e that works so [Laughter] well all right good evening um love to see the crowd here so um let me start with walking hold on a second uh unmute so the zoom can hear us too good so I'm going to start by walking through our agenda um and then we will dive into the agenda and uh work our way through we have many in attendance here for a couple of different reasons and we'll hear from a lot of them so that's great so first things first is if anybody here does want to do public comment for anything not on the agenda we'll start with that uh we will then move forward to our consent agenda we do have the focus on Excellence on the agenda but we don't have a topic for today that's going to be covered a little bit later at the next meeting um we will then move to reports um starting with our our student report from Graham and then moving through the rest of the administration the school committee get at which point we'll move to new business and the first item on the new business uh is a quick update from our ring Education Foundation a couple of the members from that Foundation that have uh provided us with a grant update and all the different money that's going to the schools and for different uh projects around the schools that we're very grateful for then we move to the facility naming request on behalf of Phil viaro of which many of you are here for that um and that we're we're excited to hear about um at which point we'll then move to our uh student resource officer update which is an annual requirement and we'd love to hear from them and I'm not sure if Cooper and Rusty are here or not but if they are they're around good so we might we might hear from them too um from that point we'll move on to a discussion on policy FF which is the school fac naming policy uh interestingly enough R the same that Phil V Caro's request is under um we have some discussion there uh we then have a a memo that we've drafted for our our state um you know budget related uh stuff for our representatives and state senators uh to advocate for a little bit more money from the metco funding uh side of things um as it's been level funded last year and it's scheduled to be level funded next year as well which is in essence a funding cut for us um we then have a discussion um with regards to the use of the reading rocket logo on a new bobblehead doll to support the new hcraft uh video that's or movie that's coming out that we'll have on as a school committee um we'll move on to the Q3 Financial update and there will be a vote to uh do some transfers for C centers um we then have a minor calendar update for the high school for next year with regards to the uh last minutes of school uh 305 and 105 instead of 302 and 102 um as a result of the high school update that's happened and we will conclude with a discussion on school choice um so we've got a packed agenda but we'll move pretty quickly through it so with that said does anybody here have a public comment for anything that is not on the agenda I didn't call you're right well I guess I'm calling I did call the order by doing the that was my call to order so we're good um so no public comments so then we'll move forward with the rest and we'll start with the consent agenda so uh Ain motion to approve the consent agenda second seconded by Sean any further comments questions or concerns seeing none all in favor all opposed and it passes okay so we'll move forward to reports and Graham get us started all right uh to start off Mother's Day Is Right on the cover so happy Mother's Day to everyone all the mothers out there from the School uh school committee uh as of the last month the armest jazz band has performed at Hatchet shell on the Boston uh esade last weekend as part of the Maj uh gold medial showcase and congrats on their jazz band and to Mr Mulligan the band director the drama club just uh finished their showing of the 12th night last weekend as well and had an amazing packed audience we are closing on to the second week of the AP exams with a majority of the AP exams already being concluded I know that I am very grateful that my AP chem exam is done uh and all upcoming seniors are posting their final destinations onto a thank you uh onto an Instagram page and it's kind of it's a nice thing to see so everyone's kind of all the seniors are kind of knowing where they're going especially since their last school day is May 17th so it's coming around the corner uh speaking of seniors as well the seniors are wrapping up their senior internships and have their final presentations due tomorrow night uh science mcast are coming up for freshman on June 4th and 5th I don't think some of them are studying but I know a couple that are and then there is a a kite festival at Franklin Park Zoo sponsored by the Meco program on May and oh and last but not least the rhs unified basketball team celebrated their senior night last week and did so in front of an amazing crowd I know for a fact that I was there and so is the entire track and lacrosse [Music] team thank you thank you any questions for Graham all right I'm going to take a point of personal privilege to embarrass Graham for a little bit here um he just made an announcement to a few of us in the back I'm going to make it a little bit more public which he sort of approved so I'm going to I'm okay with that um Graham has decided to go to WPI next year which is great but even better is he's going for free um he [Applause] just he was awarded the president's National Army scholarship that covers all four years awesome so congratulations Graham you're awesome job con congratulations thank you okay so let's move on Dr Pinto good evening uh quick report for you this evening so I was appointed to the wise Advisory Board recently and they held a fundraiser on May the 1st which I attended it was at Austin prep with a derby theme and the idea was to fund raise to send our kids uh to camps over the summer so it was great to get out in the community and meet a good number of our our constituents there who are all interested in what's happening with the schools I wanted to thank the writing Education Foundation for approving a grant that uh I wrote which will allow for the purchase of special containers that'll be placed in our cafeterias and allow us to move forward with the composting initiative uh I also attended a Rotary meeting at the invitation of President Phil Stewart and the speaker was from the Pleasant Street Senior Center uh Chris kowaleski and next week our masbo our my professional association is having their annual conference and Katherine Fran edti and I have been invited to sit on a panel and speak about uh collaboration uh and teamwork the key to success so looking forward to that that concludes my report great any questions for Dr Pinto okay Dr milesy great just two updates to share and first of all it's nice to see so many folks here tonight um first we would just like to thank all those involved from our food service department so this past week we hosted more than a meal uh tour which is a uh kind of a Statewide initiative to look at model food service programs across the state uh we're thrilled that we were selected and the visit included uh both Commissioners so our uh acting commissioner Russell Johnson Deputy Commissioner uh Regina Robinson uh Senator Jason Lewis and uh representative Bradley Jones and many members from um from like local partners and also from Des to come and see what was happening within our food service department uh it is mainly to look at the impact that having uh free meals for all students been having uh in districts across Massachusetts since 2020 this gives me the chance to thank our food service department who are working Tire tirelessly behind the scenes to provide our students with high quality food offerings I'm sure Grant can attest over the past couple years I think the food quality has uh drastically increased uh our participation Roots have gone rates have gone through the roof and just a huge uh Testament to the hard work of our food service staff so a huge thank you to you and it was nice to be represented in that way uh and then also speaking of recognition our second one this is teacher appreciation week uh We've celebrated a variety of appreciation weeks over the past couple of months including par professional Appreciation Day School librarian appreciation day administrative Professional Day National School principal Day School Lunch hero day school nurse day I know I've missed a few uh but would just like to take a minute to thank all of the amazing Educators in this District uh when you talk to folks in Reading you say what makes the district so special it's the connection with staff it's the impact that staff have have had or continue to have on our students we have so many amazing Educators across all the roles in our district that I feel deeply appreciative I know our students staff and families feel real really appreciative uh you can thank all of the Educators you don't have to uh on any time you'd like you don't have to wait for these special weeks uh but these weeks we do have a couple of different ways you can recognize staff in the district newsletter this week you'll see a again a nomination form for a distinguished teacher or a distinguished staff member award which comes with a um kind of a a little money money award as well and recognition to thank some of the staff who are going above and beyond and represent what it means to be a um a reading public school staff member so if you haven't nominated someone we already have over 100 nominations take a minute to nominate a deserving staff member also in the written newsletter this week you'll see an opportunity to just fill out a quick thank you form to someone in our community who going above and beyond we will then read all of those and then we'll write that email CCU on it so there's that recognition from us and from you and also I see some students out here uh you can never you know feel free to always just write your teacher a note pull them aside say thank you those little notes of gratitude or moments saying thank you we know go such a long way with our staff um so thank you for helping me to recognize all the amazing staff in our community who truly make uh the reading public school experience so special great any questions for Dr mileski okay we'll move to um leaz on reports um Mr Robinson so I I drew the uh Short Straw to present the swc final report and uh uh recommendations and finding to the select board on Tuesday night and I won't go through all of it but you can all be assured that that pickle ball was in the discussion so uh no it it was a very good process very collaborative process and I think uh the select board appreciated uh what we came came to them with and now it's kind of back in their Court to figure out what to do down there uh also if I can and uh and I don't know whether anyone was going to mention but I did want to uh publicly thank Dr Pinto Dr milesy and our chair uh Mr wise for what I thought was an excellent budget presentation at town meeting and uh as everybody knows that that went through but thank you that was just a really good good report well received good process so thank you any questions for Chuck okay I'm going to cut the formality and not say Mr and Mrs and Carla what do you got thank you thank you Tom um so I attended um that more than AAL tour too which was excellent um and a lot of people from desie who were really excited um it's nice to see reading getting so much recognition for a lot of the things that we're doing by the state right with our Meco program and and with this so um so it was it was great to be there um for those of you who don't know we're building a new school we renovating no well if you were there at the meeting tonight um so we just came from a meeting at um 5:30 for um the kilum building project we just hit a huge milestone where we voted on um a preliminary design program report that goes to the msba um it it was a 250 page report and I shouldn't even say that it was probably about 500 pages with all the appendixes um so that was exciting that will be