meeting of the N Regional School District school May to order for the United States of America to the rep it stands one nation indivisible and justice for all as a reminder of this meeting will be tonight recorded and posted at a later date to our Facebook and YouTube channels due to technical diffic difficults right so we'll move on to our regular business first or is an approval of the meeting minutes from March 14 2024 are included under the agenda I I would entertain a motion to approve the meeting minutes from second mov by Jeff second in by Sean are there any questions comments all in favor opposed obained and I say I unanimous looks like we have another set of meeting minutes to approve for the March 21st 2024 meeting second any comments or questions all in favor I opposed abstained and I say yes vot unanimous now on to build and payroll attached there is a um the April 1st HR warrant for $447 3985 the April 2nd pcard warrant for $1 13,678 84 the April 3rd payroll warrant for $619 99865 uh April 5th miscellaneous payroll for $636 58 a April 5th AP warrant for $ 46,4 4730 April 8 warn for R activities for 94937 April 177 payroll warrant for $63 , 6584 April 22nd AP warrant $ 43265 and April 25th AP morrant for $365,500 so that was a motion by Heather a second by Sean um any questions or comments that all in favor I oppos stained and I vote Yes unanimous all right and now with the fun stuff we move on to our appearances and we'll start with our student representative yeah so um this past month there's been a lot of stuff that's happened um beginning of the month we went to the um prom venue the prom committee did for the prom venue pick up the venu it's a really nice venue it's going to look even better when we get all the decorations in there um the cheerleaders went to Hershey Pennsylvania the high school of VAR City cheer team um and they're national champions so that's a really great achievement for them and for our school as well um coming up we have Gap day which is a prom safety awareness day it's a really nice day it's going to educate everybody about how to go to prom and be safe and get home safe make sure everybody has a good time um you know this coming month is the last month for seniors so all the senior week activities give back day the chicken barbecue senior boss trip which we're doing a day trip to Boston this year a whole bunch of stuff going to The Bu Man Group Fel Hall the aquarium it's going to be a lot of fun um and then we have graduation at the end of the month and the last day for seniors is May 22nd the countown how many more days I'm I'm so happy that you mentioned that your team because I know that we've all been following them on social media and that's amazing that they're coming home um winners so yeah are the cheerleaders um and then you have you're having your promet Hidden Hills right yes it was at it's at Mills and R that is a beautiful venue it I'm Hing to see lots of pictures from that as well is there a theme or is that a surprise for everyone it's golden Gala um so it's gold and then like a mix of black and white um they're doing like a different like I think the tablecloths are black and then they're looking at like white chair covers all right wonderful and our next appearance we've been waiting for um we get a a presentation from our food services director our new Food Services director Michael orar did I say sorry so I don't have a presentation for you I just have myself i' like to say hello introduce myself my name is Mike anado um I live just over the Border in New Hampshire I served here in January which most of you already know um I have a background in uh restaurants hospitals um colleges I've done just about everything there is in Food Service my my wife is in education as well and I have a 13-year-old son so being Food Service record in the school district is C chance perfect I want to I want to thank Dr K and for giving me the opportunity to start here at AR um I also like to thank my predecessor Ed edz had a great system place it was fantastic he knew what was going to happen months before it would happen and he was he was a treasure all of you I hope he U I hope he served you well um that being said I have the opportunity and I apologize about my voice it's allergies this year have been fantastic but I have the opportunity just do a little tweaks to what Ed has put in place to produce some different items and um increase participation and you know interest in the program um I want to thank everyone on the wellness committee and Molly uh they've been really welcoming to me in the first meeting I was able to attend super organized Rally Point everything it's fantastic um um and I look forward to working with them with the wellness committee's help put out a survey last month I think it was the last month it was the last month um put on a survey and we have about 400 or so responses mostly from students that's given me a lot to work with which is fantastic so now I can kind of understand what the expectations are what the students expectations are and even to that point some parents what their expectations are um it's also been help us in the Lo Community do a taste test next month should go well other than that I think my voice is just about does anyone have any questions or anything any information I come provide I I just have a comment um I I love the inclusion of data collection as part of your process because I think a lot of districts over with that when it comes to Food Services it's usually just for academic purposes or you know School culture so I think it's great that you're involving the students and the families um in you know the tweaks that you're making that that's that's one of the things that I was able to pull from working for contract management companies always sending out surveys it do matter what school what college what hospital it was always sending out surveys what did people want that's one thing that's U that's helped me uh my my whole philosophy when I go somewhere do like to seek first to understand to be understood if I don't know how things work how am I a going to fit into what needs to be done and B how am I going to fix it or improve it so it it's just a great tool thank you very much every appr just welcome welcome for coming we appreciate feel free to reach out to me anytime you have any questions comments concerns I'm always willing to listen thank you all right moving on to public input do we have anyone not look like we have anyone speak um so that brings us to Lisa and N hello um not much to share just that came back this week after a i' say well reserved race for everybody um staff and student and now gearing up for or Sumer in the process of beginning second round of gcast so it's um math math and the Sciences are beginning next week at least at the middle school pry sure across the board and then just a lot of teachers are you know getting through their final units of the year um just getting ready for the end of the year activities field trips that kind of thing and just very good um seems like some good morale going around so it's it's a great thing a lot of spring feed in the kids but we're we're taking charge of that so we'll keep them in check teacher appreciation week is on the horizon so hopefully that will recharge and create yes and actually our student council does teacher appreciation breakfast in may we just met this afternoon landed for um May 29th we want to do it the 23rd but then we realized that the um seventh grade would be on their field trip to ecology school so we changed it to the 29th so thank you all right now for a um FY 24 budget update um FY 24 is good we're starting to like wind down and double check salary make sure everything's in line double check like the year Longos make sure everything is in the place that it's supposed to be release any monies that um weren't use so that we can get to our June 30 bottom line and see what we have left for next year and for year 25 well we're in that spot where we just wait right we've had a lot of great conversation both T honestly we just met with a the finding sub this morning um just you know working really hard to make sure there are Communications you know part we you know communicating everything that you know we we've got a chairs meeting coming up next week um and that you know in an effort just to prepare you know just again to make sure we're all on the same page going forward so you know regardless of the tough year which we're a lot of folks um I I will say we're not as bad as as some towns are and and that's something to be happy for um but we've uh our communication certainly has absolutely improved um over the last couple years we're doing a lot of talking so it's been but um again we it's the month Frank it's May so we'll we'll see how it all turns out great and and Marie you're up because next on the agenda is our business manager report again FY 24 is winding down where looking at our grants making sure