##VIDEO ID:UuWNrYqA5AA## um I will call to order this meeting of the somerset Berkeley Regional school committee at 6:02 p.m. due notice having been posted pursuant 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 deemed acknowledged and permissible we'll do a roll call of members present Miss Ferrera present Miss Ashley present Mr fener Maker Mr Mado present M O'Brien present um and the chair is present also with us this evening our superintendent of schools Jeffrey schover our Chief Financial Officer Raquel Palin our director of curriculum Elizabeth hasell our director of special education Megan Ashen our principal Dr bford and our recording secretary Robin marar uh could you please stand for the pledge i al to the flag of the United States of America stand indivisible andice thanks everyone please note that the next regularly scheduled meeting of this committee will be held on Tuesday December 10th 2024 at 600 p.m here in the somerset Berkeley Regional High School library um the first item on the agenda for this evening was uh student rep report but I think we do not have our student rep so we can move along um the next item on the agenda are the October Visionaries the committee would like to recognize and congratulate the following students Agatha Al respectful Kina digital citizen Chelsea cookson resilient Keegan madas independent Aiden Boda independent Vanessa tarz academic Isabelle Vincent empathetic and Ryland masakis academic and I hope I pronounced everyone's name at least close um congratulations to those students um the next item on the agenda um is discussion and action on the student trip uh to Italy for 2025 and on the three-year student trip plan request think Mr T see folks I think you have the information in your packet so uh when we spoke about the Costa Ric trip last year we talked about the fouryear plan so when we uh we decided uh when we presented uh next year's uh trip to Italy we were going to uh put forward our uh three other trips so we could get those locked in and uh with the hopes that uh we could start attracting students from 8th grade on up and uh start you know the savings process and and fundraising process which always tends to be a concern both of parents of children going on the trip as well as you know school committee members um so the first couple of slides I know we've been here a couple times you guys that have been around have seen uh some of these slides before but uh the company that we are still working with is acis um this would be um we're going on our um second trip with them um continuous uh from last year to this year and then that's also uh the travel uh company we used to travel with uh in the early 2000s um so ideally school year 26 we're looking at the Cradle of the Renaissance um that's dealing with uh Italy school year 27 we're looking at cultural exposure and immersion of France Germany and Switzerland school year 28 we're looking at World War II walk through history uh that's going to combine uh both uh part parts of uh England as well as France and then school year 29 we look that language and emersion again in Spain and Portugal now the reason why that we chose the uh trips that we did was school year 26 comes off of our last student survey so um the current uh Juniors and seniors when they were uh under classman they were part of the surveys that we did that we came across with the uh different trips including the Iberian uh the Iberian voyage that we did last year um what we did was we sent out a new set of uh student survey interests uh we hit both eighth graders uh in the middle school as well uh for Berkeley Middle as well as Somerset middle and then we went on up to the years of graduation that would be able to attend the uh the trip um so the trips that we just presented on the last uh slide uh kind of reflects the um what the students wanted and then even though that there was some um closeness uh with some of the trips we kind of Incorporated those places with uh trips that so for example um we we'll talk about can you just go back to the last slide uh so for example for this one right here uh France was our number one um choice so we see France twice both uh in school year 27 as well as school year 28 um school year 28 of World War II walk through history one we wanted to kind of uh incorporate some of the social studies uh classes and content with that and Miss faris's request and this is the one where you go from um London or England into France through the LA Valley dday beaches um as well as the uh Cemetery the uh D Cemetery uh which we actually uh took students on um back in 2006 um and then the other um one that I want to point out uh Portugal was our uh third highest um and then we had uh Germany as well as um uh that was um Ireland so one of the things that we were looking at is um you know again accommodating all the higher uh Choice ones and what was interesting even though that we put out different uh countries in the uh comments students could suggest like places that they wanted to go to um a big place that they were interested in was the azors but right now the azors you can do stem trips to the azors but um the availability of the of the trips and uh bring it over there we weren't comfortable bringing that to the table yet because we're still looking for some refinement with the uh the trips itself and you know what you could do there so uh all those trips that we have uh that we're proposing you tonight is basic based off the student data uh so going to the next slide we'll look at the uh Italy trip for next year so uh the name of the trip is Balia um we fly uh that would be April vacation and even though we prefer the February vacation um we LED out with the weather last year in uh Spain and Portugal you tend to see uh cheaper prices for the February um for the February tours and when we ask the students about their preference with uh what when they want to travel um a lot of them chose uh April as the the biggest one with the second one coming in was uh February but February tends to give us a little cheaper prices uh you're still going to the same places where we're not doing a lot of water activities it's not you know really um you know stopping us from doing much so uh in this case here we fly into Rome we work our way up um towards Venice and then we leave uh from Venice and with that can you just uh switch next one uh so these are the major uh things that we were looking at as we go up uh towards the Northwestern coast of the Mediterranean uh they'll be able to see Rome they'll be able to see St Pet's Basilica the forign stour with the ELO there the coliseums um you know the major uh Rome attractions uh for any of our students taking our L now we offer on Virtual high school and then on off towards uh ending in forance in the meantime you have a cooking lesson and you also have the Arts in the glass as well as the gelata yes but if anyone's um been to uh Italy this is you know your typical spots if you trying to do a quick trip into Italy without getting to little towns Rome Florence and Venice is pretty much um where people and students go and then uh a lot of students uh end up later uh studying in Florence I know um I at least one student or former SB student is in Italy right now and I know another one uh who graduated a couple years back and he did The Culinary uh a little up more North in Italy so we actually had one of our Berkeley students uh uh she went on the uh Glo strip and because of that travel experience she went and did a study abroad in Italy uh and ended up uh back there leave the grad school or after uh so that's the uh Italy um the next one that we have here is the car switzland and Munich um we're looking at February April vacation we do have some tenative pricings uh for those but again we would be looking more uh towards February of 2027 uh same thing here uh we're uh flying into Paris we uh take the side trip out to our fly and then you're seeing that we will be traveling through uh through uh Paris uh through uh rail and then over there we uh cross over into um uh Germany and then go up towards uh Sweden and then we lead from Munich y I'm sorry uh so like if you saw the movie Min Min then we will be seeing some of the salt mines that were um shown in that movie um a boat ride on the sign uh visit to the Tor the uh versailes uh and then as we move into uh Germany you're going to see some of the uh footprint that the um uh European history uh curriculum classes uh cover so in uh 2018 we have the World War II in depth again we fly into London and then we'll take the uh the shuttle the across the English Channel into to um uh conf France go to the D-Day beaches uh the national uh Cemetery out there uh drive down into Paris and then this one here uh you see that we're going to be traveling instead of using the uh the railroads uh we're going to be uh traveling flight to kind of save on Fond and uh give the students more exposure uh in the different countries um here we have we will see some uh concentration camps we'll definitely see the American cemetery um the key um you know Lund in travel experiences um there is a potential for a drop off to see um Stonehenge on the way before we uh cross the channel and then here again we're a it's a World War II kind of uh centered uh shrip we're going to be looking at more of um you know what the different towns along the uh the coast and the water uh did in preparation you know which uh villages Which towns had a dummy um you know models uh that were uh designed to you know kind of throw off the uh the Germans at the time and then uh where uh the Americans as well as the English crossed uh into France so you kind of relive that whole uh thing and then in uh 2029 we actually be repeating our Iberian voyage that we uh went on in 2024 um we had a lot of great uh feedback from our students um and again uh with weather and uh you know the time of year being cheaper in February uh we figured this would be a really good um experience the thing with this though too is um you wouldn't really see any of the students that would have been able to go on the trip this year um we kind of bumped it out a little so uh younger students could have going on it that weren't exposed to it yet we basically be going uh the same kind of um view with it except for uh CIA I don't think we so yeah we fly into Madrid then we go down to the South into Cora and then uh that was a train ride nice 2hour train ride um in the morning and then from Cora down to Sevilla in the south and then we went by bus over to ELA did a quick stop in ela and then ended up in Lisbon um and we took a tour uh both just outside of Lisbon uh to the line I remember the pastries were mentioned uh here um and then uh we also got to go to SC too so that was a really packed uh trip with a lot of great experiences for the mids oops I kind of just summarized but uh one of one of the favorite events of myself I'm not very much of an artist but we did get to go to a tow Museum uh a world famous to Museum and we all got to leave there with our own tiles they put them in the Kil we picked them up the next day um made our way we also got to do the fanco which uh was uh we all had to volunteer to do it so we were not U allowed to say no to the maybe Mr do some steps L we got the P dinner uh we went down the AL we got to go to the the famous Cathedral mosque in Corda the famous sh Monastery to get the pastry doer and up into CRA as well and then you just uh included again um the students will be taking a uh class with us here at the high school get a one credit um uh class same kind of idea of Assessments and work uh pre-trip the trip and then uh post trip work and then presentations here as well as uh different uh classroom presentations Multicultural week presentations and then uh we really want to have them go down to the uh lower levels as well skipped over we skipped over the company sides yeah um and then also they have a choice of working with uh University of Southern New Hampshire as well as other colleges that they could apply for college credit thank you gentlemen anyone have any questions I just have one question I always like to ask this one but how do you account for people lower income that may be interested in the program so you know with us with us trying to do the 4year uh program kind of like what I said at the beginning of the presentation um the savings can be there and then hopefully the locking in on prices but um this company uh does offer some uh financial hardship uh travel scholarships and then the hope is more for uh giving them like a time so like our eighth graders