School Committee — 2023-11-14

School Committee Regular Meeting

This meeting starts at 0:03 in a recording that covers several meetings.

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE MELROSE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES● NOVEMBER 14, 2023 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Regular Meeting 7:30 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176

(ID # 11285) Executive Session To approve executive session minutes of October 24, 2023

(ID # 11284) Executive Session To discuss strategy with respect to litigation involving a grievance filed by the MEA Unit A as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the School Committee and the chair so declares

(ID # 11302) Consent MVMMS Field Trip Request - NYC Adopted

(ID # 11286) Consent Second vote: Annual Review of Policy IJND: Access to Digital Resources and Policy IJNDB: Acceptable Use Policy for Information Technology Adopted

(ID # 11301) Consent Special Education Surplus Materials Request Adopted

(ID # 11287) Consent Personnel Report Adopted

(ID # 11289) Finance and Facilities Special Education Expense Summary (5 minutes) No Action Taken

(ID # 11288) Finance and Facilities Monthly Budget Summary/Grants/Revolving Accounts (5 minutes) vote required Passed

(ID # 11290) Finance and Facilities Warrants (5 minutes) vote required Passed City of Melrose Page 1 Updated 11/20/2023 4:28 PM Minutes Melrose School Committee November 14, 2023

(ID # 11291) Policy and Planning Plan for School Committee Self-Evaluation (5 minutes)

(ID # 11293) Announcements - Chair Outreach Reports (5 minutes) Note: The listed agenda items are those that are reasonably anticipated by the Chair to be discussed at the meeting. Not all items, in fact, may be discussed, and other items not listed also may be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law. City of Melrose Page 2 Updated 11/20/2023 4:28 PM

Transcript

▶ 0:03 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Wake up. I'll be, I'm gonna go over, I got everything. I got everything. I don't. A little less distracted. Distracted. Good evening and welcome to the Melrose School Committee, uh, regular meeting of November 14th, 2023. It's approximately seven 30. And at this time I would invite Mrs. Hogan to call the role please. Mr. O'Connell. Here. Mayor Broder. Here. Ms. Rosie Thomas. Here. Mr. ssm. Here. Ms. Withy. Here. Ms. mc. Andrew here. Mr. Driscoll Here. And all of us are present. So I will declare a quorum. And, um, at this time, let us rise as we are able and say the I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, Liberty,

▶ 1:20 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: justice for all. Just a note that this meeting is being recorded by our friends at MMTV and, uh, live streamed this evening. Uh, first on our agenda this evening, we do have need for an executive session to approve executive session minutes of October 24th, 2023, uh, and to discuss strategy with respect to litigation involving a grievance filed by the MEA unit A as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the school committee and the chair. So declares, we will be returning to public session. Do I have a motion to adjourn to executive session made by Ms. Der, seconded by Ms. Withy. Seeing no discussion. Mrs. Hogan, would you kindly call the role Mr. O'Connell? Yes.

▶ 2:14 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Broder? Yes. Ms. Razzie Thomas? Yes. Ms. Desel? Yes. Ms. withy? Yes. Ms. Yes. Mr. Yes. And with, uh, a unanimous in favor vote. We are now adjourned to executive session and again, we will return to public session and we are now returned to public session. So, next on our agenda is the report of the student representatives and seeing that we have no student representatives, um, here this evening, right here, They were here, they will be back momentarily. They were waiting out, uh, our, uh, executive session. It's true. I Did see them out in the hall when they were doing the interview. Okay. So, so we, we can proceed and when they return, we are, we will happily, um, entertain their report. Most. Excellent. Thank You ma'am.

▶ 3:10 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Um, next on our agenda is public comment. Um, is there anyone who would like to speak at public comment this evening? Seeing none without objection, public comment is closed. So next we, um, will hear from our superintendent of schools with his announcements, Please. Sure. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just want to give you a few announcements tonight in regards. First of all, let's talk about our athletic and arts. Um, as you may be aware, the, uh, marching band, the high school marching band, came in second in their division for the state, which we were really proud of the work that they've done, if you got a chance to see them at the football games, unfortunately, this year, every time they went

▶ 3:53 to a competition, it seemed to pour rain every Saturday. But they finally did get that opportunity and they did very well. So we're very proud of the work that they did. If you, um, this Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, if you are in the middle school area, you may want to go and see SpongeBob the musical done by our middle school drama students. There are over a hundred students participating in this musical, and I was there today to take a peek, and I think you'll all be in for a treat. So hopefully you will, um, attend. And then last on this list, the athletics, uh, Melrose has been very fortunate. Uh, they're, our teams are very strong. And as you may be well aware, our most, a lot

