fire on my fireplace testing okay good evening yes good even hey can everyone hear me yes y okay good evening uh at this moment I'd like to uh call the meeting of the Hamilton one Regional school committee to order on Thursday March 21st 2024 at 7:03 p.m. and I invite you to join us in the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United States of America to the repu for stands God indivisible liy Justice um so um is this on can you hear me yeah okay um try this no no I think it's on yeah it is okay uh so uh school committee I just want to let let you all know that I we did sort of make a late swap on the agenda we just flipped the order because um we have our winter athletes here um and when possible we always want to try to move you guys to the top of the agenda um and so without further Ado do you want to remind everyone about theing thank you while you're coming oh come on up while we I'll remind all that this this meeting is being live streamed and recorded on HW cam thank you thank you very much for having us I apologize for having my back to all of our uh Stars here um someone I was uh just speaking with one of our coaches who said um how lucky we are to be able to do this there's not many districts that do this there's not many school committees that would have us on a busy night to have us out so thank you from the bottom of our heart we're honored to be here uh we and we're honored to have all these teams and athletes represented uh and share with you their accomplishments for the winter um I know I probably sound like a broken record but I mean this from the bottom of my heart I think every one of the all star and gold medalists that are here um we're going to honor them and their individual Awards and stuff and um and what they did but I think they'd be the first to tell you that everything that they do is for the good of their team and that they're great teammates and um that their teammates are a huge reason why they're here so even though there's many uh student athletes that aren't here they're all represented by uh those that you see behind me um just going to go down the agenda and acknowledge certain things um just want to talk briefly about our girls ski team it's only the second year we've had ski I remember being up here and asking you if we could start it and how we were going to do that and partnering with IP switch and all the logistics that went involved with that um in just the second year our girls ski team uh with their Captain Stuart Bernard if you guys want to raise your hand or something or stand up oh and mat Min right um a lot of folks couldn't make it a lot uh have practices but um the captains were Stuart Bernard and Matty minich uh they won the League this year uh Mas anomet hadn't lost uh a dual meet race in I don't know how long a 100 years whatever it was uh and we split with them so we tied for a league title it's truly an incredible accomplishment in just their second year um so we'll be hanging Banner in the gym and um that's going to be a fun night when we do that uh for girls indoor track um the capn league female athlete of the year was Georgia Wilson if Georgia's here I don't think she is um but she it's pretty impressive she's an incredible athlete she plays soccer and does indoor and outdoor track and watching her jump and run is I don't know I I I think I pull a hamstring just by watching her um uh they also won the team sport the uh capan League sportsmanship award and the captains for that uh I know Isabella a fasio is probably at softball but Sophia Ryan's here so if you want you want to just wave to them okay she's the best um she's an incredible teammate uh I was talking to coach Sawyer about her and you're an amazing teammate from everything I know about you so congratulations I think the team sportsmanship award is nothing to uh it's something we take very seriously and something um that we're very glad that you were able to be a huge part of so thank you uh also winning the team sportsmanship award in the capan league was boys indoor track um we're going to be calling these kids' names a couple times but the indoor track captains who are behind me McLaren cook Isaac Jones James rean and Martin bomb I know some of those guys are here so congratulations yeah feel bad my you definitely want to look at them and not me so I apologize for that um the boys swim team uh won the league sportsmanship award and I think we have one or two of the captains here or one or two of the kids on the team there was only a few it was only a handful of boys on the team um and even though they went into every race knowing that they really maybe weren't competing for a team Victory just by the lack of numbers um they competed hard and earned the respect of everybody else in the league it's miles Carbone Bennett powers and Nicholas CK all right good thank you for helping I appreciate that help Nicholas thank you um uh the basketball leagues the boys and girls basketball league in addition to naming MVPs and um you know stuff like that and allst stars they also have What's called the McCoy courage award that uh might not be the MVP but it's certainly an outstanding player in the league that's having to overcome some things um and uh the winner of that you know last year blew out his knee he was tough went to just about every practice in game last year quite a teammate quite an accomplishment um you know when he was bummed out and probably wanted to be out there playing and couldn't was there for his teammates at every turn uh and so the league awarded him the McCoy cage or it's Chris Collins okay uh and now um we have a list of uh so the these are all league First Team Allstars because we're in some co-ops and things they're not all kpn league but for whatever sport the league is in it's the first team all stars and then for some individual sports uh the way they do all star is they have gold medal winners in the individual events at the end of the year in the league meet that are considered first team uh allar so those are who we have here uh some of those who we have here in honor tonight um our boys our boys hockey team co-opt at Rockport Evan huy uh was our Allstar uh for that team he had a great year he did a lot to integrate our team into theirs and was a great team leader um in that respect as well as well as being a very excellent player on the ice uh girls hockey uh with our corporate Marble Head Ava Schultz I don't know if aa's here uh AA was here last year for this um uh I I know our next Gold Medal winner is here uh in the 100 freestyle and the kpn League open uh Katherine Reed was named League Allstar and Gold Medal [Applause] winner uh boys basketball um we had a first team Allstar he was a junior Captain uh he's going to be he was a huge part of our team this year and will be an even bigger part next year and like again com and threat incredible team leader and that's AB label uh Gabby Campbell is not here but um she was our captain for girls basketball I think her coach Mark Cole is here on her behalf um I think she was a four-year starter or a three-year starter um and has been a staple in our program forever um for those of you that know Mr Campbell the teacher at the high school uh I don't know what number of child this is but they've had uh basketball players in our school for a long long time we're going to miss Gabby and we're going to miss uh seeing their talent and personality on the court um the boys indoor track team um won a gold medal in the 4X 800 and I know a lot of them are here uh Clark gliden Cole Regan James Regan and Ben [Applause] Rich they were uh our excellent stars in cross country in the Falls as well um and they're going to keep going doing incredible things and finally um we wrestle at Salem uh and Kevin spoon um both was a league Allstar and qualified for States I don't think Kevin's here tonight um but that's our last League Allstar so thank you from the bottom of our heart to all of you congratulations you probably heard me say a million times that you know you're certainly talented and all that and that's great and it is but you're all incredible teammates you represent your teams well you represent our community well so thank you very very much to all the athletes that are here tonight and thank you for allowing us to honor them thank [Applause] you um thank you so much for that um and thank you to all of the athletes for being willing to come and let us get to meet you and see you it means a tremendous amount to this committee um to get to see you in person um and um like Mr genal just said um the athletic achievements are of course amazing and we are impressed um but more importantly it really is such an honor to have you all representing our community um and the ever the sportsmanship Awards um are really meaningful and really powerful um to hear um about those honors um that you're bringing to our community and thank you for that and thank you to the parents for all that you've done um to get them to this place um anybody else I don't want to monopolis anyone else have anything to say thank you all you're you of course invited to stay but we're we're guessing you have other things we can take homework you can um always so much fun to have our uh student athletes being recognized okay um next up on our agenda is our citizens comments Mr Tracy did we get the zoom up and going yep okay um nobody on okay okay um doesn't look like we have anybody on Zoom that's going to be making a comment uh is there anyone in the room interested in making a comment okay just making sure otherwise all right in that case um we will not read all the rules about citizens comments and we can go ahead and close that um next up we have a review of our school committee protocols um Jen can you read us a portion of that as a elected members of the Hamilton whenham Regional school committee we including the superintendent accept the high honor and trust that has been placed in us to ensure that the students of the district receive the best education possible to that end we hereby commit to the following in the conduct of our business number nine all members will maintain the confidentiality of privileged information and will respect the open