 Can I have a motion to accept the agenda as modified? Ursula, in a second. Thank you. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Can everybody hear me there? Just remind me of my tone. Welcome to our guests. I'm going to jump public comments just for a minute and move into the celebration of our school board members. Press in with us. So today is the last day in February that we can celebrate the service of all your school board members, but we also have some school board members that are going to be stepping down after March 5th. So we wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate them at a public meeting and send them for their service to this board in many different ways. And I'm not going to single one or the other, but they will know who I'm talking about, and then we'll have a little press in for them. But the board members have provided a lot of clarity of thought. I've left a lot of themselves in this board through many years, some through 11 years, some through four years, some through two years, and some from two years. And I'm talking from students to board members. And their contributions to making us think differently, to really care about the students, to just believe in their communities are many. And there's no way we're going to do it properly. Thank you guys for your, so I'm going to ask for join us, and Maggie, and Kari to come up here and reveal us. And we have a little one each week and we're going to open for their service to our committee. So, yeah, we're both here, and this is, you're not done yet, so you're not done yet. You're not done yet, but you're going to be. I didn't want you to not feel celebrated. I mean, by stepping down, you're going to get some more appreciated stuff. So first of all, you don't have to say that you have already been done at this board. And we really appreciate another being coming into it here too far ahead of us. Thank you. That's OK with us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Do you want a picture? Can I just take a minute? Yes, and any of you, please take a minute. Bear with me for a second, because I'm just so full of appreciation. I want to thank a few people. I want to thank everybody. This has been such a meaningful experience for me. And so students and families and the broader community and the staff. And there's a few specific people I want to thank. One is Steven, who's taken my overlap really well. I started just before Steven. So just long enough to see some of the change that has happened under your study leadership. Another person is Jen, who really helped make the education quality work meaningful, in addition to everything else. But also, your selfless contribution of stepping up and being the interim superintendent in our time of need. I don't want that to ever be forgotten. And if we ever get around to doing a Washington Central Mount Rushmore, I will vote to have you on. And then I want to, board members, I just want to say it's not easy. What's required to do this and do it well goes way beyond what probably anybody signed up for. And the decisions just get harder, it seems like. But the fact that we are a team and like everybody, I mean, just all over the years, I felt like this spirit of we're pulling together, that makes all the difference. There are two people I want to thank specifically. One is Floor, who I don't know how you do it with your boundless time and energy. You were joking last week about cloning. And either you've figured that out or you're making some serious sacrifices to sleep and everything else. So thank you, Floor. And the other person is Adrienne Megida, who was on the U32 board for, I think, 20 years. And she was the chair for six years and just, she was a first grade teacher in a neighboring district. No, nothing remembers. And then she would come and leave the board and she was just like so wise and steady. And one of the reasons I wanted to mention her is because probably a lot of people don't know her. And she's on our strategic planning steering committee, but she's been off the board for many years and so why would you know her? But the point is that what we do is collective and it's cumulative. And so I just encourage you to think about how are we setting up the next students and teachers and boards for success. And the last thing I want to just thank my family and especially my wife Gabrielle because sacrifices have been made. And I think it's important to acknowledge that. And for me, just thinking what approval this has been to do this, it's really meant a lot. So thank you. Feel free to speak if you guys want to say anything or you don't have to. I would also call on Scott Thompson being chairs in a relatively difficult, incredibly difficult job in Scotland. I would call on Steve Hook as well. He provided me a lot of clarity with his experience. And Diane. All right, back up. Thank you. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Your call is rejected. We'll say bye. Only thank you. Thank you. Thank you. As you go. Thank you so much. Thank you. So now public comments. Anybody in the screen. So now we're going to move into our reports, student reports. Okay, so this is my history month as everyone knows and our BLAM group has been getting special guests to come in every week I believe to talk about their experiences and also do other things. So we had a special guest that came in and they did some music stuff and they were really good. I signed up for that call back and I went and the older man was like shredding his guitar so I really enjoyed it but I've only heard positive feedback so way to go BLAM for setting that up. So we got playoffs coming up today the boys ice hockey team played Burlington and the boys basketball team is playing North Country that's their quarterfinal game. The varsity girls play at Randolph and that's their quarterfinal game I think that's tomorrow and then varsity boys and girls have quarterfinals next Wednesday which is super exciting and then Nordic is competing at St. Jay today. We had our sweet hearts dance for all high school and Gretta Little and I DJed that and it was really fun. It's really fun to be not a freshman anymore it was a really young group and it's it's funny to look back and be like yeah like you do care a lot about dancing in front of people but Gretta and I just grabbed a whole bunch of kids and pulled them in and we all dance together and it was really good it was really sweet to see and it was really fun I think it was good. February break is coming up Friday after school it's starting and everybody's pretty ready which is great great time it's gonna be great. So Stephen our principal this is what it says. The Nepal trip is tomorrow. Friday. That was my bad. So Stephen is leaving us to go to Nepal but he'll be back. Not just even which is cool but Stephen has to leave us. And then kind of like a PSA aren't entire schools really sick so like just keep washing your