submitted to the msba on May 20th and then um the msba will have a couple of months to get comments back to us and the designer will start on the second report so by the end of the so this report includes nine different options for killum so um between three story options two story options including um the entire prek under One Roof versus just you know four classrooms of prek um so if you don't know about it we have a fabulous website killum building killum school.com and it has all the information um and ways that you can get involved and just learn about the project um it will be coming for a vote um to the town next spring and we are fortunate very fortunate to be enrolled in the uh Massachusetts school building of Authority project where we will receive um if this gets approved and voted by the voters we will receive T of millions of dollars to build the school if the vote does not pass then we have to do something about the school on our own dime so we really um encourage people to get involved and just see what the project is all about thank you okay any questions for Carla okay John no report report Aaron no report Sarah no report okay um I have one sort of pseudo report um it's related to select board uh I've been approached by two community members about parking over on Arcadia Avenue near barrows which is causing a bit of a problem so I'm going to be talking to the select board about that since they're in charge of streets um and it's a potential problem for our our our staff and and families dropping off at barrels from a school perspective so just FYI um we'll see what happens in there but similar to some of the traffic studies that have happened around kilum this particular area Arcadia a lot of the um awesome Prep students are parking over there and causing a bit of a Traffic Challenge in that area that needs to be uh looked at and addressed so I'm going to bring that up to the select board and see what their role and responsibility around uh streets and traffic so FYI um okay all right so let's move forward to the new business um and uh let's start uh with our quick update from our reading Education Foundation members um and it's a grant update we have already accepted the grant a while ago and this is the allocation of the money and L ladies please jump this way so we can hear you and see you on the camera as well and gentlemen yes awesome thank you thank you Tom you talking to both of these microphones oh sure you can bring it with you than that's okay thank you for inviting us I am Laura O'Neal I am the President of the reading Education Foundation I'm joined here with Debbie Hattery who was the chair of our grants and nail Taylor who is also on our um Grant committee and I just want to mention the other members of ref because we are an 11 person board we raise $50,000 a year we do it with one fundraiser the Festival of trees and we thank the community for all their assistance with that all the volunteers all the students and if you haven't been to the festival um you're missing out because Graham I think you've been a volunteer it's a great opportunity the younger students get to see the older students um kids come up through the program the community shows their creativity the schools perform we have adult performance groups it is an an essential Community act and above all else it helps us fund these grants from the teachers we are running out of board members so we are actively seeking volunteers you do not have to have a child in the school system you can have young children children who have graduated never have a child in school it's a great way to be part of the reading Community it's a fun organization you get to give away money and that's why I'm here tonight I mean there is nothing more fun than making a check for $34,000 and turning it over so I need to thank my board the rest of the board Laura Fusco Christa marari Megan fidar Teresa arent Alicia zus Anne crook shank Rebecca Shram Andrea Nelson and Naomi Muse so thanks to our board thank you to everyone for all their support um we approved 15 grants in addition to the composting Grant um that was submitted to this committee everything was approved and here are the funds for approval we also did this year um based upon feedback from both the school and teachers we did six immediate grants that were part of a revolving fund and those grants were given to the teachers for this year and they were able to use the the um funds immediately and help in the classroom the large grant that we are presenting will be for projects for next year starting in September so thank you thank you thank you so much so as is customary we need to do a picture so committee members hop out still a quick picture and then we'll move on to the next agenda item there okay for you pictures lots of jees one and while you're walking out I'd just like to thank RF for the continued part partnership too and I think if you've looked at the various grants that they've supported over the years I think you can see the you know the various ways that they'll impact the student experience so I think uh thank you for all your work and fundraising time and efforts it truly makes an impact on our students and I know our staff are deeply appreciative so thank you for the continued support okay so now we move on to the item on the agenda that many of you are here for not all of you but many of you are and that is the facility naming request on behalf of Phil viaro um and before I uh ask Mr Mell and the rest of the people that are speaking to come uh forward I just wanted to kind of walk through the procedure a little bit so people know what to expect um first of all as you know um a request was sent in to name a part of the athletic facilities after Phil um and in doing so it executed to the first step of policy FF which is the submission of the request um you then sent multiple multiple multiple multiple emails in support of that um and Dr mileski and I have seen those and uh we are very appreciative of them uh we will be responding to them probably with some assistance to ask for your approval to distribute them to what would eventually be the advisory committee and make them a public record essentially they are already a public record because they were sent to our accounts but we don't distribute out as a document to people unless we get that approval so that will be part of that process um tonight you are here um through the policy because you have 10 minutes to present your case for lack of better way to put it um what you will not hear from the committee is any sort of discussion on your case because our policy prohibits it but we we can ask clarifying questions as a result of what you submit and what you ask what you uh ask of us um we will follow up after this meeting um and the policy says at a subsequent meeting and I think we talked with Pete about this we're going to have that subsequent meeting on June 6th and there's a reason for that as well um there's another request in the queue to name another field um that we're going to hear about at our next meeting so because of that fact um my suggestion for our committee is that we join those two requests into one advisory committee that looks at both requests together um so that they can move together as a party uh and not conflict with each other on the outcome at the backside um is what my my reasoning for that is um so in addition to that just as a a formality note for the committee the policy does request that we put public notice out on this and we have done that however um we did it a little bit late we did it early enough for the next meeting the 23rd but too late for today um so I'm asking for Grace from the rest of the committee from that from that fact because of the fact we already have another meeting coming up that is also doing a naming request um and because we have these wonderful people here today to present on this item uh we felt like it was necessary to separate the presentations um but also wanted to make sure that we could move this one forward appropriately so with that said um any objections any questions from the committee no okay so uh Pete um we're going to ask you and whoever the other four speakers are to come forward over here um let's grab the mic off the sand there as well and sit close to Chuck so the camera can get you um so that whenever um the zoom people can see who is speaking and whatnot and I'm going to ask as well that the people that speak just tell us your name you know um obviously you're here to Advocate on behalf of Phil um but tell us your name and if you want to any other relation you have in in regard to that one all right so I guess we don't need that mic CU Carla brought hers over I know we have 10 minutes so we'll speak quick so thank you my name is Pete moscarello retired 35-year department head in of math in rmhs head baseball coach as well as a lifelong rting resident so thank you for the opportunity to present our proposal to name the gymnasium within the Walter e-hawks fieldhouse in honor of Phil vicaro thank you for everyone who's here tonight to support the proposal and thank you to the students student athletes coaches teachers administrators and parents who have written over 60 letters to advocate for Phil special thanks Dr bileski and Mr wise for your guidance through this process and for not only reading the 60 plus uh letters but by responding personally to each of them now Phil's most deserving of this honor because of his unique 30-year contributions to our school and Community he's been an rmhs teacher coach athletic director while he and his wife doy have been longtime writing residents parents and business owners in town Mr V began his career as an outstanding math teacher and superb Sara coach he became athletic director in 1994 and immediately became not just a supervisor but a mentor to his coaches Phil taught his coaches to focus on building positive relationships promoting sportsmanship and developing character you see Mr V's vision for athletics was to use it as a vehicle to help student athletes learn grow and become better people now Phil has received dozens of of awards he was named Massachusetts and Regional athletic director of the year he's earned accolades from the MIAA for his great work with sportsmanship across the State he's inducted into the MASS Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame and our own rmhs athletic Hall of Fame which by the way he founded now I've had the opportunity to read all the letters and what struck me time and time again was the Deep respect admiration and affection everyone has for Phil people were eager to express their gratitude for how Phil has impacted their lives and then wanted you all to know that Phil vicaro has dedicated 30 years to helping young people in reading and now deserves to have his name and Legacy honored and remembered by current and future Generations so thank you for consideration allow me to introduce our next speaker Mr Joe finigan thank you sir first I'd still like to thank Peter moscarello for hiring me as a math teacher back in 1986 he shaped my life as an educator a parent and as a as a and as a husband so I want to thank him very much for that it was extraordinary the other piece is i' like to thank the committee for bring allowing us to come forward and under Dr milesy the continued good work you do in making the us all proud of uh the reading public schools so naming a facility after somebody is a big event okay it's a b it's a big deal it's a big deal but I think that with the the group that we have here and the group that we have in the audience I think the supporting letters that you have shows the magnitude of the impact that Phil has had on whether it's former students the families myself as a principal The Faculty members and the community at large there's another piece Beyond reading that the impact that Phil has had in on in athletics inter Scholastic Athletics within the state and I can tell you as being a principal not only in writing but in another Community the impact that number times that people have come to me and spoke about the