[Music] sh hi Jose hi everyone oh hi Jose I'm glad Jake said that because I did not see you I don't know why so I think let's see who else are you waiting for Jake uh I think for this meeting we're all set okay on our ring Curtis will be a little bit late so if everyone's amenable we can get started um and if someone could just in your mind if you see Curtis just like write down the time if I haven't done it I would appreciate it okay so I would like to call the Mount Greylock Regional School District school committee to order this is the public hearing and school committee meeting it's Thursday March 14th 2024 6:00 p.m. we are meeting remotely via Zoom this meeting will be broadcast live on Willette TV channel 1302 in Williamstown and available on both Wily net.org and the Mount Greylock Regional School District YouTube channel within 24 hours of the meeting if we could please call the role alphabetically by last name Bowen I conry I uh Constantine here Curtis they'll be joining us later green here Malloy here Miller here thank you at Mount grock Regional School District our mission is to create a community of Learners working together in a safe and challenging learning environment that encourages restorative based processes respect inclusive diversity courtesy integrity and responsibility through expectation and cooperation resulting in lifelong learning and personal growth the first item on our agenda was the student update but we will not be having the student update tonight because there is a mandatory athletic meeting for students and parents tonight so we will move into the mount gra Greylock Regional School District fy2 public hearing budget presentation thank you Christine Joe do you do you want to start do you want me to start do you want me to do the slides or do you want to control the slides why don't you start and I'll do the slides how about that thank you and uh we we do apologize to those of you who uh were were torn between being here or being with your student athlete over at uh at Spring Athletics meetings tonight um so we apologize maybe or maybe we say you're welcome because you would rather be here than there so uh maybe we should apologize to other members of your family but thank you for joining us tonight and thank you for everybody that's that's uh joining us um online or will be watching us on Willy Netter YouTube um this year thank you to the the wisdom of Joe berson we we started internal budget conversations uh extremely early this year really really starting to get substantive uh around midt to beginning of October uh internally with our team and among our central office and among our administrative team um because we could see really with sort of the the the the two-fisted um budgetary challenges that we going to be going on which include inflation on one hand and um Federal covid money is drawing to a to a quick end on the other hand that there was the potential for this to be a challenging year um when we pair that up with some of the the challenges that um our communities are facing which like many challenges are not necessarily a bad thing it's just a thing but it does create a challenge for folks like our finance committees and the boards and the individuals that set tax rates that um you know what what people are paying for uh their property taxes thanks to increasing home values which is a good thing on one hand but it certainly does increase the amount of money that you have to pay merely to stay in your home and enjoy the the quality of the community uh of where your home resides so we do understand that this is a challenging year this year and um Joe if you just back up one slide I I'll go through um those those bullets so tonight we're just going to lay out our vision uh for this year's budget we're going to talk about our challenges a little bit we're going to put our spending for the Mount Greylock Regional School District into the context of the greater region and and in fact do some comparisons from across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts um Joe will be providing a budget summary just to really go through all of the hundreds of pieces that comprise that bottom line that we take into our town meeting meetings um we will be examining our financial position relative to excess and deficiency to school choice and to tuition funds and then we will be having a conversation with uh with the school committee um and um and having a vote to accept a bottom line number so that we can begin to prepare to go into uh our finance committees in Lanesboro and in Williamstown and and continue having substantial conversations with them and so before we jump in we we certainly all owe a debt of gratitude probably several hundred debts to to Joe for um his keeping a finger on the pulse of our budget uh in the Statewide context and in the local context for 365 days a year um a year at a time and we're very grateful to those of you on the school committee that um keep an eye on what's happening around the state that keep an eye on what's happening in our two towns um thankful to to Carrie for staying so in touch with um State Powers through the Massachusetts Association of school committees to keep informed of what's happening and uh and we're really grateful to not only the folks out in our towns that actually write checks for their tax bills or go online and pay their tax bills every year which is what allows us in a district like Mount Greylock to do do virtually everything that we do um but thank you to our town administrators our select boards our finance committees in the town finance offices that we work with closely year round to make sure that we are delivering the best product that we can deliver to our students and to our families but also to the towns that we're here to serve um and with that we'll move into a little bit of our our vision for the budget you know the the way that we approach this this is year four of you seeing some variation of this from Joe and I we provide for our students the things that we're required by law to provide that's really our our foundational level of what is a public school obligated to provide to the people for which it exists um and and so we do provide to our students what we are required by law to provide and that's not the same thing for each and every one of our individual students it can vary based on student need but we certainly do provide what we are legally obligated to provide we have the uh the privilege and the luxury in these communities to provide the services the people the Staffing the experiences and the places that our students our families and the community members that were here to serve not not only deserve and expect but but much of what they want for their children which is why they chose to purchase a home in Lanesboro why they chose to make a home in Williamstown um and and we listen to those folks and we understand it's important that we provide what we're legally obligated to provide but we're also sensitive to what our community wants and needs and deserves and then finally there are there are some things that maybe don't fit into either of those previous two categories um those are the things that we know as Educators that we believe as Educators some of us with um several decades under our belt of being Public School Educators um these are the things that we know we have to provide simply because we are decent caring human beings that care about care for and uh and and know that that that um that that that burden which is not a burden at all but really A pleasure and an honor of care that we owe our communities and uh I am just going to show that Curtis jumped on at 610 you will pardon that brief Interruption Interruption and welcome Curtis uh and so this is how we go about budgeting what do we have to do what do we do because our community deserves it and then what do we do because we know it is the right thing to do we can move on to the next slide Joe um serving our students our families and our communities we we work to be responsive to the needs of our complex and changing Society um it's uh there's almost not a day that goes by um I I found myself today speaking with a couple of Educators at Lanesboro the end of the day um I actually use the phrase um kids these days and um and uh one of my colleagues was uh was was was a teacher and a par professional um both of them almost stepped on one another to call me out on um on really Jake uh really you're using that phrase now we were we were talking about digital cameras as opposed to film cameras but um there there's almost not a day that goes by where we are not our principles are not our classroom teachers our par professionals where we are not dealing with the realities of not only the the the tiny bits of real estate that we occupy in Lanesboro and Williamstown but but Society r large in a in a national community and in a global community and we need to be responsive to that we need work to be responsive to the needs of these two very special uh unique communities that comprise the district as well to the communities around us that we also serve like new Ashford and Hancock and the communities that we serve um through school choice communities in Vermont that we serve through tuition uh work and um the communities that we work with uh the educational communities particularly like the North Adams public schools and mccan and uh our colleagues at the at the BART Charter Public School and at husk Valley and in Pittsfield um we we really uh take seriously that we are public servants that serve very special communities we work to be responsive to the varying individual needs of our students and meet them where they are in terms of their academics in terms of where they are socially in terms of where they are emotionally in terms of where they are developmentally and not not only do we work to meet them exactly where they are but we help them and to work with their families with their parents with their Guardians with their caretakers to start really building aspirations and we're meeting them where they are in order that we can help them achieve those places where they want to be that their trajectory for their time with us is appropriate to where who and what they want to be doing when they're 25 and 35 and 45 and 55 and we work to do all of this work in efficient ways and in coste effective ways because we do realize that the resources that we have are not Limitless this is one of those years where we are particularly reminded of that um we're really not flush with uh money from the federal government in response to covid this year um we are hearing our communities when they say you have our full support but in order to support everything else that we need to support in order to be the most livable just communities that we can be we have to we have to uh fund and provide resources to to a number of programs and a number of people that serve our community our community with a Capital C and we understand that the needs and the wants of our communities are growing just as our needs and our wants and responsiveness as a Regional School District uh continue to grow so our enrollment figures as we've seen you know even going back to October and November when we were talking about enrollments our enrollment figures continue to be above our own expectations and certainly well above the expectations set by the Burkshire County Regional Planning Commission and we're grateful for their work um and we continue to use Ed their their uh 2020 report as a benchmark for for where we should be where we want to be and and really pushing where we aspire to be and um this year uh in particular and and sadly because of the budget constraints that some of our neighboring districts are facing um we have a fairly massive list of school choice applications as we sit here in mid-march uh it's it's you know we we always have a size I list of applications but um it it's very clear to me based on simply the the size and it grows every day literally um that that some of our neighbors are having to face really really significant challenges and make um brutally difficult choices which are causing some of the people they serve to perhaps look elsewhere um our numbers of very specialized very nuanced um uh needs continues to increase that's no surprise our professional development and our staffing needs continue and must continue to evolve to meet the diverse needs and wants of our student population and the expectations of our family and when we're talking about Staffing and some of our professional development um some of it goes beyond the needs and the wants to that foundational piece of our budget approach which is the law requires it um in terms of serving students with special needs on individualized education plans uh in terms of serving students who are multilingual Learners and learning um English as they learn um seven or eight pieces of subject matter um and then some of those very specialize needs and this is a real driver in our budget this year as you will hear when Joe gets into to some of the more nitty-gritty some of these very very specialized very fine focus needs are needs that cannot be served within um the boundaries of our own two communities um and even if we were able to serve those students hypothetically I'm not sure that we could hire the staff with the expertise who would best serve those students or do so in a coste effective uh Manner and so we we pay for those students students to go outside of our district to be educated um many costs that we are facing uh and many of our increases are coming in at a higher rate than our towns can really afford given the 360 degrees of