calendar is stagnant because it's been predicated on that Labor Day date in some way I think is what I'm so I think what I'm getting from all of this is I appreciate you guys all coming tonight and talking about this clearly we already said that for future meetings and votes if there's something that we think that we need from you guys or that you could contribute to us that would be good the calendar I mean mental note regardless of what our thoughts are we're going to meet together despite however you know many meetings that you guys had collaboratively with Steven obviously it still did spark the amount of conversation we had and I do hope that through some of it though like Jen said I mean that was a I don't think any of us thought we were going to be talking about a calendar for 40 minutes um it was it was a long we were very much indifferent um we're up to another 40 minutes now this calendar but we I do hope and I you know heard especially saying I do hope people felt heard and validated and not slighted I hugely apologize if any of that came out I think that I know we certainly understand and appreciate all that you guys do and I think I tried to say that as much as I could well all of us did like I do think the route was there there was just so many questions I think going forward obviously we're going to all meet together but I do hope that as a whole and Reay watching that there you know is pieces as you know you guys were definitely considered by I think everyone here regardless of you know other comments at one point we all said multiple times like this is you know what we were here to do and Our intention was never I think to speak on anybody to disrespect or downplay any of you know our staff I think we try so hard to not do that so it like kills me that that was even you know brought up so I just my heart goes there but other than that I think at this point we have all of our notes we definitely will just uh Circle back a lot earlier because I think at this point at least for myself we did talk it to death and I think even if we did again I don't know it really would be any different and we weren't at and like right like we were just coming here just to share um voices um and not to ask for change or you know even think about that um we just wanted to make sure that um membership felt like we were sharing right no and I do that was more on my own saying that like um not on that but um just that regardless the fact that it was a 3 to2 there was obvious consideration I think we're on whichever Spectrum you were on there was consideration having a 3 to2 BT true so that's all I had but thank you I really appreciate you guys coming in and sharing your concerns I did look through the rest of your agenda and it does not appear that there's anything on there that would um need um information from the association I would say all except for superintendent search if there's needs to be someone um on we have to right that comes after for us but absolutely we would absolutely enjoy doing that and being a part of it well not enjoy well not enjoy it let's make him not want to leave sooner than he has to right exactly oh my goodness so thank you very much appreciate your time yes thank you have a good night thank you too okay any other visitor [Music] comments okay next up is um special education parents advisory Council [Music] CPAC hello hello hello um so we were going to try to make it to the last meeting but then my daughter got St so we're here today um I just wanted to quickly introduce the CPAC council's back up and running a little bit better this year than last year um actually our why don't you tell us who you are first okay I'm sorry um I'm uh Elizabeth uh Le or I like to be called L uh do you need my address too no no okay perfect um so we're trying to get the CPAC committee back up and running um as of right now we have our social emotional learning training happening on Zoom um we also have the new IEP form training coming out soon at the end of this month um and we do meet a little bit more regularly this year than we did last year I think I did two meetings last year um this time we've already had two more meetings we're trying to have one more meeting before the end of the school year we're also trying to put together a parent survey to get the word out a little bit more and so we thought would be a great idea for us to come and introduce ourselves again and say hi and that we're here and um we also have a page on Facebook that we try to like pump information out to folks so if anybody want to know more information to follow up with me on Facebook excellent yeah that's it any questions or comments no I appreciate wonderful thank you you being here and it's I think it's an important Bridge sometimes between caregivers families and school um to provide support for students so thank you and if you have anything that's going on if you want to pop in for visitors comment if you have a meeting coming in or coming up or whatever um for visitors comment you don't need to be on the agenda so you can just come in and say that you've got a meeting coming up we'd love to have the um collaboration or if there's something coming up where you think that you need um we'd love to have you you know sit and speak with us perfect and I've noticed lately um there's been we we have our weekly newsletters from the elementary school and the high school I've noticed the know cpac's on there but if you have anything additional obviously you know our emails but feel free any additional um information Flyers things like that so we can try to get it out there as well but that's I know I've noticed that's on every single one which is great to see yeah yeah we've been trying to do it a little bit more so good so the next one I will definitely uh CC you all next I just want to say too like for anybody watching