 Thank you. Oh, I know I've got my mask. Here we go Rochester Stockbridge Unified District Board of School Directors regular meeting Tuesday, June 7th, 2022 at 6 30 p.m. Call to order Rochester campus and bio Google meet agenda. We have called to order adjustments to the agenda We didn't talk about anything. I don't think we have anything Signed time So Yeah, you laughing over there why I was I was thinking Yeah, well, here's the thing I Mean, how about this we get to it we get to the bigger issues and Start you Amy start your clock and we get past we get past 10 Ten minutes. Just give us a warning. Okay. Yeah, because we do couldn't we do end up going for half hour or five minutes on Something which we should wrap. Yeah. Yeah, and I can certainly help. I think instead of trying to you know Keep it all let some Nail it all down. Let's do it weekend. Okay Sometimes timekeeper, so we're not going to try to not to go over 10 minutes I'm gonna know for going over 10 minutes consent agenda Approve 5 1 prove minutes of Thursday May 5th 2022 5 2 prove minutes of Monday May 2nd 2022 informational Prove minutes 5 3 20 sorry Tuesday May 3rd 2022 Annual meeting and 5 4 prove the minutes 20 Tuesday May 24th 2022 special Second that any discussion There being none all in favor signify by saying aye Opposed The eyes have it Do we have any public comment Nancy? I think you're our only public Do you have a comment at this time? I? Do not Very good. Thank you so much Thank you for being here Board comment Okay, so the Rochester Scholarship Committee met and We sent out 11 Letters and we received For people to for kids to fill out an application Received what seven eleven eleven sorry because on one of these scholarships Portains to students in Hancock and Granville, so we were Include them as well for that specific on scholarship, and we only received two applications and so the Catherine Kirkpatrick Memorial Scholarship which is awarded to Rochester Graduating senior who has maintained a strong academic background over a four-year period is accepted to an accredited program of higher Education or a certified trade program has demonstrated good citizenship in school and community life Was awarded to Emma Rogers in the amount of $1,000 The Martin Farms Appreciation Award Which is a word to Rochester Hancock or Granville graduating senior who exemplifies community involvement and responsibility and community Project and affairs marks and needs and other scholarship activities may also be considered We went to Levi West and that was for $100 the Sleeth Memorial Scholarship was presented to two graduating seniors who Have been active in school athletics who has demonstrated an exemplary exemplinary Work ethic and who has shown a strong sense of character and the recipient have plans going on to work Or continue in their education, and those were $50 each and we gave one to Levi and one to Emma Great, so it was very nice. Is Emma Rogers is she a Rochester? Yes Good For the board comment, I don't know if the board remembers Anyway that the staff at Rochester and Stockbridge in the SU office received chocolates from daily chocolates of virgins As a booster to get them through the end of the year and we received a very nice Thank-you card. I'm sorry. I don't have it in front of us from the SU office Saying that it hit their sweet tooth just with it needed to Just to know we gave a little appreciation Good any other board comment being none Celebration of learning Favorite part so we actually have two One a group of students came to me and asked me to do this which is the first one you're And then the other one Another teacher I wanted to share out so it's too hard to pick It's cute So they'll kind of tell you this and then you get to hear my commentary of being in the woods as I'm trying to film this This is the K1 part of the K1 in Stockbridge and after going to Pine Hill Park they read Story without any words as part of the hike or the loop that they did in Rowland So they wanted to make their own and they've been learning about frogs in science class So they made a storybook walk in the woods That's all about frogs. So this is them Reading you and walking you through their story in the woods All right, who's gonna tell me what we're about to see We're going on a little walk through the woods. Oh, Miss Stetson's too tall Wait All righty And why did you guys make this and why'd you put it in the forest? Right and then so other people could read it Haley yeah Everybody in the school could see it. Well, good job They wanted to do it they came up with the idea and said they saw it and wanted to know why he didn't have one And then the next day I came back to Stockbridge and say alternate and they'd already made it So I have a feeling I was maybe There was already a plan in motion It makes me think that maybe We could raise some money to have permanent signposts in both woods. So there was a question Okay, great because I think it would be a great way to Do it and then change it out. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So they were also the backstory is they're Also finishing writing their own story they had to be Either fiction or nonfiction and they came up with all the pieces in part So this was like how they got it into it was We already know a nonfiction story and we could write it if we each did our part And then now they're in the middle Well, pretty close to the end of writing their own nonfiction and fiction stories. Um, very elaborate And uh excited to share So very good. Okay all on their own, which was pretty cool. Well, I love that Yeah So then uh, this was like is that the competition of the littles, right? Uh the younger kids Um, so then lauren miss lauren and mr. Burley kind of Wanted to give a little update on what's been going on this spring for having a couple technical difficulties with some of the videos Um, so I'll have to share those out separately because I'm not the owner of the video But um, so here's a little presentation that they've been working on so far Or since the last time I should say All seasons and writing without tears. What a great concept You can see a hendershot smile Their favorite is they got to go in the school bus That was the first part and then to the sugar house. Yep. Yeah And Oh my god, caroline crocheting in buddy ears. I want that picture Yes Yeah, I know I would love to have that continue. Yes The older ages I still read the loud So these were some musical Notes acts They're playing some of the different um Different instruments that are up there on her list and she's actually used quite a bit of grant money to make sure that the preschool Is it able to have like their own set and it's appropriately Great singing walls are really fun Are those the square rods? Yeah Yay Oh my god I think they'd make sure Stepping up right. Yeah. Yep. Excellent. Excellent So those were the two celebrations learning this one. Excellent. Thank you so much indeed It really is I think everybody's favorite part of this evening Let us move on to reports of the board starting with a superintendent Well, I always have to follow those I gotta Do you have my reporting hand? I mean we're you were in the thick of hiring season Really excited for our set for the most part. We're really returning almost everyone all of our core content teachers So that's really exciting. So not doing as as much hiring on the west coast But we do have some hiring going on. Most of it's that's what I call I love it. Most of it is completed. We have still have a few vacancies That we're we're still trying to fill but as far as updates around the legislature I just wanted to give you some some highlights The weights the weighting Approach was approved and signed by the governor to change ad funding. That's a positive for our tax rate here in our set Both around when we look at free and reduced lunch rates Which it has on the account And also it takes into a rural geographical nature across the towns across the state around population within a certain square footage. So We qualified there too. So we'll get those final projections from brad james at the aoe But I look to increase our capacity around tax rate And the idea really is when we think about the work that this task force did It was to allow smaller districts to try to re-invest that money And so that's something we're going to want to be talking about as we kick off budget season next fall So what does that look like? The It's going to it's going to be phasing in the The other thing is special ed funding did get moved forward as far as the block grant funding They did postpone the adverse effect Peace for qualification for those students that have a disability for an individual. What's that? I was trying to explain it. Yeah, so it's those that would qualify based on based on a disability For individualized educational plan. So right now the qualification is that you have to be in the 15th percentile Meaning about 1.5 grade levels behind That is changing in the sense of it can't be just Your 1.5 grade levels behind the school has to demonstrate what they've done for early intervention to try to fill that gap Before you would move to toward qualification as part of adverse effect The idea of being let's not wait till kids are one and a half grade levels behind and then say all now We'll qualify them for supports. We should be using these funds to support them for a week Right? The good news out of that law is I think it's going to really make school districts focus on universal instruction instruction for all But also what are there other interventions in place other than just special ed? You know one of the things that I used to say my trainings is We shouldn't always think there's something so special about special ed right like we're all instructors. We're all educators It's not this magic lawn that now a student qualifies for an idp And all of a sudden we're going to it's going to get fixed right like how are we as a team working to best support the student And so that's that's the notion behind this act And when that that work this work's been underway for about five years in the state Um, and it's finally taking hold so I'm really excited about it Because I think it supports our mtss work the The other thing is universal school meals was signed by the governor For next year. I'm sure Tara. We'll talk a little bit about that with her report. We're still gathering more information on that um about how that will work And um Yep, we'll have meals. Yep throughout the summer. Yep through our one kind of But I notice this we have when I read the email I've been getting the email boost from that organization The vsba. Yep. I think yeah from them Um, this is a one time deal And that they've got to make it more permanent and they haven't quite figured out how to pay Yeah, yeah, well they figured out how to pay for it for you. Yeah. Yeah for you use the some of the ed funds surplus I worry that I don't know if it's actually going to cover it When we ran numbers at the reliance superintendents association. We were pricing out about 40 million. They set aside about 22 So that's a concern. Yeah, um that I have So it's just around whether or not it's a great intent. It is. It's not quite We got to figure out how to make it sustainable. Yeah, yeah, and not have it be an unfunded mandate, right Yeah, I think I think we all agree it's important I just think we need my to to help us figure out how to how do we make it sustainable? Well, and the fed too Um, and then the other thing, of course, they were really keeping an eye on is the act that was passed last year around pcb monitoring and testing I've got schools getting tested this month Um, and we should find out some of the duffel was one of my first schools. We should find out um In early fall about how the how those results turned out They did set aside and about another 22 million For mediation of pcb's We're concerned also that that's certainly not going to be enough across the state To deal with that and so just stay tuned It's something I just think that, you know, we're going to need to be paying close attention to as we think about You know as I've been meeting with e. I Didn't lie. I'm really thinking about our roadmap around Deferred maintenance. I really see it as a 10-year plan with three phases to it The first one really being about four-chair h-bag heating and then also using the e i audit to give us kind of the The lay the layout of what are our next big Items for phase three possibly I think phase two part of