 Hi, you're so sorry. Stunt on her? Well, sweet. Are you still standing? Ellie Bird. John Puglio. John Ray Hill. Thank you all for coming. Can we give you a sign? Can you give me a pair? I did. I thought that we might eliminate 3.5, 3.7 3.7 as an initial elimination. I would actually suggest that we would table 3.3 3.8 in some of those. Not even put back on the agenda. 3.8? Yeah. Just as, because at least half of those are things that were old items that are no longer well at least were raised by former board members and unless there's someone that wants to own them they just seem to live on this agenda. And every time we get it I feel like, how are we going to accomplish all this? So considering that this was possibly next to last meeting as the running board, given the where we are legally I would want to keep on things that have been budgeted carrying impacts. I agree with 3.4. I would keep 3.4 on there. 3.4. Any others that have a central budgetary impact? You said down to 3.8. I think the rest of those don't have any. Any other comments? No? So we make that revision. I also see. We'd like to do a walk around in some point here. We talked about that last time we never got to it. So before we do the discussion we should do a walk around. Before we get to the discussion about all the facility issues we should do a walk around. So then I would say that we should be not sure if you want to do that now or you want to address the gym facility issue. I know. How are you going to do it Chris? So I'm going to go through the gym issue first. Anyone who's here on the gym renovation issue join us in the walk around and what we're going to do is walk to the facility with the big managers. Okay? So we will we would like you to pretend that I'm the gymnasium proposal. So yeah. We're going to take up the gymnasium proposal. Fantastic. Thank you. Would you mind if I sit up here because we're going to be in the center. I know. Because we're going to be in the center. Thank you. So good evening. I'm Elliott Byrd from the sex ban stand committee. Thank you very much for making time amazingly at the beginning of a meeting for the gym renovations proposal. I know that you are in a crunch period right now for the board and we also appreciate the support that you gave the acoustical engineering study that was done. I'm not sure everybody knows that but back in November the board voted to split the cost of an acoustical engineering sound study in the gym. And that took place in December and there's a report in your material from the Sentech the acoustical engineering firm in Cambridge, Mass that did the work. I'm going to talk about analysis. I'm here to talk about what I think is an exciting and important idea for the school and the community. It's just acoustics but it's really key to the life of the school and the community in two respects. The first one is in terms of protecting from excessive noise in the gym and I'll talk about that. And then secondly upgrading the quality of sound in the gym for all of the various purposes that it's used for. Assemblies school plays, school concerts community concerts town meeting, other meetings. So let me look back to the November school board meeting because that's where the issue of that first problem that I mentioned impact on kids came up. There were I think a couple of members of the staff here who as we were talking about improvements to the gym for concert and other performance purposes they said well there's something else that's really important and that is it is so loud that kids are there. When they eat, when they play, when they learn there that it's negatively impacting some of the students. And so that was one of the issues that we raised with the syntax and they came up here and we wanted to know their view on it and there's a portion of their January report that talks about that. It talks about the reverberation time how long it takes when the sound is bouncing around the gym. It is a gym after all and how there are kids for example kids who have autistic spectrum disorders how they are particularly sensitive to noise. This weekend I talked with one of the members of the staff teaching staff here on the phone and I asked her she's someone who has duty in the gym so she's there when the kids are when it's a cafeteria when the kids are playing and what she said to me and this is not with any prompting from me she doesn't know anything about the syntax report she said it is very very very loud in the gym that it is chaotic and that there are a number of kids who have some sort of sensory issue whether it's diagnosed or not there are kids that have migraines here and there are kids who cannot be in the gym and who have asked either complained or asked permission not to be in the gym when all the children are there. I would say that this is a really important thing for the school to consider before we even go to the issue of performances but let me turn to that for a second because I'm on the bandstand committee I'm very concerned about the performance space here for many years as you may know the bandstand concerts moved into the gym when we had a rain out and several years ago we stopped doing that because it sounded so bad the Vintag report talks about muddy and uneven sound about how it's hard for musicians to hear each other the audience can have difficulty understanding words whether people are singing or they're in play and speaking difficulty following the beat of the music and I recall I think it was maybe in November the what's next initiative had a plenary session it was a dinner and then there were I don't know 75 or 100 people in the gym you remember that because you became chair of one of the committees Mary Lynn and it was difficult to hear and understand speakers who were at the front of the hall had a microphone and you could get the justice but it was not clear so I would suggest that that's an important issue as well and the vision so let me turn from bad news to good news the vision of the gym as an acoustically appropriate environment is a really good one that is the kids are not affected and on the performance side there are a number of things that could possibly be done at the November meeting people were talking about a winter concert series which in a winter like the one we had would be a godsend one of the teachers said we could do collaborations with students at U32 you know poetry slams or similar events rather than everybody going over there people could come here this would be a concert space for the community and for the school school plays would benefit school concerts town meetings anyway so here's the solution side of this if I can just summarize what's in the report I know you've all had it hopefully read it carefully but a syntax in this report identified three options they called them one, two and three and one and two involved basically rebuilding the ceiling which would have been conservative option three involved a combination of suspended acoustical panels from the ceiling and some sort of acoustical arrangement on the walls to absorb the sound and we the bandstand committee did not have the expertise we felt to evaluate what a syntax could come up with and we turned to John Ray Hill who was kind enough to spend I would guess a lot of time analyzing option three in the ascentic report and trying to figure out how that could be revised or enhanced to really do what we needed to do because ascentic said option three it's cheaper but it's not going to be that great and I hope I'm stating this accurately John took a look at it and said we can do some things sort of starting with the principle of option three and make this work and so he put together a letter in early April that went to ascentic that's your attachment three I think and then at the end of April ascentic wrote back with a letter opinion saying this is what we think the enhanced option three could do and they said that that enhanced option three and it was option three with so John proposed a number of measures it's what he called them and measure one and two one involved adding more extended panels from the ceiling two involved adding acoustic panels to two A and two B to the four walls so he's really beefing up option three and what ascentic said was that that proposal that part of the proposal would number one work as well as options one and two for cafeteria uses meetings and assemblies and that it would number two work very well for amplified music and the one area where they had some hesitation was amplified music and they said it may satisfy your needs we can't be certain about that and there's another piece of John Ray Hill proposal it's called four A measures four A and four B that provides an answer to that but one of the things that the Vanshan committee tried to do was to keep the cost down so the proposal does not include stage lighting which is something that we talked about in November that was going to be part of the performance space in Anthony I think that maybe the committee can take the lead in the community to try to raise funds for portable stage lights to do what we need to do in that respect and we set aside measures three which involved adding some material to the existing acoustical panels in the wall and four A and four B we set those aside not going to do those if we need to do if unamplified sound turns out to be a problem then four A and four B which involve building a kind of shell series of panels above and to the sides of the stage those could be done at a later time so we're not asking for money for those the proposal is to put panels that are suspended from the ceiling and panels on the four walls in a particular configuration that John Rainhill worked out and we think that that will do most of what we need to do and it will work for assemblies, cafeteria, amplified sound which is all that we do is a lot of what the school does and so that is the proposal there is a spreadsheet at the end of your packet John Rainhill went to a professional estimator to try to come up with a breakdown of whatever cost to do this proposal the cost came to a little over $93,000 which we understand is not a small amount of money but this is a real opportunity to shield kids at the school from this excessive sound excessive reverberation