hands. Everyone's been really sneezing yeah sorry. But everyone's really ready for this break because it's been busy but also we're at that weird point where we at least for seniors we're still trying to get through the year but we're going into break and then come back to school for a little bit and then go into another break so I think everyone's just trying to get their work done stay healthy and get to graduation right now. Oh that was perfect timing. Yeah so that's a super story. And she doesn't have her cell phone. Yeah. So now we're gonna move to the superintendent to the cult report that we're going to highlight. So I'll highlight two things one there is a PCB update and it is brief but there's a pretty big positive which is we were unsure exactly how much of this initial cost phase would be funded and we were frankly concerned that it wouldn't be much of it and the entire cost of stone environmental for their current work again this is not the long-term fix but it is pretty significant so that will be covered and that's exciting so they're in they're doing their work there's a picture of one of the filters and then I thought that Cara maybe could just give a little bit of an update around the ability challenge. So earlier this year we shared about the ability challenge coming a non-profit from the DC area to help us understand how we're showing up for kids with disabilities and what our exclusive practices are like in the district and so Sarah and Kristen did an assessment over about four months and they interviewed students and families administrators teachers and there were surveys completed and they did a document review so they did a really broad look at our system which was exciting and reflected back to us their objective perspective of our special education delivery system and then in January they joined our leadership team to talk through their findings which largely affirmed kind of the direction that we were thought we were headed in and what we're doing well in our areas for development some of the pieces of it that I'll share with you that are really exciting is we have a really strong belief set around students being in the classroom and so our inclusive practices we believe in inclusive practices and we want that for our students and what we're working on is really identifying what is going well in each of our buildings and magnifying that to keep it consistent across the district so there's a lot more details in the report that I can speak to later on more comprehensive view of the direction of the special work in our district team anything else any questions about it that's very broad there's much more to it but any questions from board members yeah I was just super excited to read it and really wanted to know more about it and one thing that I can get really excited so I'm trying to keep myself short can work so that the ability challenge concluded and we're also conducting analysis of the system so the ability challenge will point us to sort of where we headed and then also we're looking at the resources that we have in our special department and how really need our goals and our mission related to inclusion for all students and so I'm hoping towards the end of the year I'll present to you about how those are coming together and the shifts that we'll see in our MLSS we'll just continue to develop those systems thank you any other questions from the call report or to Kara again thank you for the call report for all principals here and not here and central office so now we have the central government carrier center I'll be super brief everybody's receiving their you know some of your receiving ballots or have asked for the ballots and then most of you have to get your ballot when you go vote so don't forget to vote for the central government carrier center too and the second is that we have signed a contract with the tricks and callings for their re-envisioning to make sure that we make the career center take the career center to the next the envisioning is what we're calling that right now so that we can meet student needs they're able to serve the students by 2029 if all of our students then principals report would invite you to ask questions questions from the board page 15 any of any highlights no okay I don't see anybody to jump in no appreciation appreciation okay but it's really great to get a little look into your schools by principal report the BSBA report they're just two things they you all got the alert this afternoon but in case you haven't had a chance to read at 8 8 50 past and it's headed towards the governor's office and he has bad days too on it and then and then other than that there's there's a lot of webinars going on right now our own Gorsula is going to be participating in the next one and trying to share it up and she's going to be sharing a how do we onboard or members and what's exciting and thankful to her so that to be willing to step up thank you so sign up if you want to learn more and okay so now let's move into the big subject of today the board for operations act 127 discussions so I'm going to move down here and try to frame out a little bit you got a memo from the finance from the finance committee that was pretty you know pretty clear we get some pros and cons in this but I thought might be the most helpful today instead of spending a lot of time about talking about what a 27 it you know like the whole age in 50 we're not going to spend time talking about that but we could put a motion on the table that sort of relates to that table that we have so a motion to could be a motion to maintain our proposed budget or a motion to cancel and revise our proposed budget would somebody be willing to make it doesn't mean you know and then we will discuss but then we would have a motion on the table okay second by Ursula did you get that Lisa yes all right so so then let's open up to come for conversation I think these pros you know the chart is very helpful and I think the pros really list you know that fact of and appreciating the work Suzanne that you've done about really making it clear and looking that the impact is really not that different with the five percent cast on there's not a huge difference and then the confusion that would come about if we cancel try to shift and I just think it's not it's disrespectful to our voters and we could just pop turn around or I really want everybody to have today so please Joshua I know that you have a limited time today I don't want to put you in the spot but if you wanted to go next or if you want to wait that's okay too oh I can't hear you wait mark hold on a minute we can hear you but it's not I see that you're unmuted so I think it's up here can you try now please Joshua can you hear me yeah yeah okay you can hear me yes go for it great so the motion just so it was a little hard to hear just so I understand the motion is to maintain the power current budget yeah motion yeah proposed