 Good evening everybody, this is Thursday May 28th at 6.30 p.m. and I would like to entertain the motion to enter executive session to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with union and or non-union personnel or contract negotiations with union and or non-union in which if held in an open meeting may have a detrimental Effect and to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have Detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares Moved by mr. Hainer seconded by dr. Seuss all roll call Mr.. Hainer mr. Pierce dr. Allison ampey ms. Starks Dr. Seuss and the chair votes yes It is the unanimous six zero vote We are an executive session Good evening We were in executive session to Conduct some business that was required to be an executive session But I'm pleased to announce that we have concluded the reason for that executive session most joyously and We will repeat the our votes from executive session now in public so the public can see The conclusion of our work mr. Hainer the first motion. I move that we ratify the MOA and related documents in the contract with the Allington education Association, okay move by mr. Hainer seconded by ms. Starks all in favor say aye Opposed that is a unanimous vote next motion mr. Hainer I moved that the chair be authorized to sign the completed contract when all documents are presented in their printed form Move by mr. Hainer seconded by ms. Starks all in favor. Hi opposed That's a unanimous vote. We have now concluded our negotiations For a successor contract with our teachers the contract expired on June 3rd will expire on June 30th We will now have another three years with a new contract We will not be able to discuss Particularly details until they announce it, but The one thing I want to say is that in Arlington the way we do a contract We we do a process called interspace bargaining a lot of traditional bargaining is very adversarial in that You feel you win when you get what you want and the other side didn't get what they want Our approach is to look for common ground and find ways to make a better contract and find as many reasons to say Yes to each other as possible. It's a very collaborative effort The teachers And the other bargaining units who participated with us have been very positive And there's been a lot of hard work on their side on our side that mr. Pierce and Ms. Starks completed the process. Mr. Hainer was from the beginning We did a workshop with the whole committee and the teachers last year on interspace bargaining the administrative team Led by mr. Spiegel has been outstanding Understanding It's been a very positive process and I've gotten an email from another district asking us about our experiences With interest face bargaining and I think that you know, we this has been an outstanding experience all around And I want to congratulate everybody who worked on this Public participation Bear in mind that we restrict public participation to three minutes per participant And that we do not respond with it within The public participation portion of the meeting the first person on the list is more a McCarthy You'll be followed by Claire kind of war Good evening. My name is more a McCarthy I'm the parent of a stratton second grader and also a stratton kindergartener And I'm here tonight to share with you my reflections about the subcommittee meeting Which I attended on Tuesday evening regarding the rebuild and relocation of our school I want to start by saying we love the stratton school We have amazing teachers and we're really pleased to be at the stratton school I want to follow up by saying I was really troubled by a comment that was made here Actually made there and made here by a member of the superintendent's office Which stated that the relocation of our students to the oddest in middle school would be killing two birds with one stone I'm troubled by that comment for a few reasons But tonight I want to tell you that I'm troubled by it because I don't think it's accurate I think that relocating our fourth graders to a middle school is not an appropriate way or an educationally sound placement to place our students during their fourth grade year. I Also, I don't think it's an appropriate way to solve the problem of overcrowding at the oddest of middle school Dr. Bode presented enrollment figures at that meeting which indicate the enrollment surge in our district is huge I Want to ask the school committee to please consider addressing the surge in enrollment separately From the from the placement of our students in modular classrooms at the oddest in middle school It's clear the oddest and needs more space. It's clear our students need to be in modulus during the relocation That's understood. We're asking you to please solve each problem in a long-term Creative and critically appropriate way and give our fourth grade students an appropriate placement in an elementary school that year Thank you. Thank you. Claire Cavatorat cavatorta Hey My name is Claire cavatorta I am a parent of a kindergarten or at Stratton currently and I also have a three-year-old who'll be entering the school system Actually the year after the proposed relocation and rebuild of Stratton My husband Christopher is a third-grade teacher in Lexington and has been in the school system there for over 13 years And he has had some experience with similar renovation rebuild at his school, which is bridge school in Lexington and as parents who are Parents of elementary school students and also having worked in the educational system We are concerned just generally about our experience with the the renovated product product And the disruption level it'll cause to the overall school and all the students and teachers the overall experience and having the students come back to a school that really has Common space renovated, but doesn't do anything to alleviate the overpopulation issues in the elementary schools overall through Arlington which Even in the past six years are up almost 20% and seemingly projected to only increase from here out We have heard that potentially Stratton is a district that is not seeing the same level of increase But potentially redistricting town-wide may be something to consider but to pour millions of dollars into a stratton renovation And gain not a single classroom in terms of space doesn't seem like a well-thought-out Plan and I'm just here to express that concern Thank you. Thank you Anyone else for public participation seeing the next item the agenda will be e-cigarette policy now we have a public policy class which is tied to Syracuse University Graduate program and I had the honor of being able to go and attend one of the sessions and the topic was directed at the school committee that we were their intended audience, so I thought it would be appropriate for them to bring it before us not just because it was a good Presentation where where that would merit it on its own But there are also some policy issues that I think there are things that we should be thinking about so I Want to introduce Renee Hamlin Mallory DeFeo and Elizabeth Kamiya And Whoever is presenting needs to be at a microphone So You're much better off sitting at one of the tables you can be at that microphone too if you like as long as it's a microphone because This is this is live TV and you're going out Little pressure you're going out to the entire world because I know that we've got at least somebody watching in Ann Arbor, Michigan Probably So as he said we are from the public policy class that is taught at Arlington High School through Syracuse So basically we've done a semester's worth of research We chose health as our category and then we Pinpointed a societal problem and for us it was e-cigarettes and how they're a growing problem amongst youth and from there We created a policy and mind you this was in a semester, so I Like to think we did the best to our abilities and I guess it really had an effect on some people because here we are But here we go So our style problem we said the problem was that Middlesex County youth are being under educated about how big tobacco companies target us so there's a steady rise in popularity of e-cigarettes especially and The the people who are currently smoking e-cigarettes will then start to use the more harsher tobacco products like regular cigarettes So us as students we have never been Educated about e-cigarettes specifically are all of our years in school. They don't tell us about e-cigarettes whatsoever and the only way that we can learn about e-cigarettes is through the 84 Club, which is totally Voluntary and that's where our interest from and just for this came up. Could you tell us what the 84 Club is? Yes, the 84 Club The 84 Club was starting and started Arlington my sophomore year, so two years ago It's part of the 84 movement, which is 84 percent of students do not use tobacco products now It's 89 so it's a Massachusetts statewide movement, but other states have movements like this across the nation and Basically, we just try to get the message out there to her peers the What tobacco companies are doing because I think a lot of us are unaware of kind of like the insidious ways they target us so Really there's only ten members. It's kind of hard to do a lot So that's why I think it's because this is such a big issue It's up to the school now to take it into their own hands, especially for the safety of the students. Okay continue, please So the causes of students smoking e-cigarettes as you can see will be the lack of knowledge and education that we have about them the peer pressure and the advertising that makes e-cigarettes seem very healthy And also how the big tobacco companies are targeting us using appealing flavors and colors and the effects of students smoking e-cigarettes are That we are think we are smoking them thinking that they are healthy and that students that we are being pressured and We are more inclined to then use harsher