##VIDEO ID:sGs3KHhS47M## [Music] good evening everyone today is Tuesday October 15th and the time is 6:30 p.m. and I'd like to call this meeting to order first on our agenda is our consent agenda first up is minutes from October 1st um I don't know if I'm missing them but I don't see them in the folder for this week October 15th or they somewhere else that I miss it's just a school committee meeting minutes it's like a longer titles see it okay I see it from October 1st okay um all right any um comments or concerns on the minutes hearing none I'll take the motion make a motion to accept the am minutes for October 1st 2024 I have a second second all those in favor I next is warrants 22 and 23 which are going around for Signature any questions or comments on those hearing none I'll take the motion uh make a motion to accept warrants 22 and 23 can I have a second second all those in favor I I next is visitors comments any citizen wishing to speak before the committee must sign in with the administrative assistant prior to the opening of the regular session of the school committee the visitor will identify themselves by name and address and shall speak for no longer than 3 minutes for anyone unable to sign in ahead of time we ask that you clearly state your name and address so that this information can be included in the record for the meeting no visitors Co okay thank you um I apologize that I wasn't able to make the past couple of meetings soccer has been very busy lately um you know every day six days a week but anyway um for my introduction a TV is now been displayed outside the main office in high school it whoops a slide deck of updates events announcements I've seen the launch menu up there as well as a couple of other interesting little tidbits uh the student support Suite is beginning to update the programs of studies the scheduling committee revised the 25 and 26 schedule to remain in a seven block schedule instead of a longer web block as for student engagement Mr fener is working on a new incentive based program for the junior high called Ram cares they are in the beginning stages of Designing the program the next steps is is to present to the junior high teams for feedback as for Community involvement guidance and admin are in the beginning of statements of nominating a student to take over a project 351 principal's list is on October 22nd in the gym catered by chart Wells we have two special guests this year Jess and Dylan Holo who at their time in the high school um earned principal's list every single year so that's 12 years total six between the B as for upcoming well actually they wouldn't really be upcoming events um but in better news for our fundraisers the senior class of 2025 raised $800 at their car wash and the sophomores raised almost $1,300 at their car watch so overall pretty good turnout for both of them the Junior High dance is also on the 25th and I was not able to get into contact with M are Lays again but I'm I've been trying so that's about all I have for you guys excellent any questions for Cole excellent as usual thank you are you still doing the um collection for the soccer team little yellow card coupons no we did finish that up it um wasn't our most phenomenal turnout to say the least um I was not given the exact total on what we raised cuz I I you know obviously I wasn't the one running it it uh but I think there still needs to be some more fundraising okay for our goals to be realized goals for the golf literally goals for the golf it's too bad I won't get to see though I'll still come back fiveyear plan is always an option yeah no just come back and visit thanks Co course thank you and good luck to finishing up the rest of your soccer season okay uh next is Chartwells let's talk some food sounds good you flip cold name tag down thank you okay yeah good how are you bu some new faces yeah now said it you want too many yeah okay you good I think we're good good this is for the people that don't know me my name's K paage I'm the director of D services Wells here Gamby um just an overall of uh last year's um program results and know this year what we got in store and what's going on what's new um first page overall another strong financial year you know we profited over $100,000 um you know Universal free meals it's just uh it's a different world now in the food service industry um as everybody some people know I mean it was always kind of painful coming to these meetings um but uh you know financially but it's been a lot better since Co and since the universal free um with meals contining to be free we still see to see uh still could see um increase in participation um our allo cart sales increased 35% these students now have more money in their pocket so they're purchasing snacks um you food costs increase this the is year do you know serving we serve more meals and also everybody knows national food prices have been skyh high and we also continue to promote our special events and programs um you know we do Super Bowl tailgate lunch at the high school our lucky tray days at East meow our food boost and Discovery kitchen demos at East meow um like the gentleman was saying we cater the principal's dinner which is next Tuesday um our lunch lady hero coloring contest at East meow and then last year we uh let the seniors vote on what they wanted to see on the menu the last school day week that they were through us that was pretty good um then I kind of did like a breakdown of last year 2324 to 2223 it's just a little simpler than a p&l statement um our total meals were up 55300 Meals compared to last uh 2223 um so our Revenue was like 33,00 higher this past year than the year before um obviously expenses were a little bit more due to more meals um more Staffing um but we uh you know we made like $10,000 more last year than we did the