 Calling a meeting of the Amherst School Committee to order today is Tuesday, October 15th at 603 p.m. Welcome everyone and the first order of business on the agenda is approving minutes of September 17th There have been a couple of issues that have been brought to my attention And that I also noticed with our minutes and so I want to give the committee a few minutes to take a look but maybe also what I'm hoping we can do is Bring these minutes back with any edits that are compiled for today for a vote for at our next meeting I think that some of the changes are significant enough where it will take some revision and possibly review of The video from our our last meeting and in addition There's also a set of minutes on here August 20th meet minutes, which are not actually included on the agenda, but the August 20th minutes Are referring to themselves for approval so in any case just Give you a couple minutes to take a look if there's anything that jumps out at you. Please let us know and then You can also send me some edits After the meeting and I will make sure they appear in our next version Mr. Dumling on item 3a of the August 20th minutes So and actually in the last line before item 3a Mr. Donies would like to extend a call for the community to participate in CPAC so CPAC has SEP AC Not CPAC, which is a much different organization And then and then one other note on the August 20th minutes on the very last page of the August 20th minutes Mr. Dumling moved to extend the meeting by 30 minutes Motion was approved by four in favor one against not that I'm concerned about it for this particular Vote but just in the future if there's a non Unanimous vote to identify who is approved who's for who's against who abstained would be helpful Thank You mr. Dumling And I'm sorry just to make sure that we're looking at the same thing. You mentioned the CPAC reference Where was that again right above item 3a new and continuing business? It's like the top of printed page three. Thank you And again, I don't want to spend too much time on this You know that there are significant edits that have to be made so if the committee Has any edits they want to send after this meeting? We will not be approving them tonight We will be revising them or asking for them to be revised and then bring brought back at our next meeting for approval Okay Okay, so with the committee's permission. I'd like to move us on to committee announcements Are there any announcements from the committee? Mr. Dumling, I just a reminder the next Monday from six to eight is CPAC's basic rights workshop at the middle school if you are one One of approximately five students in our district whose students on an IEP this is a fantastic meeting We are fortunate to live in a state where an IEP is very strong document and in districts that Respects those rights and so it's something that is very helpful to understand And so if parents can't make it to that meeting you can always email CPAC SEPAC at arps.org and our amazing parent volunteers would be happy to help you answer any question Thank you, mr. Demling. Dr. Morris if I could make a Generous addition to mr. Demling's comment, which is That if you're a family member without a student with a known disability, but are wondering how that process might work You have concerns about your child's learning profile. It's also helpful so that it is inclusive I know you know this but I'm just it's inclusive to all families Because not just you don't have to have a child with an IEP to attend one of CPAC's workshops and particularly this one's around basic rights, which is Happens throughout a process, but it could be about the beginning of a process if there are concerns about a child So it really is an inclusive event for every but every family member. Thank you Any other announcements from the committee? Okay Moving us on then to the next item on the agenda public comment So at this time I am opening us up to public comment if anyone has a comment they would like to make Please feel free to come to the mic And for those who can't see we don't really have anyone in the audience, but just in case somebody comes flying through the doors We are officially in public comment Okay, seeing no one I am going to close public comment as a reminder to the community and to the committee We will always receive comments from the community at any time sent via email at school committee at arps org Or you can also get in touch with dr. Morris and others at the district office to share public comment with the school committee Moving us on to the next item on the agenda is a superintendent's update dr. Morris Dr. Morris, I want to press the button Yeah, thank you. It's been a while. It's been in the space So It's in the packet and some of these updates were shared at the region as well, but perhaps a bit different Information because it's focused on the elementary district So the Puerto Rico flag raising event was seems like a long time ago, but it was Third we had over a hundred people gathered the event and kind of something I didn't share at the region meeting But a kindergarten students from Fort River School performed Kibonita Bandera, which is a song Classic song around the Puerto Rican flag to close the event Thank you to mr. Doniz for coming and addressing the audience. It was beautiful event and I think it's worth mentioning although I've said it before in different venues that this event was changed because As opposed to the event we historically had happened in November, which was much more about this Columbus discovering Puerto Rico this was focused on Puerto Rican uprising in Lattice and a push towards Something that's more aligned with our district's values also Those of you who are there might have seen that WGBY was there doing some filming and actually in about See that clock was using me so about 50 minutes for those of you who are watching we don't want you to not watch this show Because we know it's live But WPBS it'll I mean PBS will show it multiple times But they are celebrating in their celebration of Hispanic or Latino heritage month They visited Holyoke Amherst and the towns in the Berkshires to learn how Western Massachusetts celebrated our local Latino Community, so it's on from I believe 7 to 7 30 and then it'll be run again And we'll try to get the link and share it with our community, but I know Dr. Gavara is featured as well as some of the Events that day are featured in their video So I thought it's worth sharing and I'll once that the link becomes live The only link I have is the preview which is about 50 seconds long But the full video I'll be sure to share with everybody great. Thank you This may seem a bit orthogonal to what you just brought up, but I'm just reminding so I think you mentioned it very briefly that at the Roger Wallace excellence in teaching award that was ceremony that was on October 6th celebrated Blanca Osorio Castillo Who is an immigrant from Colombia who's an English as a second language teacher at Crocker farm for the remarkable Rick She did and I just if we're gonna have Latino Celebration month, which I guess might have in September, but still want to extend it a little bit It was just a remarkable evening because it really centered around the work that she Does as well as the life that she has lived And it was very inspiring and you could see the way in which there a lot of the things we talk about around building a supportive community for all students, but also Students may be new to our community in our country is was really remarkable and in moving I don't know if you had anything I guess my question for your update is whether you had anything to add to that Very brief one, which is today is actually the last day of Latino Heritage Month. It's from September 15th October 15 So you got it in there And I think that's why WGB why showing it today kind of at the conclusion of that month But that's a good segue. I'm gonna go out of order Based on mr. Nacogima's comments number eight on that The document which is the reason I wasn't and I was sad to miss the Roger Wallace excellence in teaching award events The first one I've missed in quite a while But I was actually driving to Boston because early in the morning I provided I was invited and provided testimony I was invited by Senator Heinz and Representative Peish They're chairs of a special commission on improving efficiencies relative to student transportation So it was because of Amherst Concord in Cambridge were the three districts that implemented a pilot program about the use of an electric bus I was able to talk quite a bit to folks from Concord beforehand and learned what similar and what's different Both about their experience, but actually about their district, which was really Instructive about how we've experienced having electric bus, you know our district for instance that the region is over a hundred square miles Much much smaller and Concord different how we charge the buses some different infrastructure pieces, but it was it was a great opportunity And I think of particular worth noting. I know we're talking to Amherst school committee, but the the Sort of it is gonna correct me. I'm asking her to correct not gonna will correct me But I believe the chair of the educational collaborative in Northampton Dan Hayes. I think that's this. Yeah, I got it So he is actually on this commission So when I was speaking it was really nice to walk into the State House and then walk into the room and there's Someone who understands where shootsbury is and the challenges that come along with that But it was really an instructive experience and appreciated the invitation and the presentation I know was shared with I shared with the committee, which was rather brief, but I think it was I was impressed About the level of questions that I received there was multiple legislators in the committee as well as someone from the representative from the school committee Association Superintendent Association as I said the collaboratives The regional schools Association, so it's a pretty good cross-section stakeholder group And you know they asked me to present for about ten minutes Which I did and I was up there for at least twice that long just on questions and discussion I would say it was probably a total of 40 minutes, which they really wanted to hear how it went They wanted to hear not just the wonderful parts But also the challenges and what the barriers were and how they could be potentially overcome and I think the one thing that I was Significant take-home for me Based on that and other conversations I've had with folks who know more much more about climate change than I do is you have things like electric bus Which are in many ways wonderful and then you also have things like Individual behaviors and one of the things on the commission set is the best thing for the climate is if more kids took the bus in general That's not an Amherst thing. It's a a general piece and and what education efforts can we have? That that go beyond something that's really tangible Which is wonderful about electric bus and brought in the individual decision-making that has great impact on the environment So I'm learning a lot short statement on that but it was it was a great experience But I was very sad to miss the event that mr. Nakajima said and dr. Guevara was the district representative So thank you to her. Dr. Morrison just to quickly interrupt. I'm wondering if there are minutes from that Presentation of that meeting might be useful. I think for you know for members of the community who've been very interested in the issue of electric buses Excuse me. I have a cold to hear You know about some of the wins and the challenges I think that you've mentioned You know because I know that there's been a lot of interest in our community, especially in you know in electric buses generally But also just what our green alternatives can be it'd be great to hear from other communities that have also been You know trying different initiatives in the same way. Yeah, absolutely. I'll Mr. Hayes is gonna be my local look up for that. So I will I will ask him. Thank you That's a great suggestion So go back to number two I'm just gonna roll through these because I know we have a long agenda so we the climate strike international climate strike was on the 20th of September and The elementary school students did not strike But they learned a lot about the environment and activities were planned so they could participate at a developmentally appropriate level Great Span advisory committee met last month in the 23rd for four hours They review the committee's charge review the middle school program of study and the process of moving six graders to the middle school Our next meeting's in a couple weeks And I plan to come back with a more robust not just update for perhaps on the agenda For the November meeting because I think the rep will meet the road a little bit in October now that we're back in the saddle I don't know this McDonald's anything you'd like to add to that No, I Agree, it's been it feels like ancient history already last month But one of the one of the topics that will be tackling and talking more about at that next meeting is just the overall timeline and What is the ultimate deliverable for this for this group because we've we've had a lot of conversation about that At the various meetings, so that's going to be a big topic at our next meeting and hopefully bring bring that back to this committee And sorry the region committee set correct both. Yeah afterward So I'm gonna skip around some of these because I'm not gonna repeat all the ones I've already shared at region So if I skipped number five For last couple last second year third year, I believe for all the schools where students are invited with their families to the open houses We've seen a great increase in participation Since we've done that so I attended Wildwoods and got to see how that went Fort Rivers is tomorrow night and that's a typo Fort Rivers is the 16th Excuse me and Crocker farms is on Thursday But Crocker farm I want to thank mr. Shea and others they were the kind of trendsetter in this regard and saw significant uptick in purchase families attending the event because if there's nothing more I Think for many families that get them places when their kids are begging them to go right and for this is a really good one for The kids to beg families to go because they're presenting their work They're presenting what they're learning and they're in the driver seat to talk about what the student experience is like in school And that's been incredibly valuable Tomorrow is an MSPA site with the MSPA site visit which is part of their typical process So MSPA staff is coming and some consultants with technical background So they'll take tours of both Fort River and Wildwood school Thankfully mr. Roy Clark will be leading them on that tour he'll be here in a little bit and can do the technical parts and Well, that's in advance of their decision on December 11th about accept which statements of interest get accepted across the Commonwealth And I think that's the other ones. I've already shared at the regional level which all of you saw so unless there's questions on any of those I think I'll pass mr. Demling Just briefly cuz I know the word MSPA sparks interest in the community Just briefly look what kind of a communication Purpose of when the MSP comes out and it's talking to the superintendent talking to school community talking to staff What's the you know what are they just asking technical questions they asking for direction? What's the story there? Yeah, so thanks Thanks for that So I think a couple things they're doing is looking for updates from the larger community So there's both school community members staff from the district, but also town staff and town elected officials as well And what they're trying to get is what's the state of the town? How are things going? What's the progress it's made is this part of the you know topical conversation going on at the town level? and so they'll have some conversations about that and then it really turns into the technical side of What is the condition of the building? What have we done to ameliorate some of the conditions? What are things that are very challenging to ameliorate given the condition of the building? So it's a mix of kind of talking about how things are going what's What's going on in the community as well as a technical side again that mr. Roy Clark would be primarily in charge of walking folks through Okay, if there are no other questions for the superintendent Thank you dr. Morris for that And we will move on to the next item on the agenda. We have a very packed agenda tonight, so I'm trying to keep us moving First item is or the next item. Sorry is a coming on this program update So this is a discussion to provide an update on the implementation of the dual language program at Fort River elementary school Dr. Morris is there anyone that you want to introduce sure? Oh, I'm sorry, so mr. Richardson who's our coordinator will be presenting how things are going six weeks in And we put this on the agenda intentionally because we didn't want to wait till Six months and before we talked about it But I also just want to caution us that we're also talking about six weeks of six weeks of school with five-year-olds So I think there's a lot to share But a lot of it's a work in progress as it is in every kindergarten classroom in our district because that's a nature of Kindergarten and we actually want to keep it that way So I think