 Lou of Ashley Lincoln being here. I will call this meeting to order. It is five oh six. And this is the meeting of the Randolph Technical Career Center advisory board. And so we have some guests here today. So John, do you want to introduce yourself? Okay. All right, cool. And I guess are there any petitions? Hearing none. We'll move forward. I wanted to start by talking a little bit about facilities. Every meeting I tend to do this, but right now we are gearing up for the summer work season where some of these facilities things really can happen when kids aren't in the classroom. So what I have here in your documentation is just what the teachers have requested in different spaces. I think what you're going to see if you look this over more closely is that our heavy shops, as I've mentioned, I think before are in serious need of some tender loving care in the form of pretty much gutting them, new wiring, new ventilation, paint on the walls, ceiling tiles, either out or replaced. So a pretty significant project. And that's in three of our spaces, construction trades, diesel technology, and diversified ag. But most importantly, construction trades is a priority because right now they do not have a classroom. So we wanna work with that room and make sure that we get them a classroom space. Currently there is a classroom that's available, but next year if the budget goes through and we get our additional math teacher, that classroom will be the second math teacher's classroom. So that's the need there. There's also a need for us to look at our bathrooms. I know that that's a topic that's come up, I think, across the district. Right now we have one boys' room with, what, I don't know, two stalls maybe? One stall, one year and all. And then we have a girls' room with three stalls and then a single stall bathroom up the hall. And it's just not enough with our growing numbers just to make it more gender-neutral. I really am hoping that we can take our two big bathrooms and divide each of them into three single stall bathrooms. I have kind of a plan of how that would happen. It does mean, again, a pretty significant reconstruction because those are cinder block walls, so we're gonna have to do some work there. But I think it's not impossible. And then the other thing is to actually create a nurses' office. Right now, well, historically, our TCC has always sent students to RU if there was a need for a nurse. But we in the last two, three years have been fortunate enough to have a nurse, but we really haven't had a space. We've kind of made do with a space, but there's no water in there, there's no bathrooms. It's really not, it's got carpet in it, which you really don't want in a nurses' room. So all of those pieces. So we would like to renovate what is currently an underutilized staff room and make it into a nurses' station. And it would also have the water that's necessary and the tile floors. So those are kind of like the big ones, but the rest are like, you know, pipe dream wishes on the list. So I just wanted you to have what needs to happen. Any questions on facilities? Does that ask the timeline on this? Well, so not all of these, I can guarantee you not all of these are going to happen this year. I mean, I would love for them to, but it's, we don't have the funding to do that. We have some reserve funds that, I don't know if we'll call them that. I think that's what we call them. It's a little different than the high school, but not enough to do all of these projects by any means. So I think it's probably gonna have to happen over the course of two to three years. Okay. The reason for the question is just this overall question about the infrastructure of both the high school and it being at the end of its use and whether we're... And whether it's worthwhile to put the money into it. I know. And it's a question I think we all have to ask, but I think the reality is, even if we were in a situation where we are going to build a new school, that's gonna be at least five years. And in those five years, we still have to utilize this space. So I feel for that reason alone, it's worth it. Okay. Good question. Thank you. I have a question. Does it work similar to requests for like this high school and repairs and that sense where you have to approve it a year ahead for the budget? Or is it something? We would have to, yes. If we wanted to build this into the budget, we could. We've already, and we'll be talking about this a little bit down in the agenda, although I was hoping Lane was gonna be here to talk to some of this, but I can certainly talk to it. The tuition has increased this year. That's to accommodate a couple of things. One, a larger student body. Two is an additional math teacher. And then the third would be to pull the dental instructor back into the budget. So, when we start doing those things, it doesn't leave a lot of room to add in repairs and facilities work. Not without the taxpayers. Saying no way, will they? So that's something that we're gonna have to think about though, long-term because I know that the state is looking at governance structures for technical schools. They're also looking at funding structures. Right now, as I've mentioned, probably at every meeting since I've been in this position, currently the system is such that the money follows the child. So that means that when a kid from RU, for example, comes to the tech center, that money comes to us. And so that creates a barrier for sending schools to want to send kids to us. And they should have access, but it's hard. I get