tobacco products And this is hurting the health and safety of Arlington high school students So here we have a graph of the daily cigarette usage among students The blue line on top is the percent of 12th grade students who are currently using cigarettes daily and the line on the bottom is the red line is the percent of 8th grade students who are currently using Currently using cigarettes daily and Although they are both decreasing our focus is the gap between them So it shows that in middle school. We're taught that cigarettes are not good for us And so we don't smoke them but then as we as we get into high school We are less educated about what they like what they are and the peer pressure is Increasing so that's where our main focus is is the gap between the 8th grade students who smoke them in the 12th grade students So excuse me, so from this We came up with a policy that all Arlington high school our Arlington health Classes will be required to teach a unit on electronic cigarettes And also big tobacco companies targeting tactics because really the only reason we're informed about targeting tactics is because of 84 So a lot of high school students are unaware of what we like to call the 84 cheap sweet easy to get You can get not in Arlington, but in some towns you can get a single cigar like a one of the cigarettes for under a dollar Sweet they come in flavors such as bubblegum cherry cool limeade. So that's obviously not being targeted to any of you and easy to get Go down the street. There's a convenience store basically on any corner and there is a big problem with Older people buying for younger people, but that's another issue So this policy we came up with So the costs I think are greatly the benefits out greatly outweigh the cost But anyways, you have to send the health teachers to be taught the new curriculum This isn't actually a money cost because through the human resources health resources in action There are free tobacco 101 classes and I've taken that class and I'm a teachers or an adult can take that class and then I think we'll be able to teach about the targeting tactics Decrease health thought on other health topics. So maybe we won't spend as much time on depressants and stimulants But that's I don't think as important right now as the e-cigarettes like based on the issue at hand You need to a lot more time A major consumer population for for will be lost to tobacco companies and from us. That's not a loss So benefits it stops the increase of tobacco usage Like we saw if in the graph as you get older You're more likely to use it especially in high school because that's where the peer pressure comes from But the more educated you are the less likely it is to happen It eliminates tobacco as a gateway drug and then fewer adult smokers in the future if you are not 90% of adult smokers right now Started before their 19th birthday and if you turn 25, there's virtually a hundred percent chance You will not start smoking. So if we can get them out of high school without ever starting then we'll maybe have a tobacco-free world Which is our hope So in order to learn more about the students in a hs who Smokes e-cigarettes. We need to know like about the students who reported it so we used our research and found the American Cancer Society gave some Numbers about the students who reported using e-cigarettes and so We saw that there is an increase in the percent from 2011 it was 4.7 percent of students and then to 2013 is 12% and then we estimated that a 2014 it would be 14% and So this percent change is huge from 2011 to 2014 the percent change is nine hundred and ninety seven point ninety percent, which is huge and We see if we don't implement this policy We predict that the years is Percentage of students who smoke e-cigarettes the the percent is gonna fries as seen in the graph and Then so in order to check up on our policy is to see if it's working We decided to have benchmark periods and we did it every year because we found that it would perfectly measure the progress and to see The amount of students who stop smoking e-cigarettes and it is A year is an academic year. So it will show each year as we go on and Our benchmark period you could see that this is the blue line is the The previous years we have through the data and then the yellow line We see that it doesn't go down initially because it takes time for the policy to implement at first students to get into classes but We start to see a trend with the policy being implemented The students who are smoking or reported smoking e-cigarettes has gone down So the feasibility of this policy how likely it is to be implemented So it is up to miss Bouvier because she is the director of the physical education department and Just based on Arlington's past and how they stand on tobacco products We don't see this as a very big problem especially because we already have a unit on cigarettes So it wouldn't be creating this whole new curriculum So basically we see this as a hundred percent feasibility now as a school committee This isn't really it is up to you, but it's more in the hands of her just because it's kind of a mind new Change, but why we're here is we just want e-cigarettes to be treated the same way especially in the handbook as cigarettes Especially for punishment. There's loopholes in that well, it says we're smoking cigarettes or You know, this isn't a lot of electronic cigarette. It's not the same thing. It is a tobacco product So depending on how it's labeled in the handbook. It can be seen covering everything And so that's why we're here Any questions? Yeah Before I put this out to the rest of the committee You made a point of E-cigarette use within this building and could you allow what could you elaborate on that? so there's a Lot of students in high school one not a lot, but a fair amount are using e-cigarettes and Teachers don't know what they look like. They're not informed and you could smoke them in a class without knowing in the cafeteria It's it looks like a pen almost in some sense. So teachers who aren't educated won't know and it's just Yeah, it's really we took a survey through the 84 and it was we just tried to get the whole Community in general and adults were more likely to say it was like a pen or mascara or just some crazy thing in Teenagers and kids were more likely to say it was electronic cigarette. So it's definitely something we know about and you don't and especially as teachers It's easy to get by some Arlington high school teachers are kind of oblivious at this It doesn't smell like traditional tobacco smoke. It smells like the cherry in the bubble gum So I've seen kids in the back of my class smoking them and using them and it smells great, but it's not good for you Okay Dr. Seuss So the 14% number that you cited is that for high school students in general or for Arlington high school students? We don't know if your Arlington numbers are as bad as that but you're suspecting there It's not the numbers we used Just for our graphs, but we looked at the survey that's given every youth health survey We looked at that and there is a dramatic increase So there's a separate question on e-cigarettes in that one There's so you have a sense of what the numbers there is definitely one on tobacco usage and Just based on being in this environment. I can only attest to say that It's an increase in tobacco usage is because of e-cigarettes kids are getting into them because they say this is good for you And e-cigarette companies are selling them Selling them saying this is to help you stop smoking, but if kids are saying they're never using cigarettes But they're using e-cigarettes. How can that be helping you stop smoking? So the numbers don't the numbers show a decrease in tobacco usage or they're saying that they're not quite interpreting When you look at those those numbers for the health survey they show decrease each year. I mean it's a small decrease each year That was our What what we predicted would happen if the policy was implemented Mr. Heiner's next two questions. How many of you appears do you think? Look at it that the e-cigarette is not tobacco So part of the education is is is to get to them but to get to the whole community as a whole mostly them The other part let's make it clear e-cigarettes are a tobacco product Okay, a lot of my friends think it isn't and think it's a way of getting away from tobacco Which for some people it is if you've been a smoker all your life like two packs a day This will it doesn't have as much nicotine in it or actual tobacco So but it's still in that case But it's they're putting they made this product to attract youth because that's their target population because they know I just want to be clear that it is a tobacco product as well. Thank you Mr. Filman You know nice work on all this and you made a statement earlier that there are things that you know that we don't know That's it's big list of things, you know So the question I have is you're asking For a policy that a unit be taught in health on e-cigarettes, correct? So if I mean if I'm not mistaken That that's a course that's that's offered and and described in the student handbook So you're going to talk to the principal to dr. Janger Have you talked to him about this idea that you want to add this unit to the course? Um, we have not He kind of talked to him. Yes, okay What's that Okay, so the as I understand the process to and this is so that I think The school committee usually doesn't get into what's actually in every single course But what you should my suggestion would be that you meet with dr. Janger He proposed that this unit be added to the course and that he included in the the student handbook and The program of studies, it's called right you call her the program of studies, right? Okay, so we call it the program of study so we and we can I mean we can amend and approve the Program of studies up until I mean this summer we can if we want