year before so we're in a good spot right now it's so nice to see in the positive instead of the other way um so I just you know some pictures of our events um up top we gave away some Stanley uh cups at the Super Bowl tailgate um our mood boost demo we I believe the girls are displaying a I think it's a kale salad we had um then we had some nice coloring for our lunch hero uh I mean our yeah lunch lady hero day um and we do our Discovery kitchen we had some uh spicy pineapple salsa that day so just some pictures of what we've been doing uh things that come in the school year 2425 uh we were awarded over $155,000 for local fresh fruits and vegetables for the school year which is very exciting um you I think we take pride here we give a lot of fresh you know cantaloupes honeydews we do a lot of fresh fruits for the students here um and vegetables um you we hope to increase our alak cart menu um It's just tough the the regulations are so strict so um It's just tough to get certain products in and then we're looking to partner with UMass and their nutritional Department bringing an interns to do some educational activities in the calf and in classroom we're hoping to get that going in January so we're looking forward to that uh new programs on the horizon uh once again we will be introducing the K through six students to our mood boost programs as well as uh it's a new Global eats program or um do like China One a week you do uh India so they kind of taste different U foods from different cultures introduce them to know different variety of uh foods and high school we be running a a student Choice program where the students kind of decide what concepts they would like to see on their menu so that'll be coming this year um then challenges for school year um keeping students engag engaged and excited for breakfast and lunch at the high school we all know four years now we've been in a closet kind of computer room um so it's been that's been a challenge um to keep the kids engaged so you know we try different things um a lot of bars we do kind of you know Taco bars and Wing bars and kind of jazz it up a little bit um also with the meal counts consistent growing space is starting to become an issue um we basically have one kitchen here and it's a small Elementary size kitchen so we're really tight on space I mean if we start doing more meals we going have to talk about bringing them outside truck freezer truck kind of keep supplies um and then once again just the industry Staffing is just not good it's just tough to get staff but overall um you know we have a wonderful team here they care about the students they care about the community and uh we're just glad to we here and partner with gramy anybody have questions or first I just want to thank you for coming and but more importantly for what you do for both schools for the kids for the lunches because I think it's uh it's important and um really appreciate the fact that you guys are doing great things with only one kitchen for far too long so not for lack of trying though it's definitely been a challenge that's not even St word you know they they uh keep them their Spirit up sometimes as a you know little but uh see that van driving back and forth every day yeah I mean we just you know we'd like to give these kids the best possible It's just tough you know making the food over there you got to bring it over half hour earlier so just it's not ideal but uh We Do It Best Week here so thank you any questions for Kent well just seems like it's going in the right direction pretty exciting about the global eats yeah experiencing new cultures by the food is always a blast uh I personally like it so I'm sure the kids do too and uh especially the younger ones I mean they haven't really experienced that so get their pallets going it's a good foray to open the door to accepting other ways of thinking and doing yeah also the Nutrition department pairing up with UMass that's that's excited about that yep yeah learning how to eat is important long lifelong skill so great initiative there thank you thanks so much for comments thank you all right next is the Second Step curriculum [Music] proposal hello believe we touched on this the last school committee meeting the only update I have to provide um with the Second Step proposal is that through conversations with Mr debuk he's our health and wellness teacher he is going to be integrating the concepts at the junior high level into his health Wellness classes which there's a lot of overlap from the curriculum that he current currently uses and following the Michigan model really we'll just kind of go to the high school and he'll adopt more of the second step for the Junior High um our goal was to be able to launch Second Step 7 through 12 through an advisory program but we're not ready and prepared for that um we did take on quite a challenge with the new health Frameworks that came out and having a bit of a background in the health framework um there's a lot of overlap between theal curriculum and a lot of the junior high Concepts that are taught in um where that are displayed in the second step curriculum so um I have shared that out with staff and I think we will allow Dylan the full year to be able to introduce those Concepts um use that framework along with the new health framework which is heavy on social emotional health and at the end of the year we'll make a decision if we're ready to pursue Second Step at the high school level so for in the meantime we're going to keep it in the junior high grade seven and8 for now um we do need to make a decision on next steps for advisory to fulfill some of those dates that we had prepopulated out for the school year um I'm going to wait until the Staff receives their additional professional development from CES um we have a ha day tomorrow