 Good evening. I'd like to call to order the February 12th 2013 session of the Amherst Pellum Regional School Committee Welcome my colleagues and welcome members of the audience both here and at home If we take a look at the agenda, you'll notice that while it is brief It is one of the most important agendas that we can address during the course of the year and so We certainly want to devote as much attention and focus as we can to these items I also want to point out that at the conclusion of our regular session We will have an executive session for purposes of discussing strategy with respect to The superintendents contract to collective bargaining is authorized by mass general law chapter 30 a section 213 And to discuss the discipline or dismissal of a public employee or staff member is authorized by mass general law chapter a section 21 paragraph one I'd invite members of the committee to take a brief look at the agenda I believe that 3a is going to be Eliminated is that correct? Yes 3a the update will be eliminated so our primary focus this evening is going to be on the FY 14 budget at this No, I'm sorry the superintendents update will not happen, but the second quarter of budget update will happen. Oh, we'll be Sorry about that I Will entertain a motion to accept the minutes for January 12th 2013 Meeting is there a motion? Second second Motion from Catherine seconded by Lawrence any discussion of the minutes from January 12th Not hearing any all those in favor of accepting the amendments as present. Excuse me the minutes as presented, please raise your hand those opposed abstention It's unanimous Little belated, but it's unanimous. I would entertain a motion to approve the minutes of January 22nd 2013 Second second from any any discussion not hearing any all those in favor, please indicate by raising your hand Minutes are approved unanimously. Thank you very very much Any announcements? There are some members of the public out there Although I think most of the members of the public are associated or affiliated with one or more public Committees Is there anyone there in the audience who would care to make a public comment at this particular point in time? Not hearing any then we will move right along to Item 3a the second quarter budget update Okay, so this is the update on the FY 13 budget. How are we doing midway? Pretty well, so a Lot of this you saw the first quarter report because that's when we got our first sense of how things were breaking I'll just put out a few of the highlights salaries are Because you'll come in slightly under budget There's been some shifting around there Contracted payroll is showing 77,000 available, but we anticipate to use that before the end of the year typically how it flows substitutes at this point running about 8,000 over budget and That can vary between any of the year depending on whether flu strikes or you know, whatever happens In expenses special education is now looking at 122,000 over budget Let's see a third line there for expenses and that's a combination of things in in part it's out of district tuitions and in part it's Legal settlements, excuse me So together that's about 330,000 out of over budget now Other accounts in special education are running under budget to kind of bounce that off So at this point, we're just looking at about a hundred and twenty two thousand over budget Could change between now and then but this is kind of a heads up. This is where we need some extra budget support Following by other programs currently 101,000 under budget likely to stay there and it's almost entirely due to vocational tuitions you had an interesting Movement out of vocational schools this year, so I included here what our projections what were for FY 13 budget. We're looking at 41 students in Voc Some started off the year in fact it was I forget was the first quarter was down a little bit But since then a number of kids have transferred out of voc schools and so as of the December numbers They're running seven and a half FTE is lower than we expected so that's freeing up a hundred and one thousand dollars right there So that's good news Utilities also under budget by about a hundred and eighteen as best we can figure and you've heard this before in terms of Doing some good contracting for electricity Oil and natural gas savings with the conversions. So that's a good piece Transportation we're thinking is going to be a little bit over budget because of cost and maintenance and fuel Risk and benefits. This is another interesting place Projected official hundred ninety two thousand under budget. So health insurance is under budget by seventy three thousand Thirty six of which got picked up by Ed Jobs funding that we Thought had been used up last year, but was revitalized this year. So that helped with this year's funding and then with less anticipated enrollment and We talked about this in the first quarter report that I think the new health care regime Maybe delaying some more younger staff to pick up their own insurance policies So we've had the transfer from GIC and retirees but overall it looks like we're Going to be finishing a hundred ninety two thousand under budget for insurance So We talked about in first quarter they've used twenty thousand from the Special reserve from Indy to fund the regionalization study. So that's we talked about that But the summit up as of this point We have positive budget variances of a hundred and one thousand and other programs in other words Vogue 118,000 utilities 192,000 and risk and benefits for a total of four hundred eleven thousand dollars we can repurpose for other uses now it's offset by Additional hundred fifty thousand special ed legal settlements. So we really have two hundred sixty one to Think of other ways to use And what we're doing it so far and you'll see this in our budget presentation for next year We can use a hundred and twelve thousand of that to Pre-pay retirement incentives that otherwise would be paid out of next year's budget and We can prepay a hundred thousand dollars of special ed tuition costs for the summer Tuitions that would then alleviate the FY 14 budget and I would still leave at this point 50,000 to go into Indy. It's pretty much what we've been planning all along And hopefully it'll end up being a little better than that. So The things swing back and forth this this year things have gone really well for the region allowing us to do some help for next year and It's looking very positive Any questions? Yep Like that was that was that already that wouldn't have already been calculated in the Six hundred something thousand short no That's right, it's definitely gonna help and you'll see that when we get to the 14 budget Any other questions or comments from the members of the committee? I like to swing in a little bit more We're okay. We'll see where we land Before we move on to The heart of the meeting I just want to remind people that warrants are coming around Once again, remind that your cars are under lock and key until you sign them And there are some for audience members Those people in the audience have viewed this already so I So at the also Rob has some updated pages that toward the end of my Presentation he's going to give you some updated data based on what you're going to see on the slide So we'll have that information for you with questions and answers as well So Tonight is our FY 14 proposed budget and the public hearing portion In terms of the public hearing we typically hear from people in the audience up front And then we also receive many emails and feedback after people have the opportunity to kind of review and think through And then we really have a period of time I think is approximately a month before we go to the point of asking the committee to vote Again, it's really important to say that this process is still very fluid that there's new information around the financial Status that comes in over time. We also Have students registering for classes so enrollments shift in class specific classes But also our enrollment we watch closely over time for the next few months And then we also have the opportunity to hear from our four towns our four communities on March 2nd where the four towns are able to give us input and feedback about Where they're sitting financially and are they able to support the level of assessments that we're asking? at this time So For those of you who are in Amherst, you'll see a bit of redundancy from our last budget presentation But I think it's important to kind of set the stage for all of us when we're thinking about where we are in the budget process Let's see if this works for me No, I don't know No, it is no it's not. Thank you. Can't see that little those little letters Nothing about my age at all Okay, so starting with a brief overview this information was presented the last time we met again, we're very pleased and That we've had the support of our four communities of our regional budget In particular the periods of time that I've been here It's been a very supportive process and while each of the communities are sitting in You know a financial struggle and their own fiscal realities How do they support their elementary schools and their town services? They have been able to support our regional schools And that you'll see what those averages have been over a period of time And our challenge has been really to maintain the valuable services the wonderful programming We have in place with what I would consider a low increase of 2.1 percent average Yearly and at the same time it's important that we're making educational improvements and We're responding to our changing student demographic So again for the past five years, we've been in the situation. We've had these conversations. We have made reductions We have tried to maintain Our programs and we've gone for the model of what I think marked access started using the term a number of years Constricting versus cutting out programs that we value. However, it is important to to note that there have been programs that have been cut over the course of the past five years So our current challenges for FY 14 and for the future again just to remind the community as well as the committee we have Tried to really be conscious of feathering out the use of stimulus funds over a number of years So that we didn't feel as much of a cliff as some other communities have felt That we are seeing a significant reduction in our grant funding, which is part of the stimulus package which Supports our budget beyond what the towns have provided. We also have