this government meeting is brought to you by eastworks and our local cable subscribers call to order a little bit late this evening uh welcome to a regular session of the East Hampton school committee um this is a public meeting at the close of this regular session we will be moving into an executive session and recessing our journey for the evening from there um we are going to start tonight uh we're going to roll call in Ben and hery here Megan Megan Harvey here Laura Scott present Linda Marque here Sam Sam Hunter here um are we ready with correspondence yes cuz I don't have any my joh there was oh mhm there is there is okay this is new in the moment was like an unboxing video sorry that's how you know I have little kids um we have a lovely uh thank you note um to report from McKenzie McCarthy who is Thanking us for allowing us for for allowing her to speak and update us on things that are going on in the schools for the past two years um and we really owe her so many thanks um and while we're doing that we can also thank Piper since she's right here in the room with us who was amazing do we have any gifts I don't have any gifts that I'm aware of do I great so next up is Piper do we know how our slideshow Piper work diligently on a slide presentation yes us olds are having trouble getting now it's not going back okay I might have it um so onone what you have go on going okay go ahead okay um in science we're making cars that are powered by Rubber B rubber bands which is actually fun and in math well we had a quiz today but we're simplifying expressions in Civics we're doing the judicial branch and in ela we're doing the Hunger Games in art we finished making our papier-mâché masks in music we well I wrote this a few days ago we were watching a movie but we did like a movie soundtrack bracket and for art class Ghostbusters one nice in gy Choice uh last week we walked around the track and did volleyball I have gym tomorrow in Steam we're doing an egg drop where we make like a parachute or something my group did not break theirs we were one of two only groups that didn't break it's harder than it seems how high do you know Piper how high were they dropping it do you know the Middle School staircase the main that all right we made um like a little tiny box put the egg in it put cotton balls around it and then made a small parachute and it didn't break it landed right up fantastic all right and then Health well our teacher wasn't there on Friday so we had a sub and I don't know what we're really doing but we were doing nutrition stuff nice uh today 8th grade ELA classes had um the 2018 East samon poet Laur Gary meus come in and he read us poetry and taught us some other stuff that we didn't learn in ela I have a glare um oh and also he's my grandpa oh W oh no kidding also he he came in in third grade too and it was fun nice I had pictures of me with him when I was a little kid but I'm still looking for it I'm going to put them up it's the last thing I do yep to the Ghostbuster soundtrack that I cannot promise tomorrow we have stepup day where we go to the high school for half the day and we follow a schedule and yeah um it's spirit week so Monday was Incognito Monday where you wore like um sunglasses or hat today was 2000's day tomorrow is class colors day cuz it makes it easier for stepup day so we're all in a group and our grade has pink which I'm really happy about Thursday is Bahamas beach day but it's like school appropriate Beach wear and then Friday is kindergarten day and I'm looking forward to that everyone like kindergarteners yes I'm pulling out the pigtails yes great overalls I don't know what would you do I mean Garanimals yeah ganal um next Monday we have our semi-formal dance it's in the middle school cafeteria and we're getting like a buffet dessert um it's super it is dinner and dancing y'all that's awesome there is a taco bar yep and what was the dessert it was like a Sunday bar or something right it said on the flyer I think it was ice cream Sundays and there's also churros that's where I make my joke I know we're going to we're just going to crash the dance pretty fancy one um next Monday which is kind of convenient we also have field day on the same day as the dance oh W yeah stand for the dance I think well last year we had like tug-of-war against home rooms my home room one um Frisbee and then a bunch of other activities and then there's lunch and snacks too uh school is out in a week and 2 days but for 8ighth grade I didn't put graduation on here but for 8ighth grade we graduate next Tuesday Tuesday night Tuesday night at 7 everybody s get tickets so they know how many seats they need four tickets yeah so great um and then I just wanted to say thank you for allowing me to do this and thank you to all the people that I've met this year and yeah goodbye middle school and guess what it literally just opened wow I'm going to the presentation just opened it just open share it so share it just like speed run through anybody Ben you want to we want to go around the table and uh just share some thoughts about pip um I mean I've been I'm so happy that you you've come here and I mean I always want to know what it's like from a student's perspective like at the school and I feel like you've done such a great job opening a window for us to see kind of what kids are doing and um keep keep being public with it you know keep talking about school keep keep keep bringing it up cuz we need to know what you're doing definitely raise public speaking confidence yes 100% 100% you're so poised you present like a senior in high school not an eighth grader Megan do you have any I I can't do two things at once so I will say some yeah we're gonna Megan's gonna finish do you have any thoughts well I think it was a great idea that the school committee had brought up uh saying could we have somebody from Mountain View come also and speak because I you got to know what's going on in the high school but we there's a lot of kids right preschool to grade eight there and so it's important to know like what is happening there also so you gave us a um view of what's happening in in a really nice way a nice personal way and I think that everybody you know not only just us but also the viewers were very appreciative that you came with your report so thank you thank you go ahead Linda yeah I think it's just really nice each time to see it from a student I think it reminds all of us it certainly does for me why we're here why we wanted to be here you know because it really is ultimately about the students in this community that's what it's about and we can get really lost in the weeds really easily and really forget that what you do and what you bring to a c time makes me realize how just how great you know we hope that we can continue to really provide a good system here thank you yeah and and I just want to I just got to piggyback on what everybody else has said it's been really good and last time I was on school committee we had um a high school uh participant and it's been really good to hear from um from Mountain View and just kind of um understand a little bit better like what things look like from your perspective sometimes you'll bring something up and and I'll recognize it as something that we've worked on before for and so it's really cool to see to see it um to to see your take on it too sometimes it's it's we we kind of have all these um these ideas about how people are going to take things and then when we hear from you it's like okay well this is kind of how how the students are understanding it which is great I just wanted to know are you um is there anything that you're really looking forward to about high school um more like sporting or like more Sports more like people to meet cuz you have classes with different grades yeah taking French cool I like French in high school what what is your sport what what sports are you in Fall well my mom signed me up for volleyball in the fall and then I'll probably do cheer again in the winter nice awesome awesome yeah that's really cool and like that's really good for us to know too because I think we look at like all the ab like we look at like