I would now like to call this meeting of the N at Regional School District school committee to order right United States of America the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible jce as a reminder this meeting is being live streamed and recorded and is available to watch on both our Facebook and YouTube channels we'll get started under regular business the approval of the meeting minutes from our last meeting May 23rd 2024 Sal by Heather second by shaa any comments or questions all in favor I yes yes opposed abstained and I say yes there's five of us okay bills and payrolls to ATT those right and it does not look like we have a student representative here although I ran into him last night at the Texas Road House he was a fabulous waiter um so and it doesn't look like they have anybody for public input either for ndea and I don't blame them Su at all right so we'll move forward to our budget update for FY 24 the updates um just CL out our last pay RS this week we're also saying them and getting ready to start July one moving on to new things which leads us right into fy2 updates for fy2 there still the FY of course is um mate is still handling we know that the lot may be 21st 22nd so um they'll have to go to a supplemental budget but I we understand that it's a lot further along than it was last year so we wait for their final uh their final vote but we don't expect any changes that we haven't already discussed all right that means that and is up with our business manager report um you looked at all of the reports there went to down most of the grants our spend there's a few that will be rolling to next year um the general fund like I said we're we're closing up the final payrolls hopefully tomorrow um then doing some clean up the last warrant doesn't get paid until July 15th um so we still have bills things that are in so everything we have is inting which just to happen um there's no question go right into the technology votes too yep um so there's two leases um there's a Dell lease that is for student Chromebooks we do a least every year for a certain of Chromebooks um this year the number that our money is buying is quite a lot less than it has been um so Jared had to do a little bit different planning on his technology plan and the Apple lease is for iPads for the elementary school um both of them are preand and we do one for each of them each year and they just roll one falls off and we add a new one each year is there do we know if there's a reason why there was such a substantial increase for the DS is it it it it's both it's both the prices of things are just going up so our like when he has his plan and he plans on like X amount of dollars for the payment that is not buying as many devices as it used to like got groceries right yeah right um somebody want to make a motion to approve the technology we as presented so second motion by Heather second by cat any questions or comments all in favor I opposed and I say yesus we are moving right along tonight and W it's now your turn for your curriculum and instruction update that we have been looking so forward to likeing back y thank you we ar coming out here it's user error I accidentally hit Auditorium instead of Ka it's my fault so in the auditorium right now it's being presented oh we're in business um so I have um I have quite a few agenda items that we're going to get to under new business as well but in terms of curriculum and instruction um I have our end of year Benchmark data to present to you tonight um and we we've done this quite a few times so I'm going to do it a little bit different tonight I'm going to try to consolidate our data and give you sort of a big picture um and then I really want to give you some of our highlights as well um so when we look at our Benchmark data overall um you'll see Star reading on the left hand side and when we look at that pie chart at the top that pie chart shows us students achievement um in terms of those Benchmark areas um and so our our big note there is that when we look at our reading scores 54.3% of our students are reading at or above above our Benchmark um and when we look at our achievement level for math across the District 65.7% of our students are falling at or above that end of your benchmark um so no surprise to us here because reading has been a big area of focus for us we know that our math achievement has been higher than our reading achievement um over the last few years so this continues to be an area of focus for us I've also included on the lower part in each of those sections is not just our achievement level but now also our growth so when we look at our reading data um 64.3% of our students across the district in grades um paid 12 are scoring at or above typical growth for for their grade level when we look at beginning of the year to end of year uh when we look at math we have 65.2% making typical growth meaning typical or higher growth so that doesn't necessar it's a little deceiving to hear it that way because I don't want you to hear that as there are 36% of students essentially not making growth it means they're not making adequate growth um so as we really dive deeper into our data we unpack um a variety of different data reports to help us tell a more specific story about cohorts of students so we look longterm at a cohort of students and we look at their growth rate from kindergarten to first grade to second grade to third grade to see what that story tells um as I showed you in our middle of the Year data our teachers dive in a little deeper and look at the data down to the Strand level and the standard level to find out where there are strengths and gaps for groups of students for individual students and down to the individual student level so this is sort of our big picture um end of the year data um when we look at this by cohort U I want to highlight some really exciting growth areas that we've seen um looking first at our kindergarten our kindergarten from beginning of the year to the end of the year um we had an increase in 12% of students now meeting Benchmark which is a lot um our second grade for excuse me that's for reading um our second grade had a significant increase as well we went to from 44% of students on Benchmark to 58% of students on Benchmark um and when we look at math we saw high growth in students meeting Benchmark in grades one six and nine so those are our pretty significant areas um one area that we really are going to be hyper focusing on putting a plan in place for would be fifth grade for for all subjects and when you look here you'll see a decline for both literacy and math with that cohort um this is not a surprise to us this is the this is a cohort we had a lot of focus on coming up into the middle school this year the fourth grade data was was challenging um we have added positions we have been able to build to support this cohort including the reading Specialists position um to help um service some IEP needs but also additional service for students um when it comes to literacy so we we you know we do