that's going to be our pcb situation Going to be about the timing They're looking for us to really remediate that by 2026 is the date that was originally in that bill um and You know, they've kind of they've moved the needle on what is actually Um allowable as far as pcb's when you remember when burlington school district initially Um realize that their pcb's are high They now no longer would qualify as being seen as high that that current building They would actually be under the threshold currently right now um They've chosen to go ahead And move forward with the the idea of a new building right although I think they're finding out I don't know if you read the news that they can't bond the amount that they actually need to build a new tech center In high school, so they got some big decisions ahead of them as well um, so anyways it those are all kind of moving targets and um You know, I it's it's kind of like this bittersweet thing of thinking about wrapping up year two Um in the mix of cobit and and you know last year at this time thing I remember thinking boy, I think we're out of it And then realizing how difficult it was I didn't have the foresight to see how difficult it was going to be this one And you know, one of the things I think that I've not Probably discussed as much as I probably should have Where the boards is just how tough it's bad and like we really haven't recovered yet um staffing um You know just as far as Staff contracting cobit this year and or being out due to relatives having had cobit I would actually say this year was more trying in regards to absenteeism both for staff and students um, and so, you know, one of the things that I'll be monitoring and and Thinking about is what does it look like again next fall and winter, right? When I expect some type of wave to come through so I mentioned that just to say to the boards know that I'm thinking that way And that will be strategically thinking that way And then finally the last thing I'll add is I'm really excited We've got some temp health coming on board to do some custodial work across the s2 And so I'm feeling really optimistic back optimistic about that and we do have someone Who's showing some interest in possibly doing the maintenance and facility full-time position that we listed here Way back in the fall. So Yeah, stay tuned on those things those are those are positive things But we definitely have been able to secure at least one temp worker this summer for our sud I hope and maybe even a second And I'll take any questions folks have Um, I'm not sure this principle or you but it has to do with maintenance. What's the story of their tractor? Is it just sitting there right now? Uh, okay, it's been used The sound of like wreck you sports used it. Oh, they did. Oh, okay. So it's running. That's okay. Okay. Someone had a little bit more And generally yeah Good good. So it's it's actually being used because it is an asset we have Yeah, and it's nice to know that it's being used good Principles, uh, sorry any other questions for our circumstances? Nope principles report. Um academic Yeah, so we'll start with the actual report and then It's pretty Seems like we've done a lot since we last met but I would also say on the flip side of that that, uh absenteeism has been a huge issue among the staff Probably the last two months really, uh, basically since we came back from St. Greg Because that's when COVID was here Some day don't know Absolutely, right. I was gonna say table knows well, uh So but we were able to make it work and that looked creative some days, but never Under staffed thankfully but very creative So we definitely were fortunate in that regards, but um, so a lot did go on I think probably that highlights my personal favorites, maybe was on Friday. We finally got kids from both campuses together for And they had a great time. May I just put into yeah, I watched I came I was part of it. I would encourage all of you To come see our school It was really that's what I kept thinking. It's just to see our school all in one place All the kids all the almost all the faculty It's very encouraging heartening things to see And I just if you can make time next year to see it, I'm gonna highly recommend it Absolutely, it was it was great to see to echo and it jump started some conversations about next year and um There is a group that's currently planning how to figure out how to do four or five six book club across both campuses together So the kids can pick and they started some of that work today both groups By looking at some of the golden globe Or excuse me golden dome on golden globe Wrong venue completely here Golden golden dome books for next year, which used to be the dcf books for those of you who Might be more familiar with that and they were watching book trailers and picking which ones they would like to be a part of So that was a huge Piece of what they've been doing the past couple of days and they were excited. I think about the prospects of doing it together. So That was exciting and then I do have to just say a huge shout out to heather hendershot who's been subbing the library It looks amazing and she has cleaned out from head to toe every single book in this library and put her hands on it and checked it in and Asked the kids what they want for books and has just been a fabulous Substitute she's also been a substitute of the pre-k. Yes, and the lauren spoke very highly of her. Yes. She's been a great addition And so possibly Mike, well, I don't want to spill any beans, but is there a chance that she would be here regularly? Uh, yeah, potentially. There's a couple of things right now. So we'll see I've just heard from Yeah, so thank you Yeah So there's that and then the last thing I can't believe I didn't add it, but it shows that it's just weeks away or a week and a half away Sixth grade graduation for rochester. I didn't put it in here. I'm sorry about that is Tuesday 14th at 5 30 out back And then Can you say I'll back Yeah, Tuesday the 14th at 5 30 and then is ever is it open to The general public or I mean, it's open to families and board. I'm not sure we've like advertised it because well, no Yeah, there's no limit. No limit this year. No limit. No grid. No All those crazy Right Amy. I kind of blocked that out So that's at 5 30 and then stock rich sixth grade graduation is at 6 30 15th So you're more than welcome To attend either or both And what is the last day of school? No 16th 17th is a teacher work day I mean, it's bring your child living What were the times on 14th and 15th 5 30 Yeah It's 5 30 for both It's 5 30 for both. Yes. Okay. I don't know. Yeah. I apologize. I don't have the big count Um, so that I feel like that was a big thing that I didn't include that I want to address now But then um unless you have questions about that piece then we can jump to that academic slide show so This is basically our star 360 data from the spring, but it kind of tracks it throughout the course of the whole school year just kind of a reminder of our three goals and indicators for our responsibility and so Now what you're going to see on these next couple of slides is um, we're going to start with literacy But it tracks from the fall all the way to the spring So the yellow is fall data Blue is winter and the spring is green and I just would say when we start to look at that Kind of grade by grade we see our sixth graders kind of right at the same point Um, what I would say as they were when they started the year or the percentage of them that are meeting expectations What I would say in that When you look at the individual breakdown their scale score growth individually, how much they grew over the course of the year While it doesn't look like that many more are meeting expectations They grew tremendously Right because the expectations grow right and they're still meeting or exceeding it in that way So that was great to see it Uh in previous years Kind of trying to refresh my memory a little bit. We tend to see this spring like drop off like they didn't make enough Uh, or they didn't grow enough. So it was great to see Especially with sixth graders because this sent me years a little close to senior items Uh, I won't quite call it that but pretty close. Um So it was great to see that they either made Our percentages maintained or increased slightly Um And the other big celebration is how much third grade like that percentage Uh of third graders that are meeting expectations now a jump tremendously from the later So it's always interesting and telling When kids make that turn when our curriculum kind of makes that turn to really push them to increase in scales um And one credit I really want to give is something we piloted in stock region where I start to use next year is A it's a self-assessment tool, but it's also a teacher driven tool that when you're planning your reading groups You take not only what you learned from the benchmark assessments But also from our universal screen start 360 the next year it'll be Track my progress and you take those focus skills like vocabulary Which is an area of weakness for a lot of our students And you learn and plan for specifically how to build it in not only to the reading group But we built it into the read aloud So when students are responding to reading they have very specific vocabulary words That they were asked what do you think this means what tool do that? And then they have a lot of their discussions around that That's just one example, but it was definitely a powerful one that showed a lot of growth for some students when we Utilize that and that it's a tool that kind of came out of our data training group and something that a teacher Created trying to figure out how to better use the data and plan I had for so now we'll work to Roll that out all together next year. It was pretty powerful So lots of celebrations there And then if this is a new slide that was added and it's a great one This is the number of students Who were scoring like a level one or well below expectations by grade level? And this is also a really great celebration You know if you look at their grade in the fall there are 10 students Who are well below and now there's six so that means four kids have made some serious gains What I'll also say about this group again Is while they may not they're well below expectations The tremendous there's large growth. It's not like we're just seeing one or two scale points Our scale score points. We're seeing hundreds of points of an increase for some of these kickoffs, which is great It means we're in the right direction so a lot of work to do but Well, that's one of our goals, right? Reduce this Yeah, even more population of a level one It looks like by that It is it's always see it that way you don't always kind of you're in the thick of it You don't always see it that way So it's good to remember. Yeah, that's a good slide and helps tell us during that's an important one because that's Part of our goals Also gets us trained to look for short is good Let's um Reading and we've only got to math it but reading really seems to excel this year progress by grade and And also by the reduction of the population of the level one students. What's How come how You think that's Made the difference. I I don't know how the other districts are doing but just talking about Rochester Stockbridge What what are the key ingredients they think made a difference this year? Um, I would say that Every single teacher is utilizing a full literacy block like we're not cutting corners We're not trying to find ways to make that 90 minutes shorter. We really know what we need to do Instructionally meaning Okay, I have a mini lesson and it's about 10 to 15 minutes Then while my students are working independently I'm meeting with these reading groups and I've taught that interactive read loud and kids are responding and So we've really bought into and are all using With great fidelity the structure of the reading That literacy block as a whole I'd say the next piece that we need to work on is symphonics and decoding And that's definitely um An area how you're going to get there. Is that is that a program or is that a just an emphasis? How do you? Uh a little bit of both It's the honest answer I think everybody gave the current program a shot with phonics and word study and it just isn't supporting What our students need it's not um You say current program do you make fault of something else? Right there phonics and word study component isn't Uh For some kids it works right but when you