community care that the towns are responsible for providing because just as everything is going up in cost for us everything is also going up in cost for seniors centers for libraries for fire departments for police departments for water departments for DPW for all of the services that our towns provide they are subject to the exact same um cost increases that we are and um and we're very grateful to the folks in the towns who who serve in the uh the unglamorous roles of having to divvy up those resources to make sure that that our towns work for everybody growing enrollments increasing needs and not only increasing needs in number but increasing levels of need seeing things that even those of us that are kind of quote unquote Old-Timers have not seen before uh and the ever increasing cost of educating young people A through Z creates real real challenges to sustainability and affordability I'm grateful to Julia grateful to the superintendent Association um uh an article from the Boston Globe hit my inbox today both from Julia and from the the superintendent Association around um I think three or four towns in particular in Eastern Massachusetts that we would probably step back and say those are incredibly well-funded communities those are not communities that struggle to fund the things they need to fund in order to thrive um these are communities that are looking at at sometime times overrides of millions of dollars uh and then we look at some of the communities that that struggle more um from from an economic perspective and um the loss of covid money and and some of the things that they're facing that again out here in our corner of the Commonwealth we're not necessarily facing um we are among many many in fact I would say the majority of districts in the Commonwealth of really looking around and going we can get through this year um but we're going to have to maybe Rob a little bit from next year in order to get through this year and of course that reminds all of us um that this is perhaps not a a long-term sustainable model that we can focus on and so determining how and and with what ideas and with what frequency to um to to really be in communication with the state be in communication with our own towns and town officials about how do we make this work this year next year 51 15 and 20 years from now is vital and this requires Communications uh constant open transparent Communications and it really depends on having um Faith filled trust filled Partnerships and relationships uh within the communities that we're here to serve Lanesboro in Williamstown primarily uh and with folks across the state and we're we're again very grateful that we have been having budget conversations um with the finance committees from our two towns as as we talk about adopting a budget tonight we've been having months and months and months and months of conversations with those Finance committees and those Finance committees have been having months and months and months of conversation among themselves with other Town officials with other Town boards um there has been a group that's been meeting for probably five or six months that's comprised primarily of Williamstown but also inclusive of the Lanesboro finance committee that Carrie is a part of that is looking at um strategic and smart and sustainable ways to um carry the debt for capital projects that the towns must have in order to move forward uh in safe and sustainable ways and so I I just you know do have to say as much as a lot of this news that we're talking about tonight is somber and as much as it might sound like um the annual exercise and hand ringing coming from uh the school district superintendent uh this this superintendent this educational leader feels very fortunate to be serving communities where um we we talk about this stuff year round so nobody is taken by surprise and not only do we talk about it but we work together to try to find ways to to not only serve the school Community best but to serve the whole community that we're all here to serve and I'm very grateful for that and I think we can move on um and this is the this Joe doesn't like when I use this phrase um but uh this is when I kind of you know hand over the um the English major part of the presentation to the economics major um that's that's sitting on the screen and uh and certainly you know we're both here and happy to answer questions as we go through the uh the presentation so thank you Joe the way I actually described it earlier today was he can provide the inspiration for a few slides and then I'll I'll be the somber the somber tour guide through the rest um nothing that we're about to walk through is um new it's it's all the same stuff that we've covered over the last couple of months of meetings um so I'll just I'll just in case somebody does need to take a nap I think it's I'm just going to hit upon the things that we really need to reinforce as we as as we talk um so the budgeting challenges that we're facing this year all the usual things around salaries health insurance retirement contributions some supplies and services costs increases um you know all of that's normal and the growth there quite honestly is is pretty is pretty normal and and in many ways would create a very pedestrian year for us um within a 3% type increase normally um the things that are unusual are that at Mount Greylock Regional School we've we've seen a significant Rise um in outof District tuition needs um and the associated transportation and and other services costs um at lboro elementary school we we have a number of teachers who are preparing for retirement in the coming years and that triggers some contractually um some contractual obligations around separation costs upon their retirement that we need to have um additional funds in the budget for and at Williams mentioned school we have a continued heightened need for um one-on-one assignments that that has led to us really needing to carry forward more pair of professionals into next year um than perhaps when we were sitting here last year we we would have said we would be doing um so those are all the less usual things that make this uh quite honestly a more challenging year than we would like all of that said um and this is no different from what you saw a couple weeks ago um we within our peer group group as well as within our Geographic grouping um we're operating about as efficiently as we could possibly hope um and I and I like the fact that that Julia highlighted during our last meeting that um we're we're both a bargain and a value um opportunity here for for families and I think it it speaks volumes that we do have such a school choice in application set this year that we are even though we are third lowest in the county in terms of total per pup expenditure um that that we are really a beacon here within the county and and generally doing quite well although we've got plenty of room to grow um so these numbers we are certainly going to be taking to the town finance committees um they will see a variation of of what you had during the budget Workshop um so that they can digest that as well um now in in terms of what we're doing with the budget that that you have within your packet um and it was posted for the public a couple days ago um we are still trying to work within retirements and plan departures um we are planning on not replacing one teacher at each of the three schools so we'll see a a slight St Staffing incre decrease as a result um we are in active conversations around Mount Greylock Regional School about what the increased cost structures that we're seeing mean in terms of both the present and the future for how we schedule and potentially what electives we offer at Mount Greylock um and we'll also be scaling back some of our general education summer programming as we look at this year and and towards the future um those are the things that we're doing to try to make this budget work in the bigger context um we're also spending more than we'd like from revolving accounts um tuition Choice excess and deficiency um um we feel I shouldn't use the word comfortable but we feel as though it's the correct choice to do so one because if needed we can accelerate the scheduling and curriculum changes at Mount Greylock in time for FY 26 um so that we don't continue to erode the balances in those accounts um at the pace that we that we are planning on doing for fy2 um we're also working with our towns and and they are hearing us when we say that we do need help um we cannot sustain these percentage increases year-over-year and maintain um or preferably enhance the programming that we offer it's just not financially possible um and and I think it's part of the conversations that we've had with them and also just the the point at which we are at um internally is that we are fortunate enough to have funds on hand um our towns want us to spend those funds before we go out and raise property taxes um any more significantly than they are currently planning on needing to do in order to get into fy2 and as they look ahead um those reserves exist for moments like this where we have certain costs that have jumped up in a way that our towns cannot cover um that said in terms of that stability um this is the same table that you saw you know of course uh during the budget Workshop um I did add in uh the fiscal year 25 projections for Revenue um that we have for uh both tuition and choice um these numbers are numbers that many school districts would be very envious about um that said they are also numbers that protect us from needing to go back to Town's midy year saying that we've got costs that we can't cover um and there numbers where once they decrease bringing them back up is a is a difficult difficult task um so we don't take this lightly but at the same time um this does seem like the moment if there is ever a moment to actively utilize them while carrying on the conversations about what we're going to do next given that this is the state that we are that we are navigating um so now the fy2 budget um PDF that you have within your packet um that's where we can turn our attention to in a moment um I will say that nothing has um changed materially from it um there were some small tweaks within numbers but but nothing different um conversationally from what you had during the budget Workshop so I think we should probably open it up to conversation now I can certainly put things up on the screen but I think everybody everybody's got it if they want to be scrolling around so with that yes Carrie um so did we get any feedback from the towns after our budget Workshop about um their ability to um contribute more we we did I I think it'll be interesting to see what happens during our meetings with the finance Committees of the Two Towns um I I think both Town Halls heard us loud and clear um at this stage in their budgeting process I think G given that we're working with with two towns and and and they're in they're in different um stages within all of their conversations internally I think everybody wants to contribute more um it's possible that one town is saying let's let's go on ahead and try to do it and the other town is saying we're not so sure we need to we need to figure that out um but I think that's part of the the joy and the challenge of of working within a regional context is is that we're not really dealing with one conversation we're dealing with a community of of uh towns and their conversations and so I think everybody's hearing us everybody wants to continue talking but it isn't as though we we have uh we have anything set that's saying please do increase your Appropriations this year um I have more to say on that but the um the slide prior to so the slide that said budget summary um could you explain the first point that it would accelerate the changes to the curriculum um I mean I know you talked about potentially needing to make changes but how is that going to accelerate the changes that might be needed in the future the the statement was around as we look towards FY 26 right um we're going to have a couple of different things that might happen one thing might be that costs just disappear um that's not likely given given what we're seeing another is that we enter the the budget cycle and both towns know and are working on more significant percentage increases for us um and then the third would be we'd have this year to figure out how to it how to change how we do our business at the middle and high school to decrease costs in FY 26 so the the statement was around we are knowingly going into this coming year saying we're doing something that's not sustainable but we've got a few different things that that are all possible for as we look at FY 26 one would be cost decreases um just naturally another would be that we change the way we operate to decrease costs and then and then the third would be more money comes from our from our two member towns well the state or the federal government or the state or the federal government you know those are levers that are much more difficult for us to actually um pull but well I'm not sure they're any more difficult actually but I'll I'll uh come back later if I give other people a chance Steve so uh building on what uh Carrie just said in conversation with you and what you just said is I think we have enough so that we will be okay this year we are fortunate that we have the Reserves but we are not adding positions we are not adding things that we would all love to do and I know this is painful to many members of the community and so because of this I'm going to bring up something I've brought up before that you know we are elected to