what are high schoolers looking for like what are people interested in what do they want to do and then there's but there's nothing that replaces like talking to an actual person um so I hope that um that you enjoy nth grade and you have a good summer and thank you so much for doing I hope you have a good summer too nice and this is great by the way I'm slow as you talking I've been slowly put going through these CU they're so great I like the disco ball I yes it's fantastic these are great I I don't know if I have anything else super profound to say I'm just so glad you're here like you and your classmates are the reason that we sit up here and do this and so it's such a privilege to have you actually come and like hear what's going on and Ben in particular has been um a longtime advocate of like get in my terms like get the students here we want to hear from you like it's just it feels like such a privilege to have you here and my oldest is in sixth grade so I'm looking at what looks like a fully formed human like I'm looking at my sixth grer and you and it's I'm I'm filled with hope so um you're phenomenal okay I want to get those pictures of your you're kind of a Trailblazer in a way you're the first from Mountain View to do this yeah right you're number one here all right I'm going to end by saying a it is incredible to see when we when a community offers a young person an opportunity to see what their capabilities are because this we we love Mackenzie but these slides are like blowing us away compared to even all the high school reps that we've had over the years just incredible effort and talent poison confidence and I want to let you know personally Piper anything you need in the future reach out to us references letters jobs internships reach out to us the door's always open College res this is an adorable picture Y no I want to zoom in on this is Piper on the on the snow shovel oh yeah I'm trying to zoom in that's Piper look at the little hat I'm sorry I can't zoom in you know how computers go but thank you for making thank you so much Piper congratulations thank you [Applause] um next on our agenda was a presentation by the eastampton healthy youth Coalition it turns out that they are going to be available to present we believe at the August 13th meeting instead just to give us an update of what's going on and happenings there um so at this point we're going to move to public comment um if there is anybody in person or joining us via Google meet if you want to raise your hand um and share comments questions or concerns we'll give that just 30 seconds to see if anybody hops on and we've got nothing so we are going to close public speak and move on to the business update good evening Mr Bernier good evening everyone um I'll start with the uh fy20 for local appropriation report um as of the publication of this monthly business report uh 93 98% of our local appropriation had either been spent or or is encumbered um non-essential purchasing has been uh closed for the year we've started reclassifying uh some of our special education tuition expenses to circuit breaker uh further reclassifications will take place as we get closer to the year end close um there's still some invoices that need to be paid uh our accounts payable department is in the process of tracking those down um as well as our two final FY 24 payrolls well I guess technically three because folks who take the lump sum option that's separate so uh three payrolls uh left and then um some are pay incumbrances for the the folks that choose to be paid over the summer um and you know once all that's done we can um and the calendar flips over to July 1st we can uh do the year- end close um I do project they'll be a deficit at the end of the year um I've been saying that for months um thanks to the circuit breaker extraordinary relief uh funding we were able to get our our you know get our hands on uh it will be much lower than I would have thought months ago but still there um so you know they they'll have to be some additional school choice funds um you know used to to cover that um if you wanted to know a number um I I would say somewhere probably around 100,000 would be my guess but you know a lot of movement can take place between now and June 30th even though it's so close and there's some open POS out there that'll be closed because they won't all be spent there'll be some some staff members likely who uh have some non-paid days you know there's there's things things things will move but if you were wondering for a ballpark figure that's what I'm going to give you now I can you know at the the next meeting give you a complete picture um yearend transfers um I just wanted to to let you know that in order to complete the year end close uh many budget transfers will be needed um basically I need to zero out all the accounts um and you know there's a lot of money that gets moved around um some of these transfers will be larger than 5,000 so just wanted to let the committee know this I mean typically that requires a vote uh from the committee and I brought that up last year and you know essentially asked if you wanted to vote on it and you said you you didn't feel like you needed to but um I still wanted to make you aware that that will be happening once the year ends um number three uh some some good news uh Mountain View recently received uh notice that it was it's going to be awarded uh Leed V4 gold certific ation uh for those of you curious as to what that is um Leed certification is an official recognition that a project complies with the requirements prescribed within the Leed rating systems as created and maintained by the US uh Green Building Council so it basically means we've built a a really energy efficient and you know Green Building um some of the areas looked at are Energy Efficiency sustainability uh indoor environment quality um things like that uh when the project began uh I was told the goal was silver certification um but the the building surpass that um basically there's like a rating scale it goes from I don't know like one to 100 I believe and um we earned 62 points uh which gets into the gold category um in order to be platinum we would have needed 80 points so that that's quite the feat I can't imagine there's a lot of buildings that get bu that that meet that um but you know the goal was surpassed and I you know I think that's something to be proud of and it it certainly highlights uh both East Hampton's and the building project team's dedication to um the city's climate goals so um that was good news um you know we received the initial report I think in early may I ran it by the mayor and um she she asked that I bring it up at a committee meeting so um so that's good uh next our summer food service PR program as you know we're continuing it this year for all interested families uh the program will be at Mountain View School uh and run out of near school as well uh meals will be available 5 days a week they have to be consumed on site which will be much better in an air condition cafeteria than in a park um so uh you know we believe there will be more participation this summer than last summer uh information is currently being distributed to the community I know um Jean posted something on on the district website and uh on social media Outlets as well um recently um I I just did a purchase order yesterday to run an ad in the Gazette uh which will run the last week of June so that way families um are aware um it's going to run from July 1st through August 16th um breakfast will be from 8:30 to 9:15 and lunch will be from 11:30 to 12:45 um I know last year there was like you know various weather concerns and whatnot um I don't see that being an issue this year I mean I suppose if we have like you know a hurricane obviously and you know it's not safe to be traveling anywhere we're not going to run it but um you know a light thunderstorm won't shut it down like it would have if it were out doors um but the program won't run on July 4th federal holiday two two questions on that Nick um the first is are can we make sure that they put up signage at ner I don't think our community is as and there's