mr. Richardson the slides are up if you just press the B button They should pop up and you have to press the button if you remember to be heard either of microphone is fine here, okay great and What do I need to do here? Perfect So fancy Good evening. Thanks for having me. I don't I'm gonna just keep it pretty brief since you have most of the information There but I can give you a little bit of context especially on the more visual slide and Then I'm happy to answer any questions. So we've had a really successful launch to the school year It's been really exciting to visit classrooms and see what's happening to hear the use of both like both languages from the students I noted here that Seeing our Spanish speakers really as language models and leaders in the classroom has been exciting as well as even though We are only six weeks in to hear our English speakers starting to use the Spanish that they're learning So the teaching team is working really hard. They're really busy with lots of support and Trying to you know make it all happen but we do feel like the Planning and all of the work that went into last year and the support we had from Mabe and the grant and all of the pieces That were in place were really helpful in setting the stage So, of course, there's a lot to keep learning, but that was really essential in getting us started well So we use this slide with families to help them think about a typical day And we left it without times because it's kindergarten because it's flexible because we're looking at integrating language and content instruction together The main pieces here are that red is in Spanish and blue is English. So we're using that red and blue Color code in a lot of ways throughout the program. So in this typical day, the Activities on the top are in Spanish, but of course the children are changing which languages in the morning and which languages in the afternoon every day Or every week. I'm sorry So you see that there's repetition in terms of the morning They come in and have their breakfast and conversation. They have a morning meeting And then the activities look similar in terms of having some literacy time They have some centers where they're doing content-based learning and literacy They have some either science or social studies time And then the math is happening primarily in Spanish in kindergarten So you'll see the main differences are this the math and the specials are mostly in English And then which the snack and the breakfast right our time of day dependent Recess and lunch happen in the middle of the day. I think What else is important there? So maybe just to say that the Spanish and English classrooms are trading off which Which classroom is holding science or social studies? So the currently the unit in Spanish is a plants unit in science and the social studies unit is in English and then when the unit changes They'll switch languages with the content so that they have exposure to the language of content in both languages Mr. Richardson, can you add just how each week? There's a flip of morning and afternoon. Yep. So every Every week the group that is starting in Spanish changes So between the two classrooms, they're staying with this sort of schedule for one week And then they're flipping which language is in the morning and which is in the afternoon And the idea of that is there's multiple but one of them is that when you have kindergarten students their access to intensive learning sometimes can shift based on the time of day so that You know as part of some of these conversations last year where with there was a feeling from staff that some schools switch Every other day. It's like a waterfall start and just would be too disruptive So it was a kind of week long so that there's Consistency for a week, but we don't wait too long to flip them in terms of the accessibility to learning because we know that For some students at 230 they may be less able to access high-levels curriculum than at 9 o'clock And for some students actually could be the flip right and so the idea of that is to make sure that both The all students are getting the both act the same access to both languages, right? Absolutely. Yeah And there's more there are slight differences in the amount of time in both languages and the afternoon gives a little bit more Space in the schedule for some project work and things like that So just making sure that that's equitable across languages as part of that design in terms of the curriculum There are students are already starting to learn to read in two languages. We're seeing that They're doing their literacy and phonics instruction in both languages so the Elephant this book there is what they're using to learn the letter e and the super kids They're doing letter g right now, and then there's those social studies and science units that I mentioned So the plant unit in Spanish. That's just a little picture of what's up on the board right now So the the children are getting exposure right away to Learning about the needs of plants and using that vocabulary in Spanish And they really are using it. It's great to see Lots of repetition lots of practice, but it's all happening So there's a lot of ongoing support that we're providing to continue as the program develops The as I as I mentioned the foundational work last year was really helpful So we did have a map of the year and what the units would be and that sort of thing But we'll continue to support the unit planning and lesson development throughout to get more specific So we have support from the science coordinator We're looking at the new curriculum materials and luckily they're actually aligned very well to the new standards So we have an opportunity there to kind of improve our practice We'll have a coming at this leadership team that we'll meet again periodically this year and in terms of the activities There's a team building session with coming at a staff It's being supported just to look at how our structures are kind of working there We have our weekly meetings and our some of our staff are participating still in the bilingual education course work at UMass And so that work continues as well in family engagement We made a lot of effort to really think through how to continue to stay in touch with families there was an opportunity for families to Hear about the dual language program at their orientation session, but then we also held a specific Evening event just for coming at these parents to learn more where we shared Some of this foundational information and we talked about literacy learning in two languages and things that you know Tried to answer any questions that might be coming up for them Teachers are using the remind app as well as their regular home school communication folders to send lots of messages home we've seen a lot of excursions and Adventures already in the beginning weeks of school so lots of communication and then of course as everyone has the opportunity They'll be invited for open house and conferences soon That work will continue throughout the year too We don't have the next date's plan But we've planned to have a series of parent events knowing that we'll need to continue supporting conversations for that group So that's all I have Thank you very much miss Richardson really appreciate it You're welcome pause for a moment to see if there are any questions from the committee For either dr. Morris from this Richardson This bit sir and mr. Dimley. Thank you so much for this update. It's really exciting to See how all the planning is really paying off And speaking about planning, I guess I'm in this maybe two way too soon But I Realize that this is a program where we're gonna need to be planning for each subsequent year So are we gonna be able to like you had a nice slide with all the support that we've had as we've been Rolling out this program and that we have the past year, but as we get ready to Next year welcome a new kindergarten class and move this class up into the first grade Just maybe just some updates on how that planning is going or Tell me that it's too early and we'll talk about it in a couple weeks. It would be fine, too Sure So there are some pieces that have been sort of included in the process around first grade We were able to purchase curriculum materials for first grade and include those teachers in the Professional development over the summer. So they're actually starting to use some of those materials now So that's great because they have an opportunity to really dig in but without the pressure of having to do it right now And do it in two languages. So they're appreciating that and they're able to get me feedback on what's working and what they need And so the other thing that is exciting But not known yet is that we did hear that the bilingual education grant will be coming out again So I imagine there's a possibility that we'll have that extended support Through the grant process, but certainly we're looking to provide the same level of Support and foundational work for each grade level as we move up to make sure they're successful I don't know what I think the only thing was on a slide. I'm not sure if it was a stated explicitly and apologize If it was is that we've contracted with Mabe to do a program evaluation and make recommendations as we expand so that we know it's a seven-year journey and A successful first year doesn't necessarily guarantee you a successful year two or year three And we thought particularly as this is the first year that they can that Mabe could give us feedback given their experience Both on how kindergarten went but also make recommendations as as the program expands things that we should be doing and thinking about so They're I think it's foresight visits. They're gonna make throughout the year and then make Recommendations in time, you know before the summer next year so that we have that and we can plan the professional development That's needed Mr. Dilling Yeah, thank you for this. I'm interested in What if any level of guidance that staff in the classroom give students in terms of interacting with each other? Either in the classroom or or or playing together in this idea of like the language is something you use in real life And so you can learn about plants and all that but when you say hey Do you want to go on the slide together? You know what what are you doing? And so is is the philosophy behind that that it should be part of the curriculum is it is it like a scaffolded? Supported thing as as needed or is it just let them let them do it on their own and it just naturally evolves like how does that play into Into the instruction So there are a couple pieces I'd say that that's an evolving aspect and we're looking to see where we can Incorporate some work with volunteers or other folks who would want to come at recess and lunchtime to actually help Provide some more modeling of Spanish because many of our Spanish speakers are bilingual So it's easy to to default to English, right? But some aspects that we do incorporate are the social emotional curriculum does happen in Spanish and in English, right? So there are some aspects of conversation that are covered there and certainly aspects of daily routines and Greetings and a lot of those pieces are built into any kindergarten curriculum. And so those are all happening in Spanish as well So that I think there's some opportunities that are already sort of happening And then some places where we can continue to build that because you're absolutely right It is looking at different contexts of language use and how we can expand the opportunities Very briefly, I think the only thing I've seen just in the cafeteria is because the para educators have lunch with the kindergartners The ability for the para educator who is bilingual to facilitate dialogue, you know What appropriate in Spanish not to remove kids from having lunch and having a slightly less structured time or less structured time But for students who are Spanish speaking to engender more conversation and include those who are acquiring Spanish I've seen that, you know, just walking through the cafeteria how she's been able to Have a little more of a Spanish speaking presence and promote that among the students So I've got a couple of questions One the open house. I saw that it was on the slide there and we talked about it previously Is there can you explain how how that's going to work for? The coming out this program. Is there any difference in the way that parents and others will be received? What will that look like? Yeah, primarily there won't be a difference The children will be leading their parents around and sort of on a scavenger hunt throughout the school So they'll get a chance to visit both classrooms and see the work and materials that are happening in both places But the general format will be the same and presumably though in English and Spanish for materials and handouts. Exactly, okay Yeah, yeah And then you mentioned dr. Morris evaluation and having ma baby come for four site visits And I think just to put a finer point on it You know the evaluation of this program is going to be very important for both the committee and the community For you, of course in its very first year just to determine, you know, if we're moving in the right direction and Where we can what we can do to strengthen it, you know, and there are things that are just absolutely amazing. That's great So I'm wondering, you know During those four site visits if there's an opportunity for the committee to receive an Outliner sketch of what the planned evaluation will look like Including evaluation dates and you know and sort of the milestone markers because I think just engaging the committee It'll be really helpful to see, you know What the plan will be as opposed to just kind of learning after the fact that there was a site visit mabe came and You know, it would be really helpful just to be able to be a partner in that process versus coming in after sure We can definitely share that information Yeah, great Okay. Thank you again, miss Richardson. This is great We love hearing about this program and it's super exciting and there's a ton of questions From the community and everyone here on the committee from what I've seen so we really appreciate you taking the time to Come and talk to us about what the program is doing and how things are going. Great. Thank you. All right. Take care Next item on the agenda is facilities update Sure, so I'm gonna call up mr. Of Roy Clark to provide that and I think I'm gonna ask him to take the lead for mr. Richardson You provided a lot of information which is I deeply appreciated and Don't feel a need to literally read all the information that you shared I think an overview for the committee would be great And then dialogue I think would be the most helpful thing But thank you very much for the care and the details in the written report It's and the images to because as mr. Roy Clark knows images for me on facilities issues is much more helpful than the words that Accompany them because of my experience or lack thereof in these matters So I appreciate you putting that together and thank you for being here. Oh, thank you for having me So you should have in your packets two Two items one is just the the typical facilities overview and then another is details about the water fountain project and So just to go over things briefly if I may first though make a shameless plug The first item on your in your packet is about staffing. We still have an electrician position open We are currently searching for a temporary bus driver maintainer and the assistant Phillies facilities director position interviews are upcoming the The posting closes on the 20th. So those of you out there who know someone who might be interested Let him know. Thanks Other current topics last year at this time pest management was a was a huge issue This summer we had plenty of challenges with hornets and wasps And as the weather goes by that's that's diminished a great deal. There have been a few mouse sightings It's nothing like last year and we're trying to stay on top of it A recently radon in the schools was was in the news. It's a Cautalist orderless natural occurring gas that comes up from underground and so we tested all of our schools for radon and The action limit is for pico curies per liter And the recommended considering of some kind of mitigation is it to pico curies per liter? all of our Tasks came out well below that the vast majority of them were less than one pico curie per liter There were a couple that were slightly above one. So I think we're in pretty good shape there MSBA visits happening school and bus safety We've been having a lot of dialogue within our department about ways to improve safety on the roads And I'm really pleased that that our staff has been really proactive and looking for Not only what issues are out there, but how they can be addressed So that's really fantastic and we're working to resolve some of the issues internally some of them We're talking with the town about And it's it's it's just a great thing to have happening We've also been very active with roofing, you know, we have a lot of old roofs And it's a big concern Last year at Fort that Crocker farm my my first week water was pouring in through the skylights. I remember it well And there were problems in the library. So we've been addressing those issues as well as Fort River Doing a lot of extra work there on the roof to be proactive as possible There's a substance that we can put down over the aging roof which is helpful But