unfortunately sometimes discuss painful issues respect but to put things on the table that have to be on the table so I'm really worried about where things are going to be in another year or two there are a lot of trends that move exponentially and so the earlier you start these spendings the better and so there's really three things we can do you know one is we can advocate for economic development to increase the pie so that there's more to distribute the second thing we can do is we can raise taxes and look for other sources of income and the third is we can basically uh cut expenditures and not just at the school but we can look and see where is all the money in the state where's all the money in the federal government going what are the priorities what are we spending money on because every dollar we spend on X is a dollar we don't have for something else during the pandemic I remember at one point we were told that you know we're bringing home kits for kids to test for covid and everybody should take them and use them because they're free well we may not be directly paying for the kits but the kits still cost money and it's resources being allocated to the kits that could be allocated to something else this doesn't mean it was wrong to send the kids home it doesn't mean it was wrong for the kids to be testing but it just means it's a conscious decision we have to make and so I think I think everybody would support providing more money for the schools if you could wave a magic wand and do that without having to worry with those funds come from but we have to be responsible and we have to Advocate to the state and to the federal government about where our budget priorities what are the state and federal government spending money on and not just we have to spend more money on education but where's that money going to come from and so I I won't go into too much detail right now as to where I think that should be but I would love it if people would work with me on a resolution for the masc about funding priorities in the future because I really worry about the budgets are going to be in future years not just for us but for the other towns thank you Julia um thank you Steve you went big I was gonna go smaller um in thinking about what our options are [Music] um so in that presentation you shared Joe that um you there your hope is that a year from now um if there's no additional Revenue we will have identified ways to change the schedule or the curriculum offerings at the Middle High School to reduce costs and I um I guess I'm curious I I I feel like voting for this budget um is also saying we believe that will happen um and that that so that we don't have to continually have um uh be dipping into our reserves as much um can you just share a little bit about how that process works um what kinds of things might be um I you know I know you can't get into specifics per se but what is the process and timeline for how that might work and how we might be kept apprised or aware of where that you know where you all are in that process well there there are a few different angles that that it will be approached I mean one is that throughout the administration within that building as well as the district office there will be conversations about how the schedule is built whether or not we can make it any more efficient without losing any of the diversity of offerings and the and the and the Really the choice that that students have have uh you that's one part of the conversation another part is uh are there certain offerings that that that we can figure out how to how to offer in a way that's more costeffective that that does not require um as many people to to offer the same to offer the same thing um and then the final you know the the final one that doesn't just involve reorganizing the way you approach things um would be to actually eliminate some some opportunities um and all of those will happen at the school and the district level first they will filter up to the school committee and then and then decisions will be made um and and Jake I don't know if there's I I kind of set the table for process but but in terms of the the spirit behind it um I think it's too early to to say too much of of anything in detail yeah it is we we've been working for several weeks may maybe maybe even a couple of months with um really as we kind of do year round really digging into particularly the middle and the high school schedule around what what starting with electives just to be transparent what what electives and then what what is not being used it being used well being used in ways that that we appreciate and that we value but perhaps not being used as efficiently what teaching periods are not being used as efficiently as they could be and what are some options to deal with that I think those are really the kind of things that we are looking at from uh foreign language offerings to uh you know some core classes that just the way scheduling happens are not not using class sizes that that are maximizing what we could do but but nice to have but not maximizing what we could do and still uh still likely be 50th percentile or above in terms of class size across the state um so we're really looking at those kind of things and and then even down to the to the to the nitty-gritty of what what softwares are we subscrib ring to that we don't absolutely have to have they're nice to have but we don't have to have um looking at things like uh activity buses like the late buses that run you know North and South um just just really trying to think about how do we keep the core program intact um and do things that are going to hurt but not mutilate um and you you know and that's where and not to not to keep banging this drum but in that first part of the presentation uh th this notion of of needs expanding is is really the challenge and everybody that's ever worked in a school and may maybe every organization knows this uh so so maybe this is like kindergarten level lesson but um you know the race between needs needs expanding and resources we have to address those needs expanding this is one of those years that we're just struggling to keep up that that that the the ability to provide resources is not keeping up with with the growth of the needs and um that's really uh you know going going back to to 2020 or so the the state in my opinion took took a Great Leap Forward and actually addressing what it what it costs to to educate in in in an environment where we expect all students and not just using the word all because it's nice to use but actually meaning all students to learn at higher levels um so this is one of those years where some some of the nice things that we do some of which are Beyond nice to really necessary for some kids we may have have to scale back and look at or look at other ways of doing them that are more efficient so uh josean K are you okay if I do follow up question here um thank you one part of my question was timeline and you it sounds like you're already doing that investigation so you might even Implement some changes to SK the schedule for 2425 it is it is possible that we will Implement some very light changes for 2425 but I I think as Joe and I were having the conversation about okay how much money should we borrow from 2026 to make 2025 work we we knew that we could not even not not with um we would not be serving the communities the way the communities deserve or expect of us if we didn't start planning at that moment for the fact that it's great to Kick the Can down the road but at some point on our journey we're going to catch up with that can and and unlike larger forms of government we can't keep kicking we we have to own the can at some point so so um potentially some very very some some light uh alter alterations to next year but but really looking at more substantial types of things for for that uh for the following school year for fiscal 26 juliia yep thank you because I I can imagine you might be able to find the less controversial less less um you know precious cuts to make for next year um but beyond that you know to Steve's point that we hard decisions may have to get made hard decisions may have to get made here too not just at the state level but at our you know um School level and I I know those take time and input from all the people and so I just um I hope that we are kept apprised of that process pretty early in the year so that we know what direction we're moving in um through the year understood and agreed and thank you for the point josea I think you were maybe next yeah thank you thank you Jake and um I'm just going to follow on from from Julia's points um and and and just uh I think just sort of a um trying to choose my words carefully I think it's a plea is probably the best word to choose here uh or to use here um a plea to our communities to recognize how difficult our situation is and how difficult it's likely how increasingly difficult it's likely to be be moving forward you know I hear language around you know optimizing efficiency um in the context of increasing sort of student needs I think Joe as you demonstrated at Williamstown Elementary um you know the the needs for one1 student support uh is probably higher this year than we might have expected um for folks who in in Williamstown are you know paying attention to some big conversations that are happening on our planning board and our finance committees I think you know I think we can all agree that we're at a Crossroads here for our communities and I think um kind of reiterating Julia's Point uh and maybe expressing some concern about how our town finance committees are hearing this plea for help uh and maybe even more importantly how are they remembering this plea for help you know in roughly a year's time it's very likely that our our very own school committee will have a very different or at least a slightly different makeup than it does now um our town finance committees our planning boards you name it so where's the memory built in around these please for help and this recognition that you know our school district in terms of what we provide and and the programming that we provide our students could be very different two years from now and so maybe Joe and Jake you know I don't know if you were feeling confident about about you know these conversations that you're having and how they'll be remembered and if you're feeling confident that these pleas are going to be answered in some way because I think our Town's you know our town budgets are just going to be you know however strain they are now they're likely to be even more strain going into the future so how how are you envisioning this going going going forward go ahead Joe oh I I think there are a range of of ways that this is working right now I mean one I I think that both of our towns have had a fair amount of um consistency over time with respect to representation and conversations you know we have not seen a lot of um Whiplash within our towns in that way which I think is is it's of real value um the I burkers article that was posted after the budget Workshop you know that headline will exist in Google for for far longer than than any of us um will be on our in our seats and and on our committees um and and I think additionally as we look at the conversation around this budget this year and what happens with the finance committee presentations over the next couple of weeks um the there's a very different tone and a very different set of background and foundational information there for us to work with that then we've had in the past um and so I think from from bottom to top top to bottom the way we're approaching this is by necessity A multi-year continuing conversation and and and so I I feel good about that I I I feel good that one we're not blind sighting them um and and two that that we are making it very clear that we cannot continue the way we are um and that this needs to be top of mind for everybody and I think you see some of the other headlines as as I think you just pointed out that the finance committees and the planning boards that the folks looking at the at the mall property in lboro you know that everybody knows that we either grow or we wither and and that that is really the the only way from an economic and and um Community perspective that we can view the conversations and so I think that's um that's alive and well and and if everybody follows through and keeps it up then I think we'll be in good shape Jose I thought you were going to make a campaign announcement but you know I yeah I was going to say time and place but uh know seriously we we we have the I I think we have kind of a a dual track of of good fortune and also um just we understand the importance of reaching out to you know we we really get in our district office we really get that you know we're a Regional School District so we exist as an entity among ourselves but we are completely and utterly dependent on two other completely separate entities Lanesboro and Williamstown and um you with with Town administrators now firmly in place and uh you know Gina I think is in her second or third year Bob is in his uh second or third year um I I you know the the relationships we have even if there's some turnover I think there's there's we already know there's going to be turnover in the Lanesboro finance committee um from from reading the reporting in I burkers um you know we're very grateful to those folks but we we're um I hope we're not bothersome but we are communicative uh and so and and because we know that we depend on the towns and the towns a lot of their Vitality a lot of what they have to offer to any body that's