##VIDEO ID:sN5R2vUAxEc## all right good evening and welcome to the September 10th 2024 meeting of the Town Council the special meeting at 5 o' and I will open the town council meeting and then ask for the school committee to open theirs you're open yes thank you uh Mr President uh the school committee in attendance uh Antonella and Amy and myself call the meeting to order at five o'clock and uh we can proceed great thank you so I stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge alance to the plag of the United States of America and to the repic for it stands na under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all take a brief moment silence for reflecting on all the events going on throughout the world and home thank you in accordance with Mass General law this meeting is being recorded by elcat and if there's anyone else in the audience if you can identify yourself seeing none so this special meeting is a joint meeting between the Town Council and the school committee and the context for that is under article 4 section 4-3 um when there's a school committee vacancy the Town Council president being myself has to call a special meeting between the Town Council and the remaining members of the school committee within 30 days in order to fill that vacancy so that's what we are here to do tonight uh once we were notified of the vacancy we had posted uh to the public for interested people to submit letters of interest and that was due yesterday and up to this point we had received three letters of interest um I don't know if you'd have anything as the school committee you'd like to add um sure just worth mentioning and we'll meet them tonight the three applicants were terara Spence William Struthers and Becket Vu I want to certainly thank the three of you for putting your name forward it's um it's an honor to be part of this committee and uh I'm sure as I mentioned to all three of you before any of the three of you would do a great job with us we're here to just pick someone for the next seven months I would certainly um encourage all of you to further uh your interest in in government um no matter what happens tonight so thank you to um the three for putting their name forward likewise I Echo those same sentiments that we definitely appreciate anyone that's interested in serving we have a number of different boards and committees so even if it wasn't School related but you're interested in some aspect of local government there's plenty of opportunity but we appreciate you stepping forward and submitting you take names Mr Town manager taking names down that could be vacancies vacancies so then at this time uh unless anyone has any objections we had thought that we would spend 15 minutes with each of the applicants to leave ourselves 15 minutes at the end to deliberate and nominate and vote on someone to fill the vacancy um we would go one by one with each of the candidates they would have a couple minutes to introduce themselves provide any background any other information they'd like to share with us and then we could ask two to questions and we'd like to keep those questions consistent among the three candidates for fairness does that work for everyone yes okay great so at this time we'll start with the order in which we receive the applications from our clerks that would be Tara and if we just have William and Becca yeah just not In fairness thank you guys sure um hi I'm ter Spence um I submitted my letter of interest because I've been working with the school committee a little bit already over the past few years I worked um with Amy and Gordon um and some others on the um R steering committee um as an educator I also am interested in kind of educational policy and how that works at the local level um and I have two kids here in the school district um we moved here in 2020 in the midst of Co so that was super exciting um but you know they've adapted well and doing a great job and I think East long schools are doing a lot of really great things that we should be proud of um but I also think there things we could do better um and you know I've taught in four different states so I've seen lots of different ways that schools can function and operate um and so I feel like I bring some of that um kind of Outsider perspective that might be um useful as we're you know we kind of transition period with the new high school being built and trying to figure out what as the Town Council like what does our vision for this town want to be what do we want out of our town and I think a large part of that is what do our schools look like um and how can we make sure that we're really serving all of our students in the best possible way so I've you know batted around the idea of running for a school board in the past and have kind of been terrified and intimidated to not do it but I figur this was maybe an easy way to like test it out as see if this is something I really want to do um so that's why I'm here great thank you just in terms of East Al meno as a whole getting a general perspective of overview uh why East Alo why did you choose to live here what what makes this the community you want to be in get involved in sure so we U we moved here from my husband's job so he actually works in Summers Connecticut um and when we were looking for places to live um again it was in the middle of Co so our options were somewhat limited and and it was kind of weird because we were moving from out of state and there were all these new rules that were changing dayto day on like how do you even buy a house when you can't go inside it um so we were somewhat Limited in that capacity but you know part of what Drew us to a meadow is that um when we found a house that we liked and we could afford um but you know the schools have a good reputation and I think it's important that we continue to make sure that we live up to that reputation um and really are you know the type of community that families want to move to um so you know we love it here we love the small town but like the proximity to