to if he wants to add that right or he can do it Yeah, so it's so we there's time to take action But yeah, and you need to talk to the principal I need to say you want to add this and you want you need to say that this you know The school committee is very open to the idea of amending the program of studies so that this unit is covered now There may be a discussion you have to anticipate which is if you add a unit to a course sometimes you've got to You know drop something off So that's a conversation you may have to have and there is something in here just so just to you know, you said the teachers It won't be any extra Time or money. Well, there will be extra time. That was the problem. There's the health teachers taking away their time Yeah, so you have to be I think at the sort of in your conversation with the principal Taking into account the fact that teachers are going to need some extra training on it But it sounds really worthwhile and you know if there are other things, you know that we don't know that should be Program of studies feel free to tell Yeah, I just want to add Two things because one of the focus the primary focus of the student committee was to amend our course offering to Include e-cigarettes, but the thing that I heard from a school committee point of view as a school administrator Is that we need to tighten up our policies regarding the use of e-cigarettes? On campus and that's sort of something that's within our domain And and I'd like to hear a motion to refer that portion of it over policies and procedures committee So move move by dr. Allison amp II seconded by miss Starks Mr. Heyner in that move I'd like the committee to direct the policy committee to Every place where it says cigarettes put a comic with e-cigarettes just to emphasize it that much more or maybe Including yes, however, we need to amend it. We'll leave that to the Policies and procedures committee to make sure that our policies are tight on this and that the code of discipline within the student Handbook is also tight so that E-cigarettes are treated Unambiguously like other tobacco products with the peers Yeah, I'd just like to bring up that the mass association and school committees on their model policy and cigarettes Which is much shorter than ours Doesn't even speak to e-cigarettes. I think it's a it's a new Thing that is coming across and I'm very happy that you're bringing it to us earlier rather than later So thank you. Thank you. I'd be happy to take that up with our subcommittee Maybe we can also bounce that back to M. A. S. C. Yeah Yeah, and then see from there M. A. S. C. Is the umbrella group in Massachusetts that has all the different school committees and So if we bounce it to them, then they'll bounce it to everybody in Massachusetts Yeah Arlington has been such a pioneer especially with the Board of Health and really staying on top of what's coming out from the tobacco companies But in Massachusetts, it is kind of lagging problem, especially statewide There's not even a law that bans the sale of e-cigarettes to minors so you can be like eight years old and go into a convenience store And buy really put them near Yeah, the 84 did a community mapping project just to see in Arlington how close schools are to Schools are to the convenience stores and which ones sell tobacco products and stuff like that And so that just I it's probably online somewhere if you want to take that check that out If you're going the next step the regulation of sales of tobacco is with the Board of Health and the yeah Well, I've been to a couple meetings and they're really on top of that like six months ago They banned the sale of flavored tobacco products So we really have no problem there in Arlington Originally our policy was going to focus on the statewide level But we decided this could be more attainable and we could actually see this happening and it's come pretty well Mr. Heiner quick question does your grade depend on whether we pass this on Would you introduce your teacher and tell Tell us about how he has encouraged you through this process well Well, he was actually giving a speech to us It was our last day today and he told us that when the kids came To the school committee or wherever they had to go about adding this he was like volunteered But didn't really want to or something and he had to go up to see our kids and take all these classes but um Coming in to teaching the class the activities are so engaging and Like first students we did a lot of To understand our every chapter We had one policy like the class policy going on whether we should legalize marijuana or not and just from a student's standpoint I know maybe not I but for a lot of my classmates. That was something they were like, okay, I get it I can relate to this So everything was really well understood and he was able to explain everything really well Anytime we had a question. He knew the answer and I think that's the most important And that teacher's name is We don't require formal time we're happy to have you And any further discussion This has been wonderful on the motion to refer all in favor I have opposed the unanimous vote Thank you And I think I'm invited I think it's an email to just by everybody in here and to have a lot of great feedback Whether you could make it or not and just the interest that you've shown Has been tremendous. I guess it is my first year teaching it So I didn't really quite know what to expect but the kids that stayed in the class They did a they did a fantastic job and and kind of really took ownership over these and the nine Presentations that they've been given have been fantastic. And this is one of several that have been really really well done So Hopefully it grows in popularity, but this is a little odd thing especially for high school students So in the first year kind of coming up being invited to come up the school We can't put them on the spot the other days. They had no choice That maybe like throughout the years this will become a thing that like if you take this class this if you're the best presentation This is just going to happen. Just so kids are more motivated that there is an end result They're not just doing this as a school project. It's actually doing it as something so they choose something that they are invested in I think you said that you know stuff that we don't which is why it's really important for you to come and talk to us And that's the message I heard when I saw you last week and that's why I wanted you to come speak to the rest Now you can go home and watch it over and over again Video on demand a Cmi dot TV Next item on the agenda is our school calendar Did you get it one of those things it was actually very unusual this year as part of our negotiation process was that we we Opened up some of the the ideas that we were talking about for public discussion Both in district and outside the district and one of the ideas had to do with a new elementary Schedule for next year Which would create a early release day every week Beginning at one o'clock students would be dismissed now Well, the school committee tonight has ratified the memorandum of agreement We we still have to have an announcement from the the teachers on this But assuming that that is that we have a ratified contract going forward I have prepared a calendar here with a lot of help from Karen Fitzgeralds over there spent hours on this Creating a counter which is a little easier to understand but I wanted to go over the high points of it now because Parents were told back in the winter that this was a possibility, but I think it's important for them to know That this is more of a likelihood now that this is going to happen in the fall and and while we There's both pros and cons I think from a parent point of view that it's it's change in schedule that will affect daycare and Coverage, but one of the things that's a positive about this actually a lot of positives Is that it's going to be consistent? Mm-hmm, and when we've had early release before this, you know, it happens and an irregular And is this the week for a early release this one will be Consistent the only thing that will be slightly different is when we get to conferences We need to start them earlier than one o'clock in order that We were able to have enough 20-minute slots for parents to have Conferences with teachers, but let's but some of the key Parts of this calendar have already been approved by the school committee and by the way I think one of the things I'd like to bring to the committee next fall is a Calendar for the next two years beyond that with the start dates We wouldn't have necessarily the early release days and conferences figured out but the start dates so everybody can plan ahead and know where we're going and Because we always start getting calls. Believe it or not in the early fall anyway. So so that's Well, we'll do that actually very early probably in September so Based on our last contract we teachers do start before Labor Day and this is was in our original calendar but what you will see is there's a there is a Code for each of these and if you look at this We've put all of the early release days on Tuesday including high school and by the way There are no delayed openings either for high school and middle school this year. It was a pilot and After going to the pilot decide this wasn't the best option. Okay. Yeah because of Well, the the one for the conferences for the middle school It proved to be a little bit more daunting and task to have the kids occupied while the teachers were having conferences Saying no planned or Late arrivals for the purposes of creating conference time. You we're not talking about snow related I just wanted to make sure that That was clear. Yeah, thank you Now one of the things that is very unusual that the high school wants to pilot this this coming year is To actually have conferences in October and The reason for that is that they They