##VIDEO ID:zv3_5toCLYA## we'll call the school committee meeting to order and you please rise for PL Alle to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which we stand one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you um moving on to correspondence and recognition um first first uh did anyone notice we had an election earlier this month I don't know if anyone did um but we've got three outgoing outstanding uh public servants uh Senator Mar Pico and served the district well for many many years um Senator Walter timilty who just picked up uh Bridgewater uh in the last uh after the last census and served uh the town of Bridgewater and be very well himself in his short time here and representative Angelo demilia who served uh both towns uh very admirably over more than a decade so we want to thank them and congratulate them on their service um I taken on um by My Prerogative to invite Senator elect driscal who will now represent Bridgewater Senator elect duner who will now represent rham and uh representative elect Gallagher who's going to represent both towns to come and introduce themselves say hi get to meet us unfortunately the two Senator elects uh had other commitments that they could not make it tonight however Mr Gallagher is here Mr Gallagher if you want to come up to the podium maybe we'll just introduce ourselves on the school committee for everybody and then you can uh introduce yourself and um you know say a couple words so starting to Mar um hello my name is Rachel Cory and I'm a student representative Rachel King and to my left ran power super and titim Fitz Gibbons the chair notice how I didn't have to introduce everyone now everyone knows up there all right so Mr gallager the floor is yours for a couple minutes just to say hello and talk about what you hope to do for our district sure thank you Mr chairman members of the board and to the public that's here I'm excited about this new Venture in my life that'll start on January 1st until then I am still uh representative elect and wrapping up my full-time job at the moment but um I just want the school committee to know and residents of both Brig r that I will be a strong advocate for public education of Hill I think that my record and my track record going back to my days of in the town of Bridgewater my recent days as a councilman in the town of Bridgewater and now my new role as a state representative my role as a select wining Town Council counsel I have always been a strong supporter of the initiatives of the school committee School Administration has put forward over the years with the building of the new high school back in 2002 and 2003 two current projects that are ongoing with the new track that was put in place and the attendance courts and ADV Capital funds to be able to be appropriated to schol with so so that track record will continue on as I campaign throughout uh both towns these past nine months I've talked about how I want to make sure that the district get their fair share Chapter 70 fund which is the main funding source for your from the state anyway uh for your operations in the school budget and chapter um 71 monies that help with your trans I will be a strong adoc to make sure that the district gets its fair share of funds for the district I think that's that's going to be my role in any other any other areas I can help I certainly will be there there may be challenges with budgets as we all go through from time to time we'll get through those sometimes it's not pleasant but I will always be there for you and for the children of the district and for the administration and staff as well thank you Mr gallager appreciate you coming in all right next up on the agenda congratulations and recognitions to the state champion Bridgewater Rainham Regional uh cheerleading squad coach off Zak lotney I say it right still you did all right come on up and introduce everybody we we got we got a you up here to say say everybody's names and how great they did and everything so come to the podium over there the podium yeah yeah yeah you're in charge it okay so we have senior Captain Izzy Phillips Senior Captain Gabby Kamar sophomore Cadence kolis sophomore K pson who's that freshman Maline clay freshman Olivia kogler freshman Jordan Curtis freshman cheyen Brown freshman Lily Stewart and U my assistant Christina parari but she actually really was the head coach of the game day team um this year she did uh really stepped up this year and U we're just really grateful to be here and we're really um excited because we haven't won a State title since 2017 so um we're very excited to bring it back to Bri all right great girls congratulations from the table here and then come shake our hand great job congratulations conratulations [Music] you thank you thank you for coming all right uh so in an effort to keep everyone apprised of the general tenor of email correspondence we receive um during the uh during the month uh we do have a quick list of emails that touch on the general themes that have been here we're not going to speak of any particular individual issue but um uh the poor quality of the sound uh at last month's meeting I'm not going to lie about it that was my bad I apologize um we had um an email from Mr Fowler offering to help us on that and uh obviously got emails congratulating the cheer team that we just uh we saw here so those were the those were the main themes of this month um with that I'll turn it over to Mr Powers for veteran State program yes thank you Mr chairman uh I did want to just take a moment to recognize and honor all of our amazing veterans in both communities Bridgewater and ringham especially all those that have graduated from the high school have gone on to serve our country uh several of our schools organized events um the Friday before vetman Day weekend uh so it was great had an opportunity to attend some of those um obviously I want to thank our staff for doing that certainly acknowledge Rave and Miss Pat Riley for always organizing all of those special events on the Rainham side we did have a special uh guest Sergeant uh Daniels from the US Air Force um she's actually the sister of one of our special education teachers and also a proud VR Brad so it was nice to have her as um guest of honor thank you now moving on we do have our student advisory committee here and I'll turn it over to miss King uh to go from there thank you Mr chairman um I'd like to invite Rachel Cory the co-president to the stand good evening everyone tonight I hope you're having a wonderful night unfortunately Quinn couldn't meet it tonight so I'm just going to be reading his word for him um he wanted to say good evening and that he's going to be reporting on the upcoming event the rwater players fall 2024 production the little mon he wishes that he could be here tonight but unfortunately he's at dress rehearsal for the show um as he is a person starring in the production the administrative team crew cast members and himself have been working tirelessly to ensure that the show can be as successful as it can be since October 3rd to now every rehearsal has been used to get the show to where it is today and now opening night is only 3 days away on Saturday November 23r the Little Mermaid has two shows on Saturday November 23rd the production of Little Mermaid has two shows that's going to be at 2 p.m. and 7 P.M on that day and then also one on Sunday November 24th and there's going to be one performance at 2m I hope that he hopes that all of you will be able to join under the sea um the ringer players hope to see you all there to attend and if you haven't