▶ 4:38 of our teams made it to the state tournaments. Currently, as we are talking right now, uh, Melrose Boys Soccer is in a game. And if I get any updates, I've asked, uh, Mr. Fogy to give us updates. 'cause we would like to see what happens on that. They're in the Final Four. So a victory tonight would put them into the state tournament on Saturday. In regards volleyball made it to the Final eight. We're very proud of the girls' volleyball team, as well as the girls' soccer team made it to the Final Eight. And unfortunately, you know, we were a little biased on that in the last minute. They called the penalty kick on our team. And so, uh, we, you know, it was kind of unfair in our eyes that we saw that.

▶ 5:21 But unfortunately they did not carry, move on. But they had a great season. That was the farthest that they've moved on. Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to go see our cross country teams, uh, boys and girls, and our boys came in sixth, which ranked them to move on to the, uh, state champion, you know, state tournament next week. And Caleb Barnes came in second place overall in that race for Melrose. And then the girls, not to be outdone, let me tell you, um, ran their race. We had one of our young ladies come in 10th place, but our third, second, third and fourth came in the twenties. And our fifth place person came in, in the top 40, and they were first place Woo-hoo. So that was the first time in that, you know,

▶ 6:09 the coaches many, many years. So they're very excited. Um, and you will see that I'm sure in the Good News Friday, you'll see a picture of them with their banner. Very proud moment for them. And they also will be participating, uh, this week. So that's where we're at on the Yes, thank you. And what is probably the best award that from our perspective too, I mean, it's great to win, but the boys and girls cross country team won the sportsmanship award Oh, nice. For the state. So that's great. So we're really proud of that work. Um, the other thing that's happening on Saturday is the parent university, where I will be the keynote speaker, uh, along with the, uh, elect, uh, mayor Elect, uh, Jennifer,

▶ 6:58 I always, Greg G Jen G Thank you. Sorry, Jen, sorry. Soering Matter Mayor elect. Um, but she will be also speaking with us. And I will also be doing a budget update, uh, seminar, which is important, which brings me to the other part. So today I shared with you, uh, thanks to Ken and the great work that his department has done. We've shared with you our first version of the line item budget. So I'd like you to take a look at that. Um, we will get into more detail about that on, uh, the next meeting on November 28th. I think right now what you're seeing is that is the current fiscal year, fiscal 24, and we are already putting together the projected budget for fiscal 25 as we start to take and,

▶ 7:50 and move into those directions. So that's important. Um, I will be presenting some of those items at this weekend at the parent university, but I think that, that, um, I wanted you to take a look at how we've spelt it all out thus far. Any ideas, any suggestions, we're happy to take those and take a look at, because what we really want is we want to be able to, we want the community to be able to take a look at this budget and understand it from, from reading it, not be confused by who's what and all of that. So hopefully you guys take a look at that. I wanted to share it and what we, and one of the things that it did is we, in sharing it to you, when we make changes, those changes should automatically be updated

▶ 8:37 for you in that. Um, and then last but not least, this is kind of a, um, for somehow, I, I don't know, but you know, me, I get into these different things. But on Friday morning, if you're, if you're around on the radio station, you might want to tune into Magic 1 0 6 0.7 because I have been asked to be a special guest and talk about what it's like to be a superintendent. And so I'm really excited to go into the studio. I have a face for radio, so I'm ready for it. I'm looking forward to it. And, um, but I think it's a great opportunity to really promote, um, the job of a superintendent. But obviously I wanna promote Melrose and promote the great things that are going on in Melrose. And with that, I want to thank Melrose Kind,

▶ 9:22 who has given me some swag bags to bring in to 1 0 6 0.7, which also tells you that November 20th is Melrose Kind Day. And, uh, please be aware of that. And this year, the superintendent's office is share, sharing that out with, uh, to our Maeve group. We wanna show them kindness for the great work that they've done. So that's where we're at on superintendent's update. Very good. Thank you. Questions for the superintendent. We're very thorough. Thank you. Thanks. Um, we will return at this time to the report of the student representatives. Thank you so much for delaying your schedules and joining us this evening. Thank you. Um, I'm Ava. I'm a junior at the high school and have started working with student council this year.