realized a Decline in our availability the availability of and the support by not only our entitlement grants But our competitive grants where we are not as eligible for many of those grants in the current environment Also, clearly everyone is recognizing this sluggish economic growth at the state level Which we are not able to realize what was common in the 1990s, which was a very different level of support financial support for our schools and We are in the midst of it and have been at a significant level of declining enrollment Which is again fairly consistent across the state of Massachusetts, but we Illustrated that the last time we met and I will show that again tonight just to really stress that point Chapter 70 state aid again, I would describe as flat and we have fixed costs that we need to Be attentive to which are the the charter aid formula which we talked about last time and there's a lot of detail and your Comprehensive spending plan. There's some information in there for you to review if you'd like more information But charter is a substantial cost. We have retirement costs Which are kind of legacy costs and we have contractual obligations So those are some things that are in place that we have to keep our eye on so again the visual of The scale and where we're sitting at this point in terms of a gap so This again, this is really a challenging process when you're building a budget for a complicated system a school system and One that's primarily comprised of human beings. It's never an easy Undertaking and this process takes us months. We really began by looking at our October 1 counts and we move on from then We start with looking at again our student demographic changes as of October 1 We also look at our student achievement scores around the same time from the prior year What are our group needs of students and what are the individual needs that we're aware of? We also Have to make sure that we're paying attention to the individual mandated services for children In special education and ELL McKinney-Vento and other services that are required by law We also have To really take a look at what our projected enrollments are for the following year and look at that over multiple years We need to again be very conscious of what efficiencies we can realize and as you saw Rob just point out in the second quarter Update that we are realizing those savings based on some of the efficiencies that have been put in place Which we are very appreciative of And we have to be real with what are our known costs? You know after a certain period of time you can look at the history of various lines of what does it take for cleaning supplies for a school? And you can be pretty sure what we will be predicting for the following year So we really need to look at our trends and to be real with budgeting. Otherwise, we end up falling short Which is never a smart plan So this is kind of where we are now and again we want to keep our eye on where do we want to be So we spend have spent our time reviewing our mission vision and our core beliefs It this becomes more critically important when we are in tough financial times It's what do we consider core for our our schools for our students for our programs and services? We review the guidance that's been provided by the school committee that we've discussed and voted We also revisit our district improvement plan and school improvement plans and these the guidance as a as a whole And we need to consider not only are we trying to make reductions and we're also trying to as I mentioned before move forward so we need to be conscious of our current goals which Highlighting some free tonight. We have the implementation of a data plan to inform instruction We have a significant amount of work to do in that area Which is the rule out plan for next school year, and that's just the beginning of the process We have a need to put in place a systemic family and community engagement Process plan that is not a discreet interventions, but really a much more holistic Strategic approach to family engagement because we clearly are not at this time making meaningful connections with all of our families And we know what the research has really talked to us about One of the strong predictors of strong a student achievement is to really make the strong connections and partnering with families We also have a substantial amount of work to do in terms of our internal curricular alignment and our alignment to the common core and We need to really pay attention to our tiered instructional What do we have in place currently? What do we need to put in place so that we are targeting instruction and filling gaps and moving all students forward? And we need to look at differentiation not only for students who are struggling academically, but students who are prepared for more More extension more rigor Also, we are in the midst of implementation of the educator evaluation model And next year is the next phase of that implementation, which is I think Honestly the the more complex stage, which is really looking at how are we using student achievement data to factor into The evaluation of all of us and this is something very new for educators It's very new for administrators. So this will take a Substantial amount of work and we also will be having input from surveys as part of these evaluations So there's a substantial amount of work to do over this year so that we are prepared to implement for next year And we also are continuing to look at models for embedded professional development Realizing that having our staff go out for to a workshop and then coming back in isolation and not having Their colleagues having the same conversations around ways to improve their practice is not necessarily the best model so we're trying to consider ways to build time and Structured Collaboration time for our professionals so that we can not only improve instruction, but with the goal being improve student outcomes So these are our commitments and we want to make sure we're staying true to those commitments when we're having to make difficult decisions So while we're doing this and I know I have to always put students in the picture They're not the little students any longer, but we're considering the students right now in front of us I could have put Zoe up there, but I didn't have a picture Zoe But she's here so we can keep her in our forefront. So It's critically important. So A rob will hand out to the committee a Detailed list at the end to that we can go through which has budget additions adjustments The specific budget adds and the specific budget cuts with the dollar amounts factored So I would give you that as well for at the end of this where we can go through which will be the insert into your binder But I would like to go over and take the time to go over some of the specific ads and cuts now so When we are Facing a gap which our last figure was around nine hundred thousand dollars That gap will be a little bit different tonight because I've asked to apply additional E&D Which is our excess and deficiency our reserves to bring that down to about eight hundred thousand dollars ish Which we'll see that exact number. It's eight forty three five seventy five When we're really looking at that level of reduction, we need to ask ourselves questions when we're engaging in this process So we need to consider where are the declining enrollments? Represented and where can we make some reductions just based on declining enrollments? Is a cut or an ad consistent with our district improvement plan priorities? We have to be really explicit with asking ourselves that question What is the FTE? The full-time equivalent of a staff person. What is that? What is necessary to actually schedule a building? And we also Have to ask ourselves How do we maintain the broad range of offerings for our students that we all value finding a place where our students connect and feel Excited about coming to school during the day and what drives them what they're passionate about While we decrease our expenses Can you explain the third one? I don't get that Sure, it's when we're looking at and I think Mickey when she's looking at actual scheduling you have to consider What percentage or what part of an English person? Staff member is needed to actually schedule English and much of that is actually dependent upon The numbers of students who are coming in for that grade level There's some knowns about what courses students will take in ninth grade and some are based on actual students signing up for So the numbers when we go into the reductions Mickey who schedules for the high school and and Mike and Betsy for the middle school They can make some assumptions based on knowing that the numbers of students who will be entering is X number Again, that sways based on are there more kids entering than we predicted What do students actually sign up for but that is what is actually necessary to build a schedule? So we move from and the high schools very I think High schools in general That's how they build their world elementary. It's it's kind of a new phenomena for us at the elementary level because we have had you know And it's been conversations out there. So I'll put it out there too. So for example We might have one art teacher one phys ed teacher one music teacher at the school level at the elementary level and now when you have Declining resources you really need to think about so how many sections or how many classrooms do I have and how many? FTE or pieces of people do I need do I need a full-time person or should that be a point eight or point six Or do I need one point five? So those are the conversations we have about allocation of staff not only for specific classrooms But also special education ELL paraprofessional support and this is the process that we Take on at this point When actually about a month ago when Mickey and Betsy and Mike and Mark We're looking at what the current numbers are looking like does that help and a long-winded answer Okay, so also As I mentioned in this case the the question I always comes up to is how much reserves and how much choice funds Can we apply to the budget? So you will see when I've hand hand out your insert I've asked Rob to apply an additional hundred thousand dollars of E&D. The question is How much can you apply knowing how much you will be hopefully putting back into that reserve at the end of a school year? We know fairly conservatively fifty thousand and I'm banking on more That's my optimism To replenish that use of reserves because we want