bought your tickets yet you should get them to see this unett performance hopefully you can make this musical production an event that will be part of your world he wanted to welcome me to my own work um sorry about that um so I wanted to say good evening to everyone as well and then I'm going to be reporting on the high school spirit week which has been occurring for the past few days and will continue up until next Wednesday as planned by the senior class officers including myself this past Monday was sports day so the hallways were full full of Team jerseys and colors um yesterday was neon day where many students could have been mistaken mistaken for a walking highlighter um today was tropical day and so many students dressed up in Hawaiian shirts and florals tomorrow is Country Club versus country western day and Friday is Pajama Day the following Monday will be my personal favorite barbecue dad versus soccer mom um the Tuesday will be class t-shirt day Wednesday is going to be the pep rally day so students are going to be decked out in all red attire to represent our school colors I could not wait to see how our school blend creativity with school spirit and create an enthusiastic atmosphere in our school I hope you have a wonderful evening and I now welcome s good evening good evening um today I will be talking about TJ squ robotics today um so we have an upcoming auction and dinner so this is our biggest fundraiser of the year and it's how we raise most of our team's money so we're actually able to build our robot for in our event it's being held on December 6 and we're expecting a lot of people to come it's an event to our appreciation for our family friends along I and sponsors and um and we're really excited about it um thank you and I now wel good evening everyone over the past few weeks several colleges to visit V to greet students and inform them about their institutions in October Bridgewater State University arrived for their onsite admissions making the stressful college process smoother for some students this season throughout October and November schools such as Boston University Massachusetts Institute of Technology wer poly Technic Institute UMass Boston Universal Technical Institute University of Rhode Island Savannah College of Art and Design and University visits during lunch or at the end of the day to answer any questions that students may have and pass out fers about their school these were great opportunties for students to discover and inire about new places where they can stud thank you for your time and I now welcome good evening this upcoming Friday November 22nd the high school will have our annual homecoming this is a time for students to and also a great opportunity for the student council to rece selling water snacks food and the tickets themselves on another note the sophomores have finished one of our fundraisers starting another our fiser orders will be accepted until the thir of December staff students and parents will be able to see the menu place order in advance and these orders will be picked up and delivered to the school people can receive their if you're interested you can order through the7 Facebook Instagram page which the designated pickup dates are December 19th and 20th we hope to see you there thank you and that concludes our stat first thank you very much anything further on that M uh no I just want to thank the student advisor Council for being here tonight with their report um we will be meeting again a few times in December um I know they did have discussions about um having MRG come and Mr Powers um just to talk more about the bud proc this year in that so we will be sending an email about that depending to and I hope they have a Happy Thanksgiving so thank you thank you all right we're going to move on now to public comment uh 12 minutes three minutes per person everyone knows the drill hopefully if you don't I can repeat it but I feel it get ties seeing no one coming oh yes all the comments yeah you Rose you raised your first couldn't see behind name and address for the record please my name is Courtney coloni Drive thank you um so good evening my name is Courtney res in briw I'm here today to express mying concern about the state of the special education department I have two young children and they are both on I they only on these I evaluation 3 years ago for the last three years I trusted that the school has been doing the right thing this is until I realized how far behind my children are after educating myself and spending thousands of dollars it has become clear that my children have dis this should have been picked up by the school a federal law called child find actually stat I expressed many concerns about my children including that they have dyslexia in an IDP meting and I was told by two separate Educators that there was no way my daughter had the school testing did not pick up this disability for either of my children an independent evaluation need to this day I still advocating for an appropriate education for both my children and quite frankly every day their civil rights are being violated literacy is a fundamental right and they are not receiving that when you look at the v um MC scores for grades 3 through 8 only 37% of students are actually meeting or exceeding expectations Ina 63% of students are not meeting Ela expectations children in general never mind the most vulnerable ones cannot read and this issue is the neglect of implementing evidence-based practices in how literacy skills one cannot deny the link between learning disabilities and mental illness and the consequences are highly when in fact there is an abundance of researching evidence on how to teach children how to read my children's deficits are so clear and can abolutely be remedies with the correct intervention delivered by a certified provider however despite this knowled the school to deny this and fails my children dating I actually had the um opportunity to observe the language based classroom at the read in middle school and it was shocking to me that the special education teacher left nine children for half of the class with a par professional the regulations States one teacher to eight children to one one special ed teacher to eight children not one par professional to n when I questioned this Pat which I was told to get daily I was told professional who teach special education under the direct supervision of a special education teacher I will say there was absolutely no direct supervision as a teacher was not even present I did ask for the regulations surrounding this and I have not received them this is just one example of what occurs within the special education department I'd be happy to discuss discuss others at a later date it is clear that the special education department is in a disarray right now Melanie har has resigned and jayer is no longer with the district leaving two special education administr this I don't think the school has even announced to the parents that jayer is no longer with the school I'm wondering if this announcement is going to be made because he was the administrator for one of my children in closing my heartbreaks not only for my children but all of the children that are not receiving an appropriate education and not learning how to read every child has the right to learn how to read and the school is violating this right and failing toage children I know that parents have sent letters to the school committe requesting the special education department um I'm not sure if this is going to happen and I'm not really sure what it's going to take for the school