larger towns um with my husband and I grew up in the suburbs so we're kind of suburbian kids um but you know we like this small town feel and you know we we do sometimes struggle with not being from here you know I think there's a lot of people that live here they grew up here they continue to live here their parents live here like you know so it it does sometimes feel like we're The Outsiders want us to raise our hands at the table and and there's not anything wrong with that but you know we've we've lived all over the country and so I just I think that um again that perspective of living in different communities and seeing where other communities have done well or maybe fallen short um gives us a different perspective maybe than someone who's lived here their whole life great thank you right uh what do you think some of the biggest needs that our schools and the students in our schools face well my my children would tell you air conditioning um I know we're working on um but I think um as a family that moved here from somewhere else and from outside the community who didn't have ties to e Long Meadow I would like to see more family involvement in the schools um you know kids don't play sports for East schools and I feel like that's one of the only ways that families are really invited into the schools and so I would like to see other opportunities for parents to get involved and I think Co changed the nature of that in in some ways and we maybe just haven't figured out how best to to draw the families and um back into the schools but we felt my husband and I felt like we were all having to like knock down the door to get responses from the schools when we first moved here and we're trying to figure out how to make that transition work for our kids um so personally that's something that I would like to see is how do we get families back into the schools um in whatever capacity um they can and I think you know I know uh Mr Martin has done a great job in Maple Shade and trying to reintroduce maybe some community events where the whole you know all the students all the families are welcome to participate in activities I think that's wonderful um and I'd like to see you know more of that um but also just um I think better communication and I I know Gordon I know very very well your back I know he's right behind me um you know I know there's a lot of formal communication that comes out from um the parents and I think power school is wonderful and I think our second year Power School we're going to do better um in that terms of communication but just um just a little um how do I want to say like informal um feedback from from teachers to um parents about how things are going that not just necessarily well you got a they got an 80 on this assignment and a 50 on this assignment but just like how's it going like how are they doing adjusting socially things like that that I don't feel like I'm getting as a parent great thank you does anyone else on either committee have a question they'd like to ask hi terara I'm Marilyn Richards counselor welcome um I wasn't born and raised here I'm a Jersey girl I know how you feel um is there anything I know you spoke about um doing things better and you've been giving a lot of those examples is there something specifically I hate to use the word wrong are we doing incorrectly or wrong or maybe the approach is not quite what you thought it should be um I sometimes I feel like there's just enough transparency about how decisions are made and and some of that I think um is just the expectation that if you want to know more that you're going to show up to this the school council meeting and that's just not always possible and I do think that videoing them is a great step um but for instance you know I don't think we have a director of student services right now for the the school district and you know while that doesn't need to be like broadcast like on the local news I feel like the parents should know about that um and and yes the position is posted and so if you're interested you can go find that the position is posted but otherwise I would have no idea that we don't currently have a director of suit services or if we do it's news to me you know I know it was vacant um but I just think some of that some of those behind the scenes decisions U I wish there was a little bit more transparency and I realize that you know in terms of personnel decisions those are completely confidential and you know there's no we can't disclose those um but it just it just seems like things like that sometimes some curriculum decisions it seems like there's not enough um involvement from the stakeholders outside of the school building if that makes sense thank you y any from hi uh how would you you talk a lot about you know communication I think that's a really big uh key thing to have when you are in either one of these roles how would you approach or how do you approach communicating with different stakeholders like both maybe in your career and your personal life and how would you bring those communication skills in a role which would probably require you you know talking to us talking to school officials talking to members of the community and other interested stakeholders yeah I think um It's tricky because in one on one hand it would be lovely if there was one Central way that all communication went out um but on the other hand there's not one form of communication that works for everybody and so like right now as a parent I'm struggling with okay sometimes I get emails from teachers sometimes there's notes in power school sometimes there are notes in Google Classroom um and sometimes there's none of those things I just have to ask my kids and hope that they know what's going on so I you I think um part of it I I wish there was one Central way that we were um communicating with families as a parent anyways um because it's just kind of cumbersome to check all of those different things and as an educator I'm familiar with all of those so it's somewhat second nature