phenomenon and to create an appropriate performance space for all of these school uses and community uses and my understanding of the impact of the merger is expected to happen on July 1st is that whatever fund balances this board has control of as of July 1st are then going to be pooled among all of the towns and we are not asking for this money for some private use this is for the school and secondarily the community will benefit the dollars involved in this proposal are the numbers that you and I and all of us have paid these are middle sex dollars and so our request to you is for number one for your support for this proposal and number two for a commitment of funds is actually earmarked for this purpose so that it goes for this purpose now if you have any technical questions John Ray Hill is here I would say also that Don Hersh is here Don is a very experienced theatre designer who lives in middle sex and participated in discussions about this Ron Sweet and John Pullio from the bandstand committee have worked long hours on this experience in sound production so we brought as much expertise to bear on this as we could and we came in this proposal to you go ahead I had a couple one question was just in terms of I know that the study was conducted with in mind we've been aware of the sensory issues the noise issues that the cafeteria has presented for a long time and I know that the study was intended to look at that as well as how this space could be transformed into more of a performance friendly space I'm curious to know though what the focus what the primary focus of the study was was it on ensuring a safe healthy space for kids or with the benefit of also having quality acoustical value for performances or was it the other way around how can we create quality acoustic space that will then also have support that also supports the needs of the kids I think these were co-equal focuses and the engineer from the sentai came up from Massachusetts in December and he taught there were a number of us there including two facilities people from the school here and Don and people from the committee and I think the principal stopped him as a theater director they're so bright and so I'll just cut you off Elliot you know I think we're dealing with sound in a concrete block so Elliot talked about reverberation and I think that's one of the major villains in the space and so reverberation really isn't going to select one component over another component so what's happening in there is lunchtime and basketball games and that sort of thing we're getting reverberation and we're getting reverberation from Mary Poppins Jr and that sort of thing so they're really looking at and you know we really laid out as Elliot said we really laid out a broad spectrum of uses for the space and they dealt with those uses as they could and I think as Elliot said the autism spectrum was certainly high on their on their list of priorities but it wasn't alone you know so I think what they were trying to do was to make this space you know a multi-purpose space serve multi-users along the same lines I guess it sounds very blunt so please just pardon me but I get to me the real question is if we just wanted if the quote the proposal had just been to make the space comfortable for students who have sensory issues within school so during school hours lunchtime things like that what would the price be roughly do we have any idea like how much would it be adding to get these additional capabilities would it be $15,000 would it be $85,000 or would it be $93,000 so again your name is I'm Allison again Allison it's reverberation you know it's there are some mitigating circumstances that will impact that reverberation and we talked about amplified sound particularly with a subwoofer if we can really low that's a big issue in there that really couldn't be dealt with with what we're proposing but what we're proposing this group is proposing will only be better for all users the way the proposal is shaped if we start taking away things right absorption what we're trying to do is so these banners these baffles so they had perpendicular right they're not like these heaters here they're hanging perpendicular to the ceiling as well as as John's you know treatment on the walls that's absorbing some of the sound as it's going out and equally as important as it's coming back and so if we reduce the price to $15,000 arbitrary figure I understand we absorb less of that sound so may I summarize appropriately then in saying that the main cost the main cost the bulk of the cost that we're incurring with this proposal would also have to be incurred just to reduce the noise in the lunch hour the same chaotic because it's reverberation so if we need those same panels to decrease noise during the lunch hour as we do during the concert then the bulk of the cost is not substantially different you know and if you really want to get confused Allison so I delight in that if you really want to get confused imagine the timbre of the voices at lunch time where are they on that do you mean the pitch the timbre right so there on that higher end versus if we're in there on a much lower end so there's so many variables in there but yeah your summation was correct does the timbre cause the sound to bounce right is the short sound different somehow, does it need different panels well it's not to say that it's shorter it's just different on the scale the lower the pitch so the panels depending on the thickness of the panels determines how well it can absorb not just the high frequencies the high pitch sounds but also the low pitch sounds and to absorb really low pitch sound like from the subwoofer you would mean correct me if I'm wrong but you'd need some pretty darn thick panels, high density panels that are not included in the proposal having said that the reverberation issues are equally equally disruptive to both for the kids' purposes and for performance there's like 100% overlap in terms of the impact on either one so so fixing one fixes the other there isn't a smaller proposal okay I just wanted to make sure if we have kids and they're actually generating more shorter length sound waves then we actually would need thinner panels if I'm hearing that like a subwoofer which is a really long sound wave needs a thicker panel and maybe those panels are actually as it happens I just wanted to get a feel for whether it's different but we haven't provided for those thicker panels for the low frequencies is it like looking for ways of hearing this down to what's needed and what's needed for the kids happens to be what's also needed for most performances I would agree with your summation if we put the question around to looking at that figure in that it would satisfy the maximum amount of uses then that's how I guess what the proposal is offering instead of lowering costs to just take care of one element that cost would take care of you know 90% of the needs that we have 95% of the needs that we would have for the gym but to Brian's question too there was no setup with the center coming and saying we really want to make this Carnegie Hall and by the way it would be nice for the students at least a dozen people from the community and from the school and Bansing committee and Don he said let's be clear there are many needs here and of course I think we would be disingenuous if we went into this project hoping to hope this on to satisfy the children's needs so that we could get a Carnegie Hall here because I think we mentioned this over and over there may be a couple of concerts a year town meeting happens once you have one three day run of other play but every single day you've got students in that space and so we were very clear from the beginning that we needed to prioritize that as a very important need that had to be satisfied with this with any proposal that came out of the study in terms of the picture to John Ray Hill's report what given that you said I don't recall that number whatever that we're not going to be done in terms of the pictures for those what won't be done I'm assuming that the black outline is the panels that are part of the poll is there anything that's outlined in black that will not be done in terms of the final version of this proposal at this time I was just going to say that because measures for A and for B from John Ray Hill which I call it like the band shell but it's really just panels above the stage at the far end of the gym and panels on the side so it sort of holds and projects out the sound that there are diagrams for that but they're not in here right label 2a and 2 on that diagram are included do you see anything that's labeled 4a oh I'm sorry no I'm sorry I'm wrong about that although there were other I think there were other photographs that we don't have here that are directed right at the gym but if you look at the last of the photographs is photo 1 photo 1 there John correct me if I'm wrong the 4a and 4b these are above the stage right at the top I'll turn this around a second and these are the side panels it's not a band shell but it's sort of that's I think that's the idea up above the stage and then these winged panels here and that's not part of our proposal to the board we would love it to be and it can cost it and be just so that would also go for 4a on photo 2 4a being the panels up high they're at all up high well yeah that's another view of the same thing right here that's right it just gets the same thing so anything that's not colored in would be absorptive panels the ones that are colored in would be reflective panels and we have excluded all the reflective panels yeah we prioritize I mean it's a very detailed it's a really nice proposal you guys are very very thorough and great job John Ray Hill deserves you know a huge amount of credit and he's the bearer on it and really work with anyone else have questions I had I'm sorry I did either I really appreciate this work it's really wonderful I had one more question for John Ray Hill that's alright I know that's when we initially voted on the bond the original planned the $4.5 million project included a bunch of renovations and worked on to the gym I know that painting and flooring were key components and I know there are others I just can't remember them off the top of