um special education parents advisory Council this is a resource for any parent or family it doesn't have to be the parent of a student with an IEP or right sometimes you might have questions about your student or progress that they're making or or need resources or need resources and this is a place where you can go and have a conversation that's not on camera that is private that you can get some of those resources get maybe not always answers but pointed in the direction where you could find answers that you're looking for I think it's just um a valuable resource in any Community um and one that parents probably don't know enough about um to know that they can go and use it as that resource and I think Elle said at one of her early meetings when I was here she was like we've just been chatting me and this other parent for the last 20 and it's just been good to chat about their children and and what's happening in their class and just even outside of school type of things so it is a valuable and underutilized resource so um anybody watching who has questions can certainly reach out to my office either the schools um or check the newsletters definely said so thank you excellent thank you so much for coming in absolutely thank you all right uh next is uh school choice so there is a document in your folder for proposed school choice um in 2425 I did uh meet with the principals and Stacy last week um to go over recommendations um one thing I want to point out is on the right hand column the second box down that's what we're projecting for um Choice students who are coming into grandby graduating and then Choice students who are leaving Grand B and grany residents attending charter school so um doesn't probably seem like a whole lot but that's like a net positive of four students that we start with off the bat potentially this year if all goes well for those students and they stay un track to graduate so that's one of the things that we look at here um and then um we did not make any recommendation in kindergarten uh kindergarten registration was taking place last week uh we'll take a look at those and potentially bring something to our next meeting if there are spaces um I don't know if you want to go grade by grade I don't know if you want to take a vote to just say General we're going to participate in school choice first cuz that is a vote that should be made um well we can start at that one but then we I want to talk about this cuz these numbers are startling resident enrollment is scary to me um but why don't we first take a vote about um if we're going to um participate in school choice I'll make a motion to participate in school choice for school year 2425 can I have a second I'll second all those in favor okay the that the hard easy part is done easy hard part um now the seats so go ahead Stephen I didn't mean to interrup but um the resident enrollment is quite low with 548 yes so 548 is our basically we're that's total enrollment um that includes students who are currently registered for kindergarten so um if you add next year's kindergarten we're closer to 67 but um still fairly low I don't have it in front of me what it was last year at this time um and again the way that we want to use school choice is to fill classrooms not create new classrooms while also recognizing residents could move in or out at any time so kind of being thoughtful about um the number of seats that we open each grade was a little bit different based on configuration um we're projecting I'm going to start in first grade we're rejecting 41 um residents based on that number uh we did not feel comfortable opening up school choice seats at this point that would leave us with uh one class of 20 and one class of 21 and two classes in first grade second grade um we have 36 students that we're anticipating having for next year um you know we do think we could have up to four that would make it 2020 but we would recommend two so the number in parenthesis is the recommendation but also recognizing there could be more seats available but again I think we've talked a little bit this year about saying opening up those four seats now if we have some residents who move in um could again make the classrooms grow um in the interm so third grade similar situation so I'm sorry second grade would still have two sections similar to first grade third grade um would go that's a three section grade um my question was third grade Stephen is it says new Resident enrollment grade three like there's an other notes and I marked one there so that would potentially put us at 588 y so so that's the two that's the recommendation of the two to get to 60 and the reason we're comfortable making that recommendation not all students in that grade um are in the gened setting at all times okay which grade was that I'm sorry three so a little bit of a flexibility there but yeah so the recommendation was we're anticipating that student they haven't officially registered but we're anticipating a new Resident enrollment in grade three next year so that family's reached out but there's still time right four five and six are three section grades um you'll see four and six are over 60 already um grade five is at 58 that's a place where down the road we could certainly look into opening a spot or two um but again as you guys know if you get a couple residents in that could shift do you want to maybe stick K to six first or want me to go through everything uh what do you think you guys want to just have them go through the whole thing we can yeah why don't you just I guess I'll just real oh never mind sorry I'm good so in grade seven so seven and eight probably look a little strange right so grade seven um the way that we approached it this year was taking a look at the ELA classes we're offering right every student is taking Ela while there's some electives and