to make sure that the decisions we're making leave us financially sound So it's kind of the the amount of how much can you use and you're also building a cliff in the future if your choice reduces the number of choice students you take in or You draw down your E&D. So it's it's a very careful. I think dance and Determinations before we're or while we're actually making reductions. So to go right into the ads and cuts I just want to remind us of what the declining enrollment looked like and looks like And again, this includes choice students so we see the steady decline over time and It's the first question we we ask ourselves is what are those natural reductions knowing how many students are coming into the high school What sections are reduced? so now I'm going to go into the specific ads and cuts and I'll speak to those and if there are specific questions. We'll take those at the end as well So When we're looking at academic reductions So at the high school you can see there's a point five projected Reduction in English a 1.0 in social studies a point two in prep Academy a point four and Mathematics and a point two in science all of these reductions are proportional based on the declining enrollment So it's the natural reduction based on the numbers of students coming in fewer sections We're offering rather than cutting offering so we are not cutting Programming out we are consolidating or reducing the sections being offered and the class size is in this remain relatively stable Again those numbers we check over time because if our projections are more students are coming in then it will affect class size But right now our class sizes are not increasing with these reductions And in terms of an additional academic reduction, we have 1.0 teacher from southeast campus Which is our in-district day placement, which is based on actual student enrollments We are reducing one of the classroom teachers that again the class size in this scenario remains relatively stable for electives the reductions are as follows point to Chinese Point six family consumer science Point to physical education Point for performing arts and point to technology education again all reductions are proportional based on declining enrollment There'll be fewer sections offered and consolidation of levels in some cases, which I think is primarily in the performing arts in the arts And rather than cutting offerings So again, this does not cut offerings for students and the class sizes again remain fairly stable At the middle school, you'll see a reduction of 1.0 class computer teacher This means that the teacher will no longer technology will no longer be offered on the specials rotation So now it is a matter of integration of technology into classrooms and the technology paraprofessional Remains to provide support, but we will not have that as an offering on a rotational schedule for middle school students and A 1.0 phys ed reduction at the middle school, which is a reduction of physical education instructional time We are considering and this we're very in the beginning of how we're going to Address some of the needs that we've identified about increasing the amount of health instruction that our students require so we may be adding back additional health sections and What this reduction means is approximately 54 hours of physical education will be provided per year Which is every other day no twice per week For half of a year is how we're thinking about it at the moment and the amount of Phys ed time is consistent with our elementary school physical education time some of the the considerations around this Reduction specifically as we looked at different middle schools locally, but also in the eastern part of the state to consider How are they addressing? How are they addressing phys ed? So some have it on a rotation, which is what we're suggesting, you know with a similar format of what we're suggesting happen next year Some have it Consistent with what we're doing right now, which is more phys ed time over the course of a year and The one thing that kind of this checking has Really made us aware of solidly is that we have to have more dedicated time for health So again, we're trying to at this point look at our scheduling and figure out figuring out how we maintain and Increase health as well as maintaining the physical education So also the other thing that's important to point out again It's it's a scheduling challenge that when we similar to some of the Amherst and and Pelham Conversations around schedule and what you can fit during a school day When we looked at other middle some of the other middle schools they have much reduced instruction in music and World language so again, it's the challenge that we have of not at this point. We do not want to reduce Those offerings to students And again, how do you fit it all in during a school day? So this is where we are sitting at the moment much more work to be done over the next month or so before we Come back in front of you around the phys eds and health specifically Additional reductions for administrative and support There is a point eight student services administrator reduction. You saw the for the Amherst Members you saw the point to reduction in Amherst. So this is a 1.0 reduction We will have to set aside some funds for offset for summer stipends To cover the special education summer services and summer school which are mandated and we need to have staff on to be able to Provide the support to students, but we that's still in discussion of how we will address those needs But again, it is an administrative reduction of 1.0 total point eight to the region Point two we're reducing our webmaster and our administrative and clerical staff will take on additional support of The web working with Jerry champagne and is We are also reducing a part-time van driver 0.2 ELE coordinator 1.0 clerical secretary position at the middle school and a 1.0 coordinator position from southeast campus related to the southeast campus If you'll remember We had a person placed at southeast campus this year as the principal So at this point the decision is to reduce the coordinator under that principle and the principal will need to assume greater responsibilities So Those are the administrative and support reductions additional reductions realized right now is 1.5 paraprofessionals and We're really still in the process of determining whether this will be a general education reduction or special education Reduction and much of this is based on service delivery and the discussions will have over the next month Also at the middle school, there is a reduction of I should have put middle school there 1.0 internal suspension teacher. We've had a Licensed staff person in internal suspension for the past few years prior to that we had a paraprofessionals supporting The quiet learning center and we are moving back to the paraprofessional support model With And I'll go to the additions that we referenced a little bit The last time we met when we go through the ads and cuts when Rob hands those out You can see where there are some additional reductions such as Pre-paying the special education tuitions for July and August some of them for a hundred thousand dollars Pre-paying some of the retirement incentives a hundred and seventeen thousand dollars We did not have a sabbatical request, which is a thirty thousand dollar reduction And then there's some Staff turnover savings factored in when we have a staff come and go there's a typically a certain amount of savings So you'll see those things reflected because of course we want to Look at anything that is a non a staff person non person before we're going to the point of reducing people again, we're being very conscious of the fact that We're when we're talking about the level of cuts that we have in place We're talking about multiple people being affected by this This may be a full-person reduction. It may be a part of a person reduction. It may be a Different staff assignment So these changes these reductions touch multiple multiple people in their lives So The additions that we have in place are to at this moment, and I don't foresee any additional additions We have built in some stipend funds for the transition from middle school so that we have some support for scheduling for the for this summer We also have built in the 1.0 steps to success liaison that I referenced the last time we met which is a position which addresses the need to have a systemic approach to family and Engagement and to really create us a comprehensive achievement program for income eligible families This includes a range of services and supports. It's modeled after the Brookline program that Rick and some other staff members went to review a Few months ago, and the group is going back in March In an expanded group to really create a model program There's one FTE built into the region and one built into the elementary schools, and these are teacher-level positions to support Making stronger connections with families who at this point are underserved in our schools and Really wanting to make the connection here too with the mSAN students and the programming and Strive and some of the mentoring that we would like to expand between High school students going to middle school students and then going to elementary students and really creating a strong pipeline of support for our students who In many cases, we are not serving terribly well. So this is I Think putting at this point resources toward our commitment so in Summary And again, we'll look more at the details and and answer lots of questions We are we have at this point our goal is really to be maintaining reasonable class sizes and at this point They're consistent with the class sizes given our enrollment projections that we currently have in place So we are not tipping the scales of increasing at this moment again the The enrollments of our students will dictate to a certain degree the class sizes that we will have in place That we are Fortunate that we are maintaining what we value which is the team model at the middle school Which is a developmentally sound model which helps to support students coming from the elementary environment and experience going toward the high school Environment and we are maintaining that and the class sizes that Corresponds so that students are held well within a smaller community within a community We are also maintaining the majority of our elective offerings Our reductions were realized when at all possible based on our declining enrollments so the FTE