##VIDEO ID:I1GDtWv367Q## okay and everyone is um in the virtual rooms all right everyone's here okay no audience um oh well surprise there all right so good evening everyone um this is the school committee I'm going to go ahead and start um as the chair of this meeting I need to confirm that all members and persons anticipated on the agenda are present and can hear me school committee members when I call your name please respond in the affirmative um Hillary Griffiths yes Mara Hogan yes Alexis fishbone yes and I know Mary will be joining us a little bit later so Colleen just um make note of that when she uh when she joins staff when I call your name please respond in the affirmative Colleen Andrade yes Brian hos yes Chuck Cara Janis yes Liz York yes and uh we do not have Wayne this evening correct correct okay this open meeting of the mayard school committee is being conducted as a um remote meeting as Allowed by chapter 2 of the act of 2023 signed into law by Governor Healey on March 29 2023 this act continues to exempt certain Provisions under the open meeting law regarding remote meetings and public participation until March 31st 2025 this committee is convening via Zoom as posted on the district's website while an option oh we are remote so I can skip this part um in the event just to make not if there are some technological um issues we will do our best to reconvene um but because we are all remote um the meeting may have to um be suspended and rescheduled for um another time please note that this meeting is being recorded accordingly be aware that other folks may be able to see you and take care not to screen share your computer anything that you broadcast may be captured by the recording which is audible to and viewable by the public if you plan on recording or broadcasting this meeting please raise your hand I do not see any other hands raised um along with the agenda most of tonight's meeting materials are available on the mainor public school website in the folder 2024 2025 agendas under the tab school committee the public is encouraged to follow along using the posted agenda and documents unless the chair notes otherwise um public comments oh I see Mary is in the wing so awesome Mary you're still I'm still doing the verbiage so you didn't miss anything I just want to make sure you you can can hear me okay I can't hear you but I'm wondering if sorry I just unmuted yes awesome terrific ah great okay public comment agenda item is devoted time for the school committee to hear from the public as such its structure primarily supports a unidirectional recording of public comments rather than a bidirectional conversation here are the general rules for any form of public comment period any person wishing to speak and make a comment during a virtual meeting May do so by signing up and speaking in advance up and to the public meeting agenda item at and there's the link that's been posted on the agenda um please have your Zoom name match so that we may be able to unmute you to speak all public comments are limited to 3 minutes to ensure that everyone who wishes to comment has the opportunity to be heard no person may comment more than once without permission of the chair as time allows a chair could consider allowing persons to comment a second time especially if it's related to a topic that has not yet been brought up any person wishing to submit written comments to be read by the chair may do so by emailing in advance up into public comment agenda item um to comments for SC meeting at mayor. k12.us the subject line must state public comment please include your first and last name and your town to ensure your comments are read comments will be read uh for 3 minutes if the submitted comments are longer then they may be suspended at the 3 minute Mark to ensure all comments may be read in their entirety it suggested that you keep them to approximately 350 words however submitted comments longer than 350 words will be included in the public record in their entirety um anyone wishing to submit a comment for public record after the public comments agenda item has passed can still do so by emailing comments for SC meeting at mayor. K12 ma. us up until the end of the meeting specifically stating their desire to have these comments um additional comments included for G uh meeting ground roles I will first uh introduce the item on the agenda permit me to cover some ground rules I will introduce speaker on the agenda after they conclude their remarks I will ask each member if they have any comments questions or motions they would like to make I will go through the meeting uh for additional comments or questions if time allows um I'll go through members sorry meeting uh please hold off speaking until your name is called and remember to speak clearly in a way that helps generate accurate meeting minutes if members wish to engage with other minute members please do so through the chair make uh and take care not to interrupt anyone who is speaking finally each vot taken tonight will be conducted via roll call since we are all remote and um before I move on to the first item on the agenda permit me to call the meeting to order via roll call at 7:08 um Mary branley here Mar Hogan oh you're muted yes okay Hillary gripitz yes Alexis fishbone yes and Natasha Rivera yes all right now moving on um we do have a few public comments that I will go ahead and read I just wanted to confirm um I do see some some folks that are logged in who sent their comments um and I know we kind of reverted to remote um pretty on the whim so I just want to give those folks an opportunity um uh I can read your comment Kathleen I just wanted to um I know that you had sent a comment I'm happy to read it or if you wanted to have the opportunity to speak yourself I certainly fine I don't know if if you can un unmute Kathleen Fitzgerald hi if you could read it that would be great I'm um not anywhere where I have it in front of me thanks nope that's fine I just wanted to confirm um and the same Maggie um as well I think you had let me just confirm we had a couple that came through Colin there was one from Maggie is that right I I don't believe so okay okay well Maggie um in any case I know that I just see that you logged in and um I don't know if you have a particular public comment because we went to remote all together so I just wanted to reserve um Natasha she did sign up to speak in um in person based on the handbook okay okay on the handbook so um so Maggie I'm gonna go ahead and un um if we can unmute Maggie Colleen and um hi Maggie hi thank you um I just wanted to um give some input on um on the handbook um I disagree with the um the attendance policy and um I'm trying to find the the section um juggling the technology is not my strong suit I hear you it's a lot of back and forth um sorry I was just trying to find the the section that I um wanted to comment on okay it's um it it's item number two under attendance uh it was a a subcategory um and on cras and in in my experience and um with working in schools for many years I do not find C to be um a supportive um Avenue for dealing with absences um you know I think there's there's always a spectrum of of contributing factors to absences and um I think there are better ways to to um investigate what you know what is going on with family and what supports are needed and um you know what is the uh the the cause of the absences or the underlying issues that are resulting in absences and is it um you know often in my experience it's um sometimes uh a an issue around trauma sometimes uh an issue around could be homelessness or lack of other resources or mental health issues and I think that um jumping to having a child get court involved is um has a negative impact and it is not beneficial to the family and I I like to see you know I in my um tenure as a teacher I've worked with uh guidance and and administration to come up with alternative plans that work for the student and the family to help that student achieve success so I think i' I think I've over gone my time sorry you're you're right there no I appreciate you sharing um that and um thank you thank you for your providing that feedback um I wanted to go ahead and now I don't see any other folks remotely for public comment so I'm going to go ahead and um thank you thank you very much Maggie I'm going to go ahead and pivot to the emails that we received um so the first one is uh says Dear school committee members I am concerned about the handbooks use of child required assistance CRA guidelines the current handbook states that after only eight uh absences school can file on children in court for Behavior attendance reasons and therefore are huge Link in the school to prison pipeline policy is literally putting our Manor students in the system and are overseen by probation offers and not able to utilize the services available to mayard parents and students outside of the court system in this post-pandemic era eight absences seems a very short time to Resort um to the court intervention wouldn't mayard schools want to work outside of the court systems to get the needs of the students if cras are necessary the guideline should state that other measures should be tried first and only after that can the school start the C process my feeling is that 18 might be a better number and even then as a last resort many many um many Mental Health Providers say having a CRA can slow the process because everything must go through the provation officer as opposed to parents counselors at schools or doctors CRA do not allow for greater access to services in fact they cause significant and often irreversible harm to many families these C orders can put the whole family at risk as parents must take time off from their jobs for courts uh for court and probation appointments they can very easily lead to children being taken from their families and placed in foster homes group homes and locked up and locked units they can also harm the relationship between families and schools which exacerbates attendance issues there is evidence that cras are often applied in a discriminatory manner as well Kimberly Connors for dear path number four mayor kimberry thank you the next um public comment starts hello school committee members today my attention was called to provision in the high school handbook that concerns child requiring assistance CRA guidelines the stated concern was that court filings for Behavior or attendance reasons would put students in the school to prison pipeline I do not believe that a court filing necessarily means a to prison as I personally know of a now deceased court officer who helped many troubled students I'm sorry children and their families so what to do I have a suggestion for the relevant School handbook section how about changing and this is the part School administration reserves their right to work with the school resource officer and the family on a child requiring assistance CRA petition to the juvenile court if a student is absent more than eight times in a term and is under the age of 16 and then the proposed change would instead say School administration with the advice and consent of at least one of the school resource officers or to the family reserves the right to submit a child requiring assistance CRA petition to the juvenile court if a student is absent more than eight times in a term and is under the age of 16 this would retain the option of getting assistance from the court while giving appropriate control to the school resource officer and or family I don't think that the family would always have veto power what if the family is abusive and part of the problem respectfully submitted Jan Jones 26 Nick Lane Maynard the next comment dear school committee members I am writing to express my concerns regarding the implementation of the child requiring assistant CRA process within our school system while I understand CRA cases are intended to support Children and Families I believe they are potential drawbacks that need careful consideration one complex medical health issues cra cra cases that involve children with complex mental health challenges it is essential to ensure that any interventions align with the child's well-being and mental Health needs rushing into CRA proceedings without a thorough assessment may inadvertently exacerbate existing issues two family Dynamics the CRA process constrain family relationships rather than solely focusing on punitive measures we should explore alternative approaches that involve collaboration between schools parents and Mental Health Professions a holistic approach is crucial to address underlying family Dynamics three substance abuse concerns some CRA cases may involve substance substance abuse issues instead of punitive measures we should consider providing support and resources to families dealing with substance abuse early intervention and counseling can be more effective than punitive Action Four balancing education disruption while CRA cases aim to address disruptive behavior we must strike a balance expressing Express um excessive focus on disciplinary measures can disrupt the child's education and negatively impact their peers we should explore preventative strategies and a restorative restorative practices in light of these concerns I kindly request that the school committee thoroughly evaluate the use of CRA and consider the following steps comprehensive assessment prioritize a comprehensive assessment of each child's situation before initiating CRA proceedings collaboration Foster collaboration between schools parents mental health professionals and Community Resources preventative measures invest in preventative measures and early intervention programs to address behavioral issues proactively thank you for your attention to this matter I believe that by approaching CR cases with empathy understanding and a focus on positive outcomes we can better serve our students and families Holly blomster Maynard um the next one dear school committee members I am writing to oppose the section of the high school handbook that authorizes the use of CRA child requiring assistance petitions to address multiple absences for children under the age of 16 the handbook states that this is not a punitive measure but referring a child and a family to the state juvenile court system and connecting them to dys and DCF runs the risk of punitive action being taken often when none is needed a CRA might lead to a child being removed from the home and the family being deemed abusive it is a deeply flawed system as a foster parent I know firsthand the turmoil and harm that the system can cause a family specifically children to thrust a family in that direction when other interventions could suffice is a slippery slope our community and schools have robust Social Services in place to provide a safety net for families we should be turning to those Services rather than offering a pathway to school to prison pipeline to which early Court involvement can sometimes lead if our so if our social services are not adequately adequately evaluating and attending to the needs of families with absent children then that is where we should turn our attention please offer parents assistance in obtaining an IEP or 504 if their child has anxiety or other mental health issues that are barriers to them attending school work with families rather than against them please do not Outsource this task to the court system and DCF these issues require a trauma informed lens and a holistic understanding of families and children thank you Kathleen Fitzgerald 94 Great Road manard thank you Kathleen um and we have one more dear school committee I am writing about the school administration's policy of seeking a child requiring assistance CR petition from the Juvenile Courts for students under 16 with more than eight absences listed in the handbook under excessive absenteeism treny page 28 through 29 policy is discretionary and no doubt well- intended but it also carries risk involving children in the justice system at such an early stage of their lives can have disruptive effects on the child their educational outcome and their family such effect could also be counterproductive to the worthy goal of bringing about regular School attendance therefore I respectfully urge the committee to consider this policy and the serious attention it um its consequences warrant thank you very much Nial raal mayard Mass 01754 thank you all for your public comments um Colleen I'm just looking back in my email just to confirm did we get um no I have not heard back from that comment okay let me just back to my inbox then see okay all right so um in the event again I know because we pivoted to um remote in the event that you do get an email from her um without objection from the school committee I would like to um make a point to read it it is there we're just missing the town indication um for that okay um that ends our um public comment agenda item uh again thank you everyone for sending in your thoughts on something that's so vital for our schools and um and for us for our discussion questions today moving on to um urgent business superintendent hos is there anything urgent business uh no urgent business tonight okay um okay then great we will move on to the superintendent report great hello committee good to see you even remotely uh hopefully your power stays on and the storm has passed and cleanups underway um we've had a busy summer principals assistant principal interviewing committees have been working hard uh truth be told they worked really really hard at the end of the year to have all of our hiring done in June and as happens every summer uh people find different opportunities elsewhere and we're in the position of hiring the last few positions right now um but that's typical um and funny enough we'll end up hiring in the next couple of days uh for example a a special ed teacher or a math teacher um at F which will then put just you know the domino effect will then put the a different school system in the same position of having to refill that so we're all working really hard to get the best qualified applicants in place before the start of the school year and we're well on our way um the district leadership team had two days of uh work together in June to sort of think about how we did this year what we could do better um and sort of close out the year and we had two days this week together as a leadership team to really think forward in terms of goals for this year and committees and representation on committees and professional development and a wide variety of topics um assessments uh we had two guest speakers if you will uh one on from on the maps assessment just to make sure that we're well vered in looking at that data and then helping teachers to then become well versed at looking at that data that's part of what we'll do this year um we also had Peter pza from UE from the Commonwealth uh project who helped us with our parent survey which we're very excited about the data is still somewhat raw um whereas the student and the staff data it's already into a nice dashboard um so it's a little easier to compare that data but we have the parental data um on all those topics so that's exciting that took us a long time I know Beth isn't on this commit anymore but she should get credit for really helping us to get to that point to get that off the ground um most of the sections within the survey were valid and reliable and they worked well there were two sections that we have to work on a little bit that didn't work out as well as we thought either the question wasn't properly asked or the answers that options didn't match how we phrase the question so we have a little bit of work just updating but nonetheless we're one of the few schools that actually have a parent survey going out and collecting data so we're really proud of that um and there'll be more information about that um the technology department overall this summer has been working hard one of the one of the projects was more cameras at Fowler um which required a little a little bit more uh technology behind the scenes to