it. You know, these are small schools. They can't run their budget if we're pulling the funds away from them. So hopefully the legislature will come up with some solution that's good for technical schools and good for high schools. I'm really hopeful about that. I don't know if that answered the question. Totally. What was the, I don't know. It was how it gets budgeted in. So yeah, so it would have to be budgeted in, but tuition, my guess bottom line was, my point I was trying to make, I think is that we really, at this moment, it's tough to raise the tuition rate too much. Right. That's what I think I'm getting at. So we have to- So you're looking at other avenues to fund the- Yeah. But if it's funded out of reserves, that would have been in last year's budget, right? Well, what happens? So the way technical centers budgets work, we have to spend, we make our best guess budget. We plan our tuition. And then when our budget comes to the end of the year, we have to be within 3% of what we budgeted. If we're over, we're over. We don't ask schools for more. If we're over 3% more, then we ask them for more. But if we, let's say, didn't spend 6%, 3% would go back to the partner schools. We only can keep 3%. So it's kind of this weird, I don't know, thing. So that's where the reserve funds come from over probably many, many years. I don't know how long it's taken to just build what little reserve we have. So, yeah. So yeah. Any other questions around facilities? This might be a good time for me just to mention kind of an aside. We're looking at our vehicles right now. RTCC has quite a few vehicles, which I know is not typical for many schools, but in our case, it's integral to our programming because kids are quite often going offsite to do work. They're also doing work right here on their property. So one of the things that we're looking at and hoping for your blessing is to get a little bit of the funding from the reserve fund to replace one of our trucks and dump trailer. So we'd be replacing a vehicle and a worn-out trailer that's no longer roadworthy with one vehicle with a dump body. And so I'm hoping if you all give me your blessing, I'd like to move forward with that. I guess I would need a motion. I'll move. I second. Do you know the cost? 20,000, I think, is what is going to cost. And I think the reserves, that's after our trade-in and sale of the trailer, someone who just wants to have it on the farm, not gonna go on the road. So I think that's pretty reasonable for what we're getting. There is, we could go with a state contract and get a new one, but the state contracts don't come out. I don't think until April and then you're in a waiting game having ordered it, which puts us at risk of not having what we need in the fall. There is also one on the lot in Montpelier, but the cost of that is gonna cost us 45,000. So my recommendation is to go with the used one so we can get in St. Albans, it's low mileage, and it will meet our needs. Thank you. So hearing. 20,000 seems reasonable for truck with a dumb body. So with that, thank you for your approval on that. Current enrollment, no, recruitment season. There's a motion right. So we have a motion, we have a second. Oh, we need to vote. We need to vote, sorry about that. Yes, we do need to vote. All those in favor? Hi. All those opposed? Approved, thank you. So the recruitment season, at this point, acceptance letters and waitlist letters and ineligibility letters all went out on February 1st and that's for the first round of applications. So those were due on December 15th. What happens now is those waitlists and those ineligible kiddos have an opportunity to appeal. So hopefully the letter outlines some of the things that are needed and they can look for evidence to show that they've made improvements in those areas and then we can reconsider their application in the March 15th deadline, but also we'll have a second round of applicants that just didn't do it the first time applying for the March 15th application date. So we're well into that. Our enrollment as of right now for next year, we have accepted 103 students, 128 were found ineligible at this time and that was for various reasons. It might be that the counselors didn't provide everything we needed. So we're a bunch of reasons for those. Six were incomplete, meaning we were waiting on counselors at that time. Two were complete, means we were waiting on instructors at that time and 18 are waitlisted for again, various reasons. So I think all of our programs are looking pretty healthy. I think we've got to do some work recruiting for construction trades. Criminal justice, probably could use a few more culinary arts, although that number is incorrect, I added four. So there's actually six in culinary at this point. But most of the programs are five or six or above with digital film being the one that is most sought after this year. So that's pretty cool because that's a program that we revived, if you recall. It was, we had two art programs when I started here and we let the graphic arts program go to have one program focused on the arts and that's worked really well and it helps that we have a really dynamic teacher as well. So any questions on enrollment? I have one more than I could say. In terms of which schools, how many numbers of applicants from each school? Sometimes it's nice to hear and understand. We had 68 applicants from RUHS. We had 14 applicants from Northfield. We had 18 applicants from White River Valley. We had 13 applicants from other schools which include like U32, Montpelier and