to take the necessary to make the necessary changes um so that this does not occur the children are being failed espe thank you Tracy Lincoln 255 street today I stand before you to address an issue pressing issue that affects not just our Educators but more crucially our students the very heart of educational system the current climate in our district is placing teachers in a challenging and unfair situation uh one that discourages them from advocating for what is best for their students teachers are not just instructors they are primary support systems for parents who seek guidance and direction in navigating the complexity of education however many Educators find themselves walking a tight Ro apprehensive of facing potential consequences for being honest and transparent with parents this apprehension is not merely a personal concern it creates a chilling effect that open dialogue open dialogue um about the needs of our students when teachers have the courage to communicate with parents they are often themselves in um they often find themselves in a position where they must caution the parents against speaking out uh they fear the repercussion that might follow repercussions that not only affect their professional standing but also compr compromises the support and services that their students desperately need this reality is Charing and unacceptable why should our students right be compromised just to protect our teachers um from a minor from a minor discrepancy sorry minor this is the problem I can't read either and I should have been taught in school um disciplinary action um in this climate of fear of uncertainties uh we must ask ourselves who truly suffers our students their needs are being overlooked at overlooked as Educators hesitate to speak up the very individuals entrust entrusted with nurturing and guiding our children are being silenced and in doing so we are inadvertently restricting the freedoms of our students to receive the support and services they rightfully deserve in addition we must address the insu issues of gaslighting in language some parents encounter when seeking Clarity of services provided our students when Educators and or administrators employing ambiguous justifications for lack of necessary resources it is only serving our uh further confused and alienated parents uh this kind of communication undermines the trust and fostering of the environment where parents are while the needs of our children continue to be unmet I would like transparency accountability from our district to ensure that every student has the access to support um they need to the district is violating some of our students civil rights when they are not providing the appropriate education needed to thank you m further public comment seeing none move on to the consent agenda which is approval of minutes dated October 23rd 2024 North River collaborative quarterly report acceptance of gifts uh a $400 donation from Global Enterprises Car Wash proceeds to RMS is uh should be actually 440 my bad uh $500 to bridging lives from Trinity Episcopal Church and I believe also we are putting in uh the Personnel report as well so um with that said is there a motion to approve the consent agenda made by Mr Lo second second by Mr conr uh all those in favor opposed it's unanimous thank you all right educational report School Improvement plan with liberty and RMS who's going to go first Miss Hargraves or Miss shat okay thank you I'm Hol principal at Liberty thank you Mr chair members of the school committee and superintendent Powers the LA Liberty Elementary School Improvement plan is aligned with the district's Student Success plan this plan was developed in collaboration with school administrators staff and families I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the school council who assisted in the creation man Mrs Collins Mrs Madden miss britz and miss Shadow as you know the district's Student Success plan which drives our school Improvement plans is built upon four pillars safe and supportive schools curriculum instruction and assessment operations and human capital although we have multiple school-based action items built into our plan I'd like to share the action items we are prioritizing under and of schools We are continuing a focus on improving our multi-tiered systems of support for students this includes developing meeting Pro protocols and clearly defined roles and expectations of team members on needs based intervention block at each grade level at least three times each week developing intervention plans resources and guidelines at each grade level in both reading and math and administering and analyzing data from the Desa student strength assessment under curriculum instruction and assessment We are continuing to focus on improving the implementation of our newly purchased instructional materials in knth and English language arts which include the envisions math program the Wht and wisdom Ela program and phonics instruction in grades 2 and three under operations we are developing a building based emergency response consistent monitoring of the learning spaces and environment through the lens of Maintenance and security and continuing to implement recommendations from our safe fruits to school Consultants under human capital we are implementing increased onetoone meetings between Administration and teaching staff to support constructive growth oriented feedback resulting in improved student achievement those are the highlights for of our school Improvement plan and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have questions from the school committee on the Liberty school group plan see done thank you very much M appreciate it m you're up next good evening my name is Charlene shetta the principal at the ringham middle school and I'd like to present to you our highlights from our school Improvement plan this year our school Improvement plan is aligned with the District student success plan the plan was developed in collaboration with school administrators staff and families I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of our school council who assisted in the creation of this plan those members are Mrs Alexander our gr five teacher Miss Morales our health teacher Miss fer an RMS parent miss casan an RMS parent Miss Lombardo an RMS parent Mrs cell a Community member and great six parent and Mrs sh Meer a Community member and parent you know the district Student Success plan which drives our school Improvement plans is built upon the same four pillars that Miss harre just spoke about safe and support of schools curriculum instruction and assessment operations and human capital although we have multiple school-based action items built into our plan I would like to share the action items that we are prioritizing this year under safe and support of schools we plan to continue to develop our advisory period where students are practicing their social and emotional learning skills this period is blocked off as a 20 minute extension of Home Room one day out of our 5day cyle every teacher in the building is assigned of loal students so that class sizes are a bit smaller we are using two different resources for the advisory block the Middle School responsive classroom book and second step which is an online resource teachers have the Liberty to choose lessons from either one of these valuable resources and often start or end with a group game our goal is to encourage students to talk to and learn to share and discuss topics in a mature way under curriculum instruction and assessment we want to broaden the use of the IR pathway