my head I was trying to dig them up so I guess I'm curious those are things that were basically postponed not because they didn't need to happen but they just weren't urgent and we needed to reduce costs to get the project to pass and then want to need to make improvements to the gym beyond these direct needs and so if we were to do that how would would it make sense I'm thinking painting the walls obviously but are there other things that if we were to do this project it would make sense to do the other things as well or we would be creating double work because the installed panels would then impact future renovations that needed to be done you're just in my memory as well I think the flooring was the one that jumped out that we didn't do Bill do you recall flooring was the big one there's some I think we've tackled all the mechanical stuff in there now between what we're doing this summer and other summers in between but the flooring is the biggest one and we've got to not even floor in there so it's not terrible but anything that would you know be foolish to do in terms of the acoustical work that would be harder to do it wouldn't paint the ceiling for example it's acoustical so you wouldn't do that and you could paint around the wall panels as well as you would take them off to paint behind them so I don't see anything that would you'd be doing here that would make that more expensive or more difficult later and the floor is really independent and if you could stand something that was soft on the floor it would further help the acoustics but of course it's got multiple uses so I was going to ask you about that because I think when we heard about a floor it was not a solid it was more of a textured type my recommendation from what I have 25 years in education is I'd be looking at a floor like we put in Berlin which is one of those poured ethylene you're going to have to help me John with a name but it's one of those same as People's Academy as well but it's one of those poured ethylene and Berlin right now we put some baffles up in the ceiling and putting that poured it's not urethane but it's a rubberized made a huge difference in their gym at Berlin and it really helped the sound I mean it's not perfect this would be better but it was a really good step and it also helped alleviate some floor issues behind as well Bill what is the expectation regarding the capital fund are most other schools expecting that they'll be using that money or are most other schools trying to preserve their capital fund to that be pooled so I would want to just change something Elliot said a little bit the elementary schools will be first of all legally the capital funds have been put in place by the voters to take care of the building in which they have been funded to already so you can't you could change that by a vote of the voters in middle sex I wouldn't suggest it but it has to stay the money in the capital fund has to stay for work at this building that's been we've had that both from Scott Cameron and Chris Leopold I mean and it's the same for scholarships any funds that already set up have to stay for the funds in which they were intended for and for the building if they're not dedicated the merge board could then make decisions about another schools choice of the use of those funds as long as they stay in school yeah right now John it would be hard for this board to do that dedication without going through an RFP process and having plans drawn and ready to go which I just so I think we should kind of put that aside because we could be down that track for a good hour because I think most of our buildings have things they need to do they have capital plans we're going to be talking about other facility issues that we have here that we need to look at and you know I think thinking about the way there's always a chance that things can be turned around let me say that right up front but I believe with the folks that are running for the merge board right now we're listening to each other I can't say that for certain I just I personally believe that that's a good point so I wonder another point to consider would be how to look at your general fund balance as well right and that's something this board's been asking about for the and they've already heard the advice from me that late June we'll have to have money go across because there'll be checks that won't be cashed and that we revenue that hasn't been received that's just the way the business works they should put every elementary board is going to hear from me and they already have a recommendation that in late June they put as much from their general fund into the capital fund we already transferred 60,000 you did some your it was it's on the warning that Chris has heard this already I'm going to suggest that board tables it until they get into June because right now I can't give them an accurate figure so if we were to go down the line or maybe not discussion lines put an RFP so we talked to John about it being maybe a six to eight week process so is there any way that the board would entertain so here's the problem we have I don't have someone to run that project afterwards that's in-house that can help run the project we're having problems just running the construction we are I'm usually the one that does it I won't be here after June 30 so I can't guarantee the project we were off well the other thing I can tell you with other rock projects we've done with design is we're having trouble finding contractors at this late date they're gone for the construction season's out already gone so we would need to do this when kids weren't here so I think we're looking you know I know like there are other buildings that have things they need to do but we're already looking at the summer of 2020 right and so I don't say that at all to be discouraging I just want to try to be realist here pragmatic is there a way to engineer some dedication of funds that could be then preserved for 2020 that if the board who are so to entertain this project and an expenditure is there a way to correct language that would engineer a dedication or commitment of funds if it's 2020 or 2021 to have that money as a set aside dedicated to this specific project to do that so I think we're looking at a couple of different things and one is I think this board if there wasn't an actual bid that was going to be accepted and approved by the end of the year then any dedication of funds would not be subject to change input by that way in terms of I think the general fund balance at the end of the year that would be rolled over that's why you're telling me I'm hoping we have that what we think we need to cover then I think the second best alternative would be this board passing a resolution with the earning of any subsequent board honoring it and if Bill is right in the intent of the years members of this new board would honor proposals like that that are coming from the local schools particularly since those funds are going to be used for that school as opposed to just going to a general fund for capital projects wherever they may be except for East Montpelier and Berlin right now but no except for East Montpelier all four elementary schools are looking at projects of this size to $200,000 that they need to have done and Callis needs a new HVAC system Berlin needs a new driveway Dodie has multiple exterior and HVAC issues they've tackled a lot in the past couple of years so they really brought that facility up and we're going to hear from Jim and East Montpelier doesn't have a major $100,000 more issue now these are all in capital plans so we're planning for them and going forward so I agree I'm just trying to help with what Chris was saying I think a resolution sounds great I'm not going to say I can't find a way it's just one that I can't I don't feel like I can give you any guarantee and I just want to be clear about that so could I ask a couple of things one is do we know how much money is in the capital fund at this point that is not already committed yeah there's about $122,000 right now $175,000 of that we're at $175,000 I had to add the extra for the clerk for the work you did accept a bid for $62,000 I added onto that it's at about $191,000 right now and I took off that $75,000 to get us down to there so there's also we're going to be talking about some significant ADA issues in this building that we need to address out of the same bottom line I just gave a memo to the board that said that could range anywhere from the least amount of $28,000 up to you know $60,000, $90,000 is that for everything or is that just for the immediate that's for everything to give you the range from minimal to maximum meeting both playgrounds playgrounds, ramps, the whole good little and could I just ask one other thing I heard you say at the endville I can't guarantee it it almost sounded like you were saying there might be a way I can't guarantee that there's a way to preserve the funds to preserve the funds I wish I could but I can't because I see the good work that's been done here specific without the board approving a proposal and if you went out say we had the plans and John's right 68 weeks RFP process plans ready to go today there we go we tried this last year for a boiler here we're paying for much more plus the boiler we got last year late in the construction season we need to be going into construction we need to be bidding by January is what we've learned for bidding for construction season to get anything that's a half way competitive and John tell me if you disagree with me at all but usually it's around November you're going to start getting your best bits if you're starting to bid in November what is the prospect what is the prospect of putting out the bid for the work to be done next year and what does that look like in terms of pricing in terms of locking in for a contract a job that they already know is going to be done next year as opposed to this year I suppose if you get people's attention for a project the following summer that could potentially be beneficial but I'm a little skeptical because people's plates are full and the last thing I want to do is bid on something that's a year down the road I think bids would come in high they're flush right now they'd just throw a bid out