want to have parents be able to discuss Placements in classes before the term closes rather than have the first term closed then you go to conferences and that point sometimes It's very difficult to change a course. So They want to try that this year and so When there's an early release day in October Which is early release all on the 20th. Actually that is going to be a high school conference day. That's the walk-in day. There's no Appointments, but they're going to have their conferences in the evening in two days in October and We've we've changed the format and I give Mr. Fitzgerald a lot of credit for sort of thinking about how we can do this a little bit differently to make it clear Down at the bottom in the center You'll see all evening conferences no matter which level are all grouped together and the high school are going to be in October The middle school and the elementary are going to pretty much stay in the same Time frame as they've had in the past The conferences for the middle school is spread out basically over a month really there's going to be two evening conferences And there's going to be two afternoon conferences And As we look at December The middle school will have a conference on The first of December and they will they will parallel the elementary early release day When we get to December 8th, you'll see an early release all and what is that is going to be a conference day for Middle school and elementary and that will have a 1115 dismissal So we'll definitely send reminders out to parents for that But because the high school has been is given up their delayed openings this year And are taking one of the early release days in October for conferences The high school is going to use that for an extended professional development time Some other changes so When we have these elementary early release times we have set up a schedule For all of the types of meetings that we're going to have in that to in that time frame So in the elementary level students would be dismissed at 1 o'clock. There would be lunch on those days In fact, the only times we do not have lunch are the two days we have a 1115 dismissal But in those in those time periods is going to be in fact the entire year has been laid out already in terms of common planning time content professional development and faculty meetings In fact that is in what in the contract that you ratified this evening One of the appendices actually has what that calendar looks like So you can see it. I think that the benefits are going to be tremendous It's such a struggle to find time for teachers to collaborate During the school day when we've done that we've done whole-class PD or even PD within a within a school This the struggle is getting coverage for the classes And so what we're going to see next year is a is not the interruptions that we've we've had now There's going to be some PD. I'm not saying there's not the lab program that we talked about We'll obviously have to go on during the school day because it's teachers observing teachers teach But the other types where we've pulled up, you know had to pull teachers out for data meetings for content PD That is all going to go into these early release times and and I think everyone is Going to really benefit tremendously from this some other points to note on here is that We've no longer put the snow snowman on That was actually from my superintendent's advisory council because Technically the 29th is our last day of school in June It only goes back to the 22nd if we don't have snow days Because by regulation you're supposed to put you're supposed to build into your calendar five snow days So that's why we've actually sort of changed the saying the June 22nd is the 180 80th day They go backwards they feel better. I'm gonna go backwards instead of the other way around and it's important because it's certainly important for staff because they can't really plan Summer summer jobs or trips or anything until we until we know which day we're gonna have We're gonna be able to back up to but they have to plan And parents do too plan students to be in school until the 29th of June now That's pretty tight We have one day where We have if we had six snow days we'd be right up right up to the limit and because we cannot go into the next fiscal year so I did see that the El Nino next year is gonna be strong, which is good sign Might have a lot of warm weather. So we'll see We hope These are the the main the main things that are different from the calendar week approved you've approved back in the winter Now you have all the early release days and you have the just all of the conference times So tonight is a first read we're not voting on the contract tonight in first We also really shouldn't vote on it because we don't have the ratification vote yet from the AEA So I don't know if there's any questions and before we get to questions. Let me also state that I was asked to provide a draft of the school committee dates I Provided 19 because I didn't do two in November and It was pointed out that the policy states that we have to provide 20 So if that's the will of the committee, I would propose backing up and having the first meeting on August 27th Then we have the discussion on the part of the superintendent. Why don't we do the 5th and 19th? We can't do November 5th because that's MASC conference And the other thing is is that the superintendent has Informed us the superintendent and assistant superintendent will be at a conference on December On the first week of December So that presents a Second problem so we can discuss the two problems Right now. Mr. Heiner. I'd like to Sorry, maybe add a third one Miss stocks last year put a phenomenal calendar together for the Budgeting process which required some intense meetings at the end of November and December and balancing So and I personally think that work are real well getting these the principles and stuff coming in to visit which I Think it had a conflict with a similar conference last year So we there was genuinely what we might have to like to suggest if we're going to look at the part of it is Possible meetings back to back We've done that a couple of times before in November and One of the November ones in our regular schedule is Chunk of it is dedicated to the superintendent's evaluation So we got to be prepared for that too. So it's a very intense period from the beginning of November to the end of December We do 12th and 19th and we could do 10th and 17th Okay And that brings us to 20 dates We don't have to worry about the August meeting so we don't have to worry about the August meeting We can call especially if we think we need one, but we don't have to schedule Mr. Heiner you may continue first off I would like to thank Dr. Cheson and all the teachers that were involved in developing that very complex schedule to make the time Balance and work, but they are early release day. It I Agree with dr. Bodie. I think it's going to be something extremely beneficial teaches our More active during the day than having the meeting at the end of the day after a whole day and stuff like that I think I think it will work well. I like to did it before and it's now doing it again I would like to also reiterate That I'm going to be the doom say I don't know if El Nino was going to work or not But if we have seven snow days And they happen before the magic day. I think it's April 1st April 1st I Just want to let parents know and teachers know that we're looking at Something that hasn't happened. I think in the history of the school system Finding an extra day or finding something creative Dr. Bodie dr. Cheson do you have we had any reaction from desi on the creative thing that Burlington and the other school system tried? They actually didn't try it There was a lot of press about it, but they actually never really had an electronic makeup day is what it right They they actually was at the spring super tense conference and the message from the commissioner was Start earlier in August So he wasn't It doesn't sound like that He wasn't entertaining There was no discussion at the meeting about that. Okay, so I again I'll be the doon sayer. I think parents and teachers ought to be prepared to potentially go to the 29th Or whatever, you know, and if it doesn't happen It's to the plus We're going to reply or we're going to rely on your sunny disposition to keep the snow away Good luck I'd like to hear a motion to accept the calendar for first read within amendment That we delete the school committee meeting of December 3rd, and we add school committee meetings on the 19th of November and the 10th of December So that would be the motion moved by Ms. Stark seconded by dr. Seuss Every time she turns or moves her finger she's seconding something okay, dr. Allison ampee I just wanted to bring up one thing I noticed on June 28th It doesn't have an early release and I'm wondering if just for Parallelism if we want to the point Yeah Is that we've just done it for first reading we'll have to go and vote it again We're advancing this to the second read in the in the format with that amendment so that we can release it to the community They see what we're about to do if they want to come back in the room and start saying oh, no Please don't do this. They have one more meeting in which to do that dr. Allison ampee I just want to point out if we do any releasing of it to the public before we vote on it Can we make sure it has draft written all over it? Yes, because right now it doesn't and I don't want So to clarify this so we'll put the draft policy on the website Yes, yeah with with the intent that we'll vote it at our next meeting Okay, yeah, and you're gonna amend it with those new dates for the school committee meetings in the head ending and putting early release on the 28th or with an asterisk if if schools open Yeah, just one caveat to that. I do need to wait We need to wait until we know that the contract has