okay good evening and welcome this is the May 6 2024 meeting of the school committee call the meeting to order 4M this meeting is being both audio and video recorded and I would ask that everyone please rise to the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge ALG to the flag of the United States of America and to the repic for it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all okay roll call would you like to start us off please um wait the roll call or M it's just your name student reps he lien Sarah trulio I like to throw the student reps off Gregory Thompson Smith superintendent school shill Pamela Blair assistant superintendent for business antha Vasa secretary thank you all looking for minutes for approval i' take a motion please to approve the April 22nd 2024 regular session meeting motion made by ant second second by Kate any discussion all in favor say I I I those oppos nay that carries four to [Music] zero committee and subcommittee Communications Antonella would you like to start know actually I attended the award tonight it was good a lot of kids got Awards and scholarships um lot of scholarships I thought it was a very good turnout yes Emily was congratulations you could have said it I know I was waiting um but a lot of families which was really nice to see came and supported their kids so it was really nice event even an educator too a lot of teachers were there so it was a nice event sah um myself and Greg and Pam and Gordon continue to work on uh teacher negotiations I've been able to get out to a couple of the lacrosse games and the um varsity lacrosse team has done quite a few events with the youth in the community so they had a joint practice the other night where they worked on skills and then they also had a youth night where they brought the um younger lacrosse players onto the field alongside of them but then they also did mini games um at the break so able to get out to some athletic events and then obviously the teacher negotiations and Greg was also highlighted that was the volunteer of the month our coach of the month congratulations nice write up was nice congratulations yeah thank you I coordinate the referees for in case anybody's oh you do this the soccer refs for in town soccer I coordinate them yeah and I teach them how to do refs it's cool yeah Kate um no I also went to the awards ceremony but um teacher appreciation week this week so we already saw a lot of things going on in all the schools it's nice to see lots of parents volunteering their time to help out too to and the kids are doing little projects to show their appreciation so that was really nice great Emily how's your shot um the NHS hosted a big sale last Thursday and Saturday um we raised over $1,300 and that's able to cover the stalles and tassel costs for the cost of 2024 and for the cost of 2025 next year um with money to spare for the juniors to use from next year which is really exciting um AP exams started off today so that'll be going on for the next two weeks I think um the art show we have Thursday May 9th from 6:00 to 7 they've already like closed off the hallway got it all set up so that's really exciting um and then one plug for the track team um we had our steel relay meet a few weeks ago and the girls team won for the first time ever in school history very cool that's awesome the art show is this Thursday yes six to you said yeah excellent thank you Emily okay we have opportunity for visitors to address the committee seeing none we will move right along approval of a $500 check from ginam Barrett your packets yeah you'll see that uh principal Connor Martin has requested um school committee approval of the $500 check from Brandon Barett the picture um money that goes back to the school in the gift account and then the principal uses it for the entire School nice right take a motion please to approve the check from gr and Barrett to shade account motion made by Anella second discussion all in favor say I you I'll get that to positive we have a playround project update like to invite Miss loie up here you may have some Warrior that we'll get so uh wanted to give an update on where we're at with this project we're very very excited um I alluded at the last meeting that we did um hire an engineering firm um which is working on the site work and they're finishing finish that up and now we're um at the next stage where um Miss Lo has been working um on a design along with some of her her staff to make sure we get the the right fit for our school and we wanted to bring to you um it's a 3D I guess picture of the and this is in your packet everyone has the the picture but miss loie has I think additional um information fancier pictures to kind of show you and then we we did have a couple of things to talk about because um the last the third piece of um information was the projected budget and um we are going a little bit over budget so I did want to have that conversation with you so that we know which direction to go but let's um let Miss loie talk about it and then we can maybe have those discussions thank you so you have two different plans in your packet one of them is more that square tape um and that was put together by the playground that I'm working withan what happened from there was the engineers then took that and reworked the footprint of the playground they looked at the amount of fall space that's required for each piece of equipment and reorganized where things were