be able to record and save and access that data that are working on that now the facilities Department um we'll have Tony at one of our future meetings so you can all say hi and in terms of Technology we'll have John calaby our new director of Technology at one of our upcoming meetings as well he's probably at school trying to get Serv restarted truth be told um and Tony he gets like one vacation a year our director of facility so I hope he's having fun in Florida he'll be back with us on Monday making sure we're ready to open for school um the Green Meadow building project we've been meeting over the summer um we're really on schedule there'll be information going out at the beginning of next week they'll be putting up fences around the part parts of Green Meadow which we'll take some pictures we actually talked about that at our safety meeting well Karen's very excited to take pictures and or even one of the parents I don't know what his job is but he has access to drone aerial views of our area so if we ask him he may be able to get us sort of aerial views of Green Meadow which I think would be super helpful as well just to see where you can it can't go uh but we've been meeting we have subcommittees we have furniture committees now um so that project is well underway um and it's exciting um let's see we're excited that Mary and Alexis are our school committee Representatives on that committee so they too uh will be getting all those updates and that works well um I know we talked about a rooftop unit we've actually talked about it quite a bit um in Spring and it got G ped it got postponed once more cuz we're waiting on the final Parts actually we're not but train is waiting on something called the curbing which I understand is the connection between the unit and the roof so that is backordered on their end so they are now planning on to indigenous people's Day weekend um and what they said you know they won't charge us the extra for working on a weekend or even a holiday weekend if you will um to get that done we just need it done when the building's not populated um at least that front section of the building so we're working on that with them um over the summer we had asbes removed from the basement um around some pipes in green metal which is why if you think about green metal this summer it was really unoccupied we had moved our basic programming to the other two buildings and our summer programming to the other two buildings so this is just sort of a recap of that memos went out about this already um the entire form uh report is posted online as is the uh air quality report which came back clean um really a thumbs up to uh ueec um United environmental Consultants who really are they work very well with us Colleen simply gives them a call says we need this and they say here's what we need to do they work with Tony collaboratively and make that happen seamlessly so they're definitely a good partner in anything environmental and there's environmental things so we're grateful for them I know we're going to talk more about bleachers later so I'll sort of save that till later um I would so if we were at school I had two pictures to show you but I didn't bring them home because it was pouring and they're um big um so two of our students uh participated in a safe roots to school poster contest and they won uh the students are Austin wild and sad pulin um and we have Po and so the Department of Transportation made posters for us um they made about a dozen posters they're double-sided English on one side multilingual on the other side and they will be posted around town with the select board's approval because apparently that is the process that one must go through um to post them anywhere besides school property and it's kind of fun and exciting to get them posted around town we do have Justin DeMarco DPW director's uh support we will I'll have uh several members of the um Wellness committee will go to the next select board meeting to ask permission and then we'll be able to put them around town that's my exciting news that is very exciting um and that is it for your report yeah because we'll talk about um the bleacher later yeah tonight y um okay so let me just go around yeah thank you very much um just go around to the school committee see if anyone has any questions or followup um Marl any anything for superintendent report questions for Brian um just to clarify that rooftop unit that's the one I'm um at Fowler correct at Fowler at the I call it the front of the building kind of over the auditorium space yeah all right thank you yes Mary um no just comment well actually two um so Keith lenhard is the um is the parent and he works for hand scum so he's the one that has offered to to do the drones which will be fantastic and he said he can actually do them more than once because he can do them like every you know couple of months or something just to show because one of our concerns obviously is you know that everybody's safe and that so he'll be able to um he offered to do that so that's going to be very cool and um Brian I just um segueing on to that parent survey when can we see the results of that is there a timeline on that I'll build a timeline next week with Chuck and I'll check with Peter when he thinks we can get the data in a more usable right now it's just it looks like a giant spreadsheet we wouldn't understand so yeah well you you would it just isn't easy I you definitely would it's just not an easy view at this point but I'll talk to him and I know they're actively working on it because he said that on Tuesday and I'll see if I can get a timeline from him absolutely thank you yeah um Alexis questions okay uh Hillary um I was cutting out a little bit but for the um safe roads to school what can will you be able to share the location that those end up being posted so that you know if people don't happen to cross certain locations we can make a point to go check them out absolutely and I can take pictures and share them with you as well so tomorrow you'll get I if we were in at school I would have shown them to you like held them up but I'll let you know where they are and I'll F take the pictures thank you absolutely anything else Hillary okay I have a couple of followup questions Brian um the just to piggyback on marrow's the rooftop unit I know that there was the original ass that we funded in the fall and then there was some pivot that needed to happen in the spring just for I think the scope expanded slightly um are we where are we with are we still fine with the original authorization that will happen for that particular unit we're within budget okay but we still have this other outstanding which if I can recall it was we thought we had we had actually extra money we were going to be doing repair but now is actually turning into another replace is that a correct characterization yeah and I will get an update because I know Tony has been working with train the last couple of days but prior to that and I'll get the most up-to-date information and timeline from him early next week that would be helpful if we could get um you know what we might potentially be short if anything for for that funding you know is it emergent like what areas that that impacts again I know that you we've talked about a little bit but I might be getting a little fuzzy with the original one so um yeah I I'll get an update and share that with everybody next week it's been a while since we've gone through it and I didn't anticipate uh uh a change I didn't anticipate them being back ordered and us having to wait another couple of months I guess my my immediate concern is do we need funding for that second like that expanded scope that um that turned in from a repair to a replace so that part part I want to figure out that we're good either we're good with that it just is later but we're okay with we have secured funding that we or or we don't and okay um you know do we is you know what that dollar amount at this point looks like and I I know that we're um yeah anyway I'll leave about that we can I know we're going to touch base on Monday so maybe we could talk a little bit more then um guess I guess I missed that piece when did that turn into because I remember there was an additional like 50,000 or something for the repair when did that second unit become necessary to be replaced I I think and I I'll let Brian speak but I I think from what I remember it was something about when they came out to reassess the first part then they realized maybe when they either started looking into it they couldn't the second part was not only a replace and then um Bob had already left I think also and I know that that was his specialty um so I don't know Brian if that that's yeah that's pretty accurate and it's really beyond our scope right even with Bob here it's beyond our scope okay and unfortunately as wonderful as that building looks and it really does the roof and some of the um some of the parts if you will the HVAC and components they're pushing almost 20 years plus so they're 24 years now 24 years so and they we've been working to maintain them changing filters you know oiling things and doing do maintenance I don't get the impression that was done for the first 15 or 20 years consistently not to anybody's fault just it happen but the the strain on them now I mean every year it's warmer and warmer too so I imagine what we thought their lifespan would be 24 years ago you know the temperatures are also so you're running them probably a lot more so the wear and tear um okay Brian so we'll we'll we'll and then just while I'm thinking about it we probably we'll need to probably pivot to get a a budget subcommittee meeting probably on the books um soon so Mary we can coordinate that offline sure as well um the um Green Meadow School building I know that we've been getting this since Wayne's here this might not be the best time but I just want to before I forget we've been getting reimbursements back from from the project and it would be helpful Mary um how does that where does that money go like so we get these for the grant are they going into a certain fund like where how does that do you know how that works or has that come up in in you guys in the meetings because I was asking the other day with fincom um because we got it I think last month there was an email about $200 and something thousand and I think it's towards it but I don't know like is that just go to pay the expenses like in in a setting a fund for that so I just wasn't sure about that sequence of events um and I'm not really sure either I just know you know anytime um that an expense is coming up from from anything having to do for a while there I was making sure that Wayne was you know keeping track of it before it went to the town but now I'm not but and I know it's delayed with msba refunding so I don't know if the you know if the different companies just wait for that refund or how exactly I W I was wondering if that I know we got approved in like December for that additional reimbursement and I don't know if maybe that was part like you know like here's that additional you know because you had to submit some other stuff to get that extra reimbursement because they changed the formula um so I didn't know if that had any impact at all um or had start we had started seeing that so anyway just if you can at some point um because I'm I do I I think just because I'm the chair I get I see these emails come through like reimbursement submit and I'm like oh okay but where is that going at the town and is it just going to a fund that offsets the expenses that we're billing against or is it somewhere that needs to be you know allocated into another account somewhere that we just I haven't heard much about it so um I do know that both mvg and Colliers at every meeting that we have for the school building committee they they have copious a copious um spreadsheet of you know what was budgeted how much we've spent so far and and all of that so the numbers have been accounted for but like you say it's just a case of how the reimbursement itself happens yeah it might just be like that that offset like it goes here and then you know the expenses come out of there um and then Brian the just moving on um about the asbestos um removal and those efforts did um do we have on the website I know we put some information there um do we have like a set folder this might be more of a Colleen question um of the like just all the reports that come through like the health and the all that other stuff because I know in the past the public has really wanted to have interest of just reading sometimes the like the that information and I I know that we got the um you put the highlights for us but just the document itself I just want to make sure if anyone is looking for the actual document that they can look at it in its TIY not just what we've segmented out but I don't know if we have a place from the it's on the I will check in the morning I know colen posted it already so that report is there yeah because I know we had like the notification last time and like there's a couple of things already but if we maybe we just need maybe we do like a new folder every year of like because it seems like you know a lot of the stuff is kind of like every year you have to do these statutory things or whatever I don't know the best way to organize it but I don't want it to get ler there is a folder for building facility documents and it's um the files are dated typically okay so if if anyone okay to look at look at the raw like the report or the results from the vendor they can just we can just direct direct them to that folder the district website the district website got it thank you for confirming that y um and I think that oh and you uh you said you're going to send an email about those um the art thing for or the for the students and that yeah I'll take pictures in the morning and send them got it that would be that would be wonderful okay um I don't have any other um questions for you there um I know we are now moving anything else with the msba or that was just it I saw that all the project stuff um that was it really right we didn't have a separate okay um okay uh handbook so I think Liz this is this is the high school handbook I think this is the floor is yours hi everyone it's nice to see you thank you for having me evening I um you should have a document in your folder that is the um changes to the proposed changes to the mayard high school school student family handbook and our team has worked we worked in the spring and then sort of via email over the summer to get all the language where we wanted it and here it is so I um the page order happens this year to be sort of an order of controversy so we'll start with a student favorite which is on page 21 our students since we arrived for the past two years have asked us if Juniors could have what we once called senior privilege extended to them as well in the second half of the year when many seniors are Drive uh juniors are then driving and might be able or on nice days could walk to go out to lunch or go home many many students go home so we did a little pilot on our own with the new Juniors who were inducted into National Honor Society in the spring and tried it out and it worked fine their parents of course gave consent and we had no problems so we um we want to honor this request of students it's also something that goes on at many other high schools it's not uncommon and we'd like to change the name of it to upper class privilege so now we would have seniors after term one or maybe earlier this year if as a reward for being great about certain things we're asking them to do um National Honor Society Juniors when they are inducted and then all of the Juniors would be eligible under the same guidelines if that's all right I didn't know do you want me to stop after each topic um I was actually just thinking it might be helpful just to kind of go Section by section because I know you have you done a great job kind of outlining like the changes um very nicely so if that's okay I'll go ahead and just give a pause for on this on P about the upper class Privileges and I'll just kind of pull the school committee if anyone has any questions clarification thoughts on this particular um aspect um Mary no I'm I'm good with this yeah okay Hillary um this is more of a curiosity but I was just wondering how difficult it is to oversee this and manage which kids are eligible and which aren't and if they have their privileges taken away who's H like is that a hard that seems like that'd be a hard thing to manage and negotiate and stuff no I think it would be impossible in a big school in a small school it's just a conversation in the morning you know Sally be was late today she's not going out for senior privilege Liz make a note of that before you go to lunch duty and it's as simple as that they use a QR code to check out of the building and check back in they know if they come back late they don't get to go the next day it's a very longstanding Mr carage gianis had senior is doing it back in his day and I think even preceding that it's um something they look forward to very much and they honor and they don't want to lose their privilege except maybe on the snowiest day thank you oh and many do take their free lunch I didn't know if anyone would have a question about that but many do grab their free lunch and then step out of the building there's a lot of walk taking which I love and and encourage yeah that's great it is we're in walkable town so I'm glad we're able to leverage that to our benefit small and walkable and we used to do it in the old days and then come back so I like that yeah it's interesting I was reading an article today about um attendance and one school um piloted letting kids go outside during lunch and um participate in sports and up like basically gave high schoolers recess and they had found that was the biggest um most effective way of increasing attendance at that school yeah we found that having lunchtime open gym has been tremendously helpful they really look forward to it that's great go back to the whole Rec thing huh you know like when kids had recess and that well adults need recess too it's not it's it's a human need to move during the day and to play yeah and she gets home with their friends like the things they care about yeah okay Alexis anything on this section no not on this section okay marrow did I ask you I don't think I did did you have anything on this section um I the question I have has more to do with um whether or not one of the things that you had said was that it had been piloted um last year with the um National Honor Society um for um Juniors and that it went smoothly but I guess what I'm wondering is what what constitutes not going smoothly to the point that you would then take that privilege away for everybody well once it becomes school committee policy and is and you approve it and it's in the handbook it isn't something we would take away for everybody but not going smoothly would be more than one student um not signing out coming back late consistently and the thing we're most afraid of and I'm sure you are too is just rushing in their cars that's the number one worry Miss drov and I have when it comes to privilege for anyone we would rather they come back late than rush and make a bad decision in a car and we do communicate with them about that and we just wonder sometimes if the 16 and a half year olds you know are ready but our kids are such good kids and it's just a shame to keep anyone or to keep the whole group back just because someone is not being responsible so I I hope that answers your question yes thank you and and um just thinking about because the driving piece I know that when kids get their license the first what is it like six months or whatnot they can't have friends in the car anyway it really can only be family so that might you know hopefully you don't have a lot of you know that happening but it is a good point to consider um and um you know again being a walkable town you know a lot of people walking around and