to me but I feel like for a lot of parents that probably isn't the case and and so they don't know how to check their kids homework assignments on Google classroom or know to even look there you know that there might be due dates on Google Classroom um so I I don't know if that's the kind of thing where um and maybe in addition to open house we have like a technology night for parents where they come in and they they learn how to access Google classroom or they learn how to use power school in a more effective way um and really make sure they're getting the most out of that app um because open house is just like a mad house right you're spending like three minutes with each teacher and hopes that you maybe make a connection with them um and it's it is nice to put a face to a name um in those instances but it doesn't really help um Foster that kind of relationship with the teacher um and so I think there are ways that we can do that better yeah great thank you do you have any any final closing remarks or I don't think so so we meet every other Tuesday uh I'm sorry Monday at 5 o'clock wrong day okay that would fit in your schedule no problem I mean things come up we don't all make all of them obviously we're missing one tonight um great thank you y you're welcome great thank you thank you thank you back in that's how y yeah I think so okay I hope they noticed day I told her she could stay yeah I just wanted to make sure yeah we ready welcome thank we will start with a couple minutes to allow yourself to introduce yourself Pride any background and then we have a class okay no problems um so my name is William stur um I am a fairly new resident of Isam Meadow about a year a little bit over a year um my wife and I moved here along with M and I am a let me see a husband um seven grandkids four kids um so we're we're just excited um academically I have a you know I work at putam high school I'm the current vocational supervisor so I'm in charge of all the 24 shops um I'm new to that position as I prior to I was the IT person for the last 10 years with the um it Shop Hold won't bore you with the degrees hold a number of degrees in technology things of that nature um I am a deacon at Third Baptist Church um in Springfield um I'm a member of a number of organizations nwp um Alpha F Alpha which is one of the first black Greek organizations United States so I do a lot of we do a lot of work in Springfield mentoring kids um scholarships things of that nature um been a teacher been an entrepreneur um I would argue the biggest piece is just education you know we've been doing this this education thing for quite a long time and it's it's it's pretty exci so we have I have personally done a lot of work in the community with um with kids and don't do a lot of politics um I I you know I kind of I try to steer away from that um I you know I consider myself um a worker um somebody you know we like to get our hands dirty and just really get into the work itself politics does come in play sometime um yeah beyond that I'm pretty you know I think I can I consider so pretty fair honest um reasonable great thank you so William uh you said a year or so ago yes just looking grand scheme of things big picture why Isa metal what what brought you here why why why bring what gives you interest in getting involved in what bring me to East meal or what brings me here today little bit of both little bit of both um so I we came to so we lived in springf for a number years um and primarily so primarily we came to East Long Meadow because uh my aunt who lived in Boston um my of my mother had 13 family members my aunt um who worked at Gillette for the last 55 years she took a fall uh and it was kind of serious fall and it kind of had some you know long-term kind of I won't say dementia like aspects but it had those kind of things so we had a a home in Springfield had two floors and every time she would walk upstairs we would just kind of we would Shake um so we looked and we looked and we found a home that was absolutely perfect it's all on one floor um I apologize we found one at work so we we that's what that's how we landed here um and since we've been here we love it um we've got some good neighbors um so it it's it's just it's just works it it really works but the primary reason we came because we needed to make sure we were caring for her in the way we needed to um what brought me here today um was a friend of mine um I've got a few friends a few friends um one of whom is a school committee member on Springfield school committee um and I saw her out when we were doing a having an event and she actually said you know I I I heard about this position I I thought you would be great for it and I spoke to another friend of mine and asked about it and said it was it was still an opening so I said well I'll send a resume and I'll send my letter of interest in great great thank you thank you thank you uh what would you say you see as some of the biggest needs that our schools and the students in our schools face I think and and and I think the biggest thing that our schools face uh um and it's not just the schools it's just people in general I think we spend too much time um and don't have the ability to fully separate the people from the problem um if we can take if we can take positions away and get to the interest um get to the actual problem many times a solution is available and whether it be the schools whether it be uh you know in the community separating the people from the problem is for me the biggest the the biggest thing and and I I can go I've been told to keep it breath here um but I can go on two examples but a lot of times we we we think that sometimes we have to um kind of split the baby or split the orange there's analogy with the orange but split it in half and you get 50% and I get 50% but technically if you would look at the actual interest maybe we both can walk away with 100% um now that's the bigger picture I think for for the schools we we hear about we're hear about providing the school