there's no guarantees. We've spread I think it's 600 Square feet now. There's another thousand square feet that we want to spread it so long as the weather cooperates To just try on stamp stay on top of it And I'd be happy to tell you more about that The therapeutic room at Fort River is done and Crocker farm. We're starting So that's good news there as some of our special in-house projects And then I have a brief capital update in terms of what's going on with our capital projects We're hoping to get bid specs for the skylight replacements at Crocker farm The big temporary chiller that we had planted in the in the ground outside of Fort River is going to be hauled away shortly There was a relief to have that there There's more for us to do in terms of insert infrastructure so that if one of our ancient chillers Dies and can't be repaired to be able to quickly bring cooling in so we're going to continue with that over the over the winter I'm looking forward to getting contracts signed for the analysis of our electrical infrastructure so that we can get some Really clear data on where our highest risks are and what we need to do about that And in terms of the ADA study I've got a water fountain project coming up Where we're going to target the most used water fountains first We're also still working on ways to address some of the outside accessibility issues Some of which we're hoping to team up with the town on but that's I don't have any details on that yet And looking at getting some furniture during the school year that will be more accessible as well The Crocker farm Study is in its final stages of draftiness, and we're hoping that we can close that up shortly And just as a last note. We're already starting to talk about next year's capital plan So that's a sort of a quick summary and I can go into more details about any of it that you like water fountains or Such thank you. Mr. Roy Clark So I'm gonna ask the committee if there are any questions Mr. Nakajima, yeah, I just wanted to under on these is the skylights in the roofs It's great. You're doing I let me ask you the question actually have there been Are there is where you're covering the roofs with this new substance? Is it? It because there have been leaks identified or is it purely you're getting out in front of a problem, or is it a both? so the the the coatings that we're doing are at Fort River and John is here, and he may have some more details for me on that It's areas that we know are problem areas, but the problem is the new problem areas crop up every year So we're addressing the issues that we know as best we can is that sort of do you want to come up to the you can come And have a seat over here Just make sure I'm sorry. Just make sure the mic is on there you go as far as Fort River I've already covered the prone areas of the roof. That's known to multiple cracks, you know Through the year and usually I'll focus on those areas and also do a walk around So what I'll do is most of them have been the roof drains themselves have had issues with so I focus on the roof drains in any areas where the angles change where there's Rain guards that stuff like that as far as Cracker Farm I had a gentleman from Robert's Roofing come up and What has happened over the least last winter was a quick temperature change So when you have the the skylight the plot the plastic cell with the gasket in the aluminum frame You have that sudden temperature change from may be 20 degrees and also the next day jumps up to 40 The material can't adapt that quickly. So if you get like a heavy slush or rain, it seeps in so I called the manufacturer In California and he recommended a couple areas to do right now and It's worth buying And you have a picture of a couple of examples of that in your packet. Thank you And I'm sorry, can you just identify yourself for the minutes? Oh, John Cody. Thank you, Mr. Cody Thank You, Mr. I just have a quick question on the The exterior work that you described under the ADA Work you mentioned that you talked about that you're addressing some of the issues possibly with the MRS DPW Can you just very briefly? Describe what what those issues are that you're working on and what and how the DPW is working partnering with you on that So I walked around All three schools With Gilford mooring we looked at the issues that were identified in the ADA study particularly the slopes of parking areas the unevenness at entrances to sidewalks and just inside walks in general accessibility to Benches and tables that were out in the grass with no clear path and access into playgrounds and He was very helpful in Evaluating those and coming up with an idea of what kind of budget we would need to address those How we address those and how we fold it in or schedule it with DPW workers is is what's uncertain at this point and which ones they'll be able to schedule for us Does that? Mr. Dumbling on the the van and bus safety you mentioned that most of the issues likely have simple solutions But others might need serious study Could you just give an example of some of the issues that might need serious study? Well, the main one is just where the exit from Fort River goes out onto Southeast Street It's very close to the light. It's right where the northbound lanes change from two to three lanes And it's just a really hard place to to get out of and that's That's really difficult to find a Solution an easy solution to Did you want to add to that? Yeah, I mean, I think there's also the meat, you know, there's there's different grain sizes So for instance, can I give an example of one that is a easier fix or two? So one is just literally shrubbery and things that get in driver's way as they're Transporting students leaving multiple schools. They were able to thanks to that your staff identify specific Streets that have trouble not just at the schools, but also where they drive in terms of where bus stops are And another one is Crocker farm for instance has Multiple dismissals so it has because of the preschool the preschool itself has multiple dismissals plus the end of the day So making sure the lights that are on either side of Crocker farm flash at multiple times a day instead of The more typical time of day But because the preschool has three dismissal times it creates some challenges to work that out But I met with mr. Time manager Backelman on this on Friday I know you've reached out to the townside on DPW and we've what I'd say is we're really willing partners But some of the things like where actually, you know, what I heard from your staff is all three schools entrances Have come with challenges that Wildwood you have a pretty big hill on one side and a big turn Where that and exit is and at Crocker farm There's also a subsequently substantive hill doesn't feel as big as some of the other ones and also a turn on either side So all three of the and exits have some challenges along with them and you know, what I appreciate it is You know the willingness of the your staff of the facility staff to say let's identify these challenges today I got back to some of the staff and said, you know met with the town manager. Here's what we're doing But they're they're very committed to making sure that the roads are as safe as possible for for the students and And for the buses and for the pedestrians as well if if I may add one of the things that was really interesting to me about this process is that Bus drivers are sitting at a really different height from car drivers And so what obscures their view isn't necessarily obvious to others who are driving around and that was a real eye-opener for me Thank you Mr. Roy Clark, and I actually have a question as well And it's also in the ADA study paragraph The last line says we're still looking into procuring accessible tables for all schools Yes, and so I just wanted to check in with both of you to see what the holdup is if there's anything that we this committee can Be helpful with is this you know just a research problem, or is there something else? It's holding this up It's mostly research I want to try to identify stuff that is usable and movable for the custodians and fits into the existing Patterns and color schemes and whatnot in the schools But mostly it's just that I haven't gotten to it. Oh, it's on my list Thank you. Okay, if there are no other questions from the committee Or any other comments from Dr. Morris, okay, thank you very much. Thank you. Let me thank you stop go away Okay Next item on the agenda is first quarter budget update And this is a discussion to provide an update of the finances of the district after the first quarter of FY 20 I just want to thank mr. Mangano, although the these did not print out in color the consumer reports For the cost centers is well appreciated to predict how to show how things are going in a visual way So for those people who looked at it online It's a it's a nice new addition to this report. So thank you. Yeah, I think that's something that miss overdone Yes, and I talked about trying to Target the areas to look at in this report. So it was a good collaboration So this is the first quarter report for the Amherst public schools So it covers through the end of September And through the first three months of the year the Amherst public schools budget is on track But as you'll see in the color coding it does have some sections of the budget that will want to monitor closely So just a quick recap of the color. I mean sort of self-explanatory, but green is good or no existing issues Yellow there's you know something that we're going to want to keep an eye on but it's not a huge concern right now And red is sort of we've identified a you know significant Mile to significant overage that will want to monitor very closely We'll probably need to identify some savings elsewhere in the budget to cover So you'll see we have a couple yellows and one red which we'll talk about in the report So payroll in general is in pretty good shape. It has a hundred and thirty eight thousand available currently But most of that has due to some open special education para educator positions that will be filled Once those filled payroll will be pretty much on track a couple Noteworthy items in payroll. We transferred in 18,500 from the curriculum budget to increase instructional time for our garden educator So we've had a garden educator who I think has worked in Grades K through 2 and I think they're trying to expand it to grades 3 possibly for this year So includes developing the curriculum and working with the teachers to get the kids out in the garden We've also transferred 9,000 in for the creation of the English language education administrator position And that's to address some of the increased reporting requirements I think you heard about the tell and some other things that happened last year So there's just more reporting requirements We have some savings from staff turnover and we've also refined the cost share for one of our IS technician positions It was primarily paid for mammoths in the past, but when we re-looked at the job duties, it's more split between the three districts Title one I just wanted to point out that we had a significant increase in our title one funding due to some Population statistics we kind of asked, you know It went up about 60 or 70 thousand dollars from what it typically is and we kind of asked about it But they said it's all based on our demographics So dr. Morris you may want to talk a little bit more about the the plans for that additional money Yeah, so We also asked is this something we could bank on you're to you know, and there was The answer which is the right answer for them to give is what depends on your population, right? It's so we didn't didn't inspire the greatest confidence that this money would be their year after year and so when we addressed we thought about that what the needs of particularly the title one population so title one is a grant for students who Primarily its focus on students who are Living in poverty or some degree of poverty we looked at early childhood reading we looked at our data and we weren't satisfied with The opportunity gaps that we saw with that population compared to the population that Isn't on food is lunch because that's one of the markers that's used or economically disadvantaged And so we're trying to provide additional support and particularly in data analysis to understand what's working What's not working as we do early literacy work in grades K to 2 and to provide some intervention and family outreach for those areas So that's what we put in place with these you know looking at our existing staff who had talents in those areas and Providing some stipend and working with that. So that's been our focus with this additional funding Just just so it's clear it has to be spent on that population of students It's not like it can be I know we've probably talked about this here But just I want to make sure the public understand this it can't be Reappropriated and there's a you can't supplant other things in your budget by just pulling things out and calling it title one It has to be directly focused on that population as it should and we we saw that as the greatest need for for us this year right and title one funding Prior to that is generally spent on intervention teachers and extended your programming like summer programming for students And then the other thing you just heard about actually is so the district is still working to fill some facility vacancies And you saw you heard about the positions earlier, so I won't repeat that but So one area to monitor is in our contracted payroll section We have a hundred twenty six thousand dollars unencumbered which means it's available So that sounds pretty good, but there is a couple of count There are a couple of counts in that section that are over budget this point that we're going to monitor The primary one is our extended year staffing costs for special education came in higher and the grant funds We have to offset those costs came in a little bit lower. So we're going to keep an eye on that Expensive counts are tracking as expected So the the one area on the summary sheet that had the red bubble is in special education We have two unanticipated out of district placements that will increase the special education tuition and transportation costs by about $150,000 The district has a $40,000 contingency budgeted. That's a reserve. We budget every year And we also added an extra 50,000 to the budget this year as an anticipated contribution To the special education stabilization fund So it may be that we decide not the committee decides not to put that 50,000 into the stabilization fund Instead to repurpose that to help offset these costs The combined so the total of those two is 90,000 that funding can be used to partially offset the unanticipated cost The district will seek savings in other areas of the budget to offset the remaining costs And in an emergency situation, we do have the special education reserve which had 150,000 put into it I think a couple years ago. So there is a reserve already outside the budget that we could use if we have to And the process to access those funds if we need to would be an approval from the school committee But also approval from the town council. It's a weird New thing that they created. That's like the only fund. I know that requires those approvals District-wide support is also has a yellow bubble. That's because that's the group of accounts that has our homeless transportation Contracts and our foster transportation contracts and those just over the past several years have really varied widely So that one will always probably be yellow just to keep an eye on Utilities are on track, but it's very early Transportation is also on track. We know most of those costs during the budget development process It's too early to project costs for risk of benefit type accounts such as insurance and retiree health insurance But we do have some good news in that a group of accounts We receive news that our retiree rates will be going down 1% as of January 1st So retiree rates with Maya those rates will always be set on January 1st as opposed to the fiscal year start So those will go down 1% we actually budgeted a 1% increase because we didn't know at the time of budget We knew it was gonna be good, but not how good So we'll have that Savings for the second half of the fiscal year I'm heading into the second quarter of the year the district budget is in fair shape with the one cost center showing some warning signs And we will include more information on health insurance costs substitute usage Utility costs and other areas of the budget in the second quarter report Any questions on second quarter First quarter not second quarter you don't know that yet on the district right support for Rising homeless and foster transportation costs at these costs that would normally be covered by by the state The McKinney-Vento these are those mandates that's underfunded by the state of so Homeless there is some reimbursement by the state. I think when it first came out it was fully Reimbursed or mostly reimbursed It's much lower now because of appropriations fall in short For us though at the on the municipal side It doesn't that money doesn't come directly to the schools that goes to the town because it's a general fund revenue So even if we even if it was fully funded We would still have to cover it within our budget and that money would go to the town and theoretically they could include that in Our budget increase it each year Foster is a new distinction