rushing that would be a recipe but uh I appreciate the emphasis on um a privilege too you know privileges are earned and then they can also be you know with safety issues I would imagine that would be an area we would have to reassess if it's not going well absolutely okay yeah we all keep an eye including the school resource officer on the um how many students are in a car question the QR code thing that sounded that was intriguing to me how um that I hadn't realized that that's that's how but that's that of great like let's leverage technology when we can so um yep and phones are still allowed at lunch so we'll still be able to do it okay all right so now we are going to move on to page 25 uh I see that I'll give this back to you about academic dishonesty we haven't changed any language here we just changed where in the handbook this um section is because there are no um discipline consequences for academic dishonesty only academic consequences and we want to be very clear that um when students make behavioral mistakes we retach there are consequences but they're never academic consequences so but when students make an academic dishonesty that's something different and there can be academic consequences so we moved it okay um a question about the academic dishonesty I know and this might be where I might I don't I thought in one of our school policies there was and it maybe isn't related to academic dishonesty but with someone I guess it relates to academic performance that they would not be eligible for participation in extracurricular um activities or anything to that effect from a a disciplinary perspective or more punitive approach in that regard is that that is not something I would recommend okay any kind of a connection between um behavioral consequences and academic consequences I think we're much safer um from a statute a statutory point of view keeping the two very separate it's very clear that um we're supposed to not have academic penalties for Behavioral stuff and we're not supposed to have behavioral penalties for academic misconduct oh wait maybe I'm misunder so if someone has a student has academic dishonesty let's just say They're copying information or whatever that might be um I guess what I was asking and maybe this was is that there's not a punitive that's correct no punitive aspect to that so if they are doing something that is is intentionally academic dis academically dishonest they would not have any type of penalties or disciplinary action to remove them for any other okay yeah that's the current 2024 thought on the matter okay is that um new from I know there's like this is that new just a new approach just in general or because I I bely remember Mary for some reason Mary I'm thinking about you because I know this came up about academics and participation in sports like I know you had asked a question and it was a I think it was a policy question and I thought that that's why I'm trying to make sure that our our other policy is written other places if you're failing if you fail one or two classes you cannot participate in sports that's um an MIAA policy okay if we want to participate in their tournaments we're required to follow their handbook okay so maybe I guess just trying to make sure that we're kind of covering all that consideration that's what I was trying to understand like where that would invoke is there a place or would it be suggested in this section to just say like just a little caveat unless you know other requirements like am I because I what I would if somebody fails a subject or whatever that might be because of academic dishonesty um there still is a potential punitive measure if for Maia right they would have to fail two students are still eligible if they fail one class okay so I just want to make sure we're not have that else we have that elsewhere in handbook okay can we cite that just as a reference maybe just so we're aligning that certainly this this doesn't you know over you know there's still that piece um that there's not necessarily no there is some level of um punitive measure but it relates to more MIAA and there is that okay thank you for clarifying that um Mary um did you have anything on the section nope no nothing okay Maro um yes um so going back to the um the not being punitive um there do there is punitive consequences to academics um if you're tardy or absent no those are that's just credit I'm sorry to interrupt no go ahead we do not take grades we only take credit and we have about seven different ways for the students to earn it back so no one at the end is actually we never change a grade and we make sure that they get their credit back it usually just means they have to go to Saturday school to earn back their credit but no grades are ever changed if a student did nothing and had no credit would still the good grade they earned would still be on their transcript we do not change any grades or alter their academics okay so what does that can you tell me can you explain what that means a little bit Yeah by keeping the grade I sort of thought the same thing so in high school just as in college we earn credit for every class we pass and students have to have a certain number of credits in different areas um in order to graduate they need 110 credits to graduate so they can fail quite a few classes most students never fail any but they um they can so the students know if it happens to a senior and it's in a class they lose Credit in a class they need for graduation they will jump all the Hoops go to a Saturday school or stay after on a half day earn back that credit and get what they need to graduate but some students who sort of skirt that may actually have a transcript that shows I got an A and art no credit but they didn't need that credit to graduate it's hard to explain yeah so basic they're two different like Concepts yes like the credit for class versus the grade if you got over 60 gets a credit okay so you can also lose credit based on grades but not like that it doesn't have the impact vice versa but back in the day when we did tardy policies we used to say you failed for attendance and give students an F that is gone no one does that anymore students get to keep the grades they earn so that was why Maro I said it's not really an academic penalty okay it's a it's more of a technicality than anything okay got it thank you and then you earned the grade oh sorry but if you've earned just so I can follow if you've earned that grade basically we're not taking that earn what you've earned away when when you when you yeah yes absolutely when you said it that way I think for me it kind of made more sense that we're not is that is that explained well in the handbook because I okay I'm gonna have to go reread that because that was not what I got from when I read it when of the last time I read it yeah me neither I definitely didn't get that it really doesn't affect too many students we usually have maybe 10 involved when we do credit appeals and then some get them excused because they had some strange circumstance and then others get Saturday school sadly how much Saturday school do they need to is it like a time like an hour for hour equivalent for what they've missed I think it's three sessions currently and they can work on anything for the teacher and we also have computerized uh assignments they can do that are tied to their uh practicing for their SATs so we have lots they can do during that time Alexis I actually had a question about the academic dishonesty the violations that you have uh it's the first time I I'll be honest it's the first time I've read the policy um so it talks about and I I understand the reasons why the verbiage is the way it is where it says may result in a zero May result in a possible failure and I I do understand that however my question has to do with is that consequence where it may result in a zero or may result in a possible failure up to the decision of the teacher yes and if so how is there equity and parity amongst the teaching staff so that one teacher isn't harsher to students than another or harsher to a group of students versus another should these violations come about I guess there's nothing in writing that would prevent that but in practice the school counselors the principal the parents are always involved and uniformly my experience with teachers not only in mayard but also in other districts has been if it was clear cely a mistake the teachers allow the the student to make it up usually for a lower grade and if it was deliberate and the student you know compounds the problem with untruthfulness and trying to hide the fact and you know that's when on a first offense almost never but if it's a subsequent violation they might do the zero teachers aren't harsh generally and if they are the school counselors usually tell me okay so there so I can get involved so checks and balances that that was my concern is there are checks and balances in this system where uh the student and the family potentially have some recourse per se um if a teacher is being a little too harsh with what type of violation they are giving out for what actually happened yeah the school I would say the school counselor is the system of checks and balances they get involved in and if if a teacher is grading to a certain student too harshly as well okay it will be the school counselor who would ring that alarm Bell okay all right if the parent doesn't you know the parent the school counselor is that Advocate sort of in the building beside the student many many parents pick up the phone which we very much appreciate yep and then I do have a question about the tardy policy I don't know if we we've sort of like muched them together shall we move do you want me to move into T can I just um just ask one thing about still on this one um May it might makes might be a suggestion um with this where it says subsequent violation may result in the possible failure of a of a term and or the course maybe to put an example you know you the student would still get a B but it but they would get zero credits toward that 110 just because like Maro says it's a little not clear that's not that's not what would happen in a case of academic dishonesty Oh I thought that's what we the student would actually fail they oh okay I thought we were saying that they'd still get their earned grade we were we had jumped around to um T um excessive absence oh okay all right I guess I was still L of credit okay so they would still they'd still get the the Lesser grade and obviously not the credit okay yeah and we haven't had that as someone failing for the term or failing the course okay um I wonder if for the subsequent violation it would be um helpful to add may result in a possible failure for the assignment the torm or the clut horse because where you were saying if the first violation was an accident the second violation could in theory be the assignment got it thank you just if that's the case it sort of sounded like that might have been the case y that's absolutely true thank you okay I think we are moving on now to page 28 the tardiness and um did I miss anybody hold on I just want to make sure I didn't miss anybody right because I'm trying to juggle my screens as well um and just to before you hop in Liz I know that you heard a lot of the um public comments that I fall within some of this section this page and then page 29 I think page 29 yeah I don't see like that particular part addressed here but can you um has not been changed right can you speak I think we we're obviously going to probably have some questions about that part that's not in this little handout for us to look at so maybe just speak to the tardiness part and then um and then we can kind of have the school committee you know talk more about that um page 29 as well the the sure okay sure so the um faculty approved a change to the tardiness procedures still within state law and allowable previously it was three unexcused taries of less than 30 minutes and the students advocated for four unexcused tardies less than 20 minutes so they offered to sort of give back 10 minutes and get to school sooner but be able to do it one more time without it causing an absence and the faculty it was extremely contentious but the faculty eventually agreed that um again it's just something small that the students advocated for that doesn't really really change much instructionally the first 20 minutes of class especially first block people are often sort of rolling out the day taking attendance not that that time doesn't count but that um you know if a student misses four of them a teacher can probably live with it over a 90day semester there was a presentation I think last year this is ringing a bell um marrow when we went to do our Outreach I want to say that was one of a presentation and there was a little bit of you know back and forth Q&A regarding the student advocating for that so it's really great to see how we've landed with that um here um so on this particular aspect of the tardiness policy before not the C I'll we'll go back to that but I just wanted to just do a roundabout so Mara did you have any questions on the part that was shared for editing or no I did not okay Mary Did You My Only um concern but I guess Liz has addressed it is I my thought was that they were the students were losing 20 minutes of a Core Curriculum out of a 45 minute class but that now you said that that's not the case it's really just check in and that it's 20 instead of 30 but but the the problem for me is that it's 20 minutes of class time that you know know that that's a lot of class time but if you're saying that that really isn't class time oh I'm well in my classroom it's class time right that's what I'm I'm you know I understand the students in that but it to me it's 20 minutes out of 45 minutes that the students aren't going to be there numerous times to get the full PR of a class and that's why it can lead to credit loss okay not happy about it myself but I just feel like it's a little Lucy goosey not and you know and I know there was a lot a lot of conversation in that but um we need these kids to be in class to learn the entire the whole the whole class so oh you are singing my song Mary thank you so Liz just to kind of follow up on that was that similar to the feedback that teachers the concerns that were raised can you share a little bit more about some of that if that aligns with the Mary just captured it perfectly okay the teachers who like me in my English class who take attendance while students are writing because we don't waste one minute you object to the idea that you know one more is going to be allowed before it counts as an absence but other teachers um one teacher said you know I myself have struggled with lateness all my life and this tardy policy would have been really hard for me and I can understand why teenagers who have so much trouble getting up in the morning are really struggling to get to school on time at such an early hour other districts are starting later let's give the kids this one more tardy and you know they voted and not everyone voted in favor of the change and that's the part that you reminded me that was mentioned about um the start time of school where Maynard's start time um hasn't has been a little bit more on the earlier side and other schools have adjusted for those teenager you know later and that particular population tends to be up later and and all of that not that I am Pro or for but I just remember that key that was part of that presentation that the student gave as a reasoning um of why it can be difficult in the morning um one of the other things that the students um put in their um presentation was the fact that most of the tardies were really only like between you know five and 10 minutes not and that and that that's counting as a a tardy when really they're making it and they're just they're really not missing more than which is why they brought the timing down to 20 instead of 30 yeah and they brought data as well to show that the vast majority of tardies and dismissal are really quite a short period of time and don't stretch to that 20 is that help Mary at all yes yeah no I'm I'm more encouraged by by that there's not as much loss it's not the full 20 loss right okay good um I'm of the thought process no that's okay I'm of the thought process is that if we did start the day later the kids would would go to bed later I it's just nature of the Beast so that's that's where I come in well the good thing with this policy is that once it's approved if it doesn't work for a year we can always revert back so if you could come back to us with that Liz that would be great next year for next year how did it how did it work for a year and let the students know hey this is a privilege that we're kind of launching schoolwide but it's really on their shoulders too m m doov tracks this data as does the state down to the minute and it is encouraging we're we are doing better great soill um I my instinct was the same thing Mary said but I really like that the fact that the kids you know brought data and brought it forward and were able to have the discussion and make an impact I think is really important for their you know advocacy skills and feeling buy into the whole process process um I one thing that might help Mary is I know my child has claimed when I'm yelling school is starting right now you have to get in the car she's come back to me with well if I'm already going to get a tardy can I just go do X Y and Z and so shortening that time I think will help I think this would help that um to some extent like you know still you still got to get there fast because it's going to turn into an absent like um so overall I support this he Alexis I just want to make sure I'm understanding at for unexcused taries less than 20 minutes are equivalent to one excused absence for an entire day no when un so so that that's where I feel like there's a word missing because the next sentence says if students are more than 20 minutes late to a class they will be considered absent in that class so I I'm trying to understand the difference between the two that's why I'm wondering if there were supposed to be something after equivalent to one excused absence one excused absence from what is it from the class from the class easily add class that they're missing okay because I consider this this is almost like a workshopping conf conversation because you're people who haven't looked at it a thousand times and I'm happy to add phrases and commas and yeah it's under T to school and T in the different there's two different sections right so that's probably where you're it looks like tardy to school all that is really about tardy to school but right right we really don't want to confuse any readers yeah because I was concerned that if they have excessive tardiness and it turns into an unex excused absence then it goes against how many unexcused absences they're allowed to have over the course of a year so I thought there was much more of a domino effect in that regard based upon how I read this that one sentence great thank you I don't have any I think questions about this um beyond what has been asked so thank you for your work on this um but I wanted to introduce before we move on to the other stuff because it seems more germine to this section um the feedback that we've gotten from um the community and um and just to open that up for the school committee I did have um a couple of clarifying questions about that CRA um approach that was outline and I remember this came up in a in a school committee meeting before and um you know some people were understandably uneasy with the approach but from my recollection or from my understanding what aspects are statutory versus what aspects are um subjective based on administration's um decision to pursue so that's the perfect question thank you if you look at the top of page 29 the first sentence comes directly from the statute and is common into Massachusetts school handbooks we need to have the CRA in our toolbox for the Very extreme situations where either of student will