and November 5th there's a series of workshops that will have the staff attend like verbal deescalation trauma informed practice once they are able to finalize um finalize that professional development then we can shift gears into switching over into advisory so the good thing is the wellness Wednesday is the same group as the advisory they'll just be on different days and the students from a couple years back had selected topics already so we will prepare um to transition probably I believe it's in December so I'm getting myself confused so I apologize because the thing the proposal that's in our folder says second step for 7 through 12 but you keep saying seven it's probably old oh okay so this is not the right one then is it in a PDF this is what you sent us in the the presentation right but it's probably old because I've modified it since oh I modified it um we back yeah it says 7 to2 still on our form if it's uploaded in a PDF it won't show my current changes to it so I can pull it up right now I have it oh maybe I'm maybe I need to use the link and no I just did f up oh I see what you're saying presentation the proposal for adoption of the second stepal program and then in the actual document that says it that has it there's two things now it says seven and eight thank you and let me check the other one I missed a spot hold on 1015 Wellness classes 7 8 9 10 and 11 correct and when I met with Mr debuk it was too much to be able to do in those classes so he was going to focus just on the seven and eight because he already uses the Michigan model for the remaining grades okay so everything where it says seven and 12 should really just be seven and eight for now okay okay I can reshare these with you you like I just wanted to make sure that I was yep I know I kept saying it but I yes you were right it was not updated in those two spots and then so there also the Implement implementation implementation plan talks about to gradually expand expand to grades 9 to 12 so that's what you were saying you wait see how Dylan feels about it after the year yeah okay great because of the new health Frameworks that came out the state they didn't require it for everyone to adopt it but I think given the experience and the work that we were doing throughout the year last year with Shanda and Dylan um it was appropriate for us to be able to look at it identify what we're doing and there's a lot of similarities between the two okay so it made sense to um to just keep it at the junior high level and then wait a year so the budget considerations is this do we have money for it so when Megan I'm sharing this with you right now when Megan was here it was Grant supported and we had I asked for one year because I wanted to see how it was going to go I didn't want to purchase something on a three-year and then be stuck with something so was that year last year or is this the year it's this year will be our year okay so we have already we already have have it accounted for okay yep so at the end of this year we'll likely need to utilize Grant funds if we intend on pursuing it for longer than that the cool part is you can really go ahead and look so we have access to the high school and to be honest with you there like Pathways it's in my opinion it's not super attractive right now I think Mr Deb can do a better job and remaining with the Michigan model and it's it's new for school so it's new this year it's not new for the junior higher Elementary and we really went with second step because they utilize Second Step here okay great anybody else have any questions all right hearing none I'll take the motion I'll make a motion to approve the Second Step curriculum proposal as presented second I'll second all those in favor I I okay next is pbci CS Co-op proposal I am here on behalf of Mr debuk and to share with you the need to co-op with Pioneer Valley Chinese immersion Charter School um we have our boys Lacross program is a varsity only program given the the numbers it's 7 through 12 we had 15 athletes on the team last year and five graduated so that leaves us with 10 that's saying that all 10 returned in play even if we get a handful of seventh graders to play the numbers are low especially for lacrosse team you want to have a a good siiz roster and so we've cooped before with South Hadley Pioneer Valley Chinese immersion um before and they have seven to eight student athletes that are interested so we're looking to propose the co-op um typically they're they need to be done three three months ahead of time so right up against it really for the spring season yes it would need to be voted on and approved so they can get it to because there's several steps in a co-op this is a first step so just because you say yes doesn't mean that it's going to get approved at the athletic director level m it has to go through a series of steps any questions on that and then the um Co-op runs is it three years usually it depends what they put in for they could do a one year they could do a two okay it depends do we know what we're putting in for or asking for I do not I think you're not able to fill out the form it's called the form stack until the ads say yay or nay and then you can fill out the form stack and there's a drop down where you can select one year or two year okay I would say it would probably make sense to do two so you're not doing the song and dance all over again it's quite timec consuming to be able to do it and it seems as if they have good interests so that's the only way they'll be able to run a team is joining with us which is really kind of cool yeah and we're not responsible for transportation from Pioneer Valley it's just like any other coll they can get here to ride the bus okay uh all right um what I thought I was making him nervous my uh any other questions hearing that I'll