▶ 10:12 Um, so today we actually participated in the Knee Mask Fall conference, which was held at North Andover High School. And, um, a lot of the different student councils from the New England region come together, or more Massachusetts come together. And the, there are student delegates who run workshops to learn and adapt farther leadership skills. So you're able to attend different workshops that teach you to build community and your leadership skills. So that was held today and it was, um, very engaging and pretty, like, I would say it was a good experience. Um, we are hoping to attend the MASC conference in the spring, which will be held in Hyannis. Um, that's an overnight trip, and it is a larger trip that kind of, um,

▶ 11:09 invites a lot more student councils. So we're looking forward to doing that. Some updates of what we have in the works right now is spirit month. So what we try and do throughout the month of November and a little bit into October is, um, build spirit throughout the school up until Thanksgiving. So right now we have a couple things going on. We do, um, a spirit spike, which is kind of, it's a volleyball game and usually, um, the boys sign up and they will play in a game. It's a raffle. So we raise money for student governments that hold that. Powderpuff is junior and senior girls competing against one another. So that's gonna be held Monday on Fred Green. Um, a time is to be determined and spirit spike will be held on Thursday of next week,

▶ 12:07 which is also to be determined for a time, um, some spirit kind of themes that we have going on. So we do a themed day every Friday, and the class with the most people dressed up earns points for their class. So we've tried to include some popular themes that students may enjoy. We've done suits versus sports, um, Barbie versus Oppenheimer, which is a popular theme right now. Country versus Country Club. This Friday is anything but a backpack day. And the last Friday will be each class has their own theme and it's based on board games this year. So we have, sorry, clue Battleship in Life, how they're gonna decorate for that. I don't know yet, but we'll see. Uh, we're just trying to get students more involved in

▶ 13:01 school activities and spirit just to build a broader community and get everybody involved. We're also doing, um, what we're calling Penny Wars, where we have jars set up in our learning commons. And each grade is assigned to their own jar. You just deposit as many pennies as you can into your own jar, and if you deposit any other coins into another grade jar deducts their points. So an incentive is just getting more spirit points for your grade. And the losing grade has their, um, representative advisors and the advisors will be pied in the face of the pep rally as another incentive. Tremendous. Um, and all the money that we raised from Penny Wars will be donated to a selected charity later on.

▶ 13:54 Um, homecoming is being held next Tuesday, the 21st. We have a theme of Hollywood this year. Um, we've been able to plan that and since student council has kind of become more of its own branch this year, it's been exciting to get ideas from all the different students and get their input and see what they would like. And we've tried to do our best to include everybody's ideas and things into that. Um, some things that are going well at school, I'd say we have the new implemented cell phone policy, which I'd say has been pretty fair to students. It's a fair rule. I mean, phones in school isn't really a necessary thing. You're there for your education, so that shouldn't be a needed distraction.

▶ 14:44 And most teachers are pretty lenient anyways, but they make it fair to everybody. I would say. Um, we've been trying to get in touch with local businesses for fundraising and donations. So fundraising for student government, student council. We're trying to get donations for prize baskets for things like the Spirit Week, um, things just to have more incentive and get people involved. And then another thing that is going on this weekend is the eighth grade is producing SpongeBob the musical, which will be held this weekend. Mm-Hmm. That's for updates right now. Um, hello, my name's Arthur Hitchman. I'm also a junior. Some concerns we have as part of the student body is the new grading policy.

▶ 15:41 Um, not all students do well test taking and tests and summatives assignments are 75% of your grade. So if you do bad on one assignment, like say you're having a rough week or like you had a lot of work and forgot to study, or maybe you just didn't prepare, then it kind of really affects your grade and not, they just came out with a new, like, revision policy. It kind of forget what it was about. But I'll look into that more. And then it's 15% formative assignments. And then habits of work is 10%. When Habits of Work is just like how you act in class, if you're listening, if you're on your phone. And, um, it doesn't really ref, I don't think the grading policy really like reflects your actual work and like ability to like,

▶ 16:21 take in the content of the class. Um, another issue we have is all of our sub blocks are in the calf. So if a teacher like was sick last minute, then it would be a sub block. But like, unless they get like a substitute to cover them. So it used to be we were in the lc, which was a great learning environment. It was built for that purpose. But now we're in the cafeteria, which is a very noisy, um, like environment. It's really echoy and also, especially if you have it after lunch, it like has an odor. And it also is like really like messy. Like there's stuff on the floor. It's just really not like a great place to like sit down and get work done, which is like what they want us to do during sub blocks.