and somebody bought it I think we'd be at a disadvantage there so let me give you a different way of looking at Chris the people who do the estimating for the construction company to make a bid they're project managers right now running projects so they're working 12-14 hour days making sure implementation's happening for the construction project they bid in November so their bidding time is November is usually October-November through March and then what's the in terms of knowing all of that is there any way to earmark funds for a future year or not I don't understand the process so because it's going to be a dedicated fund the money that's in the capital will stay for use at the school but in terms of different use for that money this new board would be able to change the use even if it's we say here's a group we're going to dedicate $93,000 to and we want that to be brought in November so in terms of the authority to change that that leaves us unless something happens of course I don't know if that leaves us sometimes do I first even though the new board would have to still do a project of have the money expanded here for capital purposes they could change the use of it but I guess we would given the circumstances which are unusual but we have to work with them we would respectfully ask this board to put together a resolution supporting this idea and I think we're going to have to go back to the merge board as the merger happens at a future time with the same proposal but if we had a resolution from you I think that would be very powerful yes they have the authority to override it but yeah it's for months I doubt it would happen I'd rage or somebody on it but it would be overrated it could be and I think you're smart and I would get the board the same advice that you just did so the corollary to that would have to be some vote by the board to transfer your general fund balance into your capital fund balance I think this board is ready to do that June that's my recommendation and once that takes place before the end of the year, that cannot be reversed by a new board then take the money out of the capital fund that had already been dedicated to it but it's within that capital fund that's where the decision that what we want to happen when it can be changed so then it would no longer be 122,000 as you were saying but it would be some higher amount yes I think it'd be at least $100,000 but I'm not 100% sure sitting here today because we're still paying bills and receiving money so I can't guarantee it the hour May 6 and I've been two months old and still got all of this Any other questions? Not questions, I just at least want to make the group aware at least of information and issues that I'm thinking about as context of this discussion I imagine we'll have a little bit more of later but it was raised we have been faced with big spending issues a need around accessibility to both the pre-K and the K through 12 sorry K through 6 playgrounds which is going to cost potentially as much as this proposal when it's all said and done plus we've when we cut the bond down by $1,000,000 back in 2013 somewhere around there we in that $1,000,000 were things that needed to be done that just weren't urgent but were stuff that needed to take we would need to get to address at some point in time and we also there was maybe the implicit, I don't know if it was explicit commitment by the board to do better about ongoing healthy funding of our capital fund to prevent us from getting into a bonding issue down the road and we had actually ended up having a facility director for U32 came in and did an assessment of the entire facility to look at what our needs were over the course of the first five years and I think he might have gone beyond and he made a recommendation that we set aside between $100,000 and $120,000 and $25,000 a year in capital improvement projects just to keep the maintenance going for the building and so in year one we set aside $120,000 in year two we set aside in year three we set aside $40,000 so we're sort of so there are competing needs potentially that we're trying to deal with and so I just want to provide that as perhaps greater context to the discussion that we're going to might be having about Any follow-up comments from the committee members? Just that we would absolutely appreciate your support that's an important thing for the kids here and if you would be willing to vote in favor of a resolution that would support this project I think it would at least give us a leg up trying to convince the unmergable to do this. So does the board recognize that the gymnasium is inadequate as an environment? We do recognize that. And have and you recognize that for I feel like a lawyer, any length of time prescribed length of time? I mean it's interesting that I direct my questions to you. You put up those baffles that are up there now. I don't know how much good they do, but that was the recognition of a sound problem. Right, so that problem I've been in the gym a lot but not for a few years and so when I walked back in for this initial meeting I looked at those baffles and I said they're great but they don't work and they did minimal they improved that minimally, but there's an effort there right like I said. So since you recognize that there's an issue in there with acoustics is there no plan anywhere on the horizon to improve that? Or I mean how do you you know Allison you were Well I think we have to wait the issue so we had also a problem with the boiler that wasn't going to be able to heat our building and we have a problem with a roof that can't keep water off heads of our children But it is your question you're asking why are we not prioritizing the gym and I think that what Brian's trying to say is that we are trying our very best to go through the priorities that seem crucial and putting out fires before we're doing all these other things we would like to do It wasn't my question This is an unruly witness that you have in front of you? But a good one Allison you're asking me whether we're planning to deal with it rather than prioritizing it and really in the past had you thought about it I don't think that was part of our I've only been here for seven years I know you did the initial one I think part of the promise I don't remember that being part of the bond I think we took it out after we took out everything in the gym except for the door between the kitchen and the gym itself we even took out I mean we were so over the construction costs we got we were stripping I remember seeing with Julie Moore and John, his partner John Helmberg we were stripping things out left and right just a minute so we could do that project I could talk about the litany of things in the primary lane I was trying to get a base up here when Brian talks about that plan it talks about things that we didn't do that were initially in the project that weren't and we know we need all new siding on the primary lane windows and doors we have water coming in through those windows and doors to your question Don I think it actually was not in the plan that was the recommendations that would put forward to us and I think from my perspective it's as we as we learn better ways to address and support the students that are coming into our building you know where at what point does that create not just an unnecessary but an inappropriate barrier to their learning and to me that's sort of where threshold comes from me I'll say I think that as time goes on there's increasing awareness of the impact of the sensory environment on students and I feel like a decade ago that was far less of something that people are aware of and now that's pretty common for people to consider the effect of the environment and light and sound on students so I don't think that it's you know it's a really, really great proposal I think it's really important Brian well we thank you for your time, consideration thanks for coming thanks for putting it again the details really appreciate it too I know you guys want to do a lot of work to try to find all possible options it is to this process standpoint would you consider a resolution at this point in the meeting or does it give them to the end on the action on the action again you have other information I'll just leave you with a quote from Duke Ellington if it sounds good it is good you know anything about the proposal all of it we had help from a lot of people oh god it's very compelling well thank you I'm just going to hang out here too let's show you thank you wow wow our gym and auditorium are currently under instruction and I have no idea even what they're doing they just took out a bond for I'm not sure how much Phil or Amy might know just so you know I don't and I don't know what they're doing I know the cafeteria most most people are not addressing it to this level not that it shouldn't be understanding did we do it by behavioral like having kids in certain businesses to do that March 4, 2019 March 14, 2019 our remark March 7, 2019 April 11, 2019 next move second any discussion I discussion January 3.1 the annual financial management questionnaire which is page 10 this is an annual piece that required by the auditor of accounts that started back about 2013 that each year the board has to have a discussion of the financial practices and it's a self-assessment that Lord Bebo conducts for us every year we our auditor looks at there was a discussion in each in the board minutes that that happened and that you had a chance to ask any questions of what you saw on there this hasn't changed for probably two or three years the answers all seem appropriate but do you notice anything concerning that you have seen it and we've done it how many years from there at least like since 2014 or something any questions on the annual financial management questionnaire no is there a motion that we you just need to sign it Chris that says we do that it's in that green folder if I can get that back so in light of our chance to the agenda next up is 3.4 the MPSS position yeah so I hand you also copy of this year's budget as it was adopted by the voters I just thought that that might be necessary for tonight if you look on the where's my copy of it you know as Brian already referenced the way that you brought the