preliminary matter this is Dr Burnham superintendent of schools I will do a roll call to confirm that all members and persons anticipated on the agenda are present and can hear me Members when I call your name please respond in the affirmative chairperson Carol as Shambo yes Vice chairperson Brian Leighton yes secretary Anthony schol brini we got a thumbs up from Mr scholen brini yes uh Mr beardmore yes and Mrs brzowski yes president um staff when I call your name please respond in the affirmative recording secretary Miss Sue Summers or I guess we have Courtney Fuller on this evening yes um and our director of facilities and grounds uh Mr Eric heee yes okay I'll turn it back to the chair Al righty good evening in accordance with the requirements of the open meeting law please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and is being broadcast over the lunenberg public access Channel and streaming on Facebook live and this meeting of the lunenberg school committee is being conducted remotely I wish to thank Public Access for doing that I know it is one more step and one more extra thing to get this on um live and we greatly appreciate it in accordance with the governor's order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting Law Public bodies may meet entirely remotely so long as reasonable Public Access is afforded so that the public can follow along with the deliberations of the meeting ensuring Public Access does not ensure public participation unless such participation is required by law this meeting will feature public comment for this meeting the lunenberg school committee is convening by telepone conference video conference via Zoom app Facebook live Etc as posted on the town's website identify how the public may join for Zoom meetings please note that this meeting is being recorded and that some attendees are participating by video conference accordingly Please be aware that other folks may be able to see you and take care not to screen share your computer anything you broadcast may be captured by the recording now before we turn to the first item on the agenda we have some rules for Effective and clear conduct of our business and to ensure accurate meeting minutes I will introduce each speaker on the agenda and then any member of the committee is welcome to provide comment or question as I call on you please hold until your name is called please remember to mute your phone or computer when you are not speaking please remember to speak clearly and in a way that helps generate accurate minutes for any response please wait until the chair yields the for floor to you and state your name before speaking if members wish to engage and ququ with other members please do so through the chair taking care to identify yourselves for items with public comment after any member might have a public comment the chair will for for public comments as followed um I will ask members of the public who wish to speak to identify their names and addresses only and then once or even just your name and you can do your address when you speak this way we know um who to call on so we want to make a list so I'll call on each by name and afford three minutes for any comments finally each vote taken at this meeting will be conducted by roll call vote so now that all of that is done um what I would like to do is since we are not together and we have no flag I'm going to jump over the Pledge of Allegiance but I threw it in last week when we didn't have it on our agenda so I feel like we're kind of even um and then I would like to do public comment first to the board is there anyone um on the committee that has a public comment this evening I am seeing none so then I will open it to the public if you do have a public comment could you raise your hand and um we can make a list and call on people in a reasonable fashion I am seeing No Hands raised Dr Burnham you don't see anyone either it's not just my technological issue okay then we will continue on with the chair's report first thing before I read what I've written I want to thank people for adjusting to this Zoom meeting um no idea what the weather was going to do today and for us to predict that the weather people have no idea either so this seemed like the best option I didn't want to lose the meeting so here we are and we all found it so that's a good thing um I want to thank the town boards that have been actively discussing and weighing in on the override it's a tough issue the funds are needed and I appreciate your careful deliberation of this warrant article and ballot question the select board did recommend approval last night 3-2 I have been in contact with Tracy novic from masc um the bill being proposed to make a change to Chapter 70 regarding an inflation index on the foundation budget would in fact benefit lunenberg substantially so it is something that we do need um to push in my back and forth with her she stated that lunenberg is not a whole Harless Community we thought we were people that are held harmless actually get even less of an increase in state funding per year than we do um I still have to figure all out she says we're foundational I don't know what that means I'm still working on that but we do receive more Chapter 70 funds than the held Harless I wish to publicly thank Dr Burnham Mrs Scott and Mrs hansam for the extraordinary work done in preparing multiple and then some budgets your commitment to the district and to all our students and families is greatly appreciated so that is my quick chair's report um next we have um minutes to approve of the regul session February 28th has everyone had a chance to see those well I'm not seeing no so I'm figuring I'm okay we'll keep going all right so um does anybody have any problems with any of those minutes um I didn't get a chance to look at them but I'll just abstain okay all right then could I have a motion to approve those minutes I'll make a motion to approve the minutes second and we need a roll call vote Dr Burnham Mrs bosski abstain Mr leonen yes Mr schini yes Mr beardmore yes Mrs as Shambo yes all right next we have um warrants and the warrants this um this cycle so from the 18th of March till the 26th of March came to 9,550 49 and those are posted for anyone um who has questions please let us know and the superintendent report good evening everybody um our transportation form um window to submit uh for bus transportation and provide additional uh information for schools relative to the preferred uh mode of transportation for next year uh we have already received 625 forms since the window opened on April 1st um just as a reminder to All Families each child must have a transportation form submitted the deadline to submit forms with guaranteed placement on a bus route for the opening of school in August is May 1st at 5:00 p.m. um and another update kindergarten enrollment as of the end of last week was at 94 uh again reminders that uh registration periods will be opening soon extended day summer programming will open on April 22nd um our extended day before and after school program for next year's school year uh will open on Wednesday May 1st our Early Learning Center registration will open on Monday May 20th registration for these programs will be done online once registration uh opens programs do fill up very quickly um so we will continue to communicate several reminders of folks so that they're ready for um the opening of these registration Windows um just as a followup for the fy2 budget the approved fy2 budget is posted on the district website a few thoughts on the solar eclipse uh just as a reminder there will be a solar eclipse on Monday April 8th beginning at 2:15 and ending at about 4:37 p.m. with maximum coverage occurring in our area around 3:29 p.m. um in this area we will see a partial eclipse approximately 94% coverage um in in order to view the eclipse safely one would need to wear a pair of eclipse sunglasses those would be certified iso1 12312 D2 or use a telescope with proper filters for direct sun viewing or view indirectly through a pinhole projector it's important to note that improper Eclipse viewing can lead to permanent eye damage NASA has provided a step-by-step instruction if you would like to build your own pinhole projector to view the eclipse at home and we will be sharing uh this information with that link at the end of this week uh just to comment the middle high school students will be dismissed shortly after this event begins and the school has had a limited amount of glasses available for students to use for safe viewing at home turkey Hills students will receive a pair of eclipse glasses and will go up Outdoors uh with their teachers to view the eclipse the primary school will not be doing a schoolwide activity but some of the classroom teachers are building pinhole viewers for students to indirectly view the eclipse of course all of this is dependent upon good weather I hear partly cloudy conditions in the afternoon so we'll have to see how that unfolds as we get closer uh we would appreciate uh families um reinforcing the message that um students should really only be looking at the sun if they have the proper uh safety eye wear and uh we wish everyone happy viewing on Monday um our high school students we have eight high school students that will have their work on display in the eastwing gallery um this is the 38th annual um Mount wus at Community College Regional High School SCH Art Exhibit and competition um so good luck to all of our artists uh competing and we have a few uh upcoming date reminders tomorrow evening uh we have scheduled the the literacy night at the primary school starting at 5:30 ending at 7 uh the lunenberg public library Librarians will be there uh our Primary School's book fair will also be occurring uh and we do have two guest authors Marty Kelly and Karen Prince and we have lots and lots of different um activities for kids to participate in Next Friday April 12th is an early release day for students the staff will be attending professional development um April 10th is our school committee meeting which will be hybrid via Zoom from the Middle High School we're off cycle our next meeting will be next week um and April vacation uh begins Monday April 15th through the 19th schools are closed offices will also be closed on April 15th uh as we observe Patriots Day the annual town meeting as a reminder uh May 4th at 9:00 am at the Middle High School auditorium and we are still working to arrange for child care onsite um and we have been working with our food service department and we will have bag lunches available um more information on that but there'll be um $7 I understand so we'll have more information as we get closer to town meeting and that's all I have for you this evening so I'll give it back to the chair all right thank you very much um I'm not seeing student representative if you are here unmute and yell out but all right