like two big Wings to the building and one is like therapeutic services so if they could just have signage at Neri so people will know where to yeah I can talk to our food service director about that I really don't see forese East Hampton Public Schools families going to Neri to get the meals it's more for students that are there but the families are welcome nonetheless um I I can talk to um our food service director about having some kind of signage in terms of where if you pull in you're not going to have you're going to go to the glass doors and that's a therapeutic side um the second point would be um I've lost it Linda do do you have a question yeah I had a question how do you know how many to prepare for I mean I just how many males I mean how how do they kind of figure that out meaning like how do they I guess predict how many they're going to serve yes uh well it's hard and last year was the first year we did this um you know if you rewind the clock a couple of years to the you know the darker days of the pandemic there was grab and go meals available you know and after you know that stopped these summer programs you know they needed to be uh conducted in congregate sites like they weren't you know they can't be grabb and go unless you're a rural District um so in the summer of 22 we didn't run the program I think that that was like the summer in between the grab and go covid meals and then you know what we're doing now and then um last year uh you know a couple of people you know approached me and said you know can we run a summer food service program you know there's a lot of families that you know participated in the grab Ando meals during during covid so you know we looked into it said sure you know I I met with the folks from Chartwells and you know we did our planning and everything like that I mean unfortunately last year we weren't a c District so we didn't have any eligible sites other than Neri um and and you can do like a mile and a half radius there's actually a USDA map that they like you know you can have an outdoor site which so we chose mside Park cuz it was just on the cusp of being a mile and a half away from ner uh and we thought it was kind of a central location you know like right on the bike trail and you know we thought there'd be more participation um we served I I think an average of about 17 meals a day last year which was not that much um we definitely lost money last year I mean I'm not saying that to critique the program it's you're you're almost always going to lose money on a summer food service program it's fine we have the money and the revolving that because that's not the point the point is not to make money the point is to feed people in the summer that may not have access to food as readily as they do during the school year um I would say that of the average 17 meals we served per day last year the families were very very consistent it was it was a lot of the same people very thankful very appreciative that you know the opportunity was there so I think what kept people out was the outdoor setting the fact that it it's not very I mean it's not terribly close to where a lot of people live um the weather was was wacky last summer it rained a lot it was very humid which you know that can bring mosquitoes out to a park that's close to water um and you know there's just a lot of factors so um this year we became a c District in December which made our sites eligible um so it was obviously no brainer to to move that to indoors you know and Mountain View we picked because that's where the larger kitchen is and and there's programs there in the summer too so like there'll be kids that are attending programs in the summer at Mountain View that will then eat when the program's done um plus families that that go to to get meals so we're predicting more uh participation this year I I think our original thought last year was around 40 meals a day we certainly overestimated that but um I I would say based on the amount of kids that'll be in the building plus families that that participated last year I I think we're going to see an upswing I think you'll see I I think 40 is probably reasonable um I I'm asking this because very specifically in the last two weeks I have become aware that there were a couple of our students who are concerned about school ending and food so yeah I just wanted to make sure that you know how how that all worked and um so that we can get the word out to them could we develop and maybe Jean could handle this could we do a half sheet flyer with the base it right like two sites the time for breakfast the time for lunch no service on July 4 consumed on site can we do something like that to get it in the backpacks by next week we can I mean it's just the cost of all the copies and everything that comes you know what I mean we've been trying to like if we did a half sheet instead I just feel like that is something a family could put on their fridge right yeah that's true I can I can talk to our food Ser well actually he probably I mean I already have the informational thing that he he developed I mean it would just be a matter of shrinking it and you know making it where you could do four on a sheet honestly yeah see see how the data look like yeah get as many as you can on a sheet but like we I think a half sheet at least would work yeah that's a just want to make sure we out and a constant remote cuz it's like I didn't I forgot breakfast was part of it until you know like yeah and the times and you're not sure and you're not going to go down I think if it's right there on the fridge I think more people would anyway Sam did you have a question yeah um I just was wondering um so the several people have asked me about the meals needing to be consumed on site and so my understanding that's a USDA corre Rule and is do you happen to know like the reason behind that at all um I don't I have some guesses but I'm not going to I I honestly don't I I mean I I I think it it boils down to claiming the meal you know what I mean like in order in order for a school to be able to claim a meal for reimbursement like a certain amount of a certain variety of different types of foods need to be on a tray in order for that meal to count as reimbursement so when when a student goes through a food line on a random day in January the person you know doing essentially the checkout of that meal like when they swipe the ID or whatever that process looks like is ensuring that every single thing's on that tray the way it's supposed to be so that meal can count um if you're doing grab and go I I think that process becomes more difficult um you know because I mean we all know that not everybody eats everything on their tray right they just have to take it but you know when you got a bag you know obviously you can assemble the bag the way you want to with everything that needs to be in it but what happens between you know that that bag being handed to someone and that person leaving the property could make the meal unclaimable based on USDA standards so it really boils down to what's a claimable meal for reimbursement okay um why that's different in rural areas it's probably just because it's harder for folks in rural areas to get to a place that would give them meal so you know they might get 3 days of grab and go meals right like what happened during the pandemic you know yeah and I think I think during the pandemic a lot of families like that was for a lot of families that was kind of their first encounter with that type of program and like I remember you know I remember one time having a bunch of kids at my house like who I was like babysitting for the day and I remember going to one of those sites and like I got like six apples like it was and like other food too but I came back and I was like this is like a lot of food you know oh yeah they would hand out several days worth yeah it just it's I think logistically it was so much easier uh to do that grab and go and I think um some some families had questions about that but I've just been telling everybody it's a USDA rule it is um there's got to be Richie Neil's office would love to get some feedback on