budget under at that point we thought was the threshold for all spending on the last page you will see about two thirds of the way down you will see what's this fund transfer out and the fund transfer building maintenance you know DG main was reduced from 90 to 40,000 so that's I'm on the last page here about two thirds of the way down sorry I want to go fast yeah so I just wanted to point that to you you also asked that you would have a discussion later on if that was actually or if you wanted to make some changes to the budget because you were feeling you needed to get the budget to the voters and so we've had this on the agenda since early March when you warned that for the middle sex voters that might come back and talk about this so I brought you this back just to have a discussion if you don't I just thought it was all appropriate Chris when you and I were talking about all the different issues here for building issues and those different pieces so this does or does not include funding for the halftime MTSS it does include funding for the the budget does and that's why I made sure I put in the memo because this memo is more about budget budget issues that you can see with the total cost for that is it under instructional services any movement to fill we have not because we're having this conversation I wasn't willing to post it if we weren't I didn't have clear direction and then is that MTSS in that teacher salary line yes benefits as well I gave you not in that row Kate it's going to go you're going to see salaries you're going to see group health, social security, miscellaneous benefits so it comes out you know I gave you the totals it's out of that group it's out of that group in instructional services what about the the other other issue that was I feel like there might be other issues that we at some point are going to have to address in regards to student need I think most of those will be taken care of out of other budgets other budgets being the supervisor union takes care of student services okay meaning the Washington Central supervisor union budget right now as it stands or when it comes merged within that section and can you just what type of student needs anything that requires a special educator or a contract out that's gone through that budget for three years now are all run through that budget no because the way this budget is right now paraeducators are paid for everything else the only thing that is in special education is paraeducator salaries everything else is done through that budget paraeducators they're attached to special education service so if it's let me state this again if it's a paraeducator that is hired by a budget if they're something that we contract out like a behavior interventionist it goes through the Washington Central supervisor union budget when was this change made three years two or three years ago I have to go back Allison to give you the exact date if it was a para that was hired by student 29 EP that's what I'm saying if it's it's hired by a brumney I can't but not that be the fault line between special ed I got you I'm sorry I have to be this fuzzy I have to be this fuzzy about that if it's a paraeducator that's employed by the brumney school system right now that's one that's in the pair in the brumney budget if it's a behavior interventionist that we contract out with like Washington kind of health or green mountain associates or some other place we would pay for that through the Washington Central supervisor union budget services is that what the law says that created this changed and it's what the supervisor union board said was a paraeducator stay in the local budget and the rest of it goes to the supervisor union budget because of the requirement of the consolidation under act 153 of special education that all special ed expenses go through the supervisor union and we left the para what no no everyone well everyone is to the point which that's the paraeducator yeah and so I'm trying to be appropriate yeah I understand I am too that's why I'm being kind of vague here I just I'm just thinking that student need that gets taken it gets absorbed then through this supervisory unions budget then potentially relinquishes the need for expenditures for at the local at Romney for paraeducator that could happen if it's a contracted out service yes and that could that cost would be born because the supervisor union board agreed two years ago to go to assess on a per equalized people basis for all special ed transportation services and so while there may be an increase in one school and a decrease in another that's assessed out for equalized people we don't know because it's going to I'll tell you right now the special ed services across the district for what we know right now today if I had every single thing catalog it will change by September 1 it's part of the nature services for students so well how will that impact our budget the I'm talking specifically about if yes well maybe that's premature to have this discussion no I can't tell you because we could have an increase of five IP students that all need that behavior interventionist at chooser school and a deep and decrease of two here and that could increase the overall cost we can also have a decrease in case load but an increase in severity so there's a lot more cost and up goes the special ed budget across the system and that's assessed out I think Brian was asked no I'm just trying I hope I answered your question that I can't it's hard to say because the needs of students and it's not to say a number of students we could increase the services decrease the number of students but have an increased cost overall conversely we could have an increased number of students less student cost to deliver all those services and decrease assessments it's one of the reasons why they're trying to one of the main drivers is this exact reason to put it to the supervisor union back when Act 153 was put in place because it's easier to buffer those peaks and valleys to get a smaller number because statistics start to get into your favor the law of means if you start to get the cost gets more projected instead of when you have a smaller number you have greater peaks and valleys is what has been shown in the cost drivers so by our next board meeting we will probably know whether or not this would be any type of fault on the measure at least from and so we'll have a better sense then as to what will if we have to deal with an individual budget or whether these impacts would just be to provide for the wide or merge district wide for student need for those type of supports that we're talking about if there's a behavior interventionist or more special educator need we're looking at through the supervisor union budget so I think what I'm hearing is that one of the situations that we could be in is that we could have an increase in the 19-20 school year in Romney students who need behavior intervention who are on IEP and are going to get services that are that are behavior and interventionist which would mean we then would not need one of our paras is that is that what you were saying Brian yes okay but that's not necessarily the conclusion that's a proposal it's just a I just want to clarify yes that that's not a conclusion it's a proposal I don't think it's a proposal it's a proposal if it's a hypothetical well that paraeducator wouldn't be attached to that child that doesn't mean that paraeducator couldn't be delegated to other things to do amongst the children that maybe don't qualify for an IEP but need some extra support that also don't qualify for the reading specialist paraeducator could be helpful to the teacher in that regard do we use our paraeducators like that here so you would have a funding issue because it would be 56% loss of revenue once they're not working as a special aid para we lose 50 I think all I'd have to go back and look at the personnel list but I think almost all except for maybe one and maybe Amy knows would know that because she's here that the almost all of our paraeducator time is supported by a special aid reimbursement and is that also so throughout the entire district all the elementary schools or even the high school uses the paraeducators as one-on-ones not as one-on-ones but special aid reimbursement one-on-one doesn't meet isn't the only way you get reimbursement it has to be providing services to a student that's on an IEP okay but I thought you just said the schools paid for that but you get a unique reimbursement for a program in our revenue budget that you're getting money for the state 56% of their cost so Amy what would you say? just that they all participate in the time study they're linked to IEPs so at this point but not necessarily one-on-one we've issued contracts? nope we haven't issued contracts we've issued contracts for teachers we'll be talking later tonight for all the other stuff so um so we were talking about we're going back to a discussion about the MTSS position versus the para is that really what we're getting down to? no we're getting down to an MTSS position or not okay because you have some playground issues that I mean that's why so let's hold that just because it's part of the bigger budget right that's why I made the memo because this is all linked I don't know how we separate 3, 2, 3, 4 and the all the facility issues that we have they're all budgetary issues so is there anything more than anybody want to say about the MTSS position before we move on? just a quick reminder that my understanding was that that would be a very difficult position to fill because there were very specific qualifications for that position so unless we're going to change the description of that to make it more broad we may be unable to fill that position is that a fair representation of the facts? unable to get someone who we want to fill that position? I'm not sure what the market would be at this point because didn't it name to be somebody who had a specific coaching credential? I mean having some coaching training is obviously needed I think having worked with executive functioning a variety of MTSS type of understandings is pretty critical in the toolbox making curriculum and learning more available for students I also think it's late in the game to hire for a