some Choice into math and other places they're all taking Ela and at grade 7 next year we're planning for three sections of ela which could get us to that um 2020 and 20 potentially we're in eighth grade we're currently planning on two sections of ela so already a little bit bigger of a class um having 25 and 25 ninth grade similar three sections um and we're right at that 59 number grade 10 two sections grade 11 one section or I'm sorry three sections um hold on grade 10 grade 10 and 11 two sections [Music] sorry and same in grade 12 and this is for next year's this is 24 25 yes so there like so a lot could change so I'm not so you have the TW the kindergarten right now is the kindergarten that hasn't started that correct so that's the group who was registering last week that's and that's 29 is incomplete because we were still registering on Thursday when we did this work okay great I just wanted to make sure I was understanding okay let's get to it what do yall think those out of the numbers I think it makes sense I like um I just want to make sure that whichever decision we make that we're just stating that we're going to be doing the numbers in the parentheses mhm that's yeah so that's new this year we didn't do that in the past I think last year we said we could fit nine nine students and I think what we found and what I've been trying to communicate I don't know how effectively but um because it's hard to get a grasp on there's just so much movement that could happen the numbers in parenthesis are a bit more conservative that would allow us we feel like some space to say we could accept some students if new students move in we wouldn't have to like change anything come back for another vote but if new students weren't to move in we could come back in May or June and request a couple additional openings correct and I appreciate that I I get where that is I just wanted to make sure that anyone's watching it that that's what we're we're talking at those um numbers and as we did this year I think that as those kind of e and flows happened we came back together and determined what was best for you know um that classroom so that to me makes sense I app the way this is laid out and all the notes is very helpful minimize my question another area that starting to get a hold [Music] of I guess well actually I W just ask one other thing the students listed on the census that did not respond to mailings what where are those children being educated we just don't know so those that's for the K registration that's based on K so so we don't those asterids right there that said that really threw me so one they could have potentially moved out in the meantime or we just haven't been able to connect with them I was like are we missing like eth second and 12th grade or something those are all in kindergarten oh my gosh and they're not currently in our prek I cut my Caff until only like not even one a day it's clearly not working I'm good all right if there's no other questions I think we can I'll take the motion we make a motion to accept the proposed school choice availability 2425 as projected in these numbers want me to read it just please so we're proposing for school choice seats in 2425 in grade two two seats in grade three two seats in grade seven two seats in grade 10 five seats in grade 11 two seats can I have a second I'll second all those in favor I all right that was easy next is a solar eclipse so if you've seen the news we are in I'm going to get this wrong we're in the zone that will be affected by the solar eclipse on April 8th we are not I did my research I was so much better we're not like directly but we're in like the 90% area so um and of course it's the timing is that it would impact our area right around the dismissal specifically for our elementary school so um we would like to propose purchasing solar eclipse lips glasses um we have a quote for 700 of them which again students and staff would have the option we do have 720 students there is a bit of an assumption being made that not everybody would want them and the Junior Senior High School does dismiss about 45 minutes to an hour earlier so they won't necessarily all be on campus but we would have them available for anybody who would want them um and this was not something that I planned for in our FY 24 budget last year um so we do think there are funds in the already approved fy2 24 budget we could use if we weren't able to find the approximately $470 then um with your permission we could use rural School funds but our first hope would be to um utilize our approved operating budget but this would just be a change to that questions or comments solar chrisp eclipse very cool is it like once every two decades or something once about every seven years yeah so this would be a neat thing to observe and do safely yep Jen knows that well because stepen and I have a rather odd connection about the eclipse he met both of my girls on in July of 2014 his very first day7 2017 sorry 2017 his very first day in the district my cousin who was watch babysitting or watching the girls for the summer was here to pick up some stuff and my daughter Meredith and my nephew well my little cousin Jack wouldn't look up because the older girls Eva and her older cousins had told them if they looked in the sky it would melt their eyes my first memory in Grandma so Meredith was like it's nice to meet you wouldn't look up we were like in an interior office at that point there was no son she wouldn't look up she was afraid she didn't understand why her aunt was taking her in outside where it wasn't safe oh it's fantastic and she's going to murder me which be safely shake hands so we will make sure she has a pair of glasses that's amazing this time so funny yeah they'll need them for softball baseball that's funny right and she will be there for softball so that's