been ratified Officially from the AEA to publish to publish it. Yes, even the draft. Yeah Yeah, okay on the motion all in favor I oppose that's the unanimous vote User fee discussion MASC on the list has got another one of these discussions on user fees and athletic fees and Ms. Starks pointed out to our chagrin that we are one of the highest User fee communities in town now from my limited time on this iteration of the committee in my time on the committee starting in 2001 we've seen a lot of creep on these fees and Whenever we've asked the community the community particularly our parents if the choice is Reducing user fees or reducing academic core services parents have always said no, please we'll pay the fee in order to preserve the services But that's the question we've asked the the broader question I think is is this a town where we want to be the town with the highest user fees and Is this the way we want to do business and I don't know the answer to that I think that we should explore that question and I think that we should also just take a look at where we are What we're charging what other communities are doing? if any other communities have been able to eliminate or reduce user fees without impacting academics and Maybe come up with a strategy or plan to go and address the issue of one emerges from it Much in the same way we looked at the kindergarten user fees before Not is a plan of action, but certainly is Active research and a plan of inquiry so that's why I'm putting this together I'm requesting your permission to just to getting a couple of school committee members To do a task-forcer committee to go and do the study in cooperation with the administration to explore our options Dr. Allison Ampe I just wanted to point out that While it is true that we have some of the higher user fee for athletics It's also true that we did that in not just to maintain Academics but also to maintain a full broad range of athletic programs and many schools are going I mean even on the listserv now. We're seeing schools are cutting either some or all of their sports Instead of having high athletic fees and I'm just yeah I want it to be clear that it's not just to maintain academics It's also to keep the program program going and we have some of the best programming in the state And we've got great coaches great kids It's something we're very proud of in this town and it really unites Our student body. It's an excellent program Be told we haven't changed our fees since 2011. Yeah We set them that year and they've been set for that. No, we actually did change them slightly But in a decreasing sense a couple of adjustments Yeah Because the fee numbers that were set did not actually bring in the revenue that they were projected to bring in But instead of trying to bump the fees up even more to bring in more revenue We chose to just take keep them where they were and Use the lower revenue mr. Hainer two things without going into too much detail We may have to reconsider those fees again with the existing contracts Tell me that I don't want to much. I would like to support the idea of forming a study review committee to look at other things have other communities had some success in Reducing or eliminating them The worst case scenario is coming back and saying We're fortunate to have what we have if we want to maintain that this is the only way we can do it but I would support the idea of looking at it and Mr. Thielman so in 2011 10 whenever we look at this We didn't create a task force a separate task force we Referred it either to budget or community relations budget budget did it. Yeah, and so I think I'm wary of a task force because people have multiple committees. They're on and they're pretty busy And so I'm wondering if just referring us to the budget subcommittee is a better idea and we're efficient use of people's time the difference Dr. Allison the difference between setting a tax force and referring it to budget was that budget was charged with was tasked with the Charge to determine what appropriate levels of fees would be not whether Not the holistic should we charge any fees or not and not I mean we did there was actually There was another task force that kind of fed into that from the athletic I forget the name of it, but the athletic commission or whatever it was and they gave us Yeah, yeah, so they they there was something that fed into it and then budget just took Numbers and turned them and came out with what we felt was the most equitable Way to raise the amount of money that we needed to raise to keep the program going I think I Think it's still to me feels like something that's bigger In scope then I mean, you know sure budget can do something But I think it feels bigger than it wants to just go under budget I mean budget can then take the answer and you know again plug-and-chug and come up with numbers for you But I think It's it's asking a bigger kind of different question Could it be a task that the community relations subcommittee Manages or do you want to set up a separate committee? I'm not doing community whose community as the chair I would be looking to chair this task force if you grant it and I'd go with who it will whoever Pete on the committee mr. Heiner has expressed an interest and if a third member would like to participate dr. Allison I think we have three who would like to do this It's all figured out So Motion to create a task force on On on user fees and to to be chaired by myself and to have mr. Heiner and dr. Allison Ampe as members Move by mr. Heiner seconded by Dr. Cease The best second in the business All in favor I opposed Okay, thank you very much We're up to monthly financial reports and I think that was probably should have been we'll be down in the next Okay, did you do it the first the first medium Did we bounce in fact, no, did we do it last time we did I mean I thought I asked today if Johnson was going to be here. She's not going to be here tonight Okay, okay When I saw the document on the thing I asked the question I was told yes, and I prepared for it Sorry for the confusion on Through the chair may I ask a question the The fee that we charge for the visa fee Is that dude and I don't know is that covered under the law the way our other fees are covered For its usage. I'm just concerned. I was looking at that in the in the report that was given As of right now, we've used less than half of it The fees that we acquired and I do know that we use that money for other things and things of that nature One of the reasons we reduced the athletic fees and things of that nature because it was shown that we were not using The fees that we were charging were not being used. No, I don't know if this fee That's incorrect, okay, thank you Okay Next superintendent report dr. Bode Some of the some of things I may want to talk about facilities may be just wait for a subcommittee report First of all one of the things that I want to thank is the four members of the committee were able to make the The staff appreciation reception that last week. Thank you Mr. Schlickman, Dr. Seuss Starks and mr. Heyner it really meant a lot for people being recognized to have Representation and I know the rest of you would have loved to come but had conflicts This is an annual event that we have I gave you the program in which we Acknowledge and recognize the years three things milestone years in the 40s 35 and we had I'll just mention the two people who have 40 years I think once you get to 40 you're really the level of dedication is quite amazing and two of them It's our custodian here in the high school Frank Burgess and Person who actually runs the the high school part of a food service Jana Carlino and both just wonderful people But you can see in this that there are a lot of people who had many years here We're 23 people that had that we're on one of those milestones We also recognize Teachers have retained attained professional status and that means that they're now in their fourth year and gone through the rigorous process of induction and evaluation and now attained that The number is fairly large issue because this was the year after we had the overriding we were starting to read to regain ground on The number of teachers we had the district so we're 38 teachers. That's all district-wide and Then we had we also honor the retirees and this year we have 12 Though I think there's maybe a couple more that are are starting to announce But some again one of our teachers who retired genie wall 41 years as a teacher in the district. It's just Amazing just all wonderful people that have made such an incredible contribution. I just want to read their name very quickly Because they deserve that kind of recognition for all that they've given us So retiring this year and Albert Tazi the administrative assistant at the high school Carol Andrus who's a reading teacher at Stratton? Paul Andrus physics teacher at the high school Walter bedell custodian appears Cindy Bouvier director of wellness and counseling and phys ed Couldn't get the whole title on this Cheryl Christo who is a the choral director at that high school Evelyn de Rosa reading coach Lucia gentile who is the food service at oddison? Barbara gridley who was a fax teacher and and also special ed teacher at the high school Laurie Johnstone grade 5 teacher Hardy Janice sat like Mott who actually retired Before after the reception last year was who we included her and she was a 40-year plus kindergarten teacher at Stratton and genie wall who was grade 3 teacher Bishop So it I extend From all of the the school system and I know from you there are well wishes for many Healthy and happy years ahead and thanking them for the many years of service. They've given us Really when you think about the number of kids They have passed through their classrooms or their their cafeteria or the the halls of the school It's just an amazing impact on the lives of young young people. It was lots