schols the teachers and and ultimately the students the resources that they need to be able to have the education that they desire um and sometimes they don't necessarily understand that they need it but providing all those tools and again if we can separate problem maybe we can actually come to a solution that provides the best opportunity to give the kids what they need great thank you welcome I'm Marilyn Richards um okay you've moved from Springfield you your credentials are incredible I mean you could do a number of jobs in this community if this doesn't work out we could probably put you some I mean we well and we we look for you know energetic people um my question is um you don't you have seven grandchildren so do you have anyone in the school system here I have I have no one in school system here so this may be unfair but is there anything that the school system as you see it is doing that you think we could do better is there anything in the school system that we could do better right I mean I I always think we can I think I always think we can add something different um sometimes it's just a different point of view sometimes it's some a different perspective um a different lens by which we look at look at things um and I think that one of the things that we could do is just is providing some some diversity some um both in you know and it doesn't NE you know some diversity but providing that in an opportunity in a way in which we can really look at a problem from a different lens um and I think that wouldn't necessarily be with within East Long Meadow or Long Meadow or Springfield we just have to be able to look at things differently yeah okay thank you you're welcome William hello so a lot of this role uh you know is being on the school being on the Town campus a lot of it goes into communication so communicating um so how how do you approach Communication in your job currently how would you being that you'd be talking to kind of a unique number of stakeholders community members parents the Town Council other Town officials um and being able to kind of solve those type of problems um so I'm gonna pick up my wife a little bit um she has told me I talk too much um and and it's true I do I I you know I'm I'm long-winded I I I like to give stories I'm a Storyteller um but I think that that's the biggest thing I think having that ability to sit down with somebody and just have a conversation talk with them find out what they're looking for what their interests are um finding just having a I don't know I don't drink coffee but you know I drink I love tea um but if you're just having that conversation with somebody and really trying to communicate sit down let's let's kind of has this out um let's look beyond the weeds and separate the people from the problem I I'm I'm just a people person I like to talk I sometimes talk too much um and and I'm going to catch myself some at this point um but I I think people will find your passion um if if you you spend enough time with them and I have no you know biases against people I have no no interest I you know I'm unfortunately like I went to the I doctor today so I can barely see half the names that are on there but I think that's the biggest thing you come in with a clear view of what's before you and not necessarily any any other thing that's going on great thank you do you have any closing remarks you'd like to make um again I am one that enjoys working um and whether it be whether it be today or whether it be another day I I'm I'm certainly willing to work and I don't think this will you know this kind of sparked a little spark something in me today so I I'm I'm rather interested so I you whether you'll see me tomorrow or the next day I think you're still going to see me we're and William just logistically the school committee meets Mondays at 5 o' if is that something that might fit in your schedule it's every other Monday uh you know we may miss some sometimes but you know generally I as a teacher I did not leave the building on average until about 4:35 o'clock as an administrator it's really close but I I get out I you know I had the the schedule is a little bit more flexible so I think I could work it out okay great absolutely great thank you thank you thank you thank you s around see right there hi Bea oh uh we will provide a couple minutes um process-wise for you to provide a quick overview and introduction anything you feel you want to share with the the Committees and then we'll ask four questions of you that are the same questions that we asked the previous candidates and then give you a couple minutes for closing statements as well um my name is be aino I'm a lifelong resident of East Long Meadow I just recently graduated from eam high school as a member of the class of 2024 was involved with student government while I was there and serving on the school council and as a class officer for three years um currently um I am a college student just started at Westfield State University um I am pursuing a bachelor's degree in criminal justice great thank you very cool Becca thank you for coming today the first question is more of an overview or generalized question uh I know you've been in town a long time so why e long met why why do you live in easto and what brings you here tonight in in interest uh in the school committee uh so I I live in easto this is where I was born like the town loved it I've been interested in local town government politics since I was little worked a lot of jobs in town um I'm interested in the school committee because I'm feel that I can bring a newer perspective since I'm since I'm younger fresh out of high school I know what's what issues um students are dealing with today what issues are facing them so I feel that someone that's younger like me could bring a newer perspective and new ideas to the committee great thank you what would you say are some of the biggest needs that both the schools and then students in the schools face uh so I definitely think that since I since I just left there