the is spent by the end of the fiscal year um checking to see if anything needs to be rolled over or amended to a different category to make sure it hits the spending deadline and stuff so other than that much different than 24 update instruction are actually quite I always say that um but I'm excited to report our Wellness um advisory committee has been working um hard this year on two major goals one is to continue um the work to solicit in input from students into um school lunch programming which you heard Mike talk about um earlier um and Mike's done a phenomenal job this year really surveying and getting feedback what's going to impact changes to Lun program the other thing we're working on um is some ongoing efforts to um to design events and activities to really engage our community we've been working on um embedding a wathon event that will be part of warrior best next year um and we're trying to create some fundraising in connection with that so that we can start up um a a wellness uh pot of money so that we can support wellness events down the road using using those funds um and then I'm excited to announce that um we our district and our Wellness committee is going to be recognized at the Massachusetts school Wellness as a Massachusetts school Wellness Champion um and we'll be sending a small team of folks to the John stalker Institute of food and nutritions 2024 healthy kids healthy programs Summit um in late May um and so Mike and I will be in attendance and we're going to be getting one more representative from our committee to join us at that we have U three registrations as award recipients for that and we're hoping that our student representative Eliza will be joining us and if she's unable I know her sports events or are busy this time of the year we'll be um seeking another uh member of our committee to join us for that as well um so we're really excited about that um in terms of a professional development update we had um we had two professional development days in the month of March we had March 8th and March 28th um and at both of those staff at tees had an opportunity to continue focusing on the implementation of their core reading program into reading um and they've been working specifically on embedding strategies and techniques for early reading or early literacy skills as well as really focusing on more individualized instruction for students to um really do small group instruction um in more of a workshop model so they've been talking a lot about what does that look like what resources exist in their core program to help them with that and how does the um Benchmark assessment data and the progress monitoring data that they're they're they're really entrenched in this year how does that help them to identify which resources to use to support students and they've been doing a phenomenal job um the staff they really diving into developing action plans and lesson plans to support students um at our Middle School they've been engaging in ongoing work um to embed vocabulary uh activities across all grades and subjects and so miss lrer has really designed a really interactive PD for the Middle School this year where the staff have really had an opportunity to share practice and look at each other's practices um and kind of assess and critique and support each other uh to lift the level of vocabulary instruction um across the School we've got a lot of really positive feedback on that as well um and the high school similarly has also been working um on eding literacy practices both around vocabulary acquisition and use and comprehension strategies um and they've been working a lot on sharing practices and they've been doing a lot of that work in their Department teams um as well so our feedback has been very positive as we wrapped up this year's PD sessions um from staff we we do you know end of session um p surveys and we've gotten really really positive feedback there um our par educators are also engaged in ongoing training they worked uh most recently with our um our OT and our occupational therapist and our physical therapist um on on the training around um day-to-day things they can do to support students that they're working with in their classrooms um and we got phenomenal feedback on that as well so we're really excited about that the additional training that we sent some folks to uh we had a small team um a teacher from the high school teacher from the Middle School our technology director the and myself attended a training on AI um with artificial intelligence and how to use that as Educators both in your planning and also in your work with students um and we went to that and I'll tell you this team came back really jazzing they were so excited about what they learned we all have gone to different breakout sessions depending on our roles um and we were we were so motivated by what we learned and um and how we could use this as a tool that um the team the teachers that went actually said can we meet and put together training for staff and so the four of us um reconnected when we came back from the training um and they put on a training for staff uh for Middle School and High School staff specifically um on how to use that as a tool to support lesson planning and how do use this um in you choose to in classrooms with students it was very fascinating to us is how many district dists um that were there really talked about the lack of policies that exist around this right now because it is so new um and there's a lot of work U starting to be done at at um um at the state level so to say uh around policy for this so that's something we'll be keeping our eyes open for for draft policies when they start to emerge so that we can uh catch up on that as well um and then last last update I have for you is just uh uh evaluation update I know in our strategic plan one of our goals under um in our objective three is around systems and structures and it has really been focusing on getting back from Co getting back to our practices to support ongoing feedback to folks um through the evaluation process and so um while our teachers have already received their midyear feedback if they are on one-year plans um our administrators are a little bit on a different schedule um and so our administrators have in the last two weeks all received um midcycle feedback from from me Dr C or both of us um and we're in the process of doing those sort of mid checkin meetings with them um to talk about you know progress they've made towards their student learning goals their professional practice goals and their school Improvement plan goals um and then also um feedback uh around the four major standards for des's um evaluation for administrators um and so we're just sort of in that cycle right now um and then along those same lines attached um to your packet you'll see as a reminder um you'll see the timeline for Dr C man evaluation that we talked about I think it was last year we talked about um and we wanted to put this back on PO radar because we'll be um in the coming weeks getting you uh evidence for his I believe of midcycle as well so I'm going to hand that over if d c wants to speak um to the that it's sorry hold on find so may 2024 self evaluation evidence focus on the progress July 1 23 to may very 1 21 and it'll be for those formative because his plan goes through till 2025 but just as long there's really nothing more to add that the evidence will be you know forwarding that up for the next next that may second yeah so you'll have that to may we went from May 2nd to May 1st right that's correct oh yeah sorry the first one that's that's great there was a lot of information ination that is great um I appreciate the um um you know your comments about starting the conversation about policies for AI because I know that that is everywhere right now um I actually am deeply into a uh document that that the Department of Education put out all about you know equities in Ai and so and our staff is doing those things as well and everyone's sort of waiting to see what are the guidelin policies um just to ensure that people and students are kept at the Forefront we don't lose um the equity that we know teachers bring to the process of planning and differentiating and scheduling and all of that so I this makes me feel good to know it that you know nansa is right there with the rest of the school district Moree with they're thinking about future any other comment to add that for AI when four of us went to the annual school committee conference in November they felt it was so important that they made a lunch in so I mean you know everyone that was there could attend and it was like hour and a half or so so it was very I had never been a part of a workshop or a introduction to that so it was it's fascinating especially to have kids using this and you know hearing about it at home as well well I mean naturally what happens is our students are using it our teachers are going what is going on I know