budget yeah right and so I think we should revisit the budget I've heard a lot from the community a lot of people that have supported the board's decisions throughout the years um and they are really nervous about the work we're doing here and our lack of what they feel is the lack of attention to our budgetary problems um I've heard things like you know the school is should not be responsible for everything meaning you know people's mental health people's nursing concerns people's dietary things and whether or not I agree with that I think it's worth paying attention to that I do however understand that um the idea of maintaining it if we're not going to listen to leadership recommendations anyway so um I I believe I would not be supporting maintaining this budget um I just I think it's not good for behavior the road we're going down thank you Joshua I'm just trying to please Natasha oh Natasha I go ahead I can't see her raising her hand but oh you'll pass okay if I don't like jump all over it do you want to go with my question? Sure um I am in favor of have to cut from the budget to make a meaningful financial impact on voters is enormous I don't think we would get anywhere near that and it would be a lot of work when there's already been a lot of work and thought put into this I I want to keep you know in mind for the long game of course um as we have been in how to make wise financial decisions but I I don't see you know rushing back to this budget to revise it um is really going to have a meaningful impact on you know the the finances of our constituents um those are my thoughts sure yeah well I I came into the finance committee meeting last week like prepared to recommend with the rest of the committee that that we asked the board to make reductions and I was I came out of that meeting um with the position that we should maintain it for now I think it's it is a lot of it has to do with the confusion not just the procedural confusion but also one of the points on this reasons to maintain our proposed budget is that if we cut some then put it before the voters and the budget is voted down it's not a clear message one way or the other and it kind of work becomes incredibly problematic because of that I think it's it's I think leaving it up to the voters to give an unequivocal message one way or the other which they're going to be able to do as the budget stands now is the right choice and we can take action if we need to take action if the if the budget were to fail but um I think for a lot of us our priorities and the tradeoffs that we we understood are being made you know are in this budget as it stands and it's it's an incredibly stressful position that we're all in but I think leaving it to the voters on on March 5th makes the most sense for now I'm very on the fence I don't want to be calling on people but I don't know how you see what they're doing I can go um yeah you know obviously this is a no good options here but um I'm in favor of reducing the budget I think that um for all the reasons that are in the table I'm compelled by the the other reasons but I think um one to add is that I think that we should do everything feasible to avoid a budget vote going down because once that happens a first time I fear that it it it changes the culture around voting for the school budget and I see that in other districts and um I think it's um hard to be very specific but to try to be specific I would say accept the original proposals that reduce the nursing and counseling position and then identify at least another 500,000 to remove and I recognize that that's not a very significant impact on the tax rate but I think that it demonstrates a would just demonstrate a degree of fiscal responsibility that our community is looking for from us and then I think that we would have to in order to do that we would have to essentially empower the administration to identify how how it could how those reductions could be made with the least impact or possible and then and then basically plan on accepting those recommendations I don't think that we can get into a back and forth and have um have you know staff on the fence about whether we're going to recommend that or not. Those are my thoughts. Thank you. I have been pretty conflicted on this especially after the last finance meeting when we came up with this table um I very much wanted to revise our proposed budget I and I had to decide if that was where I stood previously and those feelings playing a part to it we very much have a fiscal responsibility to our communities and we need to take steps. I am very concerned about the timeline and getting it done and that's not an answer. Excuse me yeah I'm I think I'm in favor of keeping the budget as it is for many of the reasons that Daniel mentioned but also because I think that there are other factors that play into this including you know the state of Vermont has underfunded public education for decades and I think that's something that has to be said and also and I realize that that's not a solution right now but I think that's part of the problem is that educational spending is so heavily weighted onto localities for a variety of reasons but when we get into a situation we're facing now um it's really it's it's really a way of I think the state shifting the burden to local people that I find really unacceptable um so and I realized I realized it's a gamble in the sense the fact that this you know some of these rates and these increases are really quite significant and certainly that will have a direct impact on many people um but I think there are I think there are ways to address this going forward that include like I said um the legislature really looking at ways that that funding that school funding is done in Vermont um because I think part of that lies in the legislature part of the responsibility for the position we're in lies with decisions that have been made for a long long time with respect to education funding in Vermont so um as hard as it is I think um trying to and again let's remember just one more quick thing that part of what we're doing right now is in direct reaction to legislation that was passed considering that five percent cap so now everybody's having to scramble at the very last minute to try to fix the situation that we didn't create we've always been responsible as far as I can tell physically quite responsible with our budgets how do I know that because they passed I go with the will of the voters if they're passing then they're happy with what we're doing so I guess that's all I'll say I think that if we don't try to reduce the budget it would be a disservice to the voters community I think that we shouldn't underestimate the effort that's been put in to create school-wide community-oriented social-emotional learning programs and I think that it's been clearly and skillfully articulated to show that students mental health and well-being is benefiting from