 Just curious where my kid am I not seeing my killing and you She was at the other meeting. I Just admitted Diane so Diane is here. I don't see me killing you. Hi Diane. Oh, we can see you now Chris Yeah Okay, I'm gonna give one more second to see my killing can join us too because she was at the other meeting too And here's Eric Okay, well, yeah, you're ready. I'm gonna call the meeting to order At 6. Oh to Welcome everybody. Thank you for joining us. I know it's beautiful finally outside and we are all in here But thank you for taking the time to come today. Yeah, I'm gonna You know, just some quick reminders before we totally get started. I wanted to welcome all our guests today I think we have oh here comes Michael and good. Okay, can I give her one second for her to be? camera There you are. Are you there McKellen? I think there she is There you are. Okay, good. Okay, so we just got started. So I was just saying that we Just wanted to share again that we're committing to creating a safe space for all of us to have the conversations and I'm gonna encourage us all to have a constructive conversation today and always one of the major purposes of Public education is to ensure our students are recording in progress skills to become active citizens and we need to model what we teach So we are going to try to practice democracy always. So please listen Assume positive intentions allow orders to be heard and another reminder is that the The school board meetings are meetings of the board in the public So we have if you go in that page one at the very bottom in the back of page two actually we have some guidelines for Public comments. So to ensure that we were able to conduct our business Today, we're gonna adhere to We were gonna depend on how many people I'm gonna ask that we had one point five minutes. We were thinking 90 Seconds, which is one point five basically per person for public comments a and Microphones will be muted after that time if there's not enough time at the beginning We'll do more time at the at the end of the meeting depending on how many people have we have a pretty long package today, but it is important to hear from our community members. So with that Yeah, and we're not opening it up to public comments and like I said, we're so if you Are planning to speak please raise your hand. So we get a idea. Okay, so I see two people so far Is that Nikki and Becca? Okay? Nikki Okay, should I go can I start it? Yeah, go ahead. Yeah ready. Yeah, just one quick check in mark. Are you with us? Yes, I gave me one second to restart this hold on Okay. Okay. No, I'm ready. Okay. Go ahead. Thank you. Thank you Hi, and thanks for giving me the time to speak I'd like I wrote everything down So I'd like to request that the board does not confirm the new Romney primary position new hire position Until there's a fair and unbiased and transparent selection process Some questions I have about the process that aren't able to be answered or weren't able to be answered We're how the hiring committee was assembled by selection or volunteer And why the time requirement for the community volunteers changed so drastically and was so misleading First it was said to be 16 hours in person over three weeks And then it turned out to be just a few hours on zoom over two days The lack of communication and misleading information Is concerning and I suspect favoritism bias and preferential treatment And the lack of transparency in the hiring of our children's educators Feels inappropriate and unacceptable So i'm asking for the board to require Romney to redo the interview steps Making it transparent so that the school and or the community and the faculty can all be on board with the new hire Thank you Thank you, Nikki. Thank you for your comment Becca Hi everyone, my name is Becca Mandel And i'm a parent in middle sex and I have two kids at Romney one in pre-k and one in first grade And I want to echo some of the concerns that Nikki just shared about the hiring process for the new primary teacher My first concern is that an email was sent with only one day's notice to the community about The hiring committee and the initial email did state that it would require 16 hours of time all of which is during normal business hours And so that's just one day It's just not enough time for for working folks to arrange that kind of time off to join a process that we would want to join So that's a that's concern number one and then relatedly the fact that It then took way fewer hours over zoom Meant that it was a process that I could have joined but didn't realize that I could have joined And so it almost feels like a bait and switch there I know sometimes these things are hard to predict But I think one of the things that i'm also very concerned about is how much time Was initially blocked off for that hiring process. I've done a lot of hiring through my own work And especially when there's two very strong internal candidates. It's really unusual to block off that much time for For a for an interview process when you know you have two strong internal candidates And it's unlikely you're even going to have to bring in a an outside candidate for that And I think that the other The other sort of piece that's that's really important about that is that I you know, I think that this is a collective bargaining agreement Or the hiring process needs to be In keeping with the the rules of the collective bargaining agreement And I believe that those two internal candidates Needed to be given preferential treatment. And I think that this is probably Something that's at odds with the collective bargaining agreement. And I guess I'm really concerned About that and the implications for that as we move down this process Thank you Becca. Thank you for being with us today I Mark is that your timer that is going off? It was yes. Sorry. Yeah, okay. It's off now. Thank you. Okay. Thank you Okay, Becca, we don't have a lot of people so if you want to finish those two last sentences, but just stick to your dialogue, please Oh, okay So I just saying that um, I'm concerned about the implications of this hiring process down the road If we do continue down the path that we are with the potential violation of the collective bargaining agreement Thank you Hannah Hi there. Um, I'm also a parent at rum. Me. I have two kiddos one in kindergarten and one in first grade And I am echoing what both Nikki and Becca said I'm really concerned about Protocol and process This is reminding me a lot About our issues with former superintendent Olkowski That was a big concern and and lack of transparency was was really toxic The same thing happened with Well, I won't say the same exact thing a lot of the same concerns came up with the principal hiring search in terms of misleading information about how the search committee was going to work How the recommendations were sent to whom and what weight they were applied. I felt like that was very misleading And it seems to me that the same a very similar thing has happened And rum me is in a place where because of a lot of changes In a short amount of time Trust in administration has been And I'm worried for our community We are so lucky to have a really strong community of teachers And and a core group that's been there for a long time Two of these internal candidates are part of the glue or part of this community That is remarkable and for them to be passed over is Is really shocking and I think demands Greater clarity on how the process happened and also some oversight One of the issues that we brought up before the principal hire was potential conflict of interest And I don't think that that so I think that this process warrants a greater degree of oversight And transparency and I'm very concerned About the road we're heading down just like Becca said So I'd ask I'd ask the board too to consider that. Thank you All right. Sorry. Thank you for your comments Kristen Sure, thank you My name is Kristen Freeman. I'm the parent of a six year old who's in kindergarten at Rumney And currently and did two years in the pre-k program We've been thrilled with the experience at Rumney because of the teachers and I feel really passionate about I feel concerned actually I feel passionate about our teachers. Those are our leaders They're on the forefront of helping to raise our children and educate and I'm really concerned about What I'm sensing I would echo what Nikki Becca and Hannah have all shared I'm concerned about the hiring decision in front of the board and I'm advocating for more community involvement I'm also advocating for strong consideration of internal candidates The school is its people the teachers are the leaders talent needs to be supported and recognized for the good of our children our community It's just so important So I would ask again for the board to consider taking more time and hearing more community input before making this really important decision Thank you Thank you, Kristen. Hey Lauren Yes, thank you. So my name is Lauren Frank and I am also a Rumney parent I have a preschooler and a current kindergartener there at Rumney and um Echoing what everyone else has said before me and just wanted to go on the record and say for myself that I feel like you are losing the trust of your community by not considering beloved well qualified and dedicated internal candidates For what was the recently open primary FTE position at Rumney I was shocked and saddened to learn that educators who have enriched the lives of both of my children Were passed over for an external candidate Thank you Lauren. Thank you everybody for coming. I don't is there any other public comments? I don't see Hannah. I imagine that's an old hand Right. Yeah, okay So thank you everybody for for coming. I know that we received some letters And so I'm just going to acknowledge that it is hard for the community to know all the ins and outs I was going to just share with you that If The the board creates policies that clarify expectations and procedures for the whole district But the board does not get involved in the hiring practice This allows us to maintain a close relationship with staff and community And how do we do that is by continue to stay in those chain of commands? There are some steps that Through policy that that you guys can can take but this is not a topic today on our On our agenda. So I was just gonna Suggest that I have no doubt that our administrators have taken all steps necessary to ensure for a fair and equitable professional treatment of all of the candidates And the board hires a superintendent and superintendent hires those administrators to be able to get the job done on behalf of the board But this is not something that the board gets into And so with at a later time The board can take us the the topic of what are our hiring practices at the moment Just like we were all today curious and talking about diversifying greater workforce So we would do that at a later topic and everybody would be invited public is always invited to meetings So with that we're going to move into the rest of our agenda. Are there any agenda revisions from board members? And thank you for coming Any agenda revisions Lord Chris You know the board does ultimately hire teaching candidates and what we've heard what we've heard from Multiple members of the rumley community in the middle sex community and as well as letters is a grave concern about the process that was used And we can we can have this discussion during the hiring When we're at the end of the at the meeting when we're considering the hiring Because ultimately it is the board's decision whether to hire A teacher or not and and I will bring this up When we are later in the meeting just to have this discussion because it I mean we have to listen to our community members When when we have such an outpouring and so just i'm just Alerting that i'm going to raise this later when we are considering the candidates for hire Thank you. Okay. Any agenda revisions? Seeing none, let's move into students reports while we are all here And I thank you for taking the time to being with us today. Please go ahead Thank you for taking time out of Your day to help out with my school and to listen to my report. I have A long list of things i'm just going to blurb through all of them I might talk a little bit more in detail of them The biggest thing two of the biggest things are we just finished the ap exams for juniors and seniors who want to push all of their learning they take ap courses which will prepare us for college If i'm going to get my scores back for those in july if i perform while on my ap tests I will be able to get credit in college for those so