portions in most cases were based on our Enrollment figures that we represented just a little while ago in that dramatic dip And the reductions and additions are consistent with our district priorities Well difficult. They are consistent with where we want to be and need to be as a school system so Some of our next steps We need to look at scheduling and we need to look at how we're effectively utilizing the staff that we have We are going to be And are in the process of examining our service delivery models for special education and English learner education We're exploring our service delivery model for intervention Which is for a general education students and special education students And how are we meeting the needs to of our students who are struggling and how are we filling gaps so that they are able to Make progress at a higher rate. Hopefully then in the past and really want to be able to move students forward We also want to create and implement steps for greater differentiation within the classroom And again, I reference students who are struggling academically and students are great or are ready for greater challenge We need to be able to within a class or meet the needs of all of our learners and that is That takes great skill professional development and lots of practice Especially when we have a changing student demographic We also Again want to create opportunities for our staff to be engaged in ongoing professional development and embedded professional development And we are going to explore schedules and structures in general to provide ample and consistent Instructional time over the course of a school year. So we're really looking at how we are using our time and The longer-range question that I referenced last time is how do we create a school system that maintains what we value and we consider core within The new fiscal reality and we don't want to be in a position where every year we're faced with cuts We want to be able to be much more strategic and over time Create a system that supports what we value supports our students and allows us to Be fiscally responsible So again our conversations will be about what is core and One of this the side conversations that we have to have when we're identifying what is core is how are we going to? Use choice or not, and I think that's an ongoing. That's a future conversation that we're going to be engaged in shortly So a couple things I did just want to mention to from the last time that we met So I have some of the information that people asked about one was in terms of special education You know we're realizing a declining enrollment in our student population Are we realizing a declining number of special education students? Not just the percentage? So when we took a look today if we looked at October of 2004 We had 1855 students enrolled and we had 298 special education students in October of 2012 we have 1527 students Enrolled total and we have 320 special education students So we are not seeing a corresponding decrease in the special education Population as we're seeing in our general enrollments Also, if we look at income eligible students Those numbers are steadily increasing. So if we start looking in 2005 We had 306 students who were income eligible And I can give you the enrollments in general in October of 2011 We had 385 in October 2012. We have 407 students so we're not seeing a decrease in Populations consistent these identified populations consistent with our declining enrollment I will look at some of the other side questions people had was around the level of need of special education students And how has that shifted over time? I don't have that information for you tonight And I do want to hand out because there's been questions around Administrative costs that typically comes up and it does come up every time that we talk about budget cuts because it's extremely difficult for Everyone to think about making cuts that are close to students So the conversation around administrative cuts comes up each year and I wanted to kind of give a little bit of context few different copies For you just to have for your reference So just kind of again, we also had per pupil Study conducted in Amherst this year. So that information is on our webpage that you can look under reports and find The PowerPoint presentation as well as the per pupil costs and where administration sits in terms of our comparison districts and Based on the analysis this year the per pupil The cost for administrators sat kind of smack right in the middle of the 14 12 or 14 comparison districts So I wanted to mention that also I wanted to mention that this study was I think Debbie pulled information together It was last Last February as well, which we can provide the committee with the full report But I wanted to give people just a snapshot and just make a couple of comments So to be really, you know kind of be very clear. There's been one administrative ad in the past year and There are no additional administrative ads next year If you look back 10 years ago 2002 2003 This gives you a bit of a snapshot of who it directly was with directly reporting to the superintendent And there were 13 people who reported directly to the superintendent Also, there were 13 administrators or assistant principles, which was a total of 28 FTE total So that was 10 years ago and there's been very Pictures of the administrative structure, which I gave you a few snapshots and I gave you currently So that they reporting to the superintendent directly has remained somewhat stable between 13 and 14 people over time This year there are 14 people directly reporting to me as an administration And they're non-unit directors and principal principals And there are nine administrators assistant principals in the tier two of administrative support if you want to talk about tiers So 10 years ago we had 28 total FTE today We have 23 total FTE and I think it's important To really note that while In it and it's difficult to represent this to the community because administration is really not Unless you're working in that environment It's not easy to understand what are all the components that go into supporting a school district separate from what we all know as Teachers and walking through school ourselves But since in the past, you know, 10 years or so while there's been no Substantial increase in any way of our administrative structure, and there's actually been less The mandates from the state and the requirements for the administrative roles is about a 300% increase So when we look at things like data collection progress reporting reporting on various discipline rates dropout rates staffing reports licensure requirements Special education through IDEA the requirements for general education for tiered instruction English learner education is going through another massive change right now, which we don't really even fully know what those requirements will be next year We have the educator evaluation system just no child left behind in general the common core requirements of adjustment to That for us currently race to the top and then general compliance and oversight so Again, I know we've had this conversation every year about the administrative structure But I do want to just give you updated information because I know those questions come from the community and they're You know justified questions, and I think it's it's something that We need to respond to Do you know the difference the differential over the course of years between the lower paid staff and the administrators essentially the higher staff between Yeah numbers, but it's also Sure, I mean I can go back and look at Some probably I don't know if I can have I might have those I'm not sure I have Assignments of what people were paid ten years ago. I probably can find that the higher paid staff are typically the non-unit staff Which are the 14 versus the the 13 ten years ago. That's varied between 13 and 14 each year. They typically are the higher paid and then because the assistant principles and Administrators are in a there are unit within a contract so we can go back easily and look at kind of where that sat And I sat in one of those roles ten years ago, too So I know where I sat financially so yeah, we're more than happy to And we also I think in this report We also have comparisons of the administrative roles compared to other districts in the salaries so it shows the number of Districts that have similar administrative structures and it's like a checklist you have this person or you don't have this person And then there's a comparison of other districts and the salaries compared to our districts So this this I can actually I'd be happy to send out to the committee as in its entirety But I wanted you to just kind of have this because I know people are asking questions There's some Western masks and there is some statewide so we have both and the same thing when the per pupil for Amherst We had some locals and we had School districts that had a more similar demographic because again, it's difficult for us to find a community that has The Simmons a similar structure with multiple districts and that has the same demographics because when you look at even like I don't know if it was Framingham has more of a closer demographics to us, but it's a very different system So it's it's interesting when you look at all the information together So I'd be happy to send out for the committee this report and also the per pupil I think you probably received that but I'll send that out again for Amherst Which does reference the region and the PowerPoint? Just so people have the information to answer questions Yeah, it's all on the website for the community as well, but I'd be happy to make sure you don't have to dig for it Yeah, and when you do the comparison districts Are they are they central office staff that are Administering to three districts multiple districts Majority no, but the some who are are typically smaller systems So it's hard again and the demographics are really different so you can make some comparison like I think it's it was very hard Even with the person who is doing the study for us. It was hard to find in apples to apples comparison Statements kind of weird, but it was really difficult for them to find similar systems Do you think questions now? No, I'm actually that was just my update like to give people additional information I thought was either coming up or that people last last time so I'm fine with taking questions and then I also have Mickey Diane mark Betsy here for