those are for the programs that are not offered at CVCC. Like dental assisting, for example, is growing already. We had Williamstown 41 and Spalding High School had 11 this year. Do students still go for two years if they want to? Absolutely. Do they reapply or do they like have a... They do have to reapply every year. So it's based on how their year went, if it's a fit because sometimes kids will be in a program and it's kind of clear by the end of the year that it's not really where their strength is or there's something else they're interested in. So a lot of kids will even change programs over the course of time. But those kids that stay in the same program have the opportunity to go out on co-op which means that for part of their work, part of their week, they're out working which is great. So... Do you feel like you're getting a good amount of students who are coming back for a second year? Absolutely. I think most of them, yeah, that's good. Just a question on understanding the numbers. So the 103, is the 6, 2, and 18 underneath the 28? Is that the explanation of the 28? I mean, it's too short. No, those are different numbers. So those are, yes, those are ones that haven't been, they're either not accepted, they're on a wait list or they just haven't been processed yet. So then how does like, for instance, the 18 wait listed correspond to the wait listed in the table? Oh, is it so, okay, yes. Let me explain this table. So this is directly from our EnrollTrack system and it gets really wonky because it will say that, let's say I placed a student in their first choice program and their second choice program, it will show them as wait listed in there. So don't, I wouldn't even look at those numbers as helpful because they're really not. The ones in the grid. The wait list, yeah. I think. So it's almost creating another. It's kind of confusing, yeah. So I would just not even look at that. The best one to look at would be the applicants. That means whether it was first or second choice, those folks applied for that program. And then you can divide it by which one was first choice and which one was second choice. Good questions. Anybody have any other questions about enrollment? Lane, you're right on time. I'm gonna apologize, I had a sick wife and sick kid. We're gonna go over the budget next. I was kind of hoping you were gonna be here for that process, perfect. Thank you. I'm sorry, what was your name? I just wanna add it. Matt, sorry. No, it's okay, I work. I should know you by now. Something on this first one. Yeah, it is. I skipped all the other ones. He tried to come to one but he came right as it in. I've been on travel every single week. That's right, you came like right as we were walking out. I remember now. So we'll move on to the next item on our agenda is next year's budget. And so the first bullet point is improvement plan for academics. And one of the, well, there's two things of note with this. One is that the Perkins Plan requires us to put some funding into our academics because of the test scores that we're seeing right now, which I think is typical across the state. I don't think that's unique to us post COVID. And so this year we're hoping to add the math teacher so that we have two math teachers and we can differentiate our learning a little bit more because it's really incredibly hard. The way it's structured this year for the teacher to differentiate when there's such varying levels of ability within each class. So that's gonna be awesome and really helpful. Hoping that next year that we could potentially add an English teacher as well so that we can, again, dive deeper and look at a more structured way of teaching where kids are getting the skills that they need. Tuition increase, yeah. What's the ratio for the teacher to student in the English arena currently? Do you mean entirely? Absolutely ridiculous and horrible. Yeah. The honest number is, yeah, 140, how many kids do we have? 145. 145, one. Yep. So is she or he teaching all seven blocks? So our schedule's a little bit different. The way we have it is they're divided, they go into English and humanities by program and they have that once in the morning, one day a week, once in the afternoon, one day a week so that, and we have to build 13 programs into that schedule. So it's not enough. Yeah. It's not enough. Yeah, and part of the issue is, and hopefully the legislature, being on top of the legislators tonight a little bit, is this idea of potentially changing tech education funding. Because we're a small district in terms of, you know, our enrollments at our tech center, compared to some of the larger tech centers out there, but there's this need for this core academic piece to be provided to the students. But if you look at our tuition, you see with the addition of that, one additional math teacher did, right, we went from about 18,000 to 22,000 tuition points because it's such a small budget that one person increase like that is huge. You know, if we tried to do, I forgot what it was gonna be if we had two, it was either 24 or, yeah, it was in that range. And so, you know, I was trying to find that balance. And one of the things that's hurt us for the last couple of years of the technical center is, and I think it was intended to be a benefit in, and 10 years ago when enrollments were declining across the state, is they kind of changed the funding piece so that funding at a tech center was based upon a three-year average. So what would happen is as student enrollment went down, it would take a little while for the average