position like that because the best people have gotten their jobs so they've gotten their contracts already I just think there's a lot of competing needs and that's why we're bringing this issue this is not easy so shall we move on? have we run the MTSS emergency shelter last time? you did? I don't remember that I don't remember that in terms of I don't think so I think they actually did come back a couple of meetings after Amy came back and said it wasn't water actually that there would be enough water right? we just had we did a contingent waiting here on whether or not the because I think maybe they had raised water for the sprinklers right and Amy came back and said that was not an issue we had a contingent approval table until for the next meeting and if we resolved it great and if not how do we figure out if we resolved it? what I was going to do is exactly what I'm looking at the minutes great did you have public comment? okay sorry thank you the next step is 3.10 which is the college approach to school access materials that were attached to the form packet which is what Calis did as a town and school board to ensure school access community access to the school given the changes that are probably going to come about from the village district is there any appetite for to follow a similar path which is basically a legally binding access as opposed to to the property because there are other legally bounding ones to the community use of the property as opposed to having that use being based on the grace of any succeeding model board yes the legal documents that are attached show the path that Calis the town Calis took in combination between the school board to ensure that the community had to go access to the property even if the property itself were merged into a unified school district and I think it is a couple different opinions by attorneys that seem to support I'd have to look at my packet for Scott's letter in there I don't know if it was in there it was not so Scott believed if everyone did it it was a good thing eventually could cause some issues and he just said realize that's why I said about when you're binding something to the title of the property you're binding it not just through a rummy ownership but any ownership even the town because the town has a $1 buyout already in the articles that you're binding to there so he brought the piece of devaluing the property for years at Calis I'm just trying to because the concern is that under the merger the school is no longer the property of the town it is no longer a property it's not a property of the town right now it's a property of the school district but it will no longer be the property of the school district run by this board and the property of the unified district run by a board on which the town had representatives and we had kind of a discussion like this at one point with what's up what's up middle sex and he even spoke that you know she wouldn't have been there you know a board members saying no and my response was trust but verify and so you have you know a legal way of saying there will be access regardless of what this other board may decide this provides what's necessary legally to ensure that I think it would go all the way towards that yes what's the issue raised by that if certain school districts and towns go this route others don't there's there's an equal balance coming into the merger so it's got to do with it what does that mean what does that mean specifically that the value he was coming at it from a value of the property that once you put a public access through any sale the only way to take it off is to go back through doing a you have to pay some lawyer fees to take it off and that and that's going to have to that's going to be a cost that for some properties you wouldn't have it somewhat meaning that right now as I understood this the if any other entity wanted to purchase the property if it was no longer in use yeah can I give you a hypothetical in my home so the town takes you know this for some reason this building is in use so and so the town and the articles agreement the town gets to write their purchase for a dollar town town buys it town says we don't need it anymore we have other properties I don't foresee that one either first one they want to sell it the biggest use of old school buildings is housing of some sort they would have to take that piece for anyone to really want to buy it because they would have to let the public in if a private person wanted to own the property of a private corporation so they would have to pay money to strip that off the deed through some legal action I don't know what that is I didn't get into it with Scott I said Scott it's a point to be said say it in your letter move on it's not a significant cost I mean it would not be a big deal it's a matter of changing the structure of the contract basically rather than of the deed for example on my house we have an easement over a company property that used to be part of one whole block that was then broken up because their property was not ours so we have an easement over their property for that purpose only and you know it puts a burden on neighbors property because they have this we have these rights for the property but the original owner did that so that he could sell these three different blocks as opposed to just one block so it's something like that yeah what it does is one of those guarantees community access to use of the building it seemed like a good idea it was a little complicated with all the where as and being that but I felt like when I read out that Calis is such a progressive little place and I get so it's done it seemed like a good thing to me when I read it does anybody else have a different initial impression so you will have to adopt a warning and I would suggest that to keep Sarah on your good side that you do it on June 26 no doubt about that June or May you're too far you need to 30 to 40 days from today so you might as well go for when there's other elections going on okay because this needs to be voted on oh yeah the voters have to approve all real estate transactions and this is one of them well not all but for this transaction the voters must approve and you'll have to post the actual easement so people can see them have access to them I think it was included in there Chris I frankly should open up the warning actually we just include all the documents so without the warning we will need another meeting of this body to approve and sign the warning before let me get my calendar out you do it on that next on the 23rd oh that's a good positive of that that's australian ballot fourth yeah why would it no it's got a good point if you want to keep Sarah on your good side yeah wasn't that the agreed upon path forward for it's not that it's not that it's under Rummy's it's under Rummy's initial articles and when they voted to go to australian they actually said just vote the budget and dollar figures and talk about doing everything else on the floor I just don't know how I'm not sure can you give me a copy of whatever has that said because we got some sticky situations between callous situation it got yes I'm trying to help you with this I can move it along I don't want to make mistakes you would need to come together as a board to adopt a warning by the 24th of May you could adopt it earlier it only has to be posted 40 to 30 days you can always do it ahead of time but we've got to get it done isn't there that full board meeting on the 23rd there is not a full board meeting on the 23rd the next full board potential full board that Matt sent out was the 29th of May that's too late and I'm what? and the big thing is we need you present or you know sign it before you just need a quorum you just need a quorum but it is helpful for your orders to see if it works any other questions on this issue okay should we try to find a date when we can do that or do it by email separately do it by email just because we're running late as it is okay next is do we have what we've done next is 3.12 which is fund balance this position so if you look at page 30 you will see that your current I'm just going straight to the bottom the current fund balance is $116,000 but we have some facility work that needs to be done in this building we need to do a quorum we don't need to go to the capital fund but that fund balance is going to change so we're still kind of collecting all the PO's right now and so I can't tell you that's going to be on $116,000 the other thing that's as I alluded to earlier when we were talking is that we have monies that are this is what it says on paper this is Lori's best estimate which is pretty good but that's like every year that's like thinking to August or September once all the bills clear and we receive everything we need to receive this is a different year we're actually billing for things early into the state to the feds right now and we're trying to get money in so we can shut down we're still going to have to transfer monies we'll have a better crewing of all this by mid-June as you know at the executive committee I am previewing it further and the interactions of Matt's e-mail is that we're looking to move the June carousel meeting to later which should help everybody having a good idea I think you're probably going to be leaving about 1% I hope it's that little I can't guarantee that in your general fund balance to go over the June 30 time try and do the best we can but Lori's got a lot of things up with these little projects do you have any ballpark we're looking at 5000 to 10,000 and it's all doable within the budget because we're landing everything right now it's not something we need to use to take any action but there's some little things that need to be done and those are we're not coming out of the capital budget they're not coming out of the capital budget I'm trying Chris I think you've heard this too as well we said that Lori and I are trying to spend everything we can out of the current budgets we're not trying to hit funds that's our goal we've heard that loud from the five elementary board so we're doing that so by our next point let's see so we have to make shifting decisions by what's the last possible day it's probably June 29 30 so here's what if you saw Matthew's