fantastic I have to make sure she's wearing her vipers and her everything oh funny um so Todd do you think we can find the $400 and something dollars we should be able to excellent ter can I have a motion I'll make a motion to approve the purchase of solar eclipse glasses can I have a second I'll second all those in favor I thank you the next one I want to talk about let's just skip over it for Less okay um superintendent search so as we've alluded to a number of times Steven's given us notice and we be leaving us at the end of the year so that means we have the um the joyous occasion to commence a superintendent search so we um when we did it last time uh we had gone through and Jill Stephanie correct me if I'm wrong but we had talked and gotten quotes last time and we decided as a committee that we would do a lot of the work ourselves um and use masc as a resource as it was the cheaper op option but it was a ton of work for the committee um the search committee so I guess we need to consider all of that and um try to figure out how how how we're going to do this also cuz which budget would it come out of depends on your timeline cuz if we're starting now it's it's not this year's budget but the salary would be for next year's budget questions comments I'm looking in the um the old folder and I know like some of the stuff send some guidance yeah um Kimberly had sent us some guidance as well but I think I forwarded it to everybody but you know some of the work is partially done our brochure that we created from the last time is um probably not that outdated would just need you know numbers might need to be um updated um dates and things but um I don't know I'm just sort of babbling so anybody take it away uh I wasn't here for the last one right um uh I think it might be important to maybe use a third party professional some type of consultant to assist in the search do you guys remember at all what the cost of that was I think it was around time 10 10 to 13 10 to 13 and we still did have to be a part of oh yeah we still had to do a lot of correct so just for context I think it was about $10,000 and we did still have to do a lot of the pieces that were done okay but just for your knowledge um and it's always just tough especially like just to call it what it is we're going into budget season in a quite a deficit so I think that we do need to be mindful of kind of what would that bring to the table versus what can we take on knowing it was a very big undertaking but I think unfortunately no matter what you do it's going to be quite an undertaking so I think in terms of um speaking to it directly from the previous search committee um first as like a participating member and then as a school Committee Member in it um it wouldn't have happened as smoothly as it did if it wasn't for current staff that was also on the search committee step in and doing a large bulk of the work as well so would you would you please because you were you were instrumental on the on the committee last time too Megan so hi guys hi I didn't know that I would be so much with this conversation but I guess I should be yeah we did a lot of work on the back end to make sure the flyer was right getting the screening the posting you know I you know Ally especially was instrumental and kind of leading that work work um with the committee um but you know it was it was a lot of work it was it was a big undertaking but I also recall you know the pool of candidates is was um a concern at the time I don't know if it's gotten better or worse in the last few years um I think it just depends I think there's things about gravy that are really attractive to to people but I think there are other drawbacks that you know um because we're small and because of like budgetary reasons that can be challenged but the community is great so I think someone looking for a good Community would could and would be happy here um so I just I I wonder if it's worthwhile to have someone from MC just to talk with you guys a little bit more because not all of you were on the committee at the time I don't know if that's something that um I forget who our contact is Tracy Trac so And to clarify Tracy wasn't the $110,000 um was no we had we had a contact with mask and I think the hope and the intention was that that could be used as um a very reliable resource which it was yes I think the tricky part was in the timing because things start to happen and it moves so quickly that you're then trying to communicate with somebody else about your next steps with with not wanting to make a misstep and the timeliness of when that happens and how it unfolds with the rapidness of what's expected to happen as part of the committee were twoo very difficult and challenging things to balance the other thing that I think is worth considering um and I think Kimberly she did mention it in her email somewhere is that a potential option would be to consider an interm um based on the timing and other fact and I do believe that masc has a list of potential in terms that they would be willing to discuss without a cost um so that is another potential consideration for the committee and that's where I said with the budget would that be this year or next year if you're looking to fill a permanent superintendency by July 1 then that is going to be in a fiscal 24 if it's an interim and it's a one-year interim or whatever the committee decides then that you would make that an FY 25 and use that time frame uh to build out your your search committee and your [Music] planning I feel like at this point in time it's worth investigating kind of all the different Avenues in terms of costs I know she mentioned um not only mask but another third party something I think um and then the potential of an interim too because I feel like we are pushing I feel like at this point when we did the search committee the