struggle struggle to be able to decode or break down a word Those strategies aren't consistent enough for kids who need that extra support. So do you uh a new Program that you are using or substituting uh for next year to help we have a couple in my we haven't quite finished yet It's coming. It's some folks are using some di strategies around decoding and on some are looking at foundations Hmm I was just that This is sort of what you'd expect Yeah, basically from Pontus three but three years ago, right it came a big push and when um Janie janey left the board To be doing direct instruction That was I sort of see that in that period in the six months when she was still on the board That was the beginning of the whole push Right and now we're three years on from that. This is just what you're hoping to see now We should yeah, hopefully continue to see the trajectory. Yeah, I think that's the big difference right math or just in year one Yeah, yeah, exactly. There's a learning year three. Yep. Yep, and uh great And another question this is just uh Definitions, but yeah one chart uses the word meeting Slash exceeding expectations and another graph says state benchmarks. So are they the same is our Expectations the same thing as state benchmarks are the two different things. I'm trying to interpret this and I So yeah, yeah, no, I think um, you know the the state benchmarks can Um When we were looking at proficiency, they are talking about it being exceed your Sorry, media exceeding expectations The the scale score as we talked about is sort of a consistent Measure that works from whenever kids start taking the assessment through whenever it's done And so they set those um those benchmarks depending on sort of when you've taken the assessment So if we had taken this assessment in april Rather than may that benchmark would be in a slightly different place But I would say right like in your interpretation, and they're generally the same thing um But they it just sort of indicates that we're talking about sort of a different way of measuring it in terms of hitting proficiency So they're roughly the same and now is expectations are benchmarked roughly 50 percent or better. Is that Or what is the yeah, we have set it at at 60 at 60. Yeah And that's a that's the difference between setting Generally a national benchmark versus a state benchmark State and regional is more Aligned with 60 and a national would be any closer to between 40 and 50 Our target is 60 here. Yeah. Yeah our target's higher on that. Yeah, because thank you And this is not the one that we're going to be measuring because it's you get the state Some of the summative that's going to come in We're going to see it in I think in august or something But these are indicators of how we're doing it seems to me that we're strong We're hopeful that it will continue if it's weaker. Maybe we can bounce but Yeah, is that how we interpret this? Yeah, I think though there's two sort of two caveats that one one on technical will be that Although we have planned to share the state summative spack results in august um, I will say that uh The state has made no guarantee that they all have the results ready by them I will also yeah, so I think we maybe looked at them a little bit early this past year. Maybe before they were fully released Um, so we will you know, we will try to follow guidance to figure out what it is But we are playing as a certain target in terms of no, we've not lost the second part of it Oh the I think that we we do choose these assessments because we hope they are predictive of performance on the state summative I think the biggest difference is the writing component And the writing component doesn't really exist in the star 360 or any of the Sort of the seasonal benchmarks that we use and it is a large component of the state summative and so I You know I think there are ways in which we can look at results and see some of the differences that might be attributed to writing um, and I think it's part of you know, uh, Lindy's report she was talking about sort of their goals around writing I don't remember was your in this report or in your principles report But just have been thinking about more focus on writing particularly in the upper elementary grades I've heard about that before too It's complicated Well, you've got to feel awesome good about these results. I do. There's some great celebrations um For the whole yeah, it's all happening here in these two buildings Thank you For yeah, so we'll go through scale score. Um, so we are Our scale score. We're a little bit below the state average um But we have grown fall to spring One point seven times the state expectation, which is huge Because to like I say like 1.0. So we're increasing at the right rate to close some gaps Which is good. You've got to keep your heads in the right direction um And again, some of their scale scores were higher than they've ever been um There are several students among both buildings Who for the first time are in their career were able to celebrate the fact that they had met or exceeded the standard So that was huge. I don't think they thought it was as big of a jesus we did But I think they're like, oh, it's not red And I'm like, right. That's a good thing um So it was very exciting to see especially we're seeing this huge turn that happens in fourth fifth and sixth grade Where some gaps are really closing, which is not Common, right? They say if you don't make it, you know, there's a lot of stats That are scary if you're not reading by the time you're in third grader So the fact that we're seeing fourth fifth and sixth graders closing gaps is Really a huge celebration. I didn't know how to articulate that without rambling My word So our fourth graders are right about on for exceeding um, the state benchmark in our scale scores and again a group that's really grown tremendously And that growth rate is just a huge celebration and our fifth graders I'm kind of just going through this but our fifth graders here A little bit of a dip But not anything abnormal. I would say they still are increasing And we're making progress There's one piece to fifth grade. Maybe that's worth noting is these these are the students that take the most assessments in the In the spring because of the state summative They take the math and the ELA just like their third and fourth and sixth grade colleagues, but they also take the science and I don't think we're seeing it as much here as perhaps in some Other places, but I I will say that we saw some excessive fatigue In just the amount we were asking kids to continually show us what they know in a particular way It's great when they do it out in story walks also Right, uh, because that you know, they can see how they get energy from that I don't know if they get as much energy when they're showing their learning in this way And so I think fifth grade in particular is just it's worth noting how much It's just it's an additional full assessment that they're taking that no one else has taken Six state tests I heard from a couple parents who said their kids Don't like taking tests And I mean that's that's part of this too is that you know, there is You know this exists that some people don't learn don't process Don't you know, it's just not their thing right That's You know that may and of course, but that's the that's the standard. That's what everybody's got to do Right, absolutely. And it's it's not the same, but I will use an analogy like we use tests a lot of other places in life Right, like you have to take a test to get your permit and you have to take a test I'm not saying it's not right. I'm saying how are we creative? You know, can we get some of these results without yeah, I mean, I think that's why number number three falls in on our su road map Is this idea that by 2025 all students in the final grade Will complete a self-selected capstone. I really want that to be like Aligned to our curriculum And that students can talk about what proficiency is their meeting And that's a real showcase of learning right like a celebration of learning where we're inviting community in and students can You know when we think about one of the reasons why smart of balance is a writing assessment essentially, right? It's such a critical skill right to be able to articulate one's thoughts of writing is really an important lifelong skill And so I think that when we think about the capstone projects students having the ability to Both orally in writing writing be able to demonstrate What they learn through a passion project something that they're passionate about I do think that that helps complete our comprehensive assessment system right like we got state standardized tests We got a local authentic assessment that's tied to our curriculum And we have these benchmark assessments. So it gives us a well-rounded picture not just One one area essentially the senior project. Yeah The idea would be that we'd have senior projects at the end of every Gray level per building right so here in stock where to be sixth grade But part of that's like How do you build those skills up throughout the elementary career so that you're ready to demonstrate that in that type of authentic way? And so, you know, we've given ourselves some lead time to make certain that we are building that And it'll get better as we go But the idea is that all schools will launch and for instance like bringing it up to them at the end of fifth grade Well, I but it's like Doing many passion projects in third grade right to get comfortable like a natural speaking Yeah, and then that you'd like those kindergartners that was an example like some skills right there that You would start to lead up to getting to a place where I think especially when could some people have anxieties talking and speaking and presenting in front of people to be able to Do it but with something that you're passionate about And I don't mean this as a you know a damning of testing at all I hear you know, my son happened my son happens to love taking tests. That's just something I love. Okay Yeah, and and there you go. It's just he just finds it an interesting challenge And then I heard from this other parent about how their son Smart boy active boy all this kind of thing He struggles with it and I just I want you know as much as we love these numbers And we spend a lot of time on them I just I just hope that people are being creative You know, I think people are I think it's just one way We present but it's an important way too, right? Like and what I was trying to say is testing is a life skill So we have to be able to support kids around that as well and figure out one of the strategies that work for them To it's not just about content, but it is about I'm not a great test But it's about teaching some strategies around that as well I was glad to hear the star 360. Um, you could do a you could go back and do a follow-up He didn't finish well, they didn't finish you mean s back s back. Okay. Yes. He went he got a chance to go back and he do Which I thought was a really good thing Yeah good Sorry Yeah, you're good. Um, so again, we're seeing our reading In great. So six graders made some gains probably not quite as much as the other groups, but all things considered again in the right direction So then we'll go to math So as you can see these are the percentage of students that are meaning for exceeding expectations Um in math again, it works this way from fall to winter to spring. Um, so we're seeing some places of We're increasing and showing some set steady growth. I also This will be a focal point in our professional development this summer. We already have two deeds lined up Um, so in addition to this assessment teachers are completing currently something called the common growth assessment Uh with students in mathematics and that's kindergarten actually all the way through fifth grade and They're taking they will bring that data to our professional development on June 22nd with Bonnie and we will Bonnie born and we'll be working ourselves Rochester and Stockbridge as well as Newton school, which is great so we're gonna have some more Teacher collaboration to work with where we're really going to dive in not only to that data But now we've had a year with all these brand new materials and these It's brand new program to really talk about there's some implementation and data collection points that we're going to be doing with fidelity And that's that expectation And how do you implement something like number corner with fidelity? It's