they didn't write this sess it right so you know like a lot of things our students are a little bit ahead of us sometimes but we're catching up and um and it really offers while I know it can be overwhelming sometimes for folks it it really can be a phenomenal tool and so we're looking at that like what how can we use it in our practice and also you know what are some safeguards or some expectations we need to start establishing so that it's appropriately used and and used with guidance or support we've got work to do there thank you all right Dr C you're up the superintendent report thank you madam chair so um just a couple of things we worried about our grand national champions um cheerleading and so a joke remember last time I named the most successful team in the history of Amic they were all here so I should have given a good hint um it's obviously their first obviously but I mean some time when National Championship which by the way thetion is that you are the top performing team out of all out of every possible divisions that are there so something out of like 36 different teams so co-ed teams college teams U you know whatever so that's what the Grand in Champion uh is U signifying and they've done such a great job we're just of course proud of them and um so they're you know they're on cloud n and they should be so obviously very very um proud of them um if you go to the back of the school you've noticed uh you know by central office we some the hard work that we've put into field upgrades starting to actually take shape we have a banner long defense line and right now it's the baseball field that is um that shows the most work um adjacent to that is that you see what used to be a new Forest is now missing and because had a and we'll be putting hopefully practice fields in what we hope um to be a u a softball field there as well um it's it's been a very well not so well hidden secret that there are issues or one could contend that there are issues with to line um not that we don't offer but because softball is located where it is in terms of um Gill they we've they have to travel and no one else does so um it's been something we've been chasing for quite some time and we'll and we're progressing towards that so I'm looks it looks great back there and Facilities folks have done a wonderful job um coming up next week we have a tiered fol well it's the end of it we've been in the great of tier Focus monitoring for special education the past I don't about three four or five months seems like three years um but ultimately they come in and uh test the systems look at our records and look at our in this case program and we'll get a report out at the end of next week I think it's Friday um they're going to be here Tuesday and Thursday Thursday right so Thursday is when they'll report that out so we we're excited to hear what they have to say um I'll actually let Miss Lions talk a little bit about this but we've uh more about this but we have Gap dat coming up which is um it this has turned in has gone from just like hey we'll talk to kids about the importance of not drinking and driving and you know and off the flist or who remember coming to speak to like an extra GZA that it is and I'm GNA let Miss L explained literally the 28 hours of activities that she has um literally has stuffed into four or five hours on our main part thank you um well Gap day started because I've been an adviser for several senior classes and I would see them come see our wonderful Fire Department police departments come give their presentations but the kids just weren't engaged they were you know sleeping half the time so they weren't really taking the presentations as seriously of course these guys aren't trained for to interact with kids the way we need them to so um so I took it took the project and ran with it and we've been building on it and building on it this year not only our local police and fire coming our 13 is coming state police is coming with an activity that can't be disclosed it this time because we have a senior in the room um we have the Canan unit we have Pathways for change coming to talk about consent with the kids um we have I don't have one list in front of me but we have several activities taking place um it's going to be an exciting day and we'll have a cookout the stado is U putting together a cookout for us is going to be fantastic IC and there's a second treat that's going to be coming to go with that cookout so the kids are going to be in for a very engaging educational um not just learning about the news and Nots about you know prom this is going to carry our seniors into college you know the I mean we all know I mean let's be real here the kids go away to college doesn't matter if you're 19 so you just got to prepare them to make the right choices or the choices that you can make possible so that's that's the goal honestly it's gonna be fantastic um she's out down herself once again that's saying something um we on May 17th we will be holding it's a it's a half day it's a professional development D um but on that day we're going to hold a vendor uh healthare um and what that'll also do is start the onboarding process um for our new insurance um that we've been talking about it quite so bit so it'll give folks the opportunity to not only uh you know view all of the really the wonderful um opportunities they have just with our insurances and what they can do with what they can access but they'll also get receive some help if they have if they need it in terms of onboarding to the new um health insurance um uh program insurance policy stuff so we're very excited about that also we're going to take our opportunity we've done this the last couple of years is that there are so many days during the year like professional day uh principal day principal month business administrator Mon it's it's almost impossible to kind of keep up with it so we oddly enough no superintendent and so I just want but um that so we what we do is we save it up for one whole day and thank them thank everyone for all the wonderfulness that they provide you know not only our students but for the district and so Mike will be putting on a lunch as we talked about and um and you know it's really just a day to certainly take care of some business but to celebrate um celebrate our staff certainly deserve um I know that folks I'm sure folks heard of the US News ranking you know so generally speaking here's the goal you don't ever bring it up if you didn't do well um and you bring it up when you do do well uh because quite hly the measures that are it it it's they're they're benign at times and you really don't know exactly you know what appens to Apples but in this case I will tell you um that if I'm talking about it then we must have done pretty well and we did so um we we were ranked 18th out of this is Worcester mro just a there 64 districts that are assigned to wer Metro District according to the US rankings we came in 18 um and I won't tell you who we did better than but everybody so I won't tell you that would be we we've ranked 121 out of 405 um high schools um in the state of Massachusetts that is that has afforded us the um one of the best High School um you know placs that we could we could add it to our website we could actually you know order one but ultimately what I want to make sure I'm putting out here is that okay measures are measures when they took when they took these um these uh these variables and you compared them to to everyone we did really well um I would tell you that we would do very well regardless if we do but College bra is an area that we really worked hard on and we were ranked 105th in the state um in in terms of college curriculum which is really around AP scores and who took them and passed them um and 109th out of the state for seniors who actually took AP test so the point I'm making is that you know academically we continue to make um progress and we've made some really good stries and look if they're going to put some out ranking um high schools in districts then yeah I'm in uh because I want to see how we um how we do measure up not only locally but across the state so certainly um feather in the cap to uh to our staff who do all the real the real work um yesterday speaking of day days yesterday was the day of Susan or otherwise known admin assistant uh you know appreciation day she was showered with gifts um and just hundreds of folks coming well wishers Etc and so but we Joe BL Susan she runs the district everyone knows that um but certainly want to uh you know formally and publicly State you know all the great work that she does keep me in line um the district running um so uh but you know my flowers are better than all's flowers so so you say def right um other than that mam chair that is it for so I have somehow gone on of order and I apologize to the committee and to all of you um but I think we might want to just finish this section and then go back so um the outstate