last time in March we were having interviews and doing all those pieces about a inter about a month we had an interim at the time too so we knew what we were planning for where this time we don't have that knowledge ahead of time so making sure that we kind of investigate all avenues of what that looks like and the pros and cons to any of them I think would be worthwhile I have seen and starting to prepare some of these things a a number of the search committees are 10 months or longer for a superintendency ours was not that long last time so I don't know if we were just lucky or I think it was the anticipation that it was happening so we knew Yeah by January in in TW March 2020 that's when the superintendent gave their notice and then Carol took over as interim because it was also March 2020 and things were moving quickly um and that was you know I think kind of the right move at the time and then the then right we were able to start planning and you know fortunately we had an internal candidate that made things like move I don't know I mean we had options I think then so we had several candidates that we interviewed in the end so um but there was a lot of buildup like in December even you know going into it but I think what you're trying to say too is like it didn't happen like in a four Cheryl decided to leave like there was that intern MH you had over a years notice too right that V cancy and I know that there's like another District that's put out for a superintendent for all of 25 Hampton it right July of 25 ju 25 because they're with an interim now they're with an interim now and they're going to have their interim for a second year MH so um as far as directionally so we know what we're doing I think we need to have um some of that information you know um I I think Todd had looked and some of the like the average um cost for the intrum was 150 160 is the information that I was given um so that's higher than we have right now and but interim would be on this on this Budget on the5 yep and in that case I guess it's potentially an interim Plus sir correct correct so I think it's you're right fair to consider that um procedur seems like the way to go given the timeline and the past events that have been laid out and we would we still have to do interviews and everything on interim CR you don't like just pick you know you know and if they even would be interested right so um and that's where Tracy can be really helpful and just saying this is that process and get it up and I think that would be the next step would be to contact Tracy and get just for an overall picture regardless of you know the different options especially since she helped last time as far as what could be available for an interim what a search may look like and then do we reach out to that other company too and just get a quote we might as it's not going to hurt to have more information we I've been beginning the process of writing an RFQ for this um I'm going to need a little support from mentors um does this go out into combis how does an RFQ it doesn't bind us in a request for a quote um but it's I believe it's more involved than just reaching out that there is a formal process of notifying that we are interested in services so I think maybe just hit pause on that I think Todd's right and that would require the committee to vote to have Todd put that together and we didn't have a vote on the agenda tonight so I think some of the other stuff that's being discussed can happen and we can either put a vote on for our next meeting or schedule short other meeting in the next two weeks um but in the meantime I'm happy be it Jen or any one of you if whoever is contacting masc to sit on the call I'm sure Todd would be willing to do that as well um to just kind of pick their brain and like get their thoughts about the timing and get their thoughts about um potential interm candidates and what that could look like and then at least you'll have that information and then you could decide whether um putting together a request for coat quotes um for a search would make sense I have had people reach out to me already um from the community that have expressed interest in being on the search committee so that's at least um positive you know have as well so that's you know that's uh that's at least good that maybe it won't be so difficult to um get people to participate in that manner um so I guess um I can send Tracy an email and see if she can uh has time for a call and we'll try to get that and then um this will be on the agenda just going forward I would say it's going to be just um we'll just have it live there for now [Music] um anything else that you all want to um make sure we take care of not really at this time but as we go through the process yeah it's also daunting because we're right in the middle of budget season too so it's hard you know um that's one of the things that I'm a little concerned about um but we need to make sure that we account for it however um however it looks and I would rather [Music] um yeah okay anything else then all right so I will send an email reach out to Tracy I'll copy you guys in and we'll we'll go from there okay next up is um msba statement of Interest so we discussed this at our last meeting but just um prepared a couple years ago prepared a statement of interest for the grany Junior Senior High School for a building project um I sub I included the um draft in the folder tonight it is nearly the same one we submitted last year just updated some things for um this year I did get myself on the select board agenda for next week cuz select Board needs to approve this as well um but wanted to make sure that the school committee was aware before doing so um it's not due officially until April 12th so we do have month all right so I don't need to read that thing into not today we'll put this on for a vote