 Good evening and welcome to the Allington School Committee. It is Thursday, January 8, 2015. Karen Fitzgerald's nephew, Matthew Griffin died of cancer on December 26. He graduated at Allington High School in 2007 and Curry College in 2012. James C. Jim McLaughlin, who coached girl sports here at Allington High School, died as a result of injuries in a car accident. At this time, I would ask for a moment of silence. Thank you. If you'll notice, we're a little sparse up here on the school committee, Mr. Thielman is on his way back from a meeting out of state and probably will not be with us tonight. Mr. P.S. is ill and will not be here. At this time, I would like to welcome Linda Hansen, our AEA representative. And Ms. Fitzgerald, do we have any public participation? No, we do not. No, we do not. Seeing that, I will now move on to Superintendent's school calendar. Yes, thank you, Mr. Heiner. There are, in your novice, there are two calendars that have been presented for your consideration. Now, one of the calendars meets the criteria of our contractual obligations with the Arlington Educator Association. And but what is of a concern for next year is that if you look at the calendars, you'll see that we have a very late start date. Labor day could not be later next year. It's the 7th, which would mean that under our current contract, students would start on Tuesday. And teacher days would be the previous Wednesday and Thursday. What is also a little bit of a concern with this particular calendar. If you look at the end of the year, the school committee is obligated, so we're all obligated, to schedule a calendar that is 185 days. Five of those days can be used for snow days. Students are obliged to be in school 180 days. So when you look at that calendar, you will see that the last snow day that must be scheduled would be June 29th, which gives us one extra day, because we cannot go past June 30th because we'd be going into another fiscal year. And that's not possible in terms of how financing is done for salaries. That particular calendar, draft one, does meet all of our obligations. We are able to schedule 185. We are able to have the 180 days. The calendar also includes, during the year, two Jewish holidays, which fall this year, on weekdays during September. Easter, Good Friday, falls on a Friday. One year it was during April vacation, but that's not the case this year. And we have one professional day, which we have put on the Monday, the first Monday in November. There is no general election next year. And the thought would be of the possible days it would be preferable to have it on Monday. In the past, we've had a professional day in a non-election year. The day after Halloween, however, Halloween next year is very nicely put on the weekend. Lucky parents. So that particular calendar meets all the criteria that we must fulfill. It's just risky. And the risk is that we have one more snow day, and we will not know until the end of March whether we would have to schedule additional days. After April 1st, be in April 1st, if you've used up all your snow days and you have more snow days or tornado days or whatever days, then you are not obliged to make them up under desi regulations. So we would not know until the end of March which would mean that we would either have to make up days on a Saturday or during April vacation. I think for our previous survey we've done with teachers and with parents, the preference would be to go first to Saturdays. And actually Ms. Hansen gave me a suggestion today that maybe we even designate what a Saturday might be so nobody can say later they didn't know the Saturday. So that's something we can talk about. But at any rate, the second draft is a calendar which does not meet our contract. So it would be a calendar that would have to be negotiated with the union. And in this particular calendar, students would start the Monday before Labor Day but only go for four days that week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, the common sense that scheduling a class on Friday before Labor Day weekend probably would not be met with much enthusiasm on anyone's part. And then the teacher days would be the previous week before that, again on Wednesday, Thursday. The dates actually match pretty well the dates we had this year. It's just that they don't match in terms of the relative position of Labor Day. So other than the start, everything else goes out. The nice thing about the snow days is that you end before the last week of June. And potentially be getting out mid-June if there were no snow days. So the purpose of tonight is to have some discussion about this, really the calendar that we can go forward with would be the first draft and would consider tonight being a first read of that. So that at the meeting on January 22nd, we can have a final vote on that part of the calendar. There are issues around early release days that are in consideration during negotiations right now and would hope to have the more comprehensive calendar completed or brought to you in February a little earlier than we've done in the past. But we can talk about that later. Right now, I think parents really want to know what is going to be the first day of school. I mean, that's really what they need to know and that's why having tonight as a first