that you know might be interested coming on up you know um locking prices in or locking in the trip and then working you know 3 years to kind of help save um at this point we don't have any Financial scholarship for anybody in the community that's offering anything but um you know how we've tackled this problem before is uh we offer like what's out there and you know if people can afford it and can go you know it's it's always a hard question because you can never really truly answer it because you know it it's you that can go or you can't and understand okay thank you but I also think from a parent perspective like putting out the four-year plan uh because I don't I know too many people that can afford all four trips but if you know the four-year plan of your child coming into the high school you and your family can kind of discuss okay which ones are are we most interested in and plan accordingly whereas up to this point we've kind of been doing it year by year and it kind of just comes up and so you at least have the okay I want to go on the 28 trip you know the World War II trip that's the one my family wants so you can start kind of planning for that and if we lock in the prices you know what the the price is going to be um so I appreciate that they're doing this as kind of a rotation and a four-year plan rather than the short term and we also want to point out too these are all uh European uh tours uh we tried alternating between European tours and South American tours and some of you guys that might have been on the school commit years ago we were uh told to do a domestic tour kind of to handle the financial burden of uh people and what we found is that there was in a huge staing with doing a domestic trip and um we just didn't get the numbers for it and so we stuck with the European tours the next four years uh because we tend to have more with that um and it's kind of like what Dr bford said to um you know some of the people that found out we were going to Costa Rica this year it's like well oh I would have waited for my senior year if I knew that was going to be you know the the trip and so on so we kind of wanted to pack it now and then you know as time goes on with the approval of whoever is on the committee at the time keep building on to the trip so it's you know we have the continuity and we have a planning for families thank you any other questions okay in that case then let's do this in two parts first I would entertain a motion to approve the trip to Italy uh for April 20 I'm sorry April 17th through 25th 2025 so this year's trip moved second MO by Miss Ashley seconded by Miss O'Brien anything on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted next I would entertain a motion to accept the three-year plan for student trips as outlined with the condition that the um trip advisory team uh return to the committee for uh approval for each specific okay so just for clarifications we will come back every year so because one of the things I wanted to say before you voted is just to have some reway with like we might have to schedule trips or depending on you know Global you know atmosphere and stuff but then also like if we have we could find cheaper Tri trips that instead of like the ones that we presented but like if we could find something cheaper that might hit the seeing things you know we just we want some that but if we're going to be coming back every year that's fin yeah I think I think having the plan is is smart so people know but I think obviously things change in the world or you get a better deal and appr and two years down the line many of us may not be sitting all right clarification is it going to be okay to advertise these trips or should we just do it year by do you want it a year by year like how I would advertise them as tentative okay trips until there's an official vote annually that would be my recommendation and when we come back in front of the school what kind of presentation would you like I I I mean would it just be any updated you know I don't want to much time from your your meetings like I just want to know any of the itinerary you know changed primarily when states are locked in locked in changes if you had any major changes to the travel company you're using that kind of thing I think you've worked with them long enough now that I think we all know you're getting you're getting your money's worth and they're doing a great job so and you're doing a great job working with them so thank you thank you okay do we have a motion Madam chair may I I think your motion was to approve the trip to Italy I think you said 2025 25 they're going to Costa Rica the Italy trip is 2026 oh is that correct yeah I must have up on you okay but yes you're correct okay okay that's are we okay with the correction yes okay thank you April 17th through 25th 2026 um okay and I'm sorry I was Tru we have a motion to accept the three-year plan okay motion by Miss BR second by Miss O'Brien anything else on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted awesome thank you very much you need school committee shot runs you laugh but I'm actually thinking of 2028 but I'm on the committee which one uh world wari the World War II one I'll rce you to it that's fabulous those are great opportunities for students thank you for that um okay the next item on the agenda under new business is base baseball field Improvement project presentation by activ TOS landscape she techical assistance welome just open thank you it's not going to St until hi everyone my name is H I'm project manager active tus Mark Noak I'm design principal of active tus weing athletic and Recreational Design firm we uh Landscape Architects and civil engineers we're lucky enough to be working on uh the propos baseball field Renovations and potentially some other uh Renovations that will be present uh in this presentation we'll talk about existing conditions proposed design opinion probable costs and briefly touch Bas on schedule so on a screen here you're looking at existing conditions just right out outside these doors is your natural Grassle Fields so highlighted in the dashed yellow areas are kind of our Focus areas um so the baseball field just beond the right field the natural grass practice field and the Varity softball area um the current concern here is that the natural grass areas have a poor or have have a drainage drainage issue um during kind of during a storm uh the natural grass area is saturated and takes long a period time to dry out and our goal here is to improve upon these areas so one of the first things we did when we uh were selected to work on this project was we came out and we took some soil samples um and in addition to the soil samples we did some test pits in the field um when we did the test pits we noticed that the soil profile was all saturated um which obviously showed us that you have a bit of a drainage problem out there uh the second thing was and we were surprised to see this but um you actually have almost a 70% sand ratio in the existing soils out there which is kind kind of counterintuitive to having a drainage issue um but what we did notice in the test bit is underneath your soil profile is basically dense grade or the same type of material that you would put under a parking lot um so there's no vertical in infiltration capacity through that Subs soil material um so in order to improve upon the drainage conditions out there we're going to have to um do some sort of physical drainage Within the field and Kelvin will get into that in a second one of the things that was recommended here um you can see your organic matter is at about 3.3% um that's good a little bit better would be 4% and ideal is about 5% um the challenge with organic matter is it increases the water holding capacity within a a Turf it improves your structural Integrity of the soil um but I don't think we want to be adding any more water holding capacity to it soil that's already poorly draining um so in the proposed design what we're going to be doing in addition to cutting a bunch of drainage trenches and having physical pipes in the ground allowing that vertical inertion to hit the pipes and then move out through the storm water system um is to incorporate about 2 in of sand over the entire natural grass area and then we'll till that into the existing soil so that 69.2% will actually grow um you know be closer to what you would see in in a sand based field which is really a high-end athletic playing surface um the good thing is you should be done with your drainage issues the challenge with adding that much sand is that it increases uh a couple of other things it increases your um soil's um it becomes more prone to compaction um so you're going to have to increase your cultural maintenance practices uh specifically getting out there in air rating at least twice a year poking holes in the ground to create uh voids for for air water uh nutrients to get down into the root system um and secondly uh with that high of a sand content you're most likely going to have to increase your irrigation usage uh specifically during periods of prolong drought um in order to maintain a a good quality stand of grass um um that is something that we are planning on writing into the specifications U when we put it out the public bid uh for whoever is um the contractor uh the that has awarded this project uh they'll handle that maintenance that post construction maintenance uh for the first year and a half after construction of the field um beyond that we'll give you a cultural maintenance plan um that we would recommend you follow um in the future any questions with the the soil type that we found so this is the proposed design before I get into the drainage trenches um I just want to reveal the whole entire the entire scope um so as part of the base or the base bid we are um focusing on on the baseball field um then in we're considering a bunch of alternates as of right now um so as as part of the alternate um just beyond the right field is that natural grass practice area new drainage trench at the retaining wall walkway so at the retaining wall where the track is there's a significant slope coming down towards through the walkway right next to your baseball fi so the goal there is to install a drain trench on the walkway to kind of capture that surface runoff um before it hits the field and that is part of the concern of the saturated areas in the baseball field relocated Bullpen uh outside the field of play So currently your left field Bullpen is actually in the field um so as as part of an alternate we would consider relocating that b outside the fence line um and also making it a regulated regulation Bullpen so right now that Bullpen if you're warming up on it you're throwing actually uphill um the rubber is supposed to be 10 in above home plate and right now I would guess that you're over a foot below home plate um so it's not the end of the world you see it at a bunch of uh high school ball fields um but I think if we can find the money in the budget uh it would be nice to move it outside to create a safer playing condition and to make it regulation as cin stated then another aspect of the entire scope is the new uh Outfield chaining fence so as part of this scope we're reducing the The Outfield the chainless fence by 10 ft um this is just a desire uh that affle came to us and they wanted to kind of reduce the Outfield to um improved the the play of the sport here it's a bit of the pitchers park right now I think there's only been like two home runs I've been told over the history of the field um so by bringing it in about 10 ft we're hoping to um maybe see a couple more home runs yeah and then lastly the um natural grass area at softball field so there was based on our conversations with um Athletics there's some concerns in towards the left field left left Outfield where the natural grass is being kind of the same general problem as the the drainage issue that we're seeing at the baseball field um so now trying to getting into kind of the drainage trenches um at the natural grass areas we're proposing uh drain trenches every 15 ft on Center they will be a 2in uh perforated pipe with within this drainage trench encased in pstone and uh a sand base Mo so makes up to the top where your your s is um the existing your existing irrigation will remain as is um it'll get tuned up as necessary yeah y um and you can see on these plans this is where have a heter collector pipe tying into the existing system same thing on the softball field diving in along the outside we'll have another collector pipe the good thing