that they started making that we have to have separate accounts for foster transportation as opposed to homeless There is no reimbursement for foster Currently the state is working on a process through I think it's some Section of title four or something like that Where we can potentially get some federal reimbursement and the district is going to pursue that Where if we sign an agreement with desi saying we'll do these things and keep certain records We could could start to get some partial Reimbursement for our foster costs, which currently there's no reimbursement. So yes. Yes and no there are some reimbursements from the state for this Thank you for this and I just wanted to follow up on the Unanticipated out of district placements. I'm just wondering Given that it's a hundred fifty thousand dollars a lot of money How many Obviously can't go into many details, but if these kids who are out of district are younger are we anticipating that this is going to be Continuing on for multiple years that we're gonna have this additional cost is something that they continue in out of district placement Yeah, so maybe we'll just talk more about the process of how we budget that section as opposed to the specific costs I mean placements in general can range from fifty thousand dollars to You know five hundred thousand dollars. There's a really wide range With programming and a lot of the rates are state approved rates. So they're they're sort of set in stone before For the placements that we look at so we typically look at our Auditor placements who's actually out in around January we try to update that's one of the things we update right along because it has such a Big impact on the budget We do look at what grades are at and make sure so for you know if they're in sixth grade and they're gonna move on We'll factor that in and then we also typically include the Contingency at the elementary district the placement costs are typically less than at the secondary level In general so our contingency at the elementary level has been a little bit smaller We budget about fifty thousand at the elementary level and about a hundred thousand at the secondary level But we kind of take a snapshot. We budget some Reserve basic to offset that and then if things change it's just You know typically change so much especially at the elementary level, but it's just to happen to have That was the case this year for the elementary district Well, it's just that if our stabilization fund is the same amount as the unanticipated cost Does that cause you concern for out years if No, I mean I think it's very good that we have a stabilization fund that has the money in it already because it stays there until we need to access it and I'm optimistic that we won't need to access it this year because It sounds like it is a lot of money that we're over but relative to the overall budget I think it's manageable especially since the other areas of the budget right now are all in really good shape But there was another area of the budget that was showing warning signs as well I would be a little bit more concerned but right now I think it's okay Just to add to what mr. Mangano said So the reason that we have a stabilization fund is for unanticipated costs So costs that are known as we're doing the budget process We're able to account for but whether it's either that students need change or students move into our district who are ready and out of District placements that's really what the stabilization fund is is designed for so we wouldn't plan to use it on our Never plan to use it I suppose but you know there's not designed to like Oh, yeah, we'll keep on using the stabilization fund is really for one time because they were unanticipated Costs not so much that this is like a bank. We should go to to rely on I know you're not saying that But I just want to but I want to say it because because I think you know for the public I want to make sure that you know We talked a lot a couple years ago about building the stabilization front and it's and it's cause But certainly we will build that into what what cost we end to speak going forward into next year's budget And again, it's just it's a very volatile area of the budget if you look at our Costs in the budget for the last several years the actual cost of our general fund has been almost zero because our tuition costs Have been so low that we've been able to cover it from our our circuit breaker reimbursements So I think this was again was just a truly unanticipated year that we saw a little bit of a spike there So I actually have a follow-up question on that point. I guess You know sort of forecasting if you can for the next few months At what point do you start to to feel panicked, right? Like you know, so this is if we're expecting to use about $90,000 Towards this particular these particular two cases and we have a stabilization fund of 150,000 Is it when we go below? 60,000 below 40,000. I mean at what point, you know, does it become something where we really have to start looking hard at the budget? Yeah I think the second quarter is when you'll get a really good idea because the the other major area of the budget that could swing either Way is health insurance. So I think once we have a good idea of health insurance, which I've looked at a little bit and the trends are in a positive direction But when we look at health insurance, that's the area we'll want to monitor and see if there's any savings there if not we'll either can look at the rest of the budget and supply accounts and things like that see what the how the schools are doing and Keep looking to payroll see how the vacancies are doing because the vacancies while not good every month They go unfilled. It's money. That's not being spent. So it's money that could potentially be reallocated to offset this cost Seeing mr. Nakajima's as a follow-up, so I can wait till he asks that Kind of yeah, it's certainly topically relevant Well, we'll find out together whether this is connected So I guess one one question when you're going through that process and how the committee should think about it is Since we get a guidance from the town of what our overall budget Increase is going to be per year Then I'm assuming that I mean I hate to put it this way because it sounds wrong But you set aside a certain amount of contingency for sort of known unknown factors You have the stabilization fund for genuinely unknown Nectars and then we have to live within our budget Increase regardless and so essentially it's normal business to try to have to figure out how to balance out line items As the year goes on is that sure including in this case in particular for special education costs? Yeah, I would agree with that our budgets 23 million and you know, there's different categories and I would say If we can get through a year with only one category being sort of off track. That's generally pretty good So yeah, I'd say there's every year. There's some something that comes in a little higher something comes in a little bit lower You know last year we have the health insurance coming a lot lower because we saw plans rates stabilize and plans kind of go down a little bit I Don't expect that same thing to happen again this year with health insurance But if it sort of stays on track, I think we'll be in okay shape It's sort of to put a finer point on it. I mean if you were to say Let's increase our contingency by another 50,000 That 50,000 if they come out of something wouldn't it right so so if if we can if the budgets in good enough shape that 50,000 and we already budgeted this year for the contingency if we don't need it We'll put that into the contingency since you already set it aside and that'll get the contingency up to 200,000 and at that point you're probably you may want to increase it a little bit more But that's probably getting close to where you want to keep the contingency going for because you don't want to set aside too much You know, you don't want to set aside too many resources for something. That's a You may not need to use So I think we have 150 we wanted to get to about 200 if we can put that in there We'll put it in there, but if not, we'll ask you to transfer that to cover this cost Yeah, I think I think we're right to be concerned about the The hundred fifty thousand dollars, but I think you know look at health insurance a couple years ago And how much it increased and other factors. We've been able to manage Unanticipated spikes in our budget a couple times in the last five or six years And I think the big thing is not having the confluence or perfect storm We have multiple of these happen at once and so that's at this point We haven't constricted staff member spending, you know for supplies or resources from at the teacher level And I think as Mr. Mangano said at their second quarter of a better sense of where we're sitting and how much the health insurance savings for retirees How much that nets out in terms of savings? So we'll be able to see are we balancing or is it really tipped where we have to take more direct action So many thanks to you mr. Mangano for organizing this You know quarter budget review, especially with the color coding. I really appreciate it. I think it's great It just helps the committee have a visual of how the budget is doing and to ask some really good questions Yeah, yeah, and I think we talked about you can track it over Multiple quarters and see how it changes so you can follow up on those pieces. Thank you Thank you Next item on the agenda is superintendent goals. So this is before the committee today for possible vote We've had a couple of conversations already around the superintendent's goals And so this is in your packet Hopefully nothing is a surprise to anyone And I don't know if there's anything that you want to say dr. Morris just very briefly a couple updates the date was So the content was changed, but the date was incorrect. It's you know should have been today's date So I apologize about that. So a couple just updates So on goal number one and change preschool access to early childhood education because the more that work has Started and kicked off. I think there'll be some decisions to be made about Models that include preschool access and models that look at zero to five more generally So it's a minor change, but it's not just a semantic one So I wanted to highlight that Goal number two. I changed the second clause of that a third clause. Excuse me talking about regardless of the MSB's decision that we need to Begin a process to engage the broader community based on feedback from the committee at the last meeting and Goal number five some of the language was changed to be more focused on the framework, but development of action plans particular but not exclusively but particular to vaping education and I know this is at the elementary level That we're talking about it But the more as I've come to learn about vaping we're not seeing vaping in our elementary schools There's not being reported to us But we know if we're waiting toward to middle school to do vaping education then we've actually missed and by education I don't mean just students but students and families We're missing a critical juncture So, I know some people might be surprised to see vaping on a elementary school district goals But what we know is early education is is going to be incredibly more valuable than waiting till we're working with teenagers and also about our LGBTQ plus students and families and Being much more focused on action planning around that so those were the changes since the meeting last month and I'm open to any continued feedback I Like the goals, and I think you've managed to clarify Quite a bit of the based on the feedback you got from the committee previously And I'm not stating this because I think there should be any edit I'm just stating this sort of for the record that one of my observations last time had been that For those people who might view our goals your goal our goals with you for you as Backtracking from some of our social economic racial justice Objectives which have been more explicitly stated in the past. I just point out that in the early education The response to ADA Improving our schools and the school improvement plans and common aunt is And also the wellness. There's a theme that runs through them all that is directly related to our goals for Closing achievement gaps nurturing all-childs engaging all families creating in a supportive environment and I'm just Since I remember last time I said hey work in language and it isn't really worked in but I don't really care as long as we all Acknowledge and agree that that's part of what we're doing and that you see that as part of what you're doing I appreciate the changes and they look good to me. I don't have anything to add either I Echo or support or plus one mr. Nakajima's comments as well How plus two or whatever it is? It's always funny at these really important things that we talk about at multiple meetings We get to the end and if you're just coming in and watching this at the end It looks like we're not even thinking about it But this is the end of a long process and you've done a good job incorporating the feedback like others have mentioned I am curious as to whether you think that the timing this year has worked out We've talked about that process what optimal timing is for setting goals that you can then work on in the middle of the year And it's mid-october. So assuming we vote these tonight, you know, whether this is something that works for the future Or we whether you would like us to be at this point at an earlier time or what your thoughts are on that. I Think about that one for a second So I think I'll say the same thing I said last year. I think ideally we have these goals Kind of identified going into summer I think in this particular instance So many of these goals were talked about last year So it didn't feel like I don't feel like it's affecting the process this year if you think about goal number one That was part of the budget process. There's there's nothing new about that If you think of goal number two, we've had many many conversations last year and maybe last year I mean last academic year not calendar year Many conversations about ADA study and MSBA like a goal number three We spent a lot of time in school improvement plans those were Presented last spring coming on days. We had so many meetings about last year the fifth one Perhaps is the we talked a bit about wellness at the elementary level is a little more talked about at the region last year So I think for this year So many of these goals are directly connected to both feedback I received some work We did budget processes that we were engaged in both capital and operational that I think it flowed Well, but I could imagine that being different that committee members Wanting to go in a different direction than what's been talked about the prior year and I think that's where we would run into Some challenges about implementing so for instance if we went through this process and and a committee member said, you know Great and where is the focus on something that that was unexpected and then we're having this conversation in October I think that that's the danger of waiting till the fall. I think what's worked well as we've had, you know We've had so much conversation all these topics. They don't feel Hopefully they don't feel new to the committee. I don't think they've been if you look at our agendas in last year You'll find these topics throughout So I think that's really the push is to make sure committee members don't feel constrained by prior years Conversation and priorities in choosing goals for the for the next year. So For this year. No, there's no impact or I don't feel like there's an impact But I can imagine a different scenario in the future. Is that answer the question? Sorry as long we did So I just want to also thank you dr. Morris for putting together a comprehensive goals Package, I'm gonna call it for lack of a better word for the upcoming year I do think it actually reflects a lot of the conversations that we've had throughout the year and the previous couple of years actually You know, I'm thrilled that early childhood education is on here. I think this is something that we've had a lot of Deep conversations around and quite frankly have never quite gotten it on the goals right from the superintendent or even for ourselves It's always seemed like something that was just kind of out of reach So it's wonderful to have it articulated in this way and to really have it be something that we're working towards in a Dynamic proactive way and hopefully can see some some resolution in the upcoming year Similarly, I think capital plan projects that's something that of course is dominated our community's thinking and talking and voting For quite some time so to have that be part of the superintendent goals and to really think Deeply and strategically about you know, what happens throughout the year for community engagement How do we bring that into the process for your reporting to the committee and the committee's you know tracking is incredibly important And I think all of these goals here are are critically important I was you know thinking recently about the number of goals that we have identified For you not just in this district, but in other districts that you are responsible for And again just want to highlight that there are a lot of goals that you are you know accountable for And I think that you know given the fact that this is work