##VIDEO ID:pF_kgt6GA4E## all right we will call uh to order this meeting of the somerset Berkeley Regional school committee at 6:03 p.m. due notice having been posted pursu to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions may be made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are de acknowledge and permissible do a roll call of members present Miss Ferrera present Miss Ashley present Mr fener Maker Miss O'Brien Miss Solomon present Mr Vieira present Miss Kettle present and also with us this evening our superintendent of schools Mr Jeffrey skover our Chief Financial Officer Miss Raquel Pellerin our director of curriculum Miss Elizabeth hasel and our principal Dr Susan brownsford at this time I would ask you to rise for the pledge of Grace I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you everyone uh please note that the next regularly scheduled meeting of this committee will be held on Tuesday October 8th here in the somerset Berkeley Regional School library the first item on the agenda for this evening under student teaching and learning is our student representative report Ryan and Allison Hello everybody I hope you all had a enjoyable summer um so school being already in full swing um sports teams and performing arts groups are already preparing for competitions um and regarding Sports they already have had um many different compe auditions for each sport um and this Wednesday auditions for the drama club have uh will be will begin and they have announced their play to be radium girls uh regarding the senior class in the past week a few of us have been meeting with our guidance counselors during the blue Raider block to discuss the college application process so navigating the platforms of uh the Common App and Naviance and other students will be meeting with them within the next few weeks and in upcoming weeks guidance counselors will be meeting with the senior English classes to further discuss the college application process along with other future plans and guidance counselors will be uh scheduling individual senior interviews to further discuss uh the process and how that's been working dur during the Blu Raider blocks is each guidance counselor has their set group of students and during each each Wednesday it's a small group of six six or seven students so it's it's um you get a step byep of how to work the comap na'vi and then once you get to your one-on-one in those English class discussions they'll go um further in depth um in regarding some topics we've discussed at our last student advisory committee meeting um we so each month we discuss comments concerns um whatever about the school that we like to bring up to uh Dr bford and Mr schoonover um we mentioned um sharing on the school website a Google form um that students can fill out ranging any student at the high school can fill out um so we can get a wider range of input um and that's something that I plan to bring any of the comments to the next school committee meeting uh as you may know we sadly lost a member of our senior class Zachary Dean last month a candlelight ceremony was held on campus to remember Zachary with all proceeds uh were planning on going to a bench and a scholarship in honor of him and his family that is all we have for this meeting thank you thank you both very much does anyone have any questions great so year off to a good start for you both I thanks so definitely definitely great great to have you back with us good to be here if I may add one thing I think we decide to meet on the first Wednesday of the month is that correct cor that's what it is and Mrs gagleard used to be the school committee representative to that she would come from time to time to participate in those discussions I don't know I know if the school committee wants to assign someone else we do meet after school usually from about 2:15 to 3 3:15 uh so if that is something uh that the school committee wants to reassign reappoint someone to participate uh we'd be happy to have someone did you say that was on Wednesdays first Wednesday of the month first Wednesday month is there anyone who would like to and is able to do that it is a weekly month once a month on a Wednesday you don't you want to decide now I know it's not on the agenda I just wanted to raise that while we'll we'll think about it and then maybe we'll have um an appointment for the next meeting awesome great thank you all right um the next item on the agenda under new business is the approval of the memorandum of agreement with the somerset Teachers Association um this would be for the the entirety of the agreement um we did receive today A S letter of agreement on a separate issue but the members of the committee have not had an opportunity to review that so I think we can um hold off on that and approve that piece at the next meeting but um at this time I would entertain a motion to approve the memorandum of agreement with the somerset Teachers Association units A and B for the period of September 1st 2024 through August 31st 2027 second motion by Miss O'Brien and seconded by Mr Fence maker is there anything on discussion hearing none all those in favor I I opposed so voted thank you everyone we're happy to say that we were able to come to a contract with our um Unit A and Unit B members that we think serves our students and our staff well and we appreciate the hard work that they do for our students the next item on the agenda sort of a formality but it's the approval of the Chief Financial