have some continued work to do um in our Middle School specifically and that grade five nowes grade six cohort um so over the summer we're going to be digging deeper into this as well as some other data points to really triangulate our data we'll be looking at this we'll be looking at their unit assessments or mcap scores um to really put a more strategic plan in face for that c-o of students um but again some areas I do want to highlight for you um is is you know our kindergarten saw growth in achievement from 64% to 58% um our first grade not only saw growth in the percent of students achieving we also saw a pretty significant drop um in the students that fell into that urgent intervention category which I know isn't up here on the screen but that that red category we had a decline um in students in that category second grade I have to say across the board we saw we saw pretty significant increases both for literacy and math in the percent of students that were meeting or achieving Benchmark and on the other side of the point we saw significant decreases I mean I'm going to show you one for example right here at the beginning of the year 6 uh 26% of our students were in that red zone that urgent intervention they ended the year with 133% of their students they cut that in half which which was a lot of hard work so not only are they growing kids on this end of the spectrum but they're also bringing that bottom up as well um so the second grade data is really shining for us right now uh our sixth grade saw a a similar pattern in terms of moving students from uh to or above Benchmark uh for both literacy and math um and then our ninth grade math data had significant growth as well so yeah please I'm curious about the um specializ aspect of it like are those kids in these numbers and like are the gaps closing for numbers so this this data is for all students unless they're on plan or have an alternative assessment plan because of their I um which is a very very small population of our students so this data represents General Ed special ed Title One any student in our district um unless they have an alternative assessment plan um we do disaggregate the data and look at it by special education or students who you know various subgroups um I off the top of my head I don't have that information handy right now but I can get you that information curious to see yeah it's a good it's a good question so we do like I said we know we still have work to do particularly in the Middle School literacy realm um we did put in place this year some literacy and action classes to help increase the amount of literacy instruction students were getting um specifically targeting some standards that we knew were focus areas for students coming up um we have had some staffing challenges um that have you know not make an excuse but there are some things that we are unpacking um you know to say okay where were there some inconsistencies for instruction with students was it in curriculum was it in Staffing was it in you know assessment and rigor uh and so forth um was it in intervention planning uh so we really are unpacking and digging a little deeper down into those areas the teacher know our teachers are working really hard this year analytic view has been a really helpful tool for them too and so this year we really have been doing what I call the soft roll out of this platform with our with our teachers and their staff so that they could really kind of figure out how to navigate it we were building it this year so we were adjusting and changing what some of the data platform pieces looked like U so as we go into next year we're going to focus a little bit more intentionally now on how do we how and when do we use this and how do we make instructional plans um which we dabbled in at the middle of the year you saw some of those um sample action plans particularly from our high school um and so we'll be putting some systems and structures in place to tighten that process that going into next year awesome thank you thank you Molly all right moving along looks like we have some Surplus items here is there list here there's a just the just supposed to be an attached list of very old and broken Beyond repair MacBooks was last time I thought I thought might have been there worthy in library that was anyone talking about it in the office that we had surus okay just wait till next time to address it not that sound good just wait yep that's all right and all right now move on to the superintendent formative assessment um so first thank you everybody for completing your own version of Dr Fan's formative assessment um I think that this process went pretty well um I'm sure that you all have some feedback on how we can improve it for next year um if we if we just do a quick like reminder of how the process works it is a two-year cycle and so this this process tonight is the um formative assessment so it's a it's a checkpoint um in the middle of of the goal setting um process where we weigh in and measure where Dr cment is in terms of achieving his student learning goal and professional practice goal as well as the two District impovement goals um so our report here is set up with um an overall evaluation for um the professional practice student learning goals and then the two District Improvement goals and then a section for each one of the performance standards with the indicators built in um so let's see if we look at we're able to pull this up on the we're also going to put it up on yeah for some reason we tried to PRM that can't get that the front facing think I have Jared in my ear being like when the last time you updated your yeah shut computer update your computer here we go we're in business all right so that front page there um is the overall performance on the performance standards is the second part for step two so we'll look at those first um so the performance standards are sort of chunks of what a leader or even an educator does within the district um and indicators are more specific pieces of information that we look at when we're deciding if there's progress um towards beating the goals that were put forward um and just meeting those professional um expectations in general so Dr cband um scored proficient in all four standards um and then for the professional practice student learning and District Improvement goals um met in all of those as well so we'll go through we'll do a quick summary of the feedback um what Jen and I did was we took all of the feedback that was provided and put it in the evaluation um so as not to account um somebody's you know personal feedback that they provided um because all of it does matter so overall um the committee was very first of all impressed with format that um I know took a lot of time to put together um it was definitely so much easier this year having the links tied to the indicators tied to the goals um we made our job so easy so thank you for doing that lot of the credit goes to honestly Ming but we've we've tried we've worked thank you for the feedback we're