not cooperate with the family and then the school and the family go together or when a family will not cooperate after the 10 steps that come before a cra so we don't need to have that second sentence it's supposed to make it sound a little friendlier and it was clear from the community feedback to me that we need a sentence that says the school administration will work collaboratively with school support staff the school resource officer and community Community Services to avoid CRA at all costs um we need that sentence because that's the truth okay so if I look at page 28 the CRA section it's the first paragraph um of that section um there is you reserve the right is that some type of statutory like is that what just like is The Authority given to the school um that any SCH the statutory sentence yes that's the statutory that the school reserves the right to work with the um so I if I take that back that's the kind of language that maybe we we can't change because that's the right the law if I want to just understand what we we can you know potentially address versus what maybe we can't so the school administration reserves a right to work with school resource officer and the family on a CRA assistance petition to the juvenile court if a student is absent than eight times in a term and is under the age so is that eight times in a term also written into the the statute so students who are who are absent eight days of a semester which is 90 days are considered chronically absent students who are absent eight days out of 45 days which is the term or the quarter are considered by the state at high risk for not earning a high school diploma and those are students for whom interventions are needed and those um concerns from the citizens mention just about all the different kinds of problems that a family can be going through that might lead to excessive absenteeism and I so I jotted down if it's okay for me to share some just some of the steps we would take before if a student is absent eight times out of that one term 45 days that we would be taking as a team we that so the person is twice the rate of chronic absenteeism the school counselor would bring the students case to what we call bbst which is part of our mtss our multi-tier building based support team y yep of support and start looking into the student record to see if there ever has been an educational plan or an intervention of any kind we would talk with the school psychologist we would talk with the school resource officer and her partner in crime which is this the police department's social worker Emily black who is an incredible resource to our community and we would also talk to the um probation officer he is a known team member and someone who has access to the Family Resource Center in Framingham which is a source of services that are available to families and families don't have to go through the court to access them we also have Partners at Elliott Associates who provide school-based counseling we have a um a family team an intervention team that can go into the home and we will work with the family on any and all of these measures if homelessness is involved we have so many different tools and absenteeism tied to homelessness doesn't count as unexcused it would immediately be excused and the team would start supporting immediately everything comes into play all right I want to just um thank you for sharing that I want to open the floor for the school committee to could I just say one one more last thing so something we do occasionally is what we call a diversion and that is when all of the players come into the room with the family but we don't go to court which would be framing hand am juvenile court and the uh probation officer does come but just as a citizen as a helper person who knows services and we have done that on more than one occasion and come up with a plan to avoid court and often we'll let the parent zoom in or uh Google meet in because we don't want parents missing work in these very sensitive situations and we know Court can c a day of work with that new information because could we invoke that as a requirement first before a c and why would that not be be because every case is different I wouldn't be comfortable putting all the eight bullet points that I came up with down as a requirement in every case there is very very risk rarely a case where everyone in the team oh and one final step is we talked to the district's Council before we file a CRA so we actually talked to a lawyer we talk to Brian we talk to the special ed director and we talk to a lawyer before we ever go to court and there are rare cases sorry just to go to court quickly do we have any data um on how many C we have done we've done three in the past two years three in the past two years and one was in partnership with the family the second was diverted at the clerk's desk and an agreement was come to the parents had not been willing to agree to anything and they agreed when everyone met in the lobby at court and never went in and the fourth one was granted the third one I'm sorry was granted by the court and it was a very complicated situation we had legal council Hillary I just want to go um Hillary um question and the family has taken over the first CRA when their child turned 16 the family continued it we were Partners through the entire process okay thank this is delicate work no no I know it's a lot of feelings and I just want to respect the process and as a non educator for myself I'm just asking the questions that come to mind as yeah I then I don't want you to go into too many details about it but for safety reasons I need to reserve the right to take a a situation to court if all my advisers agree and the lawyer agrees we need to be able to do that quickly and not have to go through an eight-step process that has not happened here okay um I obviously passionately disagree with this um as a foster parent I've seen the harm that comes from the court system and DCF being involved with families and um this past about six months ago I listened to a hearing um at the State House about banning cies altogether like there's a lot of advocacy to just remove the whole entire process from existence and it was hours and hours of testimony that was heartbreaking um both from families talking about how they were told that this was a way to access services and that this this was the last resort and then their lives were destroyed their children's lives were destroyed they were ch um now adults like 20 30 years old coming back and saying that their lives were ruined their family's lives were ruined by the school filing CRA because of attendance and um then there was hours of testimony by experts who work in the juvenile justice system and in the mental health system who talked about how a lot of people portray cras as a way to access services and that there is not a single service that's available to a child that under a CRA that's not available already that that may to some extent have been the case 20 years ago but now between mass health and the behavioral health um the community behavioral health um centers that that's really not the case and that um even without the CRA process if a school feels like a child is truly being neglected Ed or unsafe at home or there's something like seriously safety wise wrong at home they are statutorily bound to the 51a process so the SE there there's another mechanism to handle those cases where a child's at harm um additionally I looked at the data from 2020 to 2023 for the cras filed by Maynard and it was heartbreaking to me um one of the requirements I believe starting in 2018 for a CRA is that they're only allowed to be filed if the school can prove that the child is willfully absent um and a lot of people describe that as basically their child was playing hookie like they weren't absent because they were uncomfortable they weren't absent because they were bulli they weren't absent because they didn't feel like they could do school or because they have child with getting to school or because they felt sick when they wanted to go to school or they didn't have clean clothes like there was no legitimate reason for them to not go to school they were just not going to school because they would rather do something more fun and considering that in those 3 years of data 42% of the kids were minorities 67% of the kids had IEPs and 83% of the kids were low income that doesn't seem like that's a willful playing hookie type of a situation and we're taking a process that's so inherently harmful to families and applying it in such a discriminatory and hurtful manner that like I as much as I love so much of this handbook and I think so much of what the teachers and the staff are doing are great I can't can't vote for a handbook that includes destroying families even if it's one in one a year um given these stats and the other options available um you know we have we have this attendance we have all these other resources and um I'm totally open to the idea that there could be scenarios I'm not understanding that require this except between talking to DCF staff D staff probation staff the mental health staff the palal staff um families who have gone through C families whose children like I saw one data one parent was remarking that sure CRA is improve attendance but that's because their kid gets locked up in residential and they have to attend school school is in their locked facility um I just don't think I think the risk is so significant for basically no benefit um that I I ethically I can't I can't agree with it Hillary thanks for sharing that um Mary yeah no I really appreciate it too Hillary because you come from a different background and have seen um you know how how the system does not work and and we you know we've had enough cases where DCF didn't do their due diligence and it was seriously impacted um kids especially um I get my my question is where originally I was thinking oh I missed a page that the language had changed and that's why we received letters um from parents but that's not the case so I'm wondering these families did they hear about a bad situation that had happened in Maynard and that's why they were all being vocal or no last year I had talked about to a couple of friends how frustrated I was at the handbook having this piece and I had I had said these same types of comments last year at this meeting and um I had told a couple friends last night that I was frustrated that it's still in there and that we keep having more education and information about how harmful this is and I don't know how to be effective at changing this and um I tend to have some activist friends so it's okay I only knew one or one of the people who emailed but um I told one person who told somebody else and I think throughout the course of the day people Maynard is a many people on Maynard are very active about social causes and so um hearing about this it's so counter to what so many of our community believe in I think the Foster the Foster like foster parent Community is particularly M's also you know and I know a couple people and they actually someone who I know who didn't email but has raised raised this as a concern um who is a different group but um I don't know if I guess the bottom line it was it's very consistent throughout and I don't know what the right answer is because it does sound as though Liz as though you you're doing everything you can possibly do to not get these students into the court system and and that's the bottom line is you know once they get in the court system we lose them um and I'm happy to add a sentence or two making clear the different interventions that are tried before but not I wouldn't use the word that it's required for us to try those because every situation is different but what about something along the L L of um you know we will attempt to try you know the school department like will try you know 1 2 3 four 5 six seven things or may try you know this list of things to do um The Last Resort bar like you know taking into consideration the situation is this um yes not a requirement to necessarily do things that aren't appropriate for the situ ation but the requirement to do everything you can other than a c right for that situation and I can't speak for other schools but I would never bring a CRA if the uh if probation and social workers and family services and everyone hadn't tried first and told me those are the advisors that I trust to let me know when it does need to happen right and I guess that the fact that you were saying you know there's been three C in the last two years well one High School from the high school right but one was with a family that went collectively so they had tried everything and they sort of they needed this you know in order for their to help their St their child so and it continues to this day right so may maybe Hillary you could um help Liz do another sentence that would um you know that would make you feel comfortable cuz that to me that's it just anything we can do to keep these kids away from the court um um I I do think there's certainly opportunity because it it feels like such a small section but really it's big impact so I I don't like that it maybe like you know it does feel like not say buried I mean it has its own but it's like like you know four lines compared to you have all these other sections about tardiness that are a lot more extensive and but this has more you know a lot more like Court legal implications that I think um are worthy of you know highlighting a little bit more of our due diligence and and you know emphasizing that so it doesn't feel like we're just this is the process and this and then moving on you know I think it feels void of a little bit more of what you're saying that probably happens but sometimes just codifying those th those efforts in some way um that lets people know that it isn't just we're just after eight we're going to you know automatically file right because when you read it at very high level it does feel a little bit like it's eight and then boom right and um and I think that's the impression probably where it feels like very like automatic and just you know without considerate and and I I don't know that's not it so I don't want to underestimate it all the effort behind the scenes but what you're saying here and all the work is not really reflective in that that passage at all so however we can you know emphasize and without you know hamstringing your you know your other options I would you know kind of maybe pose that back to to to kind of revisit that in some way um because I I think if you know if this helps one kid you know great um but to Hillary's point if it hurts one family and that's Perpetual that's something it's hard for me to you know to to sit with as well and I feel like we just owe the community a little bit more understanding of what this that due diligence that happens um even that paragraph by itself is traumatic for families who have experienced DCF and D yes like reading that you know I know someone else who read the policy and called me when they got to that page and said are you kidding me we can't do this and they totally freaked out and panicked and they're like I don't feel safe sending my kids at school should I homeschool like that and they're good parent they're really good parents but can be jarring if you have traumatic experience with any part of that process so I I I want to that's a very good point to recognize um as well I just want to make sure um marrow I'm going to go marrow and then I'm going to go to Alexis um so right now we have to have this section because the state has it is that what I'm understanding I think what I'm maybe is I think it is a recommendation that the state allows schools to pursue and from how I read the text the school is leveraging that Authority like they're saying we this is our like as Li said this is a tool in our tool box that we res the right to use under certain circumstances I don't think it requires I like the words as a last resort yeah I I I think way the way it says eight and then it kind of that feels that's what I was asking earlier on is that statutory that we have you know eight triggers the the sequence of events and it that's what I think we need to like work in that that area somehow um the feedback we got was very thoughtful and really opened my eyes to how harmful that paragraph could be without revision um I think that potentially listing some of the other things that are options can both help families feel like there is support available at the school and potentially suggest their spark um conversation [Music] um as opposed to feel like feeling like they could reach out with concerns about their child's attendance without fear of initiating something like this and say you know I think it's great that you have this resource available you know can you bring my kid up and talk to the team about my kid and how I can help get them to school on time or like it it may just help parents feel like there's more of a team and they can collaborate more um because some of the things you say sound great but it's not in here in this particular spot marrow did you have any other questions or on that um no I think I'm I think I'm good as you know as long as we're we are making changes because I you know I do I can see how you know this could you know if if you're if you're just reading this like what Hillary said if you're just reading this it sounds really like there's no um there's no working with a family it's basically you're you're going right to to the worst case scenario so um you know if we can change the wording to to help kind of allay some fears um and and that we're actually following through on trying our best to to work through um situations um and yeah I understand each each case is different because each you know student is different so that would be great thank yeah also Liz as a as an aside if I remember correctly um Chuck Cara Janice and um Janet the nurse they they've done home visits to students right to try and encourage them and and say they really wanted at school so I mean right from the get-go they um were trying to encourage them to you know to come to school is that still I left yes we still do that I left that thank you Mary I left that off my list yeah so home visits right Alexis oh you're muted sorry M sorry I do it all the time um so most of what I had concerns about has um been discussed because it talks about it's not punitive it's even written in there it is not punitive but it actually is very punitive um and so I had grave concerns about this section because listening to how you talk about it it feels as though the procedure and the policy are two very different things and that they're working against each other um and so to me I would be much happier um if that additional language was added of here all the things you know that include but are not limited to we can take we can do all of these things uh with students and families before we even go through this process that this might kick off these procedures um and these interventions that we're doing but I would also be very comfortable and I think more comfortable we have bit teams at colleges um which are very similar um at a high school level but anybody can report to a bit team on a student and so I would like a mechanism where it's not just the absence but app parent or teacher or somebody can report so that a partnership is created and add that into this procedure and make it known that we have this process and you as a parent or you as a faculty member have the right as if you are concerned then we want to work with you and we are building this into our procedure and our policy got it thank you you're absolutely right can I say something else too yes um so one thing I'm wondering not for in the handbook but in terms of when this process is underway and you're having these meetings with the SR and appr probation and everything would it be possible to you know have as an item on that agenda um you know how are protected how is this student a member of a protected class and it is