with these fields is they're graded nicely um you know so when the contractor built these originally the materials might have been a little suspect underneath um but the rest of it was done in a good fashion um so the pitch of the field really isn't going to change we're going to be using that gravity like a drop of water that drops in between these laterals will move down down the slope of the field and then fall down through the trenches um we did extend the trenches up around into the foul territory in between the team areas in the first and third baselines uh to address some of the drainage issues here we've heard that the infield is in great shape so we're going to protect that um back here same thing you know we're running our lateral drainage trenches perpendicular to the grade so as things as water falls down it falls into a trench um and then it date lights through yeah and all these all these pipes will connect to tie into your existing granch system Y and something to think about that we're going to be very careful with our specifications is this is not something that you want your average landscaper to be working on uh this is going to require some specific expertise from an athletic field contractor um who we we know who they are uh we do this a lot um and we're going to have experience and qualification based specific to make sure that we get a qualified contractor that's going to be bidding on this if somebody that isn't qualified for this our specifications will allow us to toss that bit out any questions on this okay um cost dependents so like I mentioned in the previous slide we kind of broke this out into many parts Parts uh just to be considerate of the budget and cost here so the baseball field your base bid would the subtotal work for that is $387,000 approximately then with 5% General conditions 10% contractor overhead and profit your construction subtotal is approximately $44,000 444 Sorry 4 44 $444,000 and with a 10% contingency which we typically carry um at this point um is $44,000 um in total your your probable project cost for your baseball field renovation is $488,000 and that's straight construction costs and then we listed out there's five alternates that Kelvin went through um so for the natural grass practice area with all those items um baked in we're at roughly 103k uh for the left field Bullen Bullpen $30,000 and I believe uh we had sent over to uh raro the the estimates were you did you see all the detail breakout in there if you have any questions on the detail we're happy to answer those but these are just kind of the the bigger numbers um drainage furing at the retaining wall 177,000 Outfield chain link fence to upgrade that this number is a little bit different than the number that you saw um because we had stopped where the removable fence was and that actually needed to be carried out if we move the fence in it can be permanent fence all the way around and that's something that we discussed as a team uh during a previous meeting that would be more ideal rather than have something that comes in and out um that's at 34,000 and then finally the softball field drainage Improvement at uh roughly 120 um so if you pile all those together um we're up around almost 800,000 any questions on the numbers I think one of the things that we're going to be looking for uh guidance on um over the next month or so before we put this out to bid um is how do we want to structure these alternat obviously public procurement laws in Massachusetts um don't allow you to pick whatever alter you want we got to we got to do them in order so whatever is the most important or the biggest priority um to the school district uh in athletics uh we should list first and then so on and so forth thoughts or comments on the numbers this is always a challenging scary question all right keep going can I just ask a few questions yeah I'm not really so much concerned about the number y I'm morec concern about the recurring number of the uh the cultural maintenance so I was just wondering what is the maintenance difference in cost going to be yearly yeah so I mean cultural maintenance right now um and and Joe I don't know if uh you have an answer to how much you do um I know you guys irrigate um you obviously M um but I think there's little in terms of fertilization programs and um and ation I know um talking with uh Mike they do do some ariation but it's fairly limited um so I think you know really that's that's only going to improve the condition out there um if you can and and and maintain your investment uh in the new Surface um I think annually um you know if you had a um 10 or $15,000 budget and I know that's a lot of money once you start compounding that over years um but that's going to go a long way not only for this these fields but you could also be looking at that for your outfront Fields um and it's something that you should really consider doing multiple times a year on all athletic surface especially when they're used as heavily as the fields here and the other thing you mentioned about irrigation do we have enough irrigation sprinkle heads currently because if we have to water more are is it do we already have those in place it it is yes so my understanding is the coverage is fine um it's just the duration of when that system will be on um and you know we can go over that with the team uh as we get through construction and we start ready to bring this field back online timing of things and and whatnot you know obviously we don't want to irrigate in the middle of the day um because you're going to lose a lot of it to evaporation immediately um it's early morning hours uh but you also have to be careful with that especially with a new system um because uh you could set yourself up for uh for various types of pesto fungal diseases like pythium thank you any other questions comments okay uh and then finally just the schedule um so really we're kind of right on track um we're we're right in this ballpark right now of uh permitting so today we wrapped up our perming application we have to go uh and submit to the planning board for a storm water application because of the amount of disturbed area it's it's a formality really uh we've had an initial conversation with them um we've pulled together all our drainage CS um and hopefully we'll be submitting at the end of this week or early next week um construction documents um we're targeting the middle of December uh to put those out on the street um excuse me uh we'll be wrapping those up and then putting the uh documents out on the street early in the new year um I think getting them out early in the new year is good uh to get on those specialty contractors boards um we don't want to wait too far into the winter where their schedule start to build up during the spring because once we get down into construction um you know as soon as those School wraps up uh we want to get out there um and have them be focused on this so we can have it ready for final completion um in early to mid-september one one thing I do uh question I do have for everyone we have a permanent application form that needs to be signed by both someone from the school and the town because if I go back to the site plan there's a property line that runs right through here this site is owned by the school district and this is owned by by the town so I'm assuming we should have the permit application signed by both um at least that's on GIS I don't know if that's been updated or research that one yeah that was yeah so I mean I I we'll start with the school and if they push back then so is it uh is it along the first Baseline where that's happening it's along the where the property line is on G it's actually along the third Baseline and runs right through the parking l so like the police station over here is Town property it kind of runs along the the side of that but okay who from the school would be the right person to sign the nice if we can get your John handcut that would be great so that's our our little story yeah the wear on this field you think this was this like a 10 year old I'm not sure how much of that was rebuilt at that time I don't remember that it was completely rebuilt I believe at least from the information that we received uh 10 years ago um but you shouldn't have to rebuild another 10 years from now I think the issues that you're seeing today and you've seen basically since day one on the construction of the field are a result of the materials that were used underneath so it's not the design design is fine if the materials below correct we correct than you correct You' be in better shape let's put it that way yeah if we were to do all of them are we saying that they could all be done before next season I think so doing all if we were they would no I I don't see a real problem with that I think once they're mobilized um basically to add on this and this I mean this is small work um but to add on this in this area isn't a big challenge to do all those lateral trenches it looks like a lot um but there's a very specific machine that does that where it comes in it Scoops out the dirt puts in the pipe and the P Stone all in one motion uh it's called a whiz wheel so that'll be speced in in our specifications to use that very specific Athletic Field equipment um as opposed to somebody coming out with a tiny mini excavator and digging digging and digging that would take much longer question not touching the softball practice field no it's not going to do anything there's no significance to that by just leaving it as is no I mean we from what we've heard Joe maybe you can comment but that's performance just fine right now J all the field the JB Fields R probably the best um prioritizing The Varsity spaces I think that those would be the ones that need but on a rainy day usually the JB field is the one that comes back online the quickest the problem is it's a little smaller is there anything else Mr Bron like anything else you'd like to add that we should consider I would you know I I don't know you talked about the um uh alternates and that process but i' I'd love to see whatever we do to our varsity baseball field be done to The Varsity Softball field um even though the baseball field itself is much larger and is significantly worse I think we we dealt with this a lot of the similar problems with both both fields gender Equity is important that probably my number one concern I would like to know when are we going to decide on the alternates you know I'm going to leave the professionals to make that decision but obviously some of the alternates are over $100,000 and things like that so I would be very interested to see um where the administration and the sports you know Mr Francis and all where your priorities are and if you could explain to us why those are your priorities CU that would be a big because obviously once we put those one through five we have to live it we have to live through that one through five I was going to ask that question I may uh do the ad alterant need to be uh sequenced like yes priority they do yeah so just for example you know baseball field is the base but gender acurity purposes let's say we make softball alternate number one if we have everything else go in order so two three four and five um if we want Biz came in and said all right we can do baseball and softball and we have a little bit of extra money maybe we can do that drainage trench at the bottom of the retaining wall well you can't jump to this one without taking these two just for public enurement um I know one of the things that I I certainly would um want the school committee to consider as well um is the practice area uh for the football field uh because that is obvious we're going to be talking about the turfield in just a minute and we've been unable to use that practice area because of the car conditions uh and I almost see the fence being connected to that because if the fence can come in you say 10 ft yeah uh it opens up the practice area a little bit more than if the practice area is also improved that allows us to utilize that space that are not currently using which would minimize the wear and tear on our soccer fields and the turf field all right so that's I think another important step to take to make sure everything else lasts uh so it's just I think baseball softball and that practice area which only really leaves uh the bullpen and the retaining wall drainage as the Bottom twoo Now by fixing the baseball field will that start to help even without touching the practice fields I'm assuming it's going to help somewhat with yes incrementally absolutely uh