Officer contract you recall um at our last meeting we introduced Miss pin who we're so happy to have on board and we had authorized Mr spoon over to enter into a contract with her for her role as Chief Financial Officer um but we thought it was wise to um make a public vote on that so I think everyone has a copy of the contract in the folder so at this time I would entertain a motion to approve the contract with Chief Financial Officer Raquel Pellerin for the period of August 13 2024 through June 30th 2027 so moved second motion by Miss Ashley and seconded by Mr Fen maker anything on discussion hearing none all those in favor I I opposed so voted thank you and if we didn't make it clear enough at our last meeting we'll say it again we're very happy to have you on board thank you she came back so it's a good sign um the next item on the agenda is the update on the annual building inspection um which 27 was it the 27th it was all the blur it was a blur 27th or I think it was the 27 it was the day before students came back to school the so the committee um was able to walk the uh building and I thought we had a very positive inspection that to me the building still looks new um I think this the custodial staff does a tremendous job in um and getting things ready for the beginning of years is always a Monumental task even more so this year with the a lot more use of the building over the summer than is customary so um I don't know if anyone has anything they want to add I'm just going to mention that I I was a little bit late so I missed some of the things what I saw looked great and the thing that's especially good is how proud they are of the work that they're doing here getting the school ready for the students you know you tell wasn't just a chore it was like they were really into doing it and showing us the area and the trap above and all the work done there so great job with all the folks involved in that I think one of the items that was pointed out in the track was the trophy case that was built was that by Diamond by diamond diamond students which looks like it was meant to be there so it's really cool when we see students from a you know another school but obviously um Somerset students um attend Di and so to see that work was really cool and a great way to Showcase some of the awards that our student athletes get so um so just I think on behalf of the committee we'll just exp extend our thanks and appreciation to all members of the um custodial staff who did a fabulous job um and continued to always do a fabulous job keeping this building looking great for our students and our staff I didn't know if you wanted to add anything Mr SC I was just thinking and I I don't know I can't recall exactly when that Tru case was installed I think sometime in the spring but to acknowledge Diamond um I know on our agendas we we often will accept monetary donations I'm just wondering if there should be a formal vote of the school committee to accept that and then also a letter either by the school committee or me to Diamond thanking them um for building it and everything that they've done and this really started probably about five or six years ago when when uh if not longer uh when this was initiated okay I'm wondering if it makes sense since it's not on the agenda a specific vote on that can we put that on the agenda for October we we send them our thanks and appreciation now but maybe we can officially accept the donation and acknowledge it on the October agend is everyone okay with that uh okay the next item on the agenda is school opening update and enrollment update you have some documents in your fold right so I'll uh start by sharing the enrollment update and as I've done for the past few years just giving really a three-year uh look at uh changes in the enrollment it's not specifically the same date in September each year I think it happened um whenever the uh school committee occurred uh the first meeting of that month occurred uh but you can see just generally speaking that uh two years ago we did uh have on November I'm sorry September 28th 1,9 students you can see the breakdown by grade levels our uh the 14 students in our transition program which is the 12 plus homeschool and out of District um students and then just moving from right to left you can see how that's uh changed since then and and uh as of the other day as of Friday and I checked again yesterday it's 98 students students total uh for Somerset Berkeley uh that includes 15 students in our transition program so if you look at just 9 through 12 we're uh just under 900 students now um and just following sort of diagonally from the middle column over uh from 9923 to 9724 you can see how the enrollments have changed two 220 freshman last year 221 sophomores this year 260 sophomores 258 uh last year 258 Juniors um but I I think when we were when I was presenting the school choice numbers back to you um in the spring I I think based on the enrollments out of Berkeley Middle and Somerset middle I think I was projecting around 900 students in the school uh so here we are just uh just over that including the uh the total enrollment and as you can see we have additionally uh 16 students who are homeschooled four actually in in each of the four grades uh as well as 16 students who are in other District placements uh as for just generally the school opening I will ask Dr bford uh to really comment more on that since uh she is the best person to um to really relay that information