field trip is the final thing in this in the superintendent report section so let's take a look at that um looks like it's canab late that's what it is if they can get our students to do all those things on that field trip I will love it even more that's just what all the things that are options I am not going to prom and you get them to do like you know 10 it's actually hard to do all the rides in one day in my a lot of good questions if you actually scroll through 36 pages of it there you know somebody who's been to canaby link there's some great questions on that I'm like I'd like to know the answer to that our education I have absolutely no questions that are concerned about this field trick right I would entertain a motion to approve the sixth grade out ofate field trip to canaby Lake on the date of June 5th 2024 so second so that was a motion by Shan second by Shauna um are any comments or questions all in favor opposed abstained yes unanimous y yay my my only question is can I come with you I have a couple question days left same SE well hopefully I they both have kids all right so then I will go back to the new business section which I still skipped over before so we do have some Surplus items that we need to vote on spreadsheet um it looks like they were all MacBooks I could speak to that a little um Jared is going through his inventory and he provided a list of old MacBooks he has contacted a company he works with a company that will purchase that for from us most of them are not usable at all um okay entertain a motion to the attach are very old and broken Beyond repair MacBooks will be sold to a company that by old MacBooks to recycle second was motion by Sean second by C impression all in favor opposed yes unanimous and now we move on to the superintendent evaluation cycle plan so I believe you have the hand and I think we did we we've talked about this a little bit just minutes ago but um next our next meeting I'm I'm looking I want to make sure I got this right but our next meeting is when the uh I will be submitting pardon um my narrative and of course the evidence to support um the goes thus far work has stre done and then if you again if you can take it up step down in June what the committee will do um at a Mee to be determined obviously is that you'll uh the school committee will complete midcycle formative valuation which will focus on forance progress and established goals based on the evidence from July 1 to June 30th which will have right um and then uh yes so you'll rate the performance and progress on that as am I missing something I just wanted to go back on new business um the end of the year event schu yeah I didn't know if you want to do that yeah it's it's attached there's two different schedules attached um and they're highlighted um for the school committee so you mean it's the next one underneath the superintendent evaluation yeah okay Sor okay so we have our schedules here I take everything back what I said we have our senior we have a one for school committee and then the fun yes okay and just they highlighting so the blue ones are ones that they would you're invited to go to if you'd like to and the yellow ones are ones that they would really like you you know so we have priorities first anybody have any questions about schedule all right Susan is that are we good his name do we need to um say that we're coming to these before we go yes there's a response dat that they for like dinners and things like that although I did respond that I would coming to the 29th back right service not not not at this time when be schedule he was waiting to hear back there were deciding which church they were going and go to so he was going to come back us on that so as soon as I know oh but the senior B was that same night yeah there's time to go the seniors are also going from that too oh okay I could probably that 45 minutes max should we just send you a text all of these events are fantastic um last year I enjoyed you know attending all the ones that I could and it's just so exciting to see the seniors you know they their final days and and connecting with their families and the community you know there's probably a ton of work that goes into the planning of all of and it's greatly appreciated more questions I just agree um so if I have not missed anything it looks like we are at the section where we address any items not reasonably anticipated by the chair I think that there are um do we need to vot on school choice we school choice with school choice is under the super oh wait never mind you're right school choice Susan we've spun us out of control no it's my fault I skipped a section and now I'm just bouncing all over the place it's I back the super is as if we left see the uh we're talking about school choice enrollment so um normally you know we talk about how school choice students we have Etc what's our enrollment and that's important and you have that um know in the but really the bigger conversation is that the uh the school committee U decides really two very important things one whether or not it's going to be a school committee that accepts school choice kids just never mind numbers are where just the you know just the simple fact that we are if we're going to accept School CH in this District um just as a reminder you cannot Vote or the decision cannot be not to be a school choice sending District that's been asked a few times but this is a school choice receiving District kind of question okay the other part usually when we we speak to this is we look and you I give numbers exact what classes what I mean pardon me what what groups what what grades next year can in fact you know by my estimation take school choice students as just as a reminder um that we have not Tak currently all the last four years anyway have not receiv received any school choice students at the elementary um and it's really been at the middle and high school you know we've talked certainly about what our student population is there the sure numbers there's the reality though that at the very least I need we need to um replace the students who will be graduating who are in fact school choice students for all the reasons that we talked about during the budget because we have very real bills coming out of that revolving account and then we have to make sure that we um stay on the the positive side in terms of um so what I'd like to do for all possible and seeing that we are uh we are meeting next week for sure is I'd like to uh deliver that information at that time in terms of what grades that I think if we you know you know T school choice students in um what grades inv by how many students that we would accept we've done that we've done that for the last five six years that's that is not something new um and I'm sure you know a discussion will ensue at that point but um we generally shoot for more than just breaking even because although we open up x amount of seats generally do not mostly because of the grade level um that we're able grade levels whatever they may be are able to take students um folks aren interested um in having their uh their child enter into that group right into that at that time if we if we opened up the elementary kot it be a whole that would be a whole the conversation which not suggested or um it doesn't that we do that but mam chair if we could we could hold off till next then I'd have a better a better view um as to uh what that would look like I'm trying to get as close to which which will not happen but a kindergarten enrollment um always always a moving number um just because we you know we're coming to well when is the last thing can roll for Kindergartens the end of the 24th was the last your packets yeah so we'll have a better the 24th just you yesterday so we'll we want to make sure that we have as much time space where we are kindergarten forms us in a lot of ways like what might be coming in terms of element in general line just so with like to move that the votes for both truthfully um till next week to our next I there was not a motion attached to this at all so sounds fantastic have any questions about moving it okay good um we have an agenda tomorrow so we'll make sure to put that on absolutely the agenda for our next meeting which I can't believe is next week after Wednesday Wednesday now we are actually at the part of our meeting where we talk about any items that have come out in the last 48 hours well I do actually I spoke with a parent um this morning and they were going I think that many of the parents were going to come here tonight they may come next week I'm not sure um but after speaking I think that they'll um they'll hold off for a bit but we I've had more than one handful for sure who've talked about the TR currently have 96 97 kids out for track right now um last four years we've averaged I I don't know but well in the 80s in terms of outdoor track especially in the spring Spring Track um and you know the track is unusable