that is ongoing and has been continued from previous years That it shouldn't feel overwhelming. It shouldn't feel like we're just sort of dumping a lot of stuff on your lap And it is things that you have identified as being a priority for you So I just want to you know make that point because I think it's important for people to understand too that Typically best practices you want to be cognizant of not overloading our superintendent Even our committee with too many goals, but in this case it feels right It's something that we've talked about a lot, you know things that we've talked about a lot So I'm really looking forward to working with you This upcoming academic here on this Thank you. So with that, Mr. Nakajima. I move to approve the Superintendent goals for the 2019-2020 year, okay, we have a motion. Do I have a second? Second, okay. Any further questions or comments? Okay, all those in favor and that is unanimous. Thank you so next steps on These goals for the community if you don't mind Dr. Morris sure so well I think we should and we'll come back to these when we do item G agenda planning and try to figure out logical times to slot These goals so that they're not only reported at the end of this Excuse me end of the school year, but that there's progress updates at logical times both for the committee but also for the work So the idea would be to spread these out. So it's not You know the committee and the community don't hear anything about the goals until May or June But actually that it becomes part and parcel of the agenda that we have throughout the school year. That's great And if I may there's also I recently became aware of a model the collaborative for these so that the executive director is also, you know Responsible to a board for the collaborative for educational services and Has to put together a series of goals as well that you know, he is evaluated on And what he does which I thought was actually quite interesting is that throughout the year every time he gives updates to the board So his board executive director updates include references directly to the goals So, you know, whereas you have a document that has five items for updates To the board, you know item number one might be listed as this is directly relevant to goal number one or goal number four Whatever it is seem like an interesting way to you know, I'm not recommending that you follow that directly or you know But it's just I think in for us thinking through how we keep track of these kinds of things There's so many different tools out there that are available and this seemed like a really good one from an organization that is closely aligned with us, so Okay, so moving us on the next item on the agenda is a budget guidance goal review and This is coming from conversation that we've had previously around how to connect Budget process to Superintendent goals committee goals and just some of the broader thinking that we do on this Yeah, so I'm gonna again introduce mr. Mangano who can walk through some of this Documents in the packet so that you get a sense of some of the key indicators And then we can talk a bit about what presentations the committee might like to see Later on this year around budget priorities and perhaps the goals Yeah, so I'll do a quick recap of where we're at So two years ago three years ago. We broke the budget guidance into three pieces Key indicators looking at trends and major areas of our budget. That's what's in the packet So if you have any questions on those that seems like the logical one to send you remotely You can look at it in your own time and if you have questions You can ask them now or offline, but it gives you just a ten-year look Trend look at many of our major budget areas. It's modeled after the what the town does with their with the Presentation they've done in October every year which will now I think be in November So so that's complete that first piece which you have and I'm happy to answer any questions on that The second piece is to look at the goals of the district or the superintendent How the budget supports those those goals and then the third piece is for the committee to select two or three Programs Areas of our school that you want to get more information on and we'll bring those the people in charge of those areas out to give a presentation to Last year. I think we did the library We did computer Technology instruction and I believe we did ELL at the elementary level So you in this room actually had received presentations from those three areas So between now and maybe the next meeting you may want to think about what areas of the budget Or areas of the budget areas of the school you'd like to receive presentations from or a deeper dive Tonight is mostly focused on how The budget supports the goals and we haven't really This is still something we're sort of searching for how you want that information So if it's so I've been thinking about it with some of my staff If you want us to show you how the budget for example supports the goals that we're just discussed We could certainly bring information back about what areas of the budget are sort of responsible for those goals a lot of times It's people so what we would give you is like the goal Where in the budget you can find the funding and again primarily It's going to be the funding for positions or people that are responsible for basically taking on those initiatives with dr. Morris And then we can also highlight, you know, if there's supplies or additional things like that But when I was looking at my staff we realized, you know A lot of times what you're going to see for a lot of these goals and how the budget supports them Is it's going to be people and positions that are funded basically to help accomplish a task? So yeah, so is that sort of the direction that you're thinking how the budget supports the goals that were just Approved I think approved And we can bring back more information on that Yeah, so One of the challenges I think we have is is I'll just give you I'll use common emphasis as an example of something where Fortunately with the activity and how it aligns with something we're trying to do as a district. I'm also Translates into a specific program where you can immediately start thinking about teachers Curriculum materials outside consultants or whatever you're getting that directly support implementation that If I look at that not as a model in the sense that everything we're doing will be that neat because that's probably then It's like replacing water fountains, right? It's like the neatest thing you can possibly think of in which either fix the water fountains Or you haven't And you either have the new books and materials and you've hired the Bilingual staff that are certified. You know, I mean either you've done all those things or you haven't and you know because the program's up And running and you can meet the staff Some of the other things on here may be harder to do that with but one of the things I guess I would look for guidance from probably the superintendent is And I don't know when he could give that guidance because I'm not assuming to be tonight is How ripe are some of these things for? budgetary action So are we likely to be somewhere on early childhood? Education where for the next year we should be thinking ahead in terms of budgeting and if so How are you thinking about that? How are we working on it? And I'm assuming with the school improvement plans just as an example That might obviously come in on this, but I've talked about that with the school improvement plans I'm assuming that those are probably far enough along that there could be some glide path for understanding if there are things that would particularly make a difference in these schools in Accelerating the impact of those plans for the coming year But honestly, it's hard for us to know and review and discuss that Absent that kind of interplay with what you're thinking and how you're elaborating these plans. I don't know if that makes any sense It does. I think one of the challenges that See how to articulate So I think it's one thing to think about how the current year's budget is Being spent to achieve the goals is another thing to think about because what I heard I think In your comments is how do we use these goals to plan perhaps next year's budgets as well? that you know Whatever we're spending to explore models for early child increasing early childhood access particularly for families Who don't have that? Is going to not be as much as the investment that would needed to actually provide and expand those resources So I think that's that's I guess the thing that I'm thinking about is we want to talk about this year's budget Which I think it would be a rather simple exercise and I think you're right Some are going to be cleaner than others, but I think we could identify some general costs Either in staffing or consultants or other items, but I think the more more relevant piece perhaps may be An outcome of all of these things capital being another example is How do we look forward to the FY 21 budget capital and operational and how do these goals? The manifestation of these goals actually how are they going to? Result, how do they look like moving forward? So yeah, I'm not sure what makes more sense but I think I'm between the twigs in between in terms of times describing this year and Doing more work to think about what might be the outcomes moving forward In one piece that might Bridge the gap a little bit that we wanted to do in this year's budget Package is for the budget additions for the budget reductions potentially is having a new column this year that actually Is sort of like a footnote to the goals So if there's a addition for something we'll clearly identify in the budget additions page what goal that addition is for So I think with these and with that that'll start to get at what you're talking about of like so if the preschool Study says, you know increase Financial support to the preschool program so more students can attend and we had a line at him for that we could mark that in the addition page hypothetically, yeah, I did and My assumption is as well as we talk about a lot at this committee and other districts We don't have a lot of money and it's not like we're gonna get a lot more money So I'm not I'm not really meaning this in the sense that you know You're that anyone around here is creating really big plans that other than budgeting So it really I think I think the notion that the budgetary discussion is more on the margins or incremental Or even sometimes it may be a matter of if we if the forecasting doesn't look as good for next year Where do we choose to save a position or or an area? to me the idea that there's the interplay between These goals and and I think the key point on it again is that the goals are really reflective of broad Operational priorities for the district as a whole so not to sound funny about this But it's not like we're talking about some discreet goal that you personally have that you really care about these the big Advancing the school improvement plans for the three elementary schools is sort of just an important thing to do anyway And it's something you're going to be working on this year and so then the question to be as we move towards January What are the what are the operational implications we're saying for budgeting that arise out of that? And I'm assuming they're actually going to be Marginal not I mean if you if you have a really breakthrough moment to discuss Vastly expanding our early childhood education thing. I'm assuming you'll talk to the chair and have a special meeting on the subject I mean, otherwise, it's going to be, you know At the tempting one so So I think actually that's goal number one is perhaps and I don't know what the the answer is to go number one That that's in process actually a lot of work is happening right now on that But I think that the key key part of that is the first clause and through collaboration town of Amerson community action head start And then the second part of it developed multiple potential models So I think everything else on here and capital to a certain extent as well But number three number four number five those are all things that have to essentially be as you suggested as priorities How do we prioritize the funding that we have? Title to a you know funding which goes to professional development title for how do we spend some the Relative to the entire budget relatively small discretionary pockets we have to have our priorities number one and two feel you know a bit different in terms of the capital requests and then The potential for early childhood expansion just to I do want to respond that I see number one and two is subsequently different than three through five Well just to add on that I mean I think Not to jump on this comment, but it does raise a few other questions for me I think number two in particular given that it was a study that was completed last spring that we've been talking about for a few months now and that Mr. Roy Clark and others have been working on Prioritizing different projects that one feels like a natural right to just sort of you know, I think I'm pretty sure actually That you know at some point in the recent few months We requested a prioritization of you know planned projects So that would definitely be something that I think we should be prepared to to share right and talk about And so it's not something that is buried in there or too much of a surprise, right? Like that's something that you know is definitely part and parcel of what we've been discussing Any other questions or comments from the committee for mr. Morgan or dr. Morris miss bit sir and mr. Dilling I'm sorry. I'm trying to organize my thoughts right now and make sure I express this well but I'm wondering if you know a budget shows our values and I think Sometimes it's hard to see that and one idea I have is that you know So I I worked at the independent budget office of New York City for a long time and we would often do reports on topics that were of interest to People who came to us and had a question and one thing we do like I did one on how much do we spend on In the typical juvenile justice case and we'd kind of map out how the spending Correlated with each step in the process and it wasn't perfect. I mean anybody who does budget knows, you know You have to make all of these Estimates and they're all these assumptions and so you can never actually, you know Say with you know hundred percent certainty that this is how much it costs for the typical person But it it served a lot of it gave value and so one of the things I was thinking as I was reading through this is that There may be issues or cases like that and within our own budget and the reason I'm hesitant to suggest We do this is that this would often take me a Dedicated analyst months to do and we don't have the staff to do that could be a budget add. I'm just putting out Yeah, there we go But it was useful because then somebody could look at this and understand How the budget connected to these real-world things we really care about and so I think it would ideally be You know if there's a way to connect our budget guidance with these goals and to have you use your time to Produce something that want to just serve us but would serve the community to better understand how we're spending our money Because I think a lot of people do look at what we spend it and what you know It's like is this really what we should be spending our money on and I think if the more we can explain How what we're spending supports our values and what we care about it's useful. So when I look at the I Mean the common entities program is or the ADA budget or this one about the framework Around wellness. I think it would be really interesting if we could kind of create a report of like what are we spending on wellness? And how does it can you know, how does it connect to these things that we care about and tell the story? Not just through the numbers, but it's gonna require a little bit of kind of You know text some storytelling to but It just and I'd be happy to think about this yeah You and sure and look at examples But it was just an idea I had and I think we'd have to find a way to kind of combine That work with the budget guidance for us because I feel like it's a lot to ask for and if other folks thought this was a good idea Maybe yeah, just putting it out the way Yeah, and I think the big variable not to be answered right now is and maybe it's the distinction I was trying to cut before is that For number one and two at least the outcomes might be potentially, you know budget ask move forward that are pretty significant For three through five. I would venture to say and and I'm gonna open to your feedback But most of the costs are actually about staff time. They're not about Other expenses, so I think one of the challenges always is how do we account for? financially staff time on topics and it sometimes can feel awkward to put well there was a meeting with every administrator and a Someone working on any of these items and if you cost that out, it's a pretty expensive meeting, right? So we try to really be very clear on On our protocols and agenda so that we get the most out of those meetings And I think that's that cost is probably gonna be the greatest for a lot of our goals and how to account for that and again I'm not I'm asking it. It's not a rhetorical question, but I'm not looking necessarily for an answer now Be something that you know certainly working