not just calendar. It's a little bit more than calendar No, the program is called bridges bridges. Yes, that's sorry implementing with fidelity We're going to use all the aspects the way they're supposed to be used this year. We definitely Implemented it more than others and it was a learning year and figuring out how to do this multi-age Because he's program this program is single or so that'll be a focal point around some investigations which that's a part of bridges where it's like, um We probably all did like the word problems are going to show all your steps That's the best comparison and that's also a good Comparison to the smarter balance assessment because there's a piece that's called a performance desk That gets have to do with math. So it's a great opportunity for them to show what they know and why they're thinking what they know So we're going to dive into that You know, again, we saw Some good growth but not where we want to be by any means, but progress prepared Two years ago I'm going up. I'm going up. Yep. I'll also just jump in. I I don't I saw I wasn't in these reports Let me had a teacher from two others or I think two other schools come visit her campuses To see implementation of bridges math And see how it's able to be conducted in a multi-age classroom Which I think is a real celebration to our teachers one that they took the rest right to open their doors and allow Guest teachers from other districts to come and observe outside of the su And I think it you know, it speaks to bodies working with these schools as well That body felt like that there were some really great things happening in those classrooms to invite those teachers in so I just share that as like a kudos to those teachers because you know, I think When we start to be schools that other schools want to come see That's when I I think that's a really good qualitative measure. Are we doing good work? What's the explanation of the different results overall with math and reading? Say that explanation Reading was um, you look at growth Every grade was over one Some more than that State expectations math are really really struggling and we're not seeing that percentage growth Um and percentage growth I like that that chart because even if you start low And you're not at the state expectation, but you started low if it shows that you could accelerate more You're gaining more than the number one, which is Going to the next grade. So What's happening here? Um is math just Not just both more difficult is it is is the bridges program Hard to understand but once we understand it, it's going to We're going to right zoom is it that bridges you have some questions and whether or not we should Um, it sounds like the teachers it with it. It sounds like the administration is with it It sounds like the effort is there. So I'm trying to get a sense. I'm not expecting math to equal on the Where where reading is but I'm looking at growth And it's there's I don't think there's a grade hardly that the growth reached one, which means we're falling So I yeah, so the honest answer is that's how far behind we were to start Like that's where we were prior to implement prior to this year We did not have consistent programming structure of the math block We weren't investing enough time in mathematics Now we're at 75 minutes of math class There's more structure around our instruction in general. I mean teachers We're just pulling like it just was not what we had invested in literacy. We haven't even scraped the surface of And so that's how we're starting to make that switch. So then when you jump into a new program and kids are Already behind the surface Trying to close a lot of gaps in a lot of different ways quickly So we're seeing great Individual progress, but we're just still playing judgment. So one of the conversations that's going to happen on the 22nd is that We're not backing up And what I mean by that is third grade is not going to start their content with the middle of Like the middle of the year second grade we're going to start with third grade content and then we're going to Build some extra times in for more to build up those other skills that they may not have gotten in second grade So I hear you say We're in a hole It just takes extra effort to get out of the hole just to get on the surface and then you've got to take off it's a big um Mindset switch for teachers to understand that you like don't back all the way up And that's kind of not kind of that's a practice that's been happening for a while It's like oh, we didn't get through all the material and math We got it because it's how we all learned math like you have to learn this next step to be able to go on to step b and so they so It's this big mindset that shift and focus that we have to really hone in on and build Yeah, and just to add to that I think one of the things that is Adjustment for a lot of educators is the idea that Not every topic that is introduced needs to be You don't need to become proficient on it the first time you hit it right So teachers can something right like that's the way the bridges curriculum and others But the bridges in particular is structured as a spiral right? So you hit you hit a topic and then you come back to it And for some that that is hard like I want to get all my kids just doing this rather than if you had And especially because the first year you actually don't see that spiral you haven't experienced it yet So you can have it can spiral with any year, but also spirals over Over a year. So what like what what Lindy's saying they need to do is exactly what they need to do So that they're not right. We're not we're not sitting in this small spiral Like you've got it. You've got to get through it and come back to it. Um, and so I think it's just they're We're gonna see a lot of Of teachers realize like oh, right like they have another shot at this They actually have two or three more shots at it gets deeper each time So it's also not it's not redundant for kids who did get it, but it does come back to it So I think that's one piece the other piece and I won't like we won't emphasize It's too much is if you can picture maybe you're like what you know about sort of your own experience is like I don't think that math Happens in in our homes as much as literacy does So if you think of sort of all the disruptions that we've had just on an individual kid level If they're heading home and quarantining for a week like they may like stay up on the reading as much It's just the math like I think when the more you like I think the more that we missed school Whether that was individuals or a teacher reading out like you just you're not going to make as much progress as sort of Right as some of the reading things and because reading has been more in place You know here solidly for a couple years It just can move more and whereas everything was new this year And we had a really disrupted year like there's just a lot of pieces that That's it. So I mean, I just I love the way that was captured last question. I'm sorry to dominate, but this This is what we're all about Looking forward to the next first school year Your teacher team is aboard on bridges and believes in it and learning it and are still Seeing this as a viable strategy to get their students where they need to move forward and secondly is Has there been a lot of is there do we have this Pretty much the same teacher team for next year or is it a big turnover that's going to affect this? There's no turnover. No turnover Wow, so that's that puts us in a Yeah, it puts us at a time and it's like trusting They like like on the set it spirals and it builds on it each other and it's um Try to remember when I was a teacher to trust the pacing of a curriculum guide is a very hard trust It's like oh, but I don't feel like my kids are ready for this and the bridge is pacing For good reason and so that's the piece that we'd really have to Do you think by continuing on rather than like oh, we gotta stop we gotta go backwards That if with them increasing their level of learning moving forward that it may actually make it easier Yes, right like they're gonna come when work. So yeah one point of like pride is the age groups that have followed the curriculum A little closer to the pacing and made it through the most are our youngest primary grades So they're building a foundational level that some of our other kids did not get Prior to so it should be your right path. It should be each year is a little bit Kiddos are coming to the table remembering Yeah And our pre kindergarten teachers our preschool teachers are also using bridges So we you know that you know, we've got some incoming kindergarteners for this will not be all brand new to them Yeah We're playing the long game here To get a good staff get a good program to trust you We're doing the work We're doing it forward. I do think we need to wrap this up. Yeah, sorry. I know this. No, it's not you're it's been a lot of questions But I just want to keep us Sums up all the growth rates In your question Thank you Good. Thank you very much Eight three business manager Good evening Tara Good evening everyone you have my report which outlines the due dates the month of june for the business office. Jamie did touch on S 100 we're still waiting for some guidance from the child nutrition program On exactly what our process needs to be for that We are still going to collect free and reduced applications for the next school year And the agency of education and child nutrition team are working on a different type of income verification form for in the future But right now our guidance is we need to complete our applications as we always have and that The funding mechanisms will be similar to what we've done currently Which is we're still submitting our claims on a monthly basis to get reimbursed So that's what I know at this point and we continue to get updates weekly on wednesdays When the child nutrition team does their weekly calls with business managers and school food authorities school food authorities And then the rest of my report is later on in your agenda, which is your fiscal year 23 tax anticipation note So if there's any questions Questions for a business manager I had a comment Now there's a great editorial at the Carol Last week I was wondering whether Jamie wrote it or something, but it was phenomenal Kudos to you and to your boss Our school superintendent and how you turned around our financial system In the schools and what struck me was When people didn't believe our numbers It's awfully hard to communicate What we're doing I can understand here's the numbers. No, I'm they're too low. They're too high, but to not trust the data Just leads the enormous voids and and disruption and An anger and it seems to me that you have and you can you said it more times than And every time it's worth it is that you've turned those things around with your team Jamie credit to you And that's just fantastic. That's a building block that has so many benefits For everybody in the organization That I think it was well written and I just wanted to commend you for the board for for your work. Thank you very much Thank you Other questions for a business manager I've been again. Thank you very much Tara WRBSU policy committee updates Oh, Patrick's on that So we're working on two policies one is a residency verification for twishing paying students That will be the full board We'll get to weigh in on that this month I think we're going to probably get it adopted. Hopefully in august at the full board level and then local boards in September The Whatever what it results in is the same residency annual residency verification But it really spells out in policy what we do if there's a residency within question And it gives us a corresponding affidavit that we can request that a family fill out It gives us a lot of detailed information that we can use to verify residency Um as I was working with grandville and handcocked her and I on this policy It it quickly became clear to me like we have example like Rochester, right? Was not a choice district in the past In chelsea was not a choice district like just to tighten up some things around policy around So i'm excited about that policy. It's been vetted by our attorney. Him was adopted by grandville handcock already Which is not usually how we do policy, of course it typically comes out of the su but Um It was a policy that I felt like we really needed to get on the books there quickly because they were they are completely