then we will continue on under new business we have an action can I ask a can I ask a question of Dr Burnham sorry um what are we doing about kindergarten uh intake this year are we doing this the August or the may like we used to or are we doing August like we did last year August we've been doing August for the last few years okay and that's working well it has been yeah it makes a lot more sense okay I just just wanted to make sure because I hadn't heard anything yep thank you okay so we'll go on to um action item a declare Surplus facilities and grounds vehicle Mr Mr he Mr he is with us this evening because we have finally taken receipt of the truck that was approved as part of the FY 23 Capital plan it's been a long time coming so I'll turn it over to Mr heee thank you uh in your packet and I have a recommendation uh to declare that um 2008 uh dump truck that we have as a surplus um we have received the new vehicle it has been insured um registered and inspected and is currently being used um so what i' I've been in conversation with Mr Bernard and um I have gotten his approval to um store that vehicle down in the DPW area along with um the other vehicles that are off the road um so at some point um you know we we'll make a decision on how to get rid of that vehicle whether it be through a sale or some other type of uh method um but uh tonight I'm I'm recommending that uh we declare this uh vehicle as Surplus and and move it down to the DPW location okay does anyone have any questions about that from Mr hee uh Mr Leon is there a process in place that you would send it out for auction or out to the bid uh there is a process um but I'd have to look into that further I don't I've never done that before on my side but I do know that the school committee has to declare it as Surplus before we can um take any further action on it so there is another process I'd have to research it to see what we how to go about doing it okay looking forward to okay I'm not seeing any other question oh yes Mrs brazowski sorry um did the DPW say if they had any use for it at all I'm assuming not if it's too old for us to use it's probably too old for them to use yeah at this point no I mean we that was a hand me down from the DPW from what I understand um and in conversation with Mr Bernard I think that they have a bunch of vehicles up there that they're looking to probably put into auction at some point in time so um I'll look into that further and uh I'll let the superintendent know um you know when and if that's going to happen okay if that's something we can do in conjunction with the DPW and work together with them to make it easier so we're offloading all of them at once or something like that I think that's a good way for everybody to work together so and thank you for the DPW for letting us put the truck there Madam chair yes I move that we declare the 2008 Ford dump truck as Surplus second that motion all right any further discussion seeing none roll call vote please Mrs brzowski yes Mr Leighton yes schen Briny yes Mr beard Moore yes M Shambo yes thank you very much Mr he for taking care of that and congratulations on finally Landing the truck um quick question um while we have Mr heee and we're talking about trucks um there's another truck that um we were looking to replace this year on the capital plan that did not make the cut um on the uh the town manager's recommended uh Capital plan line for the warrant um my understanding was we did have some mechanical issues with that truck uh over the course of this winter is that is that that truck that we were looking to replace this year is that still functional reasonably functional or we at yep both both vehicles that we have we have another onton dump truck that has a sander on it uh that is working but again that is a um hand me- down from I believe DPW uh over the years and uh that is you know subject to um wear and tear it could go down any time um just because of the age and and um condition of the vehicle um and then the other the the other pickup truck is is functional um and working okay all right thank you you're welcome all right um before we go on to our next item I just want to state that I am hearing a lot of sleep banging on my windows and should anybody lose power as long as we have a quorum we can keep going if um if there is no Quorum we will stop so um next resolutions now every year we have the resolution um evening where we talk about all the different people and staff m MERS that contribute so very much to our students and to their successful education so if everyone would open their um list I am proposing that I will read the first one and then I will pass it to Mr leonin and then he will pass it to Mr school and bini to read the next one then to Mr beardmore then to Mrs brazilski so and we will just keep going until we are completely resolved and oh thank you very much for sharing that all right so I will begin at the beginning um lunberg Public Schools resolutions whereas teachers mold future citizens through guidance and education teachers spend countless hours preparing lessons evaluating progress counseling and coaching students and Performing community service and our community recognizes and supports its teachers in educating the children of this community therefore be it resolved that the lunenberg school committee Proclaim May 6th through 10th 2024 to be national teacher appreciation week and May 7th to be national teacher appreciation day yes whereas principal are expected to be educational Visionaries instructional leaders assessment experts disciplinarians Community Builders public relations experts Etc entrusted with the education and development of young people the most valuable resource principes set the St set the academic tone for their schools and work collaboratively with teachers to develop and maintain High curriculum standards and set performance goals and objectives for schools to achieve educational Excellence therefore or be it resolved in honor of the service of all principles and to recognize the importance of their school leadership so that every child has access to a high quality education the day of May 1st 2024 is hereby designated in lunberg to be National principal day whereas assistant principles play a pivotal role in helping students succeed in school by fostering the academic success and well-being of each student through communication and building relationships furthermore assistant principles play a key role in working collaboratively to provide guidance and support teaches and principles therefore be it resolved that lunenberg school committee declares the week of April 1st through the 5th as National assistant principal week whereas School nurses support the health and educational success of Children and Youth by providing access to care the School Community celebrates and acknowledges the accomplishments of School nurses in their efforts of meeting the needs of today's students by improving the delivery of Health Care in our schools and offers gratitude for the district's School nurses who contribute to our local communities by helping students stay healthy in school and ready to learn therefore be it resolved that the lunberg school committee proclaims May 6th through 12 2024 to be School nurses week and strongly encourages all members of our community to join with it in personally expressing appreciation to our nurses for their dedication and Devotion to their work whereas par professionals play a vital role in the successful operation of our school district and the dedicated and valuable contributions of all the fine people who fill these important positions are integral to the the successful daily operation of our Public Schools therefore be it resolved that the lunenberg school committee Proclaim April 3rd 2024 today to be par professional Appreciation Day whereas the staff of the District School meals and Nutrition department are committed to providing healthful nutritious meals to the district's children and the men and women who prepare and serve these School meals help nurture our children through their daily interaction and support therefore be it resolved that the lunenberg school district expresses its deep appreciation to these valuable Food Service employees and commends their good work on behalf of the children the day of Friday May 3rd 2024 as school lunch hero day whereas Administrative Professionals in the lunberg public schools play key roles there are many responsibilities and are crucial to the efficient functioning and smooth running of day-to-day operations as they assist Educators principal students and parents therefore be it resolved that Administrative Professionals Day be observed on April 24th 2024 whereas our custodians are constantly responsible for all lunenberg public school facilities they are the first employees to arrive in the morning and the last employees to leave at night and their contri contribution is critical in allowing for the smooth daily operation of the school therefore be it resolved the school committee of lunberg public schools on behalf of all students and Personnel does hereby proclaim the day of O October 2nd 2024 as custodian appreciation day for the lunenberg public schools urging all parents students and employees join to join in congratulating all custodians for jobs well done and in saying thank you whereas coaches represent stability consistency and direction in the lives of many athletes a coach is a friend a mentor and an advocate that helps demonstrate to athletes teamwork discipline and a healthy attitude toward competition therefore be it resolved the designation of October 6th 2024 as National coaches day to raise public awareness about the important and significant role that coaches play in the lives of millions of people in the United States whereas school bus drivers are required to undergo extensive training to improve their Knowledge and Skills as a way to ensure the safety and well-being of students the position of a school bus driver requires tremendous responsibility in transporting Massachusetts students through inclement weather conditions and various traffic situations therefore be it resolved that the lunenberg school committee Pro proclaims April 23rd 2024 to be school bus driver appreciation day and strongly encourages all members of our community to join in personally expressing appreciation to our bus drivers for their dedication and Devotion to their work whereas it is important that all citizens know and understand the problems duties and responsibilities of their police department and that members of our department recognize their duty to Serve the People by safeguarding life and property protecting them against violence or disorder and protecting the innocent against deception and the weak against oppression or intimidation therefore be it resolved proclaim the week of May 13 2024 to be National police officers week