number of students to go down as well, and the funding's based upon the average number of students. And so it was really helpful to districts as enrollments went down. But in our case, like we had one year where it jumped from one year 127 students to 160. And so, you know, we're providing services to 160 students, but only being given the financial benefit of 120 some odd. And, you know, you can't do that. And it's because that lag, that three-year lag works in reverse as well. And so for districts like ours whose enrollments have either stayed steady or gone up in state study, it's had a negative impact. And we do worry about, you know, trying to keep our tuition rates in line with the other tech centers. We're a little bit different. We're a full-day program compared to most tech centers that are half-day. So we are offering it considerably more to the students and to the schools that send their students here. But if you look across the state, you know, next year we are certainly not the highest tuition for a tech center. But I think we're probably in the top four. And again, a lot of it is based upon trying to figure out the best way to deal with that kind of problem. It's delivering the academics. And last year, Sam, we explored with our partner schools. We discussed the idea of potentially students having their academics before they came to us or after they came to us, which we really, I think, as a central Vermont community, I think it was really well-supported. But the agency of Ed did not support it. They have some statistics that show that the academics, their kids are more successful when they have it right at their technical school. So therefore, it puts us back in the, how do we find this? Yeah, how do we find and how do we balance it with the back solution piece? And a part of this, I think if I remember, part of the discussion at the time was this idea that they were looking at changing, because that's a priority, when they looked at their research, they're looking at changing the finding structure to help we support folks that are kind of in our vote. So we're waiting to see. Yes. Vermont Thomas. Yeah. And I'm hopeful because I know this affects more than just us and the governance structure. All of that, it's all kind of related. The other quirk that's in there that affects the tech centers as well as the high schools is the testing scores in science. When the state is, every couple of years, it kind of changes around when the state testing occurs. But one of the things that it did was the science testing happens in 11th grade. And so if the students are going over to the tech center, you know, we have about 60 students, probably about half of our senior class goes over. And half of our junior class goes over as well. They're not getting a year of science the year that they take that test. And so the science scores are down. And so we've been scrambling around for a couple of years, trying to figure out the best way to do that balance. How do we provide that science education to students that might be going off to the tech center and they're literally gonna be missing a year of science? The department at the high school here has done a pretty good job of trying to identify which students are likely to go to the tech center and then building backwards, building more standards into the freshmen and the sophomore science classes. But you're still trying to squeeze three years under two. Right, yeah. So there's another kind of potential problem. So either move the test to ninth grade like everybody else, or they're gonna have to be able to provide some funding so they can also be a science teacher there. And then I don't know how, the tech center, and I don't know how much that would dilute the, the core that they're taking. Well, I think we just have to look at the structure of the day. It would, you know, we've always had the day structured in a particular way and people get attached to that, but we can look at other models. I think the biggest barrier is transportation because a lot of our students that don't drive have to get their regular bus from their home to their partner school and then catch a bus there to come here. So we're kind of bound by this partner school schedule. And it's quirky too, because a lot of the other schools, they contract out for the busing services. So lots of times one of the reasons they come later here is they don't have enough buses to run them all at once. So they have to run the normal routes for the kids that go to their schools first. And then when the buses are done, then they can, they've got the extras to be able to bring their students over here. So I think that's one of the reasons that, you know, the day starts later. So there's a lot of structural pieces that can make a big impact if we had some changes. Yeah. So we mentioned the tuition increase and we've talked about the state revenue. At this point, whoopsie, if you just wanna sleep, reports. I think I've said everything for the most part that's new other than, I think you all probably received my email. I've made the decision that this is my last year as director of RTCC. And I know that they are in the process. Heather's been putting together a committee for my replacement. I'm obviously gonna work out the rest of the year and happy to do that and excited to do that. I love this job. I love this place. Just looking for a little more work-life balance. So that's, I think, the only sort of big news other than that, you know, staffing. I don't see as much turnover right now. I think we're