on the playground in order to reduce the amount of p in place rubber surfacing that we would need to help bring the budgetary cost down because honestly the ported in place rubber surfing surfacing which is what makes thisable is probably one of the most costly pieces of this project um so one of the things we wanted to talk to you about today was that surfacing um the engineering firm came back to us with a different idea than poured in place rubber which is similar to what you would see on a track it's one continuous poured in place surface there's difficulties with doing that poured in place rubber depending it's very temperature dependent um it's got a very narrow window at which it can be poured and with the weight time that we're seeing right now for the playground of put we're going to be cutting it very close if not too late to get this installed the time that we would like to get it installed because the nighttime temperatures by the time all of this arrives are going to be too low in for this to happen um another downside to it is if there's any type of repair needed damage to part of it they have to come in and cut a a hole out and Patch it and the patch is not as sustainable and kind of looks a little messy video so one of their suggestions is to move away from poured in place Rubber and use poured in not poured in place use rubberized tiles instead um which can be repaired much easier you come and just take the tile out and then replace the tile um they're not as temperature dependent so it won't hold up the installation of the playground project and they are um I I want to say just slightly more if I remember correctly I believe also and have a longer overall lifespan than the port in place rubber does so that was one of the things we wanted to bring to you guys today um and then I also wanted to show you some of the pieces of playground equipment that we have n can I just jump in real quick so the other component um and chime in whatever you want Renee they talk to us about the different what goes underneath this rubber um surface and we would prefer the poured concrete right they are suggesting if if we can't if our budget won't allow for it to have um it's it's a rock am I saying that correct type of gravel yeah so it's a type of gravel um we then came back of course to ask those questions so what what does that mean though what and and what they came back to say was that the the ground could look a little uneven was I believe that was the term that they said so that's why we decided collectively let's bring this forward to have a conversation with the school committee to make sure I believe that the cost difference was about $30,000 I believe so for $30,000 I just wanted to bring that to your attention so we can have those conversations and bid it appropriately and and budget appropriately um we talked about the um sr3 Grant which um we had said would probably be between 4 and 450 and I believe if we were to go this route would be somewhere between 450 and 490 so I did want to throw that out so the school committee we could have a plan in place um I do believe we have plenty of funds in the school choice account and that could be um a funding source if needed if the Esser funds ran out so I just want to throw that out there now before we see all this beautiful PL they were saying with the um rock as opposed to the concrete underneath is basically it could cause leveling the rock may go down in some areas and the playground itself maybe the surfacing will become a little wavy over time where is the concrete it would stay a more even surface um we did try to make up some cost Savings in some other places the fencing was one of them because it's a preschool by non- climbable fence um so we moved away from the nicer black pretty metal fence to a chain link um in order to save a little bit of money there um and they've made some suggestions for other places that we could cut but in my mind and you'll see why I'm showing you some of these pictures those are not the places to cut they were suggesting to cut some equipment out of the playground and um it was unfortunately some adaptive pieces equipment so the colors are not accurate on this the layout is not accurate but it gives you an idea of what types of equipment we're looking at installing here so we're basically looking at one main play structure and that structure um would have walkways and Pathways that are wide enough for adults and children to be on at the same time so if you have a student who's Less Mobile who needs an adult with them they can walk near next to or behind the the student um you're going to see some slides here I didn't put there they showed this from three other angles and I didn't put all of them in there but there's another slide on the other side I believe over here and that slide is a Roller Slide so it's a sensory component for the kids as well um all of the different ways of getting onto the playground um are not necessarily accessible but there are some points of access that are accessible um this over here at the bottom of shapes would be an easier place to get on as opposed to the other rock climbing structures or stairs you will see um the swing set in the back and I'll show you what these actually look like um which includes an Adaptive swing on the swing set as well as some standard swings an area over to the right that includes various different musical um pieces of equipment and one of the things