trying to make it as easy as possible it's because it's really easier for us as well yeah and then and having those L be live so as you update those documents we have access to them is really key so that was super helpful um let's see here um we re recognize your commitment to meeting the academic and non academic goals of all of the students in the district your attention to using data to inform everything that we that you do within the district um and many of us noted that the um culture within your building seems to be wonderful um there's a lot of positivity and a lot of a can do attitude um which is really important so if I flip to page four should speak yep that's where we are right now we look at the student learning goals um this part was beautiful as well lining up those indicators for which what went with the student learning goals was amazing so the student learning goal um is by next June will identify and address students needs across the academic and social emotional domains to ensure Equitable educational opportunities for all students to increase the percentage of students at or above grade level in ela and math by 5% and decreas in Behavior referrals by 5% and that also links to the district Improvement um plan 1.1 and 1.2 there's more than enough evidence here to support that um you're making significant progress towards that goal with the the you know expectation that you will have met or exceeded for next year for the summit of evaluation um a professional practice goal and those two indicators so standard one evaluation um standard four continuous learning professional practice goal is we will ensure all administrators teachers and staff receive ongoing feedback an evaluation that is evidence-based timely specific and actionable which links to the school Improvement plan plan 3.1 and 3.2 again ample evidence to support that um you have met this goal um your first district Improvement goal is connected to standard three which is family and Community engagement and then standard four um communication within your district for your um Educators and staff and that goals to strengthen relationships through communication that is timely responsive collaborative and inclusive um again lots of evidence there wonderful evidence that proves that you have met that goal um which includes those snow day videos that we all love um I know I look forward to them I can't wait until we have a snow day so I can see the videos the the communication surveys especially included the students in those surveys this year um wonderful um the additional meetings that you encourage um community members to attend and school committee members to attend um really makes that communication Stellar anything over District Improvement goal to so that was connected to standard three which is management and operations of the district specifically fiscal systems and that goal is to improve districtwide systems to support learning growth and achievement um analytic view it was evidence educator and administator evaluation all of the professional developments that were offered throughout the year the learning walks that we heard about um strengthening those T teams new health insurance ongoing Alice training the addition of the MVP program we can go on and on Dr Cass with all the evidence that you and Molly have supplied here um and have met that standard as well so go to the next page here um so if we just look at the standards so for all of the indicators tied to goals we have scor you proficient um again the committee is very impressed with your um data informed decision-making and how much you emphasize that in all layers of leadership throughout the district for standard two those two indicators that you've chosen to link up to your goals which are scheduling and management information systems and fiscal systems um you score proficient in both of those the committee highlighted that we really appreciate the um the evidence the successes of this year's budgeting season and how much effort went into making sure um that all of the important people that are involved in the budgeting process we involved and there were no surprises at the end um that's very much appreciated as well as the time and attention that you spend and the district spends on the social emotional crisis and handling social emotional learning of our students for standard three which is family and Community engagement and those two indicators uh which is engagement and communication um we have rided you as proficient um Community the committee recognizes that um we did a lot of work this year with uh Community surveys and student surveys um making sure that feedback guided um all of your decisions um as well as the number of personal meetings you have had with people who request your time um I'm not sure you ever say no to anybody that's wonderful U people feel very connected to you and to the school um we recognize the positive culture that was within each building um one of the committee members even says dare I say happy um happy is such a wonderful word I don't know if we hear that too often in education especially this day this day and age it seems that it's just really hard and it does feel happy it looks happy it feels happy um then our last one here is indicator four sorry performance standard four your indicators were communication with your stand staff so strong interpersonal U written and verbal communication skills and then continuous learning so professional development and the idea that you um celebrate and encourage teachers to be reflective and to U be like law Learners you score proficient and both of those categories so overall your committee is very happy with the work that you and your leadership is doing um and we look forward to reviewing all of the evidence that is live here as well as anything that you add throughout next year I know we have end of year star data now that we can add um and um continuing the work into next year can I I have some questions for us I do that for the for the for the assessment um I don't know where to bring that up but I have some ideas for us because this is the first time we use this platform right um it's the first time we use that form uh a copy for everyone to so I've looked up like a ton of examples one just because I'm used to writing gues I feel like we need to have our um lettering the same size and the B like in each section the same size and like spaced out correctly so this is the um this this is des's template no no I know but like we copy and paste right and put it in oh yeah so so like we need to like make sure that our copy and paste is the same font or the same size and space out evenly and I also think that um we all spent a lot of time writing our comments and very thoughtfully I I and I don't want to know that someone might have and I don't think she has but I I'm just saying this as a critique like that someone might have like um modified my statement or anything but maybe next to each like comment we write the initials of the student the school committee member who