admiration of what filot started here and reading is maintained by Mr Z and the pride and the Envy in certain ways that many communities uh look at reading so I'm a former Prin princip at reading Memorial High School I'm also a reading resident okay um I was the third principal that F Phil worked with he worked first was appointed by Arena Merkin worked with Frank Orlando and then came with myself when I undertook the job it was a very exciting time for us here at rmhs because it was the building project and it gave us an time an opportunity for all of us as a community to reinvent and redefine the school and we did that all different ways whether it was in the other student activities the drama music okay other Student Activities most importantly the academics but also the Athletics in every area Phil was a strong strong Advocate okay for every facet of rmhs that doesn't happen in many communities and it really happens at all each day as a principal I knew that I could depend upon Phil's high level of character standards creativity decisionmaking judgment and unwavering value values as he dealt with we dealt with all issues our enjoyed a formidable excuse me reputation in the community and Beyond Phil provided opportunities for all students believing that an Engaged student body directly impacts the tenor tone and academic success of the school a favorite quote I have from Long Fellow is that the thoughts of Youth are long long thoughts we think about parents giving us their sons and daughters as ninth graders and their work work in progress as we move them through the high school but really the impact that you see or the students see is when they look back okay most often at school committee meetings we're looking future tonight talking about Phil's impact we get a chance to look back and I think I'd offer everybody in the audience here as the impact that Phil has on all of us okay with that I'd like to hand it over to and Deo and I'm always in the mood for Accola Ann and Mike were great parents with three arm graduat and Sons thank you so much Joe appreciate it you want to sit in I do thank you you guys have a couple of tough acts to follow um yeah my name is andao um I don't have any of those credentials I am a reading parent um my husband and I first met Phil when our Three Sons were involved in sports at reading high school and Phil was the athletic atic director at the time um we were both volunteers we helped with various Sports and got to know Phil on a more personal level and we struck up a friendship and during a few of those years when the school Renovations were going on that Joe was talking about um Phil had an idea to uplift and encourage the students with inspirational quotes in the hopes of motivating them as well as prepare them for a bright future Beyond high school he also want wanted to include the middle sex League mission statement which stresses achieving the highest degree of sportsmanship fair play and mutual respect I own a small business a small sign business and Phil asked if I would help him Implement his ideas so we work together to choose the quotes and layouts and fill the Fieldhouse for you so that anyone who happened to walk through could feel the inspiration and support that the program exemplified it was great to help create such a meaningful space but these weren't just words for Phil they were the standards that he lived by and exhibited in his own life he worked tirelessly at building the athletic program here but particularly the character of the program his main objective was always teaching the kids sportsmanship hard work and fairness on and off the field and he was available 24/7 to parents and students outside of school Phil is a genuine and generous man who is always willing to help anyone in need I have witnessed this firsthand many times and while my two minutes here won't allow me to elaborate I can assure you our community has benefited greatly from his help and generosity in all aspects of his life Phil walks the walk I personally feel that the gym is a perfect fit for a name venue for him because his goal was to help every child that came through these halls and gym class is something that every child participates in and benefits from in a positive and healthy environment he truly deserves this honor and I hope you'll make it happen thank you and this is subber Sharon Sharon sorry SAR should we switch I hi um my name is Sharon Burke I am the retired Librarian from uh the high school and I um was also the GSA advisor um I'm here to talk about how Phil um was had the interests of all students in mind he had the well-being of all students not just athletes not just boys um I learned this when I took over the advisor ship of the gay trade Alliance which is now called the gender and sexuality Alliance um first thing he did was introduced me to Jeff parate Jeff wrote a book called when the drama club is not enough um and he also founded the Massachusetts safe schools initiative you can um find find a link to that on desie if you want to um statistics show and you probably know this that kids who identify on the lgbtq Spectrum have higher rates of self-destructive and harmful behaviors but statistics also show that when schools are safe for gay kids they tend to be safe for all kids um I thought to myself wow our ad is connected to the person in Massachusetts who who has um who is in charge of um lgbtq Health sorry I I even I get mixed up with the acronyms now and then um there were so many times that when I taught here in reading that I thought I had died and gone to heaven but that was one of them I remember very clearly thinking this this place is different um needless to say Phil was a huge supporter of GSA and he is one of the reasons our kids felt supported at school at the beginning of every school year had come to a meeting introduce himself and those kids knew that he had their backs he told them you come to me if you have any problems he provided transportation to our regional meetings and he helped us host workshops on how we as a school should be supporting students and parents as they deal with the tricky issues of high school especially when um you're identifying as lgbtq he he encouraged uh his coaches to attend PD on how to create safe spaces in our classrooms and on our teams and importantly Phil did not tolerate anti-gay expression not from his coaches or his athletes I wish I could say that that is the norm in other places but even today it is not Phil was ahead of his time that was at least 22 years ago in addition Phil vakaro unequivocally supported female athletes at you at rmhs at his urging I was able to bring girls to the Massachusetts conference um for women which gave our girls the opportunity to meet with Professionals in high-tech biotech engineering Etc this was at his urging and his sponsorship Phil viaro is one of the reasons that I was so proud to teach in Reading as the timer and scorekeeper for football and basketball I went to many many games I saw firsthand the culture of sportsmanship integrity and professionalism in which the games were conducted what Joy I got from watching our athletes compete and what Pride I took what Pride I took in how our students behaved in the stands I think this is due to Phil's influence I believe this town would be very proud to have a facility named after Mr Phil viaro thank you hi everybody U my name is Corey wford um I'm a 1991 graduate of ring high school and Mr raro was my soccer coach for three years he was also my math teacher but please don't hold him accountable for my math skills because no one could save those um I was lucky to have many great teachers and coaches in my life many of them from reading but none had a bigger influence on me than Phil vicaro um I know I'm not alone in that you see many of his former players uh who are joining us today because of that and many more that wish they could be here the word that comes up every time I think of Mr V is family um again you see a lot of that family here today um Mr V created an environment where his players and students felt like a family and like we were part of his um we knew his kids we knew Mrs V sitting in the front row um we knew his parents um to this day 30 years later Mr V is still calling me and checking in on me to make sure I'm doing okay um Mr varar was fair funny and relentlessly positive as a coach um I know that I always wanted to do well because I cared about winning but I also wanted to do well for him um he held his players to high standards and how we treated each other our opponents um and referes uh and we were all proud to put on a reading uniform because we always knew we played the right way Mr varo created an environment where his former players were always coming back to support the current teams when you were part of running soccer you knew you were part of something bigger than yourself and that was because of Mr barar Beyond who he is as a person I don't want it to be lost what a great coach he was he was an excellent teacher of the game writing soccer was never a particularly strong program before he took over and I remember watching his teams when I was in Middle School and how exciting was to start see the team start to win um it made me an entire generation of of players want to be part of reading soccer and I believe that program still benefits today from the foundation that he laid as a coach a teacher and an ad Mr V is is uniquely responsible for the successes of the reading Athletic program he's left a legacy of countless students who he mentored as athletes and as people and I'm lucky enough to say that he's still a mentor to me 30 years later naming a sports venue after Phil varo would be a fitting tribute to a person who's meant so much to so many and it was given so much to the school and the reading Community we all could be incredibly proud every time we walk into a reading athletic event and see the vicaro name and on behalf of the foreign players students and parents um that that were lucky enough to have him as as a coach and a mentor we respectfully ask that you make that r a reality thank you great thank you all for your words I think we were very appreciative of them now is the time where the committee can ask questions um but not necessarily debate or deliberate so it makes it very interesting so does anybody on the committee have any questions they would like to ask now Carla is he here no no thinking I'd ask no he's not here get the mic back get your mic back yeah Sean do you have a question I do is is the um so the nomination I think I heard mentioned thank you um is a nomination for the sort of the Interior portion of the Fieldhouse specifically is it for an a venue it's for the gymnasium specifically okay yes we we deliberated that about that a little bit and we were aware of the other proposal that you talked about and Phil being Phil he didn't want to get in the way of of that talking about turf turf 2 um Phil's family felt strongly that the gymnasium is appropriate this every College Fieldhouse has the gym named and the Fieldhouse name so this is not not unique but the the gymnasium is really the center of Phil's activities it's that's where he lived that's where he that's where he taught kids that's what he taught us as coaches so that's why we think that's appropriate for gymnasium then Walter Hawks thank you any other questions from the committee okay so um you know once again I mean just everybody knows um it's all online you can read it yourself if you want to policy FF has you know basically five Char characteristics the the subcommittee is supposed to analyze on and that's in section B it's Superior levels of performance and strengthening and supporting the public schools effective citizenship community service excellent character and general General reputation and high standards of of Ethics if I can't speak today it would be beneficial um so those five things are going to be what the advisory committee will look at um once we vote and discuss the the advisory committee itself um as I mentioned will have that discussion on our June 6th meeting uh where I will