considering moving there staying there making a life there is about what happens at lboro elementary Williamstown Elementary and MB lck Regional School so um I you know our team will remain communicative and and be the holders of of institutional memory uh even even if some of the Town teams experience some change um Chris Carrie are you okay if we go to Christina and then come back to you that's not her hand was up first Jake okay okay she wants okay so um my question is about process we we did talk about the painfulness and the necessity of this particular budget and and we've we've talked about kicking the can down the road and and you know sort of the trepidations around doing that um and choices that will have to be made in the future my question is process-wise um Jake and Joe if the committee votes for this and when we go into our discussions with the finance committees continue to express the pain and the trepidation behind this particular budget um if they say you know we we can provide more this year so it's not as painful what does that process look like um if if we feel comfortable having both towns Finance committees support it or if this school committee chooses to to go with say one town support and hope that the other will support later um the process would be that the school committee would meet again um and uh vote to amend whatever budget it might adopt tonight um and then those numbers depending upon the timing would either get printed into the um town meeting warrants or um we would go up at town meeting as we have a few times in the past and and amend whatever number people originally saw on sheets of paper um on the floor of the meeting so that so that that new number would be the one voted on um so it's it's very possible and we've we've done it plenty of times in the past great thank you I up you have the floor okay um so I understand the approach um I understand what we're I understand the rationale but I'd like to at least um propose that there are other ways of doing this um we're essentially taking $300,000 more from our reserves because we have a $3,000 extraordinary cost right or extraordinary expense this is not a curricular expense this is not an expense that we could have anticipated it's a very important expense right it has to do with how we care for our kids how we educate our kids um but it could also be looked at as a community expense right there are three Partners at the table there are two towns and the Mount Greylock Regional School District which is a municipality so let's just say there are three mun IP alties couldn't we split this extraordinary cost amongst us evenly and all right if all the children involved in the extraordinary expense are from one town I would understand why that might be difficult but the concept is that we all have reserves and why not spread out the use of the reserves um to our our our partners for what is an extraordinary expense and then we all work to figure out how to maybe do things differently moving forward so that's Point number one I just like us to consider it um Point number two is that when we um developed this Regional budgeting system right the model it's a new model you Joe and Steve both worked on it we assess each town for its Elementary School and um we assess according to the original Regional agreement for the for the mount GAC Regional School District should not that give us some flexibility in meeting the needs of the elementary schools if not the region I mean understand that you raise you try to meet a need at Williamstown Elementary you're going to have to raise the assessment overall which is going to raise the assessment to Lanesboro so what was the point and I'm just kind of being a little over the top here but what was the point of doing that if we can't meet the needs of our of the element if we can't allow the towns to meet the needs of their elementary schools so again um these are things that you've probably considered and just kind of taken off the table but um wondering what your thoughts are thank you um just just taking that the the first thought I think that's that's a very viable valuable opinion from the school committee that should be discussed and and taken wherever the school committee wants it taken um on the second now if we were showing extraordinary costs at one of the two elementary schools unlike in a normal region for lack of a better descriptor um we probably would be in a position where we'd be having a conversation with the one town as opposed to the Regional Community saying here's something that we need to manage we need your input as to whether you want us to manage that by cutting or by you um you approaching it as an expense that's extraordinary that you can handle the burden of um because we're seeing such increases at the share at Middle High School um that Middle High School given the way the regional agreement is written as well which is identical to the way all regional schools in Massachusetts really all other regions have it um across all of their schools but I think every school has it for its shared Middle High School um because that is the most common setup for Regions that that's it's split on a per people basis and and there isn't really the flexibility to say well if one town can provide more than the other town then let's let me clarify it wasn't actually the 300,000 in extraordinary expenses I was referring to I was referring to you know we're not going to do this or we're not going to do that at the elementary schools um and or we're not going to you know add this or we're not going to replace this person or if there are things that we felt and this might be hypothetical because maybe this isn't the case here but if there are things that we felt were really going to have a high highly negative impact on an elementary school because we weren't going to do it with the town in which that Elementary School sat would they have an opportunity to say no no no we want to fund that um because we're paying for that budget or does it just add I mean I I'm asking for it again it's a it's a procedural question yes hypothetically and it would not necessarily as with all regional things because we are our own municipality that conversation would be initiated by the school committee right and brought to the town saying let's say there was um you know and there very well could be in future years let's say there is a um a massive textbook replacement effort at one of the two elementary schools um you know that's the kind of thing where the conversation could happen with that one town hall around this is something that we need to do do we do it in one year which is better or do we spread it out over two or three years which is not as good that that theoretical conversation is one that we certainly can have given the way um our assessments are are set up okay thanks yeah Julia I I don't know if I should be calling on folks or or what but I think you should be since you called on me I'm teasing um I it Harry's making me think a lot um so thank you Carrie um at this late hour um so one that the second question feels to me like it gets at the maybe at like what does it mean to be regionalized and are we one District or are we still two different towns sharing I you know I'm trying to like I'm trying to work that out in my mind like it it feels like trying to [Music] um I don't like that that question is there at the and the question around um the the potential proposal to ask our the three bodies to split the extraordinary cost um I'm I'm wondering if that opens up questions around what is an extraordinary cost what qual you know what qualif so when like when is it appropriate to do that and when isn't it but also I maybe I think these can happen like what do we do with extraordinary windfall like how do we how do we think about those as well so I I I love the idea um and I don't want to tap into our reserves anymore than we have to but I'm also wondering about what what doors that opens or what questions that opens I mean the extraordinary windfalls might go into end and then be used used for future years right they could also be used you know for I'm not sure what an extraordinary windfall would be it might be you know the covid resources which would allow us not to pass on the costs additional costs to the town so they benefit the district but they clearly also benefit the town anything that benefits the district benefits the towns right but not everything that benefits the towns benefits the district so even though I make the argument that we are three Partners three partner municipalities we are clearly interwoven and connected with different responsibilities to each other but I would like to propose and this isn't quite a motion because it's I'm more like um just just throwing this out there I would like to propose that rather than um increasing the assessment by $100,000 to either Town um why don't we at least take a stab at this and say 50,000 right let's add 50,000 to each town as onethird of this extraordinary expense or you know we could say we're going to take half of it and the two towns are going to take half of it and we'll split that I can't split 150 well of course I can't but 75 to each right I mean would have people think about that and is there a fault in my logic that's what I'm looking for is like somebody's got to tell me where the fault is because there may be one carry before I ask um Steve to jum in with a raised hand and then Ursula to to jump in with a raised hand I you I I think a challenge I would have I don't even know if it's a challenge I would have but I think it would be a challenge is in okay that's that's Define extraordinary cost if we're thinking about it like from a capital perspective um a couple of years ago we were we were meeting frequently with folks in Lanesboro around the extraordinary cost of replacing a boiler uh and then replacing a second Oiler that was a similar age same make same model and we knew was at some point going to reach the end of its life um but those were two really finite we're going to spend x amount of money this fiscal year X am amount of money next fisal fiscal year and then we expect you to take care of these boilers and we don't hear about boilers for another 20 or 25 years I think one of the challenges with looking at extraordinary costs related to special education um and that's that's where I would focus in on because I think it's where you were focusing in on is that you know when ideally we we do see you know special education is meant to be um making a level academic uh learning field for a student and ideally that student skills are increasing every year and hopefully by the time that that most students get to the middle school or the high school um that that those Services there's a reduction in those Services that's that's not for financial purposes not for personnel purposes but for the purposes of supporting as independent of an adult life as can humanly be be made for that student um when we look at the students we're talking about for instance at Mount Greylock uh Regional School you know we're we're looking at extraordinary costs that we know for the most part are going to be in incurred in fiscal 25 fiscal 26 fiscal 27 fiscal 28 um you we're we're talking about in some of these cases sixth graders coming into seventh seventh going into eth um we we also know the students that will be transitioning from from our budget onto another state agency's budget but but I think that would be one of the push Backs from the town is that is that from a town perspective an extraordinary cost is you know the the this fire engine failed and now we have no way of reaching a building that's more than three stories high this is an extraordinary cost we need to replace this ladder truck um I I think it's a little more challenging to make that case for costs that we know right here right now we're going to continue to incur for four or five or six fiscal years into the I'm not sure it should be different I totally understand what you're saying but I'm not I'm not sure it should be either but but I think that would be a fair response or or maybe an anticipated response uh Steve and then Ursula yeah just really quickly one of the problems of you know being in a small district is a small number of cases can have a huge impact for a small number of years whereas in a big District you know there would be noise that would just be drowned out and so from a budget perspective it's extremely challenging when you have something like this this is one of the reasons why in a lot of the regionalization formulas we use averages over several years to try to reduce the shock of something like this the other thing which I wanted to add for what it's worth to the conversation I I have no objection to reaching out to the towns and seeing what their thoughts are but I remember the conversations we had about the fields where I was you know very much in favor of trying to get the towns to take out you know bonds and then have the Williams endowment have the interest from that paying off the bonds and keeping that money in the endowment earning more interest and there was a lot of push back stuff like that and so you know for what it's worth um that would have given us potentially a revenue stream if the market is doing well but the message we were getting from the finance committees was to spend the money we have now not to keep the money in theer thanks Steve Ursula yeah hi I just wanted to um agree Carrie with your position and I never really thought about it that way but I do think that if we think about special education and the costs that we need to you know do right by our