meeting law thank you um and because apparently I forgot to hand it out to anyone I will read a portion of the mission statement uh the Hamilton whenham Regional school committee will lead and inspire a district that is a source of civic pride and Municipal engagement to serve the community for generations to come thank you um okay next up is the consent agenda does anyone have any items that they would like to hold from the consent agenda it's a student representative report oh I'm so sorry Evie I apologize and thank you all for in like a member of the committee um no and I we and I always look forward to the student report so um next up we have eie uh Bernard our student representative hi thank you so much for having me um my name is Evie Bernard and I'm the sophomore uh class president at the high school um so I was just wanted to go over some events that have been going on throughout all of the schools in the district so starting off with the high school um on March 12th we hosted a blood drive with the Red Cross it was very successful there was a total of 30 volunteers um the DECA Club went to States on March 9th and five students qualified for ICDC which is the international competition um and to break up like the long month of March we hosted a March Madness on Friday with a um ping pong tournament during power block and a senior verse faculty basketball game um it ended up being a tie 3030 and then the class of 202 2026 is holding a cookie fun fundraiser um more information can be found on the website and um the high school also had a neurodiversity meeting um on Wednesday and as the seniors approach um their graduation they have been planning their senior events and then on to the sports I know Mr Jenny Walo just talked about um all of the sports which are sports but to just go over at girls basketball um lost in the round of 2016 the record was 13-10 girl ski team um tied for league title boys basketball lost in the round of 32 but it was a very close game 5 55 to 58 and their record was 12 12 to 10 um cheer went to the msaa North Regional championships finished third in the division and and it was their first time qualify qualifying for regionals since 2015 and then on Monday uh spring Sports started um and then the clubs the high school um the environmental Club did a shoe drive and ended March 18th I think it was very successful um the science team as I mentioned earlier had a blood drive and then we also had a me on March 12th and then on to the middle school they also attended the neuro diversity assembly and they hosted a Civic speed which high schoolers were also allowed to participate in um on March 13th and then they are preparing for their mcast in April and the eth graders just returned home from a Spain trip um February 24th which heard was very fun and then on to winr um winrs fourth graders are also preparing for ELA mcast um they are hosting a family music warning on March 22 tomorrow morning and um for grades two and four they'll be performing the songs they've been learning in music class and a special guest came in and talked about uh the glosser sea monster for the elementary school students on to Cutler Cutler went on a field trip to Northshore Music Theater to see Madagascar today and they are preparing for their spring music concert on May 22nd and then lastly buer hosted an elementary literacy night last night thank you that's all I have thank you Evie thank you I that was really that was terrific really informative um does anyone have any questions I'm not sure if you know but I'm curious do you know who won the ping pong tournament um I think I'm not sure but I know he beat Mr Mar which so it was it was an intense game that's great that's good information that's great um and I'm so glad that you highlighted the Civic speed did anybody uh or any of our members at the Civics be no you there David yeah oh excellent on competing teams are you on the team together competing teams um that's a fun event so I'm glad you highlighted that thank you for sharing that um also you got a great meeting I mean there was so many exciting things I was like I wanted to go to Spain and to see Madagascar was great all right anybody have anything else um eie as always you are certainly welcome to stay and also we understand you may have other things to do I have a lot of homework thank you thank youor okay all right now and I really do appreciate youall keeping me on track because now I'm going to ask again does anyone have anything to hold um before we move on to to the consent agenda okay for the first time in a long time maybe not um all right uh David would you be willing to make a motion excuse me yeah uh I moved at the Hamilton Regional school committee accept the consent agenda as written second second by Jen Carr um and there is no discussion um all those in favor that is unanimous and the moot passes okay um all right moving right along um the next item of business is the um norshore Christian School um before we get started I'm just going to give a tiny bit of background um uh so we um when when I don't know how to phrase this but um the state law requires that a school committee approves a private school um when it moves into your community um I want to just give compliments to past um School committees and to um Janelle um because it was very easy using our policy using our past minutes um I was able very easily to determine exactly what I needed to do when I was contacted and informed that the norshore Christian School which is an existing school that currently exists in Beverly and they're going to be moving locations into wenom um I'm was really happy to say that even though this was something I didn't know anything about I was very easy for us for me to figure out so thank you to past policies and um and all the minutes um so if you um before we get started I just want to just give a little bit if you look at the our policy on this you can see that um there is under criteria of approval for a private school there are two it says a private school May demonstrate its prog program through efficient uh through e excuse me efficient and effective through one of the following two methods the first is providing evidence of accreditation by one or more accrediting organizations organized by the US Department of Education the second is by a full curriculum review um the last time that the school committee um approved a school it was penguin Hall that was before my time but like I said we had lots of notes on that they did not have an accreditation and that it was required that the superintendent do a full cover review um Northshore Christian School as I said is already an existing school um in Beverly and they are accredited by neas as our Wei so they provided that um accreditation to us um so um I guess maybe that was a lot of information but maybe we could start with a motion and then we can have discussion um so I'm just wondering where the my first meeting and the school committee was accepting the uh Academy of penguin Hall yep excuse me so I actually don't know what the official like language is that we it is so if you it's um uh approve it's approve approve approve the school in general um for what purpose it it really just says our policy just says we'll approve move a private school actually the state law is right there too so that might be helpful to us I um try I'm try to get that language yeah um it says approving private school on the State website as well yeah approve approve standards for approval of private schools so we could say like approving the school to move into our community you're actually just improving the school in its program not not the move so the yeah and and and my understanding um from reading the state law is that basically all we are saying is that if a student in our community were attending this school we would not say that that student is Trent I see this so my only concern was this accreditation letter is from 2021 and they should have a current one 2023 it's every two years I think it's every five 10 no it's every 10 Oh I thought they said that they to do it again in two years in the letter they Eric you will know they do things every two years the process is a 10year total process there are series of reports that get submitted so like Brian just finished the first report a year later then three years you do another report and then five years you do another report um so it's just a series of reports but the whole window is a 10year accreditation thank you that's all I need you just have to keep checking in the make sure you're doing things they call it no substantive changes yeah um don't for the right word but I I moved at the Hamilton one Regional school committee accept the NorthShore Christian School meets all requirements per policy um to operate within our district second second by J car sounds sound like it covers our BAS I think so and I yeah exactly um okay um is there further discussion this is on the agenda too I just have one more I just have one more question so do we get updated with their accreditation process every time they that's a great question I don't I don't actually think we do anything Contin we certainly have never I've never seen anything about pingry or any other school it it seems to be an just yeah it's an initial approval there's no process after that okay yeah it's a yeah it's interesting they just they want you to approve it so that I think Dana had just said it so that kids can attend without being Trent from school Under state law so we're just saying we know that school's there and we know it's available for kids to attend appropriately as the elected it was always my understand that as like the elected school board members that while you know not under our direct purview they technically do fall under our umbrella is meeting the state standards and um you know whatever policies would sort of overlap and that's what we're sort of saying that we have seen this and that's yeah and I did want to add that I did also if you read this policy that there was a part on the school committee which is that the that the school committee would notify the private school that they needed to obtain the following things and it's like