just the amount of water that's coming down from first base kind of all through the Outfield uh that's going to be reduced um and there is a bit of a low area natural low well from the previous construction project there's a bit of a low area or flatter area in here um where you know water was really collecting um so that will definitely be improved uh from baseball go back to the I think do we need to establish the priority order right now I'd love it if you that would be great I think he was implying we should get moving so I'll um repeat what I think I heard and as a suggestion so baseball field softball field the practice area with the fencing and I don't know about the order of BU pen and retaining W but I would put the retaining wall before the bullpen only because the it's half the price of the bullpen so it's not that far of a leap if you have a decent amount of money left over then it's not that far of leap actually let's reverse that I'm I think from a from a facility standpoint and a playability standpoint we're adding a lot of drainage into your baseball field so the water coming out of that wall should be addressed in what we're designing in the field um so let's let's put the bullpen as number four uh because I do think that's a safety issue one and two it's uh it's non regulation so we should we should do our best to make things regulation so that's aead of the chain fence being moved no that would be that would so I think I think this is the order baseball field softball field natural grass practice move the chain link fence Bullpen and then retaining wall yes practice area and fence are too those are too discreet they are but we could we could lump them together um you know it's all how we kind of pull the backage together so if if we want to make that into one alternate um separate just in case you have money for one but not the other I ha them not to be able to do either if they're together well that's you you you have you raise a good point because you still have um a portable or a removable Outfield fence so you can get the width out there if you keep that fence right um so keep the keep the practice area and then and then the fencing just in case okay any other question that's in line with what I was thinking after the presentation okay let's see if I can put this into a motion I do okay I would entertain a motion to authoriz Raquel Pellerin Chief Financial Officer to engage with activias Inc Landscape Architects for Design Services and to assist with the bid specification bid process and construction Administration I'm going to say for the athletic field drainage repairs um the priority areas would be in order the baseball field the softball field the practice area the new Outfield fence the bullpen and the retaining wall and just to clarify these services and the project cost would be paid using stabilization fund building stabiliz second okay motion by Miss seconded by Miss Ashley anything further on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted thank you for your time thank you assuming this would put the these fields out of commission for the summer what use they get from thank you I don't know if they get used by town the legion hasn't used the last couple of Summers right okay okay thank you while we're fixing things the next item on the agenda um under um Capital plan discussion would be um the the turf and track replacement we're going to discuss an act on the engagement of landscape architect for Design Services and assistance with the bid process okay uh I sent you the assessment uh that was completed by replay uh which I I think they just confirmed what we all suspected and that the field is essentially reaching end of life uh it was uh We've we've had 12 Seasons um fall Seasons anyway on that field and and after the fall season is done we still have some competitions there lacrosse in the spring uh starting last year but uh it it does get used less from here on um after the football season ends uh but still we we know that uh it's had 12 useful years and and that was about what was anticipated um I think it was about four years ago we had an assessment done and at that point point they said if we maintain the field groom it uh maintain it properly we should be able to get about four years on of it and and that's exactly where we are uh the details are there about the pile height and and the infill levels at this point uh the pile is down um a certain amount it almost prevents us from adding more infill uh otherwise we'll just be playing on a field of um those little pellets uh so it's at that point where it does need to be replaced uh replay who did this indicated that uh another high school I think it was it was either Norwood or Norwell uh one of the two uh their their field was installed the same time uh that ours was and they just had theirs replaced this past summer so we're right there in that uh that same time frame uh there is some uh some cracks on the track that also need uh repairing uh so really there are two projects that uh we'd like to pursue one is replacing the turf one is repairing uh the track and then doing an overspray uh for cost estimates uh the well first of all are there any questions on the report that you received okay uh for the cost estimates for the turfield replacement uh he indicated that the Prices range from about $450 to $600,000 uh many of the current fields are being replaced and somewhere in that 525 to 550 range uh the the uh the track repair and overspray would uh be somewhere between1 and $150,000 he said that is dependent that those prices do fluctuate more because they're dependent on the price of oil um so it's really tough to forecast exactly uh what those what that price would be but if you think about 550 or so for the turf maybe 125 150 for uh the track looking at close to $700,000 uh to do the two projects any have questions it's an expensive night get Mone back few years ago um I think we are pretty much at our c for right and our station is about 686 yeah and we also have for that uh the previous discussion we would utilize a $350,000 that we have remaining in that Bond account so we would apply that to the baseball field 68 stabilization and then it's close to a million or so in y so I just want to clarify so there's about 350 left in the bond we would apply that to the baseball field because it has to be because the length of the use um and then the remainder of that cost would come from stabilization MH and then for the turf and track project we would use the combination of end and stabilization which would drain it a significant amount but um it would allow us the opportunity to do what we know needs to happen without going back to the either town for more which I think given the current climate would be that's what it's there for does anyone have any questions question about that project or funding financing project okay um in that case then I would entertain a motion to authorize Chief Financial Officer Rael pin to engage with activity cost landscape architect Architects for Design Services and assistance with the bid process for the turf replacement and the track repair so move second motion by Miss BR and second by Miss obrien further on discussion I just have comment this is why this today's is a real good example that we have a fund a stabilization account and all these that we've built for 10 years and in one afternoon or one evening we just spent it all we need to figure out through our Auditors see how we can expand that cuz I know we have a cap and that's why we returned I think $800,000 or something I don't remember the amount so I don't want to throw a number out there which I just did but um but I I knew I knew we you know we released some funds back to the both towns because we were at that window um but as today being an example of one afternoon or one evening we spent it all I'm just wondering how can we create a capital plan other than stabilization account it's something that we talked to our Auditors about and I don't know if we ever got a response back yet if we did I probably missed it so uh but it's definitely something that we must really look into because next year or in 5 10 years we're going to have let's just say 20 years we're going to need roofs we're going to need other things so I believe Mr Taro received an answer regarding that but the Auditors are actually um working with us right now here will ask them tomorrow or some time okay answer thank you for you right okay anything else on discussion so we have a motion in a second nothing further on discussion all those in favor I opposed so voted okay the next item on the agenda under business and financial statements is the October fin step okay um as we continue to finalize one um the Auditors are on site so there are some slight adjustments with uh prepayment of special education as soon as they're completed their field work we'll bring you back preliminary figures um we also have tonight an adjustment for um from our contingency fund to um our salary line items that we spoke about so those will be adjusted as well and I just wanted to point out due to a timing um for our debt service payment you may see that those line items are in a deficit they're actually not it's uh the timing of the reduction of the encumbrance versus the paying of the bills anyone have any questions on the October financial statement um thank you um the next item on the agenda is approval of the um budget amendments as so there are two um documents one is um forther adjustment of Revenue that we had spoken about with Chapter 70 and the adoption of the assessment this is just to move the money um to increase the state aid for education and to reduce um the assessments for both towns then there's also an expenditure budget adjustments and those are just as we spoke about moving from contingency to the various line items that you're going to see in a deficit and that is due to the finalization of contractual agreements and increases does anyone have any questions about the budget amendment okay in that case I would entertain a motion to approve the budget amendments as outlined by CF second um motion by m Barrera seconded by Mr Fence to maker anything further on discussion hearing none all those in favor opposed so voted thank you very much you've been busy you're about to get busier we appreciate it very much um okay the next item on the agenda under student teaching is the school Improvement plan presentation from here so the school impr plan presentation and the uh assessment summary are provided in one presentation so I believe it was shared with everyone and am I going through the whole thing um sure sidebar maybe should wait and the reason I'm asking is because the school Improvement plan is supposed to and I know you all got copies of our school Improvement plan it does need to um be worked on by the school advisory Council which we did uh work on in October however there were many many members of our school advisor Council that we thought were going to be present in that meeting that were not so it was a very uh intimate group of us that that met in October uh but we we those that were there did did vote to move forward with it and it was shared with all the members that were present so our goal for tonight is to share um various pieces of data our mcast data from last year uh pretty much all the numbers that we had shared last year with you our Project Lead the Way numbers our uh post secondary Pathways for our students sat's advanced placement we obviously have to revisit our mission graduate because that's our whole purpose and being and why we do what we do so we want to make sure that everything we talk about is connected to that and then we will go through uh the school Improvement plan and we presented this exact same quote last year to all of you but I really think it continues to be a very important key piece to all of this which is that behind every data point is a human behind every human is a story so when you look at the data when you look at percentages of students doing this that or the other you have to remember these are people and not just numbers and while I can't sit here and tell you all of their stories and why the numbers are where they are when you look at the numbers and you look at the students tied to them the stories are real and they are there um I just ask everybody to kind of keep that in Focus as well you're doing a great J yes um these priorities haven't changed for our district so these are how we prioritize things when we look at things like our school Improvement plan and our data so it's