that's a really really big deal I'm really happy that they're done with and I have a little bit of stress off my body now This coming saturday is the junior and senior prom So i'll be attending the u32 prom i'm very excited about that our theme is bohemian night Which is kind of very hippie-esque that was not good Very hippie-esque very like earthy we're going to have some plants there i'm very very excited about that Along with the prom we're having a middle school dance, which is very exciting We haven't had one of those in a while so the middle schoolers i think Are going to be in the cafeteria. They're going to have a little dance. There's going to be a fundraiser So i'll be very exciting for the middle school Spring sports are going on. This is the best time of year for sports It's been really really nice out these past couple of weeks Our track team has been performing amazing. We have a couple people who have won the relay Won the sprints um one long jump all of that's very exciting My frisbee team we won our game yesterday 15 to 4 So that's very exciting very excited about that There are three weeks left to school for me as a senior in high school This is really scary and very very exciting and i'm really grateful to have been in such a good school community Um same with they're being the end of school. I've committed to college as well A lot of seniors are not committed to college or are knowing their options I'm not sure if i've mentioned it yet or not. I will be attending Wheaton College in norm, massachusetts With a major in education and a minor in women's studies So yes, steven I'm very excited about it So that's going to be a really really exciting thing for me Um i'm going to keep moving as fast as possible. The next thing is for seventh graders They go into seventh grade and they create these really really adorable books the picture books of stories They create for themselves and they will give them to first and second graders From all the elementary schools in the district So i'll be happening very very soon and they're all handmade hand colored the covers are From splatter painting and it's it's a really really cute experience for the elementary schools To be able to bond with the high school and the middle school as well Um same thing sort of during that same day. We're doing step up day in unity day So all of you guys who have middle school high school elementary school going to middle school It's a really big day for kids to be able to see what their next year is going to look like um Coming on june 1st a bunch of the members of the school board might be aware We are going to be raising the pride flag at our school and that's a really big deal because there's been a lot of controversy and There's some meetings going on within hopefully by june 1st that will be happening and we'll have a lot of support with that And the final thing just to top it off on a good note is the seniors have been raising money And because covet is hopefully gonna gonna play out well We'll be going on a trip to new york state For i believe one night and we'll be going whitewater rafting So that'll be a good way to end our year and i want to thank you all For having me as your student rep this year and i really appreciate all of it. Thank you Thank you and thank you for being so thoughtful and for all of that report and for You know being with us all this time. We wish you the best and we will have you here for another meeting though, right? so Any questions from board members? I don't see any hands up Okay, so moving moving right along I want to welcome our superintendent that we have the covet update. Is maria with us too or just you jen Maria is here somewhere. I believe okay, so okay. I'll get us. Yeah, I'll get us started So just a few things to report right now first of all as you may well be aware that vermont department of health now has the weekly surveillance report I last looked at it at 10 o'clock this morning at that point. Um, it was updated on may 11th and statewide the metric is high and the um them the surveillance report refers to both vermont department of health guidance and cdc guidance So I want to know that I want folks to know that that resource is there um and in in that same vein just a A plea for our community to continue to report cases to maria We've asked people to let her know so that we can continue To um to monitor the activity in our schools and make decisions that are safe for our school communities um and in that vein the school nurses Just received a new um a new document from the vermont department of health that was dated may 16th And um, and this was the follow-up I reported last month that we were expecting to get some more guidance from the vermont department of health that has come And beginning next monday our school nurses again are expected to report report COVID-19 cases To the department of health specifically any positive cases that were reported by parents or caregivers and any tests administered to the um by the school and reporting any clusters or suspected outbreaks um whether or not you you need to know if it's you know, there's no contact tracing that our school nurses are being asked to do but they are supposed to um let the vdh know if they think there's a cluster of cases or a possible Outbreak so we've been waiting for that guidance. How exactly it's going to play out to enact it We don't know so I think our most important thing is to please Continue to let maria know so that we can track that activity in our buildings That is it for the COVID-19 report unless there are questions for maria or myself again i'm just wondering with this current um surge or whatever are we seeing a um continued difficulties or increased difficulties with staffing um or You know, how is what is that looking like? So we definitely have had staff impacted and we've had particular classrooms impacted as well where we are Pretty certain given the cases that there was um something happening in school maria. Do you want to elaborate on that in any way? I think we are still seeing increased absences in our school and both staff and students. Um They're I don't know if we've talked about numbers, but we're up to about 640 cases in the district this year, which is a really significant number April was very close to january and may is looking to be just about the same as april. So we're It's an interesting time People are definitely fatigued and nobody wants to discuss it any longer, but COVID doesn't care particularly much and we did have we had a Pre-k classroom that we were keeping an eye on at rumney that seemed to have some higher than average numbers, but um Thankfully with the time in between the classes, it was a monday tuesday class We seem to have broken that transmission pattern. Um, but we are we're still keeping an eye on it Thank you maria. I see jonas has sir his hand up Thank you floor. Um, jen and maria With the demise of the COVID dashboard, which has now been replaced by the weekly surveillance report Which does not have county level data Are we still using the cdc metric? Uh about the community? risk level to Set our masking policy which has been set in conjunction with our uh with our labor unions Yeah, that's exactly what we're using so And i've started as you may well be aware I wait to send the community letter until we have the update and Maria very Helpfully and dutifully text me to let me know when it's updated so then I can make sure to get that out there And if necessary, we make sure that the signage on the buildings is updated as well Thank you, jen. I have one other quick question with the state of vermont announcing on tuesday that they will be Phasing out the testing sites I'm not sure what the timeline is for that But next year as we go into the school year Do you think that that the district will have enough? Uh at-home testing kits and resources to make available to students in the absence of that state sponsored testing And if there is anything that the board can do to Publicize that and make families in the community know that that capacity exists Please let us know and if the board needs to provide additional resources to you to make that happen I would be very interested in hearing that Thanks, Jonas at this point we have ample tests for our community and And we just got a memo Maria. You will be able to describe it a little better than I will right now but about various tests and ordering them and getting them into the into our Center office to lock up and then distribute for next year Maria. Can you elaborate on that memo? Yep, so the the aoe apparently Due to their storage transportation Whatever contracts that they have They are opting to ship us Next year's tests up to christmas Based on our school populations Before I think it's in the first week of june. So we'll be storing those tests They've extended the expiration dates of the test we currently have So we had a we have a large amount thousands of rapid at home tests that are set to expire in july They've extended that till the end of october So and they are giving us lamp tests, which are the quick result 30 minute result PCR quality tests They're giving us 25 of our school populations number Of those of lamp tests and that's primarily for diagnostic use by nurses at school Um, we have been passing out some lamp tests to families who have multiple cases in But we probably will be a little bit more circumspect with those and be passing out more rapids in the fall But we at this point we look to be very well stocked for the fall Thank you guys Any other questions? Otherwise jenny can move into our next Sure. Thank you. Thank you Um, you 32 schedule first at the last meeting Actually as part of the COVID-19 report I shared with you verbally some changes in next year's u32 schedule That really have been based on a lot of the learning and experience that we've had in the past few years through this pandemic And I we started communicating with the u32 community as well So steven and I just put a lot of what I had put verbally and writing for you to kind of memorialize that In your packets essentially, I would say in a nutshell the key points are More frequent meetings of shorter duration each week for our students. So there's more consistent contact time It's a schedule that allows for callback and teacher advisory every day And the dismissal time will be five minutes earlier than than this current year Which will also alleviate still some of the pressures we've had in in busing for elementaries those are the highlights steven anything else you want to point out otherwise We're welcome to uh, you're welcome to ask questions or make comments and we'll do our best to address them Any board questions or comments? No I don't see any hands up Jen I just wanted to thank both of you for you know, giving us that list of educational outcomes and what what you're doing That was super helpful and just learning what you have learned too. So thank you You're welcome Next continuous improvement plan and i'm going to do this one just verbally for you Many of you attended the ed quality committee meeting in april and at that meeting I showed you sort of this graphic of all of the tests that were or all of the tests of the plans that were writing Related to the agency of education The arp esser plan continuous improvement plans Are in that flow chart and so we're moving toward the continuous improvement plans You know that the annual snapshot has been released So we're able to look at um, some of the statewide sources of data that previously had been embargoed specifically the smarter balanced assessment and the vermont science assessment So my plan right now is to um with the support of the leadership team primarily first and Michelle SEPTA who is our data queen to put those slides together and to put Work into safe and healthy schools and academic academic achievement goals In alignment with our moving forward slash recovery slash arp esser plan To move all of that forward and to highlight some of the data Next wednesday is a half day of school for our students and Our teachers and paras will be attending For a short period of time an overview of continuous improvement planning Where I will share that information ask for some feedback on the draft goals again trying to create some coherence in the system My plan right now is to record it To put that recording out to the public as part of the community letter next week With a feedback form and then also invite them to the forum that you all are having on june 1st So that there's enough advance notice for people who want to preview everything And then we can still adhere to the timeline of