certificate of O occupancy fire I did in fact it only says that they will we will notify so I did notify them and Pam Heights who's the director was very cooperative and helpful and she responded to me saying acknowledging receipt and saying she would pursue all of those and in fact noted that she did not think that they would need an elevator inspection because they won't be having an elevator um so um so but I did in fact do that so thank you for doing that um all right any other questions discussion right looks like we're ready to vote um right all everyone's clear on what we're voting on okay all those in favor and that is unanimous and the motion passes and I will let her know okay uh next up is uh Eric on the student Opportunity Act thank you I'm going to jump to the middle of the memo and apologize for the presentation of the report we literally fight with this thing to get it out of the the uh State portal to make it somewhat legible uh without typing the entire thing over so the the report is is represented as it's represented in the portal um student Opportunity Act uh resets every three years many of you were here when we we've done this before um It's actually an uh it was an idea I think nine years ago where they were trying to give schools uh Financial incentives to focus on kids that were having uh showing the most difficulty or were were were members of a group that had a larger Gap in accountability measures uh for schools last time we did this report we had had four groups we had our so uh special Edge students our L students our lowincome students and our Hispanic students uh since that time two of the groups have come out of out of the the um their gaps have closed enough or their group is too small to measure which is under 20 um so this year and looking at the new data that the state supplied uh We've identified Prov that special ed and lwi income um and there's a combination in there as well of of both um our our students that would be focused on for our student Opportunity Act for this next three years so this submission will go into the state in April it kicks in in the fall and for every year from this point on just like we did last year and the year before we'll submit a report of progress to see how we're doing uh on meeting the metrics the report is broken down by um kind of what what you're going to do like what's your plan how are you going to approach it we've been working on this for for two years anyway with the last submission of the student opportuni Report with the addition of our family and Community liaison sitting with us tonight uh these are all pieces of the puzzle that we've used in the past to continue to uh meet the expectations of St student Opportunity Act and then you have to choose these these uh EVPs which are which are supplied by the state they give you a list and I'm I'm going to scroll down to the order of this is is rough to wrestle with um so when you when you start looking at these evidence-based programs they are a list that's generated by the state so when you go into this portal there's a whole list and you can see them in the bottom here just in Focus Area 1 one there's a whole bunch of that you can choose from they want you to choose from between two and three to focus on for your subgroups um so I'm going to go back up to the top here again our uh choices were related to what we're doing inclusive C curriculum adoption process which we've outlined in this report supporting curriculum imp implementation so the ccla implementation and now next year will be the math implementation that will really take place almost from kindergarten all the way up through high school and then targeting academic support and acceleration we've been doing that with our mtss uh using our assessments Dibbles and and some of the other assessments at the uh other grade levels like I ready and star Renaissance to help us to figure out where kids uh sit and how they're progressing through each of the the uh requirements if you will of accountability which generally is measured for the state it's it's mcast for them um we are expected to also use other data measures so we do we use Dibbles we use IR we use star Renaissance um and and also in inhouse assessment so we use midterm exams you can look at midterm exams you can look at full full uh full year exams so those types of things are um things that we we'll do along this three-year plan we have also community outreach and Community connections is a big piece of this Jen Coffield is has really come brought this a long way where we've we we've spent I think she spent probably 50% of her time last year uh working on trying to maintain update upgrade the website make sure the weot translation was working make sure that um people were actually receiving what they were should be receiving making connections with families to make sure they were listed in our data correctly which is a was a problem um to to really figure out what the home language is was was you know we just depended on somebody checking off a box now we can dig a little bit more deeply and and and really get in there and say okay what language do you speak at home uh some people are not willing to to to check that that box if it's not English and um it's been it's been a process for us really to hone in on that make sure that the families that need the translations can get them we have we have uh automatic translation now through all of our uh communication so when you get my weekly I get a copy of everyone that goes out so I get I think 11 different weeklys in 11 different languages to make sure they all go out on the right way you know and we've had families say you know I I feel like I'm part of the community because I'm getting this in my own language um several of our uh principles use our systems even for texting families we we can use uh the Blackboard connect that we have to text and to email and to do phone calls in multiple languages so that's another way and then really just reaching out when families come in Jen has the advantage of also working with a cord so connecting them with real real things like shelter and food and then uh you know dealing with the the connections with how they interact with social media if they do or don't one we find is a lot of um families that are non-english speaking are really not using social media as well they really they really um focus on either getting an email or getting some type of message in their own language so that's part of the the process excuse me and then the state supplies you with what they call a heat map they give you a heat map you pull up your town and it says here's where your gaps are and that's that's where you determine your measures from so when we start to look at our uh data uh if you will the Heat Maps uh for us identified right away this students with disabilities and students who are low income um and not all but that's the those are the the biggest gaps if you will um the the data that we've seen we've seen it previously when the and the principles did the present we did the presentations about mcast showing the different gaps uh different levels for accountability um so we're actually just taking all this bringing it together and saying okay what are our focal points principles are expected to connect with um through their data teams uh because of mtss program we've already have in place to connect to their data teams have these discussions identify specific individual kids so our um reading reading specialist who also manages our our assessment the elementary level uh Julie ler she will go through all the data on our side the Dibbles data identify uh areas of weakness for specific kids individual kids and groups of kids she will group them and she will work with our our uh Tas our literacy Tas who are on the ground in the buildings we have three in each building and their function is to really hit interventions almost daily uh for any of those kids that are identified or any of those kids that are in the lower sub groups in our Dibbles testing uh which which tends to align fairly closely with what we're seeing in the in the on the mcast side um same with the Middle School we're looking at how we can uh do a better job with our academic support in middle school so one of the things we're finding in our walkthroughs is um specialized instruction is not a thing uh academic support for a lot of kids is a place where they go and they do their homework or they catch up on a project Pro or they get help with writing a paper um but but there not really specialized instruction so uh Zach and and Brian at the high school have Zach at the middle school have have looked at ways that we can now start to help kids and and put them in specific places like you're going to go to math on these days you're going to go to English on these days so that they can get specialized instruction focused on whatever uh areas of weakness may show up and that's they're using uh Dibbles all the way through seven six seventh and eighth grade now and they're also using the IR for the math side so there's a lot of information on on kids and and um information that we can use as we we delve through this the weird part about the SOA is um it was initially incentive based for our district we get $30 per student which is about 50 Grand you know we spend uh you know as you see you can see in this report we spend millions of dollars to gain 50 Grand you know it's a it's a very interesting Dynamic for a district like ours where those where those um subgroups are smaller than somebody like wer of Boston which is uh really the the intended recipient of money uh last year they changed as they went through the budgeting process last year it started out at $30 and ended at $60 for many communities but not all um this year we're looking to see if the same thing happens we haven't heard yet and we won't know till the budget is actually finalized for the state so right as of right now it's in the the current iteration as $30 per student um and then the the the bigger piece of it is measuring it along the way and and and the three-year nature of the plan so everything we're doing is looking out three years so we talked about mtss for