of fun going around town giving out corsages And they were happy to see me it's so nice to Go into buildings and people say oh, thank you for being here Though it was a very early experience because some of those corsages to the traffic supervisors Had to be delivered before they go off their post and the one at the oddison leaves at 8 so This was a very early morning with lots of caffeine in a second stop at Cabrata for for more coffee But these are such wonderful people and they were just so happy to be recognized by us I know the Jennifer when she gets to do this next year. It's gonna be it's gonna be the highlight I've got a couple of pictures of that. I sent to Karen Go ahead. Okay. I also want to acknowledge two students that are have very special awards that have Been been given them. There was a contest by my ideal school sponsored by MSBA And I think that there were over 1200 drawings submitted into this contest From first grade students across the Commonwealth It's a very small group and I'm very pleased to say that one of the winners is a student at Pierce Bethany Chow And so congratulations to her In my newsletter, I'll get her picture up so everybody can see it's very very cute Thank you then another special award is for a student first another first-grade student at Stratton, this is Brianna Gallagher. By the way is the daughter of our former school resource officer lieutenant Brian Gallagher Who noticed that there was a fire at Stratton? Told her parents and because of her quick action and realizing that this was something could be serious We got the fire department there very quickly put out the fire, but it could have been very serious very serious fire Had it gone undetected? Well chief Jefferson Nominated her for a special award and we just we just were notified today by the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services That she's going to be honored at an assembly on Monday at Stratton for her quick thinking and Follow-through so congratulations to Brianna I also want to congratulate all of our art students and teachers that Going for the last couple weeks We've had an art exhibit over at the town hall and today was the reception and it'll still will go on for And I think about another week on the second floor of town hall It is just fabulous. We get a chance to go there and And of course you can see examples of it all around here So congratulations to all of them One of our high school teachers Ian McKay received an award and excellence, which I'll again highlight in the newsletter Through his association for the work. He's done in developing the economics class here at the high school Last day of school since we're talking about calendar. It will be just on Ian. I Had the pleasure of going down to Norwood to the Massachusetts Council for the social studies Where he was presented his award It's was a very impressive thing that he got and They gave out about six awards for different Social studies teachers across the Commonwealth and his was the one in economics and He's very well thought of Statewide Carrie Dunn was there too, and she just talked about how what a good job he does for the district He does in fact he is the person who coordinates now our Syracuse program where we do the dual enrollment That's it other than saying the last day of school it is going to be June 25th Mr. Hainer, I just want to mention the Memorial Day program that was held at Audison school this last week I apologize the teacher. You could tell me his name Robert Bartholomew. Yes Jeff Melton is a math teacher at the middle school. He was the keynote speaker he's the reservist who came in his full Navy dress uniform and There were quite a few veterans that came that have lost comrades and His speech covered Hit every one of the veterans present there from World War two right up to present and Jeff is also with myself has just been put on the Veterans Council here in town and the His speech was fantastic The teachers were fantastic the students There is no way that many middle school students should have been that quiet and that well behaved for that one period of time You could hear a pin drop from the beginning to the end They were they the children put a fantastic program together with the support of the teachers The whole staff and everyone is to be commended to that. Thank you Okay Consent agenda all items listed. I'm going to ask to pull the May 14th meeting because I Was I missed 97.3 percent of it All items listed with an asterisk are considered to be routine and will be enacted in one motion There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the committee so requests in which event the item will Be considered in its normal sequence approval of warrant number 15169 dated 514 2015 the amount of 440,395 dollars and 40 cents and approval of the minutes regular meeting of April 30th Miss dr. Allison ampe. I need to have the April 30th minutes pulled. Okay. We will pull the April 30th minutes So we will now move the approval the warrant to move move by mr. Thielman seconded by mr. Hainer all in favor I opposed unanimous vote next will be the approval the minutes for the meeting of April 30th Move by mr. Pierce seconded by miss Starks all in favor opposed Abstain dr. Allison ampe abstain six nothing one and Approval the regular meeting may 14th 2015 moved by miss Starks seconded by mr. Thielman all in favor Opposed I abstain so it's six zero one on that subcommittee and liaison reports and announcements Number one vote to appoint members the executive session minute review subcommittee mr. Hainer is volunteered I have volunteered and mr. Pierce is volunteered so Motion to appoint mr. Hainer mr. Pierce and myself to review executive session minutes made by dr. Seuss seconded by Miss Starks any discussion all in favor I opposed Special study group on superintendent evaluation mr. Hainer nothing to report nothing to report thank you warrant committee mr. Hainer nothing to report at this time The warrant okay policy some procedure mr. Pierce mr. Chair We have two policies on the docket for first read tonight. They're ones that I discussed at our last meeting I want to thank mr. Spiegel for his work and and our counsel for going over the changes that needs to be done to our FMLA policy and We also have added parental leave policy that under the law we must have And so we will be meeting on Tuesday evening June 2nd at 5 to go over any suggestions or thoughts all of you might have To these first read policies will be also discussing a few other things at that meeting as well Any discussion Okay, consider that a first read on those policies A budget dr. Allison ampy nothing to report Facilities miss Starks all right well we had a spirited meeting on Tuesday at Stratton on the rebuild and was mostly talking about how students will be Redistributed when the Stratton goes Under rebuild it was pretty well attended I think I counted about 30 people that were their parents and also we had One of the assistant principals from the middle school was there obviously principal Hanna was there from the Stratton and we also had a Vendor of one of the modular companies come and it was the modular company that had done the Modulars in Lexington and some of the surrounding areas. So it was really good showed a lot of pictures So I think at this point, you know, I don't think there's any question that Modulars are are acceptable I mean, I think that he was able to answer a lot of their questions which had to do with safety air quality And all of that, you know, it was very it was great to have the vendor there and actually be able to speak to all that We followed that up by a presentation by dr. Bodie kind of on the process where we were and Tried to give out as much information there as possible. I think the hard thing is that What we're seeing is that the enrollment numbers That or the enrollment projections that were some of the projection numbers that we're getting from the research people are starting to Exceed even what Miss Johnson has estimated? And so, you know, it was clear that given that that there are probably some changes in the thinking about what's going to happen I think that the biggest concern that was there was still there's still a very vocal group of parents adamantly opposed to having fourth grade students at the oddison and they're still willing to do just about anything to make that not happen and So I think that other than that, I mean, and you know, we didn't Can't promise them anything, but I think that, you know, if these enrollment numbers are doing what they're doing and we have to put Modulars somewhere else, you know, who knows what's gonna happen. We told them that I think that the biggest thing is that right now We're in the process of getting the designer and we're in the process of getting these number reports And once we have both of those and we can figure out a way to deal with it You know, I think that a lot of people just aren't clear on the fact that We only have so much money that we can spend The parent who is here talking about Lexington's rebuilds Lexington doesn't use MSBA ever They have their own money They could build next to it and knock it down if they wanted to I mean they have rebuilt several schools without the MSBA And you know, so, you know, I don't think that you can compare, you know What goes on in Lexington to what goes on here and I tried very hard to explain to people that we don't hold the purse strings And so, you know, if we had all the money to do what we wanted to do, we could do things very differently But that's not the way it works, right? It's a it's a It's something that we have to, you know, work with the town to get the money and and it's kind of this interesting dance and process that has to go on and You know, it's not necessarily what they wanted to hear But I think that I think that a lot of the anger and confusion is not understanding the process Not understanding