you'll notice on one of the blueprints is these are no longer on board in place rubber that was another way to try to save cost they don't require a fall zone because no one's climbing on them so the rubber doesn't need to be there but instead of putting in um wood chips which some of the playgrounds I visited had a combination of both and it was a disastrous messy area um and the wheelchairs can't get on it we're going to do concrete board in that area so that's another cost savings you'll see a a dome in the front for climbing um and that sign there is actually a communication board and I'll show you a more close-up picture of that it's um picture communication board so students that are non Boral can communicate their needs has things like U more stop slide swing bathroom drink different things like that on it then you'll see an Adaptive seesaw that's called the weaw um and then an Adaptive Mary gound as well um called the wi gound so this is a picture of um and I I know you're on a time sensitive thing here so I won't show you all the videos just one um but this is what the Adaptive seesaw looks like and this Center platform can be utilized by students as well they can sit they can stand um these bucket seats come with removable harnesses that can go on that can buckle the kids in to hold them into the um seesaw better that is one of the pieces that they're suggesting we remove if we need to save money um and then another piece and this is the one that I want to show you this brief video of to me this is the one thing I'd rather let go of the big play structure than this this piece of equipment is amazing um students with wheelchairs can go on and the children power themselves from the inside so nobody needs to be pushing this around and then in addition to that you can have somebody pushing from the outside um and the woman who designed this is a paraplegic um not paraplegic yeah paraplegic athlete I [Music] really we going that woman in the video is actually the one I won't show you the whole thing but that gives you the idea of abilities people of all abilities can enjoy this product so we've got seating but we've also got standing areas we've got areas to park you know for wheelchair users to be comfortable it's a perfect example of what we call inclu I think it's a that gives you an idea um but that's an amazing piece of equipment and then we have domes for climbing Roller Slide adaptive set with a molded bucket seat and then this gives you an idea of what some of the musical equipment looks like so there'll be different sets of Chimes and drums and xylophones and all different types of things that the kids can access and then this is an example of what the communication board would look like and that was actually input from a of a non-verbal student to include that so I'm working with the company on that piece as well and a lot of this equipment I spoke to last time the three different um sensory systems vestibular proprioceptive and tactile and a lot of this equipment is designed specifically to meet th the needs of those three systems to provide the kids input to help them regulate with their behaviors um the slide the swing all of those things provide that type of input so that is where we're at with the playground right now a board like that I'm assuming would be situated too like at a height where yes kids came and access the video here and I won't show you the whole video but um oh it won't even open because I didn't like it properly I lied um it shows a little girl actually you can see the corner of it in a wheelchair coming up to it and shows her using it with her adult to communicate her needs great what is the lifespan of um this equipment the equipment or the poured in place rubber actually both the concrete underneath yeah I don't have the answer of the concrete I'm gonna disconn just because I'm jumping into email Bo in place Rubber and the other tiles I did ask that tell you that the equipment I really think it depends on the level of use it's getting okay and I don't mean to not make eye contact but I'm trying oh no no no um Renee what year did we do that I think that was the year I came 2016 okay um the one thing to think about our other playground is that we had ripped out the playground on the first grade side yeah and the volume of students we have accessing that playground right now is about six to seven classrooms worth of kids playing on there at a time four times a day and so it's getting a lot more wear and tear um so we do have pieces of that playground that are breaking that we've had to kind of close down right now until I can get someone out to look give me an estimate on repairs so I think it depends on the volume of use that it's receiving this playground is more for the Young age range and so it won't be the whole school accessing it it'll be mostly preschool kindergarten um and then some first grade I anticipate keeping second on the other side unless it's a student who needs to access the adaptive equipment um and I think it also will depend on the community level of use I was going to ask that is it open for everyone I don't anticipate locking the gates yeah it'll be fenced in and gated just for the preschool component but I really Envision this as being a an access point for the community to use this there's no place in our area I know that's why I was going to ask to play and to to see those videos like a lot of that equipment I didn't have included