obviously critical importance the number one thing is always to make sure that we maintain the overall uh wellness and the social emotional health of all our students families and Educators we want to make sure we're structured in what we're doing in our classrooms but also flexible to meet the differentiated needs of our students uh we want to make sure that we have a rigorous strong gr appropriate instruction and assessment strategies in our classes but we want to make sure that we have those just in time what I need supports in place for students when they need it and we always as all of us do we wouldn't be here a huge commitment to the learning for all of our students if you live in some at Berkeley you know what r stands for uh it's a graduation requirement you have to know what it stands for before you leave but we are resilient academic independent digital citizens empathetic and respectful and I think with uh all of the there used to be kind of a running joke with the students as to what is digital citizen need but I think all of the talk lately about Ai and and we're having significant conversations within our classes with our students and our faculty right now around that so that's really while that was kind of the back burner one that everyone kind of joked about what does that mean it's really risen I think to the top of conversation uh which is really interesting it is I'm sorry okay so as we do uh we we're going to share out the the mcast data our mcast data is not the be all and the end all but it is the the um measure um that is very public um and it we are uh taking a look at at how we um change how we shift and then we're going to actually transition into our school Improvement plan because we're constantly using the data to inform um how we move forward and what's in the best interest of restent so um we're going to start with our Ela data uh we do share the on the left- hand side um is the 2023 data on the right hand side is the 2024 data under each of those headings you'll also see um the the various levels which are exceeding expectations meeting expectations partially meeting expectations not meeting expectations and then down at the bottom you'll see the scale score there are also two columns for each of the years one is the data for Somerset ber Regional High School and the other is the state data so I know you can all see it but it's for our at home audience and making sure that we just um review that piece so as you can see um our exceeding IM meeting expectations is slightly lower than it was last year um and slightly high higher than the uh partial meeting and not meeting expectations um we actually uh I hope I don't spoil anything moving forward but uh Dr Rossford and I uh as we were preparing we're constantly having these conversations um and uh one of the things that we did talk about is writing across the curriculum so uh we are having some conversations about uh or actually they had a faculty meeting um we've had the focus of all of our faculty meetings thus far this year around the English mcast specifically uh we had our English Department to go really a deep dive into this data in terms of specifically what questions did we struggle with and it really Rose to the top that writing was a struggle for our students particularly in areas of starting the writing process the Big Ideas those types of things so our first faculty me of the year uh Christopher Silva who's our Ela Conta coordinator presented the information to the faculty and we got in departmental groups to discuss what each department could do uh specifically a Target writing this past month so our last faculty meeting we got an interdisciplinary groups to do a share out of what each department spoke about uh and to get some feedback on that and to talk about uh what our next steps were and The English Department right now is uh using the AP rubrics as a model but creating a new schoolwide writing rubric draft uh because you'll remember this our our uh schoolwide rubrics are approximately 12 13 years old because I was a newbie here when we wrote them uh so they need to be revitalized and revamped and we have the AP rubrics that we're looking to base it on so they are creating a draft of a new sphs Ray rubric that we are going to get back into our groups in December and present that to our groups again to get some feedback on that with the idea of piling that in Spring and hopefully adopting uh new schoolwide rubric specifically based on writing to address some of the concerns that this data showed us for next year well and and they're all our kids so although it is an an Ela MC these are all our kids and we want them Reading Writing speaking and listening in all content areas um which moves closer to our vision of graduate which is what we just looked at so thank you um our math data um again we we've had uh we had an increase in the exceeding expectations um a slight decrease in meeting expectations and um about the same imp partially and not so our science um again just a reminder um we do physics first and so our science data is the physics mcap and our freshman take the physics mcaps so it is for 20124 that it's being reported but it was from the previous year because the Freshman took it and the data that they share is for sophomores just a just a reminder yes just a reminder um and and so you can again see um we did increase in both the exceeding uh and needing expectations um and then a slight decrease in the partially and um not meeting expectations which is the direction we like to go can I ask a question for the state average is that the state average for students who also took the physics exam or is that just all the Sciences Lum together in an average that you know it's all the subjects yeah okay that's what I thought so it's a little less meaningful right but okay thank you and you have schools all over the state that do this do freshman do sop even it's a difference even if it's not physics or biology and physics are the two main ones that come but there's chemistry and yeah exactly I'll just jump in for a second I probably shouldn't but I will um yeah we debate the science program of studies um as a someone with a physics background as a former physics teacher science coordinator I believe I I truly believe in the sequence physics chemistry biology and I think because of that we produce kids we are graduating kids with a very strong Life Science Background who go on to college and can do some really great things in the life Sciences which is really where today's science is is at um but we do debate do we switch it do we switch it back up to biochm physics because the bio test might be easier than than the physics test so we do have that debate and sometimes you know it's like it's not I don't think it's the right thing to do in terms of preparing kids for college but we probably see better numbers I I'm certain we will see better numbers um we just said what's best for kids and remember the reason why people are during this whole education debate about the mcast during the election season are we teaching for the test if we do it the opposite way we are officially teaching to the test so that's why for me continue to do what's best for students so they're prepared when they get to College that's my answer so I don't want you to have any doubt as a parent and as a uh a leader of the school department that would be my decision for you uh regarding you know we want scores to be great obviously yes but uh if we're going to contradict what we really believe is the best for the kids why would we do it that's why I haven't budged in 10 years but the pressure builds and and it does build every year people putting more emphasis on mcast sorry no no you kind of reer what I was going to say and I apologize for interrupting but like I I am biased because I was the contract coordinator when we put that in officially granted was started before me but it's like what Mr said we're yeah we are preparing our students to take the incast so we're really preparing them for Life Beyond high school and by doing this we're setting even our students that might be going to four years two years training schools they're getting a nice physics Foundation that not all are high schools are providing and they can walk into a BCC science program or even just General Studies and they've taken a lab science that will prare them where they don't have to take an extra science class before they take the LA science and it's you know there's benefits for what we're doing I mean you definitely can some of your your policies in the way that you know classes but it it's we're preparing our students for that spor curriculum as well as being prepared for Life Beyond mcast mcast can't be our you know um only uh car so we also included some additional um information uh on the far left hand side is the enrollment um and you can see going across of the years we have uh spanned from 2020 the 2021 2022 school year um through this year you'll see uh some of the pieces are TBA to be announced because they're they're not out yet um and some of the data that we included uh are really our um well let me share them and then we'll tell you a little bit about what our our thinking was we've got our dual enrollment numbers our internships um the PLT W is Project Lead the Way so those are our Advanced courses um in both biomed science and computer science and those are also our Innovation Pathways uh virtual High School uh we included this year and and we'll tell you a little bit about why on the far right hand side you'll see from last year and this year um there is a a cap of 15 students which we have maxed out the last two years and those are the numbers of students who are taking advanced placement at in Virtual High School um so that we thought that that was an important um inclusion for this year as we're looking at our project leave the way courses our um AP courses in VHS and then down at the bottom uh that will be our transition to the advanced placement data um and those numbers uh we also have our students who um attend two-year colleges fouryear colleges trade school um and that was um uh it required a little bit of digging this year because the company that that we would the um house houses with data was sold and so Dr rsford um was able to work with the the team today and uh locate that data um and then of course our SAT scores which um again in preparing this um Dr bford and Mr schover and I were talking about SATs and um looking at the numbers also of students who take SATs now as compared to um we actually went all the way back to look preco um a lot of colleges are no longer requiring um SAT scores um and so uh that it it was just again another interesting conversation that starts a lot of that um when when we have the opportunity to present um can I ask a question about that sure so I noticed that SAT scores have gone down which is interesting to me because you'd think in a test optional universe that kids are self- selecting a little bit more in terms of whether they them or not so for instance if you look at like the average admitted you know scores of admitted students who do choose to report them they've gone way up because they're only reporting them if they're great right so I'm curious as to um the trend that they maybe I don't know about this year but the trend that they're trending down which is interesting to me because in theory you might expect them to go up because not you know just less focused and less too you know like I I have a daughter who's a senior and I know SATs were a lot less um discussed in school so she didn't you know we did KH Academy we didn't do a lot of the prep so maybe kids are also aren't doing those prep courses that prepare them as much just a thought yeah I just wonder I don't know if we have opportunities in there to sort of look at that and think about um for students I mean especially fing to like highly selective schools or there's a little bit of um um return to um test requirements for you know MIT and bunch of schools in Florida and the service they also require them so there's some return to that so I'm just I think it's an interesting Trend to keep an eye on to see if we might um if there's anything that um maybe we can do to sort of support the students who are taking them to maybe perform a little bit better so that they're more competitive for the schools that are required them I think if you go back if you look at even maybe a few years before 2122 we were seeing that Trend up until our reaching our our highest that we've had 1170 uh a year ago and then I don't know why