june 15th for you all to um to approve the continuous improvement plan So that's my thinking um some heavy lifting to do between now and next week, but I think it's feasible Questions or comments about that Thank you, Jen. I think chris's hand was up. I don't know if from the previous or for this one I want to flip back one if I can Jen and for Steven When we changed the schedule last year for additional reading time for Students has that born any fruit or is this just not a good Year for asking that question I would say that we don't have any hard data on that But I do know that we've been able to utilize that silent sustained reading time So that the kids are able to to read both Usually it's books of choice for them And it's just practice reading. I would say that Um We could look at our reading scores once we uh once we get a little more data and and see if that was one of the helpful pieces of it But I I don't want to To say that we have hard data on it, but they are doing Okay practice. Thank you very much. That's helpful. Yep. Thanks Thank you chris maggi This is just the middle school sustained reading. Yes All right, correct, but I do know that our ninth. Um, I do know our ninth grade teams actually do some reading time within their English classes as well. It's not every day that they meet but they do build that time in as well Maggie Any anything else or that? Yeah, and I think it'll be helpful to hear as Apparent of a ninth grader. Um, I would be interested to find out if the data does bear that There are gains in reading fluency and comprehension from this opportunity You know to the extent there's accountability for What they're actually reading Is it actually being read is what i'm driving at? Understood. I'll get you that information. Maggie. Thank you And then the final part of the report today is related to the berlin Land transfer update. So i'm going to do a couple key highlights and then I would invite chris and erin to To supplement what i'm going to say I know that chris o bryan and erin buoynton met the other day with the berlin zoning administrator To talk about the plans sort of more conceptually and also to hear a status update and so Essentially what's happening right now is that there have the permitting Process is still in process. There's a regulatory 30 day appeal process and we are in that process through And the permit becomes effective may 29th if there are no appeals right now And then for berlin will set property pens and do some more work regarding the subdivision This is an area for me. I have to admit is is a steep learning curve so I would defer to chris and erin to To supplement anything that I said so that you have the information that you all need Yeah, thanks jen We didn't get a whole lot more information than what he sent in this communication In person other than he did bring some drawings some conceptual drawings and some pictures of Buildings and what they may look like He did talk about some timelines some shorter terms some longer term But what I would like to ask is going forward What would the what would the board be looking for? For information in and how how frequently we want to get updates From tom bodowski in that team or members is there any Chris I don't I don't think that we have any requirements except that You know, we oops chris go ahead and then I'll tell you what I would just Like to ensure that we're getting what we bargain for in terms of maintaining trails and things like that and you're not Doing things inadvertently That are violating what we've what we've bargained for So having just periodic inspection You know, but maybe by someone from our side of the fence, whether it be erin or you chris Just so you can because it's easier to address those things earlier than later if if if something goes awry Thank you. Okay Jonathan Yeah, I'd like to see updates fairly regularly as well Um, but I I think really those updates should be generated by the town and provided to us But I agree with chris that we ought to have You know our own some of our own folks keeping an eye on what's going on there too to be quite honest As someone as you all know, I didn't support this At all anyway, so I think we ought to keep a close eye on it. Thanks Thank you Jonathan and chris So what I was going to say chris is just making sure that we stay within the memorandum of understanding And then the memorandum of understanding goes into the deep, right? So we we're still in that influx place right now. They haven't finished all their work. They're still getting so yeah, just And you can also let us know when you have enough information and bring it to us and then we can create a system eerily just to make sure that we are At monitoring Yeah, I don't want to add I want to be careful to not add more work for both erin and you that is Because I know how crazy you guys are right now, but that it's meaningful also for the board. So Erin Oh, Maggie Did you had a comment? Oh, yeah, I just wanted to add a couple things. Um, yeah, I mean definitely chris and I will Take the time to make sure that we're keeping an eye on things. I mean, that's a Promise on my part and a guarantee. Um, I wanted to mention too just because Um, I've had some, you know, some staff wonder around You know, what what enrollment could look like and what would that mean if you were talking housing and there's a boost of Student enrollment. Um, and tom was able to provide a little bit of information I think just wanted to take this moment now just to plant this seed. He mentioned that It could potentially next Not this fall, but next fall with the Plans as they are for the residential building or buildings That could be done by then An increase of of 10 students That's pretty easy for us to manage and definitely welcomed I asked about, you know, when all is said and done Which which couldn't be up to 10 years before this is all said and done We could be looking at in their estimation An an increase of 80 students total when all is said and done Doing a little bit of quick math with that We would be needing to increase our our regular classroom size We currently have 10 classroom teachers I would we would be looking at more like needing 14 rooms Um In addition instead of like 10 so that just gives you a little bit of a Sense of what the future might hold for, you know, having to add on space We would definitely need to add on something Um And that could be the estimate of of how much, you know, three to four or five additional actual physical brick and mortar rooms, so Just wanted to report on that Thanks Thank you, Erin It's helpful any other questions for Chris or Erin. Otherwise, I'm going to move us into board operations Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Erin. And thank you, Jen Okay Moving right along a board retreat is the first part of it. I think you guys all got an invitation I know I'm sorry that we couldn't make it work for everybody We were trying our best August 8th is the date in case something changes for any of of you guys forked to apm Food will be included. So far we have Petro and Pietro Lynn One of our councils joining us and he's going to do a brief presentation that he's shared before Different webinars on open meeting law and best practices. It's a very short presentation So it doesn't take all our time and then we're going to have a field gore working on A on on a retreat for us. So I was I was going to have the steering committee That creates the agenda be be part of that brainstorming for our august 8th Retreat so I'm looking for your thumbs up from our members if that feels like a good idea And that's where that's where we are and of course if we would be welcoming our new superintendent in In july 1st and she would be part of this of this board retreat Yes, I see all thumbs up. Okay That was easy staff in staff appreciation. We have diane with us I don't know if you had something to share diane. I have a little piece to share Yeah, I think so before you do that floor. I apologize for having left Last time McKaylin, did you talk about that potential email idea? No, I I suggested that Our the organization I work for has an email address like a gratitude It would be like gratitude at u32.org or whatever and So as things arose in the moment people could send an email to that And since I don't know who would supervise it, but that could be a way to then Share those gratitudes or some of those gratitudes with the wider community I just know that in my busy day I often have these like little thoughts of gratitude and then they they disappear so it's kind of nice to have a place to quickly to someone So that mcaylin had shared that idea when we had been talking about potentially doing a rotation of appreciative emails and so I would say we just wanted to plant that seed as well. I know there was a collaborative Gift that was done from the board and also from Central office or the the bigger population and so This is a time where we are very mindful of our appreciation for the hard work that and and you know the Light at the end of the tunnels coming up, and I don't think it's a train So we just have to keep chugging and so thank you all Thank you Diane. Thank you mcaylin great idea I have I had a little piece to propose to to the board and had an ask for our superintendent first I wanted to you know, we we just thankful and happy we had that last day Of school conversation and and that was really positive If for all of us we have an outcome for that so That inspired me to also think about Our year-round school staff at our custodial staff our business you know our administrative assistants and And our administrators right that are year-round staff So I was wanting the board to potentially agree to as Jen to come over with our recommendation A of how to honor them to and and have some equity around around this You know and and she's free to come to us You know at least this means you and teeth for them too and then Something something else if the board is in agreement with that. I would like to assess staff appreciation Have that for them Yeah, too. Is that okay with board members? Just thumbs up All right, okay Is that okay Jen is that descriptive enough and you can come to us at our next meeting It's going to be our community engagement meeting, but I think that would be Yeah, I'm I'm do that very happy. I'm happy to do that. Yes. Thank you. Okay And again, just thank our all our staff and thank Especially today our custodial staff that you know, it's been really Working a lot through this pandemic To so and sometimes I feel like they feel a little bit underappreciated from all of us and we are not You know, we think of you often too, right? so moving on And of course our administrators, but you know, right nobody's being left out first five for everybody Let's move Oh, sorry. That's me again. So a reflection on A On the presentation that we were we feared it because we were going to be in the presentation Let's do it right now. Just do a quick what came up If for you so we can put it in our in our in our minutes and then we can have a more robust conversation maybe either a retreat or at some other time when we are collaborating with the administrators to So I'm gonna just open it vaguely if you had any reflection from what the board members that were able to attend today And not everybody needs to speak if you don't feel comfortable, but just Any reflections from what you heard today and we'll start with Maggie I appreciate the invitation and I thought it was really helpful to participate and have a space to be considering Our approaches and our perspectives Thank you, Maggie. Carrie I thought it was really well done. I thought that there was a great presentation And the focus on small group discussions is really important for those topics. I think We could have used a little bit more time, but I thought it was a great use of time and I'd be interested in doing more things like that if they were that well done That's great. Thank you. Carrie Diane Yeah, I agree. Carrie. It's really we've had it As part of our thinking that we needed to have more opportunities for conversation and for You know educating ourselves around What our own biases are and that work and so I really appreciated the opportunity to be thinking about recruiting I mean not recruiting but retaining We sometimes I think land on recruiting, but I also wonder if that's the easy way out because We can always say oh, it's just a problem to recruit But the reality is we're not dealing with our environments and whether or not we're Retaining strong staff because of the way we treat people and and so I I appreciated the The opportunities