at the next meeting okay um but at the next meeting vote on it but just so you knew I was going in front of Select board um for a vote excellent okay any question I don't know if anyone has question oh okay we have enrollment on there but I feel like we just went over that with um school choice but we can look enrollment is actually we've had some movement but it is the same is not upd I know it takes is there it [Music] is at least we've been consistent for the last couple months yep we've stayed pretty steady once I can get it coming up any questions or comments on what you're seeing on the enrollment dashboard hopefully it stays steady in June yes I just remember that like June to August was so frustrating get our graduates our graduates we take out so we are going to see a dip in June or not June I I hope yeah sorry there's a dip in June but um what was it's usually right when we come back it's always right loest right before we have to submit it correct because we haven't fully enrolled everybody yet October one I'm looking at June and then yes it was October that's that like continuous looks good I like how it's like this I think we've said that a lot of times but it's very helpful so if stac is's on here thank [Music] you okay if there's no other questions we'll move on all right stepen you're up um happy to Ann announced that obviously sad to see Faith go um but Faith Ramos wasn't able to commit to the student rep um piece at this point and the student council this past week elected Cole Fuller from the class of 2025 to take over as the student rep to the school committee Cole and I have been in touch already um unfortunately he could not make it tonight but he is planning to be here at our March 26th meeting um very brief fy2 budget update I did speak to the town manager last Friday looking for some guidance around our budget planning so you know but the public may not know um we had submitted our initial budget in late December we had a meeting in late January um we did have a meeting last week with um representative a representative from rep representative dome's office um representative Carrie and Senator Ola were there um we had a good conversation um but unfortunately it sounded like it wasn't the first time they were hearing this from a district um especially a rural District about the funding formula not really working in our advantage and how much of an impact one or two things could could have on the overall budget so um you know they left their I think understanding like advocating for better funding for Rural schools uh a better funding formula for special education were two of the things that we really pushed on them um and I think they heard our message but I did reach out to the town manager last week and he thought he would have more guidance for me by the end of this week um because the Pathfinder budget is set tomorrow night and capital Improvement expenses are either tonight or Thursday night so we would have a little bit more information um by the end of the week so my hope is that we have that by the end of the week we can start our work based on that guidance connect with um fincom who we haven't been in touch with because we're still a little bit up in the air um our goal is to kind of continue to push through with the timeline that we set um for that early April vote for the school committee that being said if the budget vote won't be until the June town meeting we would have some leeway on the back end if we needed it um we would just need that information um sooner than later so um again want to update dual enrollment Early College work group we had our I think final meeting last week now we're working on drafting some recommendations and I'm working on drafting recommendations based on the four or five meetings that we've had um I will share those recommendations back to that committee for their feedback and um anticipate bringing them here likely in early April um boys lacrosse uh Spring sport starts in a week from yesterday boys lacrosse because we are doing maintenance to the juniority soccer field which also serves as the boys Lacross field is under construction we have been trying to work with the town to identify another um location in town we had identified U Brown Ellison as a potential fit and had reached out in January to the town about that and um Dylan and I went to the select board meeting last night and unfortunately the Parks Commission and um Town felt like that field holds water and wouldn't be playable for the lacrosse especially for the older kids there's a lot of younger kids using brown Ellison typically um and because of the amount of water it holds they felt that that wouldn't work um they asked that we come back and look on campus again which which we are willing to do there's just not many more places on campus um so Dylan does have a plan B unfortunately that would require our boys lacrosse to play home games in South adley um so we are working out some of those Logistics uh we have a meeting on this again tomorrow but it's been something we've been trying to navigate and work with but um there's not really again I think people will look at campus and say what about up front or what about behind the JV baseball field it needs to be a flat surface behind the J the baseball field is not a flat surface we use it as um a practice soccer field Mr Dorman can certainly tell you that it's not a flat surface and not appropriate to play games on um we make doe for practice and then in the spring we're using all our baseball and softball diamonds which means outfields that we could use in the fall aren't available to us in the spring we did consider the front of the building but lacrosse especially poses some risk to traffic on 202 um with the balls going so we were really looking for eight games the eight home games um in April and May um the select