but generally speaking uh it seemed to be a very smooth opening to the school year uh from regular Transportation I know Dr bford sent Fisher bus an email just acknowledging uh how smooth everything went and uh if you recall we did start that process earlier uh Fisher bus was able to we were able to get them information much sooner and they in return was uh was able to get us root information um so that we could communicate with families and and really start that about a we to early than what we typically do which certainly paid off uh once school's opened but Dr bford if there's anything specifically you wouldn't want to address I I would just reiterate what you said about Transportation Fisher bus um it I've been this is my 14th year here and we have never had a smoother Transportation opening um working with fiser just back and forth the first week of school everybody found their buses everybody got home it was just it was leaps and mounds above what what had happened in the past um we call the first day of school of running of the buses with with the Freshman because we're always trying to find where everybody uh belongs but the way that they structure of the buses this year it was very very smooth and by day two everybody pretty much knew where they were going so that was great um I mean from a student perspective from a teacher perspective I think it went fantastic um our professional development started right away with our uh groups and we have already started looking at our data teams uh we we received some really nice data from um Highlander who's now through line uh who we partnered with last year they gave us some really concrete data on the freshman class last year current sophomores we presented that not only to the professional development groups that were working with those students and will be working with them this year but we presented it to the entire school on our uh second day of PD with the staff and we started some really really positive discussions on data and planning some goals for for what the data said and then what we're going to do um we also looked at some preliminary mcast data and started that conversation about reading and particularly writing across the curriculum and that's a focus area of our professional development this year so um a lot of great discussion uh I've had the opportunity to walk through just about everybody's classroom at least once if not twice and there's a lot of amazing things that are going on that I can see with direct consequence of professional development from last year so some of the building thinking classroom ideas that we were talking about and reaching and teaching the fresan Learners those things are really happening in the classrooms right off the bat and it's becoming ritual routine so that was really really nice to see and uh I think we're we're Ming and gring we're backing it if I can add to Dr bford I think at at our student advisory committee meeting last week did ask the students right away you know how how was opening and it was from the students who were there uh it was also very positive as Dr Bros just I'm disappointed they didn't mention the charge that I gave the most important thing in the school right now which is selecting the bell for the school we lost power over the summer and we lost the Bell that we had and we've got about a I don't know 150 options for bells L there's a lot uh and no matter which one I picked someone has been unhappy so I have given it to the student advisory Council and they are in the process of narrowing it down and it's going to go to a student vote so uh as long as I get to keep my Jingle Bells in December cuz that's that was our uh so I'm excited to see what what's going to be ringing here and just one other um thing that I or maybe two other things I want to mention so as smooth as things were with regular Transportation special Transportation has is probably been more impacting Somerset than Somerset Berkeley but uh it it's been a little bit more challenging this year and it's mostly due to uh the lack of drivers and not just for us just the lack of drivers in general every transportation company is struggling to maintain um uh an adequate Fleet of drivers uh so that that has been one challenge but again more so for Somerset than Somerset Berkeley uh one of the things that I think either we or or I need to address going forward is what do we do for this school when we we have an election day uh the day after Labor Day um and I think even one year is before Labor Day I forget when it's not necessarily the second Tuesday month but anyway uh when when you have that so early on we don't already we don't want to start school and then all of a sudden oh you have a day off um but it results in us not being able to access our students not being able to access the student lot uh so that we can have uh voters even on a primary election day when you know there are there isn't a lot of foot traffic coming anyway by from what I was told from the town um but it's it's it's an inconvenience um I think for the people running the elections here it's an inconvenience for our students for our teachers uh but I I would say that one of the reasons why we it's difficult to have the a no school day for someone at Berkeley and maybe it seems like it's um not that important at the end of the day we we try to end we still have one teachers union prek to 12 and we try to have them all end on the same day and then as soon if we have the day off of