there was the drop for this past Year's senior class um but we had experienced that upward Trend as you were just describing so maybe this the 23 24 is an anomaly prob to see what happens this year but something so we're going to um transition over to oh actually actually I'm sorry I do want to point out something else though I'm sorry I'd like to go back up to the top um so we have our dual enrollment um that was 88 and 10 and then we currently have three students enrolled in the ball and we've got um Bristol coming uh to meet with students um so that we are expecting that there will be more dual enrollment students um in the spring um and then they'll come back again um to do a presentation in the spring uh for fall dual enrollment um also our internships uh this is something that we're really proud of also um as you can see we increased uh from0 to two last year and now we're up to 11 um so uh we actually have uh Miss andreon is working as an internship coordinator um and uh we we have quite a few um teacher interns uh who are doing some work at the elementary schools and so she's been working with them um we have the fire department again with that partnership um that we have continued and one student that's working in uh actually the somerset Housing Authority with an internship there so those are the 11 students so in one up in Fire Department two last year we went up to three um they're working both with Somerset fire department and berley fire department now and there are interns at all three elementary schools right now so there's seven students down with the elementary schools and this is their cours workk so this is during school time they are leaving Somerset Berkeley they're getting um credit for classes at Somerset Berkeley by doing these internships and uh Melissa Andre along with Steph Brown and Rebecca Hurley from South Elementary to put together a curriculum uh that they're actually taking the students through so they're also getting some educational uh training like actual cours workk that will kind of give them the leg up when they get to college and enroll in education classes uh and Melissa has put together a similar uh business track curriculum for our student that Somerset housing authority and the fire department does their own curriculum uh that they take the students through and uh during the final exams uh the end of May they will all be giving presentations because these are all seniors uh which I will invite all of you to it was almost an emotional experience last year to actually see them because the amount of passion that these students and then at that point was the fire department the whole fire department was in this Library uh on a really rainy day when we all went outside and watch them demonstrate outside but they all showed up for these students so it becomes a real passion project not only for the students but for their mentors as well so um it's something that we're really proud of and and we' love to continue to grow and expand um and uh there is some connection also with some of those hours in our Capstone um for those our Capstone students that is a separate course um and really working with mentors so again we're working really hard to to get kids connected to the community and and with mentors could I just ask a question about dual enrollment just the structure so are are those students who are um are they full-time dual enrollment or is it a course of course and is it a course that they take in addition to a full schedule yes okay and do they pay yes they pay for it okay I'm wondering is which I think is why our numbers aren't going up because there is cost involved where our virtual High School numbers we max out every single year because there's no cost to that it's not that they take it during school time but they because they don't um it's not built into their schedule although the seniors do have a study hall period where they can work on that at least for half a year um but we max out um in fact there have been years where I've gone to Mr scoon over and said can I have it can I get one more I think that's how we got to 15 I think we started at 10 um because every year we as many slots as we have we fill I think that's why they go towards that yeah well I'm also curious to see now that the Commonwealth has made Community College free for everyone regardless as long as you don't have a degrees on regardless of age income whatever um how that might impact du enrollment because you have to wonder I'm a big proponent of dual enrollment but if you have to pay for it whereas and a student might want want it to accelerate if they're planning to go directly into a foure school right accelerate um but if a student might go say Bristol why would you pay for it when you can get it for free next year so I I don't know if there have been conversations with Bristol about sort of how that um the new program regarding Community College how that might impact dual enrollment and if they have any thoughts about how to sustain or expand dual enrollment when there's sort of a financial incentive to wait um at least for students who are thinking about going to a you know twoyear initially so I I don't think anybody here has that answer just sort of it's it's interesting um might be difficult to expand enrollment in that environment anyone have any other questions okay so um here's our advanced placement enrollment and performance again as you can see on the left hand side uh we have the total numbers of AP students from 2020 through 2024 on the number of exams uh that that were taken the AP students with scores with a three or above and then the percent of total AP students with scores of three and above so we had our highest numbers this year with 266 uh total AP students um and uh a huge percentage of students it's it is slightly lower than last year but when you start to increase the number of uh exams that you take um it it may offset that percentage um and according to uh college board taking one AP course in completing it increases your chances of graduating from college in four years so it the benefit is still really high no matter what the score is it doesn't have to be a three or above any score just taking that a one AP course um and for the second year in a row we have the honor of making the College Board honorable for advanced placement coursework and we hit for the second year in a row the SAR category uh but when you look at our data which what you'll see there is there's four levels bronze silver gold and platinum and what you see under the four colors is what college board says you need to hit in percentage of students to hit that achievement level uh so College culture is the percent of students who Experience One AP course uh before graduating at all so we are in the so 52% of our students that did that hit that which put us in the uh the silver category uh but for college credit and college optimization we actually hit the gold level but in order to get the gold status you have to have it in all three categories so that's uh but I'm really proud of the fact that for college credit which is the percentage of students earning an AP score of three or above uh We've hit gold status for that so 39% of our students do that and then College optimization is the percent of students who took a total of five APS across their high school years with at least one Tak in nth or 10th grade and I'm sure you all know we have our US History program where the students take it uh their sophomore year we are at 14% uh which almost puts us at the Platinum level for that if you see by the College Board criteria so again for the second year we have hit silver status and again this prompted a conversation about well how do we get to gold right like it it's that constant you know the these are our constant conversations um you know how would we do that what would we need to offer how how do we make it more appealing to um maybe some of the the sophomores um and and so we because it it just becomes our kind of natur we talked about that but also you you do want to keep in mind the fact that our Project Lead the Way classes don't fall into this and yet we at our school we do consider that advanced coursework and we consider that AP level like we would this but that and that 100 some students from the previous slide some of them may fall into this some of them may be in both categories but they don't all there are some kids that take project Mo the way and don't take it in AP class I think that's just important to cultivate that too because that hands-on experience particularly in the area of biomed and computer science is really really important as well so it's just important to keep that in mind when you see 52% uh and when we looked at this we didn't really have time to deep dive into that number but I'd like to just between the two programs where we call plus the dual enrollment plus the VH so the VHS ones would fall in there because the AP classes do count towards our numbers there's only 24 hours in the day you know and there's only and really with a also with a high school schedule right like it's um there's only so much so so many slots for you know you've got your your requirements you got your graduation requirements and there there's only so much time so start to I'm not sure if you mentioned this but Project Lead the Way There are some colleges that award college credit like AP particular classes if you said that I apologize for has there been conversation about maybe opening up some a couple of the for lack of a better word like entry level AP courses like somewh argue computer science principles or even AP site um to like say sophomores cuz right now they're not allowed to take those right it's not that they're not allowed to a lot of them don't we've had some anomalies that have but it's not but it's not it's not the general path that most stents take and we have some significant conversations to make sure that why they're taking that versus something else because you know there's the World Language requirements for colleges and stuff that we also try to fit everything in there's only seven classes so you know that's why we open graduation requirement so that those types of Pathways Could Happen um so it's not that they can't but a lot of times they don't because they're trying to do other things first which leads us to our school Improvement plan do you want me to [Music] click uh so School Improvement plan has to follow should follow I suppose maybe doesn't have to I should follow the uh strategic PL of the district goals uh which have not changed from last year so I'm not going to bore anybody with reading all of these but just a reminder that these are the district goals and because I don't often get the opportunity to be in front of you find people uh to brag about what we've done I'm going to uh so last year our 2324 goals I just want to uh remind everybody that our our goals for last year uh were to develop and Implement engaging curriculum focus on college career postsecondary life Readiness goal two was to re-evaluate our graduation uh credits scheduling uh counseling services and to increase opportunities for student teacher family and Community Partnerships so last year when I was here at this time um I said that for goal number one we were going to create and we were going to model and Implement professional develop vment Pathways uh I'm happy to report that we're year in year two of this and teachers are no longer asking me what we're doing on professional development days because they were tired of me last year saying go to the plan because we're not changing the plan this is the plan uh so we're in year two of it and we have some really awesome things happening in terms of our building thinking classrooms uh model to the point where after our first PD session this year we had teachers sending mass emails to our entire faculty saying you really should check out this person's classroom because this is really awesome that's happening in here so there's a lot of excitement around these uh we did implement this year our special ed pathway uh because of the new IEP we have all of our special ed teachers in that plan uh so that deviated a little bit from last year but otherwise we're kind of rewinding and replaying with different people with the idea that over the course of three years they will hit three out of the four pathways uh we said this is the one thing that we're still working on but we did make strides in we said we're going to create Capstone distinction courses in each content area so far we do have Capstone courses uh in science in