the past two years saying it's a 5 to sevene process it all melds actually really cleanly and that we've done a number of things along the way really trying to make connections with people the strategic planning process inviting people in invting people to be part of that the communication survey Gathering all that information and trying to learn how uh people communicate best what types of communications work uh all of our visioning sessions through the Cutler process we invited people in to be part of those um seal parent survey just to find out how kids are doing and how families are doing and that's been helpful really in in finding different ways to support families and and students both in and out of school um part of thatal survey has helped us to um identify wraparound Services which we uh have up until the end of this year available through the Esser monies that that were previously that we previously had uh we were able to to book wraparound Services for Families that really in need um outside of school so that's helpful and it's really Grant base if you will so that's a that's and also another way to make Making Connections School impr Improvement planning really always connects back to these same things we're talking about and mtss um working on making sure our kids are getting what they need in the classroom curriculum is a is a big deal we we made a shift huge shift ckla and I think teachers did mag magnificent job uh getting this up and running getting a new curriculum up and running off the ground is not easy it's like you know every day for that first year is a new thing um so that you're seeing it more you're looking at um really how the different ways people have adapted to the curriculum and and try to kind of make it their own uh last week we brought in excuse me two weeks ago we brought in a uh representative from uh ccla to walk through our classrooms and identify any spots where they saw things may or may not be working and realistically that those types of reports will help us to go back to IND both principes and individual uh grade level teachers to say okay here's what we we notice here's what we identified to just make sure that we're doing everything with Fidelity our friends groups are really great ways to communicate with families they tend to have big push and and uh connections with with a lot of the families and then our director of student services working with our CPAC group our CPAC is uh small we say we call it small and mighty they were the ones who actually covered the cost along with some help from the local police and fire uh of yesterday's presenter Carrie magro uh for neuro diversity week and then um we have we have our director of student servic is also responsible for our L students who don't really fall into this plan but they always kind of stay in the front of our brains to say okay how are they doing and what's what's doing well we do have uh an L teacher at the elementary level and a halftime L teacher at the high school level middle school high school level uh something that we haven't had in the past so that's that's also another way to make connections and make sure kids are getting uh some of the interventions that they need and then really this this process is identifying your ebps and then laying out what the district is doing and a lot of this is happening right now we we literally I don't know how she does it but Jen Clifford is running three different curriculum processes to identify um which be is the best math curriculum for us for elementary level and middle school mostly um but also looking at um Ela at the middle school level as well and that's a pretty extensive process that you work with the state to look at research based materials and understanding uh what makes sense for standard alignment what makes sense for assessments so they've been going through this process for months uh working with the state and then uh trying to look at District data versus the state requirements and and trying to meld the two and so that we can have a really solid tier one curriculum and that was our goal for CCL and you see that in action now the tier one curriculum um tier one curriculum materials is really important like that's what every kid gets all every day um and then the second piece of it is they're also looking like how else can we meet the tier 2 kids that smaller group that might need a few more interventions which is where our mtss program uh comes into place so we're working on those things and we'll have those uh done uh for next year so by the end of this year we'll have made our quote choices and get our materials together and get those up and running and then it'll be just a process of making sure everybody's trained and everybody understands what's happening and then um we'll continue to look at things like monitoring m c one of the things we learned in talking with teachers and students about mcast is several of the younger kids like third graders especially had never seen the tools that they use on the mcast so the first time they saw the tools in some places in some areas where were the first time they sat in front of the test uh huge disadvantage which is is a you know it's not it has nothing to do with with your skills it has to do with just understanding how all these tools work and they're available for you throughout the testing process so now we're we've kind of backed that up and are helping kids to see that and identify that on and how to use those tools before they get to the test so we think that will be extremely helpful and then um really looking at everything across the district this isn't focused at any particular level it's not focused on any particular grade we're looking across the district uh really keep an eye out and wide open for any of the things that come up with our with our um Gap closing processes if you will and it'll continue we'll Contin continue to look at all the things like at the high school middle uh the math support blocks when you go to the high school during power block there a kid specifically assigned to Math teachers um to get assistance where they need it and they are you know their Math teachers can say you know what Eric you need to go to support during power block with so and so and they get them in there they use panorama which we bought year and a half ago to track how these kids are doing so they'll put a plan in place and they'll track that student every time they come in so it's it's really a uh a good opportunity for us to to continue to keep an eye on what's happening with our kids we are seeing a lot of progress at the high school level with um our ninth and 10th and then the star Renaissance is new for us this year so really used trying to use that in the best ways possible um and then the again the high school level is also specialized instruction academic support same thing kids go there they were doing their homework they're getting kind of assistance writing a paper uh we need to look at ways over this next threeyear process of SOA to say okay how can we better support specialized instruction in those time periods so that kids can see something that they may be learning or expected to learn in their math class maybe a different way different approach um also looking at their their own goals that are based on built into their IEPs and aligning that with the things that are going on for S SOA at the same time it talks about fund allocation and measurement so you can see all the measurements that we have uh we're expected to use mcast as a requirement of the state use mcast as one of your measures okay dibles eight three times a year uh Ela and math curriculum based assessments and then similar for the Middle School dibles eight two times a year I ready math mcast math Ela and curriculum based assessments and then the star math screen for nth and 10th grade at the high school English and math curriculum based assessments and mcast for ELA and math and each year the state will set targets we've chosen to just use the state targets because that's what we've consistently been using um and that will be the way that we're measured over time the state will give us a new heat map next year and say okay let's look at that see where we're making progress or not so that's what this is all about and um uh interestingly complex for 50 Grand but it's it's uh just the way the the system functions and in the SOA realm again I don't it really is designed for some of the larger scale school systems that have huge numbers of kids in these gaps that they're trying to to close take any questions or um what was the survey response because I got the survey for the the SOA did you get a good response no it's it's pretty it's usually pretty limited yeah we get a we get a lot of response from uh families with students with disabilities which is great because they are brutally honest uh about their child's experience which is helpful for us so Stacy can sit down with her people and and look at that and use it to say okay this is something that looks consistent across this survey so it was the same way last year we had we had really um the subgroups were the people who responded which was interesting to us but um it's good information it's just good information for us to know to say when a parent says you know my I feel like my kid's not not making a connection with a teacher how do I improve that that's a good thing for us to know so that you know at ninth grade they can make a direct connection make sure that the school counselor knows make sure that the teachers understand and then make a plan for that so no as a detailed survey I thought it was great um and then my second question is when is reporting requ ired on this every year the same time so so we'll we'll take mcast coming up in the next couple of months across the district uh very exciting but it's uh that's the measure we're using and um once we get those results back that'll be the next round of kind of okay where kids are at um we feel like we'll see some some pretty good shifts in that you know as you know the Cutler school was was the lowest out of the elementary schools on their accountability measures but we put some things in place at that