read and then the vote on the 22nd, at least we can get that established. Could you just repeat the last day of school if we had four, five snow days with each of these two calendars? Well, you have them two. The first draft, which is the one that is the draft that is the primary contractual obligations. This last snow day would be the 29th of June. If we had, if we were able to get four student days in before Labor Day, you'd push that back to the 23rd of June, okay, 24th of June? No, 23rd, it's the last one. Oh, yeah, well, yeah, oh, I see, the 22nd. 22nd. 22nd. We've got a lot here. Several new drafts on this one. I'm sorry. Okay. No, on mine it's the 23rd of June. It uses 23rd? The 24th is on here, there's no maintenance on it. No, it's a, if you scroll down the second page. Okay, well, do any of the members wish to comment? This starts. It's the 23rd, it's the 23rd. So just to verify the contractually, teachers can start before Labor Day, but students can't. Yes, we negotiated that in the last contract. The last contract. Ms. Hansen did a survey with teachers, which I'd like her to have a chance to tell you what some of the results were. So is it part of just sort of the perspective on this? But to answer your question, yes, we have the teachers being able to start before Labor Day, but not students. Not yet. Okay. Okay. Do you want Linda to go or? Go ahead, Ms. Hansen. Hi, good evening, thank you for letting me speak to this. So Dr. Bodie shared these calendars with us a couple days ago, and we thought it would be a good idea just to send it out to the members and get a sense from them what their thoughts would be on it. And the results came up pretty interestingly. We had over 200 members weigh in on it, so it's a hot topic among the members and a very short turnaround time. With the tradition, the one draft one that's the current contractual arrangement, the traditional calendar, we had about an equal number of people who really liked it a lot and who really didn't like it a lot. So it was kind of like this by, I'm sure there's a word for it with charts. By modal, thank you, that's the word. And then, so I would say there's a slight majority for people who were less enthused about the traditional calendar. And then with the early birds start, the second one which would start us a week earlier, there was a slight, there was a small, but small majority of teachers who were interested in it. But when we read through all of the comments and the executive board actually had a chance to read through everything and talk this through, our concern is just that people have made some of our job plans based on the calendar that they knew about in the contract and vacation plans in some cases, wedding plans. So it seems like there is some appetite for starting earlier and ending earlier if it's known enough in advance. And I think our concern is that even though more people are expressing an interest in starting earlier and ending earlier, the ones that don't had reasons that they, and plans that they made based on a different calendar. So I think it's an interesting topic and something that people do wanna have a lot to say about, but our concern as an association is people being able to plan for things and not have surprises. So I think that's one of the concerns that we came away from this with. Ms. Starks. Ms. Seuss first, go ahead, Ms. Seuss. So I actually just had a parent contact with me two weeks ago to ask me about the calendar. And at that time I thought there wasn't any discussion about moving it earlier. So similarly I think parents have, some parents have already made plans. And what I'd be interested in is to come up with some sort of policy so that we say going forward if Labor Day falls after the 4th of September, then we do X and if it's all before it, we do Y. Another parent concern though with the traditional calendar is that camps will start that last week in June. And so camps start last week in June so that I know many parents who will put a half tuition on a camp and will end up going to the camp or just being in a difficult bind. But again, these decisions happen really early. I mean it's frustrating how early you have to make these kind of plans and some decisions potentially have already been made by parents. Ms. Stocks. Two suggestions. One is I know that in Lexington, they already have voted their 15, 16 and then within two months they vote 16, 17. So they are always, so parents always have an extra. So we might think about doing that. And so, and that would allow us, that definitely gives people enough time. But also I think there's also the possibility, again in Lexington we start, teachers start on the 31st. So the week after you have people starting before Labor Day, we always start the week before Labor Day. But teachers start on Monday, students start and come Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And then we all go away for four days and then we come back the following Tuesday. So that would be somewhere between these two because you have them starting basically two weeks, teachers starting two weeks before Labor Day. Which I think is why it's so hard because it really eats into the summer that way. But if you could push teachers starting to the Monday, Tuesday before Labor Day. I don't know. That would be, oh go ahead. Do