take the motion I make a motion to accept the PV CICS Co-op proposal I have a second well second all those in favor I I you skip something check authorization oh I didn't see that check authorization of GJ shs activities account you're seeking another signer in the event I am absent and cannot sign Student Activity checks we're proposing the idea of Mr Todd Dorman to my right to be an authorized signer because there's no nobody else in the building which is really challenging so if Barb goes looking for me she needs someone to be able to sign up on those checks is that not a normal thing Todd's shaking his head and I no I just is he just being funny or yeah I knew this was coming okay uh any questions or comments about that I'm hearing none you're good with it I'm assuming um I'll take the motion I'll make the motion to approve the an additional signer for the check authorization the activities account have a second second all those in favor I I all right next is first read policy which I believe is C right thanks Ally so this is the same as usual what's high highlighted and what's been updated Y and then the strikethroughs are things that we're proposing to take out um you can even see in the um index here mask had kind of proposed um well really changed adding cha and CHC together um instead of separating out the development and dissemination of procedure um and then only other thing and I don't know that I caught it on the index you'll see small adjustments of when things were updated word changes and the only other thing was the C CAE which is approval of handbooks and CF which were administrative reports were not things that were continued to be included or supported by mask so that would be the only other proposal in the index to strike through those okay we can do so it says chca approval of handbooks and approval and then CH hcae approval of handbooks and directives what I what is the differ I don't know okay so all right so getting rid of the dash e is really the and then the one underneath it as well um or one below when we went through it last week much of what was captured in obviously approval of handbooks and directives was not in the one okay and then the administrative reports was not even anything that was listed currently in their policy see at all okay um so we'll have it on for a vote for next time okay sounds good okay school choice enrollment dashboard um we do have five new enrollments this month so there is a um kindergarten on your list we have three pre prek uh one kindergarten and one grade seven so we have five new this month so our number is increasing slightly so that's exciting news but that was for September so um so what number did you get to use for Sims was it 677 um no yeah 677 that was by September 30th yes September 30th so that was nice because October 1st Sims was do yes all right any other questions or any uh comments ments on the enrollment any needs or um requests to do anything with school choice or we're hanging in at this point we're still continuing to to um you know take phone calls for folks there seems to be a big need for rade five we didn't have a lot of openings in rade five for some reason so um we we continue to get phone calls Jenny's taking calls on that at least once a week yeah it's not the same people over and over okay interesting so there are still interest we just have to see if the V the uh grades are available that people are asking for EXC I'm sure that we'll continue to have you know one a month at least maybe hopeing fingers crossed so that would be great all right ski club you back sorry Alie I should have paid attention had you just stay up here okay for the whole the whole thing all of it all at once no worries okay well back to talk about Ski Club so I I checked the results actually before the meeting just to see we had after I sorted through some of the duplicates and some of the students who thought they were being funny and ended up with 15 total students at Quick Glance of the list there are winter athletes on the list so just wanted to put that out there one with the initial MLB there's yeah so I did have some conversations with Mr debuk you know what the chances were of basketball games typically they're not on Wednesdays but they obviously would have practice so he kindly reminded me that we have wrestling that has meets on Wednesdays so I appreciated him reminding me of that so why I'm sharing that with you is because Hopkins day that they selected is Wednesday it's a six- week program and I'm going to give you some rough numbers okay I have been in constant communication again the person her name is Deb louser and she is absolutely incredible she's been very resourceful this cannot be like for a program you cannot start something and just try to figure it out like you need somebody like devb in your life to be able to support you through the process and so sent me all of her permission like her permission slips and everything that she uses I made a gry copy and changed the name which is great we going have to reinvent the wheel the rundown on the cost is going to vary so the club on the trans Transportation they originally said that it wasn't going to happen for us to combine transportation that was my first ask that's that's always the big ticket item and they were completely against it um just because I feel like they have their own setup already in place so they were looking at 177 and that's for transportation to and from for that is departing at I have it it's coming it's a it's obviously a w Circle B um parting 245 and returning at 9 so six times our bus company says it's 650 per trip okay there's was very similar so they need our numbers which is what we originally were trying to do very similar to co-op join with them and we can split the costs all around so Deb emailed me a