and this Pro um this resolution would be adopted this third day of April 2024 thank you very much do we need to vote on this I would think we probably should uh I move that we approve the lunenberg public schools resolutions uh as read with h gratitude to all of those designes that have been recognized second and a roll call vote please Mrs bosski yes Mr Leon yes K Briny yes beardmore yes Mrs arshambo yes thank you very much next we have a donation yes the uh Middle High School uh received a donation from one of our parents Laura berian uh she donated a 100 Pair of eclipse glasses and these glasses will be made available free to students in grade six and seven apparently the eighth grade already has glasses um so we really uh would like to uh thank her for this generous and thoughtful donation the kids are going to appreciate that immensely I think so do I have a motion to accept this donation make a motion to accept the donation with gratitude second all right then a roll call vote please Mrs bosi yes Mr Leon yes SCH brini yes Mr beardmore yes Mrs ambo yes okay next we have a discussion item the AT&T cell tower so I'll invite Mr de hee to speak a little bit about this yes in in your packet you should have a uh document that um really is informational and also I'm kind of looking for a little bit of guidance on uh you know from or feedback from the school committee uh I've been approached by a representative uh that handles the AT&T cell tower projects um this has been from my understanding and going on uh prior to me um coming on board and it is kind of resurfaced again and the question that the representative is is posing to me is they want to know whether or not the school district is interested in allowing some type of cell tower or um either a new tower put up or Communications put on an existing um light pole very similar to the one that we have for Verizon um that's currently on site so it's really um if the if the school district does not have any interest in allowing something like this to happen um you know they're obviously are not going to pursue it but they kind of want some feedback from me uh as far as would the school district consider it so I guess I'm I'm looking feedback looking for feed back from the uh committee uh to get your thoughts on whether or not this would be something you may allow um I would like to pursue it just to see where it goes uh I think that this may be a very good opportunity to generate some additional Revenue um providing we can get the right criteria in place to make make it um something that's going to benefit uh the school uh and the town any questions for Mr heee uh I have I have a few thoughts uh in relation to this so so at a high level yes I think investigating this is worth doing and particularly if there's a potential Revenue attached to it um notably this is AT&T and uh to the best of my recollection I I no longer have an AT&T cell phone partly because my AT&T cell phone did not work in our Middle High School um so if such a thing were to occur I would hope that we could at least get some sort of repeater to work in our facilities um that would that would ensure that AT&T service is deliverable uh on our campus um I seem to recall um at the time that the Verizon tower and and I'm not even sure are we directly contracted with Verizon for the existing Tower or is it a third party um I don't I don't recall but I I seem to recall at the time that that money was earmarked toward the the turf revolving fund or something to do with the turf is that is that correct yes okay right um so I would you know I would hope that if we were to do something like that again we could be thoughtful in terms of what what that money could could go to um you know and and earm Market um the the other thought that I have is relatively recently there was in within the last five or so years um there was a cell tower installed at the the very top of electric AV on on Route 13 near the um near the uh the storage facility uh adjacent to Lake View and there were a number of of complaints that were made by uh neighbors relative to um you know electromagnetic fields and those kinds of issues and I seem to recall that uh the planning board and the building official at the T at the time or maybe it was the land use director uh did quite a bit of investigating into those topics um I don't want to suggest that we would be we would be involving a you know a health and safety problem such that was was discussed at the time but I just want to make sure that we're whatever we do we've got all of our tee crossed and our eyes dotted with our other local officials and we ensure that um all safety uh is is you know accounted for uh and that our our local uh bylaws are are U are being followed and and these are relatively easy things to run astray of if you're not mindful of those on the front end so um with that with those with those few thoughts um I would certainly encourage that this is something that we investigate anyone else Mr Leighton thank you I would agree with Mr beardmore uh I would also want to include the athletic director also in the the conversation just uh in regards to location and um possible uh areas that may affect the sports or Sports fields too but I am in support of this Mrs brazowski uh I don't think we're in a situation where we should be turning down any potential sources of income right now um but I would be curious as to the results of when the planning board or who in town did that study so that we could refer people with concerns to that Peter if you could find yeah I don't I don't even know that it was a study but there was some level of investigation and interaction that went on with that I you know I I can reach out to Mr brener who's the serves of the on the capital planning committee and is the chair of the the planning board um just to see if what his recollection of that was but there was quite a bit of activity at the time and the cell tower went up and it got approved so um but I I just I'm mindful of the fact that the property is in a residential neighborhood and we do have a you know a duty to make sure that we're doing right by all the neighbors too yeah I'd be interested in just knowing the results of that to make sure that there were no risks um and allaying any fears that people might have should it come but I I really I'm all for it because as of right now because I don't think we should be turning down sources of revenue anything else Mr scho and Briny um if we agree to do this is there a way to segregate funds so that they go to the school and my recollection is that um you can you can attach it to a revolving account um which is what we have done with the in the case of the the existing cell tower that we have on the track and field facility um which is attached to the revolving account which is used to um supplement the the debt payment on the turf field um if you if you if you put it into the general fund which is where most revenues go to and this would have to be you know figured out through the Contracting and the the procurement process um then it's subject to all other revenues such as you know Chapter 70 which is captured in the Omni budget and and subject to um the the process that we've just endured I have a question on who would actually negotiate that contract nor a business manager who is not which is a vacancy um so is if I remember looking at the Verizon contract it to me it seemed like that may have been done by the board of Selectmen yeah I don't recall the date on if you know so interestingly the the care and custody of that particular facility changed during the lifespan of that facility um so that could very well be um because there was a a period of time where the track and field was under the opes of the Town not the school department so that that could be the case I don't exactly recall who executed it I I think um going off memory I think John L had did 90% of the leg work um there was an RFP that had to go out and then um there was an evaluation process and I want to say that that contract ended up in the town's hands and because I was trying to find out more about where the money was going um and it wasn't clear to me where it was truly going um because something that I wanted to I wanted to make sure that the school benefits from this um and hopefully the school can get some of the money right um to benefit you know us now whether that would go to you know the building uh revolving account where we can keep up the maintenance of the fields um but that can all be discussed at a later date but at least try to get some of that funding back into the school system um because it was in looking at that Verizon um contract it was accumulating like $30,000 a year and I later found out that we also pay uh $45,000 back to the town for payment of the turf field project that happened uh few years ago oh many years ago eight 10 years ago um which I didn't realize at the time so I kind of stumbled across that but um yeah I I have some questions on you know where where that money is is going and how it's you know uh how much debt is left on that that um turf field um and then just have a better understanding of what's our outstanding debt for that so you're stumbling into a a number of relatively complex issues with respect to that that field and the debt associated with it and who can take onb and who can't and and there's a lot of history there but suffice to say um we we are I believe we're in year seven or eight of that contract um I believe the contract was signed in 2017 oh yeah I I can give you an update on that so at the finance committee on I think it was March 30 uh March 20th they did mention that the turf from it was 2017 it retires in 2029 yeah the FI the final payment is due I believe in 2028 okay um so so I think part of the investigation that we would authorize it sounds like we're going to authorize here is we do need Clarity in terms of the cash flow on the existing um on the existing Tower um I think that that can be gotten fairly easily with a little bit of Investigation um you know you stumbled into some other issues with respect to the age of the turf and when it needs to be replaced and those kinds of things that I don't necessarily think are in scope to the request that you've made but suffice to say the the the cash flow I think is a and and the the legalities in terms of who can execute what and how that cash flow is directed I think is all is all in scope and could be verified um using our our financial consultants if if we chose to do so so I can offer a thought um and Liz Peterson is on this call so she can verify um my understanding is that that Revenue goes to the turf field revolving account and I do believe that that revolving account is under the authority of the town that is correct because it's used to pay the the note that's correct Dr Burnham I verified that with the former Finance director of the town