I would say that cell phones big issue in the classroom I mean they're taken away from I know that there's a policy in place it could be better um not enforced by every every teacher but cell phones are definitely a big issue in the school takes away from the learning time and just it's not good great thank you welcome back you we know each other um as a recent graduate you're in a you're in a pretty good you have pretty good perspective from the other side is there something that you experienced as a student that you felt the school could have done better could you repeat the last part I okay if is there something that you experienced as a student that um you felt gee the school could have done better besides cell phones the is it curriculum wise or um just you know your your courses your teachers anything that could have been done better uh I mean yes probably I mean I would have liked to have seen like more like and I know you can't like provide every class in high school but I've seen it increasingly in more in other schools but uh criminal justice courses um since I'm pursuing that right now I would have kind of in high school likeed to have seen more criminal justice courses I mean there's it's not that they're not there there are some that are somewhat related like in high school I took business law one and Business Law two with Mr barbuy great teacher learned a lot from that class that's more the business law side of it but I'd like to see more like criminal justice classes like on my side like going into policing and stuff like that thank you um so I obviously I've used you've approached with your time at the high school and now beginning you know your career and beginning time in college how do you approach sort of communicating with others communicating with the different stakeholders that if you're chosen you'd be you know working with the council you'd be working with other Town officials other community members families um how would you approach sort of communication or how do you approach so uh communication big thing uh so I would I've since I've served as a school council member for the high school and um I've been a class officer um I well people can come up to me or people can email me call me text me whatever find me on Facebook um so I'll take people's ideas bring them to the board share them with the board see what we can do to work for Solutions um and and I've also have connections with a lot of other other different town departments good friends with a lot of lot of the police offic officers in town I currently work for the recreation department I've held an internship before with the health department which is focused on trash and recycling so I do have connections with other Town departments and could help bring ideas from those departments to the school committee great and then at this time do you have any other remarks you'd like to make uh thank you for your time and consideration tonight and then becc at the school committee meets uh every other Mond day 5 o' that would be something that would fit in your schedule yeah that's that's fine yep thank you yep thank you great thank you thank you thank you you can stay in the audience and we'll get the oh yeah no thanks right col first just want to say thank you to all three of you for coming tonight and expressing your interest in meeting with all of us and answering our questions it's not an easy task to take that time out of your schedule and put yourself out there like that and we definitely appreciate you being interested in the community in which you live so thank you for that and it's no easy decision on our part either because we have three people that seem wonderful so on the bright side no matter who we pick I think the town will be well served but I definitely hope that all of you continue to stay involved with our local town government at this time is there any discussion or nominations or deliberation anyone would like to start off um I think it's worth mentioning uh and and thank you Mr President for for acknowledging the three applicants and and coming today and being willing to serve on this school committee I think they are all three evident of uh dedication to this town and um willingness to serve and smart people uh it's evident by your your answers here tonight so um if I could just go from last to First and terms of order that they sat uh to speak uh to Becket and and I know Becket from church from the soccer fields uh there is not um another young individual in this town that works harder for esel Meto and I believe that and for the community of Y Meo not only the schools uh but the town and the church and it's uh such a refreshing sight to see uh his ability to talk to folks of all ages um young and old um so I wanted to acknowledge his dedication in this town and thank him for applying today um William first time we met today and I can tell you're a worker you want to talk about worker Beck it's a worker and I and I appreciate you being a worker as well and um you know your educ your experience and your um uh educational background is second and none um and I and certainly I think you would fit in the committee as well just as well uh and then finally or firstly um I think Tara has a lot that she uh might bring to the table early on in terms of being in um some of the Committees already uh and knowing some of the um um Administration uh some of the committee already uh and she brings an educational background and knowledge of the schools so I think between the three we could pick any of them um you know certainly so that would be my general thoughts on on the three thank you anybody else will say you up eloquently and um I couldn't say anything better thank you there any you got to decide nominations well I'd like to when I read resumés and and letters of interest it's it's natural that you would say oh gee you know um this is going to work this is good this probably may not work too well in experience or whatever and then as I listen to you folks the one candidate that jumps