to get a little bit of information try to synthesize that and then move on and I agree more time would be great Thank you Diane. Hey Chris Sorry about that What what struck me is that it seems that To really tackle this issue and address it concretely and effectively we have to have strong systems in place particularly around communication so that there's not like unilateral decision making but everyone gets the opportunity to speak and and just how individuals have very different views of the same activity And how to just open that up so everyone has better understanding It's it's a very difficult topic. I will say and we take a lot of work for us Across the board and for Diane You know, I agree with her that retaining it sounds like it's a really crucial part But we have to recruit in order to retain too. So I think that's really an important first step as well Thank you Chris and Ursula I I really appreciated being able to be at the presentation I agree with curry and Diane more time, but maybe more frequent discussions on the subject would be beneficial because I look forward to this as a start of us doing work to address the systems that we have And our internal bias and our systematic bias so that we can make changes to those systems so we can retain And therefore recruit Thank you Ursula any other board members and see on our hands I Thank you everybody for sharing I I guess I just want to close with that one thing that we talked about that our responsibility as people with greater power a to To help right and to advance the work So and I think from what I see everybody's committed. So it's super exciting Let's move Into oh best practices for board communication and open meeting law. I'm not going to take too much time and I don't have Speech so don't worry. I just want to remind you guys Your book And if you by any chance you have it near near you It Robert rules is on page 76 and then there's also a little A Guy a guideline chart as part of the book that is a just a quick review I'm not planning we have a really packed agenda today and I'm not planning to go over I send a little email About you know how to just be be careful also with the open meeting Law that when we have comments, please do not copy everybody We want to have the conversations at the board level in the board meeting With the public watching us We don't want to have the conversations in email because then we are we can put the district at harm So to always be very mindful of that, please do not express your opinions in email When you receive communications and then the And then the other page that I wanted to highlight is page 78 there's some really Easy tips of how to handle public complaints during board meetings and you know just the practices that we're trying to Get into it. I know that is It's not easy, but we don't want to get caught especially in public In open meeting law that you know, that's one thing that we don't want to place our district at harm, right? So just a quick reminder of that That was it and you guys all got that email so How's everybody doing? I know that for some of you we've been sitting for two hours already So I was gonna suggest that before we jump into the finance part to take five minutes If everybody's okay with that to be able to get a cup of water Just use the bathroom and then come right right back and then we'll welcome susan and Others to join us. Is that okay? All right, so five minutes is 1850. I mean 652 They see you back If I can do the math at 658 Or 57. Uh-huh. Yeah around there. Can you hear me? Yeah, okay All right, let's move right to finance Welcome susan. Let me just get to the page here We have the monthly reflection and And the possible changes in barricader needs the the board had chance to to look at them. Are there any specific questions? You can raise your hand Okay, I don't see any hands up. I'm not trying to rush us through this. So if there's any, okay So I'm gonna look at to my finance committee here to see if I could have motion for 5.2 1 to authorize the superintendent to sign the contracts for washington central 25 union school district. Oh Maggie you have your hand up. Is that for the first part the informational part? Yes, it's it's actually a comment Okay, go ahead. Okay. I just wanted to say as um, you know having the opportunity to participate in the first year journey Trainings last week in particular that I felt So well informed by what our business team provides us that what we were being told in that meeting last week was Very much kind of a review for me and just reinforced what it how fortunate we are to have such a great team. So it's really just a thank you for the the professionalism and accessibility that you bring to Sharing this information with us as a board Thank you Maggie that as well Just him Jen and your entire team. That's great. Okay Yeah, I don't see any other hands up. So I'm looking into either my finance or any of the board members. Oh, we're still up. I see your hand went up a little bit Sorry, thank you. Yes Um, this is on the authorizing the superintendent to sign contracts. Yeah on page eight. Yep. Yeah I moved the board authorizes superintendent to sign all contracts on behalf of washington central unified union school district Thank you, Ursula. Could I have a second please? Second All right, I'm gonna give it to Jonas so moved by Ursula second by Jonas all those in favor please signify by saying aye Thank you, Eric any opposed Hearing none the motion carries. Thank you Yeah, okay, and now I'm moving to page nine. Could I have a motion? For the blanket authorization for board warrants and check orders I can do it again Thank you. I moved the board authorized the blanket authorization for board warrants included in the packet effective through fiscal year 2022 and to 2023 Thank you, Ursula. Can I have a second? Thank you, Lindy Oh, sorry. Yeah, I'll get you do the next one Dennis. All right Any any questions on on this one any discussion? Group or members that were not Okay, all those in favor, please say aye Hi Any opposed Hearing none the motion carries. Thank you everybody Yeah, and then moving right along 5.23 authorized superintendent to award bids Could I have a motion? I'll most take a make a motion that allows the superintendent to approve bids to award bids Thank you, Dennis Could I have a second? Second Thank you, Ursula Any discussion any questions? I'm just looking at new board members especially but there's another wrong question But seeing none all those in favor of the motion as read By Dennis and second by Ursula. Please signify by saying aye Aye Any opposed Hearing none, and I see your judge in addition hearing on the motion carries. Thank you All right, and then the last one in in this in this part a looking for a motion to award a bid for the network Okay, I'll do that one, but yeah, okay. Okay. Go ahead make a motion that the board approve awarding the bid for network switches To Ormsby's computers and authorize the use of up to a hundred three thousand two hundred thirty two dollars A funds reserve for technology hardware for the purchase of network switches Thank you, Lindy Looking for a second Second Thank you Ursula any Questions on this one. I was quite the description there and Marcus with us if there's any questions I have a quick question. Sorry. Okay. Go ahead Daniel and then Jonas I was just curious if this raised a question for me whether IT hardware and I guess for that matter software is being considered capital assets For the purposes of our five-year capital plan To sin and I let you and I think I know the answer, but I'd rather have you Well, it's a capital asset and did you account for it as a fixed asset on our capital assets? for reporting through our audit It is not included in the capital improvement project five-year plan that the board is Reviewing tonight that is specifically for building and ground projects And it is a hope of mine personally that we discuss this budget season a separate equipment fund to A lot towards Larger purchases so Fixed assets for equipment that would include IT or may be separately considered Um But no Right now that's not in the plan. It's accounted for as a fixed asset though Thank you. So sand Jonas. Yeah, my Excuse me. My question was going to be along the lines of what you just said You know does does christen his team have a similar, you know, multi-year forecast for Um Sorry, does mark have a similar plan mark and his team have a similar plan to keep christen's right with multi-year forecast of what will need and maintenance and eventual replacement of everything from, you know, the chrome books to You know network switches Yeah, he actually has a really good one and sorry mark, uh, if you want to talk to this But he has a really good uh plan um, I will say The current plan requires the general fund budget to see blips up and down So it's not a nice. We're putting this much money in every single year into a savings account And that's something that we should consider correcting Um, so that we're planning better So that we have an IT fund Thank you. Jonas And thank you. So sand and mark any other questions Seeing none, I think the board's ready for the question. So all those in favor of the motion as read by lindy and second by ursula Please signify by saying aye Any opposed You see your yes natasha hearing none the motion carries Thank you all. Thank you susan Thank you Okay, moving right along now into the The approve purchase for new windows at u32 that was on page 14 I move that the board award the bid for replacement of windows at u32 to portland glass for an amount not to exceed 24,015 dollars Thank you. Thank you. Ursula. Thank you. Jonas Any questions Seeing none all those in favor of Go ahead Just this is more of a process question. Um, do we no longer have to have bids on Um items that exceed 15 000 dollars Correct, correct. Okay. Is that by statute or just by our capital plan? Um The statue the feds the state it's all risen to 40 000 dollars Yes, okay. I just that was news to me, but thank you very much for that. Yep Thank you, Chris. Any other questions? That's an old hand. I'm assuming Chris, right? It is an old hand. Yeah, all right It's seeing no other questions all those all those in favor Of the motion as read please signify by saying aye All right. Hi Any opposed Hearing none of the motion carries Thank you everybody And moving right along It now is to approve the tractor and ut lease for a you the tractor purchase On page a page 15. Could I have a motion? Eric are you with us? You should make this motion. I'm just kidding. It is because you helped us with this Where's he? I don't know. Okay. Ursula. You're ready. I'll do it. Thank you. I moved at the board Authorize the superintendent to purchase a John Deere tractor and utv from united ag and turf for an amount not to exceed 68,999 dollars after allowance for the trade-in of the tractor utv and attachments Second I will second it There you are In the sunnies, but thank you, Eric and thank you Ursula. All right any discussion any questions? Mm-hmm. Yeah, Jen. Do you want to do a clarification? Yeah, I did I did want to say when we were viewing the packet today We noticed a typo that might have been confusing. So I just want to point that out Originally, we had been thinking about recommending for a lease the finance committee had a really robust discussion with some good questions And so we did a little more research and then we're recommending the board action to purchase But you'll notice a little typo in that first paragraph of your summary that was from the old memo So just the using a lease that's not what we're thinking about I also know there was a question about maintenance that came up and And chris and susanna and I talked about that today And in general we complete the routine maintenance in house if it's something that's not routine We might have to send out, but um, I just wanted to clarify that for you all Thank you, Jen So I have a question. Okay, go ahead chris Jen we have a sense as what the trade-in value is for the tractor that we're trading in I'm gonna defer to chris on that question We do we have uh numbers for both of those but unfortunately I don't have those in front of me at the moment chris Okay, and I was just asking just to get a sense as to what the new tractor cost is In reality, I'm assuming the value of the trade-in load the purchase price that we're looking at right now Yeah, I I've got all that information. Sorry. It's it's it's back in the office I can get I'm just pulling it up. Um They are giving us a trade-in allowance for the tractor and attachments of 19 five So the original purchase