English uh we as I we talked about the internship program fine and Performing Arts is looking at implementing a Capstone Pro program uh there is civics that is sort of a Capstone experience uh with their projects uh we are talking to the history department and the math department uh in terms of Capstone projects for the future and Capstone courses with the goal of eventually getting to the point where graduation requirement would be that a Capstone experience should happen before you graduate we said we going to implement internship and work study programs and you can see that we've increased that and we are planning for the implementation of additional pathway programs uh the two that we are talking about fashion design and early childhood uh so I think we did really well with Goal number one goal number two we have completed the guidance curriculum that we said we were going to that is online uh now we did develop what I think was a very well attended in uh the career fair was not really a career fair it was a career day and we received really positive feedback both from The Faculty the students and the people that came we had probably 60 65 people here last year uh we rebranded our credit for life we did that we implemented that we reviewed our GR graduation requirements you all recall that and we did begin embedding College and Career Readiness into blue Rader block for grades 9 and 10 uh we are implementing this type of curriculum at all four grade levels this year so we started with the seniors every guidance counselor met with their seniors uh during term one to talk about postsecondary planning we are now doing our freshman curriculum for term two term three uh they will go to to the sophomores and then term four the Juniors so every group will be meeting and getting face tof face time with their guidance counselors uh and with various other people and then again we really are pushing the dual enrollment still that's still a work in progress we did our blue Raider block uh we continue to partic have students participating in committee work uh Mrs farari you were there uh we worked last week on what you had asked me to do which is look at some of our policies we talked to the students about the dress code policy uh which was a really interesting conversation cuz they were tougher than we were sitting in the meeting in some in some cases so that was it was a good it was a really good conversation we'll be coming to you later uh in the year with that um and again the career fair and the credit for life so that was what I we kind of said we were going to do last year and I feel like we we made really really positive strides we kind of hit what we said we were going to do so this year uh we're back with three goals uh goal number one we talked about a little bit before uh which was to implement a schoolwide uh no I went backwards sorry uh initiative writing across all subject areas so our professional pathway professional development pathways are still focusing on that uh we are doing our schoolwide analysis we are spending the year in our faculty meetings because we have these professional development Pathways we added uh faculty meeting time to really focus on this and not only focus on the writing and the mcast but you know particularly in the wake of what happened with with the election and end pass what other pieces of data do we have or need to have in order to really look and get a really good picture in terms of data as to what is happening in our classrooms so we started that conversation uh as you all know when you start talking you kind of go down rabbit holes we didn't get to as far as we wanted to our last faculty meeting so it's a work in PR with that uh and then where are places in our curriculum looking in our departments where are places we can embed this writing across the curriculum in real targeted specific areas in the curriculum and um I am super super excited about the last one which is we are revitalizing I can talk about this all night but our new summer reading program uh the somerset Berkeley Ed Foundation did give us a grant to move forward with this so um those of us that have students in elementary schools we know that the best day of the year is book fair day um or the night before book fair day when the paper comes home we are going to be doing a book fair for our students where our students are actually going to come down to the library and they're going to pick the book of their choice from a title of 60-ish books to go home and do summer reading on uh and then during our first couple bluerider blocks of next year we are going to do kind of book club with various you know our staff members are going to go into rooms and we're going to really do some reading and writing discussions around these choices that students have made based on their interest so I'm really really excited about that um I can't wait to leave my own I already know what book I want to read uh so goal number two I also talked about we are really pushing into our blue Rader blocks making sure that that's useful time not only in the academic setting for makeup work but also making sure that we're maximizing uh time with our guidance team with our uh in some cases our administrators uh and not stepping on the toes of other curriculum so this is time when they're jumping in and pushing in and meeting with small groups of their own case loads uh we continue to be vigilant about internships and dual enrollment and we are going to get on this every week and like I got to do this um but I promise I will do it this week is we're going to uh continue to enhance the career day opportunities send out surveys to to students what do you want uh to see at career day and we did that after our last career day so we did get some feedback from our students saying you know you didn't have this you didn't have that and then we look to kind of opportunities and information and I think we had a lot of positive feedback from students so students are excited this year about who's coming and who they're going to pick and choose to go to so it's really cool it's in April on the half day and I invite all of you to come because it's really really fun and then goal three is an initiative that uh We've we've known we needed to do and so we're going to focus we already have a focus group on this which is to develop and Implement a comprehensive Decap uh and SST model to ensure that uh supports are given to students across the board academic social and emotional um we are going to provide targeted uh help to our teachers in terms of what is uh tier one tier 2 and tier three interventions because teachers are directly involved in the tier one interventions uh and of course tier two and tier three but tier one specifically so we're creating a team uh providing training going to look at exemplars in other school systems where it's working really well uh and create a formal process so with this one I don't expect us to have implemented this at the end of this year but I expect us to have a plan for next year this is what we're going to do uh because we we have something in place called SST and it's important work that we're doing in that SST process but it's not a formal SST process as defined by the state so we need to create that we need to keep what we have and have a different place for that but also implement this and to that end we did create a uh smart goal uh schoolwide smart goal that anyone who wanted to be an early adopter of choosing some students and implementing um informal decaps and tier one interventions of their class and tracking that data and Reporting out on it we do have a few early adopters of that so we'll be getting some feedback from them as well uh to help us with the planning on that question sounds like maybe goal three is at least a twoyear goal at least which I think is great I think the idea that you have to come up with new goals every year so of not I like the concrete so this was difficult for me to be like is it I kind of went but is it okay that we're not going to have like the concrete ending because this is more there's a lot more planning to this this year for let's have all the plans in place and then move forward next year um then in last year which was more we're going to do this we're going to do this and we had the outcomes of the this will be more we have the plan now and now we're for implementation next we're need some PD for especially around tier one tier two tier three so part of the PD that we have with our Pathways is already addressing that and um it also with our leadership team so the K8 and Somerset Berkeley we we have been working together to identify what are the Straits at at each level um what are the areas of need how can we collaborate um but also you may have noticed throughout this it's the layering of the professional learning so it is not the one and done it's it's um they have the the adults have some voice of choice in in what they are learning um and also we have uh some really strong professional development providers that are um working in these Pathways and uh a make and take model is is what we prefer so our expectation is that you'll be able to take something from what you learned in these couple of hours and you be able to use it tomorrow if not tomorrow before the next time we meet again and that's how we kick off every session is talking about what we implemented how how it went what we might have done differently um what we would recommend um and then we move on to the new learning and that's coupled with the faculty meetings so they are not things that could have been covered in emails um it is true professional learning so that becomes the expectation and we are we are always having these conversations and then we create presentations and talk about okay so what's next stand and how do we we're noticing that there's there are people that are picking up the ball and running with it um for example um had Ed camp at the middle school and if you look at the chart there were a lot of people that Ed Camp is designed where the teachers create their own learning we don't tell them what to do and if you look at some of the offerings that people chose one was on talking about tier one tier 2 and tier three interventions kada kada 12 so the teachers this this group that we've already established to look at this kind of reached out to all of the people K to say let's have a conversation about what does this look like at the different levels so they met um some of our professional Pathways professional development Pathways groups met met because they wanted additional time to work on what we've been working on on the half days I know the special education uh pathway they met to talk about the new IEP on that day so those things were generated of their Accord not us telling them we need to do this so there is some momentum that you can see growing from this um which is exciting to see rather than just us telling of the story and we're having conversations at the secondary about tier one tier two and tier three and people say I'm sorry what um which is it just it takes a long time and it's it's different than some the elementary who has been kind of who have been having some of these conversations for a really long time um and and so that that personalized learning piece the the um the targeted support uh based on the students needs um it really is what we are moving toward and and recognizing and there's overlap in all the Pathways in addition to our mentoring program because we're offering those courses also so the mentors and the new and beginning teachers are getting those pieces as they come in and providing support we've got our PD Pathways we've got our faculty meeting there is a lot of adult learning and that's translating into improved student outcomes thank you thank you have any questions I just just a comment I want to thank you for actually reversing the order from putting the assessment first in the school improv in a second because obviously you know the peer PR you as the superintendent mentioned you have a lot of pressure from the community and all that you know if you read social media it's always a great thing to read it's it's worth reading for like 2 seconds uh but it's a shame that they're not here because they can see what the plan is and how you're always focusing on the student the child you know it's not just about that score obviously we want great scores so I kind of for myself I appreciate that you had reversed the agenda items because I think uh it encourages us to see what you're doing and it's not only seeing what you're