tuition school choice town right and we had some Concerns that we wanted to address via policy The other one's a social media policy specifically for school personnel to give some guidance around the use of social media both professionally And as a private citizen Mostly the private citizen part is just reminding folks of things around what proper etiquette would be it's a policy that Is certainly going to be useful in regards to just supporting our employees via a staff handbook Around you know just proper etiquette of the use of social media that's been lacking that I wish we've had It was a policy that had been drafted and then covid hit And we it kind of got put by the wayside, but we pulled it back out a couple months ago And I feel like we have a really solid draft that's been vetted by legal as well And finally the third policy that the su policy committee plans to take up is I had a student group at the way River Valley Middle School Actually get granted board permission to fly the pride fight during June That we decided that we were not going to do because we didn't have a fly policy in place And if you had fall if you fall have followed our neighbor Supervisory you did in the Herald you'll see that that has played out not in a positive way in that in particular district and So we've taken a flag policy from harwood and done some revisions from around that and had an attorney In dina's firm actually worked with me on that. I feel like it's a really solid draft And so that policy is going to be reviewed by the Policy committee for the first reading in june with the hopes of possibly looking for adoption in the fall And what I like about is it really talks about the idea of school affiliated groups making proposals that align to the school's values In mission and vision and then that would come in from the school board as a recommendation from administration for consideration and would protect us in regards to Freedom of speech and making certain that folks kind of reflect the flying of flags that might not align To our mission and vision as a school district. So that policy is In draft form as well, so that's what the group's been working on Patrick it's the it's the it's I'll make certain that you're getting those reminders I have a feeling that christy might be still sending them to ethan. No, he You know, he was He told me he could make it It's a long term commitment Very good, uh, wrbsu full board updates That I asked for this to be there and now I can't actually this is the problem with my brain Is it doesn't if you remind me of something and I'll be able to talk about we've been doing some trainings Yes, and we got reorg this coming month That's right. Yeah in june One of the things we're going to talk about in june as well is that board retreat to do some goal setting mission and visioning work for board procedures and protocols at the full board level Hopefully this summer and then the other thing that's Still out there is we got to solidify The alternative board calendar And so I want to talk about that in june again at the full board and then look to put it in front of a local district board's Wagon wheel early in august to amend our meeting dates and times, but we're going to really Figure out. What does that look like? The biggest conflict actually was us our son and grandchild And it might mean moving it from the first week to a second week Yeah, and possibly on monday or a wednesday Those are open. So I think we're just going to figure that out Okay Good, I may I say the other part of it has been With the committee Looking over a Computation and employment package for our superintendent And that we've had some good discussions with jamie and around about about that and we're About to Present him with a significant increase as we negotiated And I think we feel very good about it. I feel very good about it For the work we're doing and the things we're talking about in the su office. We're talking about This is this is uh money spent that said there was some concern and I'll I'll say this openly About the percentage with Teachers, you know increases and superintendent that we keep that in mind How things are going up proportionately? And so just that that's that's out there, but we should see that at the su level I believe we're bringing it to the next full board meeting I think you can't be doing the special tomorrow. That's right. That's right. It's tomorrow night. That's right. If you want to be there, sorry The meetings don't stay on my heads very well um, so we will be We'll be discussing that or voting on that tomorrow good, uh, moving on Discussions items e. I update from rochester stock bridge Elementary meeting each fact, etc. possible action Eric. Hello. Hi everyone. Eric left yet with energy efficient investments Happy to have you guys back Meeting with you guys again today. I know I just met with you at least with the rochester board recently so Go to the next slide So I I know I talked about this last week, but I just or last month But I just wanted to touch base on it again So about us we're similar to general contractors But we really focus on energy and operational savings And then we assist school boards school districts supervisory unions And financing options finding grant and rebates available And helping with the bonding if that's ultimately the way that the the board chooses to go We self perform a lot of engineering work So we have in-house mechanical engineers and electrical engineers And then ultimately we come with come up with energy saving measures with guaranteed savings And then we use a measurement and verification program to ensure those savings over a period of time So at this point we've gone through we've gone through stock bridge in rochester There was a focus, you know in the last month to really look at the HVAC Specifically at rochester their heating system in a boiler. I think last time that we met Rochester decided to move forward with the repair of their existing boiler I passed that information along to your guys facilities Director consult it. I don't know where it's gone since then, but I did Get them in contact with a couple mechanical contractors that can perform that work Um, so at this point what I wanted to review with you guys today is some of preliminary numbers And these are really magnitude of cost before we go into them too much. So what we like to do is um I want to present some numbers to you guys that incorporates items that are capital improvements outside of just energy saving measures and These numbers like I said, they're a magnitude of cost. So when you guys see like a flooring replacement It might be a round number say a hundred thousand dollars and it it's not going to have any real detail to it what that is saying is that Does rochester stock bridge want to move forward with investigating more flooring under this Performance contract or is that something that they feel? It's not necessary at this time or they can take on their home So I want to kind of just present some of these real magnitude of costs And then what ends up happening is say if you guys do select flooring as something that you guys do want to move forward would say You know stock bridge has some nine by nine floor tile red floor tile in its classroom That I would suspect is probably positive for asbestos So I do have a price in there to replace all that floor tile with new vct tile That being said, um vct is kind of your cheapest option for the initial install You can also look at doing mct, which doesn't have you know the waxing requirements That vct does You could also look at doing carpet tile or flow tech. So there's other flooring options. Each one has a different price point But really at this point, um, it's not about details. It's not about Getting into square foot costs and really dialing in on it. It's more of here's kind of the magnitude of cost Is this something? That you guys want us to move forward with the numbers might you know go up 15% they might go down 15% once we Further investigate it more, but these are kind of real round budget numbers that we utilize a lot At school districts throughout vermont and new Hampshire Next slide So as I mentioned, um, we are we are finishing up the energy audit stage So we've had engineers go through architects vendors Um, and then at this point we've broken down some performance saving measures Including boilers controls insulation lights And then capital improvements flooring ceiling tiles painting Roofing system security systems of fire alarm. We do have a lot of experience working with all of these these different systems I would say generally speaking we focus on, you know, lighting systems boiler upgrades control systems But a lot of a lot of times when we're getting into those You know, it makes a lot of sense to do the ceiling tiles the floors and the painting other capital improvements that can be done at the same time While we're already in the school. We have presence on sites Oversight, it's a good time to get some of those other capital improvements done at the same time So those are kind of some of this Those are kind of some of the steps I kind of wanted to I want to review some of these initial magnitude of cost I'm not looking for any Decisions from you guys today, but I'm really it's going to be a lot. It's going to be a lot of money to absorb what I'm really looking for is for you guys to Think about it And then give us a direction in the next month or two of where do you guys really want us to explore? What do you guys want us to dig into? Provide more options on and then we take it to the next level with the next steps Which is that's where we really start quantifying What flooring? Specifically is getting replaced how much square footage? What's the difference in cost between mct vct carpet? What's your life expectancy on those? So we do the life expectancy cost analysis for different capital improvements Um, and then really at that point, um, we get harder numbers So we get firmer numbers as the scope and the project develops Like I said at this point, this is the real early stages, which is the magnitude of cost Um next slide I want to jump right into it. Um, I would provide a lot of a lot of pictures for you guys. I do have a lot of pictures I'm hoping that you guys are pretty familiar with your guys existing buildings Um, so starting at Rochester elementary school one thing that we've been discussing a lot is your guys steam heating system So the first item remove the existing underground fuel oil takes So that's just something you guys have 20 plus year old oil tank over there Typically, we are not going back. Well now we are we never really go back with oil fired boilers for a lot of different reasons Um, we either go with usually an LP condensing boiler or a wood chip boiler, which you see on ecm measures four and five Um And the reason why we do that is just because they're more efficient and there's less greenhouse gas emissions from both of those So um, and then especially with the wood chip, um, there's good savings with those as well um So the first items that you see through there really based on your guys steam heating system Um ecm measures one through seven um At the same time you'll see in there. There's a redate which is aligned with ecm number four Which was installing a new wood chip boiler. That's something that lilesmith myself and jamie Has worked on with the state of vermont. There's a grant program that's doing that's um Being put on through the agency of education for heating system updates We filled out initial grant applications for rochester as well as bethle south royalton And I think maybe one other school than in the white river valley supervisory union um, rochester was selected as A school that would qualify for the maximum two hundred and fifty thousand dollar grant That grant does require a ten percent Contribution with the rochester elementary school So that's a redate that we are currently working on or it's a grant We I throw it in there as a rebate Because that's a direct cost reduction that would go against one of these projects if you guys decided to move forward Jamie and lile and I will be finishing up that grant application here in the next week It is a little bit more cumbersome than I'd originally expected But we are we are working through it and I do expect based on discussions with um christopher heiney who's running the program on the aoe That this this money is going to be real And it's something that you know should be in your guys school