▶ 17:04 And the only sub block that we're we have in the lc is during lunch block. 'cause we need the cafeteria for lunch. And in our opinion, that's the most hectic part of the day in the lc because like, some people will either just knock, go to lunch and sit in the lc or like they'll leave lunch early and sit in the lc and it gets really crowded in there. And that's the only time that sub blocks are in there to get work done. Um, and it wouldn't constantly be like that, like all day. Like, especially like in the morning and afternoon where like seniors have early release and stuff and there's less kids in the building. We could get our work done easily in there, but compared to the calf. Um, and also another thing we wanted

▶ 17:45 to bring up was our student council and student gov use cash for most of their ticket stuff. 'cause we can't use electronic payments like Venmo, which I totally get. But like, 'cause our, the business department is kind of outdated and older and it's not capable of setting up new technology like Venmo to try and get tickets. And we're losing sales for like, events and like other things that we need to sell because most students just don't carry cash on them. And we've actually had multiple students like come up and ask like, oh, can we, can I just Venmo you? And we're like, no, sorry. And then they kind of just lose interest or totally forget to bring cash. Like I know myself, I never carry cash. I don't have cash.

▶ 18:26 So I like sometimes lose out on things and yeah. Thank you. Very good. And I believe the superintendent has one, uh, quick comment and then we'll ask for Questions. So I just wanted to update you that we are working in the business office, um, Mr. Kelly, myself and Mr. Carillo in trying to create, um, you know how you have that My Bucks card for lunches and stuff. We're trying to figure out a way to do that so that you can create that for the school store that you want to put in. And for anything else, we would like to see us be able to go into a cashless system. We can't do Venmo, but we can look at these other options and this may help. So we are on that. Just want to give you an update. That's great. Thank you.

▶ 19:16 Paul Brodeur: Questions. Our students, mayor Broder, How'd you decide divisional labor? 'cause you get to say all the good things and then you, you bring the downside. How do you, how'd you play that out? I actually asked if I could do updates and she asked if I could do concerns. So I just took on the concerns. Y'all for the most part, use Venmo. Right? That is probably your primary way. Yeah. Doing whatever, lender folks, money, paying kids back, whatever the case may be. Mm-Hmm. We don't need to talk about it now, but I'm sure there's some bureaucratic obstacles to that. Um, There are, we're figuring it, but we're on it. But yeah. And look, I can say the on the city side we're behind as well in terms of how you can pay bills,

▶ 20:04 Jennifer McAndrew: how you can do those kind of things. But love to see that move a little bit more into what people are actually using. Again, easier said than done. And where the, the city side is not up to speed either, but that would be a nice consumer friendly thing to be able to do. Any other questions? Ms. Macand? Thank you. Thank you both. That was great and really helpful. Um, I just wanted to add that I think the new grading policy is something we've probably all heard about from parents and students, and so I really appreciate you bringing that up. I'm actually just kind of adding to what you're saying to say that it would be interesting after this first year mm-Hmm. Of having it implemented. And I'm sure that Mr. Merrill and Mr. Corgan, Mr.

▶ 20:47 Jennifer McAndrew: Beaver planned to come back Mm-Hmm. And talk to us and the community hopefully about, um, the, and the impact that they've seen, positive, negative, not just on students' grades, um, but on students, um, retaining and learning information and, um, also, you know, if it had any impact on their, their class selection for the next year and things like that. So I just wanted you guys to know that we are, we are hearing that too, and we're really interested in it. It was a very, um, big project and very thoughtful project on the behalf of the high school to move to that grading system. But we also know that it's a really big change. And so we're definitely, I'm definitely interested in, in continuing to learn more about it.

▶ 21:29 So thank you. And, um, Ms. Rosie Thomas. Thank you. Um, great to have you both here. Thank you for coming back and forth and back and forth because our meeting's kind of choppy tonight. But, um, I'm wondering if you know, or if perhaps the superintendent knows why when you have a substitute teacher why you have to go to the cafeteria now instead of the learning commons? 'cause I, I know the difference between the two, although I haven't studied in either, but I can tell that the learning commons is, is, um, a Driscoll Learning Commons is, is a lovely space to go. So how come? So I would assume, because I'm, I'm not Mr. Merrill, you guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but there are classes probably going on in the learning commons.