you want to respond as they go? It's just a suggestion. Just kind of somewhere between these two. Mr. Schlickman, I don't want to engage in too much of a conversation on this is because it is subject to negotiations. Lowell starts for kids the day, the Tuesday before Labor Day and goes for three days. And then we back into that any of the teacher obligations be it a returning teacher on Monday and the new teachers the week before. And it works for us and we don't have the pressure on the snow days that we seem to have in Arlington just because we've got that earlier start. So I support going to an early bird calendar and making that a regular feature so that if we could get that negotiated through the contract that we regularly start students the Tuesday before Labor Day and back in our professional development before that. I think that that would relieve a lot of pressure and get us out of those last weeks of June where it's really tough being in school. If we go for it for this year, I hope we do it for the next school year, Fiscal 16. I hope we do it quickly. And if we do this as a matter of policy, make note, Ms. Stark's idea is terrific to go and vote the calendar that far in advance so we know what the ground rules are. But I'd hope that if we do it for the first time we'd be talking about an understanding for people who have cemented, not just for happy reasons, but just cemented in plans that would be very difficult to break given the constraints of a new calendar. And that's all I'm going to say because we're in negotiations. Yes. I have the same concerns as Mr. Schlickman about how we can discuss this if it's a matter of negotiations. I've also been contacted by several parents and I've said, well, this is what we've done traditionally but it's up to negotiations and we're in negotiations now. So if we were to seriously consider this for the coming year, I would like to see us consider doing a quick parent survey as was done with the teachers. I think it would be a good thing I would like to have that information, not just the random people who have contacted me but just to send something out and also to collect information about why people, as your comments did, why people are suggesting the option that they favor because I think that would inform us for future planning. So I'm not really sure where we go from here. First off, for us to get a certain, let me begin with Mrs. Hussain. A policy would be great. I think if we could work out some sort of formula for the future, it would have to be in conjunction with the AEA, working together on that as part of it. That's one piece. The other piece, surveys, the union has the right to survey their people at any time. We have the right to survey but I need to say this in public. Any results of that survey will not be discussed openly until the negotiations have been completed. We have the right to be informed but we do not have the right during negotiations to bring public pressure on the union nor do they have with us. As was stated the last time, and I appreciate Ms. Hansen, there was more that I think the union wanted to say the last time, but recognizing the restraints of negotiations did not and I appreciate that as we ourselves. You're not looking for a vote tonight, am I correct? This is a first read discussion. Okay, and you're looking for a first read on both or a particular one? It would have to be on the calendar that is a traditional calendar. The other one is brought out here to bring up the issues and it is a matter of negotiations. And Ms. Hansen, when she did the survey, didn't ask them to pick between the two. Right, I understand that. There's a sentiment of where it would be. Right. I totally agree that it would be a great idea to bring this up in negotiations because everybody has some interest in how we're gonna do this. And as weather becomes more uncertain, it does create a lot of pressure within the town, within the district, with people's lives to be always getting so close to the 30th of June. So I think that would be a proper thing. Now, it was far as just so you're aware and people are listening are aware, part of our contract also has two teacher days. So if you have students start the Tuesday, it would mean that the teachers would have, unless we change that, would have to be in the previous week as well. One of the things we did consider was a calendar like that and then didn't do it because it only allowed two student days that week. It was like, was that worth it? So at any rate, that's where we are. These are the issues. It's going to be the case for a couple of years. And this next year we could have gone to the 30th, but next year is a leap year. So we pick up a day and so that is helpful. And then there's of course the issue that we've all, the road we've been down before and that is religious holidays. So that might be something down the road we need to think about as well. So it may be that this point that it's January and while it seems like we're being very proactive this January, in fact, for people's lives, it's not, you really do have to plan out. I would have you consider the traditional calendar as the first read tonight as we go forward. And I do appreciate that suggestion of maybe picking out a Saturday or two that we read circle because saying if we need