in the plans I have like a panic with swings just because of my previous school had them and kids swinging and other kids's not watching where they're going they walk in front and down they go I've seen lost teeth and everything but after watching the videos and really learning more about the vestibular system and the type of input that the swings give and I'm going to ease my um worry by putting a different color on board in place surfing around the swing set so the kids have a visual of like don't walk in the Blue Area yeah it's not safe um that made me feel a little bit better but um you know there's nothing for the kids out there right so the surfacing I do have the answer for you here in my so he said tiles are similar in cost or slightly more expensive than port and place rubber depending on the product he's waiting on quotes um and uh both start getting worn after 10 to 12 years for the surfacing tiles get a bit more lifespan than that they can be replaced individual for neater patches as needed whereas poured in place rubber looks more obvious um however the tiles can show more imperfections in the finished surface so if they're installed over Stone which is hard to get completely level you'll most likely see minor waving and irregularities in the finished surface whereas tile on a paved base will look smoother or it in place looks smoother on either stone or pav since it's applied in a liquid state so what proposing the tile with the crush Stone correct not with the crush Stone no concrete that's what they put on here yeah because they they knew that our um so you have an alternate budget conrete that cost change Pam you must have an well it it does change by about $30,000 we're we're guessing this does have um estimating this does have a um $40,000 contingency I says for port in place on a paved base that's the port in place though we'd carry an estimate of 30 to $33 per square foot is what he said 25 for the tile with the stone right what I recall our conversation is if if we used the entire contingency and then did the tiles with the surface the budget the maximum budget would be up at more like 49 495 it's like the and that's the most that's with 10% contingency that's correct it's a I think $41,000 conting that's what it is now but we're gonna ask for more if we're going no they they did not well you're gonna be at 450 plus the 45 that's how you get where you're going 495 so slightly yes of this that we didn't really account for which I think is what's showing up in us being over is when we had priced this out we priced out the idea of installation equipment all that didn't account for the engineering we weren't originally going to do that and you can do this type of project without that work but it wasn't recommended to us and to be honest with you I'm really glad we spent that money because there been an invaluable resource in doing the site surveys figuring out how to relocate the playground equipment to try to save money in different areas and things like that so that cost was if I remember correctly about 36 to 39,000 correct which I think is what's in my mind least you're right the unaccounted a piece of it yes so would you like the 495 allocated I I would like permission from the school committee to go ahead our next step is now and we didn't want to do we didn't want to take anything away and we certainly didn't want to go ordering any equipment without this conversation so um once we do get approval from the school committee we will be placing that order this this week um on state contract for those pieces of equipment and and then over the next um 30 days or so we will be working with GZA the engineering company um to create the bid specs that will then go out for installation and that's all part of the the poured rubber um actually we're not going to do the poured rubber we want the tiles we believe that those are the better product for for our needs we we think long term that it'd be wiser for us to do that so what's left in Esser that you earmarked for this uh 400 it's about 425 okay and then potentially up to from school chice I would like to ask that yes and I do believe we have um so you need a total budget of 495 you want that into the motion and do would you like to specify the 425 from Esser and then the remainder from school choice could I not put an exact amount because there's too many moving pieces with Esser that closes on September 30 but you anticipate approximately 4 I do just for this committee's knowledge it by be 420 could be30 yes okay so the motion will be then to 495 funding um that will come from both Esser and school choice as discussed in this meeting that would be perfect does somebody want to make that motion and move to the 495 funding coming from Esser and school choice funding for for the school playground at AT metal thank you next one made by anel on her birthday by any other discussion it's gonna be awesome can we come and swing on the swings when it's ready I'm excited yeah I'll be there Rene than you very much on the we go around all right gonna hold you to it exciting um any other discussion all in favor please say I I I those oppos nay that motion carries for to zero thank you Renee for coming tonight hopefully I'll be able to get colors put on this now um I didn't choose colors because of the put in place rubber verus the tiles are very different and then the company can do a prettier rendering to show you exactly what the PL next steps