district this year and ready for implementation spring summer of 2023 Um Moving down the list um some other items that we talked about you guys have some classroom ventilation units on the roof Which currently do provide a lot of good ventilation to your rooms. They are 20 plus years old They're at the end of their useful life So that's something that certainly can be looked at being replaced and updated at um upgraded at the same time You know if you look at doing ecm measures one through nine At that point actually one through nine combined with um ecm number 12 You guys would be in a really good spot from an hvac ventilation Standpoint where really you guys would have a good system and shouldn't need really any updates for the next 20 plus years Um, that's what the goals would be when you when we would do the hvac update Um, there's an led lighting upgrade I wish the payback was a little bit better on that Unfortunately the smaller schools just with the magnitude of cost Of mobilization on site typically don't have this good payback But led lighting is certainly something that the school is um ready for it does have older fixtures And I think would be a big benefit to the school district Um asbestos abatement. So that's something that certainly does need to be investigated a little bit more This does not remove all the asbestos in the school. This is really focused on the pipe insulation that's specific to the steam conversion so in a lot of the insulation on the old steam system the joints, which is your elbows Have has a muddy compound, which I would be Very surprised if it's not asbestos. I have not had it tested One thing that would happen is if you guys decided to move forward with this work And you guys do want to you know have e i explore some more of these measures Um, we would have a third party come in and do an asbestos test or I'd work with a tc or your guys Um abatement contractor who's done your plans in the past and we fully developed that to to understand where all the asbestos is And what it would take to abate it Um install the ddc control system This is something that I think is really important for your guys school district both at rochester and that stock bridge This would provide web-based controls and allow Somebody like a lyle or some maintenance or district-wide facilities director To go in on a laptop and really zero in on what exactly is happening in each one of your classrooms So this would provide individual control heating control to each one of your classrooms each one of the radiators in there would have A thermostat associated with it We would add what's called demand control ventilation to your guys thermostat So you guys would actually be monitoring the co2 in the space We'd make modifications to the air inside of the space based on co2 So at this point you're really dialing in the controls and you're really only providing ventilation to spaces when it's needed and then Another nice aspect of it is you guys could do night setbacks Right now you guys you guys utilize what's called a pneumatic control system Which it has an air compressor in your boiler room and then It goes and feeds a bunch of standalone thermostats are on the walls It's you guys do have quite a few zones. It seems like each room does have its own Control of the heat the problem is is that they're all you know, just a real basic dial thermostat Which doesn't allow for any night setbacks um, which actually typically does I think I've under Usually on my savings over here. They tend to be undervalued Um, especially at this stage of it as we dial it more in the engineering Um, I can get the savings fine tune them a little bit more But I do expect those savings to increase I kind of start low With expectations and then I hope to over deliver on our next meeting once we have more information Roof replacement Same thing you guys have a roof that um is you know at the end of its useful life. It does need replacement um, a lot of times what we do is you know, when we look at doing roof replacements Um, you know, it makes a lot of sense to replace those classroom ventilation units At the same time and then really at that point your roof is you get new equipment on the roof your penetrations are complete Um, you know, when we look at doing roof replacements, it's a great time to add solar onto your roof I know you guys are kind of already locked into a I believe you guys are I already be part of a solar agreement That being said, uh, if we do replace the roof It's a good opportunity to do a structural analysis and add some solar panels to help offset your your specific electric bills at rochester Um, junei juneisium windows. Um, these are windows that are up above on the windows for the most part They've been boarded up painted on So this would allow some natural sunlight back into the into the gym I'm just throwing these out there. It doesn't mean we have to move forward There's other options if you guys do move forward with a roof We could look at doing either solar tubes to allow natural light through solar tube lights Or like we said, we could replace these windows. Um, they are bad. They definitely need painting. They're boarded up. So Um, classroom windows. So these are the classrooms in the original 1970s 1970s building. Um So this is a these are really just based on a square foot window to go with a nice aluminum clad double pain high efficient window ceiling tile replacement same thing older ceiling tiles. It's a good opportunity to replace ceilings Because you guys already have an existing ventilation system that meets code There's really not a 100 requirement to do ceiling tiles A lot of times we do more ceiling tiles when we get into updating ductwork when we have to tear down ceilings to get into it Um exterior door replacement same thing the 70s edition has you know, the doors that are doors that you can see daylight through Um at the end of their life and then the interior door replacement as well Um mainly focused on the 1970s edition Um is where you see the most need the 1990s actually seems to be in great shape Um bathroom renovations to the both the boys and girls bathroom. Um should have provided a picture of this, but um You guys do have two main bathrooms that are just off from the principal's office in the main corridor Um, they are old. They look like they're pretty original. So there's good opportunity to Um, they they shouldn't or they need replacement Um, and then just in general paving the bus drop-off and turnaround Um, you know, these might be wish list items I just something that I noticed when I picked it up it creates a lot of dirt. Um, it gets tracked in through the building So looking at doing a bus drop-off and turnaround paving that and cleaning that up Flooring upgrade same thing older flooring and then um interior painting just disperse it up So what this kind of gives you is a full This would be a full update to the building and really, you know, touch all the finishes Um, you guys have pretty good electrical entrance and electrical service coming into the building Which is why that wasn't included the fire alarms in good shape Which that which is why that wasn't included Um, some additional things that we could look at as a security system. It wasn't specifically brought up Um, but that's something that is something that we have a lot of experience with and we do those in a lot of schools So at a rough magnitude of cost on this project, you're looking about just shy of 3.8 million dollars Um, which we feel at that point would give you guys a great hvac system Something you don't have to worry about for 20 years and then really upgrade the interior of the building To meet current code That includes creating fire smoke barriers through the corridors for egress Upgrading all the the painting and just sprucing up the building and providing a An uplift through the whole building Um, down below the total cost amount You'll see a 15 year lease option Which is based at a four and a half percent interest rate, which would be A lease payment of 353,000 a year If you reduced your energy savings from that it'd be a total impact to the district of 328,500 per year And these are just round numbers that I want to show you so you guys can get a feel for You know what the district has an appetite for trying to bite off in the investment in their schools And um, you know where this is leading So this is rob fester elementary school if we could scoot over to Next slide, which is stock bridge unless I want unless people want to take questions now or Keep going All right, so let me let me jump in the stock bridge another You know small school in the terms of you know just in comparison to what we see around the state This is certainly one of the smaller one wood frame construction So one of the you guys have two Main ventilation units that are both up above your your kitchen area One of them is an air handling unit that goes Duckwork kind of serpentines through the the the gym and actually picks up all the classrooms Up above the ceiling. So this is a unit 30 plus years old at least Definitely passed its useful life Works off the time clock Didn't seem to be running when I was there while school was in session This is certainly something that's added past its useful life. And you know because it is your Pretty much your dedicated ventilation unit to all of your classrooms. This is something that should be replaced sooner rather than later um Jim air handling units last makeup air unit. This is a unit that um, I have to do a little bit more investigating on It's a resner unit that sits right next to the air handling unit. This is a hundred percent outside air um, it is Should be interlocked with the kitchen hood So that when the kitchen hood comes on this thing makes up the the air difference of what's being sucked out of the kitchen It does not seem to be operating that way It seems to be providing heat to the gym, which is certainly not what you're supposed to be doing with the makeup air unit Um, so that's something that we want to look at. How do we separate the gym unit create a dedicated unit for them? um For the kitchen and really separate those systems so they operate per code Same thing led lighting upgrade Smaller school so it doesn't have as great of a payback That being said the new led lighting that we installed today is you know, significantly better than the lights that you guys are utilizing They all come with auto dimming. So when and sensors motion sensors So when classroom when sun comes through the classroom windows, these lights will auto dim to maintain a foot candle at the actual desk um, they also come with um Dimming capabilities so a lot of times when we set these Lights they're only running at about 45 capacity to meet the foot candle requirements through the state of vermont um agency of education So there's an option, you know, there's a light switch that will be near the wall That if you press up it will light that room up like a science lab So if you guys have something going on where you really need that extra light um For kids to be focusing on small objects where they might be doing stuff with that extra light is component these lights really do give that ability to Get a lot of light and at the same time if you know, if a teacher is doing a presentation They want just a little light. Um, you know, there's that dimming capability to just have it just barely lit And then the nice things on it is has motion sensors and grouping options So that when somebody walks into the room, you know, the the lights light up to an area that's expected But when people leave after five minutes the lights turn off or they dim to say 10 and when people come back in they turn back on Um, so it's a really nice cost saving measures same thing. Um, I think this The the rebates on these I have not Built into the cost yet and I think we're going to see a lot better efficiency from rebates So I expect to see these payback periods on the lighting to come down significantly Ddc control system a lot of what I just said at Rochester. Um, so adding controls to your guys too new Your two air handling units and then your main boiler system. You guys have, you know, a nice new Who dares boiler down there each zone has its own pump. Um, really no need to replace that You know, I guess my only thought would be is that updating it from oil to LP might be nice But certainly not necessary being that the school just made a large investment in that boiler system Um, but this ddc control system would