price was 61 953 Which is still lower than the cabota And the trade-in allowance is more than what cabota Was being was offering us utv 35,045 dollars is the purchase price and the trade-in allowance is 8,500 Um that purchase price is more than a cabota utv But the trade-in allowance is also $3,500 more So the net on that one uh comes out to about $2,000 more than the cabota utv But the difference on the tractor is about $6,000 less Thank you very much. Thank you chris. Eric your hand is up You have a question for this Yeah, first I want to um, thank you all for getting the Cost on purchasing it outright as opposed to the lease. Um, I do appreciate that research being done um, my question with purchasing it from united ag and turf um, is that including any of their their maintenance Plans that they have with them. Um, I know they used to have them, but at least for Covering the five years that you're hoping to get out of it. Um Does that include any of that costs or was where you guys considering anything like that? Eric no, what what we got back from anthony was that they don't do that anymore because they were losing money and and what he offered was to add another year to the the um to the um warranty Uh, it was a couple thousand dollars to take it from 60 months to 72 months But as far as maintenance, um plans, um, he said they were not doing those anymore Perfect. Thank you and Eric you you asked for model numbers at the finance committee or at the last meeting Um, it's a it's a 50 52 hour on the tractor in case you were Still looking for that All right, that's a good tractor. Thank you Yeah, thank you Eric and thank you chris and Yeah, so is the board ready for the question? Okay, so let's authorize the purchase of the tractor as move by Ursula and second by eric all those in favor Please signify by saying aye Hi Hi Any oppose You're hearing non-demotion carries. Thank you everybody Right, so it's a long Finance today Yeah, so on page 16 We have the capital improvement a plan And the timeline i i'm gonna open it up for it susanne And chris to you know first just to give a little brief a update And then if there are any questions from the board Sure, um In response to both the board meeting and the committee forum where we discussed the plan We walked away with Three things that we wanted to adjust in the plan The first one is changed on page 24 of the packet And it is about Stating in the plan that we will fully fund the five-year capital budget The second adjustment to the plan is on page 21 of the packet and it is in regards to a possible need to clarify the request process for projects in the stakeholder roles And then on page 25 of the packet additional emphasis on energy efficiency even when a project request is In priority one And so we've made those adjustments to the plan We hope to have the board adopt the plan officially june 1st. We wanted to give Or the finance committee discussed this and decided we wanted to give the community more time to provide feedback And it's currently on the website And so is the feedback form And The what we'd really like to talk about tonight is the proposed use of arp esser in version two So the grant funds through esser spending That if you look at pages 32 through 36 in the packet that is the version two of the budget And on page 36 We note that $339,900 of estimated arp esser funds can be used To offset those projects which are eru's or erv's Some hVAC stuff at different schools Um And this version essentially swaps the boiler work for the hVAC work in f y 24 and the reason for that is really capacity Uh and being able to do all of those uh projects in f y 24 really isn't feasible for chris or bill or David or even the buildings to have all of that happening at once so Um, we've swapped the two We don't think that that's going to put anything at a huge detriment. Uh the boilers are replacements due to It's time to play to replace them But I think one year We agree right chris on that that one year isn't going to Put us at any more risk than the doing them in f y 24 So that's what we were really hoping the board could advise on tonight And we'd like to seek board approval Uh for the projects so that we can instruct Engineers to develop a scope and budget and begin the planning for the f y 24 projects Chris do you want to add anything to that? No, I think you covered everything there susan. Thank you questions from board members Diane So I completely understand swapping out those tasks. Is there any Do we still have some ability that should something go wrong because you know Murphy's law now that you've swapped them out one of the boilers will need work But um, is there do we still have a cushion enough to do an emergency coverage in case something happens In the budget the capital the five-year capital budget Uh right now there isn't a cushion My hope is that uh you all will discuss a transfer from your general fund budget To offset it, but I wanted to discuss our pester funding first because that affects how much we need To use from the general fund fund balance um So if something broke we probably would come to you and say Hey, the boiler broke. Can we use uh general fund fund balance to fix it? Uh I will also say and I was kind of hesitant to say it but Chris and bill and several folks are working or discussing right now potential upgrades to the boilers that might improve energy efficiency And we might also be able to use other grant funds for If we complete the work this year Uh, so it's a matter of timing and figuring that out whether it can be done in fy 23 which is really fall of 2022 um Chris do you want to talk about that a little bit? Yeah, so we're we're actually meeting tomorrow morning at eight o'clock starting at u32 to look at that wood chip boiler and you know, they're looking at The shape of the boilers are you know u32 has been very well taken care of and it's not as old as the other two um Callis is you know one of the oldest ones in the state um eastmont pilliers is pretty old as well, but you know the shape of the boilers um, if if we can if we can extend the life um with with some you know with a lot of grant money um without having to make that um Replacement cost which um, you know for the smaller schools is probably going to be around $250,000 for each one You know if we could extend the life 10 or 15 years would it make sense to You know spend some money versus You know a quarter of a million dollars. So what we're looking at tomorrow is uh controls for for the wood chip boilers, which could make them much more energy efficient also some cyclones which would capture particulates so they're not going out into the environment and things like that just to you know Make them more energy efficient and cleaner So that discussion is happening tomorrow at all three schools. So I should have much more information this week on that for an update And and um Diane to answer your question if if we did have a failure All three of those schools have um oil system backups so we wouldn't be you know We'd be spending more money on oil obviously, but um for fuel But we'd still be able to operate Thank you. Chris Chris McVeigh you have a question and Yeah, go ahead. I'm so so chris the Work that is is being explored for tomorrow with the wood with the boilers. Um, is that Are those boilers? Are those the boilers that are involved in the 2024? Um boiler project or or not? Yes, those are the wood chip boiler The the two of them are the U 32s is not um scheduled for replacement that one's in Really good shape. Um, that one they're telling us will last another, you know 20 to 25 years So if it's maintained the way it has been It's more around these Montpelier and calluses um wood chip boilers that are Um, you know, probably don't have as long of a lifespan at this point So if the work if if it makes sense based on the evaluations that you the discussion said you have tomorrow Uh, would those boilers then be? We go forward and extend their life and then they would not be part of the 2024 project Yeah, that's that's what we're exploring. Does it make sense to invest? Um some money Into them to get better efficiency and longer life Or is it better just to replace them? So we're pulling in messers folks from messersmith Um who manufacture wood chip boilers to give us some insight on Um on their thoughts. We had jeff forward who was our energy consultant look We did the same walkthrough with him a month and a half ago And he gave some feedback Thinking that we could extend the life without replacing At least at east Montpelier in u 32 Um, maybe a little harder to do it callus, but we're gonna we're gonna look at that tomorrow Okay, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Okay, sure Thank you chris. Yep Me any other questions And I've I can't wait to get an update on that conversation tomorrow chris. I'm super excited Being able to do this work So susanne you're looking for uh, do are you looking for a motion from us to approve to use the use of sr funds? Would that be Can I ask susanne one more one question? Sure. Um, you noted susanne that there's a um a feedback form on the website Yes, but has has there been any feedback that has been received yet I'm gonna let gen answer Okay, I just wanted just to that that's I think that's a nice idea And I hope people use it. I'm gonna need to I'll double check on that chris. I don't have the answer right this second, but I can take a peek And and we posted it or I posted on behalf of the board on front porch forum the forum here And and the plan and the link to the plant so as you open our website, it's like right center To form on the feedback form, but we could repost also as a board when we do our little You know briefing of what happened today our board meeting just remind people to Put input before We we were hoping by the 23rd is the date that we put in And I did just double check. Yeah, there are no responses yet from that feedback form chris Okay, thank you very much Thanks gen and thanks chris Okay, so back to The answer funds it's Suzanne my question there Yeah, um what we are looking for and slot Is on page 36 The total funding for fy 24 Spending for capital improvement projects Uh approved by the board Uh Sorry trying to get to that page at 2,288,194 dollars And the projects to be completed Would include Which page are you in it? Suzanne, um the dollar amount is on page 36. Okay It's the total line under fy 24 So it's two million two hundred eighty eight thousand one hundred ninety four dollars Is the dollar amount The projects are on page Sorry 34 um the projects are on page 34 And they include paving the parking lot and sidewalks Uh another 300,000 for the security card and camera system project Uh h back Vfd drive replacement at u32 h back a to damper replacement at dodie mechanical controller replacement at u32 Boiler circulator pump replace number one at u32 HVAC energy recovery unit 20 year upgrade u32 Um and then some money allotted for the clerk of the work to allocate to each of those projects So the bulk of the funding that we're looking for does go to the parking lot Paving the parking lot and the sidewalks And this this amount may Uh Change once the scope and budgets are completed So we'll possibly be coming back for a different dollar amount It's just really what we're interested in getting approved tonight Are the the projects? anticipating The need to develop the scope and budget and get bids going in the fall So could I have one of our board members make a motion to approve the projects? for year 2023 2024 Right, uh, Susanne Yeah in version two in in version two Not in version one And dry is it clear okay daniel daniel go ahead Uh, I move that the board, um Direct the finance financial team, uh to develop a scope of work and budget um Roughly totaling Two million two hundred and eighty eight thousand one hundred and ninety four dollars Um for capital projects in fy 23 and 24 23 to 24 And encompassing Paving the parking lot and sidewalks A new security card and camera system The replacement of an hvac bfd drive The replacement of an hvac ahu damper The replacement of mechanical controller The replacement of the boiler circulator pump number one 1932 The 20 year upgrade of the hvac energy recovery unit unit at u32 and funds allocated to Designated clerk of the works for said projects Thank you, daniel Could I have a second? Okay. Thank you Ursula All those in favor since we haven't been discussing unless there's questions All those in favor, please say Have a question. Oh, you have a question. Okay, go ahead Suzanne is the way the motion is phrased is it too limiting? Uh in terms of of If any changes come up I