uh in terms of any Tye of competition the MIAA has already told us this is an old this not a new story um but they're they're looking at questioning like what can we do about the track Al um and as I explained uh that much of what we need to do is very expensive and we could not as District even if we wanted to we could not borrow the money that it would take to fix the track on our own like as we've done under the field that we're going to be replacing um uh yeah literally replacing in July so the field actually has to be done first it's in the middle of the track it makes sense what's going to happen though those very large trucks are going going to and we know this we've known this they're going to go over the track in order to do what they've got to do they've got to fix the drainage which may very well mean that they'll need to dig through different sections of different various sections of the track in order to make all of that work and I explained all that but what I believe is is forming is truthfully a um track you know parent group um they they they were pretty adant very very appropriate but they really are looking to get organized and to look at what can be done about replacing so what we're going to do I don't know that we'll get this done by the time matter of fact I can almost get up to you that will not be done by next Wednesday but we already have a pretty um detailed report from 2019 prior to us really getting into the throws of Co but what it would cost and what was needed to be done with the track itself and a very very very rough uh quote was given we're going to be reaching out to that company again because it's been well almost five years since then you got to know the quote has gone up considerably but we we have some we have different questions that ask in terms of what can be done what should be done um our facility director went out to watus it um I don't know several months ago and they had basically redone a lot of their athle and we got gained a lot of information from them I gained a lot of um vendor information we already on the wait list for one of them to come out to look at the track but they were six to eight months out in terms of work so we we do contact them occasionally go hey how we doing and they go well we're still we'll get to you when we do so the wheels have been in motion for a bit um but the call happened today and um I wanted to make sure that I just Leed I guess is the word but just notify the school committee that there are parents who are looking to um you know and very seriously look into what we can do about replacing fixing whatever it might be on the track um we can Mo on to school committee comments anything that they would like to comment on sh please I just thought that I think in the confusion I got um forgotten but there's a play speakers here in our Auditorium it's uh you games at theater Guild so it's a primary high high school students but there's a small handful of Middle School um students who are portraying fairies in the play um and it's this weekend starting tomorrow it's opening night 6:30 in the auditorium 6:30 Saturday and then the MAA show is on Sunday so all are welcome they've worked so hard to get to this point where the performance is here yes on to sharing out our sub commmittee reports um can start with finance and Facilities J not here I was I was at that meeting I'm trying to r that access to the meeting what did we talk about I mean it's all it's all budget lately just talking about the the um you know the the waiting part of this and we'll have town meeting we talked about videos which I also did not on there but there was a rough draft of the video at that point um what could happen and what the committee will uh if the budget comes back to us or you know we potentially um be faced with that's about it so right now it's a waiting game the warrant has been obviously approved and it's set y um and we're just now waiting for the town meetings yeah our facilities update was basically everything that we just talked about with field um how about Labor Management lab well actually just minute today h today Wonder yeah so it's fresh it's fresh but you know it's hard because you know it's also executive session but um the easy part to say is that you know it's relationship staying good um you know being able to work on small ticket items um concern if they come up um just keeping you know nice open conversations commit thecw um we're continuing commit monthly um I think it's similar to Labor Management where all parties are glad that these meetings are happening you know um talking about contracts that we follow or gripes grievances um it's just a really I think I hate to say this word but like a safe space to just talk about all things and know that we're all in it to make it better for the students the teachers and and everyone so um I just think it's a nice you know I know we've said this but I think it's just a nice piece that really came out of negotiations um last spring so we all will have one more meeting in May to wrap up the school year um I don't know if we're having one in June um and then they continue once the fall comes great thank you um and you are also our Le see him um so let's so as um Dr C Dr C mentioned um that desie is coming out next week so as a part of that um myself and then a few other CPAC members we joined this um Zoom meeting it was a quick info session about how the district Special Education civil rights practices are reviewed um it was open to parents as well but it really ended up being CPAC members and I just thought that was really nice to invite parents um in that way and um again this is a review that's done every three years the last review is on the Dy website so if people want to look at that and um we'll get another report about um review next week um that's just interesting be part of that and then the next meeting will be Monday May 6 again we're having it in person so it'll be here at the high school liary bank account which was under the previous treasure Dana is now closed and we've opened up a brand new one um Katie is our Treasurer right now last name is blanking on me but um we also have um backup as like penny is like on the account and so we have a couple of people that can access that account now um our current balance is $7,695 197 we have set aside 3,000 for the theater at the mount which kids have already attended and 1,500 uh per field trip um for each of the grades our Square One art made $7,499 in sales and see feedback was different artwork options that we can upload our own artwork in the future possibly and order something that kids want to make um the fourth grade field trip was approved uh the preschool field trip was requested and approved um the fourth grade was 15500 and the preschool field trip was $1,170 we saved a little bit of money there um the fourth grade celebration dance is on June 11th from 6:00 to 7:30 we are looking for some volunteers um we're looking into some economical choices for gifts for for the kids we are thinking about a karate night um possibly on June 7th or Nerf gun fight night um night on June 8th uh probably a 30 person cap for in-house events it's going to be drop off1 to $30 oh this none of this is set in stone yet these are all just ideas um we did have the ice feeding event which was very well um attended and um again this my notes were written before the event had happened but we had about 79 family show up um and that means like you know each family had about four people so um it was very well attended um we I think the ice Sky rank had wanted to like charge us more for like our hourly and bony um cleaning or something but they went with their original quote so we didn't have to like lose any money there and let's see math night is May 7th from 5: to 7 um we are using sure we're going to It's the middle cafeteria thank you and then see our next meeting is actually on May 1 which is also our next um at five and oh one last thing um we left all the the the teacher members off of this information but all of the parent members for PTO are putting on a luncheon for the um Templeton Elementary School staff uh we're not just going to you know say teachers but the whole 80 of 80 or more we're going to do like um some deli sandwiches Waters chips desserts all this stuff so um that is coming from the and that will be on May 8 thank you um so Jen is our student advis or leis on for our student advisory Council um so we'll have her report things are going at our next meeting um and then I am our legislative representative and the interested time I'll just focus on a couple of of key things going on um in the legislature right now and all focused around funding um because a lot of districts who are really struggling with um trying to meet the needs of their students based on the Chapter 70 money that they're that they're receiving um Ms AC has been very wful about supporting allp to do with increasing um the inflation index