out ahead of everyone else and it's only a tiny jump is Tara and she jumps out because she has her finger on the pulse of Esau Meadow and education based on her experience and that to me sometimes is the first first battle you really have to embrace your community and she's already she's doing that and um so so you can sense what you know the people you're communicating with you can sense how to um communicate with them individually based on the fact that she already has developed a real knowledge base within Islam Adam bill you know as I said he could work anywhere um I you know I but I'm T I'm leaning towards teror only because of that Community presence that's already established and I think that's very important you know what I sort of struggle with is I think it's really great that we have three candidates that all have unique perspectives age you know gender different lived experiences and I think that's like really important and great that you know some often times we don't have people come forward for anything or just one person so to have three very interested people three people that have maybe seen the our school system or education in general in different lights and different Fashions I think is really um you know an important thing I I don't honestly it's it's a close it's a close call I I'm still sort of on the fence um but I was I was pretty impressed by all three with just having and I thought it was really important tonight to be able to try and see if we could get people that um have those different LIF experience sure Jen um Becka my my kids love you you do a phenomenal job um what I'm really looking at right now um really to Marilyn's point is in John's is the perspective and will you bring a wealth of experience in education um Tara what you said really resonated with me especially with the communication aspect that's something I struggle with as a parent so you brought a very interesting perspective as somebody with kids in the school system I have two kids split between two different schools with two different Communications app plus one school app and it it is a it's a struggle to know where to look and and to find information and sometimes it's different information is in this place and information in that place so you really struck a nerve with me with with that observation and the way that you presented it so um for me right now um I'm really struggling with between Tara and William um I think they both offer two different perspectives um and two unique set of circumstances from where you're coming from um so that's kind of where I'm at right now it's it's really tight and really close and um I'd like to just thank all three of you for coming forward putting yourselves out there um it's not an easy process especially when uh you got a microscope on you so thank you very much and uh I'm actually really I was very surprised at how much I'm struggling with this decision tonight so thank you my turn turn again I I'll echo my colleagues uh in thanking all three of you for putting yourself out there because as we can attest um it's gratifying to be in public service but um there's always a bullseye on you and it sometimes it's hard to uh live that kind of a life where um despite your most sincere efforts uh people uh and it's human nature look for reasons to point to finger so again I appreciate the fact that decided to put yourself out there I'm especially pleased that two of you are relative newcomers to this town and thrilled that um you see an attractive opportunity to uh contribute and and give some of your your talent here so um as it's been said several times this is not um an easy decision by any means Becket um I've known you for hundreds of years uh I don't know how you juggle all the balls that you do um it's and as Mr Thompson he he's correct I don't know that I've ever seen a a young person uh work so hard and be so genuine and sincere about it um especially now I mean you're two or three weeks into uh the world of college which is as a freshman that's that's a major transition in your life and yet that dedication to Public Service still calls out to you so uh that's pretty impressive I uh though I struggle I the the the statements that Tara has made um as a retired administrator School administrator in this town do um call out to me uh the fact that she's a newcomer but yet she uh if she's been involved in um the school side in some of your subcommittees and some of your initiatives then that tells me that right out of the gate if you've only lived here for four years or short of four years that you didn't waste any time immersing yourself in the fabric of this community so I applaud you for that um you see the struggles of American Education from both sides of the desk you see it as a a a policy maker and a decision maker um from the the committee side and yet as a teacher you see um you see it from the you know from ground zero and um as Jim said your remark about um a consistent way to through all across five schools and it's hard because each School serves a particular level and a certain uh level of communication is going to look different from uh a kindergarten parent to a a parent who has a a rising senior and is struggling with picking a college but um I that resonated with me that maybe there is a consistent pathway that all the schools use to reach out to a parent um and the opportunity to reach out to parents in a different way besides the you know the open house which you say is analogous to trying to W your way through the Big E with all the best in in intentions of administration and the teachers uh trying to make that couple of hours meaningful it's still is uh it's still a struggle to make those connections so um for me right now um resonates to me is what tar might bring to the table no I would like to comment um okay I'm so uncomfortable right now I'm so sorry so hoping there was going to be like a clear front runner but you all three were absolutely amazing I mean truly and I Echo what everybody else has said just about