that we don't have control over some of that process, you know, there's this permanent town building committee It's not a school only committee, right? And so trying to help them understand that, you know, they were kind of some people were upset that this seems to be a Very closed process. I'm like, no, it's just very scripted. It has to happen a certain way You know, we have to do things this way with the town. And so I mean, I think that that's where a lot of the Anger and confusion and frustration that we hear from people is and and that's what I wanted to try to go and Hear from them so that I could Because I what they're saying is not necessarily what what they mean And so and I don't think sometimes that they're hearing what we're saying. I know that some of you've seen some of the emails and Just the misinterpretations of information and words, I think is is kind of clear in that and and I don't think that anyone was I Think they just took some things the wrong way. And so I'm just trying desperately to kind of help clear that Thank you, and it was It was I think a very helpful to have another meeting and we'll have more meetings You know, I do agree that it's it's a process that Has his own has his own timeline to it, but I think one of the things to that can be In the effort to be as transparent as you can at the beginning in terms of what the thinking is The that then then that also creates other issues too in terms of if you have to sort of change as you get more information Then it's like well, why did you say that? When we when the Capital Planning Committee was considering our project Part of a project is not only the construction But it's all the other soft costs that go with it and we have a budget for the construction we have a budget for the soft costs and That's what we're working with and that's what we have to work Within which we experienced quite quite a bit at Thompson and which by the way we did a pretty good job with that but as a result there are we're working in a In a tight time frame a tight frame time. I say timeframe, but a tight budget, but I think that we can do it and do it well so we Are happy to report that there was another meeting the next night with there's a parent committee That's been formed that has representatives from every grade and then some other people and they had a very good meeting Ms. Murphy came and talked about what could be done in terms of Allaying some of the concerns and and the report to me was it was very positive a lot of good ideas Because we want the parents to be involved in in helping to make this a very positive experience To the extent that we can keep You know as much as school in one spot obviously for transportation costs. We want to do that Whether that's going to work out as we work with this designer and get really look at All the numbers and the cost is another thing But when you go out to create an RFP you have to know what you're what you're Doing and so there was just simply preliminary plan and I was very clear even when I first put the letter out This is preliminary So we're going to take another look at all the six elementary schools in terms of enrollment issues and What that looks like and what classrooms might be available or not available two years we're talking about two years out And it's hard enough predicting the number of classrooms. We're going to have for September let alone Another year beyond that. So I think I It's any type there's this kind of change is always going to be upset. That was true with Thompson There were a lot of concerns a lot of worries and the parents were very good about giving us ideas that we could work with and I thought was a very positive experience all around very positive So Dr. Allison I had a question so I'm hearing through email and and Phone calls that there were proposals that were presented at the Stratton meeting that were different than anything I had heard and I'm wondering how school committee members can I'm sorry. I had a scheduled conflict and wasn't able to attend I'm wondering how school committee members and perhaps the public can learn more about these other Proposals because I looked on our notice. There wasn't anything. I thought proposals were from the parents I was yeah, what I was saying is that you know These are examples of two schools that are growing and we're going to look at all six all I said that several times we're gonna look at all six and Yes, we did say that we had Thompson and Hardy up there because they are growing they're growing and We're seeing that now even with kindergarten registrations that that they're growing faster than some of the other schools so We have more information than we had even Five months ago, which I think has to be so we don't have I have to say this right now We do not we are going to look at all six elementary schools in light of new information Before we make a final decision as to what the plan will be and that is the problem with going to let it being transparent and going through the process is that You know, well, that's not the plan you told us Well, that was that was plan was based on the best knowledge We had at the time and needing to be able to have some idea of how the how we would do this So the capital planning committee could go out and have a number to work with I think Two things someone on the committee's representative on the permanent town building committee Last night the subcommittee met to review the bids that they've come out on this design phase We narrowed them down to to invite three of those people to come meet next Tuesday night And hopefully with they'll be interviews starting at 7 30. It's an open meeting Hopefully after those interviews, we will probably meet and pick one For that. So that piece of the thing we have some dates on that aspect of it I think the meeting the other night on Thursday night Was good. I think things a lot of things were said that a little bit shocking some of the things that parents said my only concern in the night is that and things got a little upset is that a statement was made that in When people are emotionally involved they Perceives things differently and the statement was made where we can drop the whole project I think that was done in frustration by a member of the administration and it should not have happened it It can't happen number one because we don't control that it belongs to the town the whole strutting thing belongs to the town it was done in frustration and Hindsight is always good to look back and what I shouldn't have done. I didn't do it, but I mean I understand it. I just want to Tell the parents that We all understand the the strutting project is going forward. It may not look exactly the way Today the end product may not look like what we perceive it even today. Things are going to change We have the design phase that's moving forward. It's going to hopefully have a designer picked by next Tuesday going for Dr. Body already indicated there'd be it potentially another meeting by the end of June and I think the hardest part is going to be When we're going to know what is happening to work out the art music PE and all those other logistical things You need a building you need a Where the kids are going to go on what age level and then you can look at it and until that's done Easy for us to tell you how few to do and I appreciate that But as quick as that message can get out to the parents that much more You mean the message about specials the specials and stuff like that What I said is right now the focus has to be on this big issue, right? Then we're going to get to that's what I'm saying but in fact one of the things that Miss Murphy was saying at the meeting subsequent night is that Parents didn't know for example that the first lunch at oddest ends at 11 30 Well, we'll have a lunch just for students. They are 11 So they would have their own we're going to have lunch in the cafeteria. So it's little things like that, but And that was kind of thinking is already going forward but in terms of how we're going to deal with you know, special education Liaison there's just a there's a lot that's going to go into this a lot of planning the other exciting part in the Proposals and again, it still lays on the design. This could be changed, but the ones that I read had the modules Designed look at and manufactured. I think the light one of them indicated that the latest would be mid-spring So that's a good thing that that pressure to put the time and design They all emphasize the importance of getting feedback from the schools from the parents from the teachers and Modules today are not the trailers that I mean you can buy those there's one down at the fire station right now But all that is is an office temporary. They are the major differences They build them off-site instead of on-site, but they're they're really fantastic They're going to add add addition to a building. They're an addition to the building. They're not this Quick and fancy thing that you put up and walk away from the not trailers Oh, I just wanted to pick up on what dr. Allison ampe said and I know that I also was surprised by hearing from parents information that we hadn't seen yet and Just come up a couple times actually came up last year with the kindergarten numbers as well so it There just would be great to have some sort of vehicle when there's new information out there that we somehow We're not It was just in the discussion though. There's no there's no one trolling it. There wasn't any there's not That was not what we got we got I actually I specifically then sent something to Diane Johnson asking if what the parent had said to me It was true and she said yes, so it wasn't it wasn't it? No, there was I'm telling you I was there There was no new plan Given out. There is no new information that you're using. This was all in discussion Actually, this was about the plan to put modules at Thompson. No, there is no plan