couple nights ago and said hey thinking outside the box how about we combine Transportation I'm like yes let's combine Transportation it's going to save all of us money so they have 20 and with our 15ish we could make it work um and it would run us I would say under 200 just for the transportation um the lift ticket which would be required would be 170 that's for all of the six days and if you need lessons that would be an additional cost so it would be an additional 87 and if you needed to rent equipment it would be 111 so you're looking at a price anywhere at like a tier at 34 47 434 or 545 so there's a window of like really how A dollar amount of how much you would have to spend based on you have zero experience you're going to end up spending more because they require lesson so you have to pay that 87 if you have no equipment you're paying the 111 for the rental equipment and it's not 111 per it's 111 for the whole six days correct okay correct that would be awful if it was 111 every time because it wouldn't be affordable for anybody so when you're looking at it at the end of the day it's expensive um I think it comes with the territory of ski being great a skier and um I don't know if any of the students that filled out the survey that were a strong yes we a firsttime skiers that would be something that we would need to follow up with them and have a meeting so she was waiting for my numbers I sent them to her um after school so she would have them and I'm just waiting to hear back I did connect with birkshire and they said that we are we are not accepting new school programs so iil said that's why we're partnering with Popkins because they need our numbers and this is what we do to make things work we partner with schools so that's what I have for you uh um and I do have the dates that were slated it was beginning in January um the 8th 15 22 29 uh February 5th and February 12th with a couple updates so that 15 even say if it's 10 with you know five assuming five winter athletes those are Wednesdays so they [Music] would those winter athletes really can't do it so that brings your number down down correct at Quick Glance looking at it there were winter athletes right like that filled off the survey and they said they wanted to do it just from I don't know the seventh graders actually we had more seventh graders numbers were um six students in seventh grade there were four eighth graders uh one ninth grader one 10th grader one 11th grader and two seniors well the 10th grader I know is a winter athlete yeah that's so I was actually excited to see more participation like at the junior high level you know because it gives them something to do and most of the seventh graders it's unheard of really right to find a spot on a varsity team especially where super competitive in basketball during the winter season there aren't as many spots on the basketball teams so um but I don't know where the final number will land we need to sit with the kids and say these are the dates we need uh are you in are you out before we proceed so they're having their meeting this week okay um to meet individually with the students so um I guess I'm seeking for you to vote to approve because I mean what's the harm in it if we don't end up running it sure so I know that we won't be able to um get in through their their school programming but we could always get our name on the list for next year if we wanted to entertain doing a weekend or even if we want to entertain doing aside from the school program you know a couple weekends there separately sure um and so they will there be um because it's a club and it's not a co-op sport per so there'll be no family ID so H they'll have to pay for that separately how will they pay or are we paying is the school paying the whole thing are we paying just the transportation fees is it coming out of athletic funds like how is that nope not connected um to athletic funds um but everything that I read about how they collect the funds is that they write a check out they don't have family ID okay so we utilize family ID so we would create the program and you know and do all of the same you know concussion all that information liability all of that would be set up in there great so that each individual family would be paying for themselves and we would just be responsible for the transportation piece okay yes so that's how we've done it in similar forms okay we take care of that so we would need you to vote to approve the ski club us the adviser over I think that's what you're again you're just voting to move the Y visor yep so we vote to approve the unused sorry stien of 6 63210 that would have been really good if I got that and so what is that is that stien paying for the transportation no that would pay for the adviser or chaperon to attend isn't the transportation going be built into the cost of pay correct Transportation would be embedded in like right now for sports it's paid separately this right yes students pay don't pay for the buses for sports do they no I'm sorry I'm it's been a long day I can't Transportation are we paying for it or not the families are paying for the transportation as part of program cost okay but I thought we were saying it was like the 177 and 434 and 582 or whatever those numbers were that's inclusive of the transportation I thought that was just the skill of ticket and the lesson and rentals the first number the first number I gave you the 177 that is ballark ballpark if they use our students even if we have 15 if they use our students that's what it would be per student and then the other numbers I gave you the 347 is if you purchase the lip ticket which you're going to need and then the 434 is if you need lessons all right and then and then the 545 is if you need rentals okay I apologize I'm no worries long day it was I