recommend to the committee and the committee will either accept or decline or change as the case may be that we form a Athletic Facility advisory committee covering both this request and the one that's coming forward next week for Turf 2 on behalf of Coach Hardy um so that's what you'll will hear next week uh the advisory committee will be formed um and will likely hold at least three me meetings over the summer maybe into early fall um one of which will be its own formation and setting up who the chair is and all that kind of fun stuff the second one uh will be a public forum uh where it pH officially has to be publicized in the newspaper and whatnot there's a public forum about a naming or two as the case may be and have people come uh to speak that will be another opportunity for this group to get together and Advocate on behalf of what you what you're asking for and then the final meeting they would have would be their deliberation on what they've heard and the recommend that they'll bring back to this the overall school committee um so that's the general process um Step eight in our in in section c of that policy uh calls for one member of the school committee to be on that the building principal to be on that a member of the board of Selectmen to be on that a local business leader one student representative um and uh the historical commission member to be on that so it'll be a uh pretty interesting uh subcommittee uh technically it'll be an advisory committee for us so that's the process in the next steps um and with that said thank you so much for your time and for your your recommendation again um think you said 60 60 plus letters were sent uh we will be sending out requests for everybody who sent a request to make sure we can include that in the packet for the advisory committee as well and I see nods already but we'll get your official recommendation or agreement uh via email as well so thank you so much and we appreciate your time thank you thank you all okay so moving back to our agenda we now have our annual student resource officer update and officer Lewis officer Vater lieuten body is here as well Lieutenant of body is here as well yep come on up to the table Let's uh go ahead and give a mic over there as well if we can you guys have two we do this one we'll take that one we move this one in The Middle's like I don't we you loud enough you bring I think I'm loud enough for not the anymore Sean we got it over here we're good over there seems like everything's going to be do put on Corner as wal and this morning and I was like I almost lost my life were so set all set thank you set good evening uh yeah I'm officer Brian Lewis from The Ring Police Department I'm the school resource officer for the high school alongside me is Officer Matt Vater who's the school resource officer for the elementary middle schools also in attendance is Lieutenant detective hold on a second Mr Za can you help him like move out of the library [Laughter] they're happy to stay but if they're going to stay we can't have them talking all right Officer leou sorry about that please proceed no problem proceed I'm officer Brian Lewis from the Reading Police Department I the school resource officer at the reading Memorial High School and I'm uh Cooper's partner uh alongside me is Officer Matt Vater he is the SRO for the elementary middle schools and his partner Rusty is here also and uh last but not least in attendance is Lieutenant detective Richard abody uh from the wuning police department who is also our supervisor so we're just going to touch over um touch upon some updates for what we're doing in the schools and some highlights uh we'll be happy to answer any questions you may have uh at the end uh number one the first thing we put on on our update is that we continue to maintain an excellent partnership between the reading public schools and Reading Police Department uh this this is the bread and butter of of successful SRO program without a strong relationship we're not going to be able to you know support young people with their with their needs and if we don't know what the left hand's doing the right hand's not going to know what you know what's going on either so um officer V and I attend many trainings with with SRO from all over the state we were just at one the last two days with over 500 uh sro's and we hear stories about other schools and their police departments and they don't have a good relationship Cooper um and how difficult it is for them to to help young people who are in need so we're just we're very grateful for that uh relationship and we continue to work on building it and uh hope it continues to be as good has has been the past uh few years uh another important update is uh officer of v and I have both received recertification as SRO which is uh required from the state and the post commission uh another important thing that was accomplished this fall was Cooper and trusty were certified through the alliance of therapy dogs and are now officially classified as therapy dogs so that was exciting uh We've assisted the schools in running alist at the high school and middle schools and aarva has also LED professional development classes with the elementary school teachers and faculty uh we hope to do that as well uh in more of a thorough nature maybe at the beginning of the school year next year when we can include all the power professionals as well cuz I know they're not required uh to be at staff meetings and a lot of them uh missed out on some good training which they are in the school at times where they should know what to do in a case of emergency uh let's see we also uh worked Brian did a lot of leg work on getting a lot of the uh School administrators and staff trained on uh seag which is the comprehensive uh School threat assessment guidelines which administrators and counselors they use as a guideline for any school threat or any uh personto person threat that comes up in the school is kind of like the go-to uh assessment for uh threats in schools um we continue to work closely with the reading Coalition for for prevention and support to provide resources for students and families uh the Coalition does uh so much good work uh with the schools and uh for the kids in the schools for recovery and substance uh abuse and education against substance use um me and Brian uh continue to be a part of the district crisis team uh which is made up of Administrators and staff from the district and the reading High Core crisis team again made up of staff and counselors uh that work to uh work as a group to address uh safety and any problems that arise in the schools and we're in the uh process of working with uh Dr sty and the district team to overhaul the district emergency protocols so we're going line by line uh section by section and revamping uh to see what's necessary to see what's not necessary can be taken out uh so far it's going pretty smooth it's a long process it's a big book but uh we're making some Headway uh it's funny that Cooper was been quiet all night until it's his turn to go [Laughter] what else Bri uh recently we attended free training hosted by the FBI Boston about best practices uh on responding to bomb threats and swatting calls which is a a growing Trend uh throughout the country and here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts this training was also made available free to uh District leadership if they chose to participate uh officer Vater uh hosted a lunch meeting with district attorney Mary and Ryan with 8ighth grade students on National no one eats alone day which is uh fun to see the kids asking her all sorts of questions uh We've continued to work with the reading coalition to uh support youth Mental Health First Aid in junior Health classes at the high school and starting tomorrow we start teaching choose to refuse which is the opioid um prevention education here in health classes uh this list kind of goes kind of in order uh with the whole school year uh second half of the school year kind of ramps up with read Across America and uh throughout the year I've been trying to teach Internet safety and social responsibility to the fifth graders the incoming uh sixth graders uh because uh in middle school I see the major problems arise on social media and messaging and group texts and stuff like that so just trying to teach them safety responsibility uh so them get themselves in trouble and hurt others and uh so I'm continue to work on that hopefully I get to other schools if not I'm going to hit it early next next year um like I said read Across America week read Across America week uh a lot of guest reading did some night events for Baris and Birch Meadow uh it's PTO raffle season so we've been doing a lot of rides to school uh and lunch and breakfast with the kids and then uh me and Brian other members of the police department have been serving lunches at all the schools we have baros next week on Thursday uh and something new this year that we've done is uh I've been doing a couple Health classes with the ring Coalition at coolage for their uh projects on substance use and abuse it's kind of a presentation and kind of a Q&A on you know information gathering for them for their project and I think finally uh Youth Academy yeah we have been working with our community service officer to come up with the first Reading Police youth AC Reading Police Youth Academy the summer uh it's for incoming sixth seventh and eighth graders uh it's going to be the last week of July and it's going to cover pretty much everything we do in as a police department except the really dangerous stuff that we can't let them do uh we started out with 25 spots and it filled up really quickly uh so who knows what's in store for next year yep and finally I think uh which I neglected to put on there but we're going to go support our biggest fans which is the Unified sports teams at the Unified sports um Extravaganza at the high school on May 29th so we're excited to be there to support uh some of our biggest fans and that's it any questions great thank you both any questions from everyone on the committee er um so first off thank you for everything that you do I I feel like we have sort of the gold standard and betting of of school resource officers so um I'm glad we get this opportunity to to highlight all that you do because I don't think everyone is always aware of of of what a big impact you have um I'm curious what if any um Trends you're seeing with with substance abuse in in the schools right now to the extent that you can talk about it I would say we it's nothing out of the the usual I I think uh for a while there about four years ago vaping was really very popular and happening a lot in our in our schools and it's still happening but I think the education and the prevention uh that we're we're trying to teach young people about and limiting supplies here in the Commonwealth thank you Cooper um it you know you can't just go into a a convenience store and buy that stuff anymore you can't buy flavored nicotine products so I think that's kind of put a squash on it but I think just like when we are in high school there's always going to be some constant issues that are always going to come up but we do our best to to make sure that we're educating the young people and if they do have an issue that we get them support and also educate them on the harms and potential dangers of that substance it's very bad Cooper I know thank you you're welcome any other questions no Sean just a comment I I love PTO raffle season because I love seeing all the pictures on social media I think you're probably keeping Dunkin Donuts in business with the m uh so so thank you for that I know kids love it no problem Dr milesy I'm just I've said it every year and every time I have the chance I'll do it too just really really appreciative of both um both uh kind of everyone here rusty Cooper uh officer Lewis officer Vater Lieutenant B here as well but Chief Clark deputy chief am andola too uh truly feel like it's a partnership and I think a couple things that when I I stick out to me about Brian and Matt