and that makes perfect sense because we're we're paying the the town is paying the note the town took the debt to pay for the field with an agreement with the school department and that if that account is used to pay that note I mean it makes perfect sense that that that that would be done that way not necessarily that we would do the next contract that way but but that makes sense okay thank you okay so I think what is before us here is to um just authorize Mr hee to continue looking into this um Endeavor and I think we appear to be in agreement nobody's turning down any possible Revenue and as long as it's determined that it is safe and and there's no major drawback um it looks good to move forward this is a discussion item not an action item so we don't need to take a vote but I think Mr hee you can hear we are in agreement that full steam ahead all right thank you very much I appreciate it thank you we'll be anxious to hear what happens thank you for adding yet another thing to your plate oh yeah Mr Eevee don't spend too much time on it well it depends on how much revenue it'll bring in I guess that's a fair fair point true enough all right thank you thank you the next item on our agenda is the superintendent evaluation I put this on the agenda because generally um we do the superintendent evaluation before the committee change is over in miday well we have two things that are going to happen as best I can tell I don't believe anyone has pulled papers so therefore the committee is not turning over so that gives us a little more flexibility the other issue is despite the fact that no budget goal sits on the superintendent um goals for this year that has been the goal and and has been um a huge amount of time though as I I have discussed with the superintendent this week a fair amount of work has been accomplished in the other areas despite the lack of a business uh manager and um the very fluid n nature nature of this year's budget season so I am proposing that since one of the superintendent's goals deals with the um achievement gains made by the students um through we're using I ready as the um major um piece to that achievement um the goal stated that the students would gain Approximately 80% it's a two-year goal at the end of the first year that 40% was halfway was um surpassed in some areas um and was very nearly made in other areas I that was a good jumping off point at the end of last school year so I'd like to wait for those numbers to come in and um I don't see any reason why we can't wait as long as we talked about um desie requires this information by June 30th so we do have a June 30th um deadline so my thought was and and we'll see what other people think my thought was that um we would have the evaluation itself presented to the superintendent and to the community on June J une 19th well she would get it ahead of time but we would discuss it at the June 19th meeting that whoever is compiling I I'll go through how this works Laura in a minute whoever is compiling these drafts would have to have them by June 5th that would give them two weeks to put it together um what happens just for people that haven't played this game before gone through this um uh the superintendent is um evaluated based on her goals not on everything on Earth but based on her goals and those goals are set forth by us in the fall and this fall we reapproved the goals from last fall as this was a two-year evaluation so what happens is if you you noticed in your packet there is an annotated um copy of superintendent um evaluation and I'll I'll let the superintendent address this in a second but what happens is we each go through and we grade the superintendent individually and then those individual evaluations are combined into one evaluation that is the way the state has said it for us to do um and I checked with masc last year about exactly how that should work and they were in agreement that we were doing it correctly so um as far as who puts them together it is the chair of the committee and that chair will be chosen at the May 22nd meeting I presume that's usually when we reor we can put the reorganization off until the end of this compilation or we can reorganize that night and whoever is chair would do it and I certainly would help M yes I would based on the the timeline that you just outlined um and the likelihood that the composition of this committee is not going to change yes um and one other Salient fact for me which uh I I have not announced yet which is I am not going to be at the May 22nd meeting in all like VI um I have a I have a business obligation that week that is going to have me um out of state um I would propose that we plan to postpone reorganization until the evaluation is finalized um and that could be either June 5th or June 19th depending upon how I I would guess June 19th um based on the the timeline that you just outlined would that be would that be okay with the the members of the committee will also be uh away June 19th so so I guess we need to figure out availability in May and June okay maybe maybe we can do it on the 5th um the reorg anyways and um depending on what this the testing schedule is for the kids I mean we can't Bas when do you anticipate we'll have the data that you're did you outlined earlier so I I'll let um Mrs Scott jump in if she has information contrary to this um but uh I believe that we were looking to do this um the last round of I ready assessments um in late May so at the very least we could provide you some raw data um rather than the full analysis that we usually include in the presentation that we give um Mid mid June um we could give you a quick um one pager if you like that um let you know uh where the goal was reached and where it fell short uh and by how much so that you have some sense of [Music] um where we landed with that again I'll just remind everybody at the very beginning when we set this goal um it's about setting a reach goal with the objective to try to get there and in the world of education and smart goals um you don't necessarily deem that the goal was not met if not everyone hit that 80% Mark um it's it's more of a judgment how how far along in in terms of progress are we to to reaching that goal and in some cases it is going to be met and in other cases it's not um and that's to be expected and we were right up front about that at the very very beginning but whether a a grade level you know reach 74% if they started at 39% that's still a lot of growth even though they fell short of the 80% Mark um so it's not as simple and straightforward as you know wh look everybody made 80% we met the goal um it's a little bit more more complicated than that um but we can have more conversation around that uh in the weeks ahead to help you all um start to formulate in your mind um how we're all going to think about progress met or significant progress or some progress um and so forth I I think you you basically just answer the qu the question I was about to ask but let me just kind of frame it in my own mind um we have you know a few different goals here that were set on a two-year cycle we've got the the the report of the readout summary that came I believe last fall where you had stuff that was done in 22 to 23 we're now in 20 23 to 24 there isn't there doesn't appear to be a readout for the current year at least in what I'm seeing for my own nope so the way this has typically been done in the past and I'll just show you a few things that are that are in your folder and um it'll help I I hope give you a sense of um the work ahead for for all of you in this process so the chair already mentioned that there is an evaluation rubric for superintendent this is from the Department of of Education um what I have done to make it a little bit easier for you is I've taken it and I've highlighted those standards and indicators so this would be standard one the curriculum indicator um this was one of those areas that aligned back with one or more of um the goals that we've been working on for the last two years there's a space that I've included I've inserted here where I can give you some uh comments and context and connections back to help make things easier for you because when you're just reading these descriptors sometimes it's hard to you know connect the dots and and find your way back to what is this supposed to be connected to so um I'll help with that um so you can see that while it's a rather lengthy uh rubric you you do not have to uh weigh in on every single indicator within this rubric just those ones that are are highlighted so um I will be working on um providing the those The annotation if you will um that will help you hopefully navigate through um um what all is ahead of you to to discern here additionally I have um also created and you'll find copies of those available in your packet as well the template for for the actual written evaluation so the way this has worked is that um each member gets a copy and each member individually uh will complete this you are going to have to indicate um and rate each of the goals as not met some progress significant progress met or exceeded and then um you'll have to look at the four different standards in the rubric um and those are instructional leadership management and operations family and Community engagement and professional culture and those you have to rate based on um the rubric but you have to come to a consensus for the standard as a whole and there are different indicators within the standard but you have to come to a rating for the standard overall as either unsatis unsatisfactory needs Improvement proficient or exemplary and it's the it's the descriptors in the rubric that will help you reach that determination and I would say that that's not always easy peasy either um because there's a lot of gray in all of these areas um and then there's an overall rating um so as an example and and all building administrators have a very very similar um template for their evaluation the same standards those four areas teachers as well have those um they have four standards as well and they receive a full right up here too um you can be rated differently in each of the standards you might have an exemplary a needs Improvement and two proficients but ultimately you have to come up with the overall singular rating as well and then um again this is also I've annotated this for everyone as well I've inserted the um the goals for everyone and the alignment of each of the goals back to the strategy um and back to the priority indicators for superintendent and um district and building administrators because these goals have been uh Team goals with my leadership team and um what you see here outlined um I'll give you you know some direction back that any of these bolded um are those that the department of Ed um identified as priority indicators for administrators so there's an awful lot of uh indicators in in each