kids we tend to roll it into the school budget and think about it that way but I agree that it really is a community expense right and we all we all have to take care of our kids and it could be any one of our kids that needed services and we all need to support that um I think that's a great idea I think we should recommend it um and I would just you know Steve I understand your point about the track I think that I I don't know whether we call this extraordinary or not or whether we can but it's a little bit different for something where we can't choose to postpone or we can't choose to put it off or not do it this is something we have to do as taxpayers not as a school district as a as towns right so I think that's perfectly reasonable and I I think that we should um try that um it shouldn't be blamed on the school district for spending extra money it's something that has to happen for our towns thanks ursela Julia um I would love to find ways not to dip into our reserves so I'm just trying to think about the alternate perspectives here as well one of which is um going back to Jake's opening slide that all of our students all of our students are ours and um a portioning saying well this is a community something the community needs to support but all of this is what the school will support but the reality is the community is supporting the schools like I'm I'm confused about about this um go ahead Carrie I like I would just say that if we if the other way to do it is um to take 700,000 out of our reserves rather than a million and um to put the 300 right into the budget and see you know ask the towns to support the increases I I would personally feel better about not isolating in and saying this is a particular need um and then we aren't in the issue of what is or we put or we put again you know we we say we're we're splitting it we're we're GNA put um 150,000 back into the the budget and at and preserve 150 of our reserves we're going to ask you Our member towns to use some of your reserves as well to support our budget and I and I like that idea because we both have reserves so um why are we the ones going into our reserves for this um that that makes more um logical sense to me than um I you know pulling out one particular expense Jose yeah just a couple questions maybe to help me you know in this in this conversation that we're having um that this idea that Carrie's raised and that uh Julie just asked questions about um so I guess this is two-part question one um can we translate this draw down in reserves on the order of a million dollars like how quickly if we didn't no longer needed to draw down from our reserves how quickly could we recoup that like in terms of years of Revenue like what are we what are we what are we talking about in terms of how quickly how long it would take to to build those reserves back up by the amount that we're going to draw them down the second question is um Jake and Joe trying to think about uh the best way to ask the this question without um maybe I'll just ask it just just outrightly do is in terms of what has been communicated to you both from our finance committies was there a messaging implicit or not that if we were to draw down our reserves in this way to minimize as best we can the asks on our member towns um is there the expectation then that in subsequent years next year the following year and so on that our member towns would might might similarly utilize their reserves to help support the district's budget you know something something like that is that some some messaging that I don't know if that's fair to even ask but that's the question that I've got uh all right there's a lot there's a lot on the table here um I think I think a number of people within our town halls and perhaps I also view rather than it being three parties like a a triangle it's it's more like a waterfall where the school district is serving the educational needs of the entire Community the school district has reserves um if those if there are needs that are going to trigger more significant calls for money from our communities than is comfortable the first place that we look is internally what what can we do before we then turn back and we say there's nothing more that we can do we need your help further down the further down the chain um and that's partly because like our our reserves are only available for use for for Education you know the the town's reserves are there for Education as well as the other needs that they serve the other thing that I think is being said is that they're trying to keep an eye on their tax rates and they're trying to figure out how to manage when there's growth when there are new developments or when existing properties come back onto the tax roles because somebody new owns them and they're redeveloping them or whatever it is that triggers new funds being available if that doesn't happen then the towns are sitting there saying well we need to increase our property tax rates and here's here's what will happen to each each family's property tax bills um and so I think the the towns are more saying that if you got the money in the bank spend that before you start taking it in the form of property tax increases if if possible I think that that's the that's the translation um in terms of to what degree I I don't think there are ever promises that if you do this in one year then we promise that next year but but but I but I do think that every conversation that I've had with a finance committee member or with a Town Administrator has has gone to the idea that if you can hold this down this year one will be appreciative and and two we understand that we need to come up with more in subsequent years um now whether or not that actually pans out there is no there is no multi-year deal in in Municipal budgeting um so I I wouldn't want to represent that there is any kind of assurance because that that wouldn't be wouldn't be true did I address everything or did I leave one off and I think maybe to you know car's question um that was uh followed on by Julia you know this could we translate this draw down our draw down on District reserves into how long it took us to accumulate that amount in the first place what what are we what are we talking about in terms of a loss well um if if a school district District's budget is really accurate then you're going to spend all the money that you bring in and you're not going to bring in any more money than you need to spend so your end would just except for in a case where you're drawing down from your end it would stay the same from one year to the next um that said I think the way that that is most likely for our school district given the position that we're in right now to see end increase would be um when the state long after our budget is adopted increases Chapter 70 funding or increases other Revenue that goes to our general fund you that that isn't a one-year Grant but instead is something where they say this goes to your general fund um then that means that we've got more Revenue coming in than we thought um because our assessments don't change you the the revenue coming in off assessments that's that's going to be whatever whatever is voted at our town meetings um so the only way the end grows is if somehow we over budget if we have too much in our budget and we don't need to spend it all um or if the revenue coming in from the state is somehow in excess of what we're currently projecting and and that would end up going to our going to our bottom line if if I could just translate that Joe just to make make sure I understood it you know uh one way to understand this draw on the reserves is that this is a real draw with no expectation that you know we'll ever be able to um it's unclear whether that money will ever you a similar amount will ever be available again in the future right that's one way it could be a permanent loss um could you just very quickly and apologies that I'm sure you and Jake have already done this already just just quickly remind us all and for folks who might be listening in what are some uh typical uses in an average year on of the reserve what do we what do we typically typically call on it for can I just answer that on the from the finance committee perspective I mean reserves are used every year to um in the sense that school choice money comes in every year and we don't just put it in add it to the reserves we we use it to keep our assessments down that is the annual use of reserves is to keep the assessments within and that's what we're doing again this year it's just that we have to use more of it right um yeah it's not that we shouldn't ever use our reserves of course we use them um and I think that that should be understood that we're not just socking money away um unless we had to keep a bond rating up or something for a big you know bond issue um we're protecting the the district I mean this is it's it's the risk factor that is really I think troubling me here which is why I think we should spread out risk um I I'll wait though Jose you you have more to ask no no no that was really helpful Carrie and this is one of those things that you you'd think I would have known this by now but but that was very helpful to me um maybe the the other question is why don't we just draw them down to zero to really benefit Our member towns and minimize their assessments to it's to the max why don't we just do that you can take that one the and and this is one where we're thinking about it constantly but I would feel very uncomfortable if our reserves were smaller than any oneyear extraordinary expense that we might see so let's say we have just using the example that that has has been featured within this budget unfortunately is let's say we have five students over the course of the summer develop needs that trigger significant out of District tuition costs could we manage that within our own funding without needing to go back to our member towns and say you need to hold a special town meeting so that we can we can do this or we need to lay people off mid year to make it work you know so the the the situation that we're putting ourselves into for fy2 still leaves me comfortable that we are not going to be saying that even if we have some extraordinary truly extraordinary event like the the equivalent to a 100-year storm for how something is built or how it can handle uh so I think I feel comfortable with this budget because we are keeping the money in reserve across tuition and choice as well as end that keep us in Good Financial shape in that way um so that's why we don't spend them down to zero and but but this kind of a year is just not something that we can do repeatedly and still have that strength so could you um Joe tell us what kind of percentage increases we would be looking at in assessments if we put 150,000 back in the budget just not doesn't have to be wholly accurate I mean I've I've got the hearing you speak earlier I figured I would just go on ahead and hop right into the spreadsheet so if if we decreased our transfer from end D down from 475,000 to 325,000 so if we effectively increase assessments by 150,000 um given the the assessment of portion me 68% of that would go to the town of Williamstown 32% would go to the town of lboro which would increase Assessments in a way that would change the the percentage increases to 3.8 for Lanesboro and 4.3 for Williamstown up from what we've been talking about which is 3.02 for lboro and 3.54 for williamtown all right so it's like a percentage increase it's a full percentage and half of that would be half a percentage right so if we put 75 back in yeah so if if we were to make it if we were to increase assessments by $100,000 rather than 150 um it would be 3.54% increase for bro 4.05 for Williamstown I I'll just say just from the the seat that I'm in um the increases that we need to be looking at for next year we need to be looking at more like here's a 4 and a half and a five and a half percent type increase like we we we need to be honest about and and that's part of why I would rather have it come through in a conversation as opposed to just saying well we're going to take more than we ever talked about right now and then we're gonna be and then we're going to need to take more next year like I I I guess I feel like we have talked about it though we haven't presented it but we they know they know what position we're in um I think it you know it's like we're we're it it would be a more gradual approach it would spread the risk this year and then you know maybe we could even um find ways collectively to um you know to improve things for the following year buys everybody a little more time rather than keeping it at you know 3% and then jumping to five and six% I Curtis thanks sorry uh sorry I've been so quiet everyone's been saying all of my thoughts which is very convenient um in regards to first I did want I would be remiss if I didn't mention how great it is that we're not uh debating the budget or the components of the budget merely the sourcing of the budget and part of that is because there's been no uh new twist in the the information that we process the last time we were together as a committee and part of that is just the sound nature of the budget that doesn't have everything we want uh but we believe has everything we need to keep moving toward the goal of developing everything we want for students in our communities um so it's it's great to to have that as the backbone of all of this I don't want that to go unmentioned um in terms of reducing the draw down from those funds if we were to say take back 70,000 that'd be 22,400 for leansboro and the remaining uh 57,600 for