School-based questions that I might not be able to Particularly well enough for the committee Come How did um The idea of co-principals in the interim principal model come up to have two people in the higher-tier salary rather than Co-principals one in the lower-tier side, you know that was I'm trying to think about the co-principals one that came up That was before my Yeah So that was prior to my time, but it was how many years ago Was it on here And I think it's gone through that iteration a couple times the first time I see a co-principal is Yeah, and then it was an Middle school had twice I believe If I'm remembering correctly and the high school did once as well. Yes And it was turnover. I'm sorry No, I mean it just seems that the two points of fact that This higher-tier salary that a non Unit negotiating salaries at a higher tier and if we're talking about What you're describing, you know people in community asking why so many administrators? It seems if there's a vacancy for Co-principal for a system principal that is on a lower tier that vacancy is empty, but we have to a double You know occupancy of the principal ship, which is a higher salary and it just seems, you know Just from a layman's perspective. It doesn't seem to make financial sense. Are you talking currently or the past ones? I'm talking each in either case in the past it wouldn't seem to make sense or currently when it seems like you're paying Two people more money than you would pay one person Yeah, right off the bat and you have a vacancy in a lower tier position as system principal So you got two people doing the job of principal and nobody doing the job of assistant, right? And Typically what happens is that if you have two co-principals They divide the responsibilities of the principles and the assistant principles and it's often a situation where there is a Quick vacancy and then two people say we'll both step up and help But it's not like one person's going for the job necessarily So it's kind of like how do you fill a gap quickly? So the offset might be maybe a $10,000 or $20,000 offset But it's often to have some consistency the better model to go in a short term and then to go back to You know a principal and an assistant principal So it's very specific to the situation, but it's often when you have a quick decision to make So that one of the things you're considering to go back to and try to save about $20,000 The number you just put forth that that might be the override that it would cost to fill both of them We don't have right now To co-principals in the region I thought Yeah, Kroger farm has two prints. We are we are in the process right now of hiring a principal Thanks, I wasn't sure Rick just detail question. I was asked about grants manager If you look at the line on budget in region, it looks like it's an increase of 20 grand and for Amherst epic 80 grand But was that a move from one department to another? Yes, and what happened is we have We have two people who have hands-on grants management One what is not a full-time position It's like a point maybe point three because the person also is the out-of-school time coordinator right now Both of those are showing up in that line. So there is no increase for Grants manager at all next year. It's just a re-accounting. So it's showing up in a line that Yeah, we don't have a place to put at this moment the out-of-school time coordinator So and what you'll see on the I Shouldn't talk specific people, but we're ending up with the same FTE of grants managers next year. So there is no increase And part of that question was what does the grants manager do? So the grant manager is has a function in the business office As well as working with the educational directors So the grants managers work with the directors to write grants which are not only entitlement grant I mean competitive grants that you may go for each year, but it's also we have each year We we resubmit for our entitlement grants So there's a level of working with the administrators to make sure that we are writing our grants in a way that we will Actually be able to implement and meet the needs that are designed by the grants So they're typically the expert and what are the requirements of the grant to begin with and then they also have a heavy focus on oversight compliance because these grants are often very laden with reporting and Accounting for staff time so they're responsible for the administrative kind of and these are not administrative positions. They're kind of Yeah, so they they and they also have a Reporting function where in terms of the business office. They have to be you know watching To make sure that we are actually applying the funds in a way That's consistent with The requirements of the grant so there's a whole compliance oversight monitoring Accounting a section of that responsibility as well so it is It's a position school districts typically cannot go without if you have millions of dollars in grants Because the management of those grants is is too challenging I have three I can spread them out The first the first two are in the reductions and adjustments. Yeah With physical education What's a little surprising Slash concern and given our previous conversations about athletics and obesity and etc. Is Less about the actual Reduction of a teacher, but this is a statement that we're reducing physical education instructional time And I get that the the school day is full. There's not enough time. There's too many mandates, etc But and we're adding health so I get all that stuff, but Especially at the middle school where it's already anemic physical education We're just setting the kids up for being not physical and not incorporating that stuff So why yeah, it just is troubling to see that we're reducing it even further I would say there's not very much at all to begin with It's the number of the amount that we have right now is fairly consistent with a certain portion of middle schools that we looked at and it's actually more than Middle schools that have it in a rotation. It's not a value judgment on that The question is how do you maintain world language and music to the degree that we do? Because that would be the trade-off for us. I guess my value judgment would be that the comparables are that they're not sufficient at this point Time given societal stuff going on. Yeah, no, I understand I would also say that one of the conversations that Betsy and Mike and I have been having is To look at a potential increase and how does that play out? Does it play out? I mean a portion of it has to be health and a portion of it is can you schedule other ways that kids are engaging in physical activity during the School day that one may be a bit less traditional So it's not necessarily a scheduled phys ed go to the gym class, but there might be some other options outside Potentially, yeah, I'm radical. Yeah, so that takes us a little bit of time to figure out But it is a reduction, so I'm not I don't want to say that it's not and it's something that we've been struggling with The second one a reduction and adjustments is the computer teacher. Yes, and It'd be nice to hear more about that. I you know, I can appreciate that Integration of technology to everything is Where you know things are going in one regard, but on the other hand, especially for middle school having Targeted specific Computer technology stuff seems like you cover places and you address it in ways where you're not having to worry about content area You're actually learning about skills and skill development So given that the world is moving to more technology the fact that would be reducing that seems odd to me I'd like to hear sure about it. I can speak a little bit and then if Betsy wants to jump in But I think that the majority of our students coming to the middle school level at this point their experience with the use of technology is At the point where they should be using it to connect to a content area and using it within the classrooms Having an opportunity to learn PowerPoint and those sorts of things devoid of a content I think it's it's less than I Would I think the value is more connect connecting it within the classroom if you're working on a project and you have to You know have a PowerPoint presentation as part of that to have that opportunity happen within our classroom I think sometimes having it in a rotation really doesn't help us to take that next step of Pushing it into the classroom, which is where it truly needs to be in my opinion So I'm I'm not uncomfortable with the the shift in this way to move toward We've been trying to move toward integration of technology into the classroom at the elementary level as well But still have maintained it in some cases on the rotation and in some schools off the rotation. Yeah, just to counter I mean my sense is it's very example. I mean the kids are learning PowerPoint and doing Book reports in second grade. So they're already integrating that my sense would be Using that opportunity to actually push it to a much higher level in terms of how you think strategically about using technology or looking at emerging technology It's not about, you know, PowerPoint's mundane at this point. I mean not that that's your only example No, no, no, and I think that one of the conversations that we've had and it's going to be We'll see how this plays out in the larger frame, but Jerry Champagne and Faye Brady have presented to us an integration of technology a plan for integration of technology where you have a cohort or a group of experts around integration at the school level because Faye's belief and Jerry's belief as well. I'm speaking for both of them is that Use of technology should not just be for for children when when you're identifying a specific special education need or other It should be about how we are integrating the use of different devices and tools within the classroom and So they have presented to the administrative team a few months ago a plan for a level of integration starting for next school year So I don't think this is fully a middle school conversation I think it's a systems conversation But again, it's not defined fully that will you know probably all of your fears at this moment, but that's where we're moving You have a question also Okay, I think you answered so when you're talking about that The plan to integrate That's to train teachers. That's to have a cohort that will work with their colleagues and we have In our hiring right now an assistive technology Staff person who would be expert to be able to work with