that in any way biasing our decisions here um and I don't know I know this is something that different Social Services groups are trying to do when they're assessing a kid and like say you know okay they're from this minority group these are the cultural differences like and what what like to make to probably horribly in effectively but an attempt to see what way biases could be impacting things because I'm really concerned that the data is showing so much bias in mayard with these um and I don't know how that spefic specifically can be addressed but maybe if in the discussion it could be brought up and like you know if if a huge number of the kids are low income what specific to the low income situation is contributing to this or like is there a way that you can kind of look into that as the course of this year goes on and the um the school council that that is already done in bbst that's part of the school counselor's um Mission and part of their Association is to always boil down the data and make sure if we're talking about a student who's in a class or in a group that is just not part of the majority in our school that that's right out on the table and that we're examining it so then why do you think there is such huge bias in the number of cras um in mayard like how can we because this is a hurtful process and it's being applied in a discriminatory manner how can we make it less discriminatory I think that's another whole meeting I I have theories and thoughts but it's not my area of expertise it's something I'm curious about but yeah yeah I mean why why do we have achievement gaps Yeah by everything we've done and why are we again this year starting off our year are thinking about how do we narrow these gaps and why are these same groups coming up over and over again um I want to fix it I don't want to admire the problem any longer I want tools and I want to fix it I love that phrasing that you just said sorry about I don't want to admire the problem anymore because I think just from a school committe perspective sometimes that does feel like I know we've talked about like our data that we just get and then and then we're like What do we you know what are we doing how do we address that so sorry I just wanted to um take a moment to appreciate my last thing was really short it was just in the same Boston Globe article this morning one thing that a school said they did was they bought a Chevy Suburban that was available for school staff if the kids the kids missed the bus and they were not will willing or able to get to school by any other means they could call a school and a teacher would drive this SUV and pick them up and they found that there were a lot like which makes sense because if a kid doesn't really like going to school and they miss the bus and if they don't have like family at home that's going to drive them they they may be willing to go if they have a ride but not willing to go if they have to walk two miles I thought I'm laughing because I keep proposing um half jokingly Mrs York's happy bus I think we should buy an old bus s like a party bus I don't know people can get confused what kind of bus that is put big smilees on it and I'll just drive and pick up all our cherubs and bring them to school maybe in the there's so many ways that that could be helpful you know like not just getting the kids to school but that relationship and the talking in the car and knowing that someone will show up and um I had one more question and I know we have to move on we have a couple other sections and this but just to kind of close out and reflect I know the um the special education component um I just wanted to make sure that to emphasize that as well um yeah I do know that um that just knowing families that a lot of times the school refusal is an aspect you know that's triggered in in anxiety or when they feel like they're behind I actually it's remember my the first time I went to um the high school um a school council meeting where they had a student representative that sits on there and they this was talking about a plan a couple years ago when we thought we had to spit a plan to the state and that student um shared their personal like you know yeah a reason why students refuse is because anxiety because they're concerned about perception and they can't read and they're coming into 9th grade maybe and um you know their skills are and at that level so I just I in hearing the feedback that was shared I know an email about um about considering you know IEPs and whatnot I I I think that that is is a really other aspect of school refusal that's related to a lot of special education children or children who maybe haven't been diagnosed um officially but clearly might need some supports in that regard as well um and I would hate for that to be to see that you know those folks going down the the the rabbit hole of a CRA um when a parent doesn't have help but they don't want to have their child go through the the justice system necessarily so um I just want to move on if anyone can we just um so just circle back so what's the takeaway here so Liz you're going to rework and then come back to us maybe the well we're gonna have the whole other sections we have to go through and then I figured at the end we would oh all right we I meant specifically this one because this is the you know this has brought up so much discussion but I know you have to get your the um handbook out to to parents and caregivers I do yeah but that's why I was just asking what the takeaway is from from this specific section um maybe let's let's hold that Mary I just want to make sure because I don't know the other sections like what updates they have and we have I saw at the end there's like cell phone policy so I think that might have some I don't know some thoughts or whatever but um but I yeah I I think next steps is definitely something I want to make sure we're um touching on so if we're Liz if we're okay if we can go back to what you prepared um you had page 36 the technology expectations if you want to take a look at page uh 36 uh there's just a little bit of rewarding in there we talked about not streaming videos um video games uh social media in classes that's been a bit of a problem on our Chromebooks and that's something we're going to be taking more of a look at as we try to increase in academic engagement and we added AI got it um the next section page 56 we added language clearly stating that's parents families who are qualified for free and reduced lunch do not need to pay class dues do not need to pay activity fees and we had already had language about other Financial hardships we take care of our families at mayard high school and if they let us know we find a way that they can afford what they need to afford and we do want to continue to encourage families to fill out the free and reduced lunch application so that they can qualify for lots of different programs um college board has lower test fees Etc okay um before we go on to the the last part of which is the phone piece um just want to make sure if anyone has any questions on oh Colleen I see your oh Colleen has her hand raised we cannot accept food uh applications this year because we qualify for C we are working on a waiver form that is similar and goes by the same guidelines what is I'm sorry what is it the it's um they lowered the percent percentage used to be 40 you had to be 40% free of reduced based off of the federal list the state list okay yeah yeah they reduce that to 25 and we are at 28 so B this is besides the state giving everyone free lunches um we qualify like in the past some districts qualified to have free lunch for everyone this year we qualify therefore we cannot accept lunch applications so will you still be able to do like you know in the past of su automatically qualified you would send the letter saying they qualify because I know those letters and then of themselves help people qualify for other things if they ask we would send one out okay because we can't accept applications I know the College Board will need those thank you Colleen um Maro any questions about the technology piece or that section about the fees no no okay Mary anything about technology fees no just about the yeah about the fees um so is there maybe like a a general where we can't take the applications in that is there some is is it part of maybe the initial packet that goes out that says um you know if you qualify these are the other benefits that um you know that that you'll be able to get can we do something like that Colleen or a waiver form that will be available for anyone who activity right having rather than having people have to be proactive to to because I wouldn't have know I didn't realize that you you know that that would allow you the college um you know the the college application and that kind of thing so I guess if there's a way that we can make people aware since we don't have the other correspondent maybe blind already went out did perfect thank you that's it great um yeah because you also get discounts for internet and Amazon Prime and cell phones and right Alexis oh you're muted muted again uh I don't have any questions about this part okay marrow no and Hillary did I ask I don't know if I no I just wanted to say thank you for including this I appreciate adding the part about the class dues um one thing I noticed is today on Facebook a parent was posting G fundme to help with school expenses for her child and her child goes to Maynard High um and so I had me I messaged her and I said you know you could call the school and talk to someone at the school cuz that shouldn't be a problem um but it seems like it's starting to be on all documentation like it's starting to get added to everything that the school's putting out right like anytime there's something about a request for money are you sort of adding the a disclaimer as things come up yes and our generous athletic Hall of Fame can provide a scholarship for the athletic fee for anyone who wants to participate in athletics they just have to fill out a very simple non-marring application and the turn around is less than 24 hours if they need to have that athletic or that also covers wabm and a few other activities like um jazz band chorus that are a little more expensive to put on one of the policies that we approved this summer was um made a note about you know Art Supply suppes or different materials for class um if a if a child were taking a class that had a requirement for supplies would that teacher include that there's help available uh the high school we don't require students to bring art supplies or we provide the graphing calculators art supplies so I don't know if that might be younger grades that sometimes they say bring a purple marker a glue stick a that's not us we just say please bring something to write with and a notebook and okay I had one question about the technology piece um in does do the students sign off on like a separate thems on this handbook like that the the technology or a certain separate aspect that the they're attesting to the adhering to like the that particular part because I know that that has like the social media piece and you know a lot of that's just tied I just didn't know if there was like some you know other information that they signed versus like the parents you know reviewing both parents and students sign okay the sign sign okay I wasn't sure I couldn't remember if the if it was both of them or if it was just the the parent signature that oh maybe I should have just gone back and looked at the full thing sorry about that part I was looking at that part um thank you for clarifying all right and then uh I guess moving on to the the phone pilot so I thought this would be the most interesting conversation of the evening um we have been working with our faculty The Faculty have asked for help if you've spent time with a group of teenagers recently you've probably had to watch them on their phones while talking to you there's really solid research from all around the world that shows students don't learn as well when they're also on social media messaging Andor playing video games so the teachers were really asking for help please keep social media video games Netflix videos out of the classroom and please don't make the teachers have to be in conflict with their students so we've done a lot of research we've uh met with groups of parents groups of students groups of teachers and away for the day is an organization they have a website at away forth day.org and it sort of compiles all of the research about the um how hard it is to learn to resist your phone but also that there are real benefits that students start to feel After experiencing class without the phone in their hand the benefits include talking to the teacher talking to each other and really engaging in schoolwork which I'm sure we all remember from going to school before cell phones it's very easy to hide in a cell phone while uh when things are hard and the teachers really want students to come to them when things are hard or to work with each other so what we're piloting is called a way for the day it's the one the students chose the phones are to be away at the beginning of the day they're to be zipped up turned off zipped up out of sight out of mind away for the day if a student needs between classes to take a quick eat and see if their parents or their boss is messaging they can then um go to the main office or the nurse's office and ask permission to use their phone but no phones in class no phones as calculators no phones as notebooks no phones as watches just no phones in class phones are allowed at breakfast of course and in the cafeteria at lunch during students own lunch Anyone who is having trouble and is seen with a phone the teacher is just going to let Administration know we have a supply of the hard cases that are clear they're magnetized they're super safe they don't smash or break and the student will just click the phone into the case and pop the phone right back in their bag the phone will never leave the student's possession the big natural consequence is it's before lunch no phone at lunch if it becomes an ongoing problem there could be sort of days of phone suspension where the phone where the student is using a case for more than one day and that's pretty much it we're going to keep talking to the students about it and if for instance people are concerned parents and teachers are concerned about the students being able to check their phones between periods a lot of adults think that won't work that was very important to students so we'll just let the students know if that's really important to you just make sure it doesn't start bleeding into class time and making a problem we really want this to work it's the least punitive the least confrontational the least uh problematic way to deal with cell phones in school schools and so this is what we're proposing and we want to keep looking at it throughout the year I can report back to you certainly and the students will be very vocally sharing their feedback I'm certain we need parents help too so I'll be sending home a letter with your approval to parents letting them know what's proposed and how they can help um thank you I I was able to attend one of the the sessions about that um and I know that it was a lot of parent um you know interest in this and it ranged from no phone at all and versus phones during break time right and how to moderate that and I this this bag approach that you is that I'm guessing that's where you were talking about is that there like these magnetized like these bags is that that the phone would go in is that what this only if the phone is a problem okay if the phone is not a problem it's just off and in the students own bag all day okay and they can peek at it between classes and use it at lunch okay so and then there's a case it goes in a magnetized case that it goes in if the phone becomes a problem so it does it sounds like this will still so there's not going to be a standard rule for everybody like you come in put your phone in a case like right away when you come in the classroom right so that's not going to be because that was one of the I guess the thoughts we offered that we offered that the students don't want it okay well I just want to make clear I don't know if the students decide this so I just I know um because um the parent perspective was very strongly that the phone would not be from what I heard at the polls that were taken um because you guys did some excellent um you know do a quick poll what do you what do you think and the the majority of the one that I went to seemed as though parents wanted phones away from their children except for break time like so lunch um and so I as one individual am very interested I think there needs to be this this the way it's worded here I'm not comfortable with this because it seems like it's still going to be a lot of burden on the teachers to be like you need to put it away like you know monitoring during the classroom because the access to the phone might be on their person and by doing that tempting to do I've I've I know students who have two phones they' give one phone away you know as they no giving away they stay on their person no we're not confiscating the teachers will just call for an administrator or another monitor and we will take care of it what is that um because I was reading that and I'm a little confused what is that supposed to do so you're calling for someone to do what is that second person supposed to do and the student the case we're going to do a lot of teaching of the teachers and then teaching of the students so the teacher won't hand the student the case nope so is it this because the teachers don't want to I'm just kind of understanding why we it's to keep allow the teacher to keep teaching H that's what I'm trying to understand that that step like what is like I know the teachers obviously talk to students about like you know correcting behavior and stuff that's part of their teaching um you know like stop talking over here you know even if it's not phone related there is certain Corrections that happen during a class so it just seemed odd to me that this particular correction the teacher wouldn't do that they would call an administrator in to address it versus just saying hey here's your here's your thing put your phone in there like are we um are we do we not want to I would want to be curious why we would not want to do that instead of having a second party come in to give a bag to put your phone away that just seems a little bit I might be missing something I don't know it it's just to make it clear we've talked to the students a lot and we're going to continue to do teaching and the teachers are going to explain it and it's just to make it very clear that it's not the teacher's job to fight phones phones don't belong in a classroom and it's not just it's not about really breaking a rule it's about students learning to resist their phones and it needs to be um it needs to be a conversation that is sort of scripted in the away for the day way rather than a teacher might be angry or a teacher might be emotional you know it's we have a script of what we're going to use you know you made a mistake it's okay it's not a problem here's your case get back in there you got this I personally think that if everyone has the same practice in every class like you come in your phone goes in the back or whatever you know you avoid those teachers don't want to um police phones or have them be in a holding area or anything like that they really want the whole thing removed from the classroom that's what they asked us for because there becomes arguments and it's very very hard for 35 teachers to all do things exactly the same way and in a way that doesn't make students upset we have a plan this is I I hear that I I just think there's a lot of room for inconsistency in this particular way and subjectivity um that's exactly what we're trying to avoid I know then that's what I'm worried about with the way it is it's like you're going to call somebody you know