with mr. Mungano would be worth talking about how to represent that because that actually Probably is the greatest cost right now and number three number four number five So I know you get a lot thrown at you about how to present this and it doesn't seem like we have it's all good stuff So far unified theme so in my experience that the thing I find most helpful when I get your budget presentations and and data deep dives or or high-level Overviews is is to find out the the show Say that again, too I want to know the story behind the largest changes in the line items whether they're Non-discretionary line items whether they're discretionary line So for example, you have a I don't know if these charts are part of this agenda item tonight. These line charts yes Okay, so you have one for example percent charter tuition total spending and it's it's going up and up and up And you have a really helpful Detail here that says during the time period our enrollment fell by seven students but the state reimbursement dropped by over 200,000 because We don't we didn't see enrollment growth, right? So that's a really helpful story both for the committee and for the public that we're doing a really good job in decreasing our charters to students but the Funding this approach is so twisted that we only get reimbursed for increase and even that is underfunded by the state Right, so that's a good story to highlight and to talent educate and informs our decision-making on the non-discretionary items One would imagine that the biggest changes would be partially informed by the superintendent's goals There could be other reasons though as well, right? And the superintendent and the rest of the staff in the school do other things that are be outside of the stupid Superintendent goals that can affect the discretionary line item So if there's something that's been checking on at a certain value and all of a sudden it goes Up or down I would want to know what like why that is and not just because I happened to pick it out of a List of 50 things that looked interesting to me You know I would want that proactively brought to me Okay, so I guess that's that's how I approach though this very large complex item of the budget And again just to bring it back. So this all this is guidance for us as we develop the budget So even kind of like the nitty-gritty of talking through this and what you're interested in that helps us put together the budget document And so this is the guidance process and that every time we present to you and refine it That that's part of the guidance process. So that's good. Yeah, I'm sorry to continue the discussion But it's just it's Jenny. It's genuinely interesting When I made the comment earlier that I assumed a lot of the changes would be marginal within line item But the question is how is it connected? I'm just linking it together to what miss. Mr. Said a moment ago that might that which I didn't articulate at all I really hadn't thought through very well, but I'm glad she did that What I was trying to get at is I was assuming there was a strategic logic and purpose behind The entire point of the exercise is if we have these goals and we have these plans And we know that this is actually a bottom-up process So it's actually feedback you're getting back from the buildings and from professionals We have that you can get to the point where you can improve Articulating what we're keeping where we're increasing and where we're decreasing Is related to a strategic purpose that flows back to these these plans or objectives in a way That's sort of analytically well-reasoned. It could be articulated in a way that An ordinary person like like us can understand members of the public and access and understand as well and and so to me the fact that The people are going to be the largest cost and it can be Challenging to articulate I mean to me even if you're allocating a certain percentage of staff time to a certain set of meetings It means there's still an opportunity cost that you're not spending that time on something else Right, even if it's the same same area. And so the point would be to me Pulling backs both pulling back in drilling in pulling back in a sense of explaining So what's the point of what we're doing and how are people working in terms of process to? operationalize where they think we should be going and then to the point of the sister was nicking how does that then connect Probably doing a bad job of articulating it How does that then translate into? Positive impacts in the classroom and for students and how do we understand that that logical connection between those two things? And I know that's hard to do that's why like sort of the ethos we had For our superintendent evaluation process where we said let's jump it and do this and not worry about the fact that we're Going to be improving the deliverable as we go and the process we go I'd say the same thing here. Let's just try to do it and then we'll just keep improving as we go along I just want to be very brief. I Really love this the suggestion from miss spitzer about sort of telling the story and maybe it's and so I would be Really in support of exploring how we could do that in a way that doesn't require an add to staff to do that and and I Totally get the challenge with with articulating the cost of staff time and yet I think that's hugely important because just like money Hours are a limited resource and I think you know is is mr. Nakajima articulated. It's a prioritization, right? So when we when we choose to spend our time on XYZ Project or program or work What does that mean that we're not doing and how are we allocating that that time? And then also conversely how much time are we spending directly in support of our students in in the schools and Articulating that as well And I think that will be if we can figure out a way to Simply get that maybe you know at the 20,000 foot level as opposed to you know down in the weeds like it cost us $5,000 for this. I think that would go a really long way to helping the committee as well as the community and really understanding sort of where we're prioritizing our spending So I Just want to add one more thing and maybe it's throwing a wrench in the works a little bit Throw it out there so this past week there was a Husband and wife team from MIT who were awarded the Nobel Prize saw that and economic poverty And that's right And so what I thought was quite fascinating was that they did a real world research of Some of these would have been previously or you know for decades now Theoretical ideas around how to alleviate poverty right and it's something that a lot of proponents of like you know cash Payments and programs have been advocating for for a number of years, which is basically you give real world You know help Immediately without questions when needed and that's what shows to actually help bring people out of poverty and make real Change happen right so the reason why I'm bringing this up now Is just in thinking through your initial question to this committee was you know What would we like to hear more about and yes, we're thinking about the budget You know what kinds of presentations or things like that can be helpful and I agree with everything that's been said By the committee so far and I think there's been some great ideas mentioned. I also just want to add You know there were two things that I think have come up for me in this past year that I would definitely want to hear a Little bit more about in this budget cycle one, you know, I think we we have Put together this sort of math advisory group right that's working on Thinking about our math program, which is fantastic and I understand as community members involved and you know Staff and others who have been invited to be a part of the process I do think it because there have been certain gaps identified in the past year that it would be really helpful to Understand what portion of the budget will be applied to help with that even as we're working through Changes potentially to the curriculum and the program But I think just you know the the issues raised were concerning enough that you know Are there like specific pieces of the budget that we want to think about adding to help? maybe you know Accelerate I guess the the results The other thing I wanted to mention is para professional training and development and so again thinking about this You know a couple that has just won this amazing prize And the research showing the impact that real world investments make We know that our para professionals are usually in the front line of helping students who need the most help, right? And so it's been raised by community members enough times with me about what kinds of training and development Are we offering our para's to make sure that they can actually? Address, you know some of these really difficult problems and issues that they deal with So I personally think it's important for us to hear about our para professional program And I know it varies depending on you know the kids that they're working with the schools that they're in the programs that they're working on But if there's any way that we can get a more We can get more information about Our para's and the supports that we could possibly providing to them to help them with their work That would I think help a lot too. So That's I'm looking around to see there's anything else from the committee But I think we're probably texted out on this topic. So thank you. Thank you. Mr. Manga. I'm gonna really appreciate it next item on the agenda is capital project process and engagement and So this is just a discussion not just a discussion a discussion to describe the process for capital request of the town council and The new role of liaison to the town council from the school committee And so this is basically an item on the agenda to address some of the very quick moving Items that we've been talking about in our capital project Request process and then also to get an update from our liaison who is mr. Nakajima. So Dr. Morrison was anything that you want to add or say before we dive in Okay, okay, so mr. Nakajima. I'm gonna look to you See if there's an update or just a couple words you want to say to the committee about how this has gone so far good evening Towards no so Was it the week before last? Dr. Morris and myself met with the town council president Lynn Griesmer and the town manager Paul Backelman and sort of introduced You know the new role that that I'm gonna play about the committee But also it was fortuitous because the purpose was actually for Mr. Backelman and Ms. Griesmer to introduce Concept that they're developing to engage the town in greater depth on The four major projects that are anticipated to be going forward over the next couple years the model that That the president council president was looking at was the Effort to engage around the MSPA statement of interest last spring and say and thought that that was a good format for engaging the public Bringing people up to speed on what what's actually occurring and likely occurring or when and The way that Ms. Griesmer pointed out was just that to keep it Neutral so that there was not it wasn't as if the town had a Plan it was pulling out of its pocket and had to do all these things Where that more decisions have been made than had been made but more a matter of saying look we all know there are these four Effectively co-equal Areas of need on the pipeline which just for people's reminders the DPW building or facility It's a new fire station It's an expansion or renovation of our library and also the need the critical need we have for improved elementary school facilities I mean those are the four areas of need just in case Anyone was wondering at home and it's quickly googling to figure that out and so the We have a actually a meeting coming up on Thursday To start Planning out what it might look like to engage Of public I assume there was information that was gotten around Sir Loog and his Group that could help potentially facilitate so literally like directly borrowing from this method particularly under the concept that For school committee and library trustees and for town councillors who'd present be present their job as it was in our Situation was be to keep their mouth. I mean it's I mean it's in a kind way dear viewer But to keep their mouth shut and actually listen to the public and also provide sort of neutral information to get people up to speed as well as also with the The new fiscal tool I assume as well That was developed to try to understand varying fiscal impacts and so just to let you know though The the last sort of working draft plan that I saw was actually for this to go from like zero to sixty in Remarkable speed so the concept was actually to have Public sessions as early as sometime in November before Thanksgiving Which sounds really soon it sounds like they're almost Borrowing too much from our model of having conversations and January is suddenly saying why not go to market with this immediately, right? Let's do it really fast but but the but the thought I think was which I'm which I'm very sympathetic to was that There they're at with the action when it hits like assuming whatever we hear on this not even assuming anything But depending what we're here December 11th Any number of things that come up the change on rankings of the library project on the board of library commissions project list Any number of things could start to move these projects into a way a mode that feels highly operational in terms of the Establishment of building committees or other kinds of actions and so the thought was that the public isn't really We need to do more work collectively all of us to help the public engage in a way That's very open and is very informative and gives people as much information shared information as possible So that when we get to a point where these projects are becoming perhaps more sort of live and tangible The public feels informed about What some of the trade-offs would be in grand form and stuff one of the things I remember talking about that I've said before I think here, too Is that my hope is that in addition to improving the quality and levels of information and dialogue in town? It also helps create more and better access points so that So that a concerned citizen who's listening about one of these projects doesn't just think oh now I get the impact more but rather also knows what venue they can bring their concerns How do they learn more and for any one of these projects? I think anybody who's talking about them would say there's so many decision points that it could affect What's built what's renovated? What you know what the scope of the project is there's so many variables inside these things that One of the things to have even they have to put forward a General model of what things could look like or what variables are involved in the broad scheme of things The fact is there's so many moving parts that it should be the it's hard for it's gonna be hard But people have to feel the opposite of I got four projects presented. They feel like feta-com please do I want to do this or not? And that's actually the exact opposite way you should feel it should be wow I feel better in the form now and I understand where to go to engage more to understand if I have a particular question or Concern our ideas on one of these projects or another and dr. Morris. I know you were involved in that conversation I don't know if you by the way, it's funny when you said Do you have any update? I mean I was thinking to myself. It's like Yeah, not really. Oh wait, that's right. Actually like a really huge update So I don't know if you have anything to add to what I said or if I got it all wrong Dude, you're not allowed to say no off Mike. You can say I got it right on Mike Yeah, I think I think it's an active discussion at the town council now of how to approach the task and particularly as elected officials What role do they take what active role in the front end so the school committee? Model from last year while you're right that the school committee role was to be active listeners from the public it was a pretty forward Looking process with multiple meetings school committee members in high attendance as well as town counselors And so I think given the four projects. That's what the town council has to side is What does that look like a crong across multiple domain with multiple constable domains multiple constituents? And I think I'm understanding from town managers. They're still working through that process I had one of the things. Yeah, I'm sorry, Paul. I had one of the things to add to in that is that It's probably the most important thing to have said even though the notion of multiple public meetings in November sounds like a bright shiny object to go Go talking about it's that the the general concept that the town council and the town and You know independent or semi independent committees ought to have a stronger working relationship to understand projects At least up into this point has been thoroughly embraced. In other words the idea that in addition to a liaison from the school committee There should be liaisons from other You know depend independent or semi independent departments so that we can have a more regularized communication and information sharing Say I bear the lead. It's the most important thing for it. The most important thing for you to know Is that that was that was embraced and then we're working out the details of how to do it? Just for both of you since you had