email we're trying to shoot for like a June 12th and Lori and I will come to you with our best estimate as I just said earlier I think we're going to have to leave about 1% of this year's budget maybe 1.5% my goal is to get as low as possible but it's also on how cash is flowing and what we see out there for bills being paid it's like trying to close your checking account you know you got to get your paycheck bill on okay and that 1% is for taking care of the money bills that are coming in over time yeah 90 days for checks to clear so how does that work that it would not that fund downs wouldn't shift to the new board it will the new board's going to pay for okay so they'll pay the bills that are coming yeah so then what's the purpose of this board staying in existence because you have an audit that you have to approve is that the sole purpose that's the sole purpose okay thanks but we're not going to set the new Birch district with bills that are incurred in FY I mean this is all about cash flow like how bills get paid and check clear and so usually we all when the auditor goes to look at this August September they look back at when did all those bills get paid for make sure everything I'm talking accounting sorry but to make sure that the bills that were supposed to be paid in FY 19 were paid by FY 19 any other discussion on this topic okay so we'll move on to reports to the board any questions any questions so there's a bunch in here for the commission pieces that you'll see in here that I just added I'm trying to put in all the transition and send to you guys to all board members to read all the transition updates any issues on the finance no that's we're closing down right now so we'll have a June update that will change this realize it changed in January because we haven't had big issues something that usually stands out but we're trying to it's now closed down time which has happened most appeal should have been finished at April break but we know there's a couple we didn't expect at April break so anything to add you'll see I mean you have your capital fund we've been in and out this report so I'm glad to take any questions if people do the executive committee we were in the process of going through the superintendent the next step is to do interviews next week I think 13th and 14th I don't know are you looking at me like I don't know I don't know and so I think we'll have something for the the supervising unit as a whole for hiring purposes by the I'm sure the executive committee last week talked about the 29th it is working 13th and 16th 13th and 16th can I ask a clarifying question about one of the memos I don't know if we that's where I said I included these so I'll be glad to answer I'm having a hard time completely understanding this nearly four and a half million dollars yeah it's page 24 I took a whack at it today and I believe I think I read in one of David's articles that we're looking at an increase no yes and no don't you like that answer yeah so because of the way we've been structured is a supervisory union net costs of the supervisory union have been assessed out to the local district that means that if it costs us I'm just going to use easy numbers here if it costs us a hundred dollars to do something and we're getting reimbursed through some federal grant for federal or state monies and we got reimbursed $50 only $50 was assessed to the local districts so that $50 was broken up based on the equalize per pupil to the six school districts and we raised enough money to raise for that $50 when the total cost was really a hundred the $50 that came from the federal and the supervisory union budget but no other budget by generally acceptable accounting procedure gap and handbook we're required to create a budget to show all revenues and all expenditures in that entity with that last phrase in that entity there is no other entity to receive state and federal grants besides the merge entity $4.4 million and federal and state grants through the supervisory union so before that was never seen by the public only or it could be a disaster but it wasn't a budget that was seen that was voted on by the voters all that was voted on through the local districts was the $50 or the assessments that had to make up the difference between the actual cost and what we brought in in state so we have to increase the overall budget while the tax base money or the ed spending isn't changing so we have to show the revenue and show the total expense instead of showing the net cost which was happening in the super regiment was that clear or I'm going to go does that just mean that someone looks at the bottom line they say why did the budget go up by $4 million and the answer is it's just those $4.4 million have always been reimbursed and you never saw it because it was in the supervisory budget and now I've got to show it instead of just giving you a $50 bill I have to give you a bill for $100 and say I've got $50 from my friend over here who's going to pay for that but you're going to see that in a revenue budget somewhere that you never saw before it's going to be confusing and I tried to write something today that it's simply as I could emphasizing in bold that it's not greater taxes because it's not $4.5 million more that's being part of the taxable but Dave was right it's right to insinuate and wait a minute it looks like we're going up well you are going up but not on your tax rate you're going up on your expenditures it's not an easy concept you're $100 but that was a pretty good one it's the first time I've tried that one I think that's pretty good it's the first time I've tried that one so we are now into the action agenda you are ready for anything we have to go into the executive session to talk about the student issues again after the action we can do that so first up we have a second meeting of H3 use of school building policy Allison you were hanging with hmm yes this was a few meetings ago it was 36 I didn't even see it in here actually is there any is there a motion first of all to approve to approve and then you move Brian? Sure second discussion sorry this is so last month I remember doing this but it was a long time ago can someone remind me where the basketball organization landed in these groups I don't get what they're saying yeah those ones group 4 group 4 and they're paying every time they I think we sent this out I feel like this was actually we've already vetted this and we had our first reading this is our second reading of it are there any concerns with the current form? so all of these highlights and cross outs get resolved so we haven't put it into a policy format yet but we would take the bulls would go away the background highlighted would go away the italics would go away we'd just be we'd put it into a policy form is there are we ready to vote? why did we take out that because this is a low cost venue if student needs for the facility arise your event could be postponed or cancelled at any time at the very very bottom it was because if there was an outside group let's say there was some community event planned for outside suddenly spring fair needs to be inside the school but there was an AP practice it's there, it's still there it got re-regined well below does that make sense? right all in favor of the school facilities policy? that's ready bye any nays? thank you next is 5.2 we have a retirement yes israel is retiring yes can we decline to accept her retirement? not unless you want to have her travel from alaska back here daily she's moving? she's moving to alaska winter wasn't long enough children is there a motion? I know do I have to say the name? sure I'm going to accept the retirement of martha israel school nurse is there a second? second so any discussion? would you like to thank martha for her 10 years of service? 20, 25? I want I was like 15 or 16 to just here there she's been a school nurse she's a strong opponent for a lot of health-based policies and I can remember her picking mitts from various sliced infestations here and going above and getting she's so good what kind of commas was it named? that was how I learned about that thing even existed she's just been fabulous and she had I think a strong impact on the renovations in terms of insisting on showers and washer and dryer because of the student need not only for all the students and I think had a really strong impact on the student environment and health overall so she would be missed you know so all in reluctant favor say I okay next up I'm gonna well I went through back to December I don't have any more minutes in my binder past December that show back to December I didn't see anything there so I'm gonna recommend to you that you just do it again I'm pretty confident because I'm pretty confident because I know I had to follow up with Amy on the contingency of the water issue I remember at town meeting I had a question about it you said it was all solved because I said it knew Allison came on to me that's what I thought about I would just say it did be safe okay we can do a vote on it next is 530 that's next time I was gonna say I just vote on it right now I'm happy to do that but Brian was concerned oh you wanted to just clear it up so is there a motion to approve from the emergency shelter for the town of Middlesex so moved second any discussion all in favor hi next is 5.4 which is to follow the Cal's approach in maintaining school access for the community so that would be until you have your warning and you can approve the warning we're gonna we don't need to okay next is to approve fund balance disposition recommendation and this is where I think the gym renovations falls in in terms of a resolution so I'd like to make a resolution that based on the proposal that we received tonight for improving the sound acoustics in the gym that we strongly urge any subsequent board to follow through on the proposal that has been made and to implement the recommendations in that proposal to improve the acoustic sound in the gym for both the students that reside there most of the time and to enhance it as a community space to serve the Middlesex community I would second is there any modification of that resolution I was impressed no any discussion I just think that we need to think about all of the