who I are the best of the best is first their visibility if you go anywhere in the community they're there there's days where I'll go to three schools and I'll see Matt and Brian across all three schools moving around it's just they're they're everywhere and they're constantly uh present in our buildings second thing is their level of Engagement I think that they they act also as a as a a support a resource a thought partner a mentor for all of our students uh you'll walk down the hallways Elementary Middle School you'll see officer Vater talking to students whether the students having difficult time or giving them some positive reinforcement appraise constantly walk by Officer Lewis's office to fill with students you know mentoring and support I just think the they they list some of their you know kind of the responsibilities here that they may take on that apply to their role but really the day-to-day way they engage in interact with our students I think is what makes such an impact and then I am personally appreciative of just your thought partnership and support and collaboration I know we have to work through issues from time to time and I just always know that you're there and a great uh resource and support for us and our team so we have the absolute best of the best in both of you and I feel like we have a uh a model partnership with the uh with the police department so just thank you for all of your work I know that you are uh beloved in the community's number three and four behind number one and two right there in terms of Power Rankings but thank you for everything do thanks Tom we wouldn't uh we wouldn't be in such a good position and have a good program if it wasn't for our boss so he started it all he was like the number one so that's why we're so good today say to speak into micone please do said that so it's kind of interesting that the previous agenda item was on for tonight that's fine yep um speaking of being number one that was just about 18 years ago and when I walked in the building tonight and saw the faces I saw here 18 years ago the position didn't really exist didn't know where it was going to go I came in the building so didn't know what was going to happen Joel fan Peter moell Sharon B um Jeff Nelson Mr Hart Mr scarpo those were the that was the leadership team at the time and they're the ones that sort of like helped me hold that position and supported me and it was just amazing to see them here tonight like there were hundreds of years of experience in dation I'm not sure if I can you all all the faces but I mean good for Mr M to have such High character people here talking on his behalf he deserves it um I've never had him as a coach but him as a teacher and he told horrible jokes people mispronounce my name AIT he used to say can't go fishing without a bit it's just incredible that that was 18 years ago and and it's just a testament to um the culture and the community that's built up here and the support that the farmers have now had for each other and it started with that group and um it's just building I I kind of brought a smile to my face and I nothing professionally I just thought it was pretty incredible to see and these guys are amazing and whatever they say about me is not t position it's incredible their dedication you know second appreciate them so much thank you thanks LT All right we thank you all I think Dr mileski said it all he spoke for us you guys did a you do a great job so we can't thank you enough all four of you all five of you thanks for what you do in the partnership there thank you so much and the entire department behind you as well okay like let me go with Rich look at him girl we're okay chck you okay I think we're okay we spread him out yeah yeah I think we're good from a mic perspective um all right so uh we'll move on to the next item on our agenda which is the discussion on policy FF um you know just to frame I think I did it in in the memo but just to frame the conversation um I'll Max it to 20 minutes if we need if we need a few more fine but I don't want to spend all night talking about it if we need less great um this is a follow-up from the conversation from late February um I think it was Sean who recommended we have a conversation just as a committee to kind of provide feedback to the policy committee on how best to how how we think we should address this um you know I also included the minutes from the convers ation we had with the uh school student advisory Council and SOA for eji uh where Chuck and I were able to attend and listen uh and engage in that conversation um I think we've had the conversation sort of ad hoc to a degree that policy FF uh probably need some improvement um in terms of the way it's formed and structured um but I wanted to just kind of open it up now to you guys have seen the memo we've had a chance to read it to get any feedback that people had so that you know between Chuck Aaron and I we can go back and recraft reform um and how far we want to go as well so anybody wants to start the conversation I'm I'm open Sean go ahead okay um thank thanks Tom for putting this on the agenda I appreciate that um so just a couple you know observations some of them were Reflections on your comments or your uh you know things that were in the minutes from the uh policy subcommittee meeting which were really helpful um I it was interesting to compare it to the model policy which I I don't know that I'd seen before um I think you made the comment that it's much less restrictive it's you know it's a it's a much Shor shorter policy some of that is the inclusion of a procedure versus not I'm actually not that troubled by the inclusion of a procedure because we're creating an advisory subcommittee in this case so it sort of is ours to you know to drive the procedure so you know I'm not so troubled by that um I'm also not necessarily wedded personally to the idea that we just sort of emulate the the masc model policy I think we could achieve some of the same things by um just sort of loosening up just slightly loosening up you know kind of who would be eligible so you know somebody who's made a sign significant contribution to the history of reading or to you know education as a field and as a practice um you know would I think still sort of fit the same goals that I'm sort of interpreting from the from the original policy um while not maybe being you know quite as restrictive um just to put one you know a tangible point on it and again I think this is something that was raised red raised in the minutes you know a lot of our buildings currently are named after folks who wouldn't be eligible under the current policy um the the naming the the naming belongs to the building so you know we heard from Carla tonight that there's you know nine potential building approaches like I don't know legally technically if it's a given that new building automatically become becomes called kilum would we be able to name the new building killum under the current policy I don't know um and so I think there is a you know there's a case for there's a case for looking at um sort of getting back to the core principles around you know what we what we would want to sort of how we'd want to Define who's appropriate for us to name a facility after and and uh maybe loosen the reins a little bit in that way okay Carla are you hearing that there are people interested in renaming kilum no not NE I'm only bringing it up because if you read either our policy or the masc policy the the name belongs to the building we're going to have a new building right so do we do we have to go through the the exercise of naming the new building or I mean do we just move the name plate I don't know how that works we're in the msba process for kill them well sure but there are other msba subsequent after the building was built then then that discussion would happen right isn't that isn't that what you're saying it could I'm saying I'm saying I don't see in the language in our policies around naming facilities that and to your point I mean there there are msba there in of msba buildings where a new structure was built on an old you know on an existing footprint and had a new a new name at the end of it right so it it has the name of the the facility that's being considered for replacement or renovation it doesn't necessarily doesn't necessarily mean as I understand it that the new building just carries the name from the old one in the case of a new of building something new I'm not making a case one way or the other for whether it should be I'm I'm just pointing out a a technical Point here that I think it's actually maybe relevant to us that our current policy would prude us from naming something after J Warren kill him that's all I think that's kind of a let's not we're not going to we're not discussing that as a topic he's just raising it as a hypothetical in the current policy not not because he suggesting in any way shape or form I just want to make sure that that I want I just wanted to ask if that was if you had heard anything like that on Horizon no okay no okay any other feedback or thoughts on the overall policy itself or the feedback from the the meeting that we uh we had as a as a subcommittee Aon so I I unfortunately miss the meeting um but I I I'll just say generally like I applaud the the students for advocating I'm you know I'm a big fan of students bringing us their their concerns and ideas so um I have no problem going back as a subcommittee and and examining this more closely and and having a more in-depth conversation about it and I don't um you know I don't know where I stand on it beyond that but I like I'm I'm perfectly open to taking a a deeper dive and considering you know I do see um I do see a lot of validity to to their points so I I think it's worthy of us having a conversation as a subcomittee okay anybody else Sarah just Echo that I think it's worth revisiting I think there are probably some room for improvement around language around um kind of diversity like making sure we're taking a global look across our district and how we're naming things um it's not lost to me that most of our buildings and whatnot are coming up are pretty named after white men for the most part so there's certainly contributions that they've made there's contributions of others who just making sure we have reflecting the contributions of the community as a whole um in our school district and then I think just the language in there around um kind of sponsorship for lack of a better way of saying it around that we would consider kind of monetary donations and for naming rights makes it seem a little bit like maybe that language can be cleaned up a little more so we don't end up with like the Coca-Cola Performing Art Center or something like that might be good to have money from CA would be really proud to be calling our after somebody who donated a bunch of money we have not been faced with that problem far we have not but I think it's if we're opening up the policy it's worth cleaning up the language okay Cher Carla anything else on the policy for uh you know I just look forward to our subsequent meeting convers I'll be ready then okay okay um can I make a comment absolutely I I I do think that right so in the past year or within two years we're going to have three major potentially three major um naming naming of three major um facilities for lack of a better word um because of contributions that have been made in town and I don't want to lose sight of that as a reading um you know there's there's a lot of people in Reading who've made significant contributions and I don't want to lose sight of of that piece of it for our town okay but I do think it should go back to the policy sub committee okay um so just I would you know Echo a lot of the thoughts here I don't know that I wouldn't go as far as it was being asked for I mean I think there's some there's some openness there that I think can can be looked at um but I do value reading as a community as well um and you know be that as it may I think there's a lot of really great people that have been around reading that