this everybody uh the other question I had was um in terms of the so I think moving it indoors is great that was like the big piece of feedback I heard last year was that people um didn't like eating outside but then I heard from one parent of course who is concerned um about eating inside because she's imuno compromised and doesn't want to sit inside I was just wondering is there outdoor seating because I remember at Mountain View I feel like there is outdoor seating there is outdoor seating at Mountain View I mean how they're going to organize the you know their setup I I I can't tell you I mean I I don't think it would be against USDA regs if somebody ate on property like in the you know in the back of the cafeteria there in that little outdoor like I I I think that would probably be okay um you know it's just a matter of of how they set it up and you know they got to work with custodians and everything and and also with other programs that are in the building but I mean I I don't think that would be a problem just because it's it's still on site okay um like I don't think it would be okay if somebody walked all the way up to like where the sign is and sat there and consumed the food but I also don't know why anybody would do that um so I hope that answered your question cool I'll I'll suggest suggest that they get in touch like you know and I mean that you know that the staff there I believe is going to be the same folks that were working there last summer yeah um and there'll be the same people there every day and you know Ken our our food service director from chart Wells you know he's very responsive and and receptive I mean he'll you know he'll let families know what you know what they can do and where they can eat and everything like that that's great any other questions I have one more okay I think I was looking at the same like thread of questions and one other idea that was posted there is or question that was po um that I thought was a good one is about like can adults who are over 18 like bring their food on site so that their families can eat together are they just sitting that's that's probably a no due to allergies okay like we got you got to be able to regulate food that comes on site in congregate so there's and so if you're over 18 they also can't get a meal no you got to be 18 or under to get a meal so it's got to be I don't know a situation where they bring their kids and then just hang out while other kids eat or eat before eat afterwards yeah I mean I I just I I mean I I think Ken would probably be the best person to answer that but you know there are the you know the allergy concerns and everything like that that you know creep up and and you know during a regular school day that's very well regulated you know staff they know who has allergies you know sometimes the whole cafeteria is say nutree sometimes just a section of it is you know depending on if an allergy's Airborne or if it's you know only if you consume nuts or whatever and like you know the lunch supervisors know like the deal they know who has what they know what needs to be cleaned and in the summer you're looking at a different situ like you're not going to have lunch supervisors you know you're going to have two Food Service workers that are Distributing meals and they're not going to be able to manage uh you know what comes in from the outside and you know we certainly wouldn't want allergy issues so hard to make you the food service question person I have not we're going to have Ken come in next spring uh I wear a lot of hats yeah just a I was wondering what a c District that's a good question Community eligibility provision it's uh Maple School used to be a c school back in the day um basically it means that the number of lowincome students has met a threshold where the entire building is considered free and reduced lunch one sorry one last question is is it the kind of thing where like I'm just still harping on this adult eating thing that like meals could be comped for up to 18 and then adults could buy it if they're there like is it that it's not that kind of thing no it's no you can it's only for 18 and under I'm just concerned about the students who are over 18 cuz I think we might have some question hey I think we have some that's another USDA rule USDA rule okay well thank you for answering USDA questions just to clarify for us it help sure I have a um I have a question about year end transfers oh okay well let's get to that Personnel report yeah let's do Personnel report first yeah well I I I I might as well oh the year end transfers yes I thought you I'm sorry I thought you building transfers go ahead no um I was just wondering so so I only have the vaguest memory of this from last year and so I'm sure it was no big deal um did do we have to pass something in order to authorize you to to do that like was there we did that we did I well last year when I brought this you you said you didn't need to that we were just going to grant that those for the year-end transfers were fine to not have separate yeah I mean I just the reason why I brought it to you last year is is just I I didn't know if you would want it to require an official vote in Northampton it was they they did an official vote so I just wanted to make sure like I did everything properly when I came here um but I last year you said you were you were fine as long as I inform you that you know that would happen cool sounds good I all right Personnel report uh not much here um you know we we hired three substitutes uh throughout the month of May um you had two separations we had a a custodian of Mountain View as well as our data coordinator for the district here that um deals with um you know our our absentee management system as well as a lot of State reporting uh no transfers this month or last month um current vacancies and I you know I put an italics there uh this does not include vacancies like for folks that are resigning as of like June 30th or people retiring or anything like that you know that those will appear on a future report um and some of them may be filled very quickly some of them may be filled before the school year ends um you know depending so um you know still that that librarian's been vacant all year uh hopefully it will be filled over the summer um we have a par educator at Mountain View still need one lunch supervisor um I haven't heard of any other ones leaving but sometimes in the summer they leave as well and and they might need more than one um we need a night custodian at Mountain View although I do believe hiring paperwork has been submitted for that so I think that'll be filled quickly um network technician for the district um and then the the data coordinator is vacant I I left that off of the list but that is is still vacant so um there's my Personnel report for May thank you so much Nick thank you uh superintendent binda so we had a wonderful uh graduation last Friday uh everyone that spoke had really nice speeches um all giving really um good information hopeful conversation to the graduates about what they what what they learn from where they are and what what we all wish they will have to be successful in their future um tomorrow is Step Up day as Piper said so that's when the eighth graders uh go to the high school and they get to visit the classes and uh go through the hallways sit in the cafeteria uh we do have uh field day coming at Mountain View next Monday and last week um all the classes got to go outside and make tie dye shirts so every class will have their own tie Dy shirts very quickly parents find that plastic bag if you haven't dealt with it already Rin it out and put it through the wash by itself were we supposed to get them already some they should have come home I will follow up so some teachers decided to keep them and wash them for their students and some sent them home in plastic bags and you're supposed to wash it in cold water okay separately separately and then let it dry oh I I know about tie-dye you know about you're an expert actually I used to be a cam counselor so I was enjoying the tie dye um work out there trying to teach them how to do the bullseye with the