and the question is how do you roll this out? so that you identify people ideally who are interested in Serving this function because you want to grow kind of the energy and the excitement around integration of technology You don't want to feel like it's something that's kind of put upon you So we have a person who is being hired for that position We had someone in the position in the past, but it's a more focused around a wider systemic approach to implementation of technology in the classroom and Fay and Jerry together will be leading that Person with working with and developing those cohorts at each school And then it's going to be able to model within classrooms as well because again If we say here's the tool and we actually don't show people how to use that or we show people in isolation Where it's a PD it doesn't it doesn't translate doesn't generalize so to have the opportunity where a staff person could find out Who's expert in the school and say you know what I want to use this technology Can I go and watch someone else do it to have that so that's the plan right to Implement in a more meaningful way, but again, we are we're steps from that yet Okay, and it's just a second follow-up So if it's being taken out of the rotation the class rotation does that mean there's now a gap There's a space in the schedule. That's That's empty. We're looking at well Do you want me to start new jump in we're looking at scheduling right now because the demands that we have we have Phys ed and health and we have technology tech ed. Is that the right term? We have art and we have drama and we have world language and we have Chorus and we have abandoned orchestra and we have intervention time So the and freeing up of any time in our schedule is not a bad thing because it allows us to do something more deeply or to Expand on do you want to? Sorry, and again, this is a work in progress So By having physical education move into the Exploratory rotation as as it is take that space of where we hold children. It's actually Increasing the amount of time. I've talked about academic study with you folks, right? Happens two days a week for every child for Four core teachers and half their team This move is going to expand that time For every child will have academic study potentially Four days a week. Okay, so it's going to allow us to think differently about our use of time in the four core This was kind of an unintended consequence But a very positive consequence because we're feeling like we need more time in our four core and around Intervention so the next step as we move forward is to be thinking about how we do that really effectively to intervene In those places so this allows one of the effects is actually a positive one. Okay. Thank you. Thanks Betsy Fair comparison that it's the same amount of time because in elementary the kids Do you get to go outside and the ones who need to run around run around they can get their hearts racing? So it's a little different and it is sad that they don't they wouldn't have that same experience But at least there's a positive Well, and we have some plans But we just need some money for the other plans that we have around options for running around during the day And after school as well And can I digress for one second and I and I have a mother from Sweden Who tells me and when she goes in when she was in school that between every single class They open up all the windows and every kid goes outside and has to run around for a couple minutes So I actually personally like that idea, but I'm not sure if that you know would fly but All kinds of options and we're going to look at this My question's been answered In terms of the academic reductions, yes, there's that English social studies etc. etc without getting into places you don't want to go but you said that you know the reductions are Some positions some shifting in assignments. So can you just give a texture of what? this whole list of academic reductions Yeah, I need to see the total reductions of FTE is fourteen point four FTE So it's pieces of people or people so we can't the challenge again in this conversation Is that when if you're reducing a point whatever in English? Where does that person go and by contract? There's lots of moving pieces that happen So who who this actually affects does not happen for a period of time yet? I don't know if that Help Not really You want to try again? I'm trying to try to put it together So Of the eight hundred and forty five thousand five hundred and seventy five Does this array of? Reductions plus addition I presume already written in Bring us to zero. Are we still looking at a gap? So rocked can I have the packets because let's hand those out to so people can see those pages so At this moment given the information we have We have an undefined amount which is typically addressed their staff turnover savings of about sixty something thousand So at this point, I believe the gap is met Again over the next four weeks. I Think shift a little bit. So at this moment the gap is closed But in using an additional hundred thousand B&D and you'll get to see what those reductions look like. So if you turn This is kind of the detailed at the moment. It's not Again, it's hard to be you don't want to identify too much, but if you find the page that's 41 and 42 So you see the increases that we saw before You see the two additions and then on the back page is where you see the reductions playing out with dollars attached So at this moment We realize the goal and I have used as many prepayments and You know reallocation of funds that I potentially can use and now we are at the place of it for a greater gap There's nowhere really else to go The other thing I had was whether food services no longer has an administrative person That person is now Through the company that the corporation that we contract with we do maintain a clerical person connected to that but the cost Is paid to this corporation at this point and the RFP Is in the process this year? So we'll Consider whether this is where we remain for the next so many years in this type of an arrangement or not Yeah, it would because our we're up at the end of this year Rob for our yes So we're building in what kind of based on where we are now Hoping that and I'd love to see a situation where we're actually spending less money Michael Because I can also you know Mickey can talk about the pieces to in a way that might make more sense Maybe I'm not answering it in a way that helps okay. I wouldn't mind another expression, but I can It's just as I look at Again the phys ed teacher at the middle school, so I understand that that's getting reduced But you're adding Additional help at this point We are looking at the schedule to determine how we can actually make that happen because right now health at the middle school is Taught in science in phys ed and one day week on a rotational schedule by guidance counselors So what we're trying to do is to remove some of the health that's taught within phys ed and some of these other Locations to really have a much more concentrated Curriculum that's consistently taught To all students it's how we can make that happen in the schedules what we're still looking at so embedded More fully more fully and more and more explicit So it could be a total separate course around health that might be in a rotation We're trying to figure out how this plays out in the schedule Thank you. You're welcome to two other quick ones one is It doesn't seem like we're necessarily cutting electives anywhere or having to raise the number of people who sign up to do an elective That's that true. That's one question any other question is what's the latest on the semester versus trimester So I can speak to the schedule Conversation I think maybe if Mickey could say something about the specials with the schedule conversation This is an ongoing conversation that you saw me reference in one of the slides if it wasn't terribly explicit at the use of time We are I am in the process of and having conversations around how we explore What is the best model for instruction over the course of the school year? How do we embed? Collaboration time for adults And how do we make sure that we have the model that works for all students? I'm steering clear of the conversation of whether that is a trimester or a semester. I'm I have certain expectations which are Collaboration consistent instructional time over the course of the year. So there's no gaps in instruction What that might look like is the scheduling discussion that will happen with within the parameters of our of our contract So in terms of the elective question, can you just repeat? I understand what you're are we reducing electives and the way I think we did in the past was raised the level of Participancy needed to run the class Raise the class size. Yeah. Yeah, right So what we're doing so we've already we feel like we've raised class size to the extent that we cannot offer the course in A meaningful way if we increase that so what we're doing is we took a look at all of the electives that we're offering and we Looked for opportunities to combine so one example That I know mark put in front of the high school was acting one and two So right now they we offer acting one and two as two separate sections And so next year we're going to do much like we do in art We're acting one and two are going to be combined in the same class And so we already took a look at our enrollments currently and we already see areas where we could make some Consolidations today if our enrollment doesn't change So does that answer it? Okay, and so I think I might have an answer to your question So right now we have last last time we looked we had about 25 percent of the high school staff were already decimal points So they they already weren't 1.0 And so in our major academic departments we're running on average about 88 sections of classes for English and social studies So we're simply saying that going forward we're going to run 84 sections And so in some cases if we have a retirement we might Ask people in those departments who are not currently full-time to assume more so that we don't have to hire for that Retirement, so that's how we're able to do the decimal points at the high school Thank you And you know I also Sorry, and also financially, you know for the district it is in the long run There's a conversation to be had around part-time versus full-time And it's helpful in those cases to be able to have full-time staff versus part-time staff For the legacy costs that