the high school we we automatically now our high school teachers and some people are are split some people work between both Somerset and Somerset berly so then we have one District ending on one day another District ending on the next day and then there's some inequities maybe that um get introduced with that but it is something that we need to consider or I need to consider and present a calendar to you that just maybe does not uh have school for this building or or I don't know for for the district uh the districts on that particular day I know it there were some student tickets parking tickets that were handed out which I think were were all retrieved um but still it's it's um it's a challenge each year I'm glad you mentioned it I think too it um I was going to raise that for a future discussion for an agenda item and I think also um concerns not only about scheduling but also about security it's half day and people in buildings and just the world we live in I know we're all very cognizant of that but I think you're right I think it's may be time to revisit that entire conversation about where we have voting how we have voting when we have voting and how that coincides with the student schedule or the you know the district schedule and so I'm thinking if folks are inclined maybe we can have that discussion for a future date I think that makes sense it's better to get ahead of too so we're going to have the conversation in advance of next year's calendar being released so appreciate you bringing that up can um I can I just circle back to the enrollment I just have one one thing I noticed and I'm not sure that anybody can answer this at this level and that's fine but in looking at enrollment I think you know we're always we're concerned about sort of the general decline which is partly demography and partly students have other options um one of the things I noticed is that for our current grade 12 students at currently at 217 it looks like that class has seen the biggest drop from grade nine right I think we've lost about 20 students between grade is it or maybe it was their grade 10 10 11 12 sorry from 237 to 217 and I guess my question would be is that just a normal artifact of some of the attrition that might happen as students become seniors or is there something specific about that class or do we typically see that between say grade 10 and in grade 12 and I don't mean to put focus on this bottom just that's something I noticed it looks a little bit an outlier uh so just I'll give some some numbers I have the grade nine numbers from last year's um presentation uh when that group entered as freshman there were 245 so went from 245 to 237 230 to 217 or 213 2 uh the let's see the uh the class before then the class that graduated last year when they were sophomores they had 262 uh Juniors they were at 258 and last year they started the senior year with 249 so we did see a a decrease in of 13 students over those uh the sophomore to senior span uh which is a little bit more pronounced than the current senior class but the trend is still there so if I may Dr bford how I know we do have some of some of these students there we see the the loss in the Day School enrollment but we do know that a handful of these students are enrolled in our evening program I don't know how it's probably maybe four or five per per graduating class on average is that about right it's less than 10 yeah so we some of those students aren't captured there but the trend is definitely there and uh we do I I should know I I think our graduation rate is around 90 4 95% uh so we are losing our dropout rate is is not necessarily the difference between that and 100 but um let's let's just call it about 5% uh so that does mean that over the course of their four-year enrollment we are losing 10 plus students uh as dropouts so I think maybe combining that with students who are transferring to other schools and students who are entering our evening school program we probably have maybe about 15 to 20 students per grade level over that span of time questions the reason I ask personally is because we have an masc resolution on the table that we're going to talk about right suggesting that recommending that the compulsory age of attendance be moved from 16 to 18 which we can talk about them but I have mixed feelings about it so having that information is is helpful does anyone else have any questions well I think just something we might have talked about before is how we attract people from other schools for something we offer they may not and how we can advertise that I saw I think was last week's Globe there was a story about um the um programs um so chapter 74 no no it was on using the the uh football all the the games as a a way to draw students in and they specifically um mentioned our school I think we know we're going to be chasing uh facing further enrollment challenges with the construction of the two locational Tech yeah okay nothing else that um next item on the agenda Staffing updates Mr all right so uh you have on your agenda just list of a few resignations that we've received a lunchroom Monitor and two par professionals as well as several appointments including a power professional an admin assistant uh hallway Monitor and and a long-term sub so I think and I spoke with Dr bford yesterday and I think we're down to a lunchroom supervisor I believe we're we're in talks with the final care of professionals so I hate to say it out loud out universe but as of right