maybe have written the comment that is posted in the um platform I don't know just ideas okay yeah we can we can talk about that for next year when we um head into the evaluation season figure out it works for everybody just to since you brought it up just to um a comment like when I got my form I did find it was different like who had access to it and who could have edited it and I just thought that was a little a so I went in personal because it was mine to change it so I did and and I don't think there's any ill intent but I do think that it would be good to know that like is exactly what yeah um so maybe for next year what we could do is when we make the copies to just make sure that only the person who copy it is has editing access to it so saying yeah and then maybe when that when the comments are are copied from that specific um person's work that the initial goes next to the comment that they usually usually in this form it's supposed to be a um compilation or you know not even necessarily a copy and paste but a a usually summ now each of our individual ones are still always going to be disable so if Dr cassant wants to see exactly which one I wrote he is within er's right to request because we could even one thing we haven't done was we probably should have printed these and signed a each and then rescan them in yeah and then that way if it's a PDF now not as you know worried about the Fidelity I mean I'm not personally worried that someone's doing that right now but I'm just saying that it could happen and I feel like that would be a good thing to you know just come okay yeah that's easy enough to make sure that a professional yeah sure no that's okay um easy enough to do so if we can if this is the format that we use next year we can make sure everyone's copy um only gives editing access to the person who copy it is but uh what Heather said is is usually how we handle it it's usually a summary um I think it was tough because there was a lot of feedback provided this year is great um and it's really hard to know what exactly to put in there especially because so much time and energy goes into providing the feedback and it's hard if I tweak somebody's words or try to take two comments and merge them together it would appear that I was messing with someone common surg or I mean the origin and we never want to do that um but you know as with anything it's important that you know we consider the the feedback for for next year so we'll talk about yeah yeah in doing last year last year being the first time I did it I did some research about just other superintendent of vals and you can find them online and it's both ways I've seen initials next to people you know committee members or there isn't so yeah and that's that is uh there's no we don't have to um you don't have to say who gave what feedback that is sort of a what you're comfortable with um but certainly something that we can consider for next year when we start the process again so we appreciate that feedback if there is any other feedback for of an entertain a motion you accept the for I was just curious if Dr C wanted to say something you don't have to I don't want to put you on the spot and just Lord knows we've you know when you're evaluated in the public um you quickly develop honestly a thick skin and um first off I want to thank um I want to thank everyone for the work that they've done regardless of the format this is a hard this is a hard thing to do um especially if you're not used to it now we have members who are are in the business so you know you know about goals and we talked a lot about that last year about being evaluated on what you're you know on on what the goals are Etc so I want to thank everyone for the work because I I would imagine that it's not easy to put all this down and you know and coate in and figure out you know figure out what's what I so I I thank you for that um i s in my letter of my mid year that the work that what I'm evaluated on honestly is the work of everybody else I just make it happen or you know we or we in other words we you know we make sure happens give the resources the time the space to make it happen um so you know for every positive that is here truly is a reflection on um my administrative team the teachers the staff whomever just literally everyone else but me quite frankly it's just about you know making sure that we're keeping people focused and um you know getting them to where we need them to be I will tell you that I'm far more critical of myself than than folks actually you know you know or um I take the goals very seriously I get frustrated very easily when it when we're not able to move a needle you saw some things today that I'm not I'm not pleased with I'm not happy with we need to do a better job um you know there's some circumstances that were well out of our control we tried to hire people you know to identify and to to stem the the tide you know in terms of some especially uh you know with literacy or reading in the fifth GR grade we we knew we've known since the third grade that cohorts is the third grade they you know their scores were low they were definitely the you know the hairs of Co um and so you know look there are some things that can give me away but you know we're we're very focused on that um you know all all I can ever do is is keep doing you know the best that I can you know and hopefully encourage the folks around me to do the same um I it honestly in terms of critique I look forward to that um I when I say look forward to no one wants to me you know feedback is one of those things that critical feedback it's great and you get it um and then you go oh that's that that didn't feel so good you know especially if you're working really hard at something I've said that often um but you know with that said if folks do have issue with one way or another I I am very open to hear that um you know and that'll that can start a conversation you know if nothing else um it's public record all your comments are public record so someone literally who's listening tonight could say I want everyone's comment and I want the names by them everyone knows that that's not a it's not a secret so um if the school committee you know wants me to know where to improve they certainly have the authority to do that um and just name the time and the place and will will will talk through it so certainly whatever you know if I'm better then the district's better then then the kids are better um but I do appreciate the thoughtfulness I think a lot of work goes into this from on on all ends um you have a lot of information here um if you have looked up if I me if you have looked up other superintendent evaluations very very rarely you're going to see this much EVS for goal um now some if we're not Mark if I'm not if I'm not hit the mark then I want to know that but we offer a lot of information not to snow you not to vary you with it um but to show you that we are doing a lot of things um you know to try to do whatever the goal you know is and so yeah so we've we've got