different needs that we're considering we're facing in terms of the school and what our obligations are I'm just trying to quickly do some some math and if I'm doing it right I'm looking at currently we have 116,000 sitting in our fund balance or capital fund balance and we're going to based on current existing budget projections and anticipating some small costs for projects we're looking at roughly 100,000 in an ending fund balance in which we will all the 1% of that into our capital fund budget so let's just say call it 100,000 so that would bring us to 216,000 and if we're just being conservative we take out the 90,000 for the needed enhancements to the playground which is what I heard Phil say the top end but just being on the conservative end and then 23,000 for the proposal we're looking at roughly 35,000 this doesn't include any resurfacing of the front the changes to the doors changes to the doors I think would be would be part of that right 90 like the ramps I think those ramps are easy they're not that expensive but you're absolutely right that's other accessibility issues that have not yet been brought up what are the other big things that we have we have the windows windows sightings and doors for everything in the primary wing that raises the question of if our school is going to come owned by a different entity there's a certain entity to take on too and includes accessibility and doing some of the things that haven't been done yet because they're going to get the value of the property in terms of providing a school facility and so it's kind of I mean if the new there's a new owner it's not a hat measure it's a full measure but we thought it could exist with the new owner I understand but you know that kind of is two way street we will all bring awards with us of some kind and so we'll take care of each other but that also includes ongoing maintenance issues and includes the future capital needs of each of the schools I mean though I went through a list of things that each of the schools is working on with their capital budgets I'm assuming but I'm sure the capital budgets all of the different facility needs of the schools and that's if you're going on a lane it's not only for the good parts and you know we're already sharing that primarily us sharing Ted with other folks but he's one big I don't think he's one of the biggest benefactors I wouldn't say biggest but I don't think he's one of the biggest on a tax rate on a tax rate on a tax rate basis so anyway so we have that just I don't think the cherry pick necessarily those issues I think that the sensory impact in the gym is not actually quantifiable of how many students are impacted because a lot of the students who are impacted are completely mainstream unrecognized as being impacted from my own kid in kindergarten who struggled to eat in the cafeteria for most of the year and in a classroom where it was quiet and I don't know the impact of what PE is like and so there's a kid who's completely not on anyone's awareness and I think that that's true of many children that it's going to impact and improve their experience PE lunch and all of those there's a lot of time that the whole school is in there I think that I think that it's really important and it can create an environment that allows kids to be comfortable in social settings and comfortable at school and that's like the foundation that we are trying to create so that kids are able to then participate in school later and so I think we can breed a lot of discomfort by having a lot of cafeteria and I actually don't disagree at all with the issue around sensory man that is a concern I guess what I would be I'd be interested in hearing from the perspectives from the educators and folks that are sort of professionally versed in this to as to their endorsement or just feedback on it rather than it coming from the recommendation of people very well on tangents, well thought through and hiring and I don't know what this company does in terms of acoustics beyond if it's a full service that does all sorts of things or if it's tailored to music performance venues but I just wonder if I would like to feel more confident of the sort of the educational perspective of the value of this for supporting it at this point we did have those couple teachers that when we brought this up the first time and I think Amy actually also agreed that at least had one teacher although maybe it was we had two and I'm not sure they spoke to I know you mean an actual like professional assessment, is that what you mean or do you mean the teachers because I mean I had four maybe five speak to the sensory overload to children so from a teacher's perspective I hear what you're saying I think five out of five but I don't know if you mean five actually I mean I'm not going to discount that there are sensory needs and that this seems to be a very well done study of that space I think for me as I think about it I think about $90,000 being a lot of money in a school and that there's other competing needs that even if a teacher could see value in there if they knew that we could bring perhaps the temperature down on the primary lane on those first few months of the last few weeks of school that might be more of a priority I don't know, school security could be another area that we could be looking at upgrades so there's many areas that I do think impact all kids that you know it's sort of like you feel like you have a tax return or you don't of course you might go for that one thing versus like really trying to prioritize if you're not limited I was thinking how many hearing protections that's going to be providing for a business I think there's a lot of places we could get into or a different protection so I think as a board what to you is the responsible place to go for the students here from the first community second that's where I would stand as an educator not that it's either or but that's the way I would look at it and I could see the acoustics working well for all kids I agree with the century it's been said a couple of times about that I think that you have to decide as the trustees of this school building and of the education of the children from pre-k to 6 what's going to mean most for all the students and sometimes that all means some very singular numbers and sometimes that means every kid and I'm sorry but that's the tough chair that you sit in and I sit in that chair too it sometimes feels like a competing of individual needs or certain grade levels or all and sometimes that individual classroom grade grade span overweighs the all there are easy decisions to make and you know it's those are the tough places and this is why it's your decision and I you know I think you have to figure out what those prior are I don't know when we have to decide about the renovations to the playground and the inside of the building that we have to do but so yes it's my first question when do we have to make those decisions I need to know as soon as I'm either going to be asking this board or the next board because we're going to it's not about weather it's you will I understand that you have an ADA issue the reason this can't happen in phases is the playground is why the playground I guess specifically the reason I'm presenting to you is you could do it the inexpensive way that I showed you out here but you're going to have that that bill is going to be there and the bill to get up top is going to be there and you're going to pay more in the long run and why do we have to use one company like is there because there are other companies out there so I think the last time we talked about a specific playground company there are several playgrounds we don't have to we've cost estimated through one we're using the best estimates that Amy and I and John Helmberg in a few minutes without paying him to get into design can do so we're trying to give you rough numbers we can't give you an exact number we haven't been able to do that because I haven't been willing to without direction from the board about which way we want to go to sign a contract with an architect to start doing design and in terms of Stasi getting up to the current pre-K if we were to make some adjustments minor adjustments up there so that this playground could potentially be done in the fees is are there staff concerns with like can you get a stroller up there right now do you need a ramp right now so technically according to ADA you cannot I'm not saying someone couldn't push it but I'm saying by ADA rules you cannot right but there's no policy or procedure against this moment someone pushing a stroller out there see why some school staff I mean like for a particular type you could not do that that would be against ADA you have to provide the ADA separate but equal was turned away years ago I guess my concern is that I think you know we got an email regarding the playground and being firstly accessible so can I stop you can I stop you right there Chris has asked for an executive session that I think you should stop talking okay well that's fine I just think that there are alternative funds out there that we can look at and that's we can talk about it and I guess any other comments sorry to be so appropriate just trying to protect student privacy okay so on favor of the resolution student privacy and I I propose no resolution carries our next is approval yes that you have most of the the teachers are covered by the teacher master agreement but the building are not so they're not certified the professional they are not part of the master the ESP agreement with four of your partner schools was passed at 3.5 percent you should follow most of the master agreement and so I would recommend to you that you offer 3.5 percent to your non bargaining staff yes I know we did not no we did not do you know what the impact on the condom should be I don't have that number with me Chris but it's been so what I don't have that with me Chris okay I can tell you that it's so minimal that I have I don't have exact numbers for you I didn't think to bring it because this is the first time I've been asked that because it is pretty minimal no it's okay I'm just telling you I'm giving you the truth I know what I don't know so is there a motion second any discussion one favor