▶ 22:13 Is that why that you can't, so that's why they move it to the calf for the sub. That's what I would probably estimate, but I would have to check on that. Yeah. Um, there's definitely classes that go on in the lc. We have I think three or four classrooms in there. Mm-Hmm. I think there's a part of it that was kind of unclear to students because this has kind of been a new rule that's implemented just this year. Okay. Last year. I can see how some students may have caused issues or been a little disruptive, but I think, um, our student body as a whole would rather have that kind of more comfortable and quieter learning environment than the cafeteria. So when they introduced that rule without any

▶ 23:04 given reason, it was just a little like confusing. So I don't have a specific reason as to why they did it, but as far as I know, yes, there are classes that go on. So if I may ask, have you met with Mr. Merrill or any of the assistant principals to ask those specific questions? We have not yet. Okay. So I would suggest that you take that opportunity Yeah. To, um, connect with Mr. Merrill and the assistant principals and see what their reasoning is. Mm-Hmm. Um, you may not like it. You may like it. I don't know. So, but I think that that would be the next step for you on that. Thank you. And let us know. We'll, Thank you. Any other questions for our students? Seeing none. Thank you again for being here tonight and being so patient.

▶ 23:49 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: We really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you so much. Uh, next on Book update because yeah, I know the superintendent promised, but I think my family is more efficient than one. Nothing. Melrose just got it one early in the second half. He likes to beat you to every for the talker. Thank you. And We're ahead. Next on our agenda is the consent agenda, which tonight includes the school committee regular meeting minutes of October 24th, 2023. Uh, the M-V-M-M-S field trip request to New York City, the second vote on the annual review of POL policy IJND, access to digital resources and policy I-J-N-D-B acceptable use policy for information technology, the special education, uh, surplus, uh, materials request, and the personnel report.

▶ 24:42 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Would anyone like to remove anything from the consent agenda this evening? Ms. Whitty? Thank You. Can we remove the regular meeting minutes from October 24th, please? Absolutely. Those will go on the announcements of the chair. Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing, see? None. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda made by Mr. O'Connell? Seconded by Ms. Desel. All in favor, oppose that motion carries unanimously. Next on our agenda is our sub, excuse me, our subcommittees beginning with finance and facilities, Ms. Rozi Thomas. Good Evening and welcome to Finance and Facilities for tonight. We have a few things on the agenda. Um, first of all, I wanna thank the superintendent and Mr. Kelly for putting together this, the spreadsheet

▶ 25:44 for 2025 budget. The beginning of building that out. It's really, really, I got to look at it a little bit today. It's really helpful. It's a very easy user format, you know, with all the different tabs. And so thanks. I'm, I can't imagine how many, uh, hours of work that was. Yeah, it was a, a template that, um, superintendent ERO had, um, used prior. Um, very readable, very straightforward. Um, and that just, that that's still a working document. That's something that's not a finalized number, just so everyone's aware that that's something that we're, we're working and, um, you know, we have a lot of our, our, um, known costs encumbered, but there's still a few things that we're, we're, you know,

▶ 26:22 we've had some longevity, uh, uh, numbers that we're still finalizing. So there's still some, could be some, some changes to that. But that's the template and format that we'd like to go forward with. And so it's also got the correct increase in salaries based on the collective bargaining agreement too. That Is correct. So that's good for the city to start to begin to figure out how to budget for, correct. Right. Okay. Yep. Um, I know that's not officially on this part of the agenda, but I really wanted to thank you. So we are looking also at special education expense summary, um, which we've been getting about every month now almost. Um, as well as the monthly reports of the budget summary grants revolving accounts.

▶ 27:02 Um, we don't need a vote on the special education expense summary. Um, does anyone have any questions for Mr. Kelly or the superintendent regarding that? The memo from Carrie Berman and you Mr. Kelly? Nope. We're seeing what we're seeing in terms of the rise in costs both tuition and transportation. Yep. That's, we've, we've seen the 14% OSD increases as, as we had anticipated. Transportation continues to be, uh, um, you know, an ongoing, um, critical concern. Okay. Anything you wanna mention? No. Nope. I think you, yes, we we're moving in that direction, So. Okay. And then the, the monthly budget summary that grants revolving accounts, those three reports we de we do, we will need a vote on that.