a pretty good um sou from C police Molly certainly um took it to a whole little level this year with of How It's presented in terms of how the information is presented so I definitely want to give both those both folks um you know could do but I'm again I'm open for any type of you know constructive feedback um but but thank you very much for the time in creating this um so one one thing that I wanted to add um is that I know when we look at the different categories for scoring um proficient is in that bright color because that's what you're going for however I do think there's some areas that you in the district are clearly exemplary um and it is important that you under that you know that um and I think that that's in the area of data informed decision making um I think the difference between proficiency and exemplary is Exemplar is more when you're modeling or you're an example for other districts um and you certainly are in this area for districts around us um for how well you you collect analyze unpack data and use it to make DEC decisions that truly benefit your students um as well as communication um I think sometimes we forget because we're in the sturch district and our kids are in here um we sort of take for granted the communication and how much there is and how much we know about what's going on in our students lives um it's not like that in every district and it's appreciated um and I think that it's you've made so many gains in the last couple of years in that area um and the a out you're open to you know how can I bring more people in um and I think that in that area you shine as well um and so this is the our midcycle report so we look forward to uh trying to check off some of those exemplary boxes for your Sumit for next year well and thank you because again if I may be candidate as I try to be as much as possible is that I'm at the point of my career where exemplary is great if I get it or not okay all I care about truthfully is doing a good enough job to make this place better which I want this place to be better I want these kids to I want these kids to have more because they deserve it uh I want these staff to have more I want them you know to be more engaged at times but I also want to help them do that so I will tell you that I appreciate all that I think communication can always improve on we're trying and we we've done some things but I appreciate that I got to tell you where we shine the most and I and I think you look at two districts had to go and vote their budget um the last two days one of the Striking similarities between both districts um is they had no information no one knew we and from a fiscal sense do better I'll put us up against anyone except for Worster who literally is my uh my professional crush the business um he knows and I've told him if I could wear a shirt I wouldn't um he's fantastic we've learned a lot from him we've stolen a lot from him um he knows that too I've told him um he's fantastic of course they have a you know they have staff of 30 but they should because Worcester is like 10 times this may be more than we are but with with you're talking about with anarie myself um you know and and now Molly we actually provide these everyone with more information and backup than I think a lot of places with uh with staff who triple RS um you have it very good um you really do and I'm not saying that because of M it's woman to my right quite frankly um and both to my right um I'll thr in it too but but in terms of you have't very good and sometimes you don't know that until it's gone yeah you have one of the best business managers within 50 miles in any direction except for ler he's fantastic we BS to talk about it I'm just saying wow you do you're very lucky and so that's where I think we really have done a job in terms of the examplar stat person all right so I would entertain a motion to accept the formative evaluation report as presented so okay motion by shaa second by cat um any comments or questions all in favor opposed abstained and I say yes we're going to skip over the next part and move on to the NC conference which I know we brought up um at our last meeting so that's scheduled for Wednesday November 6th through Friday November 8th I'm pretty sure Susan sent out an email to the committee asking to let her know if you're able to attend so we get that early bird um discount so let Susan know if you're planning on attending or not um so by July 15th she did they put it in here so by July 15th Susan needs to know or to save um save some money for the district okay um next we have a the draft of the student handbook attached we're not doing anything with this tonight other than just letting the committee know that it's here so you can review it um it has not been approved by the district lawyers yet and there there's a a decent amount of changes in there so we want to make sure that um it gets the stamp of approval from the legal team before we um start sort of digging in and talking about those changes but it is here now so you're you're look at it just know that there there will probably be some additional changes to it before it's presented um hopefully at the next meeting the two major areas if you don't mind the two major areas if you're interested like gosh what are the big areas to look at would be the behavior and discipline section um we worked really hard to with our EV team and some other folks to kind of outline different tiers of behavior and what would be some proactive um both consequences for lack of a better word and also um restorative practices so you'll see a lot of change in the behavior discipline section and then you'll see significant changes in this um dress code section that our Equity committee um and and other folks have had quite a bit of input on so those are the two major areas I would recommend if you are wanting to spend some time before um the finalized version comes your way for Le would be the two areas I would recommend that time [Music] say I was looking through it and I did notice like so there could be changes and updates but I'm glad to know that it's not it's still being worked on so if you have feedback please send it my way that's why I okay thank you I'd love to do that please and then we have a revision to our program and study for an amazing reason because now we have the MVP program that needs to be in our program um so that and LA paid is it 28 38 38 he had e it so a 38 here are the additions for the MVP Academy so we talked about this at our last meeting we've got um uh carpentry and electrical are the two um shops that they can take and so the descriptions are in there how many credits they are what level they [Music] are everybody said some time to look at it and entertain a motion to approve hold on P to update motion to approve or to update rather the 2024 2025 program of studies inclusive of the MVP program who was my first was second motion by Cat seconded by k um any questions or comments I just had a quick question did we come up with these or was it more like working with M