Williamstown by my math of the apportionment uh which I estimate would be a uh three uh 3/10 of a percent increase somewhere around there am I right yep 3.38 for lboro 3.9 for Williamstown so something like that or 60 I feel like there is a number between where we are now and the sticker shock that we do not want to bring to the towns but is indicative of exactly what Carri and and and have been talking about which is that to avoid uh a drastic increase in ask next year which is not only potentially possible but likely uh that we have that small increase as a way of saying we're keeping our foot in this door because we were all there for the conversations last year at this time time time where the towns were explicit in the percentages that they were comfortable bringing to the table and we did a lot of work to stick to to those uh and at that time did so with I felt at least in the meeting in lboro with the understanding that uh this is not necessarily sustainable to keep meeting the percentage that the town administrations are asking for uh for all of the reasons that we've talked about um so I'm wondering even if it's and I don't I don't want to use the word gesture here but even if it's the gesture of 50,000 less and what that apportionment looks like and what that percentage is uh it's it's the Stark reminder that uh the landscape of funding our schools uh thanks in part to State Management and thanks in part to just uh the changing costs of our needs for our community uh we're going to be looking for more we can't do 3% every year they want 3% is basically what I'm saying not to be brusk about it but I'm wondering if there is a number like 50,000 or 60 that will be less of a draw down on the reserve uh we're still drawing down more than we want uh but we also understand the reality of the town's needs and their administration's needs and their the citizens needs uh and if that's a number we can find now you know what I mean so 70,000 was 310 keeps uh Williamstown under wait I gotta bring the budget back um yeah keeps Williamstown just under four and keeps Lanesboro under 3.5 yes uh 70 if we decrease IND use by 70,000 y then lanbo's increase would be 3.38% and Williams Town's increase would be 3.9% and I I do I implicitly trust the Judgment of those who have been communicating with the town administrations and making the case for what we need and uh if if if they feel that you know what the percentage is at a $50,000 reduction is uh more suitable for the conversations that have been had thus far or but I I do feel like push pushing a little bit now will make the pushing that I fear we will need to do next year uh less uh painful and uh surprising both to the administrations and to the towns I mean the to the people in town who are are not only family members of students in our district but who are benefited by the service of our police officers and firefighters many of whom are graduate products of our district even before regionalization obviously uh I I just think something so if it's say 6,000 that's I'm thinking 70 I'm I'm just gonna I'm gonna let Carrie I I I threw the pass Carrie has caught the pass these are yards after the catch I defer to car's judgment in the terms of the amount of the ask uh but uh I'm not sure I defer to my judgment on this but um I I think um we should try I think we have an obligation to try um and if I were to try to make the case to the people of the town if this were being watched by any or all of them uh I I would say that uh over the year leading up to and including last year's budget the price of everything in our community uh increased by 20 to 70% depending on what Goods Services products and needs you're talking about but we managed to not increase the percentage ask of the town and exorbitant amount from the previous year uh This Is Us catching up a little bit with that so while the price of many goods and services and gas has finally uh had some tapering off in some parts uh aside from corporate price scouching um I I think uh that it's completely appropriate to say to the people of the towns this is the price of this actually finally going up because it I what was our percentage increase from last year from two years ago to last year in terms of town ask do I hate to make you do the Deep dive on that but uh two 2.96 and 3.13 for lboro and Williamstown respectively and so for lboro to be at 3.02 is actually down a tenth of a percent from last year's ask if if I'm doing those numbers correct is it 3.02 or is it 3.2 if we we do 70 it's 3.38 to right I'm just saying the current the current budget proposal the the actual increase from FY 23 to FY 24 for Lanesboro was 2.96 our what was in the packet tonight was 3.02 gotcha so slightly higher as a percentage increase than last year right so to move this along um we should vote on something because it's already 7:30 um um Carrie I'll paste a motion in just so that into the chat so that everybody sees it and has it I don't yeah is the chat active it's disabled oh oh okay I can I can enable it okay should be there just give me a second I'm always terrified when I do this that I'm going to and just as a note like while Joe was doing that we skipped over the agenda item of public comment but there was no public comment in our email and um there was there was not any member of the public within this realm tonight so um my apolog apologies on that we sort of went right from public hearing into discussion so also sorry for my lateness and did we approve the minutes I missed that that's that's that's after okay good I wouldn't want to miss that we needed you Curtis hey you know uh I I'm much happier being in in the zoom and talking about this than missing it so there is one member of the public present but he does not wish to speak thanks Stephen oh we consider you an official of your own right yeah all right I'm trying to make sure the motion captures the convers captures the how it how we're different right now from the original document so there's no confusion um and I believe this oh boy uh it's the same bottom line right yeah yeah budget yeah okay wait sorry um it says FY 23 in there where let me let me see if I can edit that comment just so there's [Music] no well here I'm going to delete the comment oh know I also got halfway through it tired eyes Curtis we're gonna make you read it oh Lord is that final copy so that reads the motion to accept the fy2 Mount Greylock Regional School District budget and Associated assessments as discussed for the period from July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2025 in the amount of 27,41 11,716 for the FY 25 operating budget and $1,659 575 for the fy2 capital budget this reflects a decrease in end use from 4 $175,000 to $400,000 for the FY 25 budget the FY 25 operating and capital assessments to Our member towns are as follows the town of lboro $ 58,183 capital and 5,698 161 operating and the town of Williamstown $1,151 389 capital and $1,623 946 on dollars Opera wow I almost made it and I'm sorry to say it but somehow I copied and pasted from the spreadsheet but it didn't the the L operating number should be operating or Capital that's closer the lboro operating number should be 5 million 91786 right operating got it i c that into the document I read out loud yeah are you motioning are you making the motion Curtis I I might as well since it's there to make I'll make that motion hey I will second it thank you can iion yeah thank you um so the statement that says this reflects a decrease in end use from 475 to 400,000 for the fy20 budget should that be I just don't know should that be made clear that is for the um use for the Mount Greylock Regional School and the decrease is from what was originally presented right and uh yes and I apologize folks we're putting you on the spot J 45,000 because it was a decrease of 70,000 not a decrease of 75,000 and that is only for Mount Greylock Regional School yes would you like for me to try to read a revised motion that cleans up my errors yeah I think that would be great okay I'm sorry again don't apolog I don't know how my video keeps on turning off I didn't do it somebody's somebody's moving against me here tonight um would somebody like to move a motion to accept the fy2 Mount Greylock Regional School District budget sorry let me stop you it's already been moved and seconded so this would be a revision right would be mover and seconder of the motion that's on the floor accept an amendment to then we have to vote an amendment um why don't Curtis you want the motion it as a friendly Amendment no that's all right the motion has withdrawn and Jo a new motion thank you would somebody like to move a motion to accept the fy2 Mount Greylock Regional School District budget and Associated assessments as discussed for the period from July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2025 in the amount of 27,41 76 for the fy2 operating budget and 1,659 575 for the FY 25 capital budget this reflects a decrease in end use for Mount kylock Regional School from 475,000 to 4 $45,000 for the fy2 budget the fy2 operating and capital assessments to Our member towns are as follows the town of lboro 58 8,186 in capital and 5,917 186 in operating and the town of Williamstown 1,151 389 in capital and 12, 623,000 presented after that where it talks about the the decrease in Indy works for me Curtis with with that insertion so moved second car second okay any further discussion Joe's still thinking about whether he has the right numbers no Joe thank you for um yeah thank you that quick movement appreciate it okay hearing no further discussion all in favor Owen I conry I Constantine I Elfen Bine ey green I Malloy I Milla I thank you that motion passes unanimously thank you all for your time um really appreciate it not easy um ever um okay so moving on approval of minutes would someone like to make a motion to approve the February 29th 2024 special school committee meeting minutes so moved Curtis moves do I have a second a second Julia second any discussion I I really just wanted in the record um gratitude uh for the uh SEC the um notetaker who also notes the time in the video um which I think is just such a brilliant way to um capture the conversation so gratitude thank you Julia okay all in favor bow and I hry I Constantine I elf and Bine I green I Malloy abstain Miller I thank you that motion passes okay um Jake I don't see Jake Mr shutz is having technical difficulties he did send me along a a highlighted version of just some changes to the Mount Greylock Regional Schools uh program of studies which I am happy to uh share with you all you wanna do you want to flipflop with no I don't want to put Noel on the spot but she's here do you wantan those minutes are not going to help given the nature of the challenges so um we we can I can I can read the changes those of you that have children in the school will get this tomorrow in an email um or or we can have Jake come back in April uh so whatever your pleasure is I'm happy to just share them tonight uh great you know um and it's interesting as we're you know looking how to how to do really interesting things in more efficient ways uh what Jake mostly was going to share with you tonight are changes that I think really add into interest in depth um not increasing FTE um but just really through scheduling and rearranging it through some things being offered one year and some things in an alternate year um several new electives inividual inividual Arts uh in the visual arts uh there is a new sculpture class that is coming online and um then a couple of performing arts classes the first is the history of rock and roll music and the second is a general music theory course I think I read yesterday that Westfield State is adding a uh A Tailor Swift course of of class to their um so we're not we're not quite that Progressive to add Taylor Swift although when and if we do Mr berson will have to cross over and perhaps be guest lecturer G given his household makeup I have a hunch he's quite expert um courses that are rot back into the Mount Greylock Regional School uh course of studies this year our advanced placement in biology in astronomy in forensics and in social studies uh also under social studies um two new electives rotating back in genocide studies which is um an incredibly valuable class and uh America and Vietnam in the 1970s um also rotating back in under the Fine Arts categories um portfolio photography and electives in film studies and creative writing um there is a new class in the math department that is really one that we can track directly back to student data and student need um from the elementary school but looking at several years worth um we are having an integrated math class this year um and an elements of math uh in the Middle School schol just really addressing the fact looking at our scores looking at um now that we have a new benchmarking tool to really see where kids are we have we have much more powerful formative assessments rather than depending on mcast and just grades um and really looking at the fact that we have to address some some really significant need in mathematics in order to have students prepared for the 10th grade uh mcast and then for life beyond the 10th grade MC um the personal finance course was moved out of just general elective world and into mathematics World which means that students will now need 35 math credits in order to graduate in order to graduate rather than 30 um that personal finance course is um is a is a class that students need to take in order to um have our program go through most students need to take there are some exceptions um it's a very powerful course I've sat in on