▶ 27:50 Do I have a motion to approve these? Um, three reports. Motion made by Mr. Salm. Any second by Mr. O'Connell. Thank you so much. Um, any discussion, questions, concerns, highlights? Low lights, Ms. Withy, go ahead. I might be ahead of myself and if so, just tell me to hold, um, the year to date budget report. Can I ask a question there for a moment? Sure, of course. Thank you. So I'm, again, I feel like Mr. Kelly, every time you come, I have one quick question around the percentages. I'm noticing here other instructional services we're at 522%. I'm curious to know what does this actually entail? And then are you concerned, because again, looking at this quickly, my eye immediately goes to that is a number

▶ 28:39 that is much larger than I would expect at this point of the year and I can't trace what exactly it is that we're purchasing in this moment. Sure. So that, that's actually, um, that's our summer programming and previously that had really not been budgeted. Um, and so that reflects, um, us tracking and seeing how much it costs to run the summer program, the extended year program. And then that will give us a, a, you know, a real good cost, um, indicator going forward on how to budget that properly. So that, that number for summer program was, um, very underfunded. So that's why you see that 500% overage on that because that's actually what it costs to run the summer program. So you were not concerned at

▶ 29:23 This moment in time. We anticipated that to be about, um, you know, anticipated that to be a, um, a deficit for that category. Yes. Can I ask one other question related to summer programming? Currently we're offering summer programming four days a week, is that correct? Not five. Correct. Would be entertained considering five days at some point. 'cause I think that is something that families would find to be valuable and beneficial. So we do offer our ed stations programming does run in the summer as a, as an alternative for, for childcare. And I would defer to Assistant Superintendent Berman. I'm not sure if there are regulations around how long a summer program for extended year has to be great.

▶ 29:59 So I'm not sure if that's a four day or a five day. That would be something that we could run, run by Assistant Superintendent Berman. That'd be great. I'd be happy to talk more offline about that potential as well. Madam Chair? Yes. I just may add go right ahead. What, and the goal here is that when you start to see the 25 budget put together, we know now what those costs are for that summer program. So that needs to be placed in there. Right. You know, what that amount is. And of course, the other part that we would, we now that we are getting all of this set is that in the future what would happen is we would say, okay, that budget was came in underfunded Mm-Hmm. We need to put that budget back to the funding.

▶ 30:43 So we'd need to transfer and then we'd bring that policy. So those are things that we want to start to be able to do too this year to get into those habits to show that these line items so that they're not negative all year. Right. We need to fix those to bring them to where they need to be. And then that gives a better understanding of what the actual is for the following year. So fewer surprises. Correct. And more granular with every budget line item ahead of time. Correct. Okay. Ms. McAndrew, oh, were you done, Ms. Wie? Yeah, no, thank you. I think it's just helpful to also like lift up what we mean when we say other instructional services. So I appreciate you sharing this is actually what

▶ 31:24 Jennifer McAndrew: that line item means so that we can all have a collective understanding. Thank you Ms. McAndrew. Yes. Sorry. So now I do have a question about that actually. Sorry, when you say, um, summer program, you mean our extended year program? Correct. You don't mean the ED stations program? Correct. Extended year, that's two separate program extended year. And that Instructional and those costs did not hit the operational budget. Correct. Okay. That's a revolving fine. Correct. I just wanna make sure I understand. That's correct. These are extended year services for students with needs. Correct. Is there any reimbursable funding in those programs For the extended year? Summer program typically is not reimbursable. Okay.

▶ 32:00 That's more to prevent regression and, and you know, keep students on track to start School year? No, I mean we would, we would love to take a look at it through Title One and all of those other opportunities. Right. But the problem is right now we're just, we are at the bare minimum of Title one. Yep. We may see that increase next year 'cause our numbers may increase and if that's the case, that could also help. But right now it's been right now not. No. Great. Thank you. And Circuit Breaker doesn't cover any of that either. Circuit Breaker could potentially cover some of those costs? We don't use that and we would prefer not to do that. Okay. Right, because we need that for Yeah, right. The whole year, the tuition. Yeah. Okay. All right.