the school-wide community approaches and so it's actually reducing the burden of one or a few counselors to do the heavy lifting of supporting people in that way and so well I think that it shouldn't be even a consideration that anyone has to make to cut the positions of nurses and counselors during one of the worst mental health crises of our lives for generations but it has pushed the community to be creative and innovative and to find ways to act collectively and communally which I think is inspiring and I think that that's what's been needed for a very long time and I think that we can also have a conversation of the need for more support financially to not put it put the burden on the taxpayers and the voters and the community at large I think that if families have the additional burden financially that would happen if we don't try to lower the budget that could have negative implications on mental health and well-being across the community as well which is just as significant if not more to consider in this and so while still I think it's antithetical symbolically to cut these positions to our values collectively I think that looking at the data and the models that have been implemented and continue to evolve and improve I think that we can do both we can reduce the budget and we can do the needs I'm not okay or are you ready no you go yeah I was definitely considering similar things to what Daniel said about the just getting a you know getting a clear message if you know if the budget does fail about which direction we need to go I mean I think obviously our priority needs to be to pass the budget on the first time I really don't know I guess I'm skeptical that sort of your small you know yes small cuts are going to have that that big an impact you know on that I think I think we will have you know if we do cut nursing accounts I think we will have people voting against the budget on the basis of that I don't know how many but I'm but I would really guess I've been told 0 and yeah I think that I think there absolutely are people who are going to vote against the budget on the basis of this increase being so large but I think I think they're going to vote against the budget because the increase is so large I don't think it's I don't think 24 versus 25 percent or 15 versus 60 percent is that difference so I think that's what I'm leaning towards leaving the budget as is I just wanted to make sure I understood this table correctly because you know there's talk about cutting a couple hundred thousand dollars and it looks to me like that would equate to about you know 300,000 might be a $50 reduction in taxes give or take on a $300,000 home so again I mean I don't want to be like oh it's a little more money but like it's not I just don't I will reiterate I don't think that in a short amount of time we can make meaningful thoughtful creative cuts to the budget to that would have any sort of meaningful financial impact one way or the other and if we chose to do that now when would when would the decision need to be made so that we can do the new vote you know what I'm saying you'd have to re-won by March 14th to vote on the last possible day of 8,850 which is April 15th okay so if there's no more from from board members I'm going to open it to public and then we would make a decision does that make sense to you guys any comments from the public the meeting today whether it's in person or anybody please feel free to comment I don't see a lot of hands up here unless I'm missing something anybody in the pub from the public that want to comment trying to do my teaching what you guys been teaching me about being a teacher and not waiting passing but is there possibly confusion over the fact that public comment isn't in this section yeah we change it oh okay we added we added it at the beginning of the meeting and missed we all voted on it I thought okay hearing none we just wanted to make sure that the public got to say something while we were having this this conversation so if there's nobody that wants to speak it would be helpful to have go ahead so um a few things can you just introduce yours I know we all know you here but for that public I hear what you're all saying I agree with party but I also agree with we can't change the process now you're going to do nothing but confuse the voters right yes I feel like courage right we should look at the budget well I think we're too late for that so that's what I think I mean you're going to confuse the voters if you change things right now people or we all got our ballots already there are people are probably already feeling it out and voting and then to say oh no we're not going to do it that's that doesn't seem right so I think right now you have to just leave it up to the voters but if they should turn it if they vote it down so that's the message to come up with possibilities right there's one there oh Shannon go ahead hi I'm Shannon Miller I'm a parent um of three when at Berlin Elementary and two at U32 um our question when thinking about this budget um this is clearly an extraordinary situation in year um but it seems like things will not um get more affordable from here on out in terms of taxes so I heard one of the board members say um you know we will plan for this essentially um big decisions in the future um and I would love to hear a little bit more about what those ideas are um I agree it's really short timing at this point um so what's the plan moving forward to keep things affordable um for families who live in the district thanks thank you Shannon and I I think later on in our in our meeting because we haven't discussed with the board the board so that you know the board does have a configuration committee and we've been doing a lot of work with the finance config slash configuration committee in planning for the future what what opportunities do we have as a district to look at the district as a whole and see what are the needs you know how many teachers do we need how many schools do we need like those are the kind of conversations that we've been having as a as a committee that we're hoping to share with the public once we share with the board in early April would be our our hope we just start early conversations not so that it won't affect this year's budget right it would affect a future budget whether it's 26 or 27 we're still to to have those conversations right I don't see any other hands up but but we do have a lot of opportunities for a district so I guess we can have a vote I don't want to really drag the conversation I do have an opinion obviously I like so I I'm I'm like really torn because I really I really we we need to look at the opportunities together and and we need to really cut I think it is in my mind we did not need to add or you know like I think we need to do a better job about doing data informed decisions for you know for the future to make sure that our budget represents what is best