at the school Juliana's done a good job at really and her coach have done a good job at trying to make sure that interventions are consistent shifting um times when interventions are occurring for certain grade groups and things like that so it's uh it's an annual report it's much uh more concise it's really like okay how are they doing do you need to change anything what would you change well I just want to say thank you for this because I know that we have had s SOA reports in the past that were just like a list of bullet points that were not as detailed that didn't actually explain anything so I really appreciate um this level of detail and I love that we're actually seeing what you are submitting so I appreciate that as well I know that it's so cumbersome like I think a lot of us have done state or federal grants in this room and this is the gr appre software they changed to recently right of course it's not printable of course it's not like you know you can't download it and put it in PDF I mean like obvious of course not like why would they all kinds of interesting ways but it worked I think it worked so I just appreciate that level of detail so thank you okay other questions okay um and we do need um a vote correct yes we need a vote and I'll right do we have a you have specific wording you need um no it's really uh just to approve the SOA for the April 2024 submission I move at the hamilam Regional School District vote to accept the desie student Opportunity Act um April 2024 submission as presented second second by Jen car are there is there any further discussion questions all right looks like we're ready to vote right all those in favor and that is unanimous and the motion passes we'll submit it on April 1 great thank you for that um next up the agenda item says negotiation subcommittee discussion um I know that um David PLO mentioned this at the last meeting um so we just so normally um so the uh elections are coming up um soon and normally um after the election we would um and we will um reconstitute the board and we would decide on um subcommittee assignments and we will do and we still will but um David and I discussed at um that we are a subcommittee of Two And as we begin um negotiations with the teachers we feel um we need or we would like bring to the committee that we'd like to have a third um David I don't know whether you have much to add much to add I mean it's a it's a it's a big ask um attendance is from the committee members it's kind of a big part of what we're looking for is um because if one of us right now if one of us isn't able to attend um um we can't actually hold a meeting and that's problematic um we've been meeting on Mondays but we have a meeting we have a meeting on we met last Friday meeting tomorrow we meeting tomorrow um that's what I'm actually looking up now yeah we we're looking at a lot of afternoons is what we're looking for the 25th and then we're don't we have a Tuesday we're doing every other do it and then Monday the 1 and then I know we have a Tuesday coming up Tuesday the 9th yeah April and that's yeah that's what we have on those the next meetings yeah so tomorrow Monday the 25th Monday the 1 and then Tuesday the nth and and so tomorrow just so not to get two in the weeds but some some are on most are in person some are on Zoom when we just so tomorrow we're it's just a strategy meeting we're not meeting with the Union um so anyway David take it away I mean what do you want to do I just give you the dates well no I mean in terms of um it sounded like you had had some interest from some people on the board so not to volunteer anybody now but um David and Jen both um said that they'd be willing to help out uh so I don't know how we necessarily want to handle that um could you have a subcommittee of four excuse me could you have a subcommittee of four we can't the seven member maret trust me I would love to yeah no that would be wonderful but we and we actually talked about the logistics of that that we cannot because that would be a majority of the committee and so right I can I can meet Mondays um what time on Tuesday that would be 330 3:30 330 till yeah 630 so I could be there but not until 4 Fridays is a there's no way that one Friday tomorrow I wouldn't be able to make it okay um yeah I mean it's it's a big ask I we yeah but I can do Mondays no problem I don't have any classes on Mondays okay I can do I mean I'm flexible in in my time um yeah I think we probably would want to go with the flexible then just because it has been lining up that it's a Mondays but it's not sort of written in stone I do appreciate you know and then who knows after this I could step off this Sport and die it has been a long year um but um no I think just for the it's say like I said everything has been lining up right now moving into the next um teachers contract um we're actually bringing Mark Terry back into the room to help facilitate everything so his schedule is dictating some of our like needs to be flexible because he's got like seven things that he's doing juggling right now so um that's why it has been consistently Monday but I could see it sort of after the first week in May I'm free all the time that after the election all right so I think um for the short term it probably makes most sense for to just go with David here but I really do appreciate you well I think yeah I mean I think um I think we do um I mean David and I David PLO and I definitely talked about we would value all of you we wish you know um although the logistics of that would be a nightmare um so um I do think if we're going to move someone onto the committee we actually need a vote so it sounds like you're ready to make a nomination or a vote I mean is that yeah yeah I guess I'm the secretary you're the secretary anyway so I I don't want I mean so I moved that uh I nominate David frl um to join the negotiation subcommittee do we have a second second second by Amy kumberg a minimalist motion there yeah was good um do you want to have further discussion I think it's are you sure Jen no I'm just saying well and and again because I know you are not one to shy down from an argument over here I just want to make sure that if you're okay I I don't really want to be on all three commit if I can avoid it that's I wanted to be on negotiations but I was like I'm already on two so that's how I felt that's I volunteered was a lot and you're the chair of finance and I I actually I'm glad that you so I'm I'm okay with this okay just want to make sure you are okay because I I was not going to step in and speak for myself but it is a concern like Noe I totally get it like I said I volunteer just in case nobody else did I appreciate that thank you and thank you to both of you for being willing to step up it's a lot um all right is there any other do you have questions David feeling I guess I'm gonna say are you sure yeah you just say no I'll be fine I'll fine okay are we ready to vote okay um all those in favor all right and that is unanimous um thank you David and thank you Jen um and uh yeah get ready I look forward to okay I may regret it later this is it's actually it's very interesting it get it does get real stress like everything else we do interesting definitely that's true yes um it's important yes all true a big chunk of the budget right it is uh next up is the town meeting flyer and I am going to turn information over to Amy and Eric not sure where you guys want to start yeah do you want start uh sure the um annual Town meetings coming up on April 6th and we always put together a onepage flyer to kind of give the highlight if you will of the budget and um we kept with the same color themes as last year it it's uh it's really uh Amy did the work of trying to fit everything in and make all the pieces of the puzzle fit really tried to to cover the bases and put as much information as we could on here um because there not a lot of big shifts in the budget presentation this year unlike last year and the year before we've had like big asks and uh some things to shift around but in this budget process this covers our operating uh our excess and deficiency and and total revenues on the front we broken out the end and how we're using it um so that people so it's clear for people uh big quote the proposed operating budget increases 1.13% this represents the lowest increase in 10 years which was a quote from Dana from the actual budget book which I you know we want to make sure we we highlight that um because I still think that's an important piece of the conversation for as we move into talk about Fields talk about school buildings and and where the money will go and then on the back side uh I'm going to make this a little smaller really taking a look at all of our debt and each of the items are the current debt amounts that we are um including in the assessment for next year so if you go into the budget book you'll see a a debt assessment of 2,66 694 and we've tried to break it out so that people understand um where it came from one suggestion we got already uh that is a good suggestion is actually adding the dates on you know like the Cutler roof summer 2 2013 project okay that's understandable but winthrip sprinkler system replacement somebody could say wait a minute isn't the winthrip part of the conversation of the new schools so we'll put some dates on there that make sense um another thought I had in the middle of the night driving home was the bottom part where we have the feasibility and the athletic field um websites we may put a just a quick description of here's where we're at in a couple lines and then add a QR code so that people can just click the flyer and go see whatever they want to see um but we're we we brought it here as a draft we're definitely open to any discussions and Amy and I can go back to it and Amy can actually I just do the the drawings and you do beautiful drawings yeah send them send pictures by phone um thank you for doing this I know how difficult this is to lay out at times um I have a couple quick thoughts though on the front excuse me um just sort of the um operating budget and then excess and deficiency and then total revenue um I'd be afraid that people might think that in