doing is how much compassionate I mean how much how excited you get about talking about these things that would you know a normal person would be falling asleep but you're just Conant no no seriously I'm just I'm like when you're when you're looking at the D no let me let me explain when you're talking about data all of those significant child data and turning that into an again a silver um I just think it's great it motivates us uh and I'm glad that we're able to give you the tools that you need so we appreciate okay I think we accept the plan yes right okay so um thank you very much a lot of work that goes into that um and we're looking forward to seeing some of the results um with that said I would entertain a motion to accept the school Improvement plan as presented so moved second uh motion by Miss Ashley too quick motion by Miss Ashley is seconded by Mr fer makeer anything further on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted thank you very much okay speak about falling asleep I'm next item I would like to point out we are five minutes ahead of schedule on the agenda so let's keep that let's keep that rolling I just never happens um okay the next time on the agenda on a new business is a recap of the recent M MC joint conference and resolution voting results who wants to talk about uh we were there we were there I were there it was um lengthy it was uh it not rting it was not riveting it was um at the end of the day the the delegates voted to reaffirm all of the expiring resolutions there were many amendments to several of the resolution so we we're also like not going to vote on anything that was amended because we didn't feel we have that charge from the committee um we're probably in the minority on our positions in several the um amendments but all 10 pass some with amendments some with several with amendments so there's that did they spit them out they did them yes they moved the expiring ones first that was helpful and then took the there were only two that went through at the initial vote and everything else was held and discussed a na and then not really changing any so or like removing us like one word you know so something that be careful get out the they mentioned in advance of the delegate meeting was that previously um you know it was the masc board that was coming up with a lot of these um resolutions and so if this year it seemed like there was it was all over the place that that's because it's no longer coming from the masc board it's coming from the locals so that's why it might seem like where are we going with all of this that that makes sense because it's coming from all different committees and people so yeah it was not aive sleep but in any case they all so so there you go there you go I don't know if anybody who ended both be volun I think we're going to pull a name out of the Hat next year our name W beone yeah yeah thanks to Mr fener Maker and Mr Mado who have sat through many of those meetings so thanks um I don't know if there's anything else I I know one of the workshops we both attended that I thought was really interesting was on special education and um sort of capturing as much funding as possible not leaving anything on the table that was um I think that was useful there are some there I think a few nuggets in there one of them was um steps to the rationale behind and steps to creating special education stabilization fund and so yeah I didn't even know that that was a legal option so did something to discuss I think um so that was interesting I think that was probably the most interesting part to me I don't know if anyone else I feel like in looking at them it's the same every this is my third year and I feel like it's the same things every year so like if you go two years in a row and then the third year you're like all right now what else do I take because I feel like it's the same presentation a lot of them are the same year after year so it's hard to pick and choose which ones you want to go to I think the first year it's it's harder because you're like oh I want to do this at the same time as this but after a couple years I think it's kind of hard to find one that you actually want to sit through that you haven't sat through yet so I think going forward there may be um a lot of changes um both to the funding piece given National politics um and um so that might change and then also the the Massachusetts vote regarding masso I think that things have been fairly status for and that might be changing so it didn't seem as packed to be detered say most of most of the rooms didn't seem as yeah like sometimes you have people falling out into the hallway CU they're kind of small and it didn't see as much as that it was nice yeah it was beautiful yeah I think some of those rooms they opened up to be double rooms because in previous like last year every room I went into there was you couldn't even find a place to stand mind so I think they had less sessions this year and they opened up some of those rooms that they thought the session might be more made a little bit larger capacity so so a couple of good takeaways but anyone have anything else okay um the next item on the agenda Staffing update we have none to report correct stability is great um next item on the agenda are Berkeley and Somerset Public Schools update Somerset friends want to go first who I don't know Mr Michelle for Somerset update uh we've had no meetings since our last meeting so okay nothing to report uh Miss Solomon is not here the only thing I do have I hope good news to report which is that um on Election Day Berkeley did pass step one of funding for the community school building project um not by a huge margin but by a margin um step two is actually this Thursday there's a special time meeting and that will need to receive a 2third vote in order to um pass the second step of that hurdle so one down one to go folks in Berkeley if you're watching this town meeting Thursday 7 Community School can I can I ask why is it a 2/3 um I don't know why I just know it is I don't know why I know it was like that for the um were we at two I think right as well it might be in our bylaws I I think they did their two votes opposite the way Somerset did theirs because we had the special we had the town meeting first and then we had the ballot vote to approve the funding second right and I think the first vote I don't think we required two3 I know we got more than 2/3 that's for sure we had like 70 or 80% but I was just I'm just wondering why 2/3 but all right well I hope you get 70 or 80% I hope so be great but um so that is that is this week and so depending the outcome of that vote you may moving hopefully it will Rin and you people can see the buckets it throughout the school well I know yes sludge coming up through the floor yep right that actually we need rain anyway too so that'd be great um I that's all I know about Berkeley um topics not anticipated by the chair I don't have anything let's just go over I don't know if I know you had your call with the commissioner today is there anything um report or should we no uh not really he discussed a number of topics and uh I'll I'll put some of the highlights in a memo but everyone's uh everyone had questions regarding mcast and and really what's happening there so there was a little bit of information uh particularly with some of the questions that school districts are receiving regarding mcast makeups which are happening right now and whether or not students should be taking that so desie is saying yes they still should because the law doesn't go the change in the law does not go into effect until sometime in December um so right now they're saying that school districts should just proceed normally with mcass uh makeup exams and we'll get some further guidance from them shortly great M thank you um action items for future meetings the committee I was hoping that we would have an update from our students any upcoming night open houses for incoming night grade students does anybody October uh November 21st we have our open house next Thursday so I guess a recap of that for our next meeting I was the season okay and that has gone in the uh Mr Austin still here he was kind enough to put it in the Sentinel and it has gone out via email to Berkeley and somerson middle schools and it's in the newsletter that you all just got via email from me like 30 seconds ago I forgot to send it to you this i s to everybody else this afternoon I'm sorry I forgot about you guys I know okay um all right next item on the agenda is uh to entertain the acceptance of a don of a couch and a love seat for the transition classroom from C's Furniture um I think there was a explanation for the rational for that in the in your folder have any questions anything to add it's very straightforward okay in that case I would entertain a motion um to accept the donation of the sofa and the love seat for the transition classroom from cardi motion by Mr Fence maker second seconded by Miss O'Brien anything further on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted thank you card's Furniture um next on the agenda is to consider approval of minutes of Prior meetings um I'll take first the open and executive session uh minutes of October 15th 2024 I have a motion to accept those minutes as presented so Move Motion by Mr Fence to makeer Second F anything on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted next um I would entertain a motion to accept the joint and Open Session minutes joint open and executive session minutes of October 15 2024 as presented so move motion by Mr F to makeer Second fera anything on discussion hearing none all those in favor opposed so voted at this time is there any public input if I may I I'll pull Mr Mado um uh since our students were not here this evening I do just want to um give a shout out to our um drama production that happened this past week uh radium girls the kids were phenomenal it was a great production I think Mr Young said that there were about 75 or so members between the crew and the cast and they were just it was an amazing production and that fall production has grown in size each year with the number of kids who are participating and the performances were great they also added uh in school performance year which we hadn't done in the past uh there was direct connection to both the history curriculum the US one so our fresh pretty much our entire freshman class and our sophomore chemistry classes came so we had approximately 650 kids uh in the Performing Arts Center during the day uh watching that performance and I wasn't only proud of the kids who did a phenomenal job performing but our audience was really awesome too uh and I I got to admit I held my breath 650 kids watching a play um we went through our expectations and we have our own pack and we went through all that at the beginning of what our social expectations were they knocked it out of the park so it was a really awesome experience uh to be a part of that day so I give credit to everybody that was involved in that and then the students went back and there were Connections in their history classes and their chemistry classes uh to what was going on that was really nice uh and then two other things we our uh field hockey team is playing the final four tomorrow night at Dam High School 6 pm. our girls soccer team is continuing their undefeated season they're playing at Westboro high school tomorrow night also at 6 p.m. and that's in the round of 8 so good luck toball team uh to those two teams and football is still in the playoffs tubry Friday night okay three teams in the postseason is pretty impressive three teams still in the post everybody every made it this year everybody made something this basically Elite 8904 yeah so when you see that increase in the transportation fa well to make sure they have well maintained f that's great news thank you anyone have anything else okay uh then I would entertain a motion to enter into executive session pursuant to massachus general laws chapter 3A section 21 A7 to comply with her act under the authority of any general or special law or Federal grant and aid requirements to consider the release redution withholding of the October 15th 2024 executive session minutes the October 15th 2024 joint executive session minutes and the 2020 executive session minutes all of them I have a motion so second and I'm trying to think if we will return to open session we not to return we will not return to open session okay so I have a motion by Miss Ashley seconded byera um on will Mr M hi mhy Mr F maker M hi and the chair thank you