pretty good. So I've got a nice staff and I'm excited about them moving forward. So we're very appreciative. I think one of the things that really stood out for me in terms of what Felicia brought is she did come in with a very kind of powerful vision that I think has made this a significant number of improvements over at RTCC. And plus a tenacity with a lot of the things to actually carry it out and see it through that is rare. So I've got a commender for that work that she mentioned that she said. It was truly amazing to kind of watch. So I do appreciate that. Thank you. And we have interviews booked for Monday. We have three candidates that are qualified. We had a fourth candidate, but they are not qualified. No technical school experience. So we're going to move forward with those three applications and continue to have the job posted at this time and may also post it in the newspaper if we determine we need additional candidates. Thank you. So I think the only other thing on the agenda, well, there's a couple of the items. One, I just need a motion to approve the minutes from November 9th. I'll move. Thank you. I'm on the advisory. I keep forgetting. I know, yeah, you are. So I'll move to approve the minutes. I'll second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Those opposed? Thank you. And I think Heather, you kind of touched on the opening of search committee. So I don't think I need to, it's all good. I should also mention though that it is a diverse group. We have some teachers and we have some students. Some lab members. And yep, exactly. Megan and Sarah is going to fill in. Actually, Sarah is going to be on it. And also we invited people from White River Valley and also from, we invited the superintendent from North River Williamstown. He wasn't able to attend, but we're hoping for a destiny. I just wanted to let you know that we're trying to involve a nice group of stakeholders to do this interview. Cool. So Cures, do you have industry represented in that? I don't. And I want that. Would you like to be on the committee? No, but the beta. What? I was just curious. Because beta was down here right not too long ago talking. They were. They were. They're certainly, I mean, they're hiring a bunch. We're hiring a bunch, but. Yeah, they were. I can't volunteer for anything else. I understand, yeah, because we are looking for like a half day on Monday to do these three interviews. And I realize that is very difficult for our employers to give us that. Someone else, who's the person who's on this board who is from Bethel Mills or some other lumber organization? I don't think they're from Bethel Mills. Not on this board. Some, I don't know. I have Nathan on this board. Nathan, right. Could it have been Nathan? He could have been Nathan. He's our communications person. He's the one that's been involved in our outreach that we've been doing to increase enrollment. Is that someone I should reach out to? Got a flexible schedule. I love people with a flexible schedule. I think he asks great questions, too. I think I put Nathan in an email to you at one point or another. And I may have missed it. That's totally fine. I apologize, but I will search for it right now. And I appreciate that important inclusion. Thank you. Jason, family at this point, probably has important connections with local. So maybe we're checking in to see. Is this Nathan McNaughton? No, Nathan Wright. Nathan Wright. W.R. W.R. We can send her his contact information. I did, but you sent it to me. Perfect. I found it. Perfect. All right, with that, any other questions around the search? So I think correspondence and other items, I have none. Anybody else? I have a question. Is there an adult program still? There is not at the moment. OK. Very good question. And that is one of the things, of the many things that I walked into. Getting this board into compliance was one of the things. Getting our facility up to date was an important thing. Getting our enrollment up. And then the thing that hasn't quite gotten there yet for us is the adult education program. I think the last time that it was actually pretty successful was maybe when my mom was here. So I don't, I mean, there was some, but it wasn't full time. So we had discussions about it going back. There were attempts to get it going again. We just couldn't get people to come. And we always had the question about when the adult basic ed came in, in the kind of brand-off. And that was kind of siphoned off to people that we would work with through that program. Yes, that did definitely impact it. Because I think the biggest part of when it was run by my mom is we had the adult diploma program. So that was for adults that needed to get their regular diploma. Now that doesn't exist in adult basic ed. Exactly, exactly. So there was a competing, you know, two organizations that were kind of in the same thing. And then you've also got VTC with their continuing education department. So it's, I think, was a little challenging from what I've understood. But that doesn't mean there's not a need. I know that, for example, LNA program, we ran some last year. The year before. And the year before. In partnership with Central Vermont Medical Center, I think we could certainly do that with Gifford or even just having it on our own. But it's nice to be affiliated with the hospital. But you can still audit classes, right, as an adult? Here in our day programs? No, I guess not. Yeah, I guess that's a question. So adults can take our day programs. They just have to pay tuition. And priority goes to