different paint so it was fun uh we start finals next week at at the high school students only have to go for when they have that final but only does still come at 2:00 so if you only have a final and you're done early you can stay in the library or you can call somebody for a ride home um but you if you don't have anyone to call you can stay and at 2:00 the bus will come um still want to remind people that there is no school on 619 um there is no school so there's no work that day however the last day of school is 6:20 and uh half day it's a half day everybody yes so that um we'll be sending a memo home to everybody wishing everybody a really nice summer um the commissioner did come out with a um brochure today talking about safety in the summer like you know not to go in area where you can get ticks about um not going into lakes and pools unless you have somebody there with you so we'll be sending that home uh to all parents too because we want everyone to have a wonderful summer but a safe summer sounds great is that it that's it that's it great um next is school committee discussion um policy subcommittee I think we have a little bit more than an update do we yeah well so I have we have some policies to do the first readings of and I have like a PowerPoint of them but I also want to be aware that we are we are doing executive session later tonight and so I don't know how much time we want to devote to that how long do you think it will take I was going to give it you know like I I wouldn't want to go over an hour I mean oh I'm sorry an hour well oh yeah did you read my email yeah I did I didn't get the no I could do I could do like half an hour I mean we could just go through a few of them a lot of them are really minor updates but I do want to just make sure that why don't we do this let's see it is 6:45 now let's see where we're at at 700 okay okay do you want to do like do you want to do the rest of this before 7 and then come back to Let's wrap up the um we'll wrap up school committee discussion and action items and swing back to the first readings okay so do we have a finance subcommittee update uh the finance subcommittee has not met okay and we do not have it skip because we are working on because we are in the throws of contract negotiations and there's plenty of work to do there correct um CES Sam have I do have a CES update so um so CES stands for the collaborative for Educational Services and it is the um the uh um collaborative that we are a member of and so we have um so my position is to be a member of their board with um the other 30s something school committees that pay into the into CES um so the last uh meeting that we had was last week um there is so we're talking a lot in education right now in the state just about kind of the budget um um the the kind of um um challenges not ideal budget situation that a lot of districts are well I don't want to be too because we're actually doing okay in East Hampton I don't want to like make anybody panic but like I think it's been pretty hard to avoid news about kind of the end of the Esser funds the fact that everything costs more than it used to um you know this has uh been kind of a a a tough um time for a lot of districts and for that reason it's also uh kind of a tough time for CES too it was um the the deficit is higher than they expected it to be at the end of this year one of the things that school districts have really caught down on is cut down on is professional development which of course is like one of the main ways that CES makes money um they have a lot of State contracts but they don't actually make any money off of those contracts and then we were also looking when we were looking at some of the financials some of the point of the collaboratives are for small for school districts that can't provide all those services in District we're supposed to have an affordable option to be providing um special services like well still within our district but in partnering with other districts and now um the cost of those Services have got has gone up so much that CES can't actually offer them in a way that is financially uh feasible so we had a little bit of a discussion I don't know a whole lot about like collaborative law although I've got a feeling I'm going to know more about it soon because I've been diving in a little bit um but so I just think it's interesting that you know we're we're finding the same um budget challenges there um and a lot of the first places where school districts are cutting to try to avoid cutting teachers and staff and other um are things that they get from the collaborative such as you know professional development which is a relatively easy one you can't cut special education services necessarily but you can um cut back on professional development so that um so so that was an interesting conversation I hadn't really seen it from that perspective before um and then we also did um uh vote to renew um the uh Todd gazda the executive director his contract uh for next year or for the next three years um and um so yeah that was kind of the the the overview um so I'll be interested to see kind of how that turns out great and we did have those two graduations too we did the mountt and heck they were both wonderful Megan you want to speak to that very briefly they were lovely we they had great speeches the students were amazing um we got to hear about their accomplishments thank you for excepting the invite to us so we could go yeah I wish I could have G picture super cool which proved nearly impossible to get a good picture of them because they were joyful and moving and I wasn't there and our Mount Tom student also walked with the um full class at the graduation on Friday oh wonderful it's awesome um the next we have is the superintendent evaluation we are still waiting on um a couple members including the mayor to submit those evaluations then they have to be compiled and presented so that we should have ready to present to the public at our August 13th meeting um and the superintendent search update um we have hired a consultant from masc the Massachusetts Association of school committees um our field director Liz leond is going to be working with us we have had our initial meeting which was incredibly productive and we have a next meeting set with Liz um these meetings with Liz are public meetings uh we style them as a work session so we do meet in the back room so they are not filmed but they are open to the public so that we can make use of a conference table because it's a lot of brainstorming collaborative work on timelines and phrasing whatnot so that next meeting will be Tuesday July 23rd um I'd be lying if I said I remembered what time we were going to start it's either 5 or 600 but it will be on the website um actually items uh Megan do you want to yep I was just going to look I think we said 6 o00 oh no we said I thought it was a 5:00 p.m start time with the last meeting did yeah so that's going to be 5:00 p.m. Tuesday July 23rd in this rear conference room is our next meeting specific to forming the um superintendent search committee and also finalizing promotional materials in the job posting perfect um a short list of action items to save time for Sam I have a motion to approve the executive session minutes of 521 2024 with the stipulation to withhold until matters are resolved reviewed and released by The chairperson you second a second thank you Ben uh all those in favor I opposed extensions motion passes and a motion to approve the work session meeting of uh June 3rd 2024 the minutes from the work session meeting of June 3rd 2024 uh second second thank you Ben I got it I had to call one sorry uh all those in favor opposed abstentions motion passes okay so we're going to circle back to some first readings all righty so um I'm going to we are starting is this with the ACA non-discrimination on the basis of sex or do you want to cherry pick some how do you want to well I'm just going to go through I think it's easiest because we're going to get through them all anyway are you able to share this slide that's exactly what I'm about to try to do excellent I just um I'm going to