it, the plan on this is where you're going to need to be. I do want to amend that. That was a recommendation by a member that wasn't necessarily my recommendation. So I just want to say it might be a good idea, but I don't want to say that I'd want it. We all set? Yep. So we'll consider first read on the traditional calendar. Okay, moving on, superintendents. Because we're starting after, just a few days after the start of school, they really don't have anything except that. Last night was our first brush with the issue of snow days, cold days. Cold days. Yeah. But one thing I do want to reiterate, I'll probably say this again, it's other points, is that when we have these kinds of days, I have to make the decision for the district. And there are a lot of things that go into considering this. And paramount, of course, is the safety and the readiness of the schools to be prepared for students and staff. But parents should know that if they feel that their child cannot walk to school, whether the snow or cold, that is their prerogative to call and say, I'm sorry, they can't come because of weather conditions. And that will be an absence, but it will be an excused absence. And I've mentioned this repeatedly in years before, but I think it's worth mentioning it again. And probably in the email last night, I should have said it and I thought about it after and I said, I forgot to put that in after I sent it. But I can tell you that all went very well today. Furnaces were on, the buildings were warm, buses went well, and I appreciated the director of transportation sending the sixth grade bus to Thompson early so that when the children arrived, they could get on a warm bus rather than have to stand out there and wait. So there were a lot of little things that people did to make it a much easier day. But I was at one elementary school today and things were going just fine and the building was quite warm as it was here. So hopefully we don't have more of these days, but I'm sure that it's only early January, this isn't the last time. So that's it. This time I'll be doing the consent agenda. All items listed with an asterisk are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion, discussion of these items unless a member of the committee so requests in which event the item will be considered in its normal sequence. Approval of warrant number 15083, dated 12, 18, 2014 in the amount of $618,826.54. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Thank you. We're setting a new record, folks. Subcommittee, policies and procedure. Mr. Pierce is not here at the time. Is there any other member of that group that has anything to share? No. Okay. The budget misstacks. Let's see. I was excited to get the request to participate in the survey of school districts serving non-resident homeless students. I was excited. I'm optimistic that they, so they asked the 55 communities that were affected to just give them some information. They're trying to actually, hopefully, maybe, I don't know. At least they'll know how much people spend on it, whether or not they have any money to throw at the problem. But I thought that that was exciting, and I was glad to hear that we were gonna take part in that. And also, everyone also saw that the SOI for schools opens this Friday. Yes. Here's hoping, second time's a charm. Go AHS. And right now we currently have no budget subcommittee meeting planned. Okay, thank you. Dr. Bode. It does. It opens this week, and it closes the same time as it did last year. What was interesting in the letter is that we must go through the same process as we did before. So the town manager and I have talked about this, and we will be scheduling the necessary votes. But before that happens, I think we did a really good job on the SOI with respect to the building plant last year, and we might do some tweaking on that. But the big issue is we're going to update it in terms of enrollment. Our enrollment increases and projections have changed since last year. And so we will be doing that and probably trying to schedule a vote here maybe early February, and then scheduling the board of selectmen. But that still has to go through the same approval process. The other thing that was in the letter that we'll have to think about is you have to pick your priority SOI. And that includes even SOIs with regard to major repairs. So tonight, the capital committee is voting on the capital recommendations for next year, which includes the Stratton funding. And of course, one of our hopes would be to submit to the MSBA as we did before an SOI and some of the major repairs. So we're gonna have to think about this strategically because we're just sort of looking into it. I just wanted to alert you to that's an issue, and I can't tell you exactly what we're gonna do yet. Can you clarify, I'm sorry. Go ahead, go ahead. Can you clarify about this? Does this mean that we cannot also submit for repairs and for the high school or that we have to say this one's our priority? That's right, we can submit, but then we still have to identify which is a priority. So we're gonna clarify that with MSBA just to make sure, but it seemed pretty clear in the letter actually. I'm a little bit confused. When I'm looking for MSBA money for Stratton. Possibly, yes. We talked about that at the Stratton, yeah, we