so that schools are actually getting funds that that um you know address the costs that are increasing because of inflation um as well as changing for people expenditure that this year from $30 to $100 per student um to kind of cover some of those costs that are increasing um and then everyone still has an eye to what's going to happen with the um requirement by to graduation so there there's a lot going on it's important to make sure that we're reaching out to our representatives to make sure that they know that funding of our public education systems is so important we need to make sure we're relooking at how we do that um so that it's Equitable for all districts okay um do we have any correspondents so our next meeting um is scheduled for Wednesday May 1st at 5:30 um it is a change from May 2nd um do we have an executive session or do we do we want do we have anything that needs to be shared before I know you're coming in now I'm guessing it's a cheerleader related I know so we do we need to make a a motion or a I don't please expl motion be appropriate we make a motion yeah I mean they came here I'd like to hear it's an open Agenda all right so then um yeah so we can hear all you need to do is just let us know your name and sure do we need to stand up or stand up from there that's fine okay um my name is Hillary lle Martinez um I'm a parent of a student actually two students in the nanet um community and this is also Jackie gou um she is also a parent and also a track coach are you teacher to yeah okay um so we just wanted to kind of come in here um I know that I think we have a lot of concerns about the possibility of maybe the track being ripped up um and we are just kind of here to speak on behalf of that um and just not only say please don't do that for many reasons but also we want to kind of speak on behalf of the kids we want to give them an opportunity to I mean track is huge there's 92 kids that are part of track between Middle School and High School this year and um I know the track is not in good shape but every other town around here has a beautiful track and why can't wa I just I think it has an opportunity to be great for not only our schools it can bring in Revenue if we have track meets here you're saving on bus transportation because our kids always have to do track meets in other locations um and like I had said I mean the kids are bringing in there's you know fees that they have to pay in order to participate and most of those right now are going towards bus fees and things like that so we just want to speak a behalf of the kids we want to know what we need to do not only as parents but the community it would be an asset to the community as well not only to our students so we want to know what steps we need to take in order to prevent at least the track that is there it is obviously not in perfect shape by any means but if we can at least hold it until we know what to do otherwise we're displacing all of the kids for track and there's not another location to run except around the school and that be also becomes another safety issue M you want to we already sort of talked about this because we anticipated that this yes well and part we just came from a track meet so apologize yep so I was think back chair I I discussed the bo because I knew that there might be some folks here we weren't sure but I received a phone call today and um about the track about all that and you know it dispelled a few of the rumors I think that um like most rumors they just enough truth in it to you know to almost sound plausible but um one there was a something about that the track was going to be ripped up completely and it was going to be basically lawn put down um that could be attributed to me uh because at one point when we were talking about all the just everything track um it if it if it could not be fixed in the way that was safe for kids eventually you might want to do that so you can put another playing field out so let me just say that it was never going to be we're just going to rip up the track and put a bunch of you know grass there that was that was in terms of of not and I said this to parent I spoke with today we are no matter what we have done we have to fix the mid the field first you have to fix inside before you fix the track and I think that we all understand that um there's they're going to depending on the size of the trucks and how heavy but they're going to be big I'm sure um that there's going to be certainly a portion of the track that's going to be driven on there's no way around it um part of the plan that we've that we'll start first week of July is that it'll fix the irrigation so if you if you've never been down there it's in terrible shape but basically from the track it drops down into some irrigation and that has to all be level it has to be fixed because it's it's not doing what it's supposed to do I don't know what work nor do they yet it's going to take to fix those so there may have to be some some digging of you know either under or through or around the track itself because we have to fix the drainage um I to what extent I do not know I I just won't know that until we actually speak to the folks who are doing the work um they know that the track is not going away but they also know that uh that the you know the track is not going to have a meet anytime soon on it because the can um for example so um beyond that what we spoke about is that uh that I know that there there's a lot of interest around the track um and there has been for a couple of years it's going to require no matter what it takes we as I shared with the committee um we had a pretty extensive report done about the track in 2019 actually we received a very very rough quote for just the track fixes and it's a it's three or four pages of just what's wrong with it what needs to be done what should be done Etc we're on the wait list for a company that builds tracks to come out to verify basically that report but to update the five years ago so you got to know that the quote is whatever it is regardless of what the money is going to take it it's going it's beyond the district's capacity to borrow for it's just too much we can only borrow up to a certain amount of money and we just borrow that amount because we just paid off the biters um and we're now fixing the the inside the field because that's not playable as well so what needs to happen is is that was the question that was asked of me earlier today is that there from my perspective that need there needs to be a for lack of a better word but probably actually if you're going to raise money or to do anything there needs to be a track booster club and it has to be a 503c the whole thing if you're going to take money you've got to absolutely going to be nonprofit We have several of those in the district already the basketball team has one football I think football team I but we have them um we have you know we we have people who could done oh the cheerleaders are are probably the best example of it in terms of what they needed to do in terms to do that I think that that's step one step two is that um when I say organize we need to we're doing the work of trying to figure out what can be done the question is how much of that base needs to be replaced it isn't about the rubberized top that's that's that's short money the bigger issue is the base itself and if it's been compromised which it has um that does that mean the entire base has to be ripped up or can it be done like a road in sections but that that's a question that we need to of course we need to ask two we need to get rid of standing water so when you run around the duck pond there on the back corner or the front corner depending on how you look at it that's going to go away because obviously water seeps just like roads so we know that there are things that need to be done we just don't know if if it's a complete overhaul or could there be a way is there a way to make the track U usable in all fasts not just for practice or for walking on but for competitions Etc without redoing the whole thing the only folks who can actually answer that or speak to that the engineers and the FKS who tracks in for real so that doesn't mean that we're not going to wait you know for organization to happen we're again we're on the wait list for this there six to eight months out these people who build tracks we need another eye we need another opinion to come out we have to uh because it just only makes the most sense and plus something this big would require us to go out for free we'd have to put it out to bid we'd have to do the whole the whole thing that again that we are so far down road we are we're ways away from that what are we doing immediately well the conservation conservation committee is coming out to visit with me on Monday um and they're lovely let me just say that for word um I'm joking because there's a member spous is on the on the committee um what we're asking is that um they