board did invite us back in late April to see how the fields have dried up to see if we can get a couple of games especially senior night in in town so that is a work in progress and then the final announcement um is that the next scheduled Town election is to be held on Monday May 20th there are school committee spots that are up for election this year and the last day to take papers out per the town clerk is Thursday March 28th so little over two weeks for people to pull papers so on that we if people we need people to pull papers um Jill and I are up for reelection I'm I am pulling papers and I are Jill is not and Stephanie um sent in her resignation effective May 20th um which is the date of election so I am pulling papers but I can't guarantee that I will be elected again so we have three technically have three open positions for school committee so if people are interested have questions on how it works or whatever please reach out um I think my email is on the website um they can certainly reach out to central office and we can get messages to people you know um we uh we need some good we need some good people to help us out so um I think that's that's I'll yeah um all right Todd uh only a couple of things so weed the final contract uh for the architect and Design Services for the Junior Senior High School uh kitchen project um and with that we the engineer came out on Thursday um Revisited the site we did we went through the kitchen the whole Wing he took measurements he's preparing um a scope of work for us that will be an initial meeting with the architect and the engineer um Stephen probably John Sullivan and me and uh that'll begin our real kickoff for the project uh from there uh we'll start they'll help us draft what we need for things to go out to bid um and then we'll get our timeline and hopefully we are beginning Construction in June and completing in the fall and the last thing we did get an update uh from desie um several of our grants got a small uh allocation adjustment um for our title one as a grants our Ida grants and our map uh which is a program that we do at the Junior Senior High School for career Readiness um so there's some adjustment there adjustment to the good all all in the all in the positive not big numbers but not but exactly we'll take it and so uh the department heads we been working to submit those uh revised budgets to uh Des so I have a question about the budget um so with the special ed costs going up so dramatically do we have no recourse to go to the state for help for that like bypass the town when we know we can't like say hey Massachusetts your law has put us in this we need money like can we not do that so I can speak to that a little bit so um we did apply for Extraordinary relief this year because of the 14% increase and due to other costs for um students who meet that circuit breaker uh threshold um so we just submitted that last week um just got a little notification to you know review a couple little things and then it will be uh there it looks like we will qualify I'm guessing based on the calculations they've given us that will um qualify for some additional funds it doesn't cover everything obviously but it is something um and then there's also Reserve relief which has um a little bit of a different Dynamic to it it basically allows districts to take money now that they would otherwise get in next year circuit breaker yeah but that just kicks a can down the road correct that one does that's um the extraordinary relief those just additional funds because I'll submit circuit breaker again in June um June St in July um and then and that will be like what our allocation will be for next year so this extraordinary relief amount will be helpful for us um and an extraordinary relief Megan stop me if I'm wrong means that we've spent 20% more this year than last year and allowable special education cost so pretty significant threshold to qualify for Extraordinary and many districts I think are submitting for Extraordinary relief because of that 14% OSD increase last year so and there was another small I'll be a much smaller increase going into FY um 25 for um out of District tuition as well but we do try and claim for students in District who do have you know a great number of needs that you know we expect will hit the threshold and I'm also thinking like with the placements that we have that are out of District when some of those costs you know are so I just it it seems that there can't be two to many places where that's palatable you know when you're when you're looking at almost a million dollars for M for those things you know I don't see how the state can think that people can afford it so we can't go back to them for that like we can't they I mean I think that's where like you know speaking with um those in legislation can bring about those changes and they have been working on increasing the reimbursement you know allowable reimbursement the Transportation reimbursement has increased regarding special Transportation um over the last few years um but it's very you know uh small compared to the amounts that they're asking for for tuition to cover those um students needs in the programming and we've seen that too in you know just it just costs more to do business these days sure so the extraordinary relief is that only is that extra Revenue that unanticipated Revenue that we would get and we have to use it in FY 24 uh so so we're looking to make you know look at our we've already been talking about our the budget where it stands right now in special ed and you know how do we best use our our our funds to keep us in in good standing and use the money effectively can we proactively apply for next year can they open a window typically in March L February early March so at that point you've gotten through enough of your budget so you're being able