don't think so. I think we'll be back um with firmer Numbers when the budget's completed Okay, thank you. If that's all right with the board Um, whether it is or not the projects are really what we need to approve right now And so we'll just come back if the the dollar amount's different Okay, great. Thank you We just listed the projects. We didn't even set the the chart. So that's perfect right so Any other questions? Otherwise all those in favor of approving the motion is read by daniel and second by ursl up to signify by saying hi Hi Any opposed Any abstain when they do okay A hearing on the motion carries. Thank you everybody. That was a lot of work Thank you. Thank you. Suzanne. Thank you chris and please thank bill for a lot to tomorrow with berry All right All right moving right along It policy committee I know that I didn't go in order on those final last finance, but we did cover them all through the descriptions of Of susanne So unless there's question for the board, I'm going to move right to policy because we just have one policy. So chris Yeah, um, so we only have um policy c7 up for student attendance and this is for adoption So we've read through it before and so I offered um Move that the board adopt policy c7 on student attendance Second Thank you chris. Thank you danis Any question any discussion? All right Jen and then Jonas Just want to note that we missed uh ursula's correction for that typo. So I talked to melissa about it So truant should be in quotation marks and it did not make it into this packet. We'll make sure we get it from the official Okay, so needs a second set of quote. Okay. Thank you. Jen. Thank you ursula All right. Jonas No, you're all set. Okay. That was that was it All right, okay So all those in favor of proving the motion with the small amendment that's going to happen from uh, the small typo A move by That's me moved by chris second by denis. Please say aye I Okay, any opposed? Any abstain hearing none the motion carries. Okay, we're moving right along Okay Kari, I'm going to take let you take over dedication quality committee discussion and the pledge parameters that we discussed. Thank you Great. So this we're on page 39 and hopefully you know chance to look at the memo and it summarizes the key points I just wanted to add that So the committee is recommending that we adopt this parameter Basically to give the leadership team a head start with planning because this is something that needs time And this is a new practice for the board right? We've never set a parameter at least during my time this early in the year before I kind of wish we had Thought to use this tool sooner and I give credit to scott scott thompson who was pushing at the end of his tenure How can we use the budget to drive for more education quality improvement? and then also Jen has been repeatedly repeatedly saying we need to move towards year-round budgeting I think this is a step towards that and and then last Ultimately, I think that we need a strategic plan And then this will be better addressed these kinds of longer range thinking items But for now, I think this is a good step for us And we'll hopefully provide some good direction for the leadership team when they start the budgeting Any questions or anything to add to that? I don't see any questions from from board members So it would be appropriate for me to make a motion then? Yeah, go ahead Well, I have to find that part of my Because someone else make the motion, please I'll move that we Include an initiative to achieve significant improvement in math and or Literacy proficiency for students in an individualized educational program And or who receive free and reduced price school meals the board wants leadership team to identify an appropriate scope for the initiative given current circumstances And consider what resources will be needed for success Thank you, Chris. Could I have a second? second Okay, thank you Ursula Hearing that we didn't had any questions before all those in favor of Approving the motion as read by Chris and second by Ursula, please signify by saying aye Hi Any opposed Hearing none the motion carries, okay Great Here so let's move into the consent agenda And we have three sets of minutes to approve that hopefully you guys have a chance to read a can I have a motion Floor I will I will move to Accept the minutes of april 27th may 4th and may 12th 2020 thank you Jonas could I have a second please? Thank you Dennis any discussion Go ahead Eric. Yeah Um, I was just gonna make the correction of my last name is s e s Okay, thank you Eric Jen Yeah on the um bottom of the minutes on page 41 for point 2.1 I think a little wording change will make this one point a little clearer The last line says currently there is an ab block schedule This allows 60 minute classes meeting three times a week I think it should say the new schedule will allow for 60 minute classes three times a week So that clarification I think will be welcome Thank you Jen Lisa you got that Yeah, thank you guys. I got it All right Yep, and that was me who made that it was me who needed that clarification not lisa No shame Eric, I'm sorry. I misspelled your name. I'll get it right. It takes me a while Sorry, I think the opportunity to thank lisa is like every time I read the mail And it seemed like oh my god, how did you get all that and it's just like thank you We are grateful for but you do for us. So thank you um all those in favor of approving the three sets of minutes as Jonas Signified by saying I sorry Hi Any opposed seconded that sorry Who second Hold on one minute. I think Dennis right Dennis. Yeah, Jonas and second by Dennis. Yeah, thanks. Thank you All right and now Lindy approval orders or do I have another volunteer that is ready? Um, I've got them up here. I just can't find my cursor uh I make a motion to approve the board orders of 5 18 22 in the amount of 462 thousand 38 50 cents Thank you, Lindy. Could I have a second please? Second Okay, yeah, I'm gonna give it to Jonas or so I just Jonas second Lindy moved any discussion any questions on the board orders All right seeing none all those in favor of approving the board orders Please signify by saying I Hi Any oppose Hearing none The motion carries. Thank you everybody Right Let's move into personnel 9.1 approve new teachers Could I have a volunteer? Lindy do you want to or usually my person that is prepared with a part out? Yeah, thank you And I want to make sure I have the right one open. It's the one that says may 18 2022 Yes, okay um so The new teacher nominations should I do as a slate? Like we've done Yeah, I'm going to ask that we be doing individually just because of the concerns that we've heard from community members So we can have a discussion um, and and I think the it Behooves us to Respond to the comments that we've heard tonight And have received through various letters about concerns about the process of the um Hiring a committee for the new run the teacher and We as a board Want to engage our community members and hope that they participate in our um in our proceedings And the There's a sound like there's a significant concern not only by the community members by staff members that the process was Not a well done process and Even though the the board does delegate the significant amount of authority to our administrators We are also responsible to our community members to respond to their concerns and to ensure that a Fair process was used And we don't know that unless we investigate it And you know this this the the concerns that we have heard raised Are not in Are not small ones. They're you know in this you know community schools. There are You know, it's it's a community It's community separate and apart from all the other community schools and even though we are one district now um the One of the downfalls of being one district is that the board loses touch with the local school And it used to be that we we would have pretty much direct contact with the search search process for new school staff members including teachers And you know the structure that we have now really takes us away from that And so I think we need to really consider and listen hard to community members who are expressing concerns and not invalid concerns and and Listen to them. So I would like to have a discussion about this and see We're not powered the board is not powerless in this situation And the decision to hire a teacher is a very Significant one as is the decision to hire a principal So we really want to hear from the community have their input and ensure that a fair process was Undertaken you know this so I would like to go one by one In this regard and I would also propose that we investigate how the process was uh conducted uh and hold off on um hiring for the run the position because Um once the hire is done it can't be undone not undone easily um Thank you. Thanks chris. Uh kari Um, I I have a lot of thoughts about this including um in response to chris's points But I only I only want to go if it's appropriate to engage in that I don't know if that's the thing that we should be doing at this time So I I I'm going to suggest to the board and very infrequently also and my computer is about to to die That that we you know, we are doing our very very best to to be uh to to stay on our roles and responsibilities and still it doesn't mean that we're not listening to the community because we care about the community we have very If we if we're going to be an effective board and give the authority that our administrators need to make the best decisions In behalf of us we need to not undermine our our leaders and we would be setting uh a pretty bad precedent By by doing that that doesn't mean that we're not hearing our our our community, but we know that our Administrators do are really They're thorough so I would propose that at a later date we can look into a how do we hire right? We just had this great conversation right now about diversifying our educator or Of course, we can have a conversation of what do we how do we uh, how are our process of hiring work, right? and as these people have participated before in In uh in hiring committees, right? We unless you're part of that hiring committee is really hard to know all the ins and outs In and that's why we have administrators. That's why we empower our administrators to do that for us Um, so I would encourage us to not change the process Right now Diane So I'm not I'm not wanting to question the process however I don't understand what my role is I guess and I and I'm not trying to micromanage But when questions are raised to me and I apologize kari if this is kind of like I don't mean to get into it. However, I don't understand what my role is if I hear from community members and You know if if the process was followed that's all I need explained to me. I'm not trying to micromanage it I'm trying to understand it and it I'm not I'm not in the day-to-day work like families are like administrators are But I am a board member and I guess I'm confused as to um When the dialogue stops and it's not about um, I mean we just went through some battles around transparency, and I guess that's that's all I need to know. I'll be very upfront. I worked with with the candidate for a number of years I know her very I mean I I know her So it's not that I'm questioning any of those parts I'm just saying when questions are brought up to us as a board How do we get at an understanding so that we can remain neutral as we're supposed to While knowing that we're not um Again, we just struggled through this last year trusted the process and it fell apart for us So I don't know where to go with this So I would suggest that the the place to do this is that a separate board meeting We we would have an agenda item and possibly later on right when we start the year I'm going to let kari speak and lindy speak before I continue to speak Lindy and then kari since you haven't had a chance to speak lindy Yeah, I I think what I want to say is in response to dianne I I think our The way we think about this issue should be guided by our policy Until we change that policy and the policy that we should all look at is b20 Has it deals with uh personnel recruitment and selection and if you read through that It's very informative. It's it's what we've said about um about this topic previously And there are some sort of general characteristics that we said that we should be looking for And there's some very specific limitations on our requirements of the hiring process and um, I don't think that our our default position is not to second guess and not to scrutinize these These um these decisions because they're we do