stepping up and stepping in to a role like this in the community so thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart and I know my fellow school committee members as well are just so deeply appreciative so thank you so much um I think everybody shared something you know that really shed light on how you know as Jim was saying the perspective of each one of you is incredible and could add such a depth to our current committee for me the person that stood out was William um his resume is absolutely incredible I think his perspective from the student uh from the administrator end from um the teacher end of things as a parent as a grandparent and as a person who is new to town I also think that that could lend itself really to bringing that perspective as well um we do and not that this matters because I don't think that it I really don't think that it does but we do have some members of the committee who've lived in this town for their entire lives and I think that's lovely but I also think it's wonderful to have um somebody else representing um not having grown up in this town just because it brings a depth and a breadth of perspective that we might not be considering um so I thought everybody truly was incredible and as everyone was saying somebody just inched up a little bit for me and for me that person was William and I would just like to add on to that um everything that everyone's been saying about all three candidates thank you so much for coming forward it was really nice seeing to that we had three candidates because sometimes even for elections we don't even have that many people running so it's nice to have an interest in what we do um but for me um William also stood out um I think that his experience from being an educator and his current role and his vocational um background as well um would bring something unique to our committee yes any thoughts Ralph you know me I always have thoughts I've been trying extremely hard um as William stated um everyone knows I am a talker and I've been really trying to instead of just talking to listen and I was impressed with all three candidates as everyone has said um I think any one of you is going to work out perfectly um like I said um and I've said it before I know you have to uh work with other members of the school committee I don't think any one of you would have a difficult time doing that um I'm trying to take in a little bit from from my fellow counselors and from the school committee um it's it's definitely a tossup for me and thank you all for coming John I was just wearing procedural the vote will it be individual nominations how will we proceed with this that is a great question yeah no the the nomination would be made by someone would be seconded by another of any of us and a vote would be up or down on that first nomination if they received the majority then they would get it if they didn't receive a majority we would keep going my thoughts overall again I think all three of you did wonderful and would serveice well I I also am struggling to pick a clear front runner I think Tara I loved the comments about communication and all the different styles that could be difficult as a parent and I like the perspective of having lived in different states that you're not just talking about moving a couple Towns over you have a broad experience across the country which is useful William I think is you know kind of strikes my heart being a for likewise a technologist so the technology aspect and seeing things from that perspective is also important um and then be at of course having a younger perspective having just gone through the school system you have a closer perspective on what may be working what may not be working so it's definitely tough but so can we expand the school commune to seven members yeah come on the man with the change the charter but I do think that if two so far the school committee members thought that they had the slight inch on William I would probably lean that way as well given that they have to work more closely with the member than the council would on a daily basis but at I happy with all three of you so um through the chair it would be my thought um depending on what the rest of the council and school committee would be ask the school committee to make um a motion and then go from there because obviously you have to work uh very closely with the people that works for thank you all right I'd like to make a motion to nominate William Str um for the next six months is it seven next town election all right until the next town election to join the E Long Meadow school committee there is it through the election or it's through the election oh man year for the rest of the term well no or they could run for the thre eled person takes over immediately it's not July 1 that's what happened with Matt yes you're right you're right they can be sworn in tomorrow is that what you're asking no no no so what I'm saying is uh they'll they'll fill the position the date of the election and if someone else wins that person takes over immediately at that point that's how we're typically yeah um like right now a counselor would start on July 1st yep yeah that's how I understand okay just making sure that's all okay motion was made by Antonella and second in by Jim is there any further discussion so I would suggest a roll call vote I agree this time we roll call Jim uh and William struther yes Kathy yes Marilyn oh vote Yes myself I am a yes Ralph I am a yes John yes Greg yes yes yes yes great congratulations thank you so much and likewise congratulations to the other two of you for coming out this site as well thank you thank you and then I will entertain a motion to adjourn the town council meeting do they want to close the school committee meeting sure do both yeah sure so I would take on motion to adjourn still Move Motion made by Anella okay second by Amy discussion all in favor say I I those oppose nay that carries three to zero we are adjourned thank you and then okay I move weering I'll second that