a few sessions this year and a few presentations and it's um it's stuff that I wish I had known uh when I entered into grown-up world and um fortunately I married somebody that did uh but but I'm fortunate in that way and other than that there's really no substantive changes um we are grateful to see some classes rotating back in um we are are mindful of what these budgetary conversations we had tonight and we appreciate that all of you appreciate that um some of the decisions we're making now are going to impact what students are able to take in their 25 26 school year uh and um certainly any questions about this I'm happy to take a stab at or we can pass on to Jake to uh catch us up the next time he's available okay thank you Christina thank you okay next on the agenda is the academic support director report so I will turn it over to Noel Sullivan okay um uh so I'm a little thrown off because you said the academic support director um director of special education I pres sorry old terminology okay my first time here so I just want to make sure I'm in the right place um no I just want to thank you for having me here Jake asked me to um come on and talk to you a little bit about the tier Focus monitoring process that we have coming up I don't know if you've all been through it before or if it's new so I'll just give kind of a quick overview um and talk about where we are in the process um so uh the reason behind the monitoring process is to make sure that our district is um implementing our special education and our civil rights um requirements and um making sure that we're doing it in a way that gives our students the best positive outcomes um and there's two groups that they put us in group a or group b and um each group looks at kind of different elements of those two um worlds in the district group a looks at identifying students with special needs IEP development um the programming and support services that we offer and um equal opportunity that's group a we're in group b so specifically the things they're looking at right now during this cycle for us is um lure and professional development facilities and classrooms that are specifically related to special needs um and multilanguage Learners oversight of programs and services um time on time and learning the parent and Community engagement for our students and equal access so like I said we're in group b and within within each group there's three years of the cycle so um year one is self assessment year that was last school year so 2022 23 um for Mount Greylock and um so last year the district reviewed the special education and civil rights documentation and processes that we had and we had to upload a whole bunch of information to the desie portal um sort of showing them what we're doing and how we're doing it and how we're being um accountable for that and then year two which is this year is our on-site monitoring year um so Michelle koal is our um district coordinator she came to The District in November she met with Patrick prer and Joel Brookner and they kind of reviewed um what was uploaded last year and she gave us some technical assistance um meaning you know this this looks great but this is where it needs to be tweaked that need a little work with this you need a little work with that so we're in the process of kind of looking at the areas that they determined could be a concern and doing that tweaking and uploading the um information back up to the portal so they can check and you know make sure that we're um hitting on what they're looking for um and then her team um Michelle and two one or two other members of her team will be coming back here the week of May 13th they'll be here for two days and um that is our on-site visit and that will entail um interviews with administrative staff interviews with um some of the staff in the schools and uh Michelle and I really looked at um the sorts of specific things she was looking for and determine which staff members are going to best be able to speak with her and answer her questions about those specific things within the special education or civil rights realm um she'll be doing some interviews with uh uh any CPAC Representatives or any other um parents or general members of the public that ask for interviews um they'll be sending surveys to all the parents of students um that have disabilities regarding their experiences in our district with the special UC process those surveys will be sent by desie they should be going home the week of April 13th um so parents will be having an opportunity to to share their experiences and then um the last part of their two days here will be tours of all three buildings so we'll be looking at all of the spaces that are used to deliver any special education services um so any special education classrooms any related service classrooms so PT speech classrooms um any uh spaces that are used to regulate behavior um and those are really you know they're really specifically just looking for those spaces it's not just kind of a general tour they're looking for anything and everything but they're really just honing in on those spaces um at the end of her interviews and tours she'll have a meeting with um Jake and Joe and I and Joelle and kind of walk us through what her Reflections are from that that those couple days and then I believe it's within a couple months Jay correct me if I'm wrong on that we'll be getting our report from the state um and they'll put us in a tier so tier one being the best tier that you can be in and um that there you know they'll give you feedback of course there's always things we can do better they'll give us some feedback on some things that we can work to improve on um in tier one and two we'll write a a a continuous Improvement plan and you kind of self-monitor and self- improve in that way tier three and four um it requires more of a continuous action plan um where the state would be really more involved in um helping your District make those changes um to meet the regulations so um we are in motion the work is being done we are having a parent orientation for um all parents in the district have been invited we send a message home through parent Square yesterday to all district families inviting them to a zoom meeting um Michelle or some from her team will be giving that parent orientation but it'll really just walks walk them kind of sort of like this but in more detail step by step through the process what it means for the district what the um outcomes they'll be looking for and um they'll have an opportunity to ask questions and whatnot um and then actually following that meeting we were we hoping to kind of piggyback a CPAC meeting on that I haven't had a chance to meet with them yet so hopefully I'll have an opportunity to meet the members of the CPAC and um start start to make those connections as well so that's kind of a very long process and a very short time but if you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them to the best of my ability thanks Noel any questions for Noel Carrie I was just wondering how often does this happen I know that you're coming in and having to compress it and but how what what is the cycle so it's a there's um two threeyear cycles basically six years so you're either group a or group b and each one of those is three years okay so every year two yeah ends up being every three years you have your on-site visit but the the it's it's ongoing you're always in some phas this is the big like yeah this is yeah thank you so much for that um overview that was really helpful Noel uh let's see jumped in right as we were really ramping up for this visit jumped into the absolute uh eye of the storm of budget season um and I just you know I can say on behalf of the whole administrative team we're we're really grateful that uh Noel was was willing and able to join us and uh just a a real pleasure and an honor to get to spend this time with her serving in this role as opposed to her previous role so thank you Noel so much thank you very much it's been it's been a challenge but it's been a really great challenge really enjoyed it so I'm very lucky to work with a lot of awesome people so thank you thank you any other questions for Noel okay thank you I did just want to say thank you for sitting through nearly two hours of the budget to to give us uh that helpful and succinct uh uh report on the process that you're going sure I I've been a parent in the district for a long time it's the first budget meeting I've attended so i' it's it's very interesting I'm going to encourage more people to jump on on well thank you for that as well thank you okay moving on we have the business administrator report just one item the the contract that is in your packet with our website hosting company final site um the reason this is coming before you is because any contract longer than three years requires school committee approval um final site is the company that has hosted our websites for a number of years um we just recently in the last uh 18 months switched over to their latest platform we're continuing to figure out better um ways to utilize that platform um it's something that we can definitely grow on top of um and uh the the district and and School uh building level Administration are are pretty happy with trying to keep going in this way um so this is before you for a vote to approve the contract as presented I'll move to approve the contract as presented har moves do I have a second a second J seconds any discussion on that motion um I just had a a procedural question um Joe are you authorized to sign on behalf of the district so you can just sign the contract Jake and I are are both authorized and this is one where we're only able to sign after you have approved it but yes we we would be that either of us could provide a signature after the vote great any other discussion all in favor Bowen I conry I Constantine I El B ey green I Malloy I Miller I thank you that motion passes unanimously moving on to the superintendent report I will turn it back over to Jake thank you Christina I'm GNA mush A and B together and uh I think I can get through this pretty quickly and we going a really really focus first item on the elementary schools and then the rest Mount Greylock Regional School um we notified our parents that will be participating in uh or or parents of children guardians of children that will be participating in summer school that uh because the Lanesboro Elementary School parking lot is going to be deconstructed completely starting on June 17th and we're not sure when it will be reconstructed we're not really going to have safe um daily access in and out of Lanesboro elementary school so um thanks to Noelle and thanks to Chris Hawking who is our summer school coordinator and a prek teacher at Lanesboro um the the decision was just made that simply to have students in and out of summer school safely we needed to combine our summer schools and this year we'll be combining them at Williamstown Elementry I see this as a real opportunity um it it it is a little bit of travel we still will be providing a bus transportation for for students that are participating in our summer programs uh and it is a little more travel for students who are from Lanesboro but what a wonderful opportunity to consolidate some resources and and to me and I think you'll agree with me the best opportunity is simply to have our kids get to work together and get to know one another um years ahead of when they will join forces over at Mount Greylock Regional School so uh I we sent this message out to families on Tuesday and uh I've had really no negative feedback um I had one one parent reach out via parent square and asked me if we were still providing Transportation uh and the answer to that was of course yes and uh another parent just was like hey please get us the dates as soon as possible and hopefully those will go out next week uh so they can plan the rest of their summer but um again very grateful to to Noelle and to Kristen for organizing this and putting it together and we're H really excited about having all of our elementary students up at Williamstown Elementary this summer that's going to be a lot of fun it's going to be good for kids um moving on to just some school updates and these are all thank you and all expressions of gratitude um really want to thank all of our winter athletes it always is amazing to me how quickly we get to Winter Athletics and then how quickly those seasons are over and we're done and we're getting ready for everything to be back outside again um so thank you to our winter athletes everybody had really positive Seasons both the teams that we hosted and the teams that we co-opt with um and uh best of luck and good health and safe travel to our spring athletes um just a lot of excitement a lot of good momentum building into the spring athletic season and and people taking notice of the progress on the track and the in the new playing field um I think early early March uh the construction folks were back on site and work started again um this winter was really a a friend to us um for that and um you know it's starting to actually look like you can visualize a track there and um and and seeing our students sort of do this season uh and get through with with this what is now an inconvenience to maneuvering the campus uh will soon just be you know one more um gem in this in this crown of a campus so we're we're really excited and grateful to the parents coaches that support all of our student athletes I would like to give a well done and a thank you to the m mve cast and uh an amazing crew of this year's musical Kiss Me Kate I don't know how