say the things everybody always says when they're about to share things is that I don't usually share on Google meet but to avoid an infinity mirror okay but you don't see an infinity mirror perfect okay um actually this is easier than I thought it was going to be is that popping up well um let me just try this one more time it I'm trying to present it and uh it might not let me do that all right I'm just going to I'm it's not going to look as good as I want it to I'm just going to do it this way all right so I put together um a little slideshow so the first so essentially and again just to back up so that everybody knows what what we're doing here um so the so masc put out a like huge Pol like series of policy updates a few years ago um which um the last policy uh subcommittee was able to get through I think the really important ones that were like the most important to the running of the district but there was a whole bunch of stuff that just hadn't been updated yet so uh we went through uh the policy subcommittee we had a meeting that I was calling policy paloa uh where we sat and we just went through them all or most of them anyway um so what I did was I sent out um the policy the some of them are just revised this one is ACA um and you'll see it says revised here um and it just meant that there was like one little thing added um or there wasn't like a huge change so I'm so I'm going to say I how do how do I word this again I um I move to move to to approve the first reading of policy X okay I moved to approve the first reading of ACA non-discrimination on the basis of sex second you Linda so this one oh sorry do you want a discussion now discuss now excellent now I'm all caught up go go now we've got a now we've got a method okay so um this policy just a basic policy that says School the school district will not discriminate on the basis of sex sexual orientation or gender identity in the educational programs and activities of the public school and another important point to note note with this one is that it applies to both students and employees and the only difference this is already on the books for us the only difference was that there was a hyperlink that was added to the US Department of Education okay so are we good with adding that hyperlink I'm ready to vote okay uh do we need to vote so since it's this is a first reading also everybody so we don't need to vote we just to vote in the first read right you vote you vote for both readings but the point is it isn't adopted after a first reading it requires a second reading to be adopted um so we have the motion on floor this is discussion are we ready to vote or are there any other questions okay uh okay all those in favor I I opposed abstentions motion passes all right um so this next one is a uh this merged two prior policies into one this is the two prior policies that were urged merged were called uh bbba bbbb and so I move to uh bring for a first reading bbbbbbb School Committee Member qualification oath of office you a second second thank you Linda um any any further discussion or questions all right do you want me to explain no the differences at all okay the only thing that I added to this was I um I just added the word airm next to the word swear so it's a swear or affirm perfect perfect all right so the next one we got to vote on it now we got to vote sorry uh all those in favor I I I I opposed exstension motion passes okay guys are the best all right um so uh I move to bring for first reading uh BBB bbaa School member School Committee Member Authority there it is uh second second thank you Ben you would need to because we have two policies bbbb and bbba so we have to rename the first one no no you should be deleting the current one that we have ah is that a separate motion Sue SE each one should be separate it should be a motion to delete okay we do that at the first reading or do we do that at the second reading you're it's just in the added you need to make the first reading to delete bbbb and bbba in order to be replaced by bbbbbbb okay we have current policies all right thank you sue yep uh motion to delete a current the current policies bbba and bbbb second thank you Ben uh questions or discussion see none all those in favor I I opposed exensions thank you sue thank you Sue I appreciate I would have assumed that was like a second reading thing okay good good call all right thought of it all off so so this this next one um which I okay so I'm going to um motion for the first reading for bbaa school Committee Member Authority second okay and we have a second thank you Linda um so this was just some minor language changes which you can see up here um replacing programs of the town's public schools with programs of the district um updating some gendered pronouns uh neglect his share of the work becomes their share of the work the good of the Town becomes the good of all students uh and remember that they are one of a team um and basically this just describes the authority and duties of school committee members um any further question or discussions I just want to say if anybody is watching this um take a look at this policy it's really good to know what school committee members do and it's all kind of laid out here and and don't do yes yeah excellent point that's a great Point uh any other questions comments discussion okay seeing none all those in favor I I that was Sam's motion Ben second I think and this was for the bbba school Committee Member Authority BBA AA yes yeah this was a first read of an up okay motion passes so this is so this is a new policy or sorry um I motion to uh disc discuss for first reading bdfa School councils motion to approve first reading of bdfa school councils correct is that correct Sam yes okay motion to the first reading of a new policy BDF yes okay thank you and Linda is the second yes thank you go ahead so this is this is a um uh obviously we've had school councils for a while this is a new uh written policy um that masc um um put out for all school districts um so this just um clarifies the purpose and overview of the school council um so essentially um the the principal has the primary responsibility for the management of the school and the school council advises the principal in specific areas of school operation um the principal is the co-chair of the school council and also has the responsibility to define the composition and forming of the group um the school council should meet at least once monthly during the school year and um outside of school hours uh they use consensus to resolve issues and formulate recommendations um they use open meeting law and Robert's Rules of orders consensus huh yeah they do not qualify for executive session um superintendent receives minutes and agendas and provides those to the school committee upon request um and the purpose of the school council is to adopt educational goals for the school that are consistent with state and local policies and standards to identify the educational needs of the students attending the school to review the school building budget and to formulate a school Improvement plan that may be implemented only after review and approval by the superintendent and there is another policy about that school Improvement plan we weren't quite ready to bring it up also in our district our our current policy is that that school Improvement plan is approved by the school committee yes that not the Super not just the superintendent the um the formulation of a school Improvement plan can only okay hold on I'm saying if we adopt this policy Sam that mean and I'm not saying I believe one way or the other I'm saying currently the school committee approves the school imp Improvement plans if we adopt this policy that Authority will be transferred to the superintendent I don't know do do we have I don't didn't see that in a policy that we had I don't know that it's a policy it's a it's a it's just kind it's done huh can we put in there the I don't know I'm just bringing well no that's a good question let's let's table this then cuz I want to look more into that this is a Fant fantastic new policy to put in here I think this is going