to project out for the rest of the year so every year it does open last year we applied but didn't qualify no we didn't qualify last year um but we had a feeling it would we would qualify this year so we applied again but it's worth going through the process if you feel like you might be close um yeah and then they'll make adjustments when you do your end of the year one they will that will be like your known you know you know what happened right at that point so they'll make adjustments if things change they'll give you more they haven't they will give you less that you know from the number um but that doesn't I don't believe that includes the extraordinary relief I don't think they'll give you more extraordinary relief at that point but they'll give you what you what you're supposed to be getting for the next school year okay I just have a question for Todd can you just give us a update or reminder on the budget calendar what things are coming up are we H are we doing the public forum Tuesday the 26th yes and on the so make sure that we're getting that out to the community as well second and I um added it to both schools newsletters uh that'll go out this week and ask the principes to keep those on their um newsletters teric and it went out in it's going to go out in the Gazette as well I just have to say though I mean I kind of want to put a pin in that because if we don't know what we're getting from the town at that point or what we can even consider from the town if it's even voted on like I don't know is it the right time to have a forum if we don't have those numbers or do we do it with the worst case scenario do with the worst case I think in a way we're at that point probably better off going with the worst case scenario in the in the hopes that that would catch people's attention as well sure but I anticipate we'll have some more guidance by then were you able to meet with the finance committee at all to have a I remember that was the goal was to meet with them around this time so we haven't met with them yet waiting for a little bit more Direction uh from the town accountant um to put that together here's what our budget right what we're really working with or anticipate working with and I have it on my calendar to reach out to finance committee to schedule something but I've been holding off waiting for some of that guidance because I mean we could certainly meet with them and talk about where we're at with what we have um and I don't think that's a bad idea to do I was just hoping that when we have the initial need a we would have some more of that information right next one a quick operations question about the bus situation with bus two uh it's no longer running for till the 15th or so I yeah I'm I have it on my list for tomorrow to um I got the number of days that bus two hasn't been operating for the year I received that today um from from E meows Administrative Assistant Kaitlin so I'm going to call the bus company and find out what's the plan and really look at our contract as well what is the recourse you know do we have any recourse for being without a bus for so many days I just didn't know if they're going to refund us for one thing'll be looking looking at y yeah because it's been spotty at times but now like this is a whole week without them so we've been keeping track of the days that it hasn't run cuz we have those questions as well okay we're paying for a service so all right if there's nothing else Jill um Cloud meets the 27th of this month so I have more than but I did add in um information into the folder if anyone wants to view it oh all right um so for agenda next time superintendent search will continue to live on there um anything else for next time I have msba vote okay we'll add Co Fuller Co student rep [Music] yeah subcommittees I was wondering if we should do those or um I thought we had a lot more to go uh go over but um probably should have Finance anyway budget and finance um anybody else have anything do you need to meet for policy all right those will be the two well do we maybe want to do something for Community come budget season how we're going to get that out sure well we certainly can but again our next meeting ised by I always get it wrong The Forum or the it's the Forum The Forum who's on the finance subc committee with you mik yes I feel like yes sorry I can so for the Forum the last few times we've done it in the gym um but I don't know do we do we think we'll get that many people do we want to do we the cafeteria Sor the cafeteria um we can certainly set it up there I think we could also set this up a little bit differently I don't think even when we than in the cafeteria we've had more than the number of SE I wonder if we could put us in a row there and have the people there and then have it projected behind us maybe or something and then do we want to do some light Refreshments from chart whales sure like we've done at least some water or something anyway so we'll do it in here then yep all right [Music] great um anything else just a reminder again um interest in school committee to run for school committee last day to pull papers is Thursday the 28th and then they have to be back in a fairly short turnaround time um but you have to go out and get signatures and stuff but please we need some people um if there's nothing else um I'll take we'll vote to enter into executive session oh is there anything else I just kept right on talking sorry about that we're going to vote to enter into executive session under Massachusetts General Law chapter 30 a section 21 part A3 to discuss strategy with regard to collective bargaining as doing so in an open session may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the committee the committee will not return to open session Mr durh hi m p here hi M par hi hi thanks everybody have a good [Music] night