this initial meeting Thank you so much for taking the lead on this and you too Dr. Morris I really believe that this is an important step forward for our committee to improve communication with the town council with others Is there can you describe the process by which you are meeting? Is it going to be regularly with the town council president and town manager? Is it going to be with an appointed person from the town council? Have you gotten that far yet? How often are you meeting? Is there any news you can share that way and it's fine. You're still working it out. We're just trying to Yeah, I think there's an interest in and figuring out what's the right forum And how do we have as mr. Nakajima said multiple representatives from multiple projects? And I think the goal is that In addition Dr. Morris, I mean for the school committee. Yeah, not specifically not for the forums or anything Right, I wasn't speaking to the forums But I think the the goal would be the school committee be also this representative, you know Nakajima would Also be able to hear about the other projects as well So I think that's the goal is not about November not about the forums But just that there's regular communication that can come back to the this committee Not just about the school project, but actually about the larger picture more generally, and I think we're still working Collectively people are still working out the details on what that looks like. Yeah, I mean it's a work in progress in the same sense that I mean how the Regular sort of weekly or daily flow of communication occurs as a work in progress in the same way that my articulation is This is all operating sort of real-time my articulation of what may or may not happen November is Subject to town council debate and so maybe it won't come out of the the wash looking the same way that went in but but I think the the objective of Trying to improve the ability to have these touch points and mutual sharing of information has at least been agreed upon and we're trying to actively keep On top of it Sure, the other thing on the agenda this agenda item was just an update on that quarka farm expansion study So I wanted to share that I think it's either tomorrow or Thursday I know Anthony Delaney who is the procurement officer for the town has been working in the RF They're the request for unopposable qualifications. I get those confused. So I apologize But I'm gonna have an opportunity to look I have not seen the document yet But I'll have an opportunity to look at it later this week Before it goes live and what the town manager who's a procurement officer for this said is he like the model That was used for the regional master use study. I know it was a different district, but I Have more freedom to be able to talk about it. That's I'm reminded often by Is that where you know, there there be a group a core group of staff members who in this case particularly principal Shay a quarka farm You can meet with architects once they're selected and then there'll be a community a call for community volunteers Once we get the architects on board and get dates An open call for people who want to be involved in that study So I'll get more of an update and I apologize. It wasn't before this meeting, but it's either tomorrow or Thursday I believe it's Thursday that meeting with Mr. Delaney and others to get more of that update So that the process can unfold and I'll be able to share that with the committee next time in more detail Yeah, so I want to thank mr. Nakajima for taking this on as well I you know when I take a step back and I think about what are the challenges with this kind of a model? I think it's it's gonna be it's so just to state the obvious whether or not we get in the MSBA on December 11th is is a major have a major impact on all this so let's say if we do they'll they'll very quickly become three Parallel streams of activity that are going to affect possible future of our buildings It'll be the coordination of the town council on the capital projects communication, which is Happening maybe in four or five weeks. There'll be the building committee Which will very quickly hopefully very quickly spin up and then they'll also be the school committee Which we this will always obviously continue to be a major thing I think the challenge from an external facing public Point of view maybe for the public that doesn't you know watch all of our meetings all the time We'll be like well what what should I pay attention to and and where are the points in my very limited time? That I should get a babysitter and go and engage, you know one of the real decision points happening I think that's I think that's going to be really hard I think maybe one possible Advantage of our capital project is that if we do get into the MSBA the MSBA has a pretty clearly defined process about how they manage Their their projects and what the what the stages are it eventually comes to certain votes and and whatnot So that that could help us, but I still think it's going to be a big challenge You know on the flip side if we don't get into the MSBA You know we could be in a situation where we are talking about all these wonderful possibilities in the public and all of a sudden we get this really bad news and so I think it will be incumbent upon the superintendent school committee to Take the lead in informing You know the public in the town council about what this means Because no one is going to want to hear that news But it's gonna be something we'll have to deal with and if the train is already leaving the station on planning for the four projects And the town council's mind then we'll really have to make some pretty quick decisions about well What does this mean for the future of our buildings? Yeah, I mean I think that One of I'm talking a bit more about process and process around capital right now, which is I guess germane to the top of the topic I think as we move closer to December 11th, and then if there's active planning That we start to do around as we talked about about you know if it's successful What what gets ramped up and how and what are those plans? I think one of the things we should do is we should actually actively think about whether This liaison model functions well in relationship to a separate school building committee And then how that relates to The identification of an ongoing capital plan so if it's and I think the good news is Since we're you know, we're gonna have capital needs outside of an MSPA project We need to get organized and then we need to articulate those things to understand What their impact is on the town capital budget outside of any planning for a major project The great news is if we don't get in that plan that other capital plan becomes like Like ten times even more important, right? It becomes the whole gorilla so to speak and so Megilla whatever anyways, so The point being is that I think two things one We're in a good position to be thinking about what overall capital plan is and Also starting to plan on what would happen if we get in but in terms of the relationship of you know me as a Designated person or somebody who sits on the school building committee or the people on the JCPC I think we should actually plan on revisiting that topic because I don't think there's any there's any genius to having One set of actors or another and the real question is can the public even understand who's doing what can we each understand? Who's doing what and do are we facilitating good communication or are we unintentionally impeding it, right? And so anyways, I'll leave it at that I and where different decision points will be coming up. So it's an effort to try to increase transparency and hopefully efficiency for the community as well in order to support the district. So a couple of items that I want to raise for the committee's attention. One is Dr. Brown's, you are raised to these public forums. So there was an email that I've forwarded to all of you earlier today from, and it was a message sent to myself, Dr. Morris and several others, and the House of the Authority, Jones Library, and other folks in our town, about the planning that the town council needs to do now based on the changes to the town charter, which require that all of these different elected bodies make annual petitions in the live and annual space for an annual forum to take place to the community can come forward in ways that we don't have issues of concern. We had these after charters voted in and the town council forum. We actually had our community forums around the proposed building project in January and February of last year, or actually last year. And so we didn't hope that that made you comply with this requirement of the town charter, but it appears that the town council actually would prefer that we make it more substantive of the presentation, which I think makes a lot of sense. It would be our very first forum call for the committee to get other town bodies to do the same exact things, so it's not just this week, many. But right now, what we're looking at is a presentation we have invited to make to the town council on December 2nd at 5.30 in the town room. And Moriss and I have already been in contact to discuss about this presentation. We might be, you know, we might be tailed, of course, we're open, I'll sort of be hungry to be bidding for, but. But basically the idea is that we provide a short report that you will, about five pages or so, to submit to the town council and prepare for an actual slide presentation that would be made on December 2nd to the town council. So again, I emailed, you know, we just got this email this afternoon, so hopefully everybody's interested to look at it. I'm happy to answer any other questions, but Moriss, if there's anything that you wanna add or if you wanna talk a little bit about, like, can I talk about some topics for that presentation? Yeah. So thank you. When I spoke to the town manager, I tried to get a sense of is this a forum on like a general forum and what he expressed an interest in, not just us, but the other departments of the town doing was to have specific topics that were of high relevance to the community. So the two topics that Mr. Doniz and I, and sorry, this topics calendar got outdated like the moment the packet went out on a multiple level. So we'll get to the other parts of it in a second, but we're the question of sixth grade, not that it's gonna be resolved, but it's an opportunity to engage the public while that study is still going on. There's certainly a lot of interest in where sixth grade students are educated and also the MSBA process will be slightly more than a week out from hearing from the MSBA, but we also thought we did those forums, the collectively school committee did the forums, but maybe running into MSBA and capital needs of the schools so that those would be two topics. When I shared that with Mr. Bacchum and he felt like that was exactly the type of topics. He wasn't judging what I shared with him, but the type of thing where a presentation would be made, I think it's less than 15 minutes, that was the timeframe, and then there'd be time for the public to come and be able to comment on those instead of a general one where the public isn't clear what they're reacting to or if it's so, it's like a survey course and yeah, the second thing you said out of 15 in those 15 minutes I wanna comment on, that's not the goal of the charter, their language, it's really around high interest topics of the community, sharing some information and gathering feedback from the larger community. So that's the two topics we thought at the elementary level would be most relevant. We did think about the dual language piece, but I don't wanna speak for you, but I came to my thoughts on that where that's a program that's up and running and there's not a future decision necessarily coming on that, where a sixth grade in MSBA and capital, there'd be future decisions that'd be informed by community engagement. We had a lot of forums on the dual language program, the school committee already voted that were to implement it, were implementing it, so it felt like two topics were probably the right number and that one, because that vote is already taking place, might not be the best one to solicit community feedback on something that there's not a schedule of their planned decision point on. Okay. So as far as looking at the rest of the items on this calendar, I think we're looking at the very first or the very next meeting would be in November, I don't know why there's question marks, Dr. Morris. There's two reasons why. One reason is November 12th is a regional meeting, but it appears that the first topic on that agenda will be a joint topic. I'm talking about a math update, and it's joined because when we were originally talking about math updates in all three districts I work for, when I brought that back to the folks working on the implementation of the math curriculum to separate out sixth grade from seven through 12 loses the complete context of why we're doing what we're doing and the feeling was it would be much more consistent to actually think about a six through 12 math curriculum update because that's actually what's happening instead of siphoning off sixth grade as if it's an outlier because we're actually being very intentional on not doing that as we approach this. So I want to mention that, but going to the November, the reason there's question marks in the date is I'm not here on November 19th. So I guess an open question is we can either change a date or have the meeting without me, but there's not an in-between option for that date and I guess that's what I wanted to get feedback from the committee on. Any strong feelings one way or another, Ms. Spitzer? I'd just like to add that I probably won't be able to stand on the 19th either for family reasons. Mr. Nackajima. Let's move the date. That's a great idea. If somebody had to say it, I don't. So again, just to recap, we are looking at a joint meeting with the regional committee on November 12th and I'm just opening up my calendar right now and we then have the following week, the 19th is the date that is in dispute I guess or discussion right now. Is it possible to move for another day that week? Because the following week is Thanksgiving. Is that right? I will be away from the 19th to the 24th, the afternoon of the 19th to the evening of the 21st. Mr. Nackajima. I know this is an unpopular sentiment. Well, wait a minute, which week is Thanksgiving? The following week, the last week of November, the 25th. The last week is? The 28th, I believe, isn't it? Really? That's correct. But I guess what it's going to still be, what about the 25th of the 26th? Is that out? If it's out, that's fine. Someone can just. Or is the 18th. Or the 18th. I don't believe we have a region on the 26th. I think there was a regional calendar was taken off because of the Thanksgiving piece, but 25th would be fine for me on that Monday. I'd be able to check the space because Town Council may be meeting that day, but we can adjust. Okay, so how about we will hold that date open. Is the 18th a possibility as well, if that were to? We have the middle grade span advisory until seven. Okay. So it looks like the 25th is probably our only option then. Okay. Okay, so we will get back to the committee on that date. Mr. Demling. Before we leave this, I have a question. Could you be on the public forum for the town council? Sorry. Before we leave this topic, is the thinking on the forum for the public, the forum for the town council presentation, is this a superintendent presentation? Is it joint with the school committee chair? Is it a meeting of the school committee? And if it is impossible or encouraged participation of the full school committee, I'm just wondering if we have any concerns about the sixth grade topic, because I agree with the prioritization in that it's appropriate for this venue. I'm just worried about quorum with the region. We have a quorum of the region here. And so if it's, I don't want to step on the toes of the other members of the region if we have a substantive discussion about something like that. So I don't know. This is a challenge with this topic anyway. I believe it's just a presentation. So it's not meant to be a back and forth. There is an opportunity for the community to provide input. So there is a public comment period. So after the presentations, the public is welcome to encourage to come and say anything that they're thinking about on topics that have been presented or otherwise. So it's not intended to be a discussion. Is that your understanding as well, Dr. Morris? This is what I've heard so far from town council. This is a venue, so we're gonna move this out. Yeah, I don't want to, I feel like I'd be, I'm not certain, so I'm a little cautious in responding specifically to that. I know the intent of the forum in general is that there is give and take as opposed to public comment at traditional meetings of elected bodies, where there's not, but whether there's discussion this way, I think is unclear. Mr. Nakajima? I think since it's a function of the charter, and it was gonna be members of the Amherst School Committee, the elementary committee that are present, that in the purpose of the charter is to help residents of the town of Amherst to engage with their elected officials. My guess is that members of this committee are gonna have to police themselves. So it's not to respond in ways that are directly related to secondary school matters, but that the notion