for kids I I think at the 11th hour right now making a change I agree that we don't have a lot of time especially I don't know that there's the will of the board as a whole to not try to micromanage where those cuts are right and I mean that with all your respect I don't mean that they're respecting anybody I just feel like at the point that we are right now we want to make a systematic change and the systematic change is going to come from all that data that we're going to get and all the work that the configuration committee has been doing I think that we could agree potentially today to not change our budget but then talk about where are those reductions if the budget fails right now we're not going to have much time to do a system approach either but we would have a little more time to react to it in a in a better way that try to rush it right now and and we you know we were receiving calls from from different people already and and and there is there is confusion it is not as confusing because we can't we have given us the power to just say you don't count that article the tabulator can count you don't count that article and then you put it to vote already but I think if the budget was voted no that the board would have clear information that we need to do something you know like there is just not I don't want to fail both so I'm really torn you know I'm really torn if I if I have to speak I'm like we have to cut right does that make sense right now where we are it's it's pretty it's pretty late and understanding all of us as we work as a group and it requires all of us I don't want to make this decision with one vote that is ahead right if we're required to board acting as a group because it's not one of us that's able to make this change so and you know I'm just looking at the numbers right now it's just we I don't want to also disrespect our leadership team and and send them spinning to come back at our next meeting with some savings and then we all like yeah no but we're not ready for that either so we that's that's where that's where I am but that doesn't mean that's how we have you know it's that decision you know the power is from all of us working together towards where we want to go and that's what we have to continue to do as a as we're incredibly lucky we have so much in this district and we just need to be more we have to take advantage of the scale to best serve our kids but so are you saying that if the budget fails it's likely that we will discuss as a board if we take administration's recommendation the initial recommendation and then or other cuts could be made yeah we would have to yeah there's no option I did everybody agree there was no option you know we have to look at cuts right yeah I'm looking at everybody yeah I think especially as if we put the budget forward as is then yes I think it's very clear that it's it was because it was too expensive if we yeah there was a situation very last year where there was an active there were the people who never wrote for the budget because they think it's too expensive and there was active campaign of people to vote it down because they thought they'd spend enough and that's the situation that's really tough for a board but I think you know where we are right now if that's pretty clear that it's there would need to be caught yeah and it's an extraordinary year right yeah I don't disagree with anything people are saying but I do want to point out if um if the budget fails and you're going to be considering more than 200,000 more than 500,000 you're going to be considering large numbers you're still going to be faced with the dilemma of is that too much is where do we cross the line where we start voting against us and I don't know what you do about that but um I do I guess I would recommend let's talk to as many people and gather as much information between now and the vote and after the vote but you know this is an opportunity to hear from people anecdotally I wouldn't recommend like a survey I don't know how you would do that a vote is a survey but but what we don't know is like what are people's thoughts behind their vote I agree with all of that and that also for us to have a commitment and we keep saying this year after year a commitment that this is an extraordinary year right because it's just with the what's happening statewide right that we had that we had no control on and but knowing that we are working diligent in our core beliefs and in our you know a configuration study that action must come right if we don't have an option but so do you we could call the vote or Daniel yeah I just I'm ready for the vote too but I guess I'm just a little concerned that we're not this feels like a very wishy washy conversation I guess and I worry about a vote coming after that and I I'm thinking about the message to the community for me and I'll speak for me right now but then I'll be prepared to speak with the board you know what the board's will is for me you know I would understand why someone might vote against it I think a lot of us would I don't necessarily agree with that but I would understand it and I think it's really clear in our messaging around this this budget proposal that you know we also are talking about our serious discussions you know to Shannon's question we're talking about you know really serious proposals on the table about reconfiguration and structural change changes to the district we're not sitting on our hands through this process and I think that's important to to get out there in this whole this whole debate piggyback on that Daniel that you know we all have very strong passions and beliefs that have brought us to the table I'm not being fiscally irresponsible I'm not being uncaring about what is being faced with our families I'm at one of the top ends of this increase and it's challenging and so I absolutely understand and hear and exactly what you're saying Daniel but I also know that as we bring that thoughtful process into it we are not we aren't jumping on let's load up the the budget let's load up the budget we're we're considering those things and I think all of us know once we hear the will of the people then that's what brings a different conversation to it and I don't hear any of us who are saying maintain it are also saying and will ignore the will of the voters and not you know do the hard work too so I just thank you Daniel for bringing you up okay any last words before we call the vote I guess I would just say that I prefer to approach this work with an optimistic hopeful outlook and not for fear of what might happen for fear of being and I think that's what we're doing right that's only we're taking a vote and if you looked at the table we were taking the table from a position of control but also a position of hope right not just like you know I think when I when I say that we make a commitment it's like it takes all of us we're making a commitment we're doing the