I don't know the parameters you know around what the the conservation compation committee can do but they've done such things as um upgrade Gilman field when they had to move the baseball field um they they can do those type of things um etc etc etc and right now we' got two things that we need to ask for we've got I know where I am but we've got the field that we're building next to um the baseball field um why is that Paramount one because there's no space no space to practice at all on this uh on this campus but two I mentioned it earlier from my perspective I think it's a tight line issue because the the girls softball players have got to go g and weight to play their bars games so we that that's part of our our question or ask Etc that's that's what's going to happen there the other question is that what can it do for for tracks and field and those type of things I don't know these are questions I'm going to ask um but either way it's going to require from what I understand both to because we are a region so the philson you know conservation I say protection preservation committee and again this is all these are all questions so we're we've been very active we' been very aggressive in trying to figure out what we do without I don't know spending quote unquote taxpayer money coming out of money out of pocket so there's a lot of unknowns I think that um the first unknown is well first thing is that the track is not being ripped up just to be ripped up it's not happening could it be damaged in order to fix the field inside because the drainage is absolutely unusable maybe I don't know I don't know um so they I'll know that in July you know I can't it could we fix it that quick after that we no because we'll we'll have to go out to bid do you see I'm saying so I you know we're we're trying to do this in stages because it was the only way that we could do it and we could not fix the track first anyway because the field in the middle cannot be used we need we need we need that we need Fields so can I make a comment Sur um I was just wondering um are we do we have or do we have access to someone who is a grant writer and um do okay we have folks i j we have folks a lot of lot big but this would be something they probably go through I don't know so for what it's worth I believe the town has one too that you to look into I believe they just hired they did okay that um I believe okay so Grace Curry yes there go and then if if I can just interject to so if we have to potentially Coop with another school next year because if there's construction going on and we don't have a track team I just want to put in perspective that right now we need three buses to move those children four days a week minus meet day and that's $5,000 a week that we would have to spend to move those kids back and forth just for practice coop becomes an issue because the only way you can co-al is if in fact the team that you join or the team that you are does not have enough to in fact run a team so that becomes we we were trying to go up with lnchon years ago um and we couldn't do it why because both schools had enough kids or participants to actually have attracted so I think that's problematic you're absolutely right about the cost that's something that's going to have to be we'll have to discuss that um there's no way that the district can afford $5,000 a week in terms of transportation that might be have you know that'll be something that we'll have to look at talk about I don't know before we get too too ahead of ourselves I I don't know what what if any um uh damage will be done to the track as a whole I just don't know yet and I again I'm not trying to I've G to assume it's going to be some but I I don't know how how much I just don't can I just ask a few just clarifying questions um So currently students use it to practice but it's not suitable for cl by the I know in the past you mentioned that kids you know we didn't want to risk a student getting injured but but there are current students on there is it fall and spring is it like how many seasons of track do we do we have so so we have H cross country uses it okay I mean the football team uses it to run laps as well so it uses bball Sports um we use it for winter track as long as there's it's not cold enough outside we're out there in winter track and if not we're running in the hallway upstairs um and then for Spring Track as soon as that snows off of it they're on it it's also open to the public at night um you know I find pacifiers down there and R stuff like it's it's just it's open to the public as well so so it's year okay I mean and if we didn't go to another school and move I mean we're having kids run down bapst common and stuff 90 children somebody's going to get hit you know safy issue and I mean just to that point of running on I mean I pick up my kids and I see the students running but I also watch the select board meetings and I know that there's issues with dogs running off of leashes and out of yards and there's a lot of issues and so that's a concern that I have as well for our students I want them to be safe in alls so yes thank you yeah I just think like you know we've done quotes and you said that from 2019 like there's just so many unknowns like when are we going to know like what's going to happen next year because well 100 kids are asking I can tell you honestly just not not that I know what the condition of the track will be because I don't know right I I won't know that until July you know or office you whatever the case may be um but I can tell you that whatever we whatever we do find out won't be in time to do anything to the track so in other words there's just that if we got quotes tomorrow I mean the last course the last qu we got in 2019 and it was around was around $757,000 or something to that to somewhere around there I don't know um so I got to assume that it it's gone up since 2019 I'm just going to make that you know but I don't know what needs to be done that's why we need to get professionals out there to say okay yeah that that's going to be changed up but that doesn't mean you've got to change the base because there are things like you take all of it you you ground it up and it becomes your base like there are things that you can do with existing tracks that they do um but it depends on how How deep the base needs to be or is we have an idea that it's not it was not set deep enough and that that is why it moved and so which which lends folks to believe that it might need to come up completely because that's all cement that's where the money comes right and that's where the engineering has to be Etc so we we just don't we do know because we have we you know we've had that one report um but we we're trying to get a more updated building to see if we can you know with in reality fix it well enough but but not spend you know money just to um in 5 years have to replace it those are the kind of things that we need to know better yes um and how how do we go about that I think that's why we're also here it's like what steps can we within the community we as parents we as teachers we as all of us coming together to take the next step the next step with the process the next step we we would have to do the the bid we have to do all them vendors Etc because it's it's a district um so probably talking invol when when does that part happen when the part that you're talking about right now when does that part happen like when is the school going to call somebody we we've called we've been waiting three months for them to come out these companies are six to eight months out according to them um and we've called multiple companies if it's got to be a specialized company you just can't call somebody down you know you know somebody these people putting tracks got to do it the right way we we've done that we've done that months ago literally months and months ago so we call them again to see what they I need to I'm like look I need I need information need a hard quote so when will that happen well we could get a quote in X I don't know they need to get out in order for anything to happen happen is that will'll a lot one you know uh the towns are going to have to it's in some capacity have to agree that they need to do some type of bond you know whatever it is to um 8020 let we just call that whatever how is going to do to fix that track they're going have to agree to that that's happening a town meeting that doesn't happen at a select board meeting so you know whether it be fall town meeting whether it be the town meeting in next year all depends right um your parents I said this to the the person I spoke with today you are taxpayers you are voters they're used to me asking for money um and so it's gonna it's going to take folks to be like hey this is what we want now to be fair temp then uh the finance committee has signaled that they would love to fix that TR they would love it and ask basic numbers like what would you think it would