standard um but the department of Ed um has really kind of put their thumb on it here to say what they think is the most important that superintendents and building administrators should be prioritizing in the current context um of education and the work that the department um has prioritized so you've got all the goals they're listed um all those connections back and you'll have to again rate the the performance on those as not met some progress significant progress met or exceeded um again here is sort of that rubric at a glance all of the different are areas these are all standard one standard two 3 and four the highlighted are those that align back to the different goals that um were set and again um you'll have to provide ratings on on those indicators that connect back to those goals so I've also highlighted them here for you um that these are the for in standard one that you would want to be looking at and evaluating um you have an opportunity to make comments relative to to how you're assessing that um in each in each standard um and then these would be shared back to typically in the past it's been shared back to the chair um and the chair would take um all of the input from the individual members um if I remember correctly last year it was it was the the compiled report I do believe was worked on by the chair and the co and the the vice chair um but they take the input from all of the individual um evaluation documents uh for the compiled document um which if you take a look in in your packet you'll see that there's a compiled version and it's exactly the same as the one that you all will have a copy of for your individual and then lastly what you're you're going to get um and these are not um completed trying to see if there was one that I Yep this is the one so there are four different goals that are part of um this Cycle's evaluation I have an individual document for each of the goals that outlines the goals again it makes the connections back for the strategy and uh indicators in the rubric um and you may recall that when these were approved you saw the map out with detail timeline so on and so forth and I had indicated at that time the types of things that that may uh naturally occur as artifacts for you to look at so that you can see that this work was done um and what I do is I I work uh with my team and what we do is we actually Linkin documents here so an artifact for this first portion of of this particular goal was the Massachusetts Family School partnership initiative application so we're we're looking to link these sorts of things back in I will say that um uh we we're having a little bit of challenge with some of that because uh apparently we we thought that we were going to retain access to all of the different documents that we uh participated uh in and helped develop as part of our work last year with the family school partnership initiative but it appears that possibly the Consultant Group that the department of Ed contracted to lead this work they were the owners of these documents and it appears that potentially they are not working with the Department of Ed anymore so they now are no longer accessible to us although we're trying to gain access through the department of Ed if it's at all possible so we're doing our best to get our handson actual documents for you um it's going to be a little bit of a work in progress but essentially for each of the sections each action that was outlined in the goal had some description of what sorts of activities were going to happen along those lines and we listed sample artifacts um that we would be looking to compile for each of those and we will link them in for you so that you can scroll through this click on a link open it up and um review that evidence you will end up getting four four documents one document for each goal with the artifacts linked into that goal um I'm already working on all of this um with the team and um I'm hoping to have this for you all of those documents um before next Wednesday night's meeting you can start peruse those and if you have questions um not clear on the connection for what what am I looking at in this artifact and how does that exactly connect back I'm I'm unclear that's that's where you'll have ample time if if you're delaying uh when the the final um report has to be written you'll have you'll have time to connect back and um meet with me or meet with me and members of my team uh to answer any questions that you have about the work um that we're outlining that's been done and that's just been a it's been a process I think that Brian and Carol can attest to has been it's evolved over time we've been we obviously want to provide for you the evidence that the work was actually done um but we also want to be able to provide it in a way that's not overwhelming so you won't get a copy of every single um piece of work that was done in every single school but you will get samplings of what these types of documents look like so in some case you might get an artifact from the primary school um even though we're doing this work in the primary school the Turkey Hill the the middle school for you to look at the same types of evidence over and over again it it's rather timec consuming and honestly for the most part really not necessary for most folks to get a sense of the work that was done um so we're we're trying to streamline it and make it simple and accessible um because there's truly nothing that's easy simple or about any of this process it is a very um oftentimes overwhelming and comprehensive exercise that that school committee members have to engage in and just know that the process that you're all engaging in every single one of my evaluators in the district the principles the assistant principles the director of teaching and learning the director of special services they all evaluate staff and they all go through exactly the same thing they look at artifacts they have to write narrative uh response back it is a very um time consuming Endeavor so we feel for you because we've we've all done it ourselves it's a lot of work thank you thank you for outlining that um and I really just wanted this on the agenda tonight to get a general timeline and just so people would have an idea of what they were looking at because I know not everyone has done this before and um and this way we'll take this week and this will come back on the agenda next time so that if you have questions about where we're at in this process and what to do then you can ask them and if there's no questions we'll just continue on does anybody have anything they want to comment about that I would just want to add a comment as I was thinking about it um I felt like in the past sometimes this happens where people have ideas of what they want to evaluate the the superintendent on it's not fitting with the goals I think oftentimes it you kind of start thinking about goals for next year like based off of oh what what happened this year maybe I want to have the the superintendent's goals be this so I think in the back year head just keep thinking about what you might want for goals for next year as a as a committee I think this is almost a good time to start thinking about it as we're in that evaluation process good thought okay well seeing no other comments then I think we will continue on um next on our agenda is old business and action item dealing with the override the reason that first we had said we were going to put the override on the agenda each week each two weeks whenever we meet until town meeting um if no other reason but to keep it current in conversation um this week though there's a very specific action item as we have been discussing this and as I said before I'm very grateful for the time that the other Town boards have put in on this um it has become apparent to me that when we look at the Esser the level service minus Esser budget that the items that we were planning to fund with the OPA funds live in that budget so as much as we very very much need the OPA funds should this override not pass if it does pass it is my opinion that these funds should be returned to the town because the town has multiple places where they could use these funds and we will not be in desperate need at that point should the override pass um we are in desperate need if the override does not pass obviously so that is my opinion and I'm just one person but that is what I want to discuss this evening if if we did give and of course the select board could decide just to take them back if the override um doesn't pass as well um that is their prerogative but um if the override does pass we do have those items in the blue budget but the additional monies that we added on to the override would help with the additional maintenance pieces that we were looking at um just my thought I open it up for other people's thoughts Mr lman thank you uh yeah I think after looking at the finance committee meetings and the the select board meetings uh I think that was where it aligned I feel like we had P we had set the over item out because we are concerned about the onetime arpa funds uh and we really want to make sure that we would be set for next year with an actual budget that had um line items filled where for maintenance and for computers so I felt like we were we were appropriate setting the the override number at what it was but we didn't really consider if the override passed we would be getting those additional arpa funds finance committee questioned it we came up with an idea of spending it on maintenance but realistically it does make more sense to give back the arpa funds to the town and they can spend those funds accordingly so that's that would be my opinion other thoughts Mr school and brini um I I am of a different mind uh it is not clear to me that we will not be in a similar position next year if one of our uncontrollable costs go up and in the same way that we talked about um I believe it was the people that work on the roads having a stockpile I'd rather have more for next year than less and I understand that like the select board can take it away but then they would have made that decision and not us if Our obligation is to make make sure the kids are covered to speak for the children I'd rather keep the money and make them take it away and I know that that's a little adversarial but I don't really care it's important that we have a secure financial future and we don't even have a finance director so given all of the uncertainty given what we've been through this year and given how things have gone I'd rather keep the money and if they want to take it they can take it we can't stop them but then it's their fault not ours okay another opinion Mr bmore um I I share your spirit Mr school brini but I do not think that from a from a from a practical Finance standpoint that that that is is doable or or you know ultimately where we want to be when it comes