a personalized learning tool that help students improve their math and reading skills by providing online lessons tailored to their needs incentives such as our fall frenzy competition going on now or March Madness are offered to build confidence in their learning and help students to reach or exceed their grade level goals we are also continuing to implement with fidelity new Ela math and science programs with the support of our district Humanities and stem coordinators scheduled walkthroughs and monthly PD discussions will help to provide teachers with the resources and training that is needed under operations we recently completed the track door set up for the main entrance and the new gym floor we are now exploring options for the preschool play place a stem classroom and continuing to enhance outdoor areas such as the track and back Courtyard wall under human capit are looking forward to our second January Wellness day and Ed camps where we elicit the help of all staff members to provide instruction and exposure in areas of wellness and teaching expertise I am happy to answer any questions the community may have regarding our highlights or other questions about our school questions for Miss shet see none thank you m shet thank you m AR for coming in we appreciate all the hard work that the school councils do whenever School councils come in I always say to people it's where I get started helping the BR School District was on the Williams middle school council with Mr Kelson as the principal um moving on we're at administrative and school committee reports Mr Powers report of the superintendent thank you Mr chairman members of the school members of the audience I do want to provide a brief update uh this month on some happenings across the district uh the first as you know uh as a result of the election uh the voters overwhelmingly um repealed the mcast requirement for graduation uh we are still awaiting additional information from the Department of Elementary and secondary education in terms of what uh really will come of that uh obviously I know you've probably seen some talk that uh you know that action may be taken up by the leg but we're uh anxiously awaiting um what will happen that that new um is to go into effect in the beginning of December so we're hoping to get additional guidance uh you know in the near future we did encourage our students after the election to take the retest there were two exams scheduled because they still were eligible for the Abigail Adams scholarship so we didn't want our students to miss out on that um obviously uh our students that have already passed excuse me students that have already passed mcast will earn their uh competency determination and any students that have not earn their competency determination up to this point will now be eligible to do that through a uh review of their academic courses and that's really where we're waiting for additional guidance from the state because they're going to allow districts to um determine graduation requirements and what exactly uh will need to certify those courses uh so that's something that where on uh but again as soon as we have additional information Desi did put out a very brief FAQ basically what I just shared with you there's not a lot of information you Shar along that uh along that topic but as soon as we have more uh we will let you know moving on happy to answer any questions about mcass anybody has questions on mcass I have it's come up is um parents is kids that are already left the district so the competency is it just for the class of 2025 or is it for you know someone that grad not graduated but left the district in like 2019 it does seem as though at this point that if they did not earn their comp compeny determination but received a certificate of attendance that they will have the opportunity to have their transcripts review and we don't have a time like that could be um we don't have uh we don't have more information I will say uh just in speaking with Miss Watson on an annual basis we have I think there's one student that I I know of say in the last five to seven years that uh only received the certificate of attendance so this is not really an issue for as is other districts other questions along along those lines uh moving along I the Abigail Adams scholarship U pleased to announce that we had a number of students eligible for that we had 106 students at the high school eligible for the Abigail Adams scholarship uh to be eligible for the scholarship students in the uh class of 2016 and after have to meet the following criteria score the advanced category of one of the three high school state assessments obviously either Ela math or science technology engineering uh score in the proficient or Advanced category on the remaining two high school state assessments and have a combined mcast score in these assessments that ranks in the top 25% of their school district so we're very excited to have 106 uh students that have qualified uh really what it does is it allows them to earn a credit uh to the state colleges and universities um it obviously this changes uh year to year but uh basically what students would be looking at say University uh UMass system would be a little over $1,500 um at the state universities it would be a little over ,000 and then at Community College about $740 which doesn't seem uh like a significant amount of money but certainly helps that's it on the aail Adam scholarship unless anybody has any questions I'll just say as a parent of a child in college any amount of money is a good amount of money to have a degree uh anymore I did want to just while we're on the topic of uh mcast a quick overview of the assessment accountability data for uh the district um obviously you have access to this uh information all of this information here in the the slide deck is available on the Desi website so it's really just a summary so I won't bore you reading every uh data point because you have access to this and obviously we'll be sending out links in this Friday's vbz to to this information on this website as well uh just as a as an overview uh you know that students are assessed in three areas Ela math and science Technology and Engineering um students in grades 3 through eight and grade 10 for ELA same for Math and then science technology engineering grades 5 8 and 10 as well obviously these assessments are measuring students progress towards meeting grade level standards and expectations uh tonight I'll show you results for the last three years obviously additional information like I said you found the Des website I did want to start by sharing with you the overall Statewide results uh you can see how this uh grid is reported uh obviously we have the percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations uh for each grade level Bandon subject area uh what that change was from last year and then obviously what the change was from 2019 this information was shared with us from uh desie again I won't go over every data point there you can certainly read that um but you can see obviously the students meeing or exceeding expectations is certainly not where it needs to be Statewide uh and obviously uh the DAT you in some areas uh didn't change or slightly change from last year you can still see this significant changes from prior to the pandemic so it's not just a a Bridgewater rham issue or local issue you can see that is also a state Mr P is it something that there's chatter about at the state level where there's a feeling there was such a loss of learning through the pandemic these young children are in the