necessary work that we need to do in order to get there right so we are still going to work as board members right now to pass the budget right this is the budget that we came to a conclusion after months of deliberation after looking at our where student meets where and this is where we are right so we're so all those in favor of the motion on the table to not change our budget at this moment please say aye aye okay any oppose so the eyes have it the motion carries so the next the next week so we will communicate right like we will communicate we'll help me with a little bit so let's just play contingency a little bit if it fails there there when's the next meeting it'll be so that your meeting in the work plan is March 13th which is a week later last year you um as a contingency plan of sorts you were going to are you had a plan if it had failed to call an emergency meeting to reorganize yourselves and so the finance committee could get to it faster because the finance committee would normally meet on the 12th you you won't meet because you're not reorganized yet so I would imagine you'd want to do something similar if it fails to call an emergency meeting that week to reorganize what's the rule around that is it 24 hours or yeah emergency meeting can be emergency emergency emergency meeting special meeting is 24 yes yeah so the emergency meeting can be on the same on the same day so we could have to you know we could have the vote but but we are allowing us also respecting our select of our clerks because they're commingling up the votes which is the only reason we're giving more time now so it could very well be that in three days we have all the results but we're trying to give them 10 days so that they're commingling the career center they're commingling our district but we could potentially have the results before and if the the results of also the new board member not new but whoever wasn't so then we can reorganize quickly and we can have a finance committee meeting before that so I just want to ask another question this kind of a follow-up to the last question that I had so I wasn't as curious about like what would we do would we reduce the budget yeah but what is there is it recommended that we then kind of default to the initial recommendation would you like you was in the spirit of being efficient is that like I think you as a board would need to give the administration a financial direction to go in because once a budget fails I mean your financial direction could be 182 thousand dollars and then that would be pretty obvious what you meant by that but if your recommendation is another number administration really needs to be the one circling up around what does that mean yeah because it's a different country so I would I would offer that it might be premature to even know where you would go you would need to come back together and say budget failed I would like you to take x out and then one of the things we have talked about is is actually to avoid the go show us what this would look like versus definitively we need you to bring this in because there's an incredible amount of stress on the system when it's just an exercise so we would just give them a direction they will come back and say this is how we can meet the student needs commit to it we would just commit to it I think and then because we have to warn that we have less restrictions but we still have to warn at a plan for a special election right special vote then the next point on this was the 4.2 is the process for for self-evaluation and we had last 60 minutes for the act 127 conversation because we thought it would take it it would take a lot longer what we want to do with the so I what we had decided was to do the self-evaluation is something that it's going to get into your mailbox and we want all of the four members to fill it and then we'll use that at our retreat and the desire is that all four members right now that are still with us will we would use that information to inform how we work in the future as a team but to get into practice this would be the first year that we were doing a self a full self-evaluation we talked about it last year we did an informal one and this year would be it's just like a Google form and the idea is to have a hundred percent participation on that and then to you know we all learn from from it so it was just that informational I don't think we need a motion or anything for that it's just that's what we would be doing and it's what we had in our work plan so we're trying to respect all of not just respect by a five for all this planning that we've been doing and okay so now we can move to our finance committee discussion and I'm looking for a motion some page 29 for the U-32 Baseball Refurbish. The allocation of 73,921 additional capital reserve funds to the budget for the completion of the U32 Baseball Field Refurbishment Project and approve awarding U32 Baseball Field Refurbishment Project to dirt tech company LLC in amount now to exceed 201,107 dollars thank you Ursula could I have a second any discussion or questions I apologize so this is this is in addition to the is it a different field or it's addition in it's the baseball field yeah so we're asking for you to authorize 73,000 additional and then approve awarding the budget awarding the very good thank you got confused sorry any other questions seeing I I think you have a question now then the whole baseball thing goes down okay we we have already you know did it but yeah the whole thing goes down and we will be behind in our capital planning and then we wouldn't be you know and these funds are in the capital funds are in the capital plan and they've been allocated and we've been planning so that really separate from all the budget we've been back from yeah and they can't come back to the general fund in case you were having ideas okay all those in favor be signified by saying aye any opposed hearing none the motion carries thank you very much yeah that now is the 2.2 is the word a bit for the district combined capital projects some page 30 we're selecting line okay got it okay I move that the board approve awarding the WCUSD 2024 combined construction project contract to EF Wallen associate bank in an amount not to exceed $591,147 thank you Ursula second thank you sir any questions hearing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye and now 5.3 review and approve our project manager contract is on page 31 and that bill can you do it yeah I moved that the board authorized the superintendent to sign the contract with WF project inspection persons for his services as owner project manager and clerk of the works through February 9th 2025 not to exceed $87,500 okay Ursula second thank you Daniel any discussion questions if you can ask the question I'm just curious what the clerk of the works is exactly the clerk the clerk of the clerk of the works is a very important person because they make sure