total revenue are in addition to the total operating budget um because they're all given equal weight right um and yeah you know so like they don't realize that like pulling out um that end and the total revenue are just parts of the overall budget excuse me and then sort of on the back that debt again looks like it's in addition it's not sort of pulled out of any um because even that confused me when I first looked at it and theoretically I know this budget inside and out um so again it looks like it's sort of more things that someone would have to pay in addition to the operate budget um the debt I just think the debt is right so but I think do a better job of explaining what that right this isn't like they're voting to take on additional debt this is that already oh yeah maybe we put put pre-approved debt yeah I because well when you know when Vinnie does that you know the slide that's got the two towns and it and it goes through it you know it is split like this is the operating budget this is the debt um so presumably that'll be yeah I I I mean the debt is it's not new but it is it is separate pre-authorized we could pre-authorized yeah yeah well I the re I was the one that suggested the date mostly mostly because I didn't want um like if you were you know didn't weren't aware of like let's say the winth sprinkler system replacement I didn't want some a citizen to be thinking this was brand new because you thinking wait a minute is now the best time to replace the win sprinklers right so I think what we want to make sure is it in some ways it look like traditionally when we put these out it's what we're asking correct yeah and um so we don't want to make it sound like we're asking for an additional um $2 million in a debt exclusion right yeah it's existing debt or yeah you know if we could sort of lay it out just as um you know operational and debt you know um just as a a function of what it costs to run the district yeah I like that that's it's a I like that it's that this is these are the things you've already signed on for this is all the things we're doing right already yeah existing how is this going to be presented is this going to literally be um printed and then it's typically it's a flyer on like at the table or on your chair at town meeting so this would not be something that would be emailed out in advance I think I it put on we last year I usually put it on my weekly and when that when that goes out my my reason for asking that is um if it's something that is going to be handed out I think that replacing the um URLs with a QR Q code yeah would be a good idea um and then to to your point around like the definition of terms um there would be an opportunity to have a you know this is what these terms mean because I don't think that this is normal nomenclature for individuals that run out household budget right um excess and deficiency what that means uh and so if we were to have a you know a just definition of terms you know QR that you could go to to say you know this is what this is what that means this is what that means it might get around some of the the difficulties and understanding it's good D yeah it is and I like the idea of having it be a a QR code so it's not cluttering up this you know because it is um because there really are I mean I I know just from the past couple years going to town meeting there really are a lot of people walking in and this is their first they're and they're really just looking for a general like you know um I think the back side we can kind of treat as almost an educational piece we could Define some terms we could just say here's a little insight into our debt and projects that we have have ongoing like just kind of give that headline and then all that information would make sense QR codes to more info about these projects I think the back could just I think we could pretty up the term Debo to put around are people concerned I mean people are concerned but is the average person thinking about this because I was thinking what you were saying you normally go to them with the ask and then they're like okay what's this going for like what's the what you know they want to know what have we ACC what are we looking to do right no you're absolutely right usually the front page is like this budget is going to get us X Y and Z but because and I like the idea that you put the quote there because the idea is the budget is a very small increase and that's the that's what we're saying the story right that's the story whereas you're right usually the story is we're asking for this increase and this is what you know um because the I mean the debt I mean the Cutler feasibility study is on there and that is fresh in people's mind a lot of these other things are not fresh in people's mind they're older that was Eric's idea was a good idea about the quote yes because it was such an interesting quote for me I think so I just want to make a note there's a typo I would love my name under it I don't think I ever had you say it right now I never had a 1.1 31 chair um there is a typo there's a space missing between a and 10 super embarrassing um draft this okay yeah um I did want to also just comment that I actually for me I really liked that it um that it was similar like the colors were similar to last year I actually think that I don't know for me I like that it felt familiar like um I'm not sure how many people in the public remember like oh last year this but I get the point you made David about the like putting the end D and other Revenue like that should be under the headline of the total budget it's like just totally yep or something no you're getting all of this this it's only 1.13 but wait there's picture of Dan should I oh that's what we should get like an emoji all our avatars our bit emojis on there the the only other question I would ask about it is if the if the big story is 1.13% increase the the only place that shows up is in the quote right like it there's not like a this is what it was last year and this is what it was this year um and that doesn't mean that's not to say that we should add that it's just to say if that is the message um there's a there's an opportunity to to make that more um explicit it's funny because I hate that that's the message I hate it but it is what it is I mean this is how you know I agree with you that has to be the message we you know but I I don't like that that's the message I think you know cutting this cutting down to the bone shouldn't be the goal and we all know this um and unfortunately this is you know what we we have to do to get it ped but um yeah so that doesn't help you with what you said but I just I think it's a fantastic message and I'm so proud of the work that we did to get there but I hate that we have to be proud that we can't spend more money you know because we would love to if we could planning for the future right exactly you got to play the long game here so you're saying you want to make it like a bigger message or no I'm just saying that like if if that is the the overarching message that we want to put in front of people I think that um the the kind of visual story that's told here I think is wonderful right it kind of leads you through to more and more detail on the right from larger things on the left um but if I'm if I'm following that the only place that I see the the overarching stories in that quote um as opposed to seeing a you know last year it was this this year it's that um but that's only if that's the the purpose of it or the the message that we want to convey it's a message we want to convey I I don't know I not sure I'm thinking about that yeah you have thoughts on that um yeah I think the way that it's working for me visually is I'm looking at the title on the top left and it's right underneath and it's the only large body of text on the page I don't think it'll be missed I feel like the purpose of this is to give folks the info they need on what they're voting on so I don't know I but I defer to like the overall message you want to send on what the the main purpose is the actual budget itself needs to come first but right and you and you have people in the room that are paying attention and have been paying attention for many many years and then you have others that I think Dana said have walked in the room for the first time not sure what what exactly they're voting for so we can look at trying to figure out a way to yeah do a comparative like just a quick like I'm not saying that we no should I'm just saying that I think that if that's the message that that you're looking for like the the part like the Hamilton assessment part um if I didn't know what the numbers were last year the thing that mean makes most sense to me is the pie chart right because I'm able to say like well what is this what is it what does it look like between the two of them right maybe we do maybe we do it that way do an FY 24 assessment versus an fy2 assessment side by side is that I don't know the interesting point like that the assessment has changed a little bit between last year and this year yeah right it's right it becomes more because it's different for each because it's different yeah because all the revenues are subtracted out but I and I will I will reiterate right having done these four years right I really do think the message is how much we're buying such a you know low increase right so I like um I like how listed um again there's just a few things that I think just visually that you can change just so people don't tie everything together is like we're asking you for all of this money we're asking you for n million more on the fun we're asking you for two you're like no you're getting it all we're already [Music] there yep yeah I think that's the easiest the other one a little smaller maybe lower it down a little I I'll share a little design trick too might David PLO you might agree or disagree we say in the biz that where someone holds something in their hands by their thumbs is a really like Primo spot in a hierarchy because you like naturally look at where your hand is yeah David Frank has a copy in person so it is a powerful spot in the layout but that's designer talk no that's it's helpful and I