now I believe we will only need a lunchroom Monitor and we're managing that fine with this staff we have so I'm not concerned about that all but but in terms of teachers and power professionals appears to be the the first time in a long time where we will be fully staffed and yeah as you said knock on wood that's great news does anyone have any questions fabulous thank you the next item on the agenda is the appointment of the masc voting Delegate for the resolutions of the masc Mas joint conference in November is there anyone who'd like to volunteer I won't be attending this year do we have confirmation on what date the voting will take place I think it's Friday if memories Friday it's Friday I think I think it's Friday late in the day I thought that last year it was wedes I was going to say they did it I it's I think they did it earlier last year which is why I don't want to assume um I think it used to be on Wednesdays because uh it was a lot easier for me um but Friday is just difficult I'm checking the agenda right now um please we can Circle back to it it's okay it's November 3 thank see Rob like I'm looking at November 8th I don't see it anywhere so that's the Friday yes Friday at 3:15 um okay you know what I'll if does anyone want to do it if not I'm going to be there Friday I'll do it I'll save Mr defense to well if you are the one the Delegate for the somerset Berkeley Regional school committee then that would leave me the opportunity to perhaps put my name in the Hat for the Summers that school committee so I I think that if you'd like to offer to do it for the regional committee I think um I feel good about that I'm glad someone [Laughter] does somebody want to make a motion I don't want to take it from you Mr fener Maker if you want to no no no I'm I'm fine thank you sure I'd like to make a motion to have Miss Andrews serve as the Delegate for the resolutions at the Mas M joint conference we have a motion by Miss Ashley and sign by Miss fer anything on discussion anybody want to save me you we all fully support this I think I'll so voted see you there um okay the next item on the agenda is to consider the masc resolutions for support Amendment or opposition um I think that I don't know if everybody's had a chance to look them over they've been in the folder for a bit Miss FR you mentioned that I can't find it anywhere but I did see an email that they are having a meeting on I believe the 24th which is next week week after that's in person in Quincy or via Zoom that they're going to discuss all the resolutions and like give more information as to what they are because there's a bunch this year compared to yeah usual and some of them I feel like it's it's it's way reaching to a something that uh it's a shame that I can't be there because I would love to give them a piece of my mind but things like to recommend to over ride the 25% or have the select the superintendent and the administration to educate people on gun safety you know these are things that I don't believe um should be even considered um there's you know cameras on the buses like they're making it a mandate who's going to pay for this you know there there are a lot of many of these are extremely concerning to me I share I share those concerns as well and I think some of these are very much an overreach at the scope of what I think a school committee is supposed to do not to mention under resourced not resourced right would the committee like to um hold off on this item for now move it to the October agenda and if folks have the opportunity to participate in that so we get further information and then that would give us time to vote prior to the can you forward that email cuz as soon as I find it all right cuz I remember seeing because now I can't find it in my inbox anywhere and I'm like I know I saw it in there so I was like oh because they had it it's in person in Quincy but they also had it via Zoom so and you had to register so they could keep track of how many people were going but now I can't find it but when I find it I will make sure you have it thank you it sounds like the committee needs either a more time to digest all of this and reflect and B perhaps get more information from the masc I found it did you find it September 24th 6m division 3 hosting resolutions review join the masc division 3 leadership as they host an informal conversation for all of our membership to be a comprehensive understanding of the resolutions to be considered at the upcoming masc delegate assembly so there's a link to register I'm going to forward that to is that the back to school email it's like the fall events okay I'm gonna send it to R because the group email is not popping up because I don't think I've ever emailed it that up than you there are also 11 for reconsideration it is a lot to get through so okay thank you we'll move into October thank you you're welcome would you like us to have our grid yes and NOS ready so we can go real quick it it wouldn't be a bad idea ready to vote how about um Robin and I will work together we'll create a sheet and we'll send we could just do yeah you could just do a Google form and we can submit okay we'll do that and then we can announce our I don't think we can submit to Robin no oh to Robin we can yeah she'll know the results before the B meeting perfect great okay next item on the agenda under business and financial matters is can Madam chair can we just stay on U because I came in late uh just for the record um if I could vote Yes