have delivered great things for reading that I think we want to make sure from my perspective reading is reading it's not somewhere in the middle of Iowa or somewhere in some other state or anything else like that so I want to think about that and how we how we do that while also reflecting and figuring out how to address some of the concerns that were raised right so it's it's going to be a balancing act as we work on it um I personally think that the procedural side of the policy does need to be broken out it can still be included in the policy packet from a guideline perspective for us but it should be its own like ff- or ff- P um type thing that specifically talks about the the process in which we go through and clarifies that um because it is a little confusing um I think there's also I think it's very interesting to me that the state level there is not a rename aing policy or anything else along those lines right so um I'm not sure whether that can of worms is one I want to open necessarily but it's something I want to think about um and understand and make a conscious decision of as opposed to ignoring overall um you know while our policy buried and hidden in it does allow for it it is a little little obtuse in the way in which it it makes it possible um so I'm not saying I'm supporting in fact I'm not supporting anything that's going on that might be suggesting that right now but I think there would be potentially a case in some cases fortunately reading we don't have that case right now in my mind but it is something that some people are thinking about so I just want to make sure we we think about what that might look like and be conscious about it so okay any other thoughts or feedback okay so then we'll move on um so we move on to the uh school committee review update and vote on the Meco funding advocacy letter for the state budget um I included a draft in the packet um I have the word version if we want to edit it and if anybody has any edits or or adjustments they want to make but before that I just wanted to provide the committee a bit of an update um the committee all I think should have received an update this week from uh Senator Lewis with regards to the state budget um hopefully you did uh in there um and if you dive into the details uh Meco again is relatively level funded there's like a very small increase in the in the plan for fy2 I because I knew this was on the topic I wanted to see if there was any movement in that I sent it an email back to Jason and his staff and they responded I provided some of the stuff I provided in the packet in terms of the impact that we're seeing um in that and uh received feedback today that they received that feedback they appreciate it many of the committee know as well next Friday is a Medco I think it's next Friday is yep um is a Meco advocacy type day with the state um but I received feedback today that Jason and one of their Senator are co-sponsoring uh a budget increase number for the Meco line um and they would appreciate this letter to support that right um he didn't say how much uh Mecha themselves are asking to go from the 29 million to 33 million to close the gap from last year's level funding and this year's level funding um my answer to them was at least get halfway hopefully they can at least get halfway um but we'll see what they say so um with that said and background um if anybody has any edits or changes or suggestions for the letter I'm happy to you know entertain that now just one sure fire away uh I think the letter is excellent but it's on Old letterhead that lists me as Vice chair thank you that's what that's what I get for pulling up my old my old letters no worries not even it's excellent letter I thank you for putting it together and doing that all right so make that change yeah okay all right so with that said then let's take a motion so we can move this forward motion to approve the metco advocacy letter Good Enough seconded by Sean uh any further discussion all in favor all opposed and it passes 6 to zero okay Sean thank you for catching that I appreciate it sign it's not I mean I could print it out and sign it but I think we're just going to send it as a PDF which has all names at the bottom of it um okay um all right so the next C topic of conversation um this is a fun one um you all may know that there is a h crof film that has been filmed I think the filming has completed now um and as a result of that the filmers are putting together a hcof bobblehead um that bobblehead has the reading rocket logo on it um and so our legal council has suggested that we vote to allow that to happen because it will be sold and not necessarily for anything happening around the school so you know people use that logo and they sell ring Rockets material and PTO raises funds and all that kind of fun stuff um so the question was do we even have to approve it um is it fair use or is it trademarked or is it copyrighted and the answer that I found so far is it was created in 1945 on the back of a napkin on a restaurant behind doans in the town of reading by the by a Gent by the name of Arthur Charles um and it has been used since then there was a game in 1945 and it was the the logo that was used that that next weekend basically after it was created on the back of the napkin um you can thank Mr Bill Brown for that information um I just want to make sure I got the name right as well that I heard so Gregor I was going to say was it Gregor's it might have been so it was Charlie Arthur sorry it was Charlie Arthur that created I know Charlie um Charlie Arthur's father so if you know Charlie r committee yeah so this might be Charlie arthy senior sure his father right his father who did it so as far as we can tell uh in research that another person who is in the in the field of trademarks that copyrights did for me there is no trademark or copyright registered for it so essentially it's public in free use as far as we can tell um I would suggest that we approve them to use it and if they're willing to ask them to share in some of the the profits that come from it I don't think we can demand that they share in the profits they offered to um but that would be my suggestion but I'm open the floor anybody has any other thoughts or feedback and limit it to the bobblehead to the bobblehead that's what I was going to say I think if we can just have some kind of written agreement of limited use for for the trademark and that some kind of you know they are selling it for a profit that you know maybe the reading public schools gets a little bit of that to fund something educational I think that was what their offer was essentially so I see no no issue with that from my from what I see in the emails or from the research I've been able to obtain and I'll publicly thank Mr Brown and marann Downing who did the research on the trademark for me so um it's a tough one for me because I I uh I'm not bothered by this particular case I I donated to the Indiegogo like others probably did as well so you know I'm certainly not bothered by this particular case oh Indiegogo is a fundraising platform they're using to fund the film so and I think this is that's part of how they're Distributing these or something is through the Indiegogo as well so um I uh I don't know I don't I don't love the precedent of us monetizing our logo for something that you know doesn't have a direct link to the schools it's you know it's one thing for PTO to use it or something along those lines this one's you know half step remov from that um I also I'm curious you know maybe it's something we can explore with Colby does it make sense for us to take the step of yeah I don't know if there's some like because we have common use of the logo can we now you know trademark it or something along those lines so answer is yes okay so that's probably something that we should think about so that we have a little bit of a more a clearer vision on this going forward um and I'd love for us at some point to think about do we want to build a policy around you know around this because I don't want to be in this position where we're making a value judgment about whe any one case whether it's you know sort of a good a good way for us to be generating Revenue off of the brand of the reading public schools so you know I I I won't lose sleep over it in this case it's hell coft it's a it's a you know maybe a unique case but um I just think we need to sort of anticipate the slippery slope and get in front of it agreed I I agree with what you're saying I I the monetizing Piece of It kind of bothers me considering we know who actually drew it right and now we've taken it so to speak um think of it as donated um I I'd be fine either way it just yeah okay any other thoughts or questions their money for the sale of that is to go towards a movie their money I think for I I don't know if you have a clear answer Tom I don't have a clear answer I believe it's to to basically fund some of what they've done um they might get some profit out of it like you would with any movie um and so that would be what we'd kind of ask for like 50 cents on the dollar I ents on the $5 or whatever like 10% or something like that I don't know what we'd ask for but whatever they're willing to do basically it seemed like that was sort of the realm of what they were thinking about didn't they say some people going back to what Sean's head some people who had donated will get a bottle head I I think it was one of the packages level of of donators um yeah I guess I guess I feel like this is a very unique scenario because in some ways it it will shine a positive light on reading on reading public schools on our track program um in many ways you know we' we named we've named a whole um facility after him um and they've already produce them so you know so I have a little bit of like a already out there but but I agree I think we [Music] um I I think we look to work to trade market and and develop a policy just so we don't sort of run into this kind of hole again okay okay yeah Colby didn't have any other you know legal recommendation on her side just that we should vote the use of it basically was what it came down to so um as long as we're okay with that then um because it's such a unique thing I'll form the motion and we can see if it works right and people can edit if necessary so I I move to approve the use of the reading rocket logo on the H in a limited use on the H coft bobblehead doll um with the intent to negotiate with or request I'm going to say request not negotiate request that a portion of the the proceeds return to the schools for educational use second second by Chuck any further questions all right all in favor all opposed it passes 6 to zero all right great moving on so Dr Pento the Q3 Financial update potential vote on cost center transfers which we know there will be at least one yes good evening again thank you so in your packet of course you'll find the uh Financial overview for the school Department's FY 24 third quarter financial report so that's spanning the period from July 1 2023 to March 31st 2024 it's the the subsequent report for quarter 4 will be provided in uh on that for the period ending June 30th 2024 will be presented in September uh this fy4 Q3 report is organized into the four sections that you become accustomed to seeing with the financial summary of the operating uh fund by cost center through Q3 and a description of the cost centers and drivers the recommendation for Q3 budget transfers of which there is one and then the financial summary of special Revenue funds to include uh grants and revolving accounts I'll be happy to field any questions if you have any questions for me on the committee I have a question on the um the Athletics transfer um 41.7 th000 for ice is that is that a 41 is that a $42,000 Delta from what we projected is that what that implies or is that the figure uh that's the total number that I got from uh IEX director Tom have for so I believe it's increased costs or there is there is an increase built into that I don't have the yeah I don't have the Delta on it okay but those were the item I