as well was it a this so the description itself was a collaboration with the three sing school districts and Monch um the credits are specific to districts so districts decide what the credits they aot for the program are and so we looked at both the description of the course content for each of the courses more specifically Mass core requirements and what we need to be able to um assign credits for the students coming in with what we're able to provide for academic programming here as well on their um academic we when they're here um so the description is the same um it'll be in the shared um handbook we have a shared program handle those descriptions you'll see word for word um that the credits will be assigned at the district level as a non- teer thank you thanks R all right all in favor I opposed say yes unanimous all right next um we realized last meeting actually I think shaa pointed out that would we um assigned committee members to our um leis on to the other committees that we work with we forgot our PTO we on um and we are more than willing to vote for Pat to consider being or to continue to be on the p on somebody want to make a motion to Appo C can I just be stickler about this it says nrsd PTO it's t PTO oh okay I mean the high school might love it but so then I'm actually gonna I need to amend the motion then because I when I read it I said nrsd so um so then I'm gonna say it correct this time sorry so I would entertain a motion to app point cat viel as the Le lto so second um all in favor opposed stain and I say yes thank thank you K thank you sh for your attention to detail it's a good thing definitely good quality okay time for the superintendence report thank you um I'll be brief I know that I sent an email out and um the obviously has been posted but we did receive resignation from Matt hway our PPS director um he is moving on to another District um and so we will have him until August 1st um and again we've we've posted a position I think it was either Thursday or Friday last week um and so we're in the you know we're in the throws of of um of that process um you might notice that there are parking lots I have some we we're we're full we've talked about that um we went from 62 seniors give or take um to be 90 next year so all of a sudden you have 90 seniors and let's say 60 of them drive I'm just or 50 of the drive it's going to be far more than when you have classes of course 60 and you know we've increased staff numbers by 34 or five six all different places because so many kids so what we've done is we've expanded well we've created a brand new parking lot on the um uh relates the back door to the cafeteria the receiving area of the cafeteria that needs to be lined um we have a long central office I'll call it the central office parking lot but there was a pretty good uh I don't know wash out that needed to be fixed but that will also turn into parking believe it or not so we'll just park this way think of the woods right you drive in there's like a woods but there's some trees be NOS again um across the street that that dirt parking lot was gonna someone was going to drown eventually um so that was fixed people were fishing in it um at one point but uh but that has been leveled out and the entry and exit ways have also um spent so we we're we're working with the police department because again we're always looking to see you know and we we have these parking issues but yet we have an entire parking lot in the back that's that's that's open right for most of the day but that's where the buses Dro off kids and so it really was in response to some safety issues that were identified I don't know three years ago which again we still have a lot of kids so I'm not sure if it um it changed much but we'll be talking with the SRO I think sometime tomorrow Mo but we have those and we're going to be we're actually having to create a park so more to come on that um from from the we actually discussed this a year ago but there was a very was very famous court case about two genders shirt student I think was in Middleboro Middle School war shirt I think was middle if I if correct please forgive me but um was told to take it off went through the whole process went all way to the federal appeals court and the um the feds upheld the barrowing of the shirt um and and they don't know so so the school acted appropriately as in accordance with its handbook um it's a very interesting case if you're interested at law um First Amendment rights come into play here but in schools kids do have First Amendment rights but they are bridged a bit and and there's some some very interesting caveats to all this so we'll we'll watch it to see if it goes any further but it has been it's been upheld and I thought that was an interesting to bring up because we actually a lot of what they're probably looking at is the um our attorneys are probably looking at the dress code and not only that in the handbook Etc because some of this stuff is you know Le made it to this far so I thought that was just kind of an interesting kind of intersect um and last but certainly not least graduation was fantastic um and once again the folks who actually make it all happen did a great job if you were there um the speeches were fantastic the crowd was well behaved it wasn't too hot thank god um and um it just was it was just a great night it was a great night and U it's always it's one of my favorite and sad saddest days of the year to see a bunch of kids you've known for a while leave and year happy for but um selfishly you want to stick around maybe not all you know you want him to stick around so graduation went fantastic that's again in credit in the high school and all the form to actually put that together SCH oh scholarships thank you sorry I didn't seeum um there's there it is so for a small District I have to tell you um I don't know I'm sure there are districts that are as small as us who have this type of money for schs but um I want to start with the no the Anthony ke Seth sath scholarship has been in existence um since of I guess 2008 2008 yeah thank you and it was a very large sum of money that um was obviously based on behalf of the sthen family for scholarships so for 15 years the $1,000 scholarship was given out to the top 10 students who the graduating class Mr Sapp's brother Conant I'm sure I say that right um managed his estate he passed away in 2022 and at that time both brother Estates were liquidated in the Nance at Regional High School was left over $1 million um to provide scholarships to students the funds are managed by Vanguard charal and each year or March 31st value of the funds zoned and check for the amount of will be given out depending on that but this turn this last year 2024 uh we received a check for 66,6 67,000 to be distributed number of students based on a certain criteria so um so that's in next year we are hopeful that 20 members will receive $1,000 ENG go from there so um so that's fantastic and you know obviously for you know for folks to think about nanet um you know in