to address real timely so much stuff so let's so but I do want to look into that and actually this might make the most sense and I wondered about separating these two because this might make the most sense to bring up with the policy about the school Improvement plan and we had actually like discussed that and I talked with um the principles about it as well and we came up with a couple of like East Hampton specific changes um to the to the template that masc sent out so I think what I'll do is table this for now and then we'll just do it next time question I need a motion do we need a motion or can I just table you need a motion to table okay uh motion to table uh the bdfa school council's first reading second second thank you me but also a question about it yes um our July meeting is a work session now is that correct correct so we've converted what the July 23rd was meant to be a regular session we've converted to a work session with Liz lefon for the superintendent search we also have a tentative on the books July 9 work session with uh we don't have a tight agenda for that and I have basically until like the beginning of next week to pin that down and post it are we able in a work session to do this or do we need to wait okay great I would love to see if it's possible for the actually we make that school council sip focused yes that's a great idea that would be great actually because then we can finish okay and that and honestly that was kind of one of the things I wanted to I before moving too far with these I wanted to run that by you guys so um so for members that'll be Thursday July 9 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. rear conference room and weirdly you can all see me making notes on my PowerPoint too okay um so we need a vote on tabling the bdfa school council we have a unless there's any com yep we just need to vote on any other questions or comments before we vote we're going to vote to table all those in favor I opposed extensions okay so Sam were you saying you also want to table the school committee were you saying the next one too no I didn't I didn't actually put the other one in because I wasn't quite ready with it yet so um all right so this one is um this is a new policy but again this describes something that we're already doing oh sorry I'll um motion to uh do the first reading for BG school committee policy development okay motion to approve first reading for BG school committee policy development heard do we have I say new policy right uh we could so it's a motion first read of the new policy BG school committee policy development right do I have a second yes second Ben Ben got it okay thank you go ahead Sam so this is basically just describing um how the school committee creates policies so essentially um we will develop policies and put it into writing um policies are guide for the discretionary action for of Those whom it delegates Authority so basically we come up with a policy and that is to guide the action of um of the people to whom it applies um so we can pass really broad policies um but we can also pass really specific policies which is essentially um what we're doing um they are supposed to be lawful they're supposed to be interpreted in terms of state law um they're not um and and uh the and state regulations um from the board of Elementary and secondary education this basically just saying where do our policies come from they come from state law they come from regulation um um or they come from um it doesn't say anything about the community in this one but or they at least comply with all of those they comply with those yeah and then and then but we don't actually we don't actually administer the policies so we're not out there like you know um hiring and firing people and putting people on you know doing discipline or do you know what I mean like you do it through the study and evaluation of reports concerning the execution policies so there is it's it is another and this is you know another um it's kind of a level of separation between us and the running of the school management huh upper management right yeah any other questions discussions I enjoy the note in the bottom of it it makes me feel very like confused about what's happening get a policy to make policies all right all those in favor I I opposed exstension motion passes all right this is another new policy it is possible to overthink these a little bit too trust me I have let's let's give this 10 more minutes and see 10 more minutes we're doing good we're doing good all right um so so I motion uh for a first reading of BGC policy revision and review new policy okay can I get a second second thank you Ben all right go ahead Sam so this basically just says that we'll review policies on a regular basis um we will some of the questions that we will ask include how have policies been implemented we are going to solicit feedback from stakeholders as appropriate and then the superintendent is to tell us if a policy is out of date or needs revision I thought that was interesting because I've always assumed that it was actually the policy chair's uh job to do that and evidently um the superintendent according to what masc suggests is supposed to be doing then so does that does that comply with your understanding of how to best run that no I always felt it was the chers of yeah I don't like that's what I that's what I'm wondering yeah I would prefer to just strike that okay yeah what does everybody think we're talking about the final line that is saying if we say the superintendent or the just leave I would can bring up policies that are out of date or need revision I do like the idea that it's somebody's respons like that somebody should be paying attention to what and so what I see it as too is like if we have a a policy for example our school lunch policy uh which is current well actually no our current school lunch policy is good but uh if if we still had our old school lunch policy on the books from before Co um you know it would make sense for if the superintendent is is looking through you know procedures in the district to say hey did you know our school lunch policy is really out of date but I don't necessarily think the superintendent should be responsible no I don't either I think that for me that's the problem if can you add to the next to last sentence when um it will consider feedback from school staff students and Community when revising policies as appropriate and will screen for policies that are out of dat or for other reason appear to need revision um because that's talking about the duties of the committee okay so so basically you're just saying and as appropriate period okay and or comma semic and will screen for the rest of this policies okay do you see what I'm saying so it's the committee's responsibility right yeah and I mean you could certainly if you were to hire no I like that and I don't think we need to go I don't think we need to get like an attorney's take on that I think that that is pretty good okay cool yeah that's great so sue if we make a revision to a first reading does do we need any further action do we have to take another vote do we need a different motion to approve the first reading with the revision you should add into the the motion to approve with so we have a motion on the table we're discussing now for this so in the course of discussion we've arrived at a revision motion yep so we need to read okay so go ahead so so am I retract retract your retracting the motion uh to do the first reading for uh BGC okay pause second second all those in favor I opposed exension motion passes go ahead okay so now I'm going to motion to do a first reading of the policy BGC with the um uh um with the revision I with the revision suggested by the chair uh second I'll second thank you Ben are are you running out of second all in favor HST exensions okay it does make it easier they this came up at CES the other night it does make it easier when of the same person seconds every time so I can get you that text or we'll we'll get you that text rise that okay cool so that one's done all right we are at we are at 709 so let's what do you think you