that members of this committee will be able to take their listening and knowledge to that other committee isn't necessarily a bad thing, and I'm not even sure it's any different than if Shootsbury had a town meeting, the Shootsbury Elementary Committee went to it. They learned a lot of things from people who live in Shootsbury, and when they come to our meetings at the region, they bring that knowledge when they come to the meeting. I think it's a, I think the real issue is policing how far into debate or thoughtful debate we get into on matters that are strictly speaking, secondary or regional in nature. So how about we need, I think we just need some more clarity. I mean, the email from President Griezmer, I thought was clear, it's saying the presentation would summarize an augment in your written report and provide an opportunity for the council and the public to ask questions of the presenters. It's not clear if it's the entire committee that has to be ready to respond to the public, in which case we would certainly post this as an open meeting and have, and I think we still have to do that anyway just because we're gonna have a quorum there and it's a public discussion. So why don't we get some more clarity from the town council on this? And again, this is brand new. This is the very first time we're doing this under a town charter, so I think we're kind of building the plane as we fly it or something like that, something less gruesome. Okay, but good question, Mr. Demling. Okay, so back to the agenda. So we're looking at November 25th as a possible date for school committee. So the topics we had at least tentatively were budget guidance, continuations. We got some feedback tonight on that. We're trying to do a fee review a little bit earlier because that was a request of the committee to not wait until we're in the thick of the budget process to do a fee review. Sixth grade study update, so actually that move back to November 25th will be great because we'll have two additional meetings from now to then, so I think Ms. MacDonald and I will be able to do more work than we would have been able to do in the original date. The Collaborative for Educational Services has requested to, well, let me say there's two things. There are two districts that are asking to join the Collaborative. It's a very complicated legislative process to make a very long story short about accepting those in to the Collaborative. So they're asking for each of the districts to take that up and vote at one of their meetings. There's also an interest that Bill Deal, who's the executive director, has on just, he hasn't been to our school committees in almost two and a half years. Just to reintroduce himself, and he knows our agendas are tight, but he's very good at saying a lot in a small amount of time to share the work that's currently going on, and it's really different at the elementary and secondary level. So I know one of the other things was does he really need to go to each committee and actually his response, because I've been through this once with him, is yes, I do, because when I'm talking about early childhood work, I don't wanna talk about that at the region, and when I'm talking about Mount Tom Academy and some of the work they have at the secondary school that does not relevant at the elementary level. So I need to get a date for him. I'm not saying this one will work, but he does want us to both, you all to both be able to connect with him briefly, and then to consider a potential vote of expanding CES to include two additional districts, his member districts. So just one note on that. I think there's a question right now. I think it's outstanding still about scheduling a joint meeting also for this with the regional committee. We had also thought about maybe adding Palum to the mix, but it seems like Palum maybe, just given their circumstances and scheduling and all of that, they should probably stay separate for this meeting. So I'm wondering if maybe that item goes on the November 12th meeting, if we're gonna have a joint meeting anyway, is that a possibility or is this, are we now encroaching on, I'm looking at the chair of our region, even though he's not technically the chair right now. But I think it's just a worthwhile question. I think actually when you're talking about agenda and scheduling, you can actually do that. So the answer is sure. I'll bring that to Mr. Diehl. And then, oh, um. No, so I was just gonna say, so that item is something that potentially could go to November 12th and not be on the 25th agenda. And then just looking ahead to the 17th, not that there's not space for other topics on the 25th, just that we'll certainly spend quite a bit of time one way or the other on December 17th talking about the statement of interest, because we'll have more clarity on that at that point. We would look on the December 17th to provide those strategic program reviews as we talked about tonight. And then potentially if you vote, again, this is quite a bit earlier than we usually do, we can push it back. But there's an interest in having this as a significantly distinct item from the operational budget last year. So we're trying to follow through on that at the elementary level. There's definitely space on those agendas for topics. December 17th, I'd like to, this is again after this was created, I'd like to think that we'll be able to provide an update or actually a full report on the early childhood work that's related to the goal at the December meeting, because communication I had this afternoon with someone working with us is that she will be complete with her work on November 30th. So, at least as a placeholder because things could change. I'd like to have that on the agenda in December because that's in advance of the January kind of kickoff a budget process. This may be an unfair question, but you were implying earlier that depending on how the conversations go, there could be sort of a larger budget impact and program impact based on how that goes. Are you saying you think that if that's the case by this meeting, you'd have greater clarity around that? It's not, yeah, I wouldn't say it's not an unfair question. I think it's, I think we'll have some clarity on costs in terms of where the funds would come from. That's an open question, whether there's grants that cover that, whether our strategy would be this is what we think, the recommendation from staff might be this is what we think is in the best interest of our students of Amherst and yet we don't have identified funding, but here's three ways we might approach that, but it would involve the school committee and the town council saying, most grants will want some in-kind support and they'll also want some commitment from grant applicants that they're really gonna do with their say they're gonna do, so it might not even be the need to put in the budget account, but budget, maybe yes, maybe no, but it's hard to imagine this being a small amount in terms of educating young children. So that's what I was referencing, where the funds can come from, appropriations or grants, that's a really open question at this point, but I think we should have some sense of, here's a couple models that could work, here's some costs, here's some ways that we could look at getting some other funding or there's not other funding out there and this would have to be self-funded. I think we'd have that in December. Yeah, I mean, that's, but that's why, I mean, I'm just sort of reinforcing your point that if the update's ready at that point, that's why we almost have to have it on December 17th, because we can't possibly go into the January with, you know, potentially a significant, I mean, look at it on the positive side, you're talking about potentially making a significant difference in our community to people that we really care about helping, kids who care about helping and families. So, and there's a budgetary impact for that. So by all means, I hope you can get it done by then, so we can have that conversation. Any other topics or questions from the committee regarding the next two meetings? Okay. Okay, so we've got January, February and March, sort of roughly sketched out a little bit. Obviously we know January will be, we've got budget projections, capital plan discussions, school choice, forum, and then reorganization by that point the new committee comes in on January 6th. And then February is budget hearing, capital plan discussion and school choice vote. I think one thing that we should think about is depending on what happens in December regarding the MSBA decision and discussion, January and February will probably be taken up without one way or another, right? So if, you know, the vote or if the decision from the MSBA is negative, we probably want a chance to regroup and think about what our application looks like for the following year. And if we are accepted into the pipeline, by that point, we'll probably also want to think about what community engagement looks like. So those two meetings seem like a perfect opportunity for us to plan and to just have those on the agenda, that item on the agenda. Anything else that folks can think of? Dr. Morris. So one thing that we, I didn't explicitly list here, but I think we talked about making a practice is having this topic on the agenda each month so that we're coming back to the calendar and particularly now that goals are voted, perhaps we could spend some time in November trying to lay out from December through June what that means in terms of regular updates to the school committee and community, but also mapping out what that means in terms of superintendent evaluation. We don't have to do that tonight because we just voted tonight, but I think, you know, having a sizable chunk of time to kind of mapping out the rest of the year would be hugely helpful to me. Mr. Dunley. Just because I see May and June on the second page here, this might be a good time to, even if it is a stretch goal to put in what the ideal superintendent goal approval process would be, if that's gonna start before summer, then it would be on one of these meetings. And you know, who knows, life happens and they may get bumped, but it would be at least good to start thinking about. So I think that's good for now. And then, of course, if the committee has any other ideas, suggestions, please feel free to send them along to me or Dr. Morris and we'll make sure they get added on to this master document. Thank you, Dr. Morris. Okay, last item under new and continuing business is a fairly short item. Just wanted to address a concern that was raised recently regarding state ethics compliance. And so we thought it would be prudent to add this to the agenda. This is just a quick agenda item to make sure that if there are any concerns that have come from the community that have made their way to the committee regarding the possibility of the committee perhaps not being in compliance with state ethics regarding disclosing information about employment with the district or anything like that. We just wanted to have an opportunity for discussion on that. We have received a couple of comments from members of the public unidentified regarding members of this committee, perhaps not being in compliance and asking if there are members of this committee that have either family members or are directly employed by the district if that is in violation of the state ethics. And the short answer is that no, it's not. So we have been in touch with the state ethics board, the individuals on this committee or the individual on this committee currently but also other members of this committee, myself being one of them, have checked in with the state ethics board, have also checked in with council to ensure that we are in compliance and we are sure that we are. I think that from time to time, people will raise questions and concerns, especially when they understand generally speaking that they're in order to be in compliance, we have to adhere to certain rules, which is primarily that of disclosure, being able to disclose. If we have family members or we have any kinds of conflicting interests, monetarily or otherwise with the district. And I am confident that all members of this committee have done their due diligence in contacting state ethics board and making sure that they are getting current and appropriate counsel on all steps that they have taken. And it is really up to the individuals to determine if they are in compliance and the state ethics board is very clear on that they provide guidance to the individuals. And so again, I believe that all of our committee members have been very clear on asking the questions that they need to be asking to make sure that they're in compliance. We also have been in touch with our legal counsel just to double check and make sure that everything is sort of up to speed and have received counsel on that, basically restating what the ethics board has confirmed for us. And then simultaneously there's a question now, I think about just warrants and how what our warrant process looks like, just to kind of put a belt in suspenders, I think it was the metaphor that was used. And just to recap our warrants process currently involves our committee signing our warrants when they come through, but in accordance with mass general law, it's important for the committee to vote warrants and a lot of other committees do this. And also or instead to assign by vote an individual on the committee to approve warrants and then make reports of presentations about what they've signed to the committee at every meeting. So different committees around the state employ different methods. We're still waiting on guidance from our counsel on what model we might wanna employ. And then once we get further guidance from counsel, I can bring that back to this committee and we can have a discussion and make a decision about what method we wanna use moving forward. But in the meantime, like I said, I just wanted to bring this to the committee's attention and have it be as part of a public meeting so that if there are any questions from the committee or any comments that the committee members wanted to make, we would have the space to do that in a public forum. Dr. Morris, I don't know if there's anything that you wanna add to this piece, okay? Mr. Demling. Yeah, I mean, I would just say for my part what you've described of the committee's recommendation to guidance from counsel is very consistent with what I've heard from my own part. I've stated before that my wife is an employee in the preschool. And so as soon as I was elected before being sworn in, I called the State Ethics Commission so they have a free line with any public employee or elected official can call and just discuss the situation and reviewed all the relevant laws and advisories. They gave me guidance, which has made it very easy to be confident that I'm in compliance. And so for them to have that legal guidance makes it very easy to do that. So the warrants is a good thing and I think we should follow up on it. And I think this applies of course for future committee members as well. If they are employees of the district or have a family member that is an employee of the district or if there's any kind of interest with the district outside of their service on the school committee. It is on them to talk to the State Ethics Board. As Mr. Demling mentioned, they are more than happy to share, provide guidance. There is a form online. And the one thing to make perfectly clear is that the State Ethics Board very clearly will not report on individuals' requests. So in other words, if a member of this committee or a member of the public has a concern about possible ethics violation and they contact the State Ethics Board, the State Ethics Board will give them the advice but will not share the advice given to that individual with anyone else who wants to know. So that is just their standard practice. So again, individuals who are concerned are encouraged to reach out to the State Ethics Board and talk with them and get advice but they will not share information that's been shared with any particular people. So okay, so moving us along, last item before adjourning is gifts. We actually do have gifts but we only have one copy. Mr. Mangano apologized but he only gave us one copy of the gift. So I don't know if anyone wants to make a motion, wants to read this. I will happily pass this over to Spitzer. Thank you. I moved to approve the following gifts. From Joy Sullivan, number 2056, a gift to support Fort River gift for student lunch balances in the amount of $100. A gift from James Kwok and Sylvia Brandt and Vanguard number 703232 to support Crocker Farm for OWL training at the principal's discretion in the amount of $1,000. A gift from the Fort River Parent Council, number 2066 to support Fort River at this principal's discretion in the amount of $200. A gift from the League of Women Voters, number 1249 to support the Fort River Library for the book sale in the amount of $500. And a gift from Sanjay Awarty and Mary Clark in the amount of $683 to support the Fort River Art Program in the amount of $500 for a total of $2,300. Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you. Any questions or comments from the committee? All those in favor? Thank you very much. It is unanimous. And I will take one more motion. Mr. Nakajima. Move to adjourn. Okay, we have a motion to adjourn. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Ms. McDonald. All those in favor? Excellent, we are adjourned. Thank you.