to um how we work and interact with the town and and I I am as frustrated and and and as anybody in terms of um where we're at from a a budget stpoint with the executive branch of the Town um that being said those arpa funds have been appropriated for specific purposes those purposes are encapsulated in what I think is the budget and what we intend to be part of the the override package we basically said we're going to do this but we believe that the override should pay for it because it will establish a budget basis that that includes the these projects and we believe that even the size of what could be described as one-time expenses associated with um with with facilities related costs the reality is is that those things are going to be repeat we're going to have large ticket items that we're going to have to deal with within the course of a budget year and therefore we need to have that that level of flexibility the the problem is is that now you've got basically two funding sources oriented at the same thing and we don't have the ability to just take that money that that has been appropriated W without re-appropriating it for a different cost so either we would have to say that the override is going to go and be spent on the things that we have on that you know budding order of Merit list that we talked about last week um it it it just wouldn't it wouldn't work right like we the money has to be appropriated for a specific thing and in this case we've got two funding sources oriented on the same things um and and I don't think we could take arpa money and go spend it someplace else it's been appropriated for a very specific thing from the select board and that very specific thing would be encapsulated in the budget were the override to pass so in in my mind the appropriate path here is that in the we should we should stipulate that in the event that the override were to pass that money could and should be moved back to the to the select board because arpa dictates that the executive appropriate that money and if we found a new appropriation Source then the executive should find a new A New Path to spend that money now by the way I think that we should ask for the money back right in other words we should we should re we should the money should revert back to the select board and we should have a list of things that we could go and then spend that money on should they reappropriate it to those things and and we have that list that we began to formulate a week ago I still think we need to get some estimates in terms of those costs we need to prioritize that list but you know the the The Learning Experience from the last several weeks is we should always have a list of facilities related things that we could go and spend money on tomorrow if we had the money um and and in the event that the override were to pass we should go back to the select board and say here's our list of additional stuff that isn't funded even though the override has passed we have a list and they're all you know that that that is all uh uh part part of the list of items that we talked about last week um that that we could that we could work from um but I I don't think that we have the ability to tell the select board that we we're not giving the money back uh given the path that we're on with the override right now as much as I'd like to be able to do that I I don't think we can Mrs brazowski um I was going to say what Peter said at the end the um I'd like to split the difference I think the right thing to do um morally and budgetary wise is of course the money has to go back should the override pass because it was budgeted for a very specific thing that is now covered in the operating budget uh which was a choice we made when we decided on the override amount however I think we should immediately turn around and ask if we can reallocate uh certain amount for the most pressing needs um which we would certainly have to talk about but the primary school HVAC is about 25,000 so that's about 10% little more of the money and I think it would be appropriate to say could we please have some of it to work on the HVAC especially because the select board has been very vocal supporters of maintaining the buildings so I feel that this would be a win hopefully for everyone we could maintain the buildings they could spend some of the money helping maintain the buildings but yeah the right thing is to give it back in if an override should pass Mr SCH brini Carol is is your understanding of the funding situation what Peter summarized that we don't have a choice it's all it's uh specifically appropriated it is specifically appropriated okay then then we don't really have a choice we have to give it back so if that's the case then I would I would amend my previous position and say we have to give it back I think the problem that I have is the process has been so fraught in negotiating with the town manager that I just have no solid foundation on what on which to go from like I I don't know how we could you know have so many back and forth sessions and and thank God for Renee M doing what she did but like it felt like we were negotiating with an adversary as opposed to being on the same page and so given that that was the tenor then you know the marinees saying about no better friend No Worse Enemy that doesn't that should not be the motto of town government but it's felt like that and that's why my initial impulse was to say come and take it but if we have no choice then we have no choice and I would vote to return it with the Proviso that the reason why things have gotten so contentious is because we were initially told deliver this budget this is all you're going to get and then we've had multiple budgets where we got more so like it's the it's just a a fundamental problem with communication if if the the first thing we're told is something that turns out not to be true then everything else is cast into doubt but if we have no choice that we have to return it then I would obviously vote to return it but I would I would make a note if we have no choice then our vote doesn't matter and we're not really making a decision we're just playing out the string here so like well I I I think it does matter Tony and and here here's why um it it matters matters how this override is portrayed and packaged and and I think that if the override is packaged in a way that says the school committee is asking for money which they already have funding for which they have no intention of of giving back and you know that that there's an opportunity to portray this in a way that that isn't isn't really accurate um there there are reasons why the the number is what it is um that that don't really have to do with the specific funding of the specific items because there is an alternative funding source but rather the gamesmanship that you have just I think referred to which doesn't allow for long-term sustainability for the school budget and and I think that we have to be able to portray that as honest Brokers which is we need the money for these things but we also need it in a way that is sustainable over time um and and I think that if we were to take a position which is you know we're we're going to do everything we can to hold on to every dollar it it doesn't it it would put us in a position where we could we could be portrayed as something other than honest Brokers when it came to the override uh uh package we sorry I would be remiss if I didn't say and I know it's an unpopular opinion amongst my peers here but you weren't in the room that as we were going through trying to find more money I felt like people were trying to find more money I honestly felt like when when I'm I was told one thing then more money became came available it is as as you know we well know this budget unfolds a little bit at a time and things are unknown uh it was known that the 2.94 was way too I that number I still don't understand where it came from but once we got past that and we started to work on how to add more money I felt it was a very genuine attempt to add more money and that's me but I was the one in the room and um I also feel that if we were if we were to need more money as Tony says if something catastrophic happens or you know we have three kids move in that all of a sudden we need money for we added an extra $1,000 on top of that Delta the Delta between the blue and the pink was around 791 I think we're asking for more than that so there is money in there for maintenance no there isn't there isn't Carol that is not the way there is that is not the way the numbers work there's no slush fund in this number the reason why we're talking about the reason why we're talking about returning the arpa funds is because that extra 220 is the arpa funds right the the reason Delta in the lines of the blue budget is the network security and also the 911 compliance are in the blue budget in the lines and it was part of the decision and then we put money over it if you go I have it written down somewhere which lines one 7400 that money is not in the pink budget those lines are not pink budget because we're using the OPA funds to get those items in the budget that the town manager approved we're using the OPA funds to get those items in the pink budget in the blue budget those items appear yes yes yes that's the 220 that you're that's it you're you're correct but there's no slush fund for maintenance on top of that like there isn't that level of why did we go with the 791 number because it would have put us at a point where we were disadvantaged when it came to facilities costs because the arpa money is one-time funded funding it has to do with one-time funding versus versus sustained funding in on the budget that that is why well I will respectfully disagree but so okay the I not the world's best person when it comes to spreadsheets and numbers but I but but Madam chair when you when you say something that implies that the school committee is putting forth an override that has a $220,000 maintenance slush fund which I think is what you said that there's this there's this ability to absorb one time cost that that opens up the override question for serious criticism that there isn't room to do that I mean you have to be very careful about what you say here so ju just to clarify the gap between the Esser budget and and the town manager budget plus the money we're getting from the town manager budget so our appropriation budget plus the arpa money is 726 th000 and change the gap between the Esser money and the money we are getting from the town manager not including the s the the arpa money is the $948,000 so there's no extra money on top of that that factors in the arpa money that's non- reoccurring and and I will I will say that I agree with you but I I don't see it but everyone keeps telling me I'm looking at it wrong so it it is it okay but the bottom line is we need to return the a money yes and