younger grades uh lost a foundation that they're still trying to build back over time or I I would say that's fair to say Mr fitzg obviously that's something that you know this talked about it at the state level and obviously uh you know we talk about it internally and regionally as well uh depending on the grade level you know these students were at those very impressionable grades kindergarten first grade that was certainly interrupted or when we were able to get back into school it was in a hybrid um and you know half of a school year when you're trying to uh instruct or learn those foundational skills uh is certainly a challenge so I would say a lot of this is attributed to that but certainly we you know as we move away from that it's you we can't always use it as as oh no I wasn't using as it was just more of a reason so again Statewide results uh similar format for Bridgewater rham uh you can see again uh the data does not look significantly different from uh the state uh depending on the grade level band you can see the percent of students Statewide meeting or exceeding and then obviously uh for the district uh the two columns to the right to change from 2023 that's obviously our change and then the same thing from 2019 has our Chang as well so certainly a lot of ground to make up um from uh pre pandemic uh obviously in some cases uh you know the change from last year was uh very minor uh obviously we were down a couple areas but you know we we did make some uh growth and gains in um science technology engineering the reason why you see an NA there is obviously we weren't able to measure the science Technology and Engineering assessment had changed um from 2019 so it's not comparable any other questions on this and just to kind of show you again I won't go through all these data points but basically what you have in your packet here um is uh the ELA mcast results for grades three through eight obviously the grade band three through eight and then grade 10 so you can see that also just to show you you have all the subgroup data as well and then we've done that same thing for the high school done the same thing for math subgroups High School subgroups science techology accountability uh as you know just to kind of quickly touch upon this uh obviously uh you know the accountability system uh is a measure of how the district performing not just on mcast but in several other uh indicators uh obviously one is being achievement as we just talked about mcast with student growth what type of growth of the students making high school completion they look at obviously a couple different areas there under that progress sour as English proficiency for our English language Learners chronic absenteeism uh and advanced course for completion uh we're uh awarded points Desy uh can districts can earn uh based on des's calculation up to four points for some of those target areas uh obviously uh you know non-assessment areas are based on past Trends reasonable expectations for improvement we're obviously given targets uh that we should improve by each year and so I know this doesn't necessarily translate great up here uh again on the website it's it's you know more clear for you um so you can see for example over here uh when they talk about points earned total possible points we'd obviously like to see four out of four um in every category that means we're meeting all of our targets and we're earning every Point possible uh you can see that it's um you know non- high school and then High School grades uh as well and then obviously for the non- high school grades it's lowest performing high school and then lowest performing for the high school and again they award points uh based on each indicator that you see up there as you know we we've made great strides with our chronic gaps andm uh really reducing those numbers uh meral Elementary was Rec awarded for that uh but you can see that consistently across the district we truly believe that you know over time that will pay off for us because now that we have more students in school on a consistent basis they're there ready and available to learn and we should uh just by default uh see achievement go up but obviously there's other things that we do uh to make sure achievement is is Raising districts are placed at certain categories in terms of level of uh intervention required uh we are placed in that moderate progress towards targets and that there's no uh intervention or assistance required at this time for our district again you've seen this before uh we really believe that this is our plan to being successful and having our students uh achieve obviously we want to continue to implement with Fidelity uh our curriculum materials and resources uh School commit has been very supportive of that rolling that out making sure that we're getting high quality instructional materials in the hands of our teachers we obviously want to make sure all of our systems are aligned and equity-minded and and based on the instructional cor or everything we do every decision we make is about student staff and content we obviously want to take time uh and put resources and investments in the people who will shape our students learning experiences our teachers uh and obviously we want to partner with our stakeholders uh our students uh first and foremost our staff families and the community and then obviously engage in ongoing reflection and uh you know obviously look towards the future ofp as you know we've said this before we all have that Collective responsibility certainly foremost it's the District staff uh school committee I know you Embrace that and and take that very seriously uh the community as well and obviously the towns because we know that uh we can only be as successful as as we all want each of us to be so that concludes my assessment accountability presentation questions M down were we in the mod progress toward targets was that that the one where we were last year too we in the same category Mr P um I'm just curious because I'm assuming if we looked at this data on the desie website it will well I know it breaks it down by school so again between Bridgewater and rim especially at the middle school level last year and R there are some challenging staffing issues so we would see a difference in some of these scores rain and Bridgewater potentially correct yes all that information is broken down by individual school grade level at each individual School uh and then obviously uh accountability data for each school um obviously I share District overview but all that information is so my question is is how is state of being you how are you using this data with our principles to address again you know growth opportunities at their schools yeah sure so that's exactly uh we obviously uh as a district team uh certainly at the central office uh review all this data when we have opportunities to be with our administrative team our principles assistant principles we're looking over this data with them looking at again just you know how we're doing currently how we've done in the past what trends can uh you know we decipher from that and then obviously I know they're doing that same thing at their buildings uh working with their staffs to look at uh results uh being able to look at uh you know item analysis based on questions uh again trying to identify Trends it's always tricky with the release of the data in that you know we take the assessment in the spring we don't get the information till late summer fall before it's officially released now we have a whole new group of students in front of us um so to really kind of