if the phone isn't even on their person when they sit down in the class room then there's no need for like they come in and just put it to a certain area like you know you have you know off to the that would be an entirely different plan from the one that we created right I know that's why I'm a little surprised just hearing the sessions that we had to seeing this this still um relies on a lot of this is the um the version of a plan that puts the most responsibility on the students to please each other and themselves and to really learn how to resist their phones just the way we all are here in this adult meeting and I think my my point is I don't think students are developmentally um ingrained enough to be able to do that I think that that's part of where it's it's it's a dire issue with the phones that um raising phones in the classroom is not a new conversation teachers are having with students and yet students still don't self-regulate I know that there are successes in other schools that have done a Flatout you know model of you know your phone goes here and it's worked fine when students learn that this is the expected Behavior I go in my phone can't be on me it avoids that confrontational discussion of like oh I see your phone now I got to call somebody like that you eliminate all that because the phone is not on their person it goes right to the side um I would I think that I I would not be in favor of the this approach because I think that it is more of a students can't self- police themselves on the phone I don't know I'm I'm maybe I'm a being a Debbie Downer about that but because because we'll be reviewing it constantly and we have teams of students including our student council and our Sac who are you know have said we don't agree with it but this is the one we will buy into this is this is the most lenient we can be about phones and we you know have committed to try it with your permission of course and if it doesn't work everything we do will be less lenient and more restrictive but we want to believe in the students that they can pull this off marrow uh um so I have a couple questions um one is um what happens um to what happens in certain instances where um a student is done with all their work and they have say half an hour left and everybody is still working what are the T what is the teacher doing for those students where those students would normally turn to their phone they've already done all their work they would turn to their phone to like keep themselves occupied so I'm just wondering like what happens in that situation what are the teachers doing to you know get those students to either work on something else or you know I don't know I guess that's I think that's such an excellent question teachers asked for this and it in some ways it creates more work for them because some teachers have fallen back back in the day we had sort of a when you finish this here's your choice of this or that and there's less of that these days and the teachers have to be ready and it's just an excellent excellent question instructionally that is the teacher's responsibility okay thanks bones won't be an option right books are an option right more math problems is an option right KH Academy on the Chromebook is an option I can think of lots of things speaking of the Chromebook um I guess that's my next question because I know a couple of students who may just hop up tab that's going to bring them to something else that they can do to you know distract themselves so I know that you know teachers do have that way the way of being able to close all the tabs yep but part of my issue with that is that you know I know how I am with I've got a million tabs open and you know there are placeholders for things um you know I'm working on one thing you know I but I'm working on something else and I know that that this at least with one of my kids has been a problem previously where he's working on one thing and you know he's in a class for another thing and maybe he does open up a tab you know that he's not supposed to be on but the teacher closes all the tabs and he's lost some work so I guess the question is how do how how is that going to help or like what like I don't agree with that I you know it's if there was a way that the teacher could you know close out the specific tab uh that I'd be fine with but like closing all all the tabs losing work where kids are struggling to get through work that's not okay agreed and I you know I want one of the professional development activities we have planned is how to use that software to block watching videos playing video games and going on social media but still allow appropriate use of tools we have like KH Academy ISL newella where students can read the news you there's so many great ways to use Tech when there's a little downtime okay thank you but it won't be perfect at first no I'm sure please those of you who are parents please be prepared to just call us or email us if there's a problem we're all going to have to communicate a lot it's going to be a big change for the kiddos yeah Alexis and the teachers sorry um I have a question and I understand the policy and it seems very middleof the road compromise is between students parents and the faculty the teachers because you need the Buy in from the students to be able to move forward with this versus them feeling it's very punitive and the need for behavior modification in this sense but it also feels very honor codish um so from that sense at the beginning of the year are students required to read through this and sign off that they understand this policy and that they will be following it over the course of the Year yes and there's a pledge they can take if they want to okay um and so but you also mentioned that if it doesn't appear to be working and you need something stricter this is written in for I assume this pilot is for the entire year but if you're reviewing it over the course of the year is there a mechanism for you to go stricter yes yeah I wrote we wrote in that we're going to do a formal review each quarter okay so each every 45 days we're going to do a formal review and we meet with our student advisory committee I invite you now please come uh we meet with our student advisory committee each week and we will be getting an earful I'm sry oh I I'm sure you will um I have no doubt it's just those 45 day sort of check-ins that's not in this language so unless I missed it which is a possibility I don't think I didn't see it either it's in the very first paragraph So I did mess up this on academics no no it might be in the handbook it maybe not the very it's the very last um sentence of the first paragraph s very last sentence the first okay okay oh it just says we monitor closely so maybe just expand on that with like I don't know is that what you're thinking yeah that's what I'm thinking you know you're going to review it and there's the potential for it to be stricter um maybe I should add that yeah like it will be monitored like reevaluate every quarter and can be changed I feel like a student or parent can come to you and say well all you said in here was we're just gonna monitor it um and you can't make it stricter than what we already agreed to um um I'm sorry to interrupt just so I just thought perhaps you don't know and it may not have come up in the Forum that you came to but we have a few parents who are passionately against any time without being able to contact their children I bet and are very emotional about it so this is going to be hard for them those were my only things Mary yeah on that note Liz I I um a parent who has their child going to the pocker school um they instituted a stricter policy more like what Natasha is talking about um a couple of years ago and they said the hardest transition was for the parents they they heard more from the parents than they did from the students um I just want to say thank you so much for taking a step forward on this I have a file that goes back to 2018 where I personally did a lot of research on all the different school systems that were already doing and then unfortunately Co hit and it became dead in the water and I am so thrilled because all the research says that this is the way and you know we talked about the academic you know the challenges that we've got in that I see this is as you know really helping us students to do much better in school and just the attention and that um I also would have preferred to have it be you know you know put your phone in a pocket and you know put it in at the beginning of the year beginning of the class and take it at the end but if this is what we need to start with to get everybody on board and to understand this is the way we're going it may not be the Finish but we are going I I I do not want to hear that it didn't work and so we're not doing anything we're going back to the old way please tell me that that's it's gonna no it's going to go the opposite if it this doesn't work it's G to get more exactly like it's no because it's yeah I that's how I would I would say it's pass I mean I'm really passionate about it if even if the achievement Gap is is narrowed for even five students because they stopped hiding in their phone and started talking to their classmates and talking to their teacher that's it I'll be over the moon exactly yeah and to that expect everyone to do better socially as well as AC that's the other piece just to be able to have people these kids talk to each other um or be able to talk to adults or that there's like so many great facets about about this you know the direction that we're going so um and just as a further note when the first paragraph that you talked about you know it's going to be um monitored and and assessed every quarter to put that highlighted um in the additional language that it will only get it will only get more restrictive you know something like that so that they know that you know they take advantage of this and don't follow the rules with this well guess what like Natasha said you know it's it's going to get even more restrictive um and let them know like the majority the school committee was actually more in favor of a more conservative so it won't take much convincing to go that route so that's probably where you need to be like look I actually was like advocating just the soft door approach the school committee was the majority were willing to be like phone's out the door you know I don't think students would believe it when I filled out the the um survey in that meeting that first meeting I was one of the parents that said no phones at all so I want this at Fowler can we put this and I know the teer pressure there is enormous right from the kids as they are moving up my two I refuse to send them with phones and EV every week it's everybody my friends have it in school my friends have it in school they brought their new foot and it's the pressure is enormous even at that age yeah and I do know that the principal they they had sent out a survey toward the end of last year so they know I know he's in favor of of you know doing something like this so you're the I believe uh Keith was actually at the one that we went to I thought he was at one of the sessions to just to listen in or um some of the leadership so I I know he heard because it was a lot of Fowler families who have siblings in both schools and who were advocating um for that I think it will make the high school eventually experience easier if that behavior expectation starts at Fowler um and then you know what I mean then they by the time they get to high school it's not a new thing um Hillary um so I actually really like this policy um I you know speaking to kids who feel like they really want they feel more comfortable having their phone on them and I've said you know well then as long as it's put away you can have your phone on like having the phone in your possession isn't the problem it's using it during class is the problem so if you could follow that rule you can have your phone and um that's sort of the real life way um and so I really like that um I so a couple of one con I have a couple concerns and questions um one concern is I know a lot of kids that um don't speak English use the phone to translate and do we have students that are using the phone as a means of communication and are we taking away their mean to Comm means to communicate no and we have a couple of students who use them medically and they as well their teachers will know ahead of time if it's used communication or medically yeah it's like the pump or something yes yeah um and then um I I'm wondering um I'm sorry okay so one concern I've heard both from people at mayor as well as online with different forums about this is both students and parents feeling like they need their child to have a phone so if there's an attack on the school or school shooting or something they can contact their kids and I know personally I feel more comfortable if I could contact my child but the actual data shows that that's the what not what you should be doing um and so I didn't know if because that concern is so widespread um and I have that concern despite reading all the actual data would it be helpful to have um officer mccan um speak to the kids about how you know making phone if there is an incident I assume they've actually already been told this but if there's an incident Mak calling their parents is not a good idea safety-wise and maybe writing a letter to parents saying don't call your kids if there's an incident it's not helpful and these are the W reasons safety-wise it's not helpful um because I didn't know I didn't know if that would help negate that concern with the actual facts that are opposite um and students will have their phones if there's an incident you know many students as long as they grab their purse or backpack on their way to evacuation that's usually possible yeah um but for for the kids who might have their phone locked up or you know feeling like they can't call we will be bringing the magnet out when we evacuate obviously in a real crisis they'll break it and get their phone yeah but even while shelter place call yeah yeah um I guess I was just mostly concerned that so many people feel like if there is a shelter in place they're going to call their kid and having phones ringing is not helpful to that security plan it really isn't and we have talked about it and although most kids don't use their ringers anymore true um and then so picturing this in play on the first day of school and you know if the way this plays out is that the kids have their phones put away they get into class and five minutes into the class A kid pulls out their phone and does the teacher say like remember like no phones put your phone away and then like the next time they call the admin or or is this you know the first time they pull out a phone they just call the admin and if that's the case you know are there 35 of you that g respond five minutes into the first period of the day the first day of school um like how are you guys gonna be everywhere we'll get to if there are 35 calls Mrs doov and Mr preo and I will get to the students when we get to them I mean there may not be the complete iMed immediate consequence we are planning to divide by pods on the first few days each block walk around teachers often don't see the phones because they're behind the Chromebook in the back of the room so we imagine we see a few and pass out a few cases but really it's about the the only way we can be consistent is no warnings no Second Chances the case isn't that big a deal put it in the case um and then my um the last one is um I Heard a child say that um they when they get disregulated and upset in class part of their Copic strategies they've worked on with school staff is to listen to music to regulate um and that's possible on the Chromebook okay the Chromebook has music it has YouTube it has spot ify okay that makes sense yep and they can come down to the office and use their phone if they need to or with their counselor or nurse Janet that's perfectly Fest fig counselor yeah okay thank you for tackling this and I wish you lots of luck and patience I think if you know my general philosophy as an administrator administrators if you do things to students it really doesn't work well that you really have to do things with students and I have my own doubts about certain parts of this and I know I'll have to be on roller skates at the beginning but I do believe students know that cell phones have no place in class they do our students are smart they know that it's taking away from teaching and learning yeah I think this is great if they tell me all the time they get put in a group and if half the group is buried in a phone it's very awkward and they don't like it um a couple of things I could just um and before we then figure out like next steps for this um on that sentence that you were looking at to revamp or um seem more F about about monitoring and reevaluating piece um would it be something I'd be curious to see like I'd want to hear more as a school committee if you could report back to us um on what those quarterly findings are and I don't know I don't know if it would be helpful even to put that in there to let them know that you know that the school committee you know will be monitored or whatever um you know because it's it is policy and so that you know information at some point will be conveyed to the school committee for us to you know we would need to hear that from you if there is a consideration of um amending or or changing at some point um the social piece I I I know and kind of what Hillary was mentioning a little bit but um I know a lot of kids who are um on the Spectrum and that social engagement is very um foreign to them that that that you know the going into the phone and you know doing Roblox or whatever is that you know they might be doing is what um grounds them you know sometimes in a a stressful environment or whatever uh so just from a a counseling perspective it would be really and I'm sure this is going to probably happen anyway but just I wanted to say just to confirm that you know that the counselors who have awareness of students who fall into some of these profiles that they probably have you know no already um just make sure that like we're checking in what like part of your analysis is or you know your review and monitoring it is is seeing if some of that data um if we're seeing some of the disregulation or something that's you know with some kids who are you know of special needs um you know that we would want to understand how this policy you know maybe you know might need to be tweaked if if this is um often a a a component for coping or whatever and we need to you know um think of a different consideration for it or how do we Factor it in to make sure that we're not causing some unintended you know aspect where more disregulation in some capacity that um because people don't you know some students may not have the tool that they're they've grown used to um to rely on to um you know to to to calms um the other part too when we're talking about um the like the active shooter and all of that I you know I we I never grew up in a school that had to have that as a you know a thought of um you know what do you do what is the protocol like get having those drills so I really do respect the idea of that is a concern that students and parents um that's their reality now that we just never grow up H appreciating or having to really deal with to that level of you know um access to my children access to my parent uh a person in danger um so I I I think that's a very good point to you know and and to consider in that part is how do we make sure that whatever policy we approach at some point um that we are also informing of like if if there's no phone this is this is you know this is what that that alternative is um and how we can do that um and then my last thought was about um earbuds so I know that a lot of students will have their phone in their pocket or even in their school bag but they might have wireless earbuds in that are um so they're