for both the STA uh contract and also yes for the CFO contract if you all voted on it so just for the record we did unanimously and now it's 70 very good thank you thank you and just as a point of information weed this a sign a side letter of agreement from the SDA just today on an item so we did not vote on that because everybody hasn't had a chance to look at it we'll move that to October after we share it with everyone okay thank you you that okay next item um is a vote on the uh on the updated assessment um for the towns of Somerset and Berkeley um in your folder Miss and was uh supplied us with some additional information I don't know if there's anything you want to sort of short add so there are three documents in your packet related to Chapter 70 funding um one is a memo that summarizes the adjustments that'll be credited back to the member towns um the second is the final cherry sheet that was released by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and the third is a flow of the total chishi estimates from FY 24 all the way to fy2 conference committee and subsequently uh the governor's budget there are two numbers in bold those numbers are um for the fy2 governor a local Aid proposal that is what the um number that's in the FY 25 budget um based on the conference committee and the governor's budget it's a favorable variance um budgetary variance of 7,670 that'll be credited back to both member towns um on the next payment so somerset's credit will be 53502 and bookly will be 17,1 168 does anyone have any questions so just point out for folks that the the um calculation is based um strictly on enrollment percentage um and only other thing I would add is that um Miss pin's predecessor Mr tarot and everyone on the budget committee and all members of administration worked really hard to um develop a budget based on our best guess of what those um Chapter 70 receipts would be um um and the variance although it's positive for us is due really because of the delay in passing a final budget it's not due to anything um that wasn't done on time or correctly here and so we're happy to um give the towns the credit but we just want folks to know that we are we're doing our due diligence and meeting our deadlines and unfortunately sometimes um that doesn't always happen with the state loan long time um okay if there are any other questions may I ask a question regarding that and Miss p and I were discussing this just prior to a meeting so we know that as she just indicated there'll be um money going back uh to the towns but does the school committee need to approve an updated assessment sheet because there's an increase in funding from Chapter 70 which means really it's a decreased assessment to both towns right so the the the total of the operating budget Remains the Same but now the revenue sources are a little bit different so is this fine just with what brel just shared or do you need to vote on the new operating assessment is this Capital assessment is this total assessment is this yeah I have a feeling we have to vote on because it's an action that we took and now we're authorized izing the credit for both towns similar to when we had to refund uh or give credit to Berkeley we had to take a vote on that so I just pulled up the regional agreement to see if I can just quickly find language but I'm not sure I'll find it fast enough we can certainly just vote it um can we quickly do the subtraction so that we have the amended assessment numbers for each town like you know what I'm saying like we've got the credit but I can't math that fast I would preer probably just to redo the assessment sheet so that way you have it when we're not guessing then but there's it's really not imperative right now it's not going to really affect anything from someone that are Berkeley with their monthly payments but there will be the credit that the offset to them right so future months will be less than what uh they've been paying from July 1st on so it sounds like we can put this on theer but I just want to make sure if that's the right process to revote on the assessment sheet that well this will give us some time to confirm that okay so Let's Fold off yeah and the only reason why I feel like we may because we have to vote on which assessment model we're going to use so I think it's just probably very clear just a clear thing let's just make the vote and um now the towns do they pay us monthly or quarterly or monthly monthly all right so it's really not like uh we're going to have to write them a check back I can't move that fast okay let's hold now let's move it to October let's redo the assessment sheet and then we'll vote on the revised assessment and the credit all great thanks everyone um the next item on the agenda under unfinished business as an update on Baseball Field improvements okay I believe in your folder you have a document try to pull it up here so uh last week uh Miss Pellerin Mr Taro Mr Carrero and I met with uh the landscape architect uh and we uh propos the schedule that you have uh to address uh the drainage in the baseball field so you can see the timeline where um with this kickoff meeting on 95 uh it would go out uh if the work is approved it would go out to bid uh sometime uh right after the New Year um bid openings at the end of January early February uh with work eventually uh starting as soon as school is over in June uh the work would take place uh mostly during the summer uh trying to wrap up right around um the beginning