that the work gets done on time they inspect the work they also are the first contact so he worked with Chris O'Brien and works with Suzanne too and you know you can't even begin to understand what how much bill has done for us keeps track of the project being on being on time he has liability with his work he supervises the work and most they don't do it now but most of the time if you were borrowing any money you need a clerk of the works in order to be you know approved to do the to do the work and even to give the payment so he inspects clears that and then we can issue a check only if bills says one thing to say about it is that in any construction project there's usually three key parties there's the contractor there's the architect or the engineer maybe in this case and then there's the owner and if the owner doesn't have someone very knowledgeable and and has authority in in the oversight then they're at a disadvantage you really need kind of a level playing field between those two parties and he is he works for us so he is that person he makes sure that our interests are served so all of the pre-qualifications all of the you know so he's the mediator between everybody hey thank you did I miss anything Suzanne page 32 is the list of projects that we're working on right now and it's really long and I think that we've mentioned this before and you probably heard the news that the AOE initiated a school facility review and all of our school were reviewed that and we got back to reports and you know when we saw it it was like oh that's on next year's book that that's on next year's list that's on the year after like we have planned out already the things that they're reporting our school facilities need which is so exciting and so he expands the capacity for us to be able to get those done sooner without him we would definitely to push projects out further this wouldn't have the capacity to do it but we would be having to work with a different clerk of the works every year and he has worked with us since we did the East Montpelier renovation and invaluable that he's willing to dedicate this amount of time to us too you know because he could do it anywhere yeah it's notable that he's back down on his hours on this contract because he intentionally wants to yeah one of the things one of the projects that we're in the middle of is the security card camera system project and he and Chris are working extremely hard on that project with a lot of internal man hours spent on it analyzing our facilities and what our doors need and what the you know locations of cameras and so it's I find it very exciting these are such large these are such large projects that even even a modest amount of benefit on a bunch of projects the return on investment I mean it's well worth it and it also allows the people in the building to stay instructional leaders you know allows their superintendent and allows Susanne to do her job otherwise they would be trying to figure out oh is that yeah all those in favor but very thorough answer I'm doing thank you so I like yeah and I love you all those in favor for signify by saying hi hi any opposed hearing none the motion carries and bill and now we're going to move into personnel configuration oh sorry sorry I am a jet configuration report out of it it's too little in my thing so I don't even know where to start so I have four I put four four points but please you guys correct me so what we were when we started to talk about the today about the configuration study one thing that three members of our leaders can emphasize is that this one it was high quality enrichment instructional for all students it's you know sort of like the overarching concept of all the configuration that different models that they showed us we want to recommend the biggest part is that the configuration finance committee wants to recommend to the board that we discussed this at our April 3rd meeting and that would be a presentation to the board usually our first meeting of the month is a community meeting to so it would be open to community but that would also be the first time that the board is listening to it and out about the our leadership team to do a little bit more work in transportation and other and other things I was not going to get into the different models that they presented to us but I think one thing that we were really excited about is that the different opportunities that there are whether it is putting together bringing the sixth graders to U32 having three schools or having to there it really made a there's been a very thorough approach of how to to look at the at the at the at the options and I don't want to discuss the options at this point but if anyone want to do add anything to it what I might add just sort of in in light of our discussion of the budget I think we might want to put enough meat on the bones easier if it's now or if it's in our public messaging around the budget to be able to show that this is that we have some really concrete things we're thinking about you know it's so that when as we talk about oh it's you know yes the costs are increasing a lot this year but we have a plan to deal with that the people can start to see you know can see a little bit more of what the plan is coming together even if it's not even if we don't know specifically what what it is that to say that there are some real real proposals real thoughts is it helpful I mean it just occurs to me that you have your annual meeting which is typically your budget presentation and I wonder about presenting some uh the the logical things because I'm I'm also acknowledging that the full board hasn't seen the whole presentation so I wouldn't suggest trying to do that but some things that that the community that would be helpful for the community to know so they know you are moving that forward would be here's what we've done so far here's our timeline here are the the core priorities we identified that we want for our students here are anyway so not the full presentation that the finance committee but I wonder if we put some of those context building pieces into our um annual meeting that's an opportunity to start the conversation yeah I agree with that I think so and include that in our messaging and include that in our messaging yeah yeah yeah yeah and yeah I mean I think just just to add on that I think two things that I haven't heard anyone else say in their summation of this one is like there are there are evidently cost savings but we haven't quantified them I think that's important to say and I think also these are really operationally feasible configuration models that that we're exploring and that also meet meet our our priorities that we set but I know people have said that before but I think those are things worth emphasizing in this message it and say that there are you know there are also some real quality games as well but it's not yet that I think in the project