I I think we should communicate that intent because there was a question last week which I think was a legit question based on the conversation we had at at our school committee meeting last week that we did not put a fine point on and I I I think the takeaway from this discussion should be yes we're the override to pass we do not intend to keep that money we intend that the it it should be it should be within the select board's authority to reappropriate that money would you like to make a motion Peter not sure requires it but sure I mean I I yes I think we should I I I move that the school committee resolve that in the event of an override passing as proposed that we do not intend to hold that arpa money that it will revert back to the select board to be reappropriated second all right then a roll call vote please Mr Leon yes M brzowski yes Mr school and Briny yes Mr beard Moore yes Mrs our Shambo yes okay we move on to our next topic which is um the Keystone report very short and sweet uh you have an update um for all the different programming that's going on within the Keystone collaborative um if anybody has any questions they can send them my way all right then and then we will go on to public comment does anyone in the public have a comment um I just have a thought here um sure which I I think you know given given the conversation that we've just had and given the um the conversation that occurred last night at the selectboard um there are there are things that are inside and outside of our control with respect to how we got to where we are on the absolutely I I think that the override itself um is and the number that we've put forth and where we intend to spend that money is the best resolution that we could come up with given the the time all of the things that we've had to consider over the course of a relatively contracted period of time and it is the result of where we started with the budget where we landed with the budget and all of the conversations that we've had here in um this discussions about should this be is this enough head space to PR to prevent this from happening in a future year while in the same breath saying that the number is too big and not conservative enough lends all kinds of opportunity for criticism that I think that the school committee needs to respond to and needs to put together a case or a communication that says this is what the over what the proposed override is for and this is what it is not for and and I I think that that is something that we should put forth as soon as possible uh and put together a communication that is clear concise and compelling um I don't I don't know how to respond to the override I I don't like the override because it's not enough and I don't like the override because it's too much in the same breath yes I I don't I don't agree but I agree but I think that what we can say is is that given the circumstances that we were confronted with which is we knew that it was going to be a tight bud year we were prepared for it however it it turns out that there you know a a propon you know a whole scenario of events dealing with how the budget process worked here's where we're at which is this is what gives gets you to level services within the confines of what we had hoped or intended to be true this year right we didn't intend to spend Esra money next year but we intended to be able to offer level Services outside of the realm of Esser and this is where it gets you it doesn't get you to sustain into FY 26 27 and 28 it doesn't resolve a whole host of fiscal issues that the town has not dealt with but somehow thinks that it's the school committee's problem it doesn't it doesn't account for impossible to predict inflation it doesn't account for problems that the town has run into with its own accounting and revenue programs it doesn't account for any of that it accounts for with what is within the school committee's scope and what we deem as necessary to educate our kids and keep us on the path that we're on and and I think that there needs to be a statement that we can all agree to that anybody who wants to vote or is inclined to vote for an override could say yes I understand this and and and I'm willing to lend a vote and a drive to the center of town on Saturday May 18th to vote to approve this and and right now I don't think we're there right like that document doesn't exist and I think we we we need it I I agree with you Peter on that um Mr school and brini I also agree I think that the the the document should be one double space typed page and it should say you know we had anticipated the sunsetting of Esser funds and we had spent and budgeted accordingly in the meantime fixed cost and cost beond our control increased in the following areas as such there is a budget shortfall for the school district and we were forced to cut positions after negoti ating with the town some of the budget shortfall has been made up however there is x amount that we still need and that is the subject of the override if the override were to pass you would be purchasing the following things XY and Z done nothing more complicated than that I think we give them the history why it why we were surprised by cost increased what the number is and what that number bu if we get into more than that I think that we're going to lose the threat can we make it look pretty though like put it pretty no it needs I mean whatever it needs to be easily digested yes visually I have no problem with EAS easily digested I just don't want it to be more complicated than it has to be to be um Mr Le yeah I I appreciate the comments um from the other members but I I would appreciate it that we put it on a a future topic for a future meeting and not get into discussion during the public comment you you were taking the words out of my mouth because I was going to say that will be on the agenda next time and I think bringing ideas for that particular document would be um a good use of time under this topic at our next meeting Mrs brazowski uh I forgot to do my thing at the beginning of the meeting which is if you're parent or a supporter of the school system and you're watching this I'd really like it I would encourage you to come to town meeting and vote not going to tell you how to vote but you should come to town meeting on Saturday May 4th it's going to be a few hours so plan accordingly Dr Burnham said there might be lunch um so 9:00 am on Saturday May 4th seriously put it on your calendar because historically parent parent and School supporter turnout is not always so great because it is a difficult day for us to go but um I would hope that anyone watching this would please be planning on attending Saturday May 4th to town meeting and Saturday May 18th for uh voting at the ballot which hopefully will take less time hopefully all righty any other public comments we're seeing none all right then um any committee reports Mr Leighton yes uh finance committee met a bunch of times and we'll be meeting again tomorrow uh a couple highlights I'll try to be quick as I can uh pack met um and presented their budget schools presented their budget couple highlights from the schools people had uh members had questioned about the fees for the fields and sports fees and booking the facilities uh there was a question about homework and whether that had a financial impact on the um the budget too um the fair share was uh questioned whether the schools were getting money I actually ended up doing some research after that and and found that the the free School meals were part of the fair share money uh the community college and some facility improvements in k312 um the finance committee questioned the busing um later on Mon Tech had said that's a Statewide issue when they presented as well um there was also questions and concerns about Chapter 70 funds if they were increased um the schools are not guaranteed to increase their budget based off of Chapter 70 funds and again it's that whole process that we're going through right now um the town manager had mentioned that the gas um for schools in the town was going from or it went up to 5.67 per depths Ms it's a three-year locked in rate it was an increase from 4.39 per it was a good rate apparently but it's also a 29% increase um they mentioned Harvey contract potentially changing uh Monty Tech they they talked about how they had a Cyber attack recently last year the finance committee also also mentioned that we're potentially going to be held harmless foreseeable for the foreseeable future due to increase in the property values uh mon Tech also had a teacher contractor in the first year of three and it was a 3% raise uh they had talked about 11 to 12% increase in their buses for the first year of their contract um they did have multiple bids but they do have a lot of lot of towns uh in their District um then it was a general government budget discussion they did mention that I believe this was that the town has an FSA but there was not an HSA so that might be something that we could look at for a topic for future discussion exploring different Health um health savings accounts potentially as an option for healthcare to save costs on Healthcare um then they talked about the the debt highlights uh the elementary school and heating High School heating system retires uh in FY 24 was 163,000 the turf is from 2017 retires on 2029 the Middle High School uh debt is in FY 45 and then they discuss warrant articles yeah I think that's it thanks all right anyone else uh Mr School Bry so I attend a PTO on Monday um they have plans for teacher appreciation uh they are also working on a start of the summer end of the school year event it's going to be uh a ride night put on in conjunction with I believe the Lions Club and a couple of other organizations in town I think the soup or the food pantry is one of them the plan is to use some of the space around TC pasos and uh set up a place to cook food set up a place for kids to hang out and play games like Midway games uh in conjunction with the boys and girls club and also to have uh fancy SL old cars so that people can uh talk about and enjoy cars and uh hopefully generate some money for the Charities involved um one of the things that they had asked me to bring to the school committee was and they had asked if there was any way that someone on school committee could do an experience uh that would be auctioned off or raffled off at the event um I like they had talked about lunch with Dr Burnham lunch with the principles um I told the people on PTO that I'm really boring and so no one would want an experience with me however I did not want to speak for everybody else I did say generally Schoolboard people can be boring but you all are a thrilling group of people so maybe you have better ideas than I do so not no one needs to respond now but if you have any ideas let me know and I'll pass them along to PTO or you can reach out