students first. So if the program fails, the adult will not be first selected. Excuse me, Ruth, let me know if the person has not graduated high school. The sending district still pays, even if they're an adult. Even if they got their GED and not a diploma, right? And I was like, whoa, whoa. Very surprised. So was that the focus, folks who didn't have their GED or high school diploma at that point? That was the target of the night program, or was it? When it was a diploma program, it was to get a regular high school diploma. Are you? They used to get those through. Are you? I know there was also other courses, like welding and L&A. And I think there's a lot of room for growth. I could see a manufacturing course easily. There's nothing here for advanced Excel skills, right, that I have to try to find online classes for people. There's a whole list of stuff that we'd certainly be interested in. I'm laughing, because if you find those, I've been trying to get my co-facility managers to take them and you can't see it, right? They're LinkedIn learning, but a lot of people don't learn that way. So it's just having something in person for certificate-based classes would be massive, at least for our own institution. Just for professional development. Yeah, in our area, too, it doesn't seem like it's a lot. I think there's a lot of possibilities there. And again, it's another position that would raise tuition because it doesn't bring, well, I shouldn't say that. But yes, I do need to say that. It's partially salary-funded. If we had a full-time adult ed person, it would be salary-assisted like my position is, but you still gotta break even. Yeah, because with those programs, you're still beholden to the faculty member has to have enough credibility and experience in the field, right, we can't just pay them equitably for what we define. It's an administrator's degree. It's like a principal's degree or an assistant principal's. Is there not a concept like an adjunct faculty like universities have? BTC has, you don't have to have any special teaching certificate to be an adjunct faculty member at BTC. Yeah, I can teach classes there all day long, right? I mean, is there not? That's a whole nother conversation. I'm just curious, but it doesn't have to be a... The after-school for adults, I would have to check. If it's here with kids, we've got the highly-qualified designation and we have to put on people who came from no child left behind, but that's something that we can check. And I think if they're getting paid though from what typically happens, if they're getting paid for with any kind of grant funding from the federal government, which I think some of the reimbursement for this might be that typically requires a high-quality, I guess. So it's a good question. So we're talking about two different things here, too. We're talking about the coordinator is the person that gets the teachers, gets the classes planned and all of that, right? And if you're talking about the teachers, no. The adult teachers do not have to have the certification. At least they never used to. But there still needs to be someone who does everything. But the person who's in charge of programming. Sounds like a great thing to add to the job description for Monday. No, you know what, they... Seriously. The people, Felicia was working on it as well. She mentioned the L&A program. I'm trying to remember why it kind of dropped off the table in the site. And I think thinking about it is probably because of COVID. At the time. And so I'm glad people are bringing it up because otherwise it would still kind of be, I think, a little bit out of sight. Yeah, and just to be completely transparent, it is going to come up from the AOE. They are aware that we haven't been active in for many years and it's going to be on the shoulders of the next director to get that up and running. It's an expectation. I'd like to see it happen again for our community. Yeah, I think it would be great. Yeah, I think it's a good asset. It's worth getting a survey, you know, out to find out what the limitations are. You know, wondering if it might be something as simple as transportation, you know, in that case, then we just get a grant and provide a bus that picks the adult something and drops it back off. I mean, there might be some very simple things that are getting in the way where people's work hours, you know, it'd be difficult to audit courses if you're working during the day, so I don't know. But, you know, as that gets going, it might be worth a note of it is to go out, kind of survey the broader community just to see what any kind of blockages would be. And I think working with business, like the Stafford's adult program is very successful because Bill goes out and talks to his businesses in the community, and they come to him and say, hey, I need an Excel class, and he builds it, and they come, you know? So it's really building the partnerships with the workplaces that's gonna be important. Well, I guess that's a question. I mean, who's the target, right? I mean, because it is gonna be limited resources. Are we going after the folks that weren't able to complete their high school, or are we going after the folks that may have high school, but they need additional skills that's I'm not sure. Maybe you can do both, I don't know. That'd be part of the survey, is what you know what your needs, right? Yeah, all right. Any other questions? I think at this point, I don't think there's a need for executive session. Okay. With that, I'm going to, I'll say we are done. Thanks.