want to keep going let's do this one let's do this let's do this next I mean is there no there my Lord they just keep coming I mean so many we're going to have to do it eventually I know just keep going just keep going um so this one this one is um a bgd school committee oh I I moved for to do the first reading for bgd school committee review of procedures which is a new policy to be added to our handbook perfectly done second second thank you Ben go ahead Sam um so essentially this Builds on what we were just talking about so based on the policies that the school committee passes the superintendent and administration develop procedures based on those policies uh the committee can review procedures but can only revise or veto procedures when uh school committee feels they are not consistent with written policy um we don't officially approve procedures except as required by state law or in cases when strong Community attitudes or possible student or staff reaction make it necessary or advisable for a procedure to have committees Advanced approval um and then the superintendent publishes rules and regulations regarding student and teacher conduct and this is published in the student handbooks which are approved by the school committee every year um so this I think is actually something that would have been really helpful for us to have in writing at at earlier times so um it does um I I do worry a my only concern was that second paragraph seems awfully kind of um May review the procedures by the superintendent for the school district whenever they appear Inc consistent all oh no not that one it's the the next one the possible student or staff reaction and strong Community attitudes I had a little bit of concern about that but then I can also see that as being a really good um I think it's trying to say this is not something that's a common occurrence there here's some circumstances under which they may choose to do this where they're stepping out of just policy and and walking into procedure yeah I think it's giving that opening in the rare cases that that could something could happen yeah which I can't think of a single one in my tenure on year but who knows right not gunwood and we were obviously apparently when we were talking about this we talked a lot about snow days I don't actually remember what we discussed I really wish I'd taken better notes on here because that would have been a good example um but um but yeah I think this is this again again this is like what we already do it's really it's really nice to have it in writing and I actually think this is pretty as far as legal ease goes this is more accessible writing than I expected so if you want me to refresh your memory we discuss that more that the superintendent determines when we the snow days right that is procedure right and it's not about oh okay it's not about the policy it's not about the policy that that's a procedure that goes under there that we don't step and say no wait a minute we should have school day right right oh I definitely do though totally kidding all right um any other comments yes question so this next this last paragraph um about putting the codes of discipline and the rules and rs of conduct for teachers and students into the handbook is that is that part also new that so that has been our practice right but we there has not been a policy on the books okay about that unless it exists in like the but you you know usually if it's cross referenced it'll say down here if that already exists somewhere else we have a staff handbook I've never seen it I say I'm not sure that we have that code of discipline that I'm glad handbook we have the Union contract handbook you te teacher contract St and student okay that was like six people talking at once so the there's not six people do we have a right do we have a hand do we have how they lay it out here Jesus my words student handbook no no no no we have that do we have a where the hell is it a staff handbook we have a staff handbook we have a staff handbook we do in addition to their contract we have a staff handbook which I assume what we update every time we ratify a contract to make whatever I've never seen it I've never seen it I don't believe we approve those I them I was just saying if we don't have one and we adopt this policy we better get to step in on creating well and it does say standards okay so it does say these handbooks will be reviewed and approved annually by school committee so I don't know if moving forward it' be nice to just build that into the schedule yeah okay great cool any other questions yeah Megan so is that discipline and conduct for the teachers that would be in the staff and employees but also student discipline that's in the student that would be in the student handbooks can I just say that yeah a lot of that is based on state law so like you know uh the rule the laws that have been actually passed on student behavior um it it isn't like you do this and this happens it's basically the law that talks about what happens um about two-day emergency removals for example it's really the state law that Massachusetts has now established for Behavior so you know a lot of it says try to do other things besides suspensions right that you have to um have a sort of Justice like that comes from the state though that's in the handbooks okay any other question comment discussion okay and I do have to say I I do think oh sorry do we want to vote if you have another comment make it now and I'm good I'm good okay uh so all those in favor I opposed exstension motion passes um we are at 7:15 okay do you want to uh break for now and then we'll is that okay with everybody we do still have that's fine and we can um we can do some more of these in July and then our cut off point some point we'll have another policy subcommittee meeting we'll have even more in theory Sue we could we could adopt these at a work session correct cuz that's a public meeting so I could put a slate of these on that agenda yeah just first readings and 10 quick you do you want to do two more yeah do n quick N9 and 10 then to half okay I like the way that you think Morin yeah I love it it's great all right um so though um let's see motion to approve which are we doing the B bus motion to approve so one thing I will say is that the um this says new update which is it it's an update to an existing policy however the the uh the um the letters are wrong it says b i b a in our handbook it's it's in not our handbook in our policy manual it says bhba I think it's bhba okay but but I can double check on that one again so you want to hit that motion but yeah so motion um to minut wait a minute say we can't what what is our policy that we currently have bhba hold on let me get it up I can get to that because if you vote to delete a current policy or change a current policy and it's totally something different oops exactly big should we stop here Sam yeah let's let's just stop here and I can figure this one out for the next time because that was the yeah that's a good point this is the universe interjecting yeah okay the good work tonight everyone so we are going to move quickly to the last remaining items um our next meeting dates um list on the agenda is a July 23rd work session that we mentioned that will be focused on the superintendent search in addition we have a July 9 work session that'll be focused on school council and the school Improvement plan from 6:00 to 800m both of those meetings will be in the rear conference room nothing um yep uh July 9th July 9th is at 6:00 p.m. July 23rd will be at 5:00 p.m. and then August 13 is a regular session 6: p.m. and then September 10th regular session starting at 6 p.m. um we will be moving into executive session pursuant to Mass General law c3a s21a number three to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation with the EA teacher and support units if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigation position of the public body and the chair so declares so good evening to the public and we will recess this meeting from executive session [Music] good team all right uh mics everybody before you leave the table for