we incur from having part-time people So but thank you mickey. She she understands the scheduling I would never have gotten there Any other comments or questions? I make a comment a couple questions. Um, I I've told you before and I want to say it again publicly. I think one of the The steps that you've taken that I'm most pleased with Is the creation of the family liaison? the Few years that I've been on the school committee the regional school committee I Certainly become more aware of the efforts that first Michael Hayes and now Betsy and Mike Malone and Mark and Diane and Mickey have made to open up the doors wider for inclusion in both buildings Which I think has been a problem for a long long time And I think that the progress that they are making in opening the doors of welcome if you will to Very culturally diverse community is is to be applauded. I think this is a step that adds to that Having said that because of the controversy over administration and everything I think it does behoove us to look very carefully at what progress will be made over the next couple of years in that regard But I I think if I may it's it's a it's a step that you've taken that I'm personally very pleased with my question Goes to clarification on the summer school situation Last fall we were given a report on the summer school experience from last year that was Very pop positive and very glowing this what you've done here. How does that impact that? If at all it will I maintain it will maintain and maintains what we've offered in the past We've not made reductions. Okay, so that program stays intact in terms of providing an opportunity for kids who may be Intervention yeah, and I think sorry go ahead Yeah, and I think there's also conversation about how we can be creative with the use of time during the summer to support students who need credit recovery or you know Need some level of I think partnering with the prism after school and summer program enrichment But I also think we want to start to think about how we use models to help support students to Who are struggling academically and say mathematics to have another opportunity to bulk up That may not be for this year, but I'm very interested in hearing how we can create opportunities for Raising students up from where they're sitting right now academically to become Stronger in a content area. So it is not only about credit recovery for me. It's about also Filling gaps and supporting students to move on to the next Level so that that's not threatened at all here. No, okay. My last question has to do with Quote from there with you for just a second please if I find my notes here If you could explain in in steps that you're taking in one of the panels you talk about creating an implement Steps for greater differentiation. Can you comment a little bit more detail about what that means? Sure I mean some right now is if you look at the Plan between Jerry Champagne and Faye Brady around how you're integrating technology into the classroom and creating that Expert group within a school is in itself an opportunity and a way for people to become more expert in differentiation other conversations that Rhonda and Ian and Mike are having with principals and staff around how are we creating curriculum? and using materials that have the opportunity to either extend or To support struggling students within a curriculum. So any curricular decisions that we're making need to have those explicit Requirements built in for example at the elementary level when we looked at a math textbook we're looking at a textbook that can is proven to be supportive and effective for the student populations that we have sitting in front of us and allowing us to Differentiate and it's built in because we don't want teachers to have to think about well How am I doing? How am I going to to modify these materials in if if at all possible? We know that we are still there and we are still asking teachers to modify. So there's going to be a level of Professional development. I know mark has taken on some of the differentiation work at the high school already And they've had conversations this year, and I know I believe they've written I don't know if it's in the AF grant as well for differentiation or is that just the equity work I'm looking at you Mr. Jackson the differentiation work that you did at the high school level this year Did you write that for the AF grant for next year, okay, so the the conversation is how do you? Have that level of conversation providing resources of course curriculum materials that are easily differentiated By teachers, but also how do you create opportunities for? Teachers teams of teachers to work together to talk about the student population sitting in front of them and to be able to rely on their Colleagues to help with differentiation some of that is with Betsy building in the intervention time your ability across teams to reteach preteach is greatly enhanced by creating those opportunities and Creating the time for adults to sit together and to talk about using actual data to inform Their decisions for the next day right now We are not quite there with the use of data and that is our rolling out of next year's plan So it's a I would say it's multifaceted. There's some embedded professional development. The high school has taken on some of that work this year there's also The work at the system level around using it data to inform instruction and how does that play out in collaborative teams? And then there are specific strategies and interventions like using technology to Implement and then Rhonda is all over differentiation, which is looking at curriculum materials with people and how do we teach our our students in all content areas? That's a long-winded answer for probably fine. Thank you very much. Thank you Yeah talking about the summer sort of and Brought this back to me and and Rick had asked a question about the schedule as well particularly at the high school and One of the things that concerns me and I think concerns members of the community is That we are now really starting to I think develop programs and pay very close attention to and prioritize kids who have historically been underserved and One of the things that When I think about the schedule worry about gaps in Instruction for kids and sort of the loss of games that they make and I think about it in terms of both during the school year But also in the summer. Yeah kids who don't have access to you know Enrichment programs or whatever it might be or So I just want to really keep that in mind Both in terms of what we're offering in the summer who has access to it But as we think about the schedule during the school year as well because you know I'm not an educator, but I can certainly understand that You can lose a lot of ground if there are you know three month gaps six month gaps and I sort of feel like you know, we're making gains over here or kids can make gains over here, but You're gonna have losses over here. So No, so I just I would like to say that It can't be a choice it has to be that we're obligated to meet the needs of each and every child So I think we all sit with that and we are not there yet So we do have to pay particular attention and it would be responsible for us not to So part of the schedule of conversations are how do you build in what you know as evidence-based that's going to make a difference for? improving the ability of your teachers to differentiate to meet the needs of every child and Opportunities for students to have you know double exposure to a content area or to have direct intervention During the school day and you'll notice that our cuts do not include cutting summer services So it's a multifaceted approach and for me I believe you can do both well You can maintain what we value and meet the needs of all of your students because that's what public schools all about And we're supposed to do this so to to ignore Large population of our students is Irresponsible and Just wrong so we are keeping an eye on what our commitments and what are our priorities and some of the hard conversations We'll have to come and not at the cost of maintaining and holding what we really value for all of our kids Clearly we value the arcs and we value You know athletics and all of the things that kids have gone to and we have to have And where are we going as a school district a very large conversation? I believe you can maintain both I need that challenge Can I see one? Thank you I just want to I do want to say and I I know I said this in Amherst as well I do want to thank the administrative team because this is a really difficult long process and Very difficult because they're having the hard conversations which with people that they work with day in and day out So I want to recognize their dedication and their commitment and their hard work And the and the hard work of our faculty and staff who are receiving these messages and and focusing every single day on our kids so It's it's such a team effort and the community is strong. So I thank you all Thank you. I realized so we I didn't want to forget you and if you had any comment from the student perspective on what we've been talking about this evening. I mean I Just I guess a few things from just student my perspective. Anyway, I don't know about other people I mean, I know that students as a whole we we realize that there is a gap that needs to be looked at And I don't know. I mean you guys are gonna talk about it. I don't know if it's that Opportunities aren't being giving or kids aren't choosing to to step take the steps forward And I guess you just have to talk about that and then I think the thing with the technology I'll be honest. I work at the middle school with the band program and all those kids have like iPhones And I don't have it. I don't like know anything about iPhone and they're sitting there I got their iPhones. I think that and I took I took computer when I was in middle school and I don't I think that When I took it, I don't remember anything we did in it being really Kind of helpful, I don't know. I think that I think if I think I'm honest Okay, I think you could tweak it to potentially have a really good impact because I think there are things that kids have to learn With technology that will be useful But I think that kids also learn a lot of that Outside of school, I know I've learned a lot outside of school. I've learned a lot from friends I've learned a lot just in class from teachers And like about the databases you learn that from teachers and from the librarians