did. I misunderstood. I'd just like to apologize. Miss Johnson is currently at the capital planning. She was there at the last time. That's why she came in. It seemed late. She's doing double duty tonight and I didn't, I don't want the public to misunderstand that. Okay, we're all set with that. Community relations, Mr. Schluckman. We have a meeting scheduled for later this month. Two things that I'd also like to bring up is that in the Arlington email list discussion of the two clothes to delay or to open at the regular time, which I think we did the right thing. There was the usual discussion of the unreliability of the MBTA bus service coming up towards the Odyssey and the high school and that kids are waiting for two or three buses that are full and they pass them by. And I know that this was an issue in the past and we had Representative Garberley working on that. If this is continuing to be a problem, I would hope that we could collect data and involve the good representative again in terms of making sure that we have adequate bus service for our kids who are relying on the MBTA to come to Odyssey and into the high school. I don't know if you think that that should wander back to the subcommittee or it should be just handled administratively. I will follow up on that. Okay, and if you need anything from the subcommittee. The other thing is that the Delegate Assembly, the MASC Delegate Assembly passed the resolution that we cosponsored regarding unfunded mandate legislation and MASC is preparing legislation to correspond to the votes of the Delegate Assembly and we've got a request from MASC to ask Representative Garberley to sponsor legislation on unfunded mandates and fingerprints so that for any of us who have the opportunity to talk to Representative Garberley, a kind request for him to be a primary sponsor for this would be appropriate and that's what I have. Great. Should we ask the chair to have an official discussion with him or authorize him? Well, I think that as individual members, we can certainly ask our representative I got an email from Steve Finnegan who is the legal counsel of MASC asking me to contact the good representative and I'm happy to do that but I do have more than one of us doing that as well in our capacities as constituents who are also members of the committee it's certainly appropriate. We can do it as individuals and if the body so agrees I'll do it officially. I move that we request the chair to make an official request. Seconded. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Anything else, Mr. Schlickman? That's it. Thank you. Curriculum instruction and assessment and accountability. We are still gathering data we'll be scheduling our meeting after we've finished. Great. Facilities will be meeting on the 22nd at 5 p.m. in this room and special study group and super tenants will be meeting on the 26th at five o'clock in this room. The chair this afternoon after promising the superintendent I wouldn't speak but I did speak a couple of times had a chance to see the demonstration on a piece of software that I was really excited about and like that and maybe I should have talked about it. Nevermind. Thank you. And let's see what else. Does any of the members have any announcements? I just I still wanna know what the agenda is Okay, since we are scheduled for a retreat on Saturday, I think the, what was it, the 24th in that right now more than one member will not be able to attend and I've spoken to the superintendent. We're gonna send out a doodle to see if we can do this before a regular schedule meeting in an executive session. So that will be for it. So right now the 24th is being canceled. Okay, for that retreat and we will have a doodle out and I apologize for not getting back to people on time. So that schedules didn't get rearranged. Does that help? Yep. Thank you. Thanks. There, let's see, there was scheduled a joint subcommittee and human rights commission committee and I apologize. I do not, I didn't write down the date. Do you, do you have a missus? I just, is it January 15th? That's something. I think that's it. Okay, on January 15th in this room. Great. Thank you very much. You'll get the, we have the date and agreement and Karen's gonna send out the date. I don't remember what it was all the time I had but I said schedule. I'm not sure if it was the 29th. Something like that. The last Thursday in January at 5.30 p.m. It's the 29th. We all said? 29th, yeah. Again, no other announcements from members of the committee at this time. Thank you. At this time, we will be entering executive session to discuss the deployment of security personnel or devices or strategies with respect there too to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with union and non-union personnel or contract negotiations with union and non-union in which if held in an open session meeting may have a detrimental effect. To conduct this strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation in which if held in an open meeting may have a detrimental effect. We will not, we will be adjourning. We will come back into open session for only the purpose of adjourning. I need a roll call vote at this time. A motion to go into executive session. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Roll call vote. Yes. Yes. Aye. Aye.