have a lot of trust We did hear a bunch of concerns earlier tonight, but as I Considered those in terms of the policy I didn't I don't think that any of those concerns were really at a policy our the level of I think there are pretty much all at the procedural level um, for example, if there's problems with the cba That that will be dealt with at the procedural level. So um, I think we should keep that in mind and um, and I think that the other thing to remember is that Obviously, some people disagree with the recommendation with the judgment that was made by the leadership team I think reasonable people can disagree on on the on judgments Um, our role is to just make sure that our policy is being followed And and again, I don't I don't I don't I'm no interest in in micromanaging this decision as long as that happens Thanks Thank you. Carrie. Mindy I was just wondering because it's a personnel manner matter um If there is concern that something that we need more information as a board Is that something that we can we should or can go into executive session to get more information? Not about deciding the candidate necessarily, but the if we have questions. I don't know I'm gonna hold on that in mackaylin and then I'll answer mackaylin um I don't really know if I have anything new to add to this, but I kind of just want to second what diane said, which is In chris, I get I'm sorry. Carrie. Um, you know, I I agree, you know, we have We shouldn't be micromanaging the process, but It is a little overwhelming to hear all this community concern and not get a response a reassuring response that The procedures were followed correctly So it it feels a little uncomfortable to be approving a hire when When when we haven't really heard a response helpful Chris Yep, so, um, I'm not interested in micromanaging The selection process. Um, I am interested in responding to community concerns Because those are the folks who are going to be living with the decision that's made They You know, I think what we don't have An awareness of is the different procedures that each school Has used for their search committees And it sounds like the procedure that had been in place at run the was not followed and So, you know, maybe we have to have a uniform procedure for how search committees are constructed How many recommendations are forwarded to the superintendent for the superintendent recommendation? But it sounds like the procedures that had been in place at run the were not followed and And I think we are You know, it's not a micromanagement issue. I think it is a listening to our constituents um And the individuals who are actually be living with the decision Issue and we have we have the oversight authority to do it so that's I feel pretty strongly about this and We need to respond to our community members. Thank you my My concern is with having heard similar concerns from community members in years past about Community participation on hiring committees. So it's alarming to me to be hearing this as a seemingly persistent Concern and and I'm talking over like the past decades. This isn't a new New situation So just it it it's rather than me the wrong way. I am concerned Okay, so I think the the item to this Dennis and then Chris I am Okay Wait I don't I don't disagree with chris's Assertion that we need to support our constituent groups and I at the same time. However, I'm not sure that I've heard anything Um that really indicates that the the appropriate process wasn't followed I I don't know what that was and so maybe that's what the discussion needs to be about where if there was a Misrepresentation of the process which is sort of what I've heard from the folks in the community that seem to have said that there were Sort of a a proposal laid out and then the actual Action didn't meet the proposal that was presented to the community Um, I think that would be important to talk about but I don't I I'm not sure about what parts of the process Or what parts of the procedure Weren't allegedly adhered to and so I think it's we need to be careful that we're not um Miss hearing The concerns in a way that if there was a process issue. I think that's an important component to reconsider or to consider But I guess I I don't know No one has identified for me what parts of the process were inappropriately Allegedly inappropriately presented or followed up on so that's sort of my concern is I don't quite understand The specificity that I think we would need to have in order to really Look into The process so I'm looking for a little more specificity around that. I also want to Just remind folks that as florid said earlier that you know our jobs are to support and Monitor the policies and procedures that are set forth for the administration And so if I don't if I haven't heard anything that challenges that I would need to hear some more specific um commentary on that before I would Be willing to to venture a determination one way or the other so that's where I am. Thanks Chris then Megan then Natasha okay, so In in response to floor's suggestion that we put it off and then have a discussion later When when there's a hire at stake waiting is too late Because once the person is hired They're in place and the process however floated may have been Is is just not not fixed For that particular hire And the dense to to your point as to what the process Was not adhered to to my understanding based on some of the communication from the letters that we had is that There seemed to be Expression that it was going to take a lot more time For the search requiring large chunks of participation And it would be in person And that those that structure did not pan out. It was different. It was a different structure That the committee was explicitly told there would only be one recommendation There would be actually they weren't going to make a recommendation and normally the committee Does recommend two candidates to the superintendent with preference for one and that that apparently they're explicitly told that that wasn't going to happen and so and and there's there's a strong component here of of the People who've spoken out thinking that two good candidates were passed over internal candidates and and so I think those are the concerns And I think the valid concerns and I think there's something that's something we can do something about Thank you Maybe and then a tasha I just wanted to add to what chris said that in the letter from the union They also mentioned concern about the use of a rubric For scoring candidates Natasha Yeah, I had a question. Um, one of the one of the community members mentioned a concern that the Um, the contract may not have been followed And if that's the case and there's a violation of the contract Um, and the association chose to pursue that After we had made it made a recommendation to if we made a recommendation to accept this Um, this recommendation this person What happens so if the association pushes it And there is a violation What is what what's the process? I'm you know, I'm new to the board. I don't know If that's something that's come in, you know up before so i'm just curious what Would happen with that So i'm a little concerned that we are getting out of out of topic right now I think if the association wanted to bring, uh, you know, we're going to I lost it or whatever. I don't think our Administrators would ever be putting our district at harm, right? So It you know, of course, we could ask we could ask jan to you know, give us all of the Process what it was that is not our job, you know when we hide jan has been hiring for Our district for for for years. We've had been setting processes on how to be better at hiring Right. I am really concerned that we are setting a bad precedent of how to operate as as the board, right? We don't have all the ins and outs Of of the of the hiring committee This is not going to create. I guess we could ask the specific question to gen was the process follow Yes, or no, but talking more about about that It is not our role and we would be undermining our administrators and and that's why we hire them, right? Jonas and then i'm gonna Thank you for saying that floor Hiring is done when the superintendent forwards a recommendation to the board So the buck stops first at gen and she passes it to us and we can either take it or not So I would like to pose the question to gen Was policy followed um Was the policy followed and Given that gen has forwarded us this recommendation I have to believe that gen has confidence in the process and the procedure So I would like based on what cari said and having looked at the policy at his recommendation I would like floor someone to ask gen Was policy followed here in this case Jen, would you mind just answering yes or no? But thank you She said yes, I didn't hear that because chris said something. Okay. So chris can you repeat that? Please Yes, we have policies and procedures and they were followed Thank you So with that i'm gonna Move a sign a lindy. Oh chris. You have a new question I do after lindy goes after everyone else goes. I'm not trying to cut mine No, I I think mine was to Make the recommendation to the board is what floor was calling on me for Okay So i'm gonna ask gen Were you actively involved in the search committee gen? I don't serve on the search committees for the teachers, but I have been consulted As necessary and we have you know standard procedures that we follow Okay, and I'm gonna I'm gonna stop you here. I'm very infrequently I I try to not have more members have their their opinion, but this is not in our in our it's not an interrogation for for gen There are there are processes and she's answered the question so floor um You know you you asked the question to get a certain to get a response and fairness can explore the response um but just you Not proper to cut off a factual question a factual question When we're just making an inquiry Okay And with that gen I will not follow up anymore at this time Ursula I guess mine's sort of a procedural question because this feels like we're getting into the realm of holding a hearing in public It would only one side and I feel like it's not our procedure or policy and It leaves me confused as a fairly new board member Yeah, this is really that precedent and we should have never got ourselves into this point. So With that lindy, could you please? Move the personnel Yes, um, I make a motion To accept the new teacher nominations for the 22 23 school year Shannon Miller berlin Veronica Eldred Rumney Julie Marie Bristol berlin callus David Kirk the second music berlin callus Anthony Tony snow you 32 rise Heidi Schmidt berlin callus second Thank you, lindy. Thank you Sorry All those in favor Please say I Hi Any any opposed Because of the motion as a slate I am voting no Um, and unfortunately I have to vote no against the slate because that's how it was presented But for the reasons I've expressed before I am voting no Okay, thank you So any abstain? I'm going to go abstain So we have Two abstains did I get that right? No three Three abstains and then I'm gonna have The boards do the can you raise your hand the ones that you just voted? Yes, because I know it's a little confusing. So I have the Nine nine Yeah So the yeses have it the motion carries. Thank you everybody Yeah, resignations lindy Yep, I make a motion to accept the following resignations Brian Flynn you 32 Amy Akles maybe berlin Lisa Hannah Dodie William Mitch Pauley you 32 Eric Bennett you 32 Holly Carroll special ed Ben Heinz you 32 Skyler Washburn Was a new hire rescinded Thank you. Bindi could I have a second? I can Thank you, Ursa any in any comment or thanks Hearing on all those in favor of accept in the resignations as red, please say aye or raise your hand Any opposed hearing none the motion carries. Thank you everybody I don't am I missing any guys? I think that's all in that page. So We're gonna write it Jen could you give us an update on the vacancies? Please I will sure So we're obviously in the middle of hiring We have some positions that we're still looking for for next year We have a number of special ed positions that are unfilled and we have few applicants right now So we're beginning to have conversations about what that might mean for how we would operate if we're unable to fill those positions We also have some speech language pathology positions still unfilled a couple of classroom teachers that we're still looking for and and again Just there was an article in the paper the other day about A neighboring school system that has lots of vacancies and are being impacted and that we are not immune to that So that is happening for us too. We're