actually think I I I think this conversation is really like for me at least it's really helpful like I like what Trent said was really helpful to think about whether or not it ends up actually being on the page it's really helpful to be really mindful of thinking about like what's the story is that like I that was really helpful for me to start thinking about like yeah is that what we want to say do we want to say the year to year or is it enough to just say I'm actually leaning towards that it's actually enough to just say like 1.13% sort of speaks for itself what I mean considering inflation is pretty amazing you know but but I think it I'm really glad that we had stands out that was good like made me really made me think about right what is the story in Tom meeting I'll do some comparatives like I I will show some of the charts that we have in the budget book so that to kind of underscore the things that are going on like okay well why' you cut 6.5 teach staff members not teacher staff members um well we're seeing continued reduced you know uh population at the secondary level but on the other hand we're seeing an increase in the elementary level so I'll be able to stitch those pieces together in the presentation on the town meeting floor um so are we looking for an approval here are we looking to give you guys you we're in a bind because the moderators want these the week before okay and which is is really the latest I can get it to them is um a week from Monday so it might be that what you're looking for from us is potentially authorization to we can make the changes the notes and you approve it that's you know what I mean like that's what I'm saying I think so right looking but that's what I'm thank giving we could vote to give them just keep going yeah so I can put your picture on it please do use one from like 10 years ago you wish for we'll find a good one is why I was so happy to get oh okay you want to do sure um do we feel like we need to um do we feel like we need to vote on that or do we feel like we just I think so consensus in the room that like generally this is in the right direction and do we want to edit away reinstate the change the overall changes or we good I have not you have notes yeah I got Notes too yep super every just making sure everybody's feeling okay okay all right thank you both thank you um next up it says discuss school committee retreat but um my real goal was to talk about a potential date we can talk about what the retreat what you might be looking for in a retreat later um I just want to start a conversation we don't have to pick a date today but I'm looking for um I have not picked dates I just wanted to sort of have a conversation of you know we've had um typically had a one day summer Retreat um uh and we've just found that the sooner you start putting things on the calendar the more likely it is that everybody will actually be um in attendance so my real intent was just to talk about what kind of dates I say it every I say it all the time I I was just at a planning meeting last night and I said it's always easier to put it on the calendar than take it off and I thought there's David PLO I just laugh at summer dates because Dante's baseball schedule is I can plan anything I want right exactly ruin it um so I guess um so two things one I'd love it if we could just sort of generally talk about dates if if we can sort of throw some things out there and get back you know we can and again scheduling is something we can do over email so you know we can have an email back and forth and then separately I would love it if people are you know have ideas about things that you'd like to achieve at a summer Retreat um to go ahead and start shooting those ideas this way um you know thoughts about that so I mean I don't even know where to begin but like when I I should have written it down I don't know when we did it last year I think it was August I think we tried to do it before right before we before our first meeting I believe it was at in August as well um so um just generally what do people think about in the summer are we going to be looking at a weekend are we looking at during the week afternoons ath yeah was a was a weekend wasn't it yeah it was a Saturday and I think we did I can't remember we had lunch so it must have been like 9 to two or something like that um so so just saying that it was August 5th is I mean know we can put that out there as like the equivalent would be August 3rd or August when when's the first day of school is it before Labor Day or after Labor Day first day of school Hilton second right is it next year the perfect year yeah next year perfect year no the first vation oh okay so that's what could late you just call it the perfect year perfect year yeah we did theend y um I mean for me I like early August but all right so like and I these I'm really just looking for dates that I'm going to put out in an email to you guys and say I don't know what everyone has for like so going away or anything like that a is a Saturday oh no I can't do August third is a Saturday yeah it's a Saturday all right no I I 100% can't do that that's my I pick up you said early August no I said early August but that's the day I have to go pick up my son at Camp I know that okay um all right we definitely want to do a Saturday well that's my that's another question is do you want me to throw out some dates that are not Saturdays or Sundays because I can't do the 10 before the 17th so okay um okay what about Fridays for people I don't know I just have a flexible schedules so I'm the worst to ask I just need a heads up if it's a weekday so I can get someone to I don't know what if other people's schedules are very firm or if Jen has you know summer stuff most of us have some summer flexibil is that accurate yeah like August 9 maybe not planning oning okay that won't work out but right now the plan is doing nothing I literally have pick up calling C here's what I'm going do I'm going to throw out some dates around that first couple of weeks in August I'll send it out in an email and we can kind of see what works and then meantime if people are willing to sort of think about what would feel productive um during that time um that would be helpful information okay okay right thank you thanks for that okay I know just for the um um July 31st or July 30th 31st that whole week I'm at a conference but um starting the fifth should be okay for me if if we want to stick with August or you know we can go into July whatever people want we'll probably do Leadership Retreat at 2 930 of July yeah okay is it helpful for us to meet before then as for retreat doesn't matter actually more to meet not really because we usually do the work need to bring to you got it that's what we did last year was you met just a little bit before that was um okay sounds good good all right I will so I'll get I'll just and maybe I'll you know put out all of those dates in the first couple weeks in August and we can sort of see what the group what the group says um all right thank you um uh I don't think we have anything on finance and operations is that true no how nice for you it's a break we know we're fun um okay um committee reports uh Capital Finance um Jen is not here I can report on our last meeting if I can find my notes um okay we met on March 11th and reviewed six uh Capital Improvement projects boiler work in one of the schools but I didn't in all five okay um asbest tile abatement playground uh surfacing uh bus purchase potential um window replacement in the the administrative building and then window replacement at Miles River um we went through the pros and cons of each of these and rank ordered what um our recommendations were for prioritization um and the first was uh boiler work and playground resurfacing um because boiler work was um going to be deferred maintenance that could potentially lead to much larger costs playground surfacing was because it's a safety issue and then window replacement of the administrative building also was because of a safety issue those were our first uh order of business second was aestus tile abatement uh and then uh below that was uh the bus purchase and then window replacement at Miles River that was mainly a cosmetic concern so it was lowest on our on our recommendation list we're meeting uh again on April 22nd okay all right thank you for that um anybody have any questions did you approve a whole list of minutes while you were there I'm I'm reading from the minutes that I I took they were I think they were there's only one missing those minutes actually are the only ones missing first agenda item on on my minutes was approval of minutes absolent um all got approved all right and that's not even that was on March 11th so that's not even doesn't even count as missing because it's less than 30 days finally I not missing minutes I wasn't even at that meeting but I those minutes so I can submit them um okay uh no I have a question yeah about the asbest abatement was there Eric was there any specific trigger event that led to that particular asbest abatement or is this just part of the routine of gradually getting rid of all the ases over time yeah it's part of the routin there three more classrooms left in buer uh we did the wing at the very end last year and it's just the remainder to completely a baker tile okay thank you all right well while we're asking questions I I had a question about the windows you it sounded like there were some windows at the that you prioritized near the top and some windows that you prioritized near the bottom yeah so um there windows in the administrative building that apparently spontaneously close yes I think that's true fall and fall out yeah yeah oh that's another benefit of negotiations it's also very cold so while we were uh ranking these um safety was a primary concern and then and then I the other one was a cosmetic issue at most of the windows in the Middle School yeah and so that was not a safety issue was window fogging okay is it a energy issue probably okay so if we can afford them all then that's great no thank you for thank you I appreciate it um okay anybody have anything else on that okay policy uh no progress other than