so it was the Burbank ice increase cost there was uh increase cost for officials and then Transportation last year at this time it was Transportation was uh was also an issue okay any other feedback or questions all right Derek I have a few for you um first um in the the top table in the FY 24 projected end ofe balances we're projecting the technology budget to be over budget by 282,000 yeah we're not asking to transfer any money to cover that why is that the case yes that's correct at this time uh that's a placeholder for what we feel is a reasonable amount for uh technology refresh so there are a number of computers so they are close to 5,000 in the district there are a number of them that have aged out so they've exceeded the 5year what we feel is uh an appropriate time for replacement so we're looking to replace those that have exceeded the fiveyear life and then take a bite out of some of the other uh you know the other computers that we purchased previously that are close to 5 years in order to kind of level out uh the refresh cost every year so how much is that then expected to be is that the whole is that basically $300,000 the difference between the what's left or or actually there's $195,000 left but then all of a sudden we come 478 over so is that almost $600,000 or $700,000 in spend so we felt the 300,000 was reasonable at this time uh so that that may change depending on how the savings adds up at the end of the year so it's the 300,000 is actually in excess of what uh it would cost just to replace the five and six year old machine so we are trying to take a chunk out of uh machines that are in year four and year three okay so this is forecasting but you we haven't actually purchased it yet not we haven't put and so we decided to purchase as opposed to lease yes we have decided that's been our practice year-over-year has been to purchase okay because I know was something we were looking at whether we thought leasing was more appropriate since we're going to have to renew so often yeah so we have discussed that with the town account and the the possibility of lease we also discussed the possibility of having that uh as a line item there's already a capital line item in the budget the question is uh the size of the purchase so per individual machine is very low so it doesn't quite meet uh the typical threshold for what a capital purchase would be and then the life cycle is short so um town was not disposed to making that a capital purchase but are open to discussing uh increasing uh our budget more appr so it's more appropriately to account for the Refresh on a yearly basis so fair to assume then we should expect the Q4 budget transfer potentially at a regular day yes to right siiz that account that's correct and it may be so three 300,000 is what we've approximated we're still we're going to be presenting so the network manager and myself are going to be presenting further numbers for uh uh Dr milesy to review along with the exact team and determine what we feel is uh appropriate so it could be uh over 300,000 the purchase that we're making so does that require us to go through purchasing related uh bidding process or is it is that on an individual individual item only and each individual item is less than 10,000 we're good to go so there's a combination of items we've tried to to bring the price down by having a different product mix than previously so we realize that there are different Computing needs per grade level so high school students may need something that's got more computing power than what an elementary school student might need so we're differentiating in that way but I'm we don't we're not going through a a different procurement process than we've gone through previously okay Chuck this should not be a bit this should be you just go get them you know okay okay um so that that answers one of the other questions I had which is in the in the regular day cost center section you specifically talk about a renewal of technology devices and I was going to say why is that in regular day because it's in technology but you're saying essentially you're forecasting the the the move of the money from regular day to support that okay um so one of the next questions I had is at the the top of I think it's page four it says a positive balance of 84,000 825 is projected at year end um in in particular for special education and borrowing new placements anticipated balance would be reduced by augmenting the special education Reserve fund you're not suggesting that we can only put 84,000 in the special education Reserve fund there right no that's correct okay but some of that would come down and then some of that from the other stuff that potentially we have from savings could go into that that's correct yeah we had we so we we these amounts are variable and they're up for discussion right now we've been compiling our list of priority purchases for the end of the year so whatever is uh most important to us we've and other unexpected items have come up so we're looking to rank order them prioritize them and then um other monies will be dedicated towards uh special education Reserve given that we have excess okay um keeping down that page U the next section is about the uh the the prepay 980,000 which I'm fully in support of and you say details will be forthcoming so when can we expect details and is it possible that we might want to prepay more right or less depending upon how many out of out of out of District placements we have between the different collaboratives and then the the private private placements yes so there is absolutely the POS so we built in the 980 figure right now because it's kind of in line with what we've done previously we could absolutely pay more uh we do have a monthly meeting where we discuss out to District placements and what's uh what's that issue is determining which students will be aging out of the program which students we anticipate may be returning to our program uh we want to make sure that if we're going to be doing uh prepays that it's going to be for students that will be remaining in that placement for the for the full year then we have to make that payment before before the end of June right yes so will we should we expect to hear more at our last June meeting then yes perhaps in advance of that so I can always send an update as we uh as we conclude those discussions internally okay okay um moving down to the grants um which I think is on page five five um I got to say I'm surprised to see that the Meco the full metco amount will be used is projected to be used by the end of the year that doesn't usually it isn't usually the case usually we carry over a small amount to the to the next fiscal year so can you is that accurate or should we expect that 130,000 to carry over you can expect a portion of that to roll over so we hadn't finalized uh what will be left at the end of this year that so typically what happens with the metco grant is there is an amount that's rolled over that's kept in in one line and then there's the fresh metco Grant which is in another line so we're operating on the on the basis of those two right because I mean we had 131,000 that rolled over last year right and so it is it fair to say that everything that's expended and encumbered for Q3 I mean through Q3 and is that including anything forecasted through Q4 as well to to the best of my knowledge yes okay so then we should expect somewhere close to 130 unless there's any sort of surprise numbers that come into the Meco budget between now and the end of the year yeah we'll be reviewing with uh the Meco director in the coming days okay so we I think we'll be it's going to be suspected a little bit lower too so 90k was the last one that we had looked out like we factored out um kind of end of year costs so okay could be slightly I would say 9 is is probably the minimum of where we would be potentially slightly higher uh hopefully closer to 100 okay um moving down then and sorry I have so many questions on this one since it's been a little bit of I think uh it's it's kind of the third one you're having fun with so revolving accounts um I'm not following the language at the top of revolving accounts versus the offset so in particular the last sentence where it says this offset is taken to reduce the facilities expenses associated with these operations these increased by 25,000 each over what was initially budgeted restoring them to previous historical levels of 50,000 but then if you look down below you have 75,000 and 130,000 in those two lines so can you talk me through those two updates and how they reflect below I will I will thanks for the question so so uh what happened was we discovered with Town historically 50,000 has been taken from each of those two lines to pay for whatever their expenses happen to be so this was um uh in those two lines so for the extended day program and then for and then for the use of school property so typically they had taken 50,000 they had given us a bit of a break postco with reduced revenues and those those have been reduced to 25,000 each they did however we found out this year have restored them to previous levels of 50,000 each and so the 50,000 is inside that number uh what what you the number that you see reflected there accounts for additional expenses so salaries or what have you so that is us giving 100,000 to the town instead of 50,000 to the town 50,000 in each of those lines so total of 100,000 yeah total of 100,000 that's correct so the difference then that we should see in these offsets this 1651 that was my next question the 1651 at the bottom of the offsets versus the 1551 in the top page thing is that 100,000 that's going to the town okay um and you know one of my other favorite topics is full day kindergarten and tuition tracking so how are we doing on that and are we collections wise so do you know what I don't have the uh the the fdk number I believe was under 10 uh that we were unid tracking for for payment yeah I I hope I'm not confused so I know for athletics I just signed letters there were nine sets of uh nine letters that were sent out uh I I'm positive the fdk number is lower than that okay that's good so I can get you an exact number if like it helps sorry these are people still ow a little bit of money or or the whole fee or whatever else that maybe didn't apply for any sort of reduction or things like that right so it's all part of the keeping that whole model in line and the forecast that we have in the model so um Sean did you want to ask I was just going to say they must owe a bit because I was accidentally three months behind and didn't and didn't get a letter so so it's it's uh thank you for I'm caught up now I did catch up little bit of miscommunication in the home front but yeah you're paying you're pay spam filter too if why the reminders sometimes get caught in email spam drama fee was a week late I don't I wouldn't accept it anyway you mailam good blame we have two school committee members fessing up to being late we we've all been late at times it happens right now so I'll get you an exact number okay I think it's the last question I have um oh I have two more questions um the Libby scholarship fund 1.2 million and it says that we want to basically spend that by the end of 2038 do you know or has Sharon been able to tell you what that's invested in because if that's invested we should be able to take it longer than 2038 yes I have not been told what it's uh invested in and I think we should get some Revenue as a result of it being I just understood in an interest bearing account so I can certainly chase down hope not the 01 interest bearing and it's more like the 5% interest bearing account usually Sharon and her team are pretty aggressive about those things so we should expect some Revenue as my point not just be flat and full withdrawal um and my last question is one of the last things Susan Susan was working on was the um the activities accounts for the high schools and the schools and making sure there was good procedures in place and people were trained and what they were supposed to do and and