threw a lot of information at you I was excited I had it because it was right like I said Dev is pretty incredible but what we need what we're seeking is that vote to use the the unused stien okay yes um so we need need to do some housekeeping because it doesn't say vote on our agenda so we need to have a motion to accept a vote I'll make a motion to accept a vote I have a second second any questions or comments nope all those in favor of adjusting the agenda all right okay so now we can vote so can I have the motion for the vote for the using the unused stien I'll make a motion to move the unused stien uh for the use of the ski club I have a second second all those in favor I excellent thank you thank you appreciate it okay superintendent report um just want a few things to report out there was a few things I um wanted to talk about we partnered again with Hadley and Hatfield for a second year on Grant 189 which is a proficiency based outcome um Grant to support students who um speak languages other than English um so one way to this grant will help us will help us support our students in taking the Apple exam uh all students in our uh Spanish four will be taking that um and what that would allow them to do is be a student that received the seal by literacy from the state of Massachusetts so that funding will help us take have those students um obtain the test it also um incurs the cost of um the recognition recognition ceremony for any students who do pass the test and then it also allows our instructor to collaborate with districts participating in the grant with us so what I did as a result of of this grant I was able to um apply to become a school um who um a school distinction for um um the seala by literacy we've been accepted into that um I guess um cohort of of schools uh 70% of the schools do have that so if the students do uh pass that Apple test they're able to get a um special certificate and a um recognition that they have that uh um credentials to be um bilingual theyve got a seala biliteracy on their diploma so we have that and I gave you a couple of links you can take a look at what the Apple testing talks about and I also gave you a link to the um the desie uh by literacy program so our director of student services held our first pack meeting families on the new IEP in addition to the grany families Mrs heru invited the South havy and belter toown school districts to participate in a zoom meeting on the new IEP process it was fairly well attended she had about 20 people attending and the vastan mor from gry so that was that was exciting I also want to thank Jenny um I'm I'm not going to crucify her last name had GMA witz I said um for working hard on our website if you take a look at our website L she's really done some work with creating um make it more interactive it's connected to our Facebook page we have a lot of events that are put on there Al so Jan's been doing a really good job with that she enabled the live feed so we can automatically um engage in that I want to remind our families that on October 16th tomorrow is a half day for students and staff will be participating in professional development our parent teacher conferences will be held at East metal school on October 22 23 and 24 those are also half days for students so um parents please um take the opportunity to sign up save the date on October 31st we'll be offering a trunk Retreat to families from 3 to five um and then the friend I've been asked by the friends of gramby to let know that they'll be hosting a trick-or treat and movie night this Friday on the 18th um at dufrain Park trick- or- treat begins at 5: and the movie Inside Out to begins at 6:30 so I also want to remind families to take the time to read the newsletter sent up by the principes on Sunday evenings our principles do an excellent job of keeping families a breast of the upcoming events as well of providing resources and supports to the famili so um if you see those on a regular basis really uh click on them and and take a look because you'll find a lot of information on them so I want to thank our principal for doing a great job on that and that's all that I have right now excellent any questions for Mary Jan all right time you're up uh no significant changes from our last meeting I did meet with the department heads uh reviewing their budgets uh for the first quarter of the fiscal year and um making time to identify priorities that each department has uh moving forward through the school year any questions or comments for Todd okie dokie Joe we won't meet again till November all righty um anything that you all want to see on the agenda for next time I forget what it is November 6 the day after it's the Wednesday so Wednesday November 6th see speak can get to the 5ifth because of the election yeah mhm so so do we want to have um uh what are they called subcommittees we can do Finance yeah we definitely need to do Finance do you want to do policy dill or do you want to do can we can we do a slash sure like policy and maybe the evaluation piece sure so we're going to um yeah I just think it'll it'll work well okay great and um Mary Jane is going to have her beginning of evaluation and goals and stuff um for us next week anything anything else I can't think of anything all righty then um would you like an mcast report in November I can do this maybe the second some kind report from the yeah that sounds great um I'll probably do that the following one then I know if we want to do the goals with that one as well so probably the following one I'll put that on there that's okay sure okay I think that's the 12th right think 19th okay good 19th thank you okay uh if there's nothing else um take the motion to adjourn make a motion to adjourn I have a second I'll second all those in favor thanks everybody have a good night