to do that We are looking into every school due to enrollment. That's all we said Okay, there was no new plan. There's nothing I think what happens and I forget who made the point is sometimes What you know, you have I've learned this, you know, you can say it But you have probably said many times because people hear it through what they're a filter and not or they're emotional Then the numbers on enrollments you've had these for a long time these are just nothing new in terms of elementary enrollment, but you know, we've talked about increase the increasing enrollments in kindergarten and I have to you know, I don't want I want this to be as transparent as possible I don't want a surprise later on when I said, okay. Oh, by the way, we're gonna put it at this school We never mentioned that school before right didn't want to do that So I put it in the school committee hadn't heard that so it's just sort of be great way to find some ways But we can get that information as parents are getting it so parents are being told about various possibilities even though they're not set in stone and Unless you're at the meeting and we could have all gone to the meeting But but but we didn't right and we wouldn't get that information except your parents I hear you. Yeah, right. So I think you know some sort of vehicle that you give you the PowerPoint ahead of time or Yeah, yeah, that would be possible. Maybe a couple of quick notes or points But now the thing is we're within 48 hours Yeah, it's on the website. Okay. Yeah Mr. Fieldman, so It's just a couple takeaways that I want to clarify one thing that I'm taking away from the conversation is that It is possible. There'll be Some modulars that will stay more than one year and more in addition to the out of some musical So I think it's an important thing for the public to understand that we're looking at some modulars That might be there for a longer period of time to alleviate some of the Enrollment growth that was raised in the conversations. We had the other thing that You know, we didn't get a chance to get to on the other night is that you know There there are some educational advantages to having Elementary school children on a middle school campus That I hope we get a chance to highlight as this discussion moves forward You have they're going to get exposure to the middle school before other children That can be fun and exciting to a certain degree It's it's it's a fact that if you have fourth and fifth grade teachers on the same campus with six seventh and eighth grade teachers And use their time wisely they can improve their practice because they're going to see what's expected at the higher grade levels so and That's a positive for stratton kids in the future and maybe all kids in the district too So there's a lot of other positives that you know, it's not ideal the fears are understandable I think any parent would have the same fears, but there's a lot of positives That could come out of this and I hope they're highlighted as this process goes forward a lot of educational positives that I see And one is the other way around too. It's it's the middle school teachers being able to see We always talked about them going out to the elementary schools and observing but It's it's hard, you know to do it, but they're going to have classes right they can observe classes and see what's going on And those classes in the fourth and fifth grade teachers can observe six seventh and eighth grade teachers teaching and see what the Expectations are there. Yeah, right. Yeah, it's a lot a lot of positives From a PD perspective Mr. Heiner I Hear what you're saying, Mr. Thielen I think the fifth grade and it indicates with the lack of concern not lack of concern But not a negative concern from the fifth grade parents. We're not hearing from And that adjustment as Educator as a parent I see a fourth grader in the third grade coming from elementary Environment to a quasi elementary environment in the fourth grade back to an elementary environment went away Kids I said it before and I'll say it again kids that were adaptable parents have less adaptability I mean, it's justifiable concern in their part If we can make it easier What I'm hearing we're going to try to make it easier if we can't We'll have to make it as smooth as we can and and going forward and I Think I heard Mr. Stocks say it before we need to all have the same message going out and and the message has to be positive and People can get us emotionally involved. You all know me. I but We have to stay positive with these people Just to share in case anyone else in our wide viewing audience is looking for it We did find it on the website. I don't understand where it is But if you search for stratton you can find it. Mr. Pierce helped me So if anyone else wants to look at the PowerPoint it is there Some of the most successful schools in the Commonwealth are k8s There's nothing inherently good or bad about fourth graders being in the same building with eighth graders I Think that there's a lot of unknown ahead of us But the k8 slots and Lowell where it's all by parent choice are the most highly sought-after seats because People like that configuration All I can say is that as somebody who Studies public policy and enjoys that part of it as a town meeting members since 92 We do different business differently in Massachusetts particularly in Massachusetts towns so it's quite confusing for people who are not used to the way a town government works and Coming from New York. It's so totally different The school boards have total autonomy over their their operation Towns are totally separate from schools The funding is completely different There are a lot of moving parts we're getting a budget from the capital planning we're the building People are building in a permanent town building committee. We have operational say so it's it's dispersed And I think that parents who are not don't understand the way we do business are looking at all these moving parts and saying How do we influence this what's going on? Without understanding what our constraints are and what and what the process is and I want to thank the superintendent with Starks and the facility subcommittee for doing the work of engaging in the discussion and and Give giving the lay of the land to the folks that they understand what we're doing and what our motivations and constraints are One last comment from mr. Heiner Request to the chair dr. Bordi could you send us and you do send us the regular enrollment figures and stuff but can you give us the updated ones just Projections for next year I Don't have the kindergarten numbers Well, no, you were talking you're talking about working from a set of numbers the modules permanent based on Projected and we're going to get that complete report the final part probably in a week, right? Absolutely, you're going to have it for the next meeting. Thank you next full meeting district accountability Are we done this start? Yes, okay district accountability curriculum instruction and assessment with the only we're going to meet either You're actually available Jen on June 3rd, right? So well, we're either going to meet June 3rd June 8th We're going to figure it out right out. You told me June 3rd was off Like to do it earlier than the time that you listed preferably which is a new okay for me because I usually like it later or really That day I need it like earlier than I think what did you say? Oh? I think the teachers would like to do it at 4th. Yeah, so I'd love to accommodate. All right Let me check with everyone's schedule. Okay. I'll come see if June 3rd at 430 works June 3rd at 430 Well, you have to be there for the curriculum instruction. Yeah, well, we're talking about the kindergarten The definitely yes, she definitely need all right, then I you know, I hit okay, then up. We'll just meet Why don't we do 430 on June 3rd? Sure. I'll just reconfirm it Linda tonight We'll keep it there you go. Good. Thank you. Judd. So we're going to meet 430 obviously next week That was five minutes of reverting TV A community relations that you see we're trying to schedule a meeting extra we need a doctor by schedule to see what what works Okay, any announcements from the committee? I just wanted to say a big congratulations to the ABGC rowing team, which is I mean the ABGC Arlington Belmont Second-year state champs. Wow Unbelievable that is really unbelievable That is just awesome, I can't believe it. So that's really great. They worked hard Mr. Heiner the Memorial Day Parade I'm happy to say he had a contingent first time of scouts. They were daisies They're the five-year-old girl scouts and they marched in the parade and they were all excited And you know the top of them Keep up with them. I was ahead of them. They had to follow me. I had to move quickly Anything else under announcements or that brings us to our second executive session of the evening I Actually, mr. Chair, if I may go ahead as the quick plug for a lot of Arlington students are participating This weekend in a show in it's actually in Belmont, unfortunately But it's a great town hall The sound of music will be performed there at the Belmont town hall this weekend. A lot of Arlington students are in that show Big show big show all right big shoot I Am going to entertain a motion to go into executive session to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with union and or non-union personnel or contract negotiations with union and or non-union Personnel in which if in held in an open meeting may have a detrimental effect and to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a Detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position to the public body and the chair. So declares moved by Dr. Allison ampy seconded by mr. Pierce roll call mr. Hainer hi here's dr. Allison ampy miss Starks mr. Thielman dr. Seuss Chair votes. Yes, we will be adjourning from executive session. Thank you very much