whatnot um you know the 244,000 that's in those Collective accounts have you are you aware of that training has that continued um have you followed through on it to make sure that everybody who's responsible for these activities accounts knows the process and procedures for what can be pulled what can't be pulled and how to do that uh that's an area that I'll have to follow up on so I'm not aware if there's been continuity of that program or not but I can certainly uh now that you've uh raised it for me I can certainly track that down okay thank you sure any other questions for anybody else you asked them all I asked them all all right so we have a motion I think Aon yeah sorry what page is that spelled out on it's p it's the top of Page Three just keep it simple and just do the two cost centers don't worry about breaking down the cost top of page five sorry I gave you the wrong direction okay uh motion to approve a budget transfer of 82,000 from the regular day cost center to districtwide Athletics that's good enough we have a second second second by Carla any further conversation all in favor all opposed and it passes 6 to Zer thank you Dr Pinto thank you all right so I think we are now down the stretch run here and Dr mileski the school committee vote for the FY 24 syy 2425 calendar update great this should be quick uh in your packet you should you'll see a memo that was sent out by principal Jess Kalan to high school Community uh back in the last week of April outlining uh the upcoming sh the shift starting on the school calendar starting in uh or the school schedule starting in 2425 school year um in addition you'll see that therefore given this scheduling shift uh we are proposing a change in the start time at the end time of the day from 3:02 to 3:05 p.m. on regular dismissals and then on early dismissals 10:4 to 10:5 p.m. and we've also already worked through this and received approval from the Union as well great thank you any questions from anybody all right a motion motion to approve the 20 2425 calendar update for writing Memorial High School second second I'll make a small adjustment it's a calendar update for the whole District but the high school is the one that has the start and end time changes so but yes okay any further conversation or questions all in favor all opposed what's going on with you I had I was already voting voting while you motion okay there you go all right uh the last item is a school choice discussion Dr Miles you want to set the form sure um so information again in your packet uh as you know each year school committee has to decide whether or to vote to opt out of the school choice program as the community knows the last two years uh the commun the committee has decided not to vote to opt out uh over the past couple of years we have uh enrolled students of 25 students across uh all all of our schools um and received a total revenue of $199,800 you'll see we're handling a little bit differently this year in terms of in the packet you'll see uh the available seats broken down by dis by the U by grade level across the district instead of by school we feel like this gives us this still is in align with sort of require state requirements and gives us a little bit more flexibility around uh having a better idea of class size as we move through the spring uh you'll see there's five available seats at each grade level um I think the the two major reasons why we think this is a been a benefit to our district one uh we have have a lot of staff member uh CH children of Staff members now enrolling writing Public Schools or nieces or nephews uh we feel like that's important uh also is a is a a perk for being in the district and also as a retention for us for staff and also too we know that it comes uh also school choice comes with $5,000 uh per student uh and also reimbursement up to 100% of a special education cost as well um so uh We've laid out that as a proposal uh tonight but happy for feedback on the committee if you uh either op you know opting out or also on sort of The Proposal we have for the amount of available seats Chuck how how often do they discuss the the 5,000 does that ever get adjusted upward great question I haven't heard any conversation about that over the past couple of years but that's been static for as long as I can remember well I mean as we've seen in other things here tonight everything's going up so yeah uh maybe we should find find out yeah and whether we should be Advocate or writing a letter like we did for great Point let me get a little context on that historically and also just check in to see if that doesn't slow down me no great but it's a great point I it's a great it's a great Point any other feedback or questions from the committee I have one um considering our relatively low K numbers across the district would we consider more school choice for k and if not why not yeah um we're we're low right now um but I also feel like if you look at the numbers we're kind of right in the class size of where we want to be uh for most of our schools with the exception of kilum right now we've already moved one of the teachers from K to five still a little bit low at kilum so that's a spot where we could absorb some of the five uh still also at Birch is a little bit low and there's still the potential for consolidation of those classes from 3 to 2 if you Consolidated from 3 to two the class sizeer now there's 36 students now Birch kindergarten that would be 1818 we also still don't know exactly for metco placements yet where we'll we'll be so I I guess I share that I think we're pretty close to the margin of where we want to be I don't think we have a ton of wiggle room um outside of maybe killum and potentially what happens with the Burch third class um so I think for was that reason we decided to be a little uh keep that in line with the other grade levels I would oh sorry good I would just add I I um I hear the question Tom I I think it's a little risky to be too aggressive in kindergarten cuz you've got all the Oddities of families choosing private kindergarten and not being required to send your kid until they're six and all those sorts of things so um I think there's some risk in you know trying to trying to fill your seats at the kindergarten level and yeah you could bounce backs in first grade and all that stuff I mean I'm just I mean just thinking about as you were talking about it Dr meski there's eight seats at Birch right there's if we're on the 18 number at kilum there's 12 more seats that's 20 seats y right there are the other schools are not a 22 in any of the classes besides J except je right so then there's probably another eight or so across the other two schools so would it be the worst thing to go to 10 and that still allows plenty of time for the Meco and we don't we're not going to fill it anyway right I mean the reality is we're not going to fill it it's more a marketing thing than it is anything else um I totally hear the bounceback so that's but I'm just we don't usually have you know bounce backs that are exceeding 20 kids in a year anyway either if you look at the Historical Trends it's usually about 10 or 11 and I have the data right um so I'm I'm just trying to think about that um the other thing I would think about is have we decided what we're going to do from a marketing perspective or do we want to Market or not Market this and part of the part of me says no because we have the kilum convers ation coming up part of me says yes because this could help us fund a lot of the other things we need to do in the district so I'm on on the fence myself I just wanted to see if you had further thought about it or had any any feedback from the rest of the administration you on it y uh I think two great kind of considerations one thing I'll also add kindergarten is a little bit tricky too that we don't know what enrollment is going to look like throughout the summer we are have a there's a decent Delta between where we are now what the census says and we still still students who are sort of out there so I think as you know you can do two lotteries so we can also change that as we move forward to if there you know come summertime we think we have some space so this is for I think for this first Lottery and go around uh the other thing with kindergarten is tricky is that you can't double charge so you can't charge a St we can't charge tuition and also uh receive the $5,000 for school choice so if you run the numbers you can kind of figure out what charge them tuition what's that we wouldn't charge these ones tuition correct that's so then it's sort of free right so I think that we're offering free for oh you're saying we can't have a charging policy to charge others and then not charge them to get the 5,000 so we have to choose either we take the 5,000 for school choice or we take the tuition from everybody else from that from them oh well then I want the 5,000 don't charge correct and then they don't have to pay then they don't pay for kindergarten it's better it's better for the family and it's better for us of course that's the how we figured it out too but that's family's not paying it correct so that's exactly so that's another if I'm a writing family I'm not thrilled that thereor so that's so that's a point of why I don't think we really want to also expand kindergarten significantly too um marketing I feel like we've rolled school choice out very slowly over the past couple years and I think that um I think was the smart approach I think if we start to open it up the students are in the district for all the way K to 12 when we don't know what's going to be happening with spacing over you know the next next couple years especially with Kellum I think we're smart to just move slowly and open up seats little by little where we know we can absorb them I worry if we start to uh Market we can really quickly fill this demand and much more and I'm not sure that that's what we want to do strategically at this point I think it's better for us to take the kind of marginal increase in support and revenue uh while we kind of continue to assess the program and if for some reason next year we feel like the program is you know not working out as we would have anticipated we can pull back in you know a little bit without having you know much of an impact so we've thought about it but I I think at this point this is probably as as far as we're comfortable going and I also don't think we're looking to really make a big marketing campaign outside of really messaging and marketing to our teachers and staff members and also placing there's requirement of sort of what we do of placing on our website and also in one other uh venue as well so think any but can go ahead anybody that was paying attention to your presentation at town meeting that was a marketing piece I mean I was thinking when I was watching that why wouldn't anyone want to come here go see I'm not being a wise I agree that good thank you and we have uh and Olivia's keeping a list we already have 12 families who've reached out uh some staff members some not so I think the okay any further discussion we don't actually have to vote on this because we're not opting out so I'll just add on the on the kindergarten front that I I'm of the opposite like I I think if you can have a class of like 16 that that was a gift and that that is wonderful for that teacher and those students um and that it's never going to stay at 16 as as they go through elementary school so I know we say up to 22 but I'd much rather see our kindergartens at at 18 agreed um so I I'm just wary of of packing kindergarten and you know when we don't have to very very very fair point okay no other conversation I think you're you're good to go Dr M great so we have the application ready we'll post to our website tomorrow and'll be uh application din will be Friday May 31st at uh 300 p.m. okay that was our last order of business people's computers are already shut down does anybody want to make a motion motion toour motion second by Chuck very quickly all in favor all opposed and we're adjourned yes we do need signatures e e e