take the fix right so we said a million dollars because I you we don't know but it be something to that effect is probably going to be around there um I think that they're they would love to be part of that um and and they're thinking about that but again it's going to take people to to not press I don't want to say that in a negative way how about Advocate you know people that are ready yeah but it's both towns so I mean you know I've said this before having conversation a couple years back about you know you know but about putting this on as a priority and pushing that through because that's how it's going to be because it's going to definitely be a town the district meaning the two member towns are going to have to probably take up on his debt you know I mean so the here's the good news the district itself has done a lot of work on its own we we do a lot of our own we go out and get our own loans that would should boiler the district did that P I wasn't here but that's going to be that's paid by by the dist the field SL bleaches when it finally falls off that's a loan that we went out we never asked the town we don't ask the towns for anything that we think we can handle ourselves the track won't be one of them it it'll just be too big and plus we'll already have too much um thatt at that point once we fix but am I am I allowed to ask why we couldn't ask the town because if it was a town asset a Community Asset that you can sure but but this is the region yeah so someone from templeton's most I'm going to make the wild assumption that they're going to say I'm not paying 100,000 I'm not going to pay 100% but I'll pay my 80 20 you know you certainly can ask the town it has to happen through town meeting right through probably Le B process you know on both both sides I think getting organized I I said I offered that I will meet with the with every parent um the the selected group Etc to kind of like put you you know kind of put that in motion and talk about what that looks like um you definitely need to be a 503 seat group uh you know kind of your own booster club because that then at that point it's powerful on your end so if you are going to apply for Grants or raise money um when I worked in lunenberg that track 10 years to build from yeah I know they sold cupcakes pies yeah and game bars in the beginning and they that's not an exaggeration now granted they had I believe it was Powell the pows were wonderful people who did a lot of free work up there um were very very very very reduced in the very beginning until the town finally which they should have done in the beginning my perspective taken over the entire bill but they still had to raise money but it still had to be someone look you know moving it forward so um it can be done and you know and I I think it it's absolutely needed and how do we move forward with starting a 503 so how about after the meeting I can certainly I'll I'll fill that would be great yeah can I just I think Jeff yes so I just I just want to add you know to what Chris said sy's um subcommittee has been looking at it for quite a while and as Chris said um right now we're in those basically we're in the study study phase okay so in order for us to even present it to the town or to the towns or to the school committee or whatever it is we need to get through the study phase to see exactly what is going on what the subbase material is what is wrong with it are there any other drainage issues underneath there what else needs to be done as well as coordinate that with all the other work that's going on and that's where that's the process that we're in right now we're waiting for the contractors get back to us with that once we have that information um and I'll guess then you know we'll share what we what we looking for people uh to share it with to support it and we'll develop a uh presentation at that point that we can take that to the next step um and I think that's that's basically where we are okay thanks Jeff um and so my comment sort of piggybacks on what Dr Steve was saying as well first I thank you for coming it's so nice to have people come and and you know interact with us um I think sometimes when people come they they sort of feel like you know I'm GNA State my case to the school committee you are literally preaching to the choir that this this committee is very School teacher Community forward um and so your concerns are our concerns as well um and Dr C you know the town meeting we try so hard to encourage people to be a part of that because that's where all of the important things that we need to do as a school district are happening we're trying to pass a budget right now that just keeps teachers where they need to be and gets more teachers in where they need to be um and we know that the people in the town want the Athletics available for kids as well town meeting is where that needs to happen um I don't know if you saw the video that was just put out shared on some of the Local Pages with students were very good about sharing information about how to meeting works and how important it is to be a part of it um it's wonderful um and I'm just I'm really hoping that we get more people at these meetings at Town meetings so that we can really do the work that we want to do you are literally preaching to the choir right now like we are with you those are the things that we want to I just want to add that we've been we've been chasing this for a while and we just honestly we gave up hope to fix both things at the same time because we knew that now we're one plus X you know so we we decided to do what we needed to do in terms of a playing field because we we only have one athletic field as everyone knows it's spread out back um and we need we needed another um quite frankly because that field is not going to make it uh because it's it's got too much it's got too much action on it right so that's why we need another field so I don't want anyone to think this was just kind of like we the facilities committee has we have gone around been around about this in 2019 we were really going to be ready to approach as they say but um that's when you know the override failed they closed philps and and we cut six teachers and then Co happened every was like we're not we're not talking track now we're trying to talk you know ventilation Etc so but after me I really could just fill you in on how that other the other piece of it works but we are I I hate the idea that the town spent so much money um and one quite frankly I don't think the product was a good one uh the field was never game ready it could it never saw a bars level game because it was not appropriately it's too crowned and the track worked for a while obviously but you know the type of Maintenance that it took for whatever reason no one did anything with it so thank you um what you said but really um Hillary and Jackie thank you for coming because people don't come to our meetings and you know we get um summaries of things and you know what's going on but it's really nice for us I feel to hear from you know parents and community members directly um what I would say because you guys sound like you're ready I said we have parents that are talking we have kids yeah we you guys are here tonight which is great we have a meeting next Wednesday if you want to come there's more of you please come um but then also in May right both philon and Templeton are Town meetings um go sit together get you know I mean there's rules about like what you can and cannot do and but but let your you know let your purpose your focus right get out there to community members yeah so um I just encourage was walking through the hallway like Chase where's the K the video online with our students and Dr C explaining but it's it's so well done I know that I keep bringing going back to this but it really in to to have students take on those rules like it was just it's amazing it's not a long video um and it's a really Facebook so yeah that's on the Facebook page I think I shared it this morning on like the Templeton philipson one super proud of those kids so um yeah check it out if you can if you can find it online and my last comment was I too when I was in high school we had a whole track situation I feel like it was the whole four years like you know that was in Westford um so I can relate I can understand yeah so yeah and they the parents did form they raised money and I remember you know once it was built and beautiful it was like ah don't do the it was like this beautiful you know um thing that nobody wanted to touch you know but yeah people were very proud of it so it can be done yes aw um so I will just remind everyone that our next meeting is Wednesday May 1st at 5:30 um it does look like we have reason to go no we don't okay then if we don't have um session then we I would entertain a motion to adjourn second so motion by Sean second um any questions or comments all in favor opposed I say yes unanimous that we are ending oure yes