their estate planning is just something incredible as far as I'm concerned and I'm certainly gener beyond words um we also received um another schol Briant e Ward library donation um Brian Ward grew up in philon and graduate from erans he was class since 1964 also served the N Regional school committee for over 20 years many years of which he was the chairman Mr Ward left $5 5,152 donation to Nance at high school library and this donation um that already been used um to purchase the ebooks for the library which we discussed something that was a surprise but another surprise came literally in the mail one day u in early or late late fall is that the state of Paul and I fet left an arrogance and reason a million dollars little over a million dollar from the state of again pet they were longtime residents Paul graduated from temp high school in class of 47 from the L boy trade school was a degree in drafting mechanical engineering class 1950 all was United States host re morette serving from 51 to 55 where he received the National Defense medal Good Conduct Medal he's also a sales engineer employed by the running H uh company for over 40 years PR his retirement Paul and Irene never had any children they own so obviously this you know this will this will benefit generations of kids from their ADV and for I don't know many many many many years U you know um so there are no restrictions of this money to be very Frank no restrictions on it we decided to do prudent things we we didn't make the scholarship available um immediately when we received it first off there's a lot of stuff that has to go on we just don't you know C each other and just start move on forward but um we're going to be working with the guidance Department um this upcoming year to set some parameters you know but in a span of one school year we received $2 million worth of you know well scholarship the UN so that is just an amazing amazing thing for such a small district and obviously speaks to the character of these folks um so yeah so a lot of big things to come and as we have more kids coming through this even becomes even more um uh well it is certainly it's certainly going to go a long way you know for all these kids but we have more kids now and hopefully will benefit from that so it's amazing and it certainly speaks to the character of um you know these amazing people who have set these scholarship opportunities out for us but it also speaks for the character of the school district and the community as well they think we often uh High School Middle School especially High School is such an important time in someone's life and even though you move on to other things college or military or family you start to really become Who You Are in high school you start to figure out um what drives you what you're passionate about and so maybe you know in the Twilight of people's lives they're starting to think back to where did you become who you were you know and um wonderful that near danet is where you know those things were happening where people and $2 million dollar is absolutely amazing amazing opportunity for our students here yes and lastly but certainly not least um you know we've certainly have talked about really expanding some of our you know some more you know uh special ucation services throughout you know we know about thve we talked about thve quite a bit this year and last which is at the high school um and really finding a continuing a Continuum of services has been really on the Forefront of what we've you know hope um to be able to accomplish and so we have an opportunity um to create what we're going to call a Spire um and one for Templeton Elementary School now for those who were around when we created Thrive when Thrive created um we were very very very careful to say that we're going to take a very slow and methodical you know process with this so I certainly I won't go so far as to say that we have more question than answers that's that's not that's not true we we have quite a few of the answers but um as we as we develop this um kind of build a plane as you're flying it as we used before um you know we're gonna we're going to take stock in you know what the staff are you know are relaying and keeping it very very critical and close eye on the services that we're able to provide so right off the bat let me just say that you know you know this is from Matt who's created this but um he's also called home based but it's not a fully separate program rather say always the opportunity for elementary students the significant disabilities to have interactions uh with peers who have similar disability profiles students inspire a morning meeting together a day cling Circle as well depending on their IP needs they may come to the Aspire classroom other services throughout the day and we proba you know we'll expand they have an academic instruction block as well what we want to you know certainly convey right off the bat that this is not a a sub separate program I think that that is the you know the first thing I want to just get get out there um you know we're at this point we're we want to be fully included we want to you know include all students within the regular setting this is is just a great way um to make sure that again touch base working with um not only a special education teacher but our bcba and um you know G giving them an opportunity to do disc trials work on things that they you know they need to work on um and we'll be able to do so without adding a teacher at this point in time we're going to utilize um existing um staff to do this and the and again the location of where physical location of this classroom will be in the classroom that um that we use for extended day right now it's well it technically in the very very beginning of time was the qu the band well we don't have necessarily a band at the elementary level but um that space was used to um for extended day home base it's still going to be used there it's still used for extended day but it'll be a classroom primarily and so the extended day folks will be more of a visitor rather than the occup SP um and and so some you know some things will need to change you know in terms of Aesthetics some of the things in the class in that space But that's where we've identified you know where this this program will go um you know in a weird way um it's the only space left so you know it's like well great I'm glad we have the space wasn't like we had like seven you know five six option so um this is really a for you know really our kind of our first kind of Step into the Aspire um realm or programming um we have other you know we have other programs um listed and identify at this point in time for you know uh throughout uh the Middle School in the high school um postgrad and course have Thrive again a lot of these right now are conceptual um certainly they have Merit but they're going to require you know um they're going to require that there are staff you know and it's it's going to require money um to make all of this you know F it's important and