use this information how your students did last year which is obviously important um you now have a new group of students sitting in front of you so sometimes we really don't necessarily um you know that we have to look for really Trends and patterns and if it's something that we see over time each student cohort group um you know deficient in an area or scoring really well in an area then we're able to identify a trend and a practice that we either need to continue or the one that we need to improve upon um you know obviously looking cohort versus the other cohort on an annual basis uh doesn't necessarily always yield you know High results data uh but it's something that and I guess Mr par my question I would ask for you when you look at this data what does it need to you and where do you think that we need to areas that we are are successful or areas you think there are growth or challenges challenges yeah I think you know when you you go back through that that data i c science Technology and Engineering we're showing um you know progress you see certainly more uh pluses and greens and you do uh minuses and reds uh again I think that speaks to the commitment at the middle school high school level um in terms of you know rolling out new curriculum uh really committing to uh science practices um really uh investing in you know strong professional development for our staff we're doing the same thing in our other content areas U science Miss Joyce has rolled that out uh in science and obviously Ma to the ELA and social studies I think when I look at the numbers uh you know certainly nothing there to uh overall celebrate when you look at the percentage of our students that are meeting or exceeding expectations um you know it's not even I wouldn't even want to say oh well we were above the state by you know a couple points that's great but when you look at the state results there there's certainly nothing to celebrate U as well so I think you know for for me until we're you know 70 80 90% of our students meeting or exceeding expectations then you know we can't ever stop resting on our lals and and look back and say oh well we were you know great before Co well I think you know we can't look back we have to look at what we're doing right now and so we certainly have a ways to go um those scores are not going to change overnight but I think the plan we have in place is one that we're committed to continue to work on um do you guys get data based on like more granular on the class you know because they get it per person right so I'm thinking if maybe you know one teacher really excels in one area do we share and maybe you know I don't know yes exactly so so and and that's something that we always talk about because you know when you look at a a grade level as a whole uh it may be exceeding your expectations or maybe lower than your expectations so that doesn't mean every teacher at that grade level is doing that so we really you know as an administrative team we talk about that sure you can look at a you know how your eighth grade is doing but you really to drill down to the teacher level and they do have access to that information other questions see none Mr P thank you very much all right uh mr's last update I just did want to share obviously there's information in the school packet um as you know I did uh share a letter with the towns just providing overview of our current and projected U fiscal wellbeing and to really advocate for the towns to to start those dialog sooner rather than lat is um you know obviously uh as I reported before we're you know up 200 students down 24 staff members um that is not something of a trajectory or path that we can continue on to make sure that we're meeting our path to Excellence and being our mission stat so I just want to acknowledge that and obviously we have an upcoming meeting with the towns which I'm very much looking forward to and having that opportunity to collaborate with them without any objection from the school committee I hope could you post that letter with a the front page of the district website so folks can C actually see it yes be referenced to it and actually understand the challenges that we're facing so that it's not just you standing up here in front of a massive crowd of people and and and those tens and tens of people watching at home but the entire Community can see it and understand it and really feel what it means to them I'd appreciate that and then um were you able to answer Mr Lo question uh yes I apologize uh one student uh that is tuition into the district yes thank you yes what we see in the accountability and assessment scores I know it's one day and there's a lot of like pros and cons and incast I'm not going to argue that that voters already decided on that but it is one day it is one way to measure but I would ask you Mr Powers too is our teacher to student ratio directly affected by our budget and it does directly affect some these inas scores and their ability our teachers ability to to address students needs I it's definitely fair to say 100% obviously as you see our class sizes go up um you know level of support that we were able to provide during uh postco with Esser funds and being able to have interventionists on staff uh not being able to have those positions certainly has a negative impact and I think we're seeing some of the consequences of that thank you anything else all right um moving on budget subcommittee report M K thank you Mr chair on Tuesday November 19th the budget subcommittee met at 5:30 at the RH Middle School library in attendance were MRG Mrs Martelli Mrs Davenport superintendent pow assistant superintend Mrs babalola M Rob Mr ch Miss hey and Mrs mcdou reporting secretary and myself um we did have a time constraint due toing conflict and the rank in town meeting last night so several non-time sensitive items were held until December um the first item that we did discuss was the fiscal year 2026 um Capital plan um long range sub refer the document to budget to review since it did have budgetary implications Mr Po went over the document and pointed out the 2026 capital facilities and maintenance are combined into one 10year plan the plan will continue to update as they change um they categorized as much as possible in this new plan um and also added measurable outcomes which will be best to capture um also added was actual spent and funding source um and this will be updated as we go along um in that report everything in green highlight was for fisc year 2026 um for Capital and um from a budget standpoint we did speak to Mr pow regarding how does this Capital number compare to last year um regarding the bottom line for bridgew and Rh um and it was about the same year as last year's Capital at 1.8 million um we did approve a vote to recommend this from a budet from the budget sub um to send back to long range which will be be bringing this forward today for a vote um we also had a base report discussion and Miss Bola discussed the status of the base program following our updated fees and implementing the registration fees with this uh the new school year um the program is still running in the red um summer had come in on a rolling basis um and we're looking to also change looking to change this to a pay up front um they're also implementing a new system of electronic calendars um to more better capture um who will be attending and what days um the budget subcommittee noted that they need more detailed info again for each School location with revenue and expenses for each particular program to know where exactly the budget shortfall is is coming