to Mandy Gilman okay thank you um Mr bmore um the athletic advisory committee was posted for the 18th of March but did not meet um due to um challenges and rounding up um booster club leaders and and some Communications issues um we have received uh a fundraising uh application which uh the adni approved and will be communicating in letter form to the superintendent uh for the lacrosse uh booster um and the the track and field will not be running an independent fundraiser this year but rather rather only raising funds uh in the spring through the use of the The Snack Shack at meets and they are requesting donations of parents and Community for food items and have a Amazon account that you can go on and select items and whatnot um I've also just received today a communication from the football coach um about an upcoming fundraiser proposal to raise money for uh new Varsity jerseys for the football team um a little bit early relative to the the typical fundraising season for the football team and uh I'll be discussing that with the ad uh post haste and we'll be organizing a endof year athletic advisory committee meeting for hopefully all boosters to talk about about uh some new fundraising ideas before the end of the school year but we haven't landed on a date yet um the high school advisory committee met on the 28th um we discussed uh budget related issues at length um and uh spent a lot of time talking about fizzed as it turned out um because we're still sort of unresolved uh in terms of the decision around a a math position or a fizzed position and what waivers May potentially be available for fiz Ed we spent a considerable amount of time talking about that um as well as handbooks and and a couple of other uh related High School items okay anyone else Mrs Browski okay the um it's been a while the Turkey Hill School advisory committee has met twice since we've done reports um the I think I don't think I did this one uh the second round of after school activities started up that you Sign Up Genius this time instead of sending in a form which is really great for parents um who can't remember to send in a form um because last time it filled up uh the first day uh this time there's five different activities like dodgeball walk-in Club board games Lego Club and the Gathering uh there's a second round of after school tutoring which has been made available through a grant Monday through Thursdays field day is going to be June 5th there's going to be the Memorial Day ceremony because remember we couldn't do Veterans Day so there is going to be a Memorial Day ceremony the fifth grade band will play and hopefully the weather will cooperate and it can be outside so it can have the crowds that we're used to um the fifth grade course sang the national anthem at the Worcester railers game on Friday night back in March um there's going to be a chus concert coming up tonight was supposed to be the Nature's Classroom meeting for fourth grade parents about next year's Nature's Classroom trip I believe that was postponed um but right now it is looking like a Tuesday through Friday um in early October um um we talked about the school Improvement plan and the I ready benchmarks and then the pxel met on 314 via Zoom uh today April 3rd was a transition fair by Seven Hills um we talked about the residential prevention program for kids ages 6 through 21 which is not just for people who need uh Residential Care uh they can also help with support for you in your home um we went over the bylaws elected and elected positions um we talked at length about the new IEP process and there was a presentation on the new IEP um there's going to be professional development day training on the new IP which again is substantially longer and more in-depth but features more of a student voice uh and more engagement of students and Families focus on student goals and aspirations it's a little different for the younger kids but features more of the student voice more narrative sections more clearly labeled and divided you don't have to fill out each part only the parts that pertain to your child um it's longer but likely easier for families and general education teachers to understand because the current one can be a little confusing and it is individualized so not every page needs to be filled out um [Music] then yesterday or uh Monday the Turkey Hill School advisory committee met again sort of it was a hybrid meeting um and we went over the handbook in detail um there's going to be just a few tweaks to that and that was about it okay thank you if that is it from everyone then we are up to topics for future discussion I know that the next time we meet um we are hoping to discuss um Athletics and the revolving account and where all the money goes and that that topic um it was discussed in November but if anybody has any questions beyond what was in Mr Cassidy's report on um November 15 please let us know um we'd like to get the legislators to come and visit us and talk a little bit particularly about this new bill and I was going to I will contact UM representative Scarsdale and see what she thinks as far as availability and timing and the other things that I have we'll put the override back on um for that publicity um statement that we were talking about and the other things I have I think were a better after town meeting one would be to talk about Turkey Hill and the we'll see what the municipal building project comes up with that town meeting um we're told that there is going to be some comment at town meeting um so we'll see what they have to say but we need to talk about that and also the idea of a budget subcommittee so that's what I have does anybody have anything else to add to that I think in the long term just an overview of the healthcare plan and Healthcare options and what we can do with Healthcare maybe a meeting with the town manager yeah because we obviously can't do you know it's the town and there's a committee that works on that but certainly an informational piece we could do after after the election uh well after a town meeting I'm not sure when but I think it would be good for us to discuss our version of capital planning and the maintenance issues and the the longer term our longer term goals for things Mr he's list was a really great start as far as things that are going to have to get done in the future and now that we can see a little more clearly what what's coming down the line I know there's going to be things that we don't anticipate um but I I think we should start a more robust longer term uh attempt which I know is hard because our budget is year to year we cannot plan budgetary wise that far in the future but I would like to start discussing our needs in the next few years of the next few years I Capital plan timing Mr bardmore what what would make sense um I concur with Miss bosi I I I don't think that we should be thinking of this in terms of the usual um uh Tempo or or calendar that we have looked at Capital planning in the past of course you know this these things have kind of come up in September and ultimately we bring forth a plan in October which then gets considered by the capital planning committee October November December for for a report out by the end of the year um there are a couple of things that are happening right now number one is there's this talk of um this budget committee that's going to solve all the problems um there is a capital planning element to that that has not been discussed by anybody and the capital planning committee needs to weigh in and it has not met uh despite intending to do so this winter there has not been a capital planning committee meeting called by the chair um but M Brazos is absolutely right like we need to be very thoughtful about our Capital strategy um and there are going to be multiple branches off of that that will include buildings it will include the Track and Field Complex it'll Turkey Hill scenarios and it's going to be pretty Dynamic um and I think we need to get it all on the table and be very transparent as early as possible and it will probably be something that will need to be discussed over a multitude of meetings um so I I don't think that we should approach Capital planning this year the way we have in previous years with a um you know a proposed list by the superintendent in in late September or early October I I think that this thing is going to be is going to be a little bit heavier lift than we've done in the past and I I I think maybe I'm I'm not sure I would use it's not even Capital like Capital planning it would be a long-term facilities maintenance and care plan because some of these things right now we basically throw things to Capital planning and what they decide is what gets funded but we still need we need to know what's going to be coming up and that's outside of the capital that Capital process you're absolutely right there there's a very complex relationship between the capital plan and how we maintain our facilities and I I think it would inform the capital plan and it's certainly what we would use going hopefully going forward when making recommendations to Capital planning but I think we still we we need a long-term map of what we're going to need especially I mean the primary school is is 20 years old at this point and I'm looking at the list of things a lot of things are aging out at 20 years we need we need to get a handle on what's going to have to be done and I I know emergencies are going to come up but I would like to have a better handle on things which I think sometimes this town is not the best at um so I I think it's going to be difficult um so perhaps what we're looking at rather than in in your terms would be a facility plan that would inform what we bring to the town as a capital plan but it would not be limited to that yes but then I get nervous about calling it a long-term facilities plan because I don't want to put anything more on Mr he's plate because he's a very busy man but just offer this thought that whether we call it a facilities plan or call it a capital plan it is going going to be on Mr he's plate it is so long long-term long-term Facilities Management plan so that we we know you know I I would very much I I like seeing things mapped out so I would like to see on a on a spreadsheet you know in five years the turf Field's gonna need this much maybe it doesn't have to be exact but you know that this is going to need to be replaced and then we can keep that in mind as we're making decisions about the budget and about what we're asking for and what we're planning for yep sounds good to me okay anything else all right seeing nothing else then I would um take a motion to adjourn make a motion to adjourn at 8:35 pm second all right then a roll call vote Mr Lon yes M brzowski yes schol and bini yes Mr beardmore yes and Mrs arshambo yes thank you everybody have a great even everyone thank you good night good night