provide controls to those boilers So each one of the classrooms would have its own system similar to to Rochester with demand control ventilation modulating the airflow inside of the space and then You know having a thermostat with individual controls and nice setbacks for the classrooms Getting into more capital projects at Stockbridge Existing wood facade that's around the gymnasium. It seems to be in rough shape So this is a budget number to replace that wood facade with a different material I think, you know, this original budget is a little bit high But once again, it all depends on what what material you guys ultimately do it with Um, you know, just a couple of options down. I have the paint wood siding So, you know, at a minimum the wood seems to be it's a stained wood. It does need to get restained It's it's grain. It's fading. It needs to be updated before it damages the wood more than it already has A bit asbestos floor tile with new vct flooring So those that's that nine by nine classroom red floor tile that I was talking about which seems to be in most of the classrooms Um, bathroom renovations same thing older bathrooms have opportunity to renovate Um, repave parking lots and turnarounds Um fire alarm upgrade bringing the fire alarm up to current code Classroom window replacement same thing updating the windows ceiling upgrades So when we go through and do the ventilation and we go and replace those units and add coils to the Individual heating to each one of those classrooms. It's a good opportunity to upgrade the ceiling tiles Which seem to be probably original to the building Roofing replacement same thing you guys have a flat rubber black roof on the main portion of your guys building And then there's the pitched roof within the gym, which are Which I haven't done a full analysis on those yet But they seem to have somewhere in that probably two to five year life expectancy left in them Um, and then the last one just being interior painting of classrooms and just doing a general Fix up of the space And then the same thing the interior painting would address egress smoke walls fire barriers in between the corridors in the classrooms Um, total budget at stock bridge. We're looking at you know, just shy of 1.9 million And same thing with a 15 year lease based on a four and a half percent interest rate And with the built-in energy savings you'd be looking at, you know yearly payments for around 171,000 year Like I said, these are these are magnitude of costs And then what I would be looking for is, you know, the next opportunity For me to get in front of you to sit down really understand, you know, once you guys dive into these things What you want us to explore more and then what we do with those With the ECM measures that you guys ultimately select and want to move forward with We'll take those we'll provide, you know, engineer drawings architectural drawings We create what's called a preliminary investment grade audit. So it creates a report each school might be 20 to 25 pages includes lots of pictures Lots of floor plans lots of square footage and then we really dial into each one of these Capital improvements and energy saving measures We start getting specific into products We start talking more about, you know, timelines and in lead times on different equipment So that that would be the next stage of the process I think both of these schools Have they do need some love, you know, for the most part they I know there's A lot of support in the community for them And they provide a great function for the people around them And I think that it's a good opportunity to put investments into these schools to make sure that they're here for the next 15 to 20 years I'm happy to take any questions Yeah, absolutely. I've already shared it with Jamie so I can provide it to everyone as well Yeah, we need to take a look at this Do I mean, I feel like I want to study this and this is Yeah, I agree. I just have one question And it just relates to the I like the idea, but what was the reason for the change in the boiler from LP was what last time we had talked about was kind of the direction You were really looking at going and now you've changed over to the wood chips And I just I'm encouraged by it and I love that you've looked into it. I'm just kind of wondering what What the changes what what the benefit is? Yeah, no, I think I showed both of them on that last rock Rochester project. So if you go back Um to that other one One right below wood chip is the LP gas backup. So ultimately What typically ends up happening is even when you install wood chip boilers Like at Sharon elementary school, you still have a backup LP boiler So I'm going to give you guys a couple different options The payback on the wood chip boiler is typically the best Something that I was talking about Lyle with the wood chip is it just does It does have a little bit more maintenance required to it But it does sound like as a district you guys are probably going to have The personnel on site to be able to address this in the future Um So I I probably will explore both options But ultimately it's going to come up to do you guys want one wood chip most likely a pellet boiler along with a single LP backup Or if we go just LP usually what we do is we do two boilers That are both around 80 of total capacity So that if you guys ever have an issue with one of the boilers that other boiler can maintain temperature in that space over that period of time So that's just called like a lead lag redundancy on the boiler systems And the reason why you don't size it for 100 percent is you know because boiler capacities are sized for that You know worst day of the year You know that 99 year Occurrence where you have multiple days of negative 30 degree weather So it's just over designed typically when you do redundant 100 capacity boilers Well, we have to So I Oh, we do have to remember this as an emergency site to in terms of heating and backup Just working deep in mind. Good any other questions? Did that answer your question? It does and I definitely want to take this and ingest it And then maybe meet again to talk about it again Is there and I I'm open to all suggestions, you know, what I did is I met with I used black rivers Report that they did on Rochester. I met with the principal. I met with lile. I met with jamie I tried to get A feeling for what the the the schools had an appetite for who I didn't meet with was obviously the school board Specifically, so if there's stuff that you guys want to see added to this Um and explored more. I'm more than happy to add additional items to this list and have it be part of our preliminary investment grade audit Um, so if anybody wants to follow up in the next week with additional items that you'd like to see added with prices And more information we can certainly do so Yeah, because I feel like I mean this is you know, we're already at eight 10 past eight I don't think this is the time for a lengthy discussion about this But I think we need to find and maybe it's even a special meeting To to look over these priorities and really do some brainstorming of what our priorities are for both buildings I agree. I think the special meeting was quite good last time. We could just focus on that in an hour or not And No, I I do agree the special meetings are usually great and I don't know I know you guys are a smaller school board. Some school boards have, you know, specific facility task force Committees that really kind of tackle this. Um, you know, if that's something that typically works I would throw if I may I would throw one at you right now I would like to see what solar would add to both campuses Yeah, absolutely. I what's the appropriate sizing and what would be the appropriate? Mason way's been after us for years to be doing this and if we're talking about a new roof it is the time to Put something like that on So, uh, just get those numbers so that we could look at that Would you just curious? Um, I know stock bridge has a nice pitched roof on the Gym, would you guys be Is it mainly, um, building mounted arrays that you'd be more interested with or do you think a ground? I don't know. How many do you have at rochester? I will I will add that to both of them. I'll I'll provide some more detail We're actually just starting a solar array At hannahford career center in middlebury, vermont So one of the big things that you know are involved in that is doing a structural analysis on the building and just making sure that That there's a pound per square foot that the building can Maintain for a solar panel and then we have to make an adjustment to the layout solar panel adjustment Based on what the the capacity of the roofing And that and that those would be kind of the next steps Anyway, we'll talk about that another time very good, eric. I think we're done for tonight Great. Thank you so much. Yeah, please if we can get this and well, uh, we will schedule that meeting And great. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you Excellent high school update including high school environmental assessment possible I appreciate it Okay, we have a very good meeting With sarah Remember our last name? No Reveille Right She was really good, uh, she was very clear and um The first thing I wanted to say is that as far as environmental studies Is this happens all the time for all kinds of businesses from mom and pop stores to You know minds like stafford, you know, it was in stafford. So it's not something new. It's not something unknown It happens a lot And what we're going to do, uh, sorry my brain just shut down a little bit there Um, uh, but she was very clear about what this process is the different tiers of investigation The first one being basically sort of a desktop review Of what exists Um, and where we think areas of interest would be And then the second part of that is to actually dig holes Tear things apart look at what what's actually in there and come up with this a lot of grant funding for that investigation work and there's also a lot of grant funding for For taking it out and we're counting it Um, so this is a process that we would need to start Uh, soon because obviously I have to say I just got to say this I cannot believe that our lawyer did not mention this to us Property transfers Year and a half ago. So I just put that on the record that that's uh, um, you know, we're We're not super behind Let me just so that what we're going to ask just to get to the neat and potatoes We're asking for the approval For the for this it's a brown fields is the term Of this kind of a study and we're asking For a approval for this to go forward And I I hope we'll give it to the school Or through to the town in your packet. Yes A while ago, so they consider all Sites brown fields until they get there and investigate it or is there certain aspects that have already created? No, it's pretty much everything has to they have to make sure that there isn't anything it's it's way in the assumption Anything built before a certain time. Okay, there is stuff there. That's what I because it's just scary that brown field Already identified it, but it is actually Like you said it happens all the time at any place You know We have a tank in the ground. Yeah bingo right there. Just that one alone. Yeah, PCBs is another one. It's right there We know it exists. It's already there. So once they start that procedure There's a number of other things they're going to look for that's the desktop They're going to look into some history of the building history of the site before this building existed even To see what exists there. It sounds You know when you first hear it it sounds Ah, and then you start to this this woman did a really good job of Making it sound like this is not You know, this is not overwhelming. This is done all the time. Then we can make this happen. Yeah, it's not at all It's just behind. It's just going to add some time Robert you wanted to add something to this. I'm just going to point out that that what's done in phase two is dictated by The analysis done on phase with the problem So it could be they may not need to do that much Testing and there is already a fair amount of history, you know, like as this analysis and such that already exists So, you know, they don't necessarily have to do So do we need anything to make to make a motion that we allow This study to go forward I think that we we provide the This this form There we go Site name and address That's easy The owner, participation That we've reached to