from um this is a way we can only figure out where we're breaking even or self- sustaining at each site um we're currently at this point at the end of October um in the red $50,000 since the start of school year no action was taken last night and it will be reviewed de with further detailed information um I just want to knowe we've been discussing this now um as Miss babalola brought this to our attention it's been over an entire school year now um we did make significant changes to um fees and implementing the registration fees and it did help um but we're still in the red so we're really going to look at the past couple of months each site where we are and make decisions on how we're going to go forward with that program um some more to come next month on um fiscal year 2025 update Miss babalola updated the subcommittee regarding the current fiscal year 2025 budget she shared a chart with Trends from fiscal year 23 to 25 uh we are still maintaining the budget free right now any emergencies um go through Mr Powers due to that the budget document provided showed July through October um we had spent 24.1 million at that point which is 25% of the budget um October was 9% of the budget we are monitoring every line to make sure expenses have no overages and if so what the plan is for that line um Miss babalola pointed page four the subline class coverage um was high at this point so she is monitoring that um we know we have changed that recently for class coverages for teachers covering um so we're going to be monitoring that line if we need to budget that to trans make transfers for that but going forward we need to make that a higher budget item um we have encumbered a majority of the budget so far Transportation um is transportation was at 96,000 which was half of that which is special education we budged accurate looking at last year's Trends um also of note the utilities the new utilities contract starts November 1 um so our cost with that will increase 27% this year um for out of District tuition we do have circuit breaker which will cover that and that will be reclassified in December um overall looking at the trends we are in good shape Miss babalola however would did bring to our attention that she does not think we will at the end of this fiscal year in um rham has indicated this week that they will be making a change to how they fund their Capital um they are not going to fund that up front um at the beginning of the fiscal year instead they will only pay Capital items following completion of the entire project and submission of groups of receed so we're not sure when we will receive the full capital announ from ring this year so we will that as well um and also I know Mr pow had indicated he did have um a discussion with Mr Jaa will be on top of that to make sure projects are um as quick as possible on time on track and submitting invoices on time to try and get everything in within this fiscal year um fiscal year 2026 we did had a discussion on the status of the budget um Mr pow is working on for the next FC year um he did say as um he just pointed out he did send a letter to both towns regarding the financial situation and projections for next year um as of last year's budget we are down 24 positions which were positions we did not fill due to attrition um any resignations um retiring um and several positions which we did not um fill or call that um being down those 24 positions we have definitely F that already this year at every grade level from the kindergarten in first Lake first grade which we've received multiple emails about class sizes to Middle School the changing of the teams to make scheduling work um even at the high school we're lacking electives we're lacking the math interventionist in different offerings that we've had before um I know the teachers are all feeling that parents are definitely um coming to us with concerns about special education has been a big thing that they have been talking to us about um so we've already felt that with the loss of those 24 positions um just to get back to where we were before we would also need an addition of 14 teachers to lower class size to what parents have been asking for um and that's not even trying to get ahead and you know address the class size things that we need and also special education so we're trying to be ahead of the curve and make the towns aware of what we're looking at next year so we're all in a partnership with that and Mr gallager just so you know up be can tell what we're looking at um so that's where we are and like Mr power said we do have a December 3rd meeting with the towns just so everyone um between us and our two towns that we're partners with um that they're aware as well of what we're looking at for next year um we did also informed us that um she did receive her certification from the state for the end um we currently have 4,245 that were certified to end um we did as of last year vote to take 2.2 two million I'm sorry we did vote last year to take two million out of that to supplement this year's budget um which will leave 2.2 million in end currently um as Mr fitzg has pointed out in the past that's not a good um practice to keep taking out of D for next year's budget um we might not have as much next year um so we definitely need to think out of the box with next budget that we're working on um we did approve October 21st 2024 minutes um we held several items um that were not time sensitive until next um meeting in December regarding fees um health insurance study um the fee schedule parking fees um we did not have any other items that came up and the next budget sub meeting is to be determined um Monday nights we do have conflicts with a member and negotiations started so um December might have to be on a Tuesday so I will and that concludes my report anyone question questions on the budget see none we'll move on Mr L sorry do we have a comparison of where October prior year we've asked for all that I think is the fair way to say it um where were were we last year with the fees that we were charging where are we this year where are we on a school year basis instead of just a rolling while was this the Summer where we hadn't changed anything versus the current school year we where we've actually implemented fees Etc so there's a lot of work to be done there before we can answer that question but that's a good one to ask but is that fair anything further see none okay back to miss King again uh masc school conference report thank you Mr chairman um I attended the m M joint conference in Hy Mass November 6th through November 8th 2024 um I did list out in your drive and I report some of the uh workshop and events I went to um just to know a few that were I did go to one regarding an override I knowbody wantes to talk about that but it was very informative um and I know we are not alone in our financial challenges for next year so I did go to that um laws and policies um special education and in education which were really informative um and collective bargaining Trends as we're going into um collective bargaining with our teachers that was very helpful as well um otherwise I did attend on the last day of the conference on the delegate assembly as the our VR school committee delegate um last year we did not get through many there was a lot of um discuss debate but we did not get through a lot of the resolutions that were put on the table um so this year the executive board made a very concerted effort to manage the meeting more effectively and we were able to get through all those resolutions um which had a lot of debate and amendments um