of the school year maybe a couple of weeks into the school year um and then it would be ready for play the following spring so really no loss in and access to the fields by our baseball teams uh the only the only loss would be in the summer for outside groups who would come in like a Legion Baseball team or something uh but other than that um you can see the schedule so that was just really the the initial discussion and really what the time frame is have any questions regarding that we just thought it would be it would be good for you to understand uh the general layout of of the expected work great thank you Mr M when I was looking at this scheduled the other day um is there any possibil one I was very happy that we didn't have to bust any children to any other location to play but um my question if we start seeding unless we're using saw and I I can't tell with this but if they work on the weekend I mean in the summer do they feel like we will have grass I if I'm not mistaken I think um there were are going with the S option they are going so that so it would be I thought so we didn't have to worry about not using it right yeah the only reason why is because when we start working on the budget next month uh I just want to make sure if we if we need any busting for the following year no that that way going with Assad and and finishing really by this pretty much by this date next fall we still have a a pretty strong fall season for the S to establish itself and and be ready for play in March yeah any questions okay all right moving along the next item on the agenda is the update on the use of the soccer field for ice skating it was discussed our last meeting can't believe we talk about ice skating when it's like 80 degrees out uh so I did have a conversation with our um insurance company and they are going to uh be providing with us us with some information about the liability I also when we met last Thursday with uh the baseball field architect I did ask the question about potential damage to the field he really didn't think there would be any but he did say he would do some research for me and get me some information but his initial uh reaction was you'll be fine and pointed you know really asked was there any damage last year when it happened and there wasn't any so he said it's because the the grass would be in a dormant State at that time of the year he really doesn't anticipate there to be any um harm done to the to the grass if we were to do this any questions I'm just going to circle back I found the language in the regional agreement and just says um which I'll share with everyone but it says if a proposed amendment to a previously approved budget does not increase the total amount of the budget and reduces the assessment or if the proposed amendment leaves leaves the leaves unchange the assessment for every member the amendment shall not require approval by the local appropriating authorities but shall be effective Upon A two-thirds vote of the regional school committee so for October we'll need to do that with a two3 vote I'll highlight that just set that around just um okay the next item on the agenda um are updates from Berkeley and Somerset misson go firstly um I don't we haven't had a meeting yet our first meeting is next week um we had a great start to the school year started last week we have um parent nights um one is this week and the other one for the Community Schools next week um but we hav't done meeting yet so I really don't have much just kicking off right thank you um who El to give the update for Su well I can I can speak to you know a few things certainly um every month we're discussing our Capital Improvement uh planning because we do have many capital Improvement projects on the list in que for our elementary buildings so that's something that every meeting uh we're focusing on that and working through a process that will ultimately lead to a 10-year Capital Improvement plan um at our next meeting we have invited the board of Selectmen from Somerset and um the Town Administrator to come and sort of advise us based on the list of projects that we have in Q that to be done what are some recommendations they have in terms of funding sources that the taxpayers of Somerset can afford um so that's something that we're kind of focusing a lot of energy on every month and is certainly important um we also have a lot of things you know going on certainly with the opening of our new middle school and um so and we had a nice ribbon cutting ceremony for that so that was great um I'm sure there are other things happened to leave my notebook at home today so I apologize if anybody else like to chime in uh I I have the agenda so the other thing obviously we we welcomed Miss Pellerin uh we talked about additional Chapter 70 increases we had the elementary handbook that we approved um we talked about our building inspection dates um oh we had some a ton of policies just as as we do here and I think that's it I miss anything thank you um next on the agenda topics not anticipated by the chair I don't am um next action items for future meetings we have a pretty good list going right so we have a pretty good list going um is there anything else that's come up I have just one and it doesn't necessarily need to be for October but I think perhaps in the fall um I'm wondering if it would be wise for us to sort of do an an annual security update recognizing that obviously there are a lot of things that we're not going to discuss