starting to think about how to be creative Should we not be able to fill some of these positions? And I will continue to keep you apprised While I am serving in this role and it's my responsibility The other thing that I wanted to let you know is two positions that we're exploring I want to let you know about them. We had had a plan to Teach elementary health across three buildings this year and have decided Really through this experience that that was not a viable solution So we're we've anticipated we've posted an anticipated elementary health educator In the hope that we can continue to do a better and better job and to see what the pool is like out there Should we find a viable candidate? I will come to you with a recommendation That is outside of what we currently budgeted because I don't think that we had budgeted adequately We've had a recent resignation of a custodian who was a part-time custodian and we are exploring the Possibility of coming to you with a request for a full-time custodian We're still doing that level of analysis. We have been short staffed for custodial issues all year you mentioned earlier during staff appreciation that Our our custodial and maintenance crew has been working really hard They cover for each other all the time and it might be that we need to come and have a full-time recommendation So again, not currently budgeted but needed and we'll do some more exploration and let you know And the final thing I want to say About they can see is right now is that um, those of you who have read the u32 weekly email from Even know that he put something in there about just housing So that's the other thing that's impacting us right now It's folks who have been interested in coming here Maybe from out of state and they're having a hard time finding housing. So we're being impacted in that way as well Again, that's not unique to washington central, but it is Um, it is making us a little bit concerned So that's that's the update on vacancies Thank you jen Lindy questions Jen i've heard um that there are over 100 special ed vacancies in the state. Is that true? Is that accurate? That's actually even a slightly lower number than what I heard. So yeah special ed in particular Is um, is a very hard position to fill and we have a number of vacancies right now Any other questions for jen? There's a little hope that with the bill that just passed to allow the retired teachers to go back to work that we are See a little bit of help on that, but if you're not for sure Let's move on into a future agenda items We we've been trying with the steering committee That helps create the agenda to keep those things that we're going to look at within the next Three months is at least what we're saying or the next few items. So there's just three there right now a glove of citizenship Student learning outcome that we're hoping to to review It's a superintendent evaluation, which we hope everybody was able to Put in their input That's a last week. We didn't have everybody. So I hope everybody was able to submit their input Kerry, do you have any updates on that right now? I I think that's where we left it About about other agenda items or about superintendent Superintendant evaluation. Yeah, I don't Yeah, so um, yeah, so the sba school board association has been Administering the survey and they closed the other day They let me know that I believe nine of the 14 board members Filled this survey out. Um, but we got a very good response from the leadership team It was 17 of 18 and um, and then Jen. So we'll be compiling that data and that will be As it says an upcoming agenda item Yeah, thank you, kari And then a and monitoring calendar. Are there any other future agenda items that board members have Diane sorry I was realizing that we really haven't talked about universal meals and the current legislation and So I think that it would be important to put that on the agenda, especially as we get the budget time and considering those that that program Thank you, Diane All right Down to 11. I was hoping to let you cut out early, but it bore reflection kari Diane why don't you go first I will thank you kari. I was just going to say that I do appreciate the way floor. You kept us going You you were saying you weren't letting us out early, but I mean I slotted till at least midnight. So I think we're good, but You know, so I do I think we were we were moving on I really appreciate the information that's provided in the packet Because it really helps to to keep us moving and and thank you Thank you. Diane kari So it's been a couple months, but I think it's probably time for us to do a Meeting summary for front porch forum. So I'd offer to draft that and work with the steering committee on it So here are the topics I've identified and then you let me know what else should be added so the presentation from alissa chen at five o'clock Update about COVID-19 developments um our draft capital improvement plan and I'm going to need a little bit of detail about how people can still provide feedback Um on the plan and then we adopted a parameter about for budgeting um, I think it seems appropriate to say that we heard and discussed concerns about from community members about a hiring decision um, and then Thought it'd be nice to wrap by saying we received our final report from anna And how we uh, congratulate and thank her for her contributions. So was there anything else? or members Hey kari um No, we didn't talk about this. Um, but I I ran into a staff member at birch grove and she was saying how The summer school offering is expanding. It sounds like in terms of participation Is that gen is that accurate? We're offering the extended school year program as we have But that it seemed like there were more participants this year than than have been in the past I need to get back to you about that chris. I'm not Just suggest that a comment on that be just Alert the community that this is an offering that we have during the summer And and that it's available Just as I mentioned Maggie you have something to uh, thanks um, I just wanted to suggest kari adding or perhaps we do as a separate the concern about Housing, um, I think when the emails are the front porch forum poster long the information gets lost and there's a lot of um content in there and I also i'm just looking for a clarification on extended school year services Being that's not an off open offering to all students. It's available to students who who require that in order to um avoid Losing my words at this hour speech language pathologists losing their words um Who who may repress? They are need the support to continue. It's not open to everybody. Correct. Yeah, we can add that to our Jen can we will put it as the future agenda item and add it to our agenda So that she can report back at our maybe at our community me at when we have the smaller Meeting at the beginning of june Is that okay? I I just feel poorly if people got the impression that they could sign their kids up for something. Yeah available for We need it academically. Yeah I agree with you Yeah So we're again in public comments now Are there any public comments? Okay, let me just see how many hands we have but we have one hand two hands Becca go ahead Hi again still Becca still a parent um and still concerned and I um I think there's a lot of growing and challenges that we've All had to deal with as we figure out this move to the unified school district And I think that this just personnel discussion Really highlights those challenges and how there's a lot that we really haven't resolved yet about how to operate Effectively and respectfully as a unified school board in the unified school district When some of these decisions do seem to be that really impact children and the school in the community seem to be Sort of cloaked in layers of bureaucracy that they didn't used to be Sort of mired in and I think that does make it hard for the board to be both respectful and responsive to the administrators that you've hired and to the community to whom You are actually ultimately Responsible and you have a fiduciary duty to us as members of the community and I Want to say that I really believe that reasonable people can differ about whether the cba was violated in this hiring process And because I think reasonable people can differ about it I do think the board has a fiduciary responsibility to the community And and the district as a whole in the event that it is found to have been violated Because there's a lot of follow-up that make compromise and who knows if that's going to happen or not But I do think reasonable people could differ and I I wish that it had been possible for the board to vote on these personnel issues separately so that Folks for whom there wasn't any issue or concern could have gotten their new positions and started to plan for their school years And for folks where there was some concern We could have taken a beat and just figured things out and made sure we were making the right decisions And all the eyes had been dotted and the t's had been crossed because I know we're all so busy and mistakes happen and things get confused and We're all just trying to do the best we can and I just think sometimes taking a beat is really the best way to go Thanks Thank you Becca. Hannah Thank you. Um, yeah, I just want to reiterate what Becca said. I appreciate um You talking about it for the time that you did again. My concern is is not content I agree decisions are made all the time and nobody is ever going to agree And one thing that we we struggled really through last year and through the unification of the school board with transparency and clarity and so um, I think that I am I am disappointed and how tonight went. I think it would have been totally possible again to have taken a week and to not have To have discussed things with gen differently in executive session or whatever you needed to do. I think it was possible I think it was rushed. That's a lot of what happened last year and I know that That superintendent personnel change last year was a heavy lift for the board and it created created It was disruptive. Um, it it needed to be and I think there's a temptation now to not do it again to just put all of our faith and administrators and I I get that and I I don't want to disrupt um I don't want to disrupt protocol. I think that that's not efficient and it's not respectful However, going forward. I think the it behooves the board to decide Um, what does procedure actually look like and if as a unified school district You cannot have as much community involvement If that's just not feasible. I think that That might be a hard pill to swallow But then that needs to be communicated because you cannot say we're involving you and giving us these time Um commitments and then and then change them Um, so if we are a unified school district and decisions are made more separately from the community I think that's fine. I think it just needs to be clear Thank you Thank you, Hannah. Okay Yeah, lindy you have a comment I I have a clarification a little bit because the unified the unified school board is brought up And perhaps I'm misremembering from when I was on the east Montpelier board and there were seven boards I believe are hiring The committee still went to the superintendent And the superintendent bought it to the school board. Am I remembering wrong or is that true? And that's true So it's not a unified school board change That of how we get maybe maybe I I just that you know I and I think the clarification It's it's good Just made the clarification. Oops. Sorry. My even my earbuds are dying. Sorry guys. Can you hear me now? So so I think uh, you know, we have heard the community we it was a hard It you know, it was not easy. We're trying to create the space for all to have this difficult conversations Thank you for coming to the meeting tonight We're not perfect. We're working to be imperfect. But this was the you know, this The the board stands behind The decision that was made tonight as a democratically elected elected board. We we're going to continue to to work to To be a united team and to you know, be sure that we're working towards what's best for kids and I'm very excited to to have two amazing staff members At rum me and to welcome a new staff member into our rummy community So thank you for for for coming tonight and with that I'm gonna ask the board If there's a motion to adjourn move to adjourn Thank you, Jonas. Could I have a second? You have a second Ursula. Sorry my earbuds keep this. Sorry All those and thank you everybody for patience All those in favor, please say I and and leave. Thank you for being here today