So yeah, so I don't think I don't think it's I don't think it's as big of an issue if you get rid of it And then I I don't know when it changed when the health program changed because when I was in middle school We again we had a separate health class Um, which I think was beneficial. I think that it is important to have health in middle school as well as high school and then in terms of Athletics and exercise I completely agree like you know elementary school One of the biggest things that people were saying when we went to middle school was oh my god No more recess. How are we gonna survive and even I remember in Springs? Yeah, we would go outside for just half an hour during lunch and it would make a big difference Like we would be more attentive when we went in and I think just Maybe sculpting PE classes Even here getting more physical activity because I feel like at the high school There's actually less physical activity in the PE classes than at the middle school Michael So I guess the question is What's the date for doing it and the request that we see whatever we're being asked to vote on at least a week before Yeah, what is our um? All right, hold on. I might have it with me the date Vote is March 12th Yes, so you're asking for stuff We can March 5th In our hands pardon in our hands not mailed on the bed, so we actually can digest it for a little bit Please along along those lines I think this is this is the first time That that concern has has been raised about having materials sufficiently in advance so that they can be studied and Processed and plans can be made for coming to the meeting Fully prepared as we all should be I think that's always been the intent of Central office There are times such as now when Events can be overwhelming I also believe that when it's parallel with the regionalization efforts that that complicates things as well Having said all of that. I think that your point about timeliness of materials is certainly Budget it's certainly in need of being respected and adhered to and I'm sure every effort on the part of central office will be made to do that So the the thing that's really helpful now is if there's input from the committee, you know questions To get them to me in it, you know over the next period of time because we'd be happy to answer any of that upfront because the next conversation will be The vote of the the bottom line budget, so we want to make sure that we fully answered questions that you might have And again, I don't foresee substantial changes in these ads and cuts, but there will be some movement Between now and then but again input is welcome and the community as well to raise questions And then you know as I did mention it and Amherst and I've done the same appellament These are difficult decisions that in the end, you know I will hopefully put a plan and in front of people that will move our district's work forward And then I will ask the committee to to vote that for us and hopefully the four towns can support their assessments If I may add just one more thing to my response to that Michael I think it's important not here during our business meeting But perhaps on your own if you if you're not already as an individual fully cognizant of some of the state laws and contractual language which Creates the the boundaries within which this whole discussion takes place and preparation takes place I think it would be useful for each member of the committee to Become knowledgeable about what those state laws and their dates the contract language when people have to be notified of Potential layoffs that kind of informs the overall process and so if if you're not aware of that I think it would be helpful if you became aware of it and better understand the Pressures on everyone involved not just central office, but even the people who are impacted by cuts They're waiting, you know, when is the shoe going to drop? That's not a very pleasant situation to be in so I think it would be important if you're not already familiar with what those dates are To to in take advantage of an opportunity to to become more aware of that I think that would be helpful to everyone Just and again, we will do our absolute best to get that to people in advance And and I have to say it's in addition to this staff The contractual obligations of timeline. We're also meeting the timeline of Multiple communities so the timeline this year is extremely tight the calendar so that the turnaround time between meetings of Amherst Pellum region is really tight and the four town meetings and You know, so there's a lot going on right now that this year It's it's really been quite honestly much more challenging to turn around the information in a timely way and I missed Amherst Select the finance committee meeting the other night because I was double booked for Pellum school committee meeting So there were like there's Unfortunately, it's it's very very very tight the multiple audiences. We have to Honestly serve in a good way to keep informed along the way But we will do our best Thank you, and thank you to the staff for all of your hard work to and continued hard work for the rest of the year Miss Talman Sure We can put it on for our next discussion with the budget, but we weren't prepared to talk about that tonight She's do you want me to just say so Mary Lou? It's not part of our agenda tonight for the OPEB finance How are we supporting or meeting that obligation? But we can put it on for our next budget discussion and talk about OPEB. It is not factored into This budget projection for next year at all I'd be happy to if the chair would like me to I'd be happy to have Rob discuss that absolutely If the chair would is that next meeting? satisfactory for you What if we would have a conversation away from this meeting And then report back on that conversation which may include Including another the agenda for next time Fair enough. Thank you. Thank you Any other comments or questions about the budget again? Thank you very very much to the staff and I suspect a good evening Why don't we take a minute break while people get up to depart and you can take care of their own individual Business couple of minutes Thanks Gifts and also the calendar. I think we need an update on that as well. We're a few things that are Uncertain about but First order of business as we reconvene is to Take a look at the sheet identifying the gifts and entertain a motion to accept these Really remarkably generous gifts from members of our community Is there a motion? I move that we accept the donations from Terry Ray and Margo Mace from Cheryl and Kenneth Oaks Jones group realtors Richard and Catherine Lawler stands Zia Mc Matthew and Julie Emerson and Francis Caparella and Apologies for any mispronunciation Yes, there is second second Any discussion all those in favor of accepting the gifts, please raise your hand and Accepted unanimously. Thank you very very much We are Close to the end of the formal part of our meeting where the open session take a look at the calendar, please And I'm going to ask Maria if she could give us an update in particular. I had on my calendar for today for example school choice and calendar Where do those go in the future? Debbie has some adjustments that we're talking about on dates. Can we talk about that a little bit? And then we do have to reschedule some sure also we'll need to talk about calendar, but we've been Hammer some palim discussions really kind of drive. Okay, some of our Is it best not to put that in anywhere? No, I think we probably could but it might be We'll have to talk about what the date might what date might be appropriate Thanks, we can get everything out and get One question that Actually That way you can have the joint meeting on 19th of March I may I personally would appreciate that switch if we could pull it off Sure So the question is for the committee instead of meeting on the joint meeting on March 26th, could you meet and have the joint meeting on March 19th? And then Amherst would be the 26th, though. It's just really floppy the dates, but Okay, okay, then we'll make that switch the joint goes to the 19th and the Amherst meeting goes to the 26th And so along with that means I'll make sure you there. Dr. Cohen's Presentation will be on the 19th. Yes, and where does that leave school choice vote? I think what we'll probably want to do is we'll do the calendar on March 12th and then I would want to enrollments Okay, and then we would be able to vote the following or can we are we Publicary, okay, so we vote okay, so we do twice in the 12th No, we do the enrollment update on the 12th and we would do that. Oh, and then the vote on the 19th Is there anything else about the calendar that we should Still Quick question, yeah, yeah, the 12th you're just talking about what month are we talking March March? One thing that and we can update this and get it out to people too. Maybe Even though we have Who knows how many feet of snow out there, and it's still only the middle of February I'd like the committee to think about we treat at the end of the school year If you could at least sort of think a few months down the road when sometime in June That might be Good for you and we can talk about that maybe slowly as the rest of the year unfolds I really think that that's something that we should plan on doing as a as a group That's something we can talk about You know, I don't know depends upon what the committee feels it needs and wants We can go two hours. We can go full day It really depends upon what we as a group decide I don't want to preclude any any possibility or any option I think it's really it should be up to the members of the committee somehow or other we can figure out a process to decide how to come to a conclusion is what What do we need as a group to? Function more effectively more efficiently More collegially if that's something that people feel I need for you know, whatever But I think it's something that we should plan on sometime in June Anything else Then if not I will entertain a motion to go into executive session for purposes of Discussing strategy with respect to the superintendent's contract Collective bargaining is authorized by mass general law chapter 30 a section 21 paragraph 3 And to discuss the discipline or dismissal of a public employee or staff members authorized by mass general law Chapter a section 21 paragraph 1 not to return to regular session may have such a motion Second second, and we need to go make your eye Could I? Baptiste I Fonch I we are adjourned. Thank you very very much