▶ 32:39 Thank you. Any other questions or concerns? Okay, seeing none, um, uh, all in favor of passing these three reports through that passes unanimously. Seven in favor. Thank you very much. And, um, moving on to the warrants. We have five warrants here. I'm gonna read through them and then we can do a motion to, um, approve them. So we have the school warrant S 2 4 0 2 1 in the amount of $738,299 and 17 cents. Then we have refunds and official payment, um, to the officials S 2 4 0 2 2 warrant in the amount of $11,693 and 1 cents. We have October meals tax S 2 4 0 2 3 warrant, and the amount of $86 and 83 cents. And we have October, um, middle school student wire activity wire, S 2 4 0 2 4 in the amount

▶ 33:42 of $840 even. And lastly, we have the October High School student activity wire, S 2 4 0 2 5 warrant in the amount of $15,729 and 1 cent to, I have a motion to approve those all in one slate made by Mr. O'Connell. Second by Ms. McAndrew. Thank you very much. All in favor passes unanimously. Thank you very much. And that concludes finance and Facilities. Uh, thank you Ms. Rosie Thomas. Appreciate that. And next, we will move on to policy and planning with Ms. Withi this evening. Of course. Thank you. Appreciate It. Hi everyone. It's great to be with you tonight to talk a little bit about policy and planning. So not a vote, but more of an announcement for all of us sitting here in the chamber tonight.

▶ 34:37 Uh, we have our self-evaluation as a school committee that is upcoming. This is something we do every year. And so just wanted to again, share with folks to put it on our radar that we will have an email coming to us that will explain more about the process and to mark your calendars for December 12th, as that is when we're gonna ask for the self-evaluations to be turned in so that we can compile information and ultimately look and see where exactly we are as a committee with our own ratings. So again, no need for a vote, just wanted to give everyone an update that this is coming. Any questions? Great. And that concludes policy and planning this evening. Thank you so much. Uh, thank you Ms. Withi.

▶ 35:34 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Uh, next on our agenda as the announcements of the school committee chair. First, we will take up the regular meeting minutes of October 24th, 2023, and I would certainly entertain a motion, uh, for approve. Motion to approve. Motion for approval by Ms. Macand, seconded by Ms. Desal. Is there any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor? Opposed? And abstentions, that motion carries with six in favor. No. Um, opposed. And one abstention. Thank you for that. Um, next I would like to invite, uh, comments on our outreach reports. I'm going to invite Ms. Desel to go first, please. Colleagues, uh, this past week there was the M-A-S-C-M-A-S-S joint, uh, conference on the Cape, uh, happens every year, uh,

▶ 36:29 immediately following election day. Uh, so, uh, it, it can be bittersweet for some who, uh, are attending for the last time. Uh, of course I am, I was attending for the last time, um, but you elected me as the delegate to the Delegate Assembly for MASC. Uh, for those that have not had the pleasure or privilege, the MASC Delegate Assembly is in fact just one very large school committee meeting. And it has all of the drama that you might expect, uh, when you combine 200 plus, uh, school committee members from different districts all in the same room. Uh, urban, rural, regional, Vogue, all the stripes, all the colors, all present and accounted for. Uh, this year's resolution package, uh, we had, uh,

▶ 37:32 one change in the bylaws, which was approved unanimously. Uh, the change in the bylaws was to, uh, sunset every three years on a three year ruling cycle, uh, resolutions that had been passed previously so that the resolutions list didn't just continue to grow and grow and grow, uh, with the understanding that, uh, the needs of our students change on a year to year basis. And it doesn't make sense to be arguing still at the State House. For something that we voted as a resolution in 2015, today, in 2023 that passed unanimously. That was perhaps that. And, uh, resolution two, which was regarding investment in trans, uh, investigation in and recommendations for transportation bidding procedures.

▶ 38:25 As we know, uh, we don't have a good bidding system for our buses. And so, uh, between, uh, that resolution, uh, to authorize a push to investigate and revamp that requiring a bidding system, uh, and the sunset clause, those were the only two things that passed very quickly and more or less unanimously resolution one. Uh, typically how these things go is, uh, they present, they call a role on each of the resolutions. And, uh, with the hope that we're gonna get a slate of them, that we can just push through without any comment, question, or otherwise deliberation that happened with exactly one, resolution two, uh, resolutions, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and seven, and eight. All required discussion. This was a four hour delegate assembly. Wow.