space I want again we have to keep kind of going back to this old space thing because um if you told me right now that I had to create you know a spa two at the middle school um I'm not sure where I'm not sure that because we don't have any buil not that we wouldn't make something happen but it's not like we just have Stace just want to go um and then of course that also includes the high school right so we're we're we're full um so but any but in any event you know this is where we're trying to um programmatically starts not at the beginning um with this fire program but we're pretty excited about it and again a lot more to come as we kind of flush out um you know these you know the issues or or the just the uh like for um not issues but in terms of how does it can get into a Spire right obviously going to take you know obviously team meeing but they're going to have to meet you know a specific criteria to do that but it's not like they're going to stay there the entire day that's just not how that is that's not how it's built B so any questions this document is available on our website under the special education page so if you want to look for that out I know it's not it is on the district website under special education we have any other items that have presented themselves in the last 40 hours no okay any comments from school committee um say quick one I saw um well I saw the notice that went out about um the Alice the mock grill that temp and I don't usually talk about a parent role sitting here but it's hard when you see the pictures of police doing you know a drill in those rooms or those hallways because when I'm in there I'm in there with little kids right my kids or so I think that was the most striking part it was it was hard even though I'm looking just at a picture so I'm so thankful to all of you that put it together with Templeton police but um it's just unfortunate that we have to do it but I'm thankful that we did um and again it's just hard that you can talk about right right now so I never want to have to you know have any further discussion other than it's just a training that we must be prepared for so yeah those walls you know they're her little kids not for not for much El so so thank you the only comment would be to um the staff of all three buildings that I hope they enjoy their summer break and is well earned um every year I feel like I'm saying this is the toughest year yet but gosh it's getting harder and harder um but I really really feel like uh all the Educators in the district just they they do such an amazing job um with our kiddos I was forunate enough to go on the Davis Farmland trip with you wonderful daughter and um about 100 screaming kindergarteners and at one point I lean over and said how do you do this every day she's like what what do you mean like oh my gosh but it was so well done so much fun um the kids were so excited and uh it's just it's a reminder um how hard it is to really be in education these you know in today's day and age and but those Educators shine and I really hope they get the rest of baby over break I said a third grade teacher on a field trip just to add to your I'm like you have to handle all this and and she's so they do it without even like blinking like they're just like like everybody's got a sticker on their back and a show of head path like the amount of thought that goes into that process like the anticipation of what can go wrong and what to do it just yeah it's just effort but looks know it's not it looks well you to our education District um and all staff really because it takes an entire staff to get through some we year um all right we'll do a quick update for our subcommittees um finance and Facilities I was not there actually think we did not forum for that so it's just a general discussion um meeting minutes from that District Operations we met last Tuesday we um we talked about the MVP program did an update on the program and then we looked at some technology policies that were new um the M masc put them out um and we realized as we were looking through them that we're going to have to look at our own technology policies and change some coding and then update some policies so um we sort of we for Jared standing on a vacation we asked him to start comes back Jared hopefully Jared's enjoying his vacation um so when we reconvene in the fall or we'll start looking at those policies and sorting them all out so we can update those um was there any yeah said so no new update for um how about CPAC yeah soon cat up yes um so I was virtual because I had to get a base I had to get to a b Bas game um but so did our notetaker just so she was just texting me the highlights she had a manw written and she sends her regards to everyone um but our fourth grade dance was well attended um that's basically what we talked about at the last meeting um it seemed everyone was having a good time um we had no food left over no drinks like it was just great um we have a new account that has been opened all the money from Student Activities has been transferred over into the new account along with the square one art fundraiser money we be receiving a check next week from the karate studio for money the for the karate nights um they want to come back and take pictures with the PTO and a big check we won't know the final number until we receive the check officers were voted on the president is Kristen posos uh the vice pres president is Colleen ready I hope I'm saying that right um r e d y treas is Katie Williams and the secretary is Jess Smith we'll have a meeting to discuss open house engagement ideas before school starts in August and most of the meeting focused on the dance um and that's the high about I love that there's a fourth grade dance like a way to just celebrate those kids as they move up here to the fifth grade I love it there was a lot it was it was really well d i I couldn't see like the whole fun part of the dance because I was guarding stage but apparently Jess got on the mic and she was DJ Jess for the night um so thank you Kat for that um Jen our advisory Council leaves on um so we'll get an update well actually we won't have an update from her until after she gets started back up again in the fall um and then for an update on legislation so the Senate did pass the bill to um raise for people expenditure to 110 so yay that's amazing um the only other thing I could think of to add would be that and I don't think we' talked about this that um mtels are sort of getting restructured to be more more to better create more diversity in in professionals who want to be comparable with LIC there will see some changes and how um Educators can get license to process we have any correspondents no um our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday August 15th at 5:30 um any for executive session no no all right does someone want to make a motion to adjourn h's not here so someone else needs to do it so all right so motion by Jeff second by cat any questions or comments all in favor oppos and I say yes we are Jed just