openly but I know that current events um which are sadly not isolated events um way heavily in a lot of folks minds and I think we've done a lot of we are confident in the work we've done in the district to put student safety first and foremost but we have new parents every year right new students every year and so I think it might be smart for us to um revisit that even though we're aware just to make sure um our families and community members know that that is something that's an ongoing effort and focus Express I don't know if you have any thoughts on Mr going but no I I I think it's I think it's wise to do that from time to time too May and maybe annually to your point that every year we have new parents and it's easy uh for us and easy for me uh to think we've done this before but yeah if I did it five years ago that's five years of parents who haven't received that work so I think it is it's as you said it's on lots of people's minds um so I welcome that conversation too I know Miss Ashley is um wanted to do the same for Somerset and on the somerset agenda what I had asked was that we had an opportunity to speak about it generally an open session but then also put it on the executive agenda so that we could talk details and specific um in a manner that was appropriate to discuss security so is that on your will be that on your agenda for October it will be on our agenda for next week next week y I don't want to put too much on October and also I don't want to I want to give folks adequate time to sort of prepare and think about that so I don't know what the witches are the committee but I'd love to see some kind of conversation about that either in October or maybe November at the latest just as folks are settling into the yeah and I might give the district the administration the slos the opportunity to also execute some drills and have feedback you know in advance of that meeting if you perhaps schedule that in November so all right okay so we go for November s we'll sure and I know another fall action item uh Miss has will be uh certainly giving uh couple of updates One professional development plans for the year uh and uh two assessment summaries for the previous year we haven't I haven't heard anything from Desi yet about when mcast results are going to be released as Dr BR said earlier we've received preliminary results but I don't know usually that happens by now or at least asie will have we'll communicate to superintendents uh initially what the plan is and I have you anything um so that might be October maybe that'll be November but that's also a typical fall uh item and my only other one I know it'll be addressed with your masc resolutions the first resolution is on the mcast ballot question uh this past weekend I attending the mass uh executive committee meeting this was on our agenda really talking about uh this ballot question so I have some resources that I was going to share with both School committees just for your own uh reading uh that that really uh show pros and cons uh for both sides I don't know if that is something that just maybe it'll that'll be part of the masc discussion with the resolutions but I think there's a a lot of um misunderstanding about what that what the ballot question is I think a lot of people think it eliminates mcast and it does not eliminate MC mcast it it would eliminate mcast as a graduation requirement but the test would remain so I wasn't sure if that is something that you would want as a discussion point or just embed it within the resolutions if there are some questions there wishes of the committee so you know I think what we talked about was to sort of do our research about the resolutions and come to decisions individually so we can be prepared to vote at the next meeting however if this is something that the administration can provide additional information if we put that as an agenda item in advance of the official vote it gives it does give uh us the opportunity to perhaps change our vote if we're so moved after receiving more information that's my thought I think that's a good suggestion okay okay thank you anything else think we have bring your seat cushion for okay the next item on the agenda is to consider approval of the minutes of Prior meetings um do anyone need to pull either of those out if not I would entertain a motion to approve the open and executive session minutes of August 13th 2024 as presented so moved motion by Miss Ashley second by miss fera anything on discussion hearing none all those in favor I I opposed so voted next item on the agenda is public input do we have any public input all right the next item then is that I would entertain a motion pursuant to massachus general laws chap to enter into executive session pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 38 section 21 A7 to comply with her act under the authority of or any general or special law or Federal grant and aid requirements to consider the release redaction withholding of August 13 2024 executive session minutes and pursuant to Massachusetts generaliz chapter 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares Somerset Teachers Association and the American Federation of state county and Municipal Employees asme par professionals the committee will not return to open session I have a motion so second um motion by Miss F and seconded by Miss Ashley on roll call all those let's see m hi Miss Ashley hi M fera hi Mr Fence maker Miss Solomon hi Mr Mado hi and the chair vot to I