▶ 39:23 I know you wish you were with me. Um, resolution one. Full, stable, uh, full stable funding for metco. This was all about creating a pot of money that is stable at the state level, uh, so that METCO understands on a year over year basis what they will have. As we know here in the chamber, METCO was level funded for us. Um, that is not always the case across, uh, the participating districts. Uh, this was contentious. Only in it was those who are in METCO who participate in METCO and those who don't. Um, and, uh, regardless of the contentious nature of the discussion, uh, it passed 92 to three. Uh, resolution three was, uh, resolution three was, uh, regional transportation. Um, there was a push to, uh, allow for,

▶ 40:29 uh, essentially it was a push to, uh, provide flexibility to regional districts for busing. Uh, this was hotly contested because, uh, the state says that regional districts should get funded fully for their busing. And, uh, raise your hand if you remember the last time the state fully funded anything promised to schools. Right. Uh, so they wanted the ability to, um, either charge for empty seats to the families that they have to provide them for, or otherwise not be able to provide those seats. In other words, have fewer buses. Um, this motion, uh, this motion failed. Um, opponents were generally anti-free, which is fine. I, we generally would agree with that. Um, but overall, there was a large sense

▶ 41:27 of we're letting the state off the hook if we, uh, pass fees on to the parent parents. Uh, and what we really should be doing is arguing to the state that you guys should live up to your promises. Uh, motion four, or I'm sorry, resolution four was, uh, where is it here? Oh, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Uh, this was all about creating a, uh, DEI coordinator point person in district. John was this thrilling, I promise. Um, what became of this resolution is that we all as a, uh, massive body agree that DEI work is important. Nobody has an idea of how it should be done universally. The motion was eventually tabled after three amendments. And what essentially was a Roberts rule fail. Um, it was, it was not good.

▶ 42:33 Our parliamentarians got lost and it just, it was bad. Uh, relu resolution five, Massachusetts School Building Authority after lots of deliberation, and again, we're letting the state off the hook was tabled. Resolution six school bus stop. Armed surveillance. This is the idea that we want to push the state to actually have some teeth and enforcement around school buses when they stop and put that stop sign out. Apparently people are just driving right by. It was tabled, um, resolution seven with related, that was related to MCAS. Uh, it was essentially, um, pushing the resolution essentially was written to push m uh, MASC, to argue at the state level that we should, uh, do away with MCAS and replace it with something

▶ 43:29 that is more relevant to our students in today's modern age. Again, lots of different opinions in the room. Everyone agrees that MCAS has to go. Nobody agrees how it should be done. It was tabled. Uh, by this time behind me. There was an argument over a bag of chips. I kid you not, you've got chips. You didn't bring me chips. We're three and a half hours into this meeting. It's going crazy. Um, resolution eight, safe storage of firearms. Uh, we all, everyone again, all agreed that firearms are, uh, second amendment and blah, blah, blah. But there's already laws that firearms should be stored properly. And at this point, the chips people have left. And about half the rest of the delegation had left

▶ 44:22 because dinner was being served in the room next door. This one actually passed by a voice vote. And we went to adjourn. So it was a lot of fun. Thank you guys for sending me one last time. I know that you wish you were there. I hope, I hope the chip people weren't armed. Thank you for that very illustrative reward, Ms. McAndrew. Well, I Was just gonna say, I think we see why Mr. Sal got the big award indeed At conference Indeed, well deserved For this Year in many years of being our delegate. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Did you bring your award? I did. She Did, indeed. Okay. Let's, did you show it to the whole class? Uh, so then whole class and camera. Uh, I was, um, nominated by you,

▶ 45:15 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: uh, to represent, uh, our district in, in the Allstate School Committee. Um, I feel, I feel to an extent, uh, somewhat unworthy. I didn't do this on my own. I did this in committee by committee and with committee. Um, and so this is not merely my award, but all of ours. And so thank you so very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Very well deserved Mr. Desel. It was a lovely evening. And, um, there was much applause and, and many smiles. So that was, that was super duper. Um, any other outreach reports? Anything else to share? Uh, seeing none, uh, point of personal privilege. I would like to, uh, share my interest in, uh, being your chairman, uh, again next year, um, if that is the will of the group.

▶ 46:23 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: But I wanted to let you, uh, know that now who's with me. May I also share a point of personal privilege? Certainly. I would also love to be considered for vice chair for the upcoming year. Thank you. Thank you. Anything else for the good of the order? Seeing none, I, I see a motion coming our way, Noting that it is now one, one. I offer a motion to adjourn. Second. Motion to adjourn. Made by Mayor Broder. Seconded by Mr. O'Connell. Seeing no discussion. All in favor? Opposed? That motion carries unanimously. And we are adjourned.

School Committee — 2023-11-14

Agenda

Minutes

Transcript

Original documents