the uh the one motion that we're supposed to put on the agenda at an up right at an upcoming meeting y okay yeah you and I could talk about that yeah y yep okay um negotiations so we have a new member really who is it exciting news uh we met Monday in um with the office personnel and we have another meeting with them scheduled in two weeks that's the first first excuse me tomorrow we begin our strategy session for our first meeting on Monday with the um teachers so big one getting right into it what what time is that by the way St there 3 that's 3:30 and it's on on Zoom 3:30 3:30 tomor tomorrow's 3:30 on Zoom Monday is 3:30 in person I'll send you the link okay thank you I was planning on touching okay thank you yeah so that's what's going on um I don't know if you guys have any moved at all we have have reached out twice asked them for dates and have been put on hold so we we're on hold they were in in a bit of a hurry and that things have slowed down a little bit we're we're we were targeting the first or second week in April to kick off just haven't heard back from the ask me okay um and right back to you David on the oh unless anybody had any questions for negotiations all right and then secretary report um just cleared up a whole bunch of Capital Finance and um it looks other than that there's a few from the policy committee 10 two the same one 10122 and then 172 I have Missy okay okay thank you very much I appreciate that and I appreciate um everyone doing the work to get us um all caught up nice clean sleep it is it's nice um so excited uh okay um to you Eric okay few items on the list this evening I'm excited to announce that uh Jennifer hunt has accepted the position as Cutler School principal pending negotiations we did the first round of negotiations today and look like they'll go fine uh our attentative start date will be July 1 2024 that's our annual start date um uh for for our administrative contracts uh I I want to thank the entire Cutler Community participating in the interview process both both the the parent groups and the teacher groups the leadership team the feedback for me was invaluable and in making decision that the candidates were really neck and neck as we got into the final two and then um give you a little bit of information about uh Jennifer Han she's a com she has a combined 10 years of experience as an elementary administrator uh 13 years of Elementary School teaching in a fully inclusive classroom been the Principal of West Elementary School in Andover uh which has an enrollment of 565 students uh for the last five years before that she was principal of the Clark Elementary School in swampit uh she believes in the importance of building strong relationships within a school community Through communication and fostering a sense of belonging while creating trust uh she also has served in the past as a cultural competency committee for four years uh in Andover and she served as the chair of the cultural inclusion awareness and opportunity committee working closely with the school community and families to create diverse cultural learning experiences for all um you know the the one thing I think is important is the the thing that pushed Jennifer over the top was her relationships and her connections to everybody she met I mean even we walked through classrooms and um even with kids it was it was instant so we're excited to have her she's very excited to be here that was the you know one of the uh loudest responses I've had to a job offer over the phone and uh excited about that and she's you know we met this morning and she's still you know really really excited to get going so we are excited to welcome her to the team and look forward to the progress she'll be able to make at the Cutler um we are in the process of interviewing custodians for an open night position we're just about finished there um we are also starting next week to interview candidates for the open director of facilities maintenance and operations meaning I'll I'll handle that next week and hopefully be able to uh come forward with uh uh candidate out of that process we have we had uh about a dozen applicants between School spring and Linkedin and um thinned out the pile to people who had specifically School experience and and some of the things that we were looking for in our in our in in our uh job description that we posted and it looks pretty good it looks it looks promising so we're excited to to get that started next week and then this past week I don't know if this is on your list I'm sorry if I take it away from you we uh completed the safety charette for the Cutler project and and basically what that is the charet the fancy word for meeting um so the police in fire in both towns uh the team members jcj PMA members of the district uh Dana was there we really took the opportunity to work with a consultant for jcj who does the safety um development like erass um Access Fire controls uh sprinkler controls fire lane around the buildings safety glass in it you know where where ballards get posted those are the the concrete posts in the ground in front of entries and exits um so it was a good opportunity to hear about uh some of the things that our team is thinking about in in the the development of one of the projects and um it was good for them to connect with the fire department because even things like the size of the hose coupling that they use which I would have never thought of but that's an important piece of the puzzle when you're putting in uh you know a uh a hose attachment within so many feet of the building so it was it was interesting it was our second we did the sustainability one a couple weeks ago and this one is is safety and what happens is once we shift into design phase when they actually know what we're going to do then they they get deeper into it and they'll invite everybody back again for more deep deep conversation about what the expectations are for like the fire annunciator panel uh Communications to uh police and fire from the buildings emergency things things that have to do with security and lockdown so it'll get much more complex as we move into it but it was fun it was interesting and I think that is all I have on my list tonight couple of extra questions did can you just comment on where where you are with the the survey for the latest start for for the for the latest start time oh the the you mean the delayed the yeah the delayed start for y so that's I think the 20 hold on let me look on my calendar again I think I you and I had this conversation we are the 26 it is on my calendar to send out the lead start survey on Tuesday the 26th right right and um what was the other question I had oh yeah the the letter we got we all got from from um I forgotten who the sender was about the significant um uh lower lowess I guess of the Cutler performance can you comment is there any obvious cause for that that that you've identified or is there any action that you're planning the the only thing I would say getting a new princip yeah the only thing I'd say right now is i' really we really leaning on what we've been doing with the mtss and the really personalized interventions with kids we're we're U measuring kids figuring out where they're at and then integrating personalized interventions uh the difference in in the the Cutler program has been they actually jumped on board math this year because that was one of the lower uh I think it's the lowest I think it was the lowest of the elementary school to to score in math so they jumped on that this this year their coaches uh also math specialist uh she's that's her that's her specialty area so they were able to start working work on that right away where the other schools are still working through that curriculum process um so th those are the two pieces of the puzzle that'll really help to drive that and then once we actually get into a unified curriculum in math across all the elementary schools then it's just like the literacy we'll be able to manage you know how things are happening and and develop interventions for the for any any of the kids that are that are lagging or kids that we find in the the um the subgroups okay thank you yep I just said one thing um sorry were you no I just said that was a good question oh um thank you for sending out a message about the friends groups because I think that the fact that it was you know not in your uh larger message and then came out separately uh probably got it in front of people's eyes and yeah I've heard that helped so that all J yeah it's always fascinating we're always like okay what should we send out individually what do we keep inside it's and it's funny because people go really do go out of the way to say I read your me I read your message every week so I was like okay this is great you know but it is a lot some weeks you start to read through it and I don't you know sometimes it's hard to make it to the bottom with all the things that are happening we're trying to cover so many bases so sometimes we do that just to out in front of people okay questions all right good thank you um I actually really don't have anything to say I was going to mention that I learned a new word on the shet I've been to two now shetes um and you know when Jen sent it to me I was like uh I am available and I will just quickly Google what that is and um um but yeah no it's been both of both were very interesting both the security as well as the sustainability um were interesting certainly learned a lot um and also a lot of things the gck said would never have never have thought of um all right um does anyone have any questions for me okay um topics for future [Music] meetings the one so we have a from the policy subcommittee we have a IAQ yeah topic right I've been I've had it suggest me that we should rename it the the healthy building policy rather than policy which I think is a good idea okay um anybody else have anything else okay I think I would entertain a motion if anyone has one I'd like to move it be a is there a second second second by Julia Campbell um is there any discussion all those in favor and that is unanimous of the six members present and we are adjourned great what time on April 22nd