listening to could be like a game or whatever it is music during you know class so I it would be helpful I know there's a a part where you allude to it just says you can't um can't use your cell phone in the hallway or bathroom it says uh where is this say oh yeah cell phones aren allowed in a classroom this includes the use of calculator devices um note taking devices or if for listening to music can we um can we add in here about earbuds as well or just I'm just I think that's the other tool of how like for like there it's one in the same like they shouldn't be in classroom with earbuds in you know which might be um less visible but I think the expectation I don't know if your thoughts are in there should be that earbuds have not been a big problem at me at high school recently I think that phase may be ending it would be helpful if it just I would feel comfortable with outline like that is includes that so that kids you know they might think oh my phone my phone's put away in the bag but I might have one earbud in my ear listening to something else and that's you're still breaking the rule is kind of what I want to make sure is understood they may however want to listen to music with their earbuds that is on their Chromebook and that might be allowed during math during problem time or okay but usually they're they're more over the ears are back at the high school level more than the hiding the earbuds under the hair that was huge three to five years ago all right all right I just was I know that what I've seen recently and so I just wasn't sure if it's something that needed figured that we would take on things like um earbuds watches yeah if they become a problem because they haven't been that'll be part of the monitoring yeah okay um I don't have anything else I don't know if anyone else does on this so then we just take the next steps um so I don't know if you I know that last year you trusted me to make the changes we all agreed on what I I think I don't know I don't think that's going to work for the the the CRA section I just want to okay check with but I want to understand your your timeline as well so we can make sure so our next meeting um is it something that can wait till our next meeting before you send it out or is that really too late and I'm just looking at when our next meeting is it's after school starts after school starts yeah that's on the it's not gonna work I wonder if we could do just like another quick meeting or something um just about that because I can have the changes done first thing tomorrow morning I get into work about 8 and I can have them done before 9 so maybe we'll schedule like a special meeting next week for just maybe because I I think there might be also um like the article the you know there might be some tweaks to that or comments so that might be a good place we can maybe is that would that be okay Liz if we reconvene and approve something next week that's not something I can answer I think is Chuck here for the superintendent at this point oh Chuck you're up oh you're muted too oh I am here um we're talking about a meeting on the what day well we hadn't decided yet but we're just we want to I don't think the school committee is ready to vote on the handbook right now with just the suggestions so if we um if we meet next week that and we have a meeting we'll decide on what what day that might be um that will allow School processes to like communicate to parents and all that I I would suggest you contact Brian maybe tomorrow uh okay to see what dates work uh I I know from myself personally like the 22nd a week from today I'm I'm already booked okay all right we'll we'll see where we can squeeze in you know just oh Colleen has her hand know that he had suggested postponing tonight because of the issues to the 22nd um he doesn't have anything on his calendar the 22nd or the 21st for that matter um Natasha you and I well the 21st is the CPC meeting for the bleachers and the 22nd um Natasha and I have a town budget subcommittee meeting at 6:30 right um May yeah so maybe maybe and it doesn't have to be at 7 o'clock it could be earlier maybe we ask them to see if they can reschedule that one to Seven Mary or that we can't go to seven and then we can maybe meet for us for six yeah I don't know if that'll be work for everyone else well principal York when are you trying to have this sent out by I need it on the first day of school at the very least okay okay can do that yeah so why don't we plan on having just a special a special meeting on the 22nd and then Mary I can email um Jeff and and and Greg to let them know that we would have a meeting and we'll join them and everybody do six o'clock on the 22nd is that Alexis is that I'm not it help if um if the edits are made tomorrow to provide that tomorrow or Monday and we could provide feedback and writing maybe um just to make it more likely that it can be voted quickly on Thursday that sounds plan marrow are you um available in the 22nd or um right now I am okay uh oh Al and Alexis you you're on the fence I'm on the fence we're still away next week and I was trying not to have a lot of meetings next week to actually enjoy my vacation um and so I'm not a I'm not 100% sure okay all right well if if the whole week won't work then it pro sounds like it might might not matter if it's a different day could you provide feedback though Alexis will you absolutely oh great yeah absolutely okay that'll be good I'm working part of the day every day next week so oh yeah right okay so I think we have some we have a plan then so Liz you know you have some feedback you know punt that um back to Brian and Tool committee when you know and Colleen when you're um ready and then everyone will assess that um and then be prepared to either provide feedback um who for whoever can attend or if there's anyone who can attend um you know they can I would say email Liz and then CC me um if you're not able to attend just so that I can kind of see everyone's um and if you're not there I can you know make sure that it gets discussed with everyone else um and calling can post it tomorrow yeah um and I might actually um add the bleacher one there because I don't think we're going to get into tonight just um probably going to send a draft to the just to get it in there and then we can send something amended for the like comments because Brian had to hop off tonight and I want to make sure I um go over he's had a chance to hear about it so thank you very much thanks for your work on this to things thank you for all your time really means a lot to the students thank you okay bye um oh Hillary what's up um so we are supposed to approve the other handbooks as well now with their policy um timing wise that's not looking super reasonable but our policy is that we would approve any um handbooks relating including anything relating to conduct and so that would include the Green Meadow and Fowler handbooks um so maybe um I don't know if there was a plan about that but would that be something that we could we feel strongly that we need to do it like urgent right away before the beginning of the school year or do we feel like we can start that as a new practice with this in this year and so we can make sure before the next school year that they we have we allow space for all three handbooks is that a better I just I'd be for the latter yeah okay yeah okay so for the most part yes but the follow handbook is even worse about cras than the high school handbook okay um and so maybe Liz you would be share your feedback uh from the school committee with your other leadership members of some of the concerns that we've had so um that might be a like hey go listen to the meeting guys because if you that if yeah we're going to be reviewing those handbooks it's with clearly the feedback would be um something we would want to carry over um that we're not doing things differently in different schools they could potentially borrow wording too yeah or they could plug in whatever their own procedures are yeah in the format yeah well um Liz thank you for carrying the burden being the first one to you know hand hi I just uh just for legal reasons I'd be very reluctant for any of the three buildings to enter even the first day of school without the handbooks approved yes yeah so uh are you meaning Chuck that you think the other hand books we should approve them before school starts or I but before the first day of school I I I would really recommend that you take up all three handbooks uh next week we can talk about it with our leadership group tomorrow so we're ready but although you never you never you go in thinking every I always entered every school day I think every principal does saying today's going to be a great day and nothing bad is going to happen um but you know even on day one if something really unfortunate happened and a handbook was not in place um legally it puts the district in a terrible position all right so let's plan B is we will for the agenda we'll just say handbook approval and we will kind of leave it vague so whatever handbooks we can get um amended suggested or whatever they can all be sent to us I think in that context we we may have you know we you know have that protection approving all three of them of the expectation it might not go through the same rigor for the other two I think um but with the expect at least they'll know that next year going on it will be a little bit more of in-depth like review and then we'll approve at a subsequent meeting so that kind of bridge the the need versus okay great thanks check [Music] um okay so now moving on to um we have um alumni okay alumni Beacher bleacher project updates and planning um Brian had signed off a little bit but I know he shared some um in his superintendent report that he didn't mention because we were gonna go back so I think I'm G to just um kind of highlight that a little bit and then we can kind of if that's okay for everyone um so for the bleacher update he indicated that the maximize the seating capacity that the um and he just talked about the number of Spectators accommodating given space this is I guess some of the reasons why bleachers are necessary uh large audiences including sporting events and graduations improve visibility um just enhancing The Experience compared to a flat seating arranger uh space efficiency um and then they are that we are strongly considering I think this is where we had gone the 750 seat bleachers as opposed to the 950 um seats uh versatility bleachers can be used for many events as we mentioned durability and maintenance modern bleachers are made for more durable materials like aluminum or steel which is um better safety I think the safety piece they're all up to code so I know that when we've had students who have gotten hurt a lot of it is because they've their legs or things have gone through the bottom the bleachers and that's you know won't be occurring um in any new bleachers that we have that we build um Press Box the I know we've gone back and forth a little bit about different ways to address this but it looks like Brian's um approach or recommendation is that the the Press Box is necessary and the reasons that he's outlining is for media coverage it the elevating position um it provides a controlled environment for wabm for their student uh for the students and to cover events it's centralized control for um serves as a command center the central location provides efficiency and and also for Tech uh technical staff provides protection from the elements with which is important considering the media equipment that will be house their um professionalism and Prestige which I think is more a perception Thing versus a need um let's see um increase Revenue potential so I guess venues with a Press Box attract more high-profile events and I believe um I don't know I'd have to ask him but I thought there was some aspect where if you don't have a press box there might be some inel ability to host some Mia games I can't quite remember that was a concern that had been found to be true but I do believe he oh Liz is giving me the thumbs up on there so you know without a Press Box um we would not be able to host Mia certain Mia games um so that would be without a Press Box there and we've already just for clarifying purposes for everyone um that we did explore the Drone option which was raised at a quad board meeting before and Mia has a policy uh drone policy very specifically that they do not allow that for um for their their games and then Safety and Security by having a designated space for media the Press Box helps keep the equipment and and and safe and secure so that I think that is certainly um an essential consideration because um I know when they were filming our meetings in person for foul or just hauling equipment it was a big deal you know and that was like at 10:00 you know the game so I just am not sure how that would all work out if there no Press Box to house equipment and then you know does it all have to go back to the high school um you know that's seems like a quite a a big you know lift there for students and I know um what probably more often than not that certain things would either not be televised becomes too problematic or not streamed which I think would be a diser service to the community and our our students so I think just Brian's recommendation is that this is recommended to have the Press Box and the the bleachers um the cost for the bleachers is not 3.6 though that 3.6 figure was for 950 so the 750 and I uploaded a folder for everyone um there's a couple of documents I put in there is a bleacher so the 750 was like 3.3 um I think that uh and what I had put for the draft article was 3.4 just because of if we I don't know when they're going to do an election you know when this might start it allows a little bit more um I think that's that's what they were going to be doing with the 950 they were going to be like 3.6 and maybe put 3.7 so if there is any type of change um 3.4 would be the maximum the CPC application is is still which Mary mentioned earlier is still um yet to be um fully approved or allocated it sounds like they approved the project eligibility already now it's just a matter of from what they told they discussed with us at the last meeting they had figures from um the town accountant that had balances in each of their Reserve accounts and they weren't sure with the year closing what they could confidently know what was their remaining balances so it could their balances were could be like up to like 450 um so a couple of numbers that got thrown around were like maybe like 150 um or up to like 350 you know um they were very firm in that they were not going to be bonding for anything so whatever they in theory whatever they approved to allocate for us and this is just based on the last conversation they obviously could vote differently next their next meeting um but I would hope that what the expectation would be that that would reduce what we would need to seek a debt exclusion for so the number could go maybe three that we would have to depending on what we would approve the challenge that I yet to figure out and I need Brian I mean Greg's on vacation um is that they are not going to be going to special town meeting so even if they vote at their next meeting they're not putting forward an and maybe we can maybe push a little bit on that because I think they still might be able to within the window to do that Mary but at this point that they have they've already submitted an article for CPC and it does not include uh um the bleacher aspect so they said it would be very likely that they would be going to annual town meeting so I don't know how that fa factors into bonding a little bit like if we could bond for you know maybe three you know and then and then see if we get that funding I don't know how that would work with Greg if we so so we wouldn't if we happen to uh at special town meeting if we get a vote passing by 2/3 and then if say that there's an election that's called within 90 days and then that passes I would want us to be able to you know start right away without having to wait to annual town meeting um so that's kind of just some of the conversation that's Brian's information update I want to make sure because I know I don't want anyone if feel like there was like all these back there's a lot of happenings in the past couple weeks with this the select board um voted uh although a majority voted to put the ballot the ballot um it was had a pass by a 2/3 and it did not pass by a 2/3 majority so that's where right now is a little bit unknown they could potentially change after town meeting they have 90 90 days to decide to call an election and put forward um an article um um a ballot question if they do that Mary yeah just a question so um the 3.4 Million by going down to the 750 seats it also is reflective of fewer bathrooms right so that 3.4 incorporates that yeah so the threep point that would be it's it's a it's a smidge I mean it's not a lot I think it's like two minus two hand sings minus one toilet but also it was on the bleachers themselves is where you were um at 750 is where you don't need that third easement that went up the middle so um it it reduced that and then also the the cement like the what you needed for um the foundation um as well so that is I think those were generally the the major cost savings I'm sure there's a you know they have it a little bit more granular but um and in the folder let me just there's two different um budget let me just see there's two different there's you go into the uh bleacher folder bleacher and article information folder so there's um a budget for 59 um and then there's a budget um for 81 if you look at the 81 that's when Greg was had given he gotten this for the select board which is only the 950 seats at that time so he was like going in the high end and you um but we went back and you know we told him like we're going to go for 7 750 if you look at the um budget for 59 um that's where that 750 um number comes in so you'll see it has um at the bottom it's 3 point like 299 but the reason why I said 3.4 if you look on the the one he got for um there was additional design charges that were added um um between May and because our contract was fulfilled and we' we had gone back to them about a couple of different things and so they were billing us for their work um outside of you know what the contract was paid so that's where you might will see a couple of those additional uh designer efforts that were added into the 81 um budgeting cost and that's where if we have 3.4 or it will it will include the funding for those as well and that also includes the contingencies also that that may not um may not come to fruition we may not need okay right yeah so the contingency on the 950 um it has a 10% e um escalate escalated construction cost and then there was a 5% construction of owner's project construction cost um and these numbers have kind of kind of in our in our when we were meeting within the task force um they were going around like 4 to six so that's how they as they were redoing the budgets and recalculating because we remember we gone from like maybe it was last annual town meeting and then it went to spring or fall so that's kind of how uh I think Phil had been working those numbers so they're they're pretty good for a contingency build in for that in um on the on the 950 and I think on the seven let me see if those same numbers were on the 7 like the same percentages yeah it looks like they're the same yeah 10% and 5% five yeah I yeah so that's why I think comfortably I think the 3.4 um you know works if you look at the the one from May um you can see a little you can see the comparison from where the that um the difference where the the savings are and it's again it's a little bit here there so you have like the concession and bathroom building you see it's like $25,000 from and that's you know a couple of different things there and then um under the grand Sal and press box you'll see there's about 100,000 um within the new Grand stands the sizing so 50 503 for 950 and then 3.97 for