very cool okay thanks for appreciate it thanks for okay we have the 202 2425 school calendar up for discussion to okay so um last um not last meeting but a few meetings ago when we discussed calendar we were able to set the um beginning of the school year and the um vacations we have um One professional development day still left to set which then would allow us to finish off the school year making sure that we have the 180 plus five um additional snow days calculated out uh and then we can put the whole calendar up on the web page in this calendar um what we did was we took out uh the different recommendations uh for where that professional development day was located uh and we just put in two possible that have been discussed one um was January 29th which is in yellow on your um sheet that's in your packets and um this current school year we had our professional development day in that final week of January it's um putting it on a Wednesday at least splits the week which maybe is less disruptive to parents um so you have two days full professional development day and then two more days um so that's one option and then the 13th was where our last discussion this is 13th of March our last discussion landed I think that was the recommendation coming out of the collaborative committee if I remember correctly so we need one of the two uh you can certainly put it elsewhere those are just two um two areas where we've discussed we've discussed January and March um we haven't really discussed February because you have the vacation week already there and we generally have which we do right now have a parent conference day sitting in there yeah and these days they're school-based the school decides what's going on those days no the full professional development days are district okay half half days are School based we only have one so then it's really you and Heather that decide what's going on during those days with the leadership team yeah then Gordon remind me when um when do the dates fall or the collaborative not the collaborative like yeah the collaboration time they have those five hours after work as well uh so we have a collaboration a collaborative meeting in September okay a collaborative meeting in October and those are geared around setting goals Y and then we have a collaborative day in January okay that would be on a Tuesday um probably Tuesday the 28th okay um the collaborative days is that all teacher stay after school oh then you have a collaborative day in March okay um and April so you have three in the new year of school school calendar okay should those be added to the calendar well they're added in the meeting times because they're meeting times for staff like we don't put in the faculty meeting days on the calendar and that type of thing it's it's after school [Music] what would you like to do an your birthday you get to pick thanks Greg you're welcome um I mean I feel like you really need to look at our goals as the district and what plan on achieving in either one of those days and I'm not sure how much you can achieve from March to June especially with all the mcast testing in those months um so you think maybe January potentially yes Kate I'm good with the January yeah it yeah Emily any thoughts on disruption to students if one day versus the other I like the January I like it being in the middle of the week too I think that's really I think students really appreciate the two break too sure that makes sense okay that work 21 teaching days in the month of January because we also have we have access testing that happens in the month of January so that still gives us uh one of the highest teaching days in the entirety of the calendar even with that professional development day it's only beat out by October which sits at 22 teaching days interesting I'm Lear okay so January it is all right I take a motion then to finalize the calendar including the January 29th and we landed on six half days sorry I just want to check that in September we have uh yep we have one in September which is a professional development day then we have one in October which is a parent conference day we have the day before Thanksgiving um then we have another parent conference day in December so that's what four so far one two three four yep yep and then we we have one in February for the um parent conferences at mebrook they have three conference days and then the last day of school and we don't have we have everything in here for um elections right election day is uh the November we don't need to about that's a that's a full PD day so we're not in we don't need to worry about September 3rd primary day don't need to worry weion un closing the primary okay okay okay let making sure okay okay I take a motion to finalize the 2425 school year calendar including January 20 9th PD I move to approve I move to finalize the 2024 2025 school calendar um with January 29th being the addition second full PD day excellent motion made by Kate second second by an any other discussion all in favor say I I those that carries four to zero as well so we'll get that post get posted the families I'm G to call an audible on the last one again's birthday P it off oh yeah that's right everybody am here participate that conversation um so with that we've uh achieved the end of our ENT motion to adour mov motion by second I those oppos nay motion carries four to zero thank you thank you very much all right who seconded that Sarah no