many of you had the opportunity to go see it um I saw it I I got a there a little bit late but after our special meeting um two weeks ago got to go over and watch it um and was as I always am watching musicals put on by uh talented incredibly hardworking people um it was just remarkable I was blown away way um how this not like knowing all of the students and knowing how seriously they take their academics and then seeing them learning dances learning songs learning pages and pages and pages of dialogue learning blocking um setting up the theater so it all works and it all has the impact that that the musical deserves um it really special to watch a a sonheim musical uh or or actually it's a Cole Porter musical to watch a a Cole Porter musical here in Williamstown where Cole Porter had some history and this was of course as was made notice uh of in the I burkers and we're very grateful for that this was je Jeff Welch's 25th musical at the Mount Greylock Regional School um I would suggest to Jeff that another 25 and he could probably hang up his uh his tap shoes and uh and consider that he's left his Mark but you know really thinking about the amount of work that goes into creating that musical thinking about the uh friends of the Arts and and the work that the that the parents and the Guardians of of these young people do and thinking that Jeff um over 25 years probably averaging about um two and a half cents an hour given what the stipend is for a musical and how much work the musical is um just really really incredible involved intricate work and it was just magic and I am just so grateful and proud of everybody involved and while we're on that theme thank you to our Music Teacher and band and coral and Orchestra teachers Jackie Vanette and Patrick oconnell and to the young musicians that they work with and Inspire uh for another wonderful prism concert um very sadly I was sick on Tuesday for the for the whole day and missed the daytime version and the nighttime version I did have a friend who was sending me sneaky videos during the nighttime version so he kind of saved me um but the prism concert happens in the gym uh all of the Bands middle and high school set up the choruses are set up the orchestra is set up in different portions of the gym during the today we welcomed third fifth and sixth graders from our elementary schools including Hancock to come up and uh be inspired and get a little taste of what they're in for some of the magic they're in for when they get up here to Mount Greylock and um just you know people were just beaming uh about the concert the day after just really remarkable and again really involved work and and this one involves the custodial crew setting up chairs and getting things said it involves the the health and wellness teachers giving up uh their teaching space for several days to get it ready and um just could not be more proud of our of our students and the grown-ups that help them along um and also congratulations to our numerous Junior districts performers for uh band and chorus and Orchestra I believe they had a rehearsal at minog uh last Saturday and I believe they have a another rehearsal and then a performance uh with students from across western Mass uh at minog this Saturday and I know that Jose I suspect you may be making the trip down there uh looking at the team photo of that crew uh and uh really really exciting and and again it's a it's a real Testament to what happens when teachers and students and families form a cohesive unit and work as a team and work as a family to do remarkable things for kids for a school our size to have I think we have like 16 or 17 Representatives at at this Festival just for middle schoolers um that's really impressive given that we have a a two grade middle school and um we don't have a standalone middle school with seven or 800 students we have a a a two- grade middle school combined with a high school uh in many ways that's comprised of 200 students and um just a Real Testament to all involved um we're really excited tomorrow during the half day Juniors and seniors have the reality fair over in the gymnasium uh the reality fair if you're not familiar is sort of a couple of hours it starts out with with a workshop in the auditorium tomorrow morning um just sort of around the realities of Life once you get out from having grown-ups around you who are going to pay for everything um I was grateful to get I volunteered to help out I was grateful I get to talk about short-term and long-term savings so everything from building an emergency fund to getting ready for retirement and I suspect there's some students who probably know more than I do about both of those given what I've seen in our personal finance classes but uh that should be a really fun time and looking for forward to that time with our uh with our 11th and 12th graders and then uh tomorrow is actually today and tomorrow we're we're simron sings uh wrapping up his time with us um he spent a lot of time with our seventh graders today and he spending uh the day with us tomorrow some with students some with staff and we're uh we're grateful to simron in the time that uh he has been able to spend with us and um and uh the work that he's been able to do particularly with our students who really value and and appreciate his presence so that is I'm sorry if I rushed through that I know the hour is getting late and this meeting has been lengthy and we still have a little bit more business to conduct but um that is uh all of the thanks that I have to give for now so thank you Christina thank you any questions for Jake okay I would like to make a motion to enter into EX I cutive session with intent to return to open session pursuant to mgl chapter 30A a section 21 A1 to discuss the reputation character physical condition or mental health rather than professional competence of an individual sickly Bank Curtis seconds all in favor Bowen I conry I Constantine I green I by ey Ursula are you still there I'm here did Carrie leave sorry okay well sorry I didn't realize that Miller I okay thank you it is 8:15 Joe will you set up a breakout room thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e I almost accidentally left the entire meeting accident sure all right let's just make sure we have everyone back see Carri a we lose [Music] Steve we lost Steve but I wonder if that's when he said he eight minutes was that that was and and that when he uh specified at the end conversation was his wave yeah so it is 8:29 PM we are back in Open session it looks like we have lost our member Steve Miller for the remainder of the meeting um I would like to make a motion to approve the sick Bank requested as submitted I'll second thank you any discussion all in favor B and I conry I Constantine I Alin b i green I Malloy I okay thank you that motion passes um next up on the agenda upcoming meetings Mount Greylock Regional School District fy2 budget meetings in District towns the Williamstown finance committee meets March 20th at 7 p.m. um and this has a note as a posting may change to 6m do we know if that's changed as of right now we have not heard of it changing but I I I don't know if we'll know for another few days okay so public can keep an eye on the town calendar I would imagine that will get updated the Lanesboro select board and finance committee joint meeting is March 25th at 6: pm. our next regular school committee meeting is April 11th at 6 PM uh Julia um I know in the past that some of us have gone to those meetings to help represent the school committee um I'm not on the finance committee I don't feel the need to show up but I'm just wondering if it is helpful for those of us to show up in our at least in our own Town's finance committee meeting for any reason so historically I always tried to make the meetings um as the chair um I know Carrie as the chair of the finance committee also tries to go I think it says a lot to the towns based on the discussion that we had on the budget if you can show up at your um Town sided meeting it it's very helpful I will be at the lbo meeting I'll come to Williamson great Carrie will the talking right so um I'm just saying that um I now have a conflict with the 11th so um I I'm wondering is so I just set up a legislative forum for April 11th um not realizing it was a school committee night but also because that was the one date that our legislators could make and it's for the entire division so it's all of brire County including yourselves um to talk about whatever issues you feel are important to talk about with your legislators so should I try to change that or should we should I just be ABS I would hate to have you guys miss it because of school I'm not sure what to do sh here here's maybe the root of that happening was that I let you know probably three months ago that I was not going to be on available on April 11 so we were going to find an alternate time which we never did um but I I think that legislative meeting particularly given the times and the issues is I I would I would I have some notion of how much work it was for Carrie to set this up to pin those folks down to a solitary date I would encourage every one of our members to be at that meeting and tomorrow we can find an alternate date for the April school committee so the other possibility is that that meeting starts at 5:30 um so if we can move the school committee meeting to 7 rather than six we could do both so I have also just realized I am not available for anything on that evening I I managed to uh double book or actually triple book myself uh so I will not be available for either the regular school committee which is terrible timing and I also have to figure out how to cancel the other other thing Jake you're still not going to be there on the 11th I don't think I can be there on the 11th can we change the date we can I will say April is a really um rough month for me if we push it to the next week I'm definitely not gonna be there because that's my birthday so would it be possible to move it off of a the Thursday uh for in April and meet on a different day of the week for our just our committee meeting yeah I mean we could see if um um I don't know what did we do before survey monkeys maybe something pollster whatever try to figure out a date yeah that doodle pole yeah whatever are you away all week that week Jake no no just just that Thursday evening is the we're we're going to see Colin Haye in Northampton theing for men at work so nice so Tuesday the 9th yes I was going to suggest that too Tuesday April 9th o uh I I can unhappily do Tuesday the n9th is Tuesday the 22nd too far back yeah that's really pushing it I think and that's not a Tuesday it's Monday 23rd sorry how about the 16th Tuesday this that's break all right doodle po it is right I can I can just make it suck it up and miss a thing I want to do and go to the eighth be a big or ninth whatever that is okay can everyone do the ninth thumbs up ninth oh we oh oh Steve's back Steve's back yeah I'm I'm still here having some audio troubles can you do the Steve thumbs up I think so I'll I'll adjust my schedule to try to make it work okay so the next not regularly regularly scheduled school committee meeting will be April 9th at 6m any chance move it up at all TimeWise on that day I hate to throw that 5:30 yeah five can't I can't I can't logistically do five 5:30 and drive legally 5:30 could do 5:30 that would be great right um and then okay so the legislative session Carrie was that what you wanted to talk about yeah yeah on the 11 okay that's on zoom and it's at 5:30 5:30 okay and I'll send out details to the whole division but I wanted to get get it on your calendars okay great okay um I do not have any other items for discussion any agenda requests uh yes Christina yes I'm uh re request in the response to Steven dravis that I sent you about I can email that to you again if you want sure Christina did you respond to Steph dvis because you respond to most of or all the emails that we get as a committee it went to the whole committee I don't know okay yeah I don't I don't know I say resend it and then you can look at it and then you'll know yes well well part of it was he noticed that we had not posted some things on time and so I think it would be worthwhile to just talk a little bit about to make sure that things get posted with plenty of time for the public I mean we do have a process in place but our process is only I mean it's it's a human process so sometimes um there is break points um so I don't right but I mean Sugg there a lot of I was just saying one suggestion is a lot of the agenda is known in advance and so we can post a draft agenda and put on some documents much earlier than the 48 hours and then just amend it as needed and then just it as needed you know if we know we're going to be talking about certain things we can let the public know with plenty of leeway so that seems like a thing we can discuss I thought it was the packet materials that were in question not just the agenda but I'd have to go back and look at the email yeah um okay well I'll take a look and we can figure out if it belongs on full committee agenda or policy subcommittee agenda um okay thank you Steve would someone like to make a motion to adjourn so moved CES do I have a second second Curtis seconds all in favor B and I conry I I Elfin Vine ey green eye Malloy eye Steve are you there yes can you hear me sort of baress the middle button just need a motion to just just need an eye just need an eye you don't really yeah seconded we're good and yes I am still in a sling 8 p.m. we have adjourned thank you everyone for your time and attention have a good night night good night