the Owner participation and site access form Yeah Filling it out and provide that to the town of Rochester Well actually I said it makes us right to her Okay She's waiting on it. She wants to get jumping on it I think this is One second Any further discussion And I'll make sure everybody understands what we're up to here Good All in favor signify by saying aye Aye Justine are you there She's muted Can you just give us an aye justine or nay For this brownfields program Hi, okay Oh got you Mike's not working, okay Thank you Great Let's keep going Our submission vision document And goals possible action So not a lot of change To this, we basically met today To sort of finalize Oh build in a nice job Of finding Thank you I have to say Here's what I'd like to say about this I think this is a really good Beginning And I would recommend that we Improve it Accept it as the board That said already just looking at that Mission statement that I sent out About the Shady Hills school I'm now seeing some other things that I want to I really want to bring up and talk about again As far as our vision and our understanding But for now We're asking to Just to clarify this is Board vision and mission This is not school, mission And vision, this is the boards Yes Well the board really their goal Some of their focus work is to create the mission And vision of the school But this specific statement That's here is What the board is going to use To create schools Vision Well what the administration is going to use They're going to read because it's Administration's job to Run the school Our job is to guide Our administration That is true but it is the board's Job to create the school Mission Vision, yes So I just want to make sure Clarifying that this is for The board Well I don't know We're changing the vision And vision of our school Rigors creative education Working with all resources we have As far as I'm concerned that's That's the school That's the school vision And I was really happy to see it used In our annual meeting presentation Because it was a good test That it already is something That the administration says oh I can work With that so I think that's The goal is that we're doing this So that they know what we want In our school And I think that's One of the things about The goals we come up with But as I say Our recommendation from the committee Is that we accept this for now As a template and as we mentioned Today one of the great things is When we do have our next retreat We have nothing For goals we have nothing For vision we were starting from a blank slate And now we have something and we can Change it we can update it A little bit Do we want to make a motion Are we ready I make a motion to Accept this updated Vision mission Statements and goals I second I second Further discussion I would point out that this Is supposed to be A document that Continuously is updated Yes That's very much the spirit In which we're presenting it Further discussion There being none all in favor Signified by saying aye Aye Excellent she got it we can hear you We'll get this Who we articulated on the What I'm saying now too Great Modified Right Robert rules of order Modified You guys You guys talked about Formally adopting that as your working Procedure Last one I didn't want to Leave it off Good thank you Good work So how do we identify A specific version Of Robert's sheet We have a sheet for it It basically relaxes some of the Restrictions that Involved town meeting Standard Robert's rules Where things have to be moved Seconded Only the I can't vote in regular Robert's rules order but this is a small Robert's rule so it allows us a more Informal attitude Which is pretty much how we've been Running Anyway so it would be just A matter of codifying that It also makes There's some time limits Things like that for people to speak It's very good to have that in writing If we should ever God forbid There were trees from it That would have to be in a contentious setting Like we were with the school closing So is there another little Book or a handout that Actually has them modified There's a sheet of paper that we Actually I've seen All right Well then I make a question that Our board adopts the modified Robert's rules order Do we have that as Amy Wilt Seconded Seconded by Robert Mayor Any further discussion There being none all signify it By saying aye Aye Aye's have it And possible tax So are second board procedures Or protocols for the company Survey No no no He set the standard He was jumping all over the place in the billing So Yes Board procedures protocols in a company Survey How many people answered that survey I filled mine out Pass it down Step on my name on When I compile I thought we were doing a great job If there's any It's not private but But I don't think The idea is that What the results are Our opinions are not who has them And we'll share that as a learning This is a year together And we set some targets on how We wanted to behave and What was important I think it's Not unique to us but Organizations Sound organizations like to do a self assessment This is not that the board can take a self assessment I suggest For you Mr. Chairman That it be added to our retreat agenda And we can talk about the results What we learned we need to change Any of our protocols Or our educational principles And then kind of Agree to move forward with that Commitment Not only can you give it to me In writing Or an attachment to an email Or send it to me whatever is easier There's no immediate rush But I do think that on the retreat I think it's going to be very helpful to us Thank you Excellent Thank you for taking us on Absolutely I suppose we should put on our next We need a retreat date We can't do it tonight With the retreat Is that already scheduled? We're going to do it tonight We can do it I think the biggest question for the board Is August versus September I think August is A little brutal We did it in September last year That's the only reason why I thought it out I had a hard time calling you Only under in August Let's put it on the August agenda Let's set the date Sounds good We tried last year In August Speaking of the cats Speaking of the cats Justine Justine, you have a kitten on your shoulder I saw the Kid earlier Right This is where the kitten Vanished Because the other animals Are kind of scary still Very good It's pretty cute Okay, 96 We made up some time here Not that that's the goal Annual tax Try that again Annual tax anticipation note 96 We have it here Do we have any questions Any more Community national bank This is a different bank than last year Is that correct Tara? Nope, same bank I make a motion to accept the Tax anticipation note As presented by Tara for I need to state the amount I emailed you the motion Amy But I can tell it to you I need you to actually say the amount I got it right here I moved to accept The 2022-2023 Tax anticipation Note in the amount $1,111,823 With Community National Bank Second Robert Further discussion There being none, all in favor Signified by saying aye Aye I realize I forgot to say that So I will need wet signatures From the board this year Because the COVID allowance For electronic signatures is gone So once I get The loan documents From the bank I can do what we did For the annual warnings if that's easier I can bring it to the schools You can stop and sign And let me know when it's done Do you want it signed by the end of June So that The plans are available for Kristen On July 1st if she meets that Okay Very good Thank you very much Tara Thank you That's your office Tara No she's going to go to school I will bring them to the school I'll start in Rochester And then Rochester board members If they can stop and have the school on sign If Lindy can take it to Stockbridge Like we did with the morning And the Stockbridge members can stop and sign Excellent Thank you so much We've taken all of our action For section 10 So we have new hires resignation Fingers crossed We do have one resignation Our P.E. teacher We haven't done that in May Miss Allen That's a loss Holy smoke Can we say Expected and expected Can we say anything about that Or not We've had a couple of resignations Due to licensure issues People have had their time And they haven't been able to make It happen Yes Okay I will entertain a motion To accept the resignation Of our P.E. teacher Alejandra Bangerterre Alejandra Bangerterre With regret And appreciation She was wonderful Can somebody make that motion please Someone's I was moved by Robert seconded By Bill All in favor Signified by saying aye And just to clarify I mean I know it's been Our district's policy They're actually not resignations They're finishing their year Out They're choosing not to return next year But it's not actually a resignation And I know that the districts Have done their business this way I think moving forward We'll continue to tell you That they're not returning But they didn't actually resign They contract ended June 30 We'll learn that Resignation sounds abrupt Resignation is In the moment Within two weeks This person's finishing Out Well it does make a big difference Opportunities For some very creative Partying and some footsteps To fill Absolutely we have lots of interviews Good We'd like the candidate pool you're getting So far We'll see what actually happens when we meet The first one time She was the mastermind Of field day And it really was Like so creative From tic tac toe To sponge races To tug of war There was a lot of Educating going on while they were running around Making fun Well I think the fact that They're competing amongst themselves They're a huge mindset Which has been much appreciated Because it's pretty rare That PE class is an issue And I'm not sure a lot of My Fellow administrators can say that It's pretty low discipline Because they're engaged And she's being creative And they're using their minds That's well it sets a clear standard For what we're trying to The principle knows something about it Yeah well there you go That's true That's true But he's not here day to day See this is why I'm never going to run for the senate Because I didn't teach PE ever in a second I'm just a PE educator's daughter I loved it Excellent Well I had my fingers crossed Do we have any public comment at this time Nancy I believe you're still Our sole public We appreciate it very much you staying on with us Thank you Do you have any comments at the end of all this I guess we can't hear her for some reason Sorry if she's It's sort of frozen unfortunately Nancy I'm sorry you're frozen For some reason so The international signal International zoom signal For everything's good Thank you so much for being with us tonight Future agenda items Planning the board of retreat Board of the board of retreat PEI is going to be on High school updates Going to be on as well You may be getting Potentially your SBAC We'll see if they Lift the embargo On those test results I expect them to lift it quicker this year Because COVID Last year a lot of schools were Virtual so they kept an embargo Long We moved on anyways But We're hoping that we'll be able to Give you an update then We didn't ask for permission We beg for forgiveness And Of course Planning the board of retreat I'd like to take some time to actually Plan that agenda then Possibly If we could and put a little thought Into that I think we'll have some time I think we keep it focused on Maybe those areas Anything else What's up I don't know I got to put this in the thought first There's an arts curriculum Sort of vision That I want to present That I really want to Think about a little bit more If I get it done I'll just email So are we meeting next month Or are we... It says to be determined Just because we need to sort out What is going to be that night of the week That we might meet with Jihad My hope is to kick those off in August Because we tend to have the lighter agendas in August I think it's a good Place to try To see how it goes One of your action items may actually be Right then that you amend that night Your Monthly location If it's not the first week If it's not in the first week I'll have to postpone your regular Schedule meeting I may not I won't be there for the second and third week I think the first week's fine Because that's when Jihad goes as well I think we just got to settle on what night of the week Yeah, okay Alright, good We will tackle that then Borrowing anything else? I'll entertain a motion to adjourn All in favor signify by saying aye Aye Thank you all very much Good night