the 750 and that's where that cost savings would be for the 750 and the smaller template for the Press Box yes um yeah that eight so that this is where I also need to get a little bit more um information because I don't think our current Press Box is a 24 foot I know it's not so I would be curious on getting a smaller like the 20 there was a larger one that it was a three room and that was the one that was super expensive they like I think we're all I know but even a 24 foot seems larger than what we have now and so I my question I would want to ask is can we even do a smaller one that's a module that's not customized because that's what we're trying to avoid right the 24t is is module where it just you know there so if they have a even small one that's our I want to confirm what our the current size of the current one is and um and if we could maybe even do a savings I don't know yet but that's this is this will that might be another opportunity if we're saying yes to a press box but maybe reduce it that something we can share with the public um as well which would be bring that number down as opposed to eliminating the Press Box Alto together I think the um just for the the town meeting because it seems like a lot of the confus Fusion has been you know we talk about 750 versus 950 and then we talk about but but there wasn't a concrete like now we're getting concrete 750 it's going to be two less bathrooms one less easement if we have you know the specifics for the Press Box at least there's no um subjectiveness to it that this is the plan um we've tried to squeak out as much money as we can but still keep the Integrity of what we're trying to do there is no industrial kitchen I just want to make sure that that is very clear for the public there is no actually it's a little con it's a concession and the concession section got um reduced further as well because they're um having that family bathroom they added as the option so um they're going to have a family room so you can lock all the bathrooms and just leave only the so it builds a little bit more control for use and for maintenance purposes as well yep um so I definitely probably missed this when I was out but are we um keeping the Snack Shack that's there now for storage yeah okay that'll be just storage what that'll be just storage okay um would there's no way to have the storage in the new building instead and then get rid of The Snack Shack um the uh director they talk about the coaches and stuff and they wanted to keep an extra storage I think they have like football stuff and they feel like they they need more storage so there is a small storage in the snackshot but it's more for like um have like electrical in there and some other stuff um but not the feeling was to keep the building that's there as well that was um um oh my gosh Mike Mike they yeah that was his recommendation that's one of the complaints I've been hearing from people is that we're going to spend all this money and then still have a crappy rundown building that looks unsafe and awful um I mean it's only going to be for storage so I don't know if you need a pretty building for storage if it's not going to be it's used oh are you frozen oh there you go sorry um Hillary are you can you hear me she looks Frozen she yeah um I yeah not for a minute okay yeah so I think it's from an aesthetic perspective if it's only used for storage I'm personally I don't really think it needs to be cute for storage but if it it serves a purpose that they need you're like yes we need more storage then I was like okay you know let's repurpose that and but it wouldn't be something that like people are I think accessing a lot um and then the one concern I had is a couple times I've heard about this family restroom being the one that's left open um at times at the rest of the rest I've also heard a lot about um in other locations those family restrooms are what needs to be closed off because um they're convenient for people who are choosing to um you know use opiates and um that that could be a location where a lot of people overdose and so um to prevent people from H you know doing that in that location those those family bathrooms are what's locked up locked up um so I thought that was worth mentioning that that's a that's a risk with those locations I think they would all be locked up overnight and so um from where we talked last about that they would be locked overnight they would only be unlocked for people who have reserved like the use of the space you know I'm going to use the field so then they would unlock it or for school use so other than that they would we would you don't have access to you know the areas at all I think even if you lock that one if you leave open the men's and the women someone who's in looking to do opiates they can still go into the men's room by themsel and in a stall and you know do that there I don't you know I don't know if it's much more of a deterrent um they definitely can I guess just just other public places have found that the family restrooms are wor the preferred location good thought um so for any for the bleacher dollar amount just to kind of figure out because I know we're gonna is everyone comfortable with 3.4 as our request going for town meeting Hillary you good with that I'm good with the dollar amount can we talk about the timeline for a minute though sure sorry I just want to make sure everyone's comfortable with that dollar amount first so I can mentally check off the things and then um Alexis that dollar amount seem yeah that seems okay marrow yeah Mary y okay so Hillary back to you um sequence of events we if we do this a town meeting and it's approved at town meeting then what happens it has to be approved by 23 because it would be for a debt exclusion um then the select board has 90 days to call an election and to put a ballot question for that so that could happen you know maybe there's compelling information that would convince does that 90 days mean it was just one person we need extra um is it is it that they have to do it before 90 days is up or if they want to do it they must do it within 90 days if they want to do it they must do it nothing can force the select board to put forward a ballot so even a town meeting can't force it um but again I think it's an exercise personally helpful for all of us you know to consider like um for people to can share their concerns you know either way so it could be that it passes 2/3 and the select board still chooses not to um but we would take that as a learning experience and you know we could we would reassess you know do we go to special annual I don't know you know do we need to tweak a project whatever that might be so my concern is and what I want to avoid is either voting on the bleachers at annual town meeting or at the spring election because if we need to vote for an operational override then I'm afraid that those two things being on the ballot at the same time will result on neither one passing um so that's my fear I think that if they're Bo if we have a school effort and people are there voting for school I think I would think the opposite I think people would vote for both school things um because you have parents who are going to be there um potentially and the audience you know might be happen to be more apparent but I think that there's always going to be I I don't know I don't know the right answer to to do it I mean let's just say um if it doesn't happen at special town meeting and we you know and we consider we would reassess you know what is the plan you know do we go to annual town meeting um I think some of that will be re-evaluating again escalation cost for a project you know um that's going to go up more I don't know if the project cost is $70 annually for a household I don't think realistically there's a lot of savings for every H you know like even for our you know saving $70 for one more year it may be worth the cost of you know the cost it won't be $70 next year for each household you know that cost goes up every every time we we delay it so um I don't know if it's worth $70 but again I know that there's a lot of things the town needs and I recognize that this is where every resident has to kind of decide what's important for thems and I think they should be doing that um okay would we end up in a situation where oh sorry no no no go ahead sorry my internet's like delayed um um my question is would we end up in a situation where um would we end up in a situation where people would vote for it at special town meeting it would pass that special town meeting and then we would decide we don't want to put it on the election in the spring because we want to focus on the operational override but we would be forced to put it on the ballot in the spring because that's when the select board would choose or if they would we at that point have to have it on a town meeting vote first in order to have it on the spring right ballot so so they have 90 days once to proove at special time meeting they have 90 days to put it on ballot otherwise the vote that we have at special town meeting becomes like you have to start over kind of essentially and so then if we um if then we would have to go back to have another town vote if it doesn't um happen in that 90 days so in that sequence of events though the challenge which the select board told us last year they didn't like was that um the election for the spring actually happens before annual town meeting or our town election Okay so so it would be that potentially the election they would put a ballot for the election before annual town meeting and then we would cope so we would still they don't have to call the election either then you know so we would again this is going to be a lot of monitoring assessing seeing where you know what it is um but that's where yeah they don't have to do it and if they don't do it within 90 days um after special t meeting we would have to bring it again back to annual town meeting if we want it to be considered and at an election that's that election Mary is that sound yeah so they actually it's not that they have to call it within night and the ballot has to happen within 90 days of that October 7th so they can't wait for 89 days to then say okay you know we're going to have the the ballot in the spring the ballot actually has to happen within 90 days of octob I think it's October 7th like the election has to happen with then yeah right that special election which would be kind of unfortunate because we we had an election so now but it sounds like the cost of an election um I think Greg was sharing maybe was like somewhere like under $5,000 to hold an election so I mean not completely unreasonable but it is um maybe that's that's where we are right now if that's the direction they choose to do um any questions about that and I I just wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to look at um the article if that's okay um so Greg's on here I mean um Brian's on here so I this language in the article was provided by school council um I highlighted let's see see so the part that um I included in in the comment so there's language provided by school council and then there was separate language I referenced from a DLS um just so we can you can look so the comment to the right is what DLS had as a sample um but just so you can see the comparison for what what they an example to what we got so basically um and school council had recommended that um identify where the bleachers and bathrooms were and concessions will be located in the article so that's where um we added you know at Alumni field and its perimeter because some of the like the curb work that's going to happen across the street that's going to happen not like right at Alumni field but for the ada8 aspects that'll happen there um and then any questions about the um Mo or the article language not the comment stuff I think it's I don't know I don't know how if we have anyone not a lot of room for tweaking but didn't it already get submitted no that was that was the ballot that was the ballot language okay yeah this is the article for the warrant I mean the only thing I I might add is that this is all being done and I don't know how to word it but um this is being done according to today's codes you know this isn't a subjective thing here we're we're doing this because of the the code requirements uh yeah so I in the sponsor comments okay I put a couple of bullets there just like because I obviously I'm going to make this um more but that's what I wanted to make sure like so if we can look over these are some of the bullet points I I wanted to expand on that I thought were important um but just to everyone so I just was you know going to make sure that we include like a history of like where we started so the like when like on this date the select board and the school committee met and we decided we would proceed with the project and then um you know and like what that funding aspects you know have happened since then um we would commit you know that we're committing to the 750 seats that we have a CPC application that's pending that could be reviewed um although in school property it will be intended for Community use um oh and also on this I was REM but I think it will be helpful that it will um we include um um a heart defibrillator um that was part of uh because I know that a lot of people were concerned have raised that as a concern that this will have a stationary you know access to a heart defi in the athletic area as a permanent uh theater I'm sure I spelled that wrong and um and then a water station water bottle station um okay all right and then um that the site you know I'm just make sure I'm going to elaborate that the site and the approvals have already been obtained so like the DPW planning board conservation um um board committee I don't know what they are um they are GNA just so how we've Incorporated um their feedback which was actually um the family you know the family restroom was based on their feedback [Music] um they designed to allow for the expansion of the field in the future when the track replacement is deemed necessary so I Mary I'm looking at my I'm sorry if if anyone has their hand raised I didn't nope no okay good um no I was just going to say if we just to move on because the meeting's getting late maybe if we have any other comments to add or to expand upon we could just put them next door if that's okay yeah so yeah I I kind of made I have a motion um because we sorry no that's okay um because I just want to make sure that the article language is I want to get that over to um fincom and and whatnot and then um thinking about um if there's any legal changes because Town Council also will have to look at it so I was going to do something similar that we've done in last meetings or prior before that you know that if if okay with everyone that you authorize me to amend it you know to conform with um any legal recommendations um or to you know to update um sponsor comments like based on feedback that we may we may or may not get out or else so Natasha when do you need to have the sponsor comments done um those are going to be I would say next week I'd probably want to have those like when we meet next week I this is where I would want between our next meeting is to give that for you guys so like this will be the final you know so we're voting on the article language and then the sponsor comments can like it be in draft form until we we meet next time okay but I want to send the article the draft article over to Greg and and finance committee and selp word for that is everybody okay with the actual language of the article I am yes yes so just why don't we vote on that and then we can all just make any comments about the sponsoring piece the comment all right so I'll U make a motion for the school committee to endorse and sponsor the draft article for the upcoming special town meeting on October 20 October 7th 2024 which seeks a town vote for a Deb oh not a debt Excursion a debt exclusion oh my gosh um a debt exclusion to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds borrow otherwise provide the sum of 3.4 million to pay for the construction costs for new bleachers Press Box bathrooms utility structures concessions and adaa accessibility improvements at Alumni field and its perimeter for meanor public schools and authorize a school committee chair to act on the committee's behalf to amend any article language later deemed necessary under the advisement of legal counsil to conform with all legalities in article intent and sponsor comments I can second any further discussion on this I think everyone's turning into a pumpkin yeah um all right roll call Hillary yes Maro yes Mary yes Alexis oh you're muted yes okay and I'm a yes um so Colleen I had that motions in the folder for that we can work on uh sponsor comments but I'll I'll let at least the article language um I'll let the fincom know that the article language is passed so they can be working on that um for the rest of our meeting I think it's late for po I'm sorry but I think it's policy I don't know um what do we do are everyone comfortable with just take until the next meeting I know I want to ask Maro and and Hillary because I know you guys have put a lot of work into this and we we can just wait until the next meeting not this next Thursday but the the sep one after okay all right all right so fine we might I don't know we might have more but well we might have to have a policy meeting too at that point you know that's not if we need to have like a one-off policy meeting yeah um all right so um we'll go ahead without a objection just I'll table um agenda item eight regarding policies um I don't have any uh chair report updates beyond what we talked about already um subcommittee tomorrow anything for you no this was it um Mary no no we're all nothing imperative okay Hillary no Alexis nope okay and everyone's good with their subcommittees right so we've talked about I know we talked in our Workshop but um so Mary and I will continue and then marrow and I we're going to go on the personnel and then um Hillary you and Alexis no no yeah you and you and Maro are you and Alexis are doing Dei and you and Maro are doing policy and then Mary you and Alexis are doing strategic planning and curriculum right okay and then I'm doing wellness and safety we actually had a safety meeting today that went really well so great um is it possible for the strategic planning and curriculum subcommittee to try to stay on top of exit interviews being sent out to families um and then maybe being assessed for strategic plans for the future um maybe for um not for our next meeting not not for the special meeting next me but the one after when we do the policy maybe we should each within our subcommittees um by then have a goal that's you know agreed upon like what your goal is for your subcommittee or whatever you're whatever you want to work on um and then we can kind of that would help me I don't know if that would be for everyone else so like we can just add that for your you know like this is our goal for this year and then we can kind of regroup and that that will help us when we as a school committe doing our midy assessment like how did our subcommittees you know how are they doing to work towards their goal um for the year kind of keeps everything on on R um consent agenda Colleen I know you sent over um so for warrants without objection I will move to accept the approved warrants for 2484 2500 25001 25002 25003 25004 25005 25 6 257 25008 okay they are accepted um and then I think that's no minutes what was there minutes did I miss okay all right so no minutes with um I'll make a motion that we adjourn second second okay um roll call Hillary yes Maro yes Mary yes Alexis yes Natasha yes oh man 1022 this was a doozy um Colleen thank you Chuck thank you everybody thank you um and Colleen I'll work on an agenda for the meeting for the 22nd and I'll email um Jeff and Greg about yeah change it to S because we have to have a special meeting before okay got it all right everyone have a good night night guys bye bye