but very orderly um I know we also had at our last meeting SE a lot of discussion about um how our committee felt for each resolution um all of them actually passed um were very close race um as you know the mcast one was a big debate even following the election um a lot of the members there felt that even though mcast was no longer a graduation requirement they needed some sort of way to measure districts which you know we have just talked about with back and forth um how do we measure how districts are doing across Massachusetts how are is V doing compared to um you know High School versus spr field high school and make sure everyone is getting an equitable education and maybe one district has more money one doesn't you know how are we measuring all of those so all of them did pass um from resolutions so these are the things that the masc executive board is going to be taking to the legislature to say these are things that important to school committees um some might be more discussed more often I know mcast is a big um the other one that was a huge one that I know they're going to be talking about is um adjusting Chapter 70 for inflation um as we had also discussed last year our inflation rate the amount that our Chapter 70 increased was only like 1.37% or something um which didn't even level fund anything um but yet in years past when it has gone higher than 4.5% it was capped so there was a big disc that they' like to have with the state you know to try and how do we get back some of that on the years that if there's an old so there was a lot of good debate a lot of things that they'll bring to the state house to talk to our legislators about um I did put in that I would like to join their executive board for their policy um to try and be part of that because I think that's important um so I will update you on that as well um and that concludes my report but I would say if anyone is interested next year um the conference is great for you know different Trends and updates and trainings and workshops um and meeting a ton of um good networking I've met so many school committee members um to have discussions or get ideas from and I talked to the executive board for a while and made good contacts with them so if you have a chance it's it's really a good idea to questions on MC no but I would ech that if you have a chance to go you're on the committee go as a new member as a as a veteran member the the amount of information I've gotten from them and the contacts I've made it's definitely any other questions comments for see none we'll move on um um okay so long range planning subcommittee report um as you can see Miss Mainville uh is not here she had something come up at the last minute and couldn't make it uh as a member of that committee I'll just uh refer you to uh her report on what was done in the meeting um ran a good meeting got through the capital plan really well um some of those uh changes that Miss King referenced were recommended by m Mainville to generate what are the outcomes we expect and where is the money coming from and and so on and so forth to better understand you know what what's really going on with these projects uh that said the um the long range planning committee did in fact approve the capital plan based on the uh also making sure that the budget committee would recommend it which they did so therefore I will entertain a to approve the capital plan as presented so made by Mr low second by Miss King uh discussion seeing none all those in favor say I I post it's unanimous thank you very much uh policy subcommittee report Mr de Marino unfortunately is sick this evening but I believe in his place Miss Davenport is going to give that report thank you Mr Fitz Gibbons so tonight um I'm just going to present a to W the second read of the policy K's right to know is there a motion oh you made you made the motion is there a second by Miss K uh any discussion on that um basically we don't need to sit here and read the whole thing is what it means all those in favor I I opposed it's unanimous thank you all right awesome so um KDA public records Mr DM Marino outlin the changes to an IR rational behind merging KDA public records and kdb the Public's right to know KDA is no longer relevant at the brid rham school district um as the brid rham Regional School District must follow Massachusetts state law public records 950 CMR 3202 combined policy was established um propos kdb public right to know by researching other school districts policies updates in the law so motion to replace the bridge rham Regional School District KDP policy with the propos kdb the Public's right to know change its lettering to KDA and eliminate KDA public records from the policy is there a second second second by Miss Martelli uh discussion it's my understanding m d report there were no changes from the first reading anyway which we discussed last time is that correct okay uh any further discussion all those in favor say I I opposed it's unanimous thank you moving on to new business approval of payroll warrants uh dated October 31 and November 14 2024 M Martelli is going to recuse herself from this vote is there a motion to by Mr Lo second by m Davenport any discussion on that seeing none all those in favor opposed is unanimous M melli we need you back because Mr L just fuse himself this um that would be approval of general ledger warrants dated October 31 and November 14 2024 uh is there a motion to approve made by Miss King second second by Miss Martelli any discussion on that all those in favor say I opposed it's unanimous thank you Mr Mo can come back now all right uh we're at that time of the meeting when we go to public comment again yes Mr Patrick please come up I just identify yourself for the record please three minutes you know the drill I'll be very uh Dave Patrick vice president of the Rea uh just two points I'd like to make uh first Mr fitzg mentioned earlier uh reference the effect that Co that had on uh our kids one thing I like to me point out and mention and I'm sure we're aware of this is the dependency on cell phones okay it's a it's a problem and it's one that I really think that um I I think the school committee should really look into to your policy and see what we can do see how we can work together to create a policy that works because the cell phones will come in a real problem not become they are a problem um and secondly uh I'm sorry what I came in late uh but I was hearing concerns regarding special ed um and look and I've stood up here and talked about our issues that we have with special ed and 're they're well know first off I like to commend M Mr Powers because he um held a voluntary meeting during the last PD we uh he invited all all of the special service teachers to uh Mee at the high school and he answered at least tried to answer tough questions now I'm not saying everyone got the answers that they wanted to hear but you know the real answer was we need Staffing right and it's simple well no it's not simple but we do we need Staffing we've said that um hopefully the towns are hearing what both is saying thank you Mr Patrick uh any further public comment seeing none uh we'll move on to announcements anyone have any announcements for us I'd just like to encourage everyone to go to the rainwater play this weekend it's a great uh take I think my son's planning on going twice he enjoys him so much he loves going to those things have a nice Thanksgiving and yes okay everybody enjoy your Thanksgiving um that said uh I'll take a motion to aurn made by Mr Lo second second by m Conrad uh all those in favor say I I opposed