context we need to be real about the fact we're thinking serious about budget but also to be able to say that it's also that there are also some real quality games to be had here yeah because you're right you know while we're thinking about future planning as you know as a part of it will be a cost savings that hasn't that wasn't part of the presentation the presentation wasn't really okay we can mark off this much from our budget based on that it was more so what is the quality that we can provide our students by making some of these different configurations yeah I think that word and I don't know how to say this word properly and like the struggling even writing it down but you know like how they started with the core beliefs the three pillars and that operate oh operationalized how we operationalize how we operate so much simpler yeah for you they were looking at sustainability yes yeah what's gonna work right now but how do we make a sustainable system yes okay and I also sorry I also just want to make it clear I know we're not doing the big presentation until April but like the meetings we've had have been open yeah and so so there's you know we can share what we've been talking about is is available to the public yes I don't know it will be on the website yeah yeah yeah they're not there at the moment because we wanted you all to see it first but yes they will be up and that there's space still for discussion and conversation around it but that there are concrete ideas so now we can move into personnel okay don't all jump as the sack is ready or so okay I knew that we approved the reservations of James hit hazel time fifth and sixth grade classroom at EMS Uriah proctor Mattingly wide support student support from panelists Daisy Scarzello classroom teacher at U-32 and Kim McKellar work-based learning coordinator and that's next year yes second okay so moved by Ursula second by Daniel all those in favor please signify by saying hi hi can you pose any abstentions hearing none the motion carries and thank you everybody for your service I move that we accept the long-term institution for the 23-24 school year of Bernadette Burney scrappy interventionist special education thank you I have a second thank you any discussion all those in favor please signify by saying hi hi the next part is the oh superintendent search update I they're in the packet it included the list of the steering committee who's sitting here at the table we you know we did our best to make sure that I represented the towns that I represented teachers that I represented different that that was fair across our communities and across our staff and across our students we still have room for one more student I don't know what it means that you want she was going to guess okay but and we're going to break in a minute but we are still have an opening for one more student in case one of you want to volunteer just kidding but at least send somebody we have we have had just our first just our first meeting and that's where we are we're on schedule any questions yes I was just going to ask is it March 29th was that the day March 27th and would it would it be after after the workday that we would likely have our opportunity to interview yeah so it would depend on how many finalists we have because we would have to walk it back right so if it's one finalist for sure it would just be if we have to do two we would have my student here is very distracting so so yes we would that would be we would do it similarly the like we did it the last time right did we had if we had to we you know they would be spending the day it's everything happens that michael's the day and so that that day they would be spending all day visiting our schools and then they have an opportunity to have a forum with our communities we're remote and in person meet with the staff and then they would be interviewing with with us so we will do our best to the reason that we picked march is because March we had just that one meeting for the board and also because we need to we we're doing it as quick as possible in staying on I didn't include the timeline there but we're staying on the timeline okay so now consent agenda approve the minutes that we approve the minutes from February 7th 2024 I have a second second sorry second all those in favor oh any edits or okay all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed thank you again we thank you and then somebody has the folder of the okay go Daniel I moved that the board authorized board orders in the amount of $654,651 and 10 cents was that both the total okay second thank you so moved by Daniel second by Diane any questions all those in favor please signify by saying aye so I thought that we would have it well we can look at our work plan first and then we'll have a little break just to use the bathroom as a food and then we'll move into executive sessions okay so your next meeting is your barring of past budget your next meeting is the reorganization meeting on March 13th and it's here and it will probably if anything have an update about the strategic plan not a presentation the way that it's stated just because there's no finalizing any questions yes there are actually three places for signatures oh okay just have one minute because I'm trying to outline this message it's going to be a very important message so I don't want to wordsmith it but just to get a sense so board decided to maintain our proposed budget for vote on time meeting you can use the ballot that was mailed to you here are the reasons I want to circle back to that here's what we were doing and that's we have a committee that's looking at reconfiguration what you can do so I think the annual meeting is a brilliant idea so please please learn about the budget in these ways and join us on March 4th we'll be talking about the budget and the early stages of possible reconfiguration and we urge you to support this to your budget is that a hybrid meeting okay so the reasons of all the reasons that we were taking this action the two that rose to the top for me that given the most recent estimates of tax impact what we're proposing is not significantly different from what we approved back in January and given that ballots have already been mailed we want to avoid the confusion of canceling the vote and rewarning does that those are the two that yes thank you with that let's take a we're just coming back to going to executive session do you want to go into executive session yeah yeah so let's make a motion could I have a motion to move into executive session for performance evaluation is it so move but will there be any business that will do though when we come out because I believe you okay all right so then they kept so I move thank you Diane oh to include to include Megan who's that I'm sure so you get that missa yeah okay well those in favor be signified by saying hi hi and your votes and motion carries so we're in executive session