 One thing that's a little bit different is that the efficiency Vermont rebate program has changed in the state of Vermont now that we're in 2023 So they don't give rebates on the lighting what they do is they take the money off from the lighting proposal last time So it's almost the exact same rebate It should the only difference is that before efficiency Vermont would cut you guys a check now It's a point of sale rebate that you get when you purchase the fixtures at the distributor It's like I said, it's the exact same amount, but for whatever reason there's just too much work going on in the state this year So they can't do custom incentives. So everybody's gonna rebate so that revised price price reflects the reduction that people are gonna get from that Smart light program that efficiency Vermont's putting on Asbestos abatement that is what it sounds essentially we'd be looking at doing the abatement inside that heat exchanger room We have some abatement to go in the boiler room But for the most part a lot of that insulation inside that gymnasium would remain We're gonna have to abate some of it to connect the new piping But just to abate the gym alone is getting prices up upwards of $40,000 in cost just to do that one gym. So I decided not to keep that in there Same with that boiler room ceiling. I got a high number on that So what we're planning on doing there is just putting up some hangers that I'll have an asbestos contractor installed for us that we can work off from that ceiling's been there for 40 years, I guess it's like it's gonna be there for another 20 probably. So we'll just work around it There's really no need for us to get into it or penetrate it and it's really low risk for anybody It's not like friable or anything. So And then the DDC controls upgrade is the web-based control system that would essentially eliminate the pneumatics that you guys currently have in your school So that's Rochester for a total price of $1,192,800 projected operational savings of $31,600 Stockard Central School we'd be looking at doing the classroom ERV So that's Eliminating your makeup area unit that you guys have up in the that mechanical space now Putting a new unit that would essentially just go pretty much like right outside this door It'd be right in the middle of that corridor So we'd be taking down all those ceilings in there putting the new rooftop mounted equipment Ducting into the hallway and then we'll rebuild the ceilings in there We got to clean up all the electrical up above the ceilings to bring it up to code And then we'll close it and same thing in here all new light fixtures So all these lights will come down and they'll be burning your fixtures throughout the whole school And you also use the be lower that what you mean by come down or no No, I just mean that they'll be they'll be pennant. So they call this like a pennant style where it hangs from something So it'll be similar except for they're not nearly as wide They're probably only they have a couple different styles and I'll We'll go with a standard style throughout the whole school district. So we don't have a bunch of different lenses to buy But yeah, they're they look better than this. They're much more cleaner than this Will this ceiling remain in place? They will No, the only ceilings that I'm adjusting Is in the corridor in order to get my new duck work in and then for the most part the ducks inside of these faces Is getting new duck work, but it's going to be cleaned up. It'll be cleaner. It'll look better than this. So These projected savings are annually those are annual savings and they're mixed. They're mostly energy savings I do have some operational savings in there net savings That may be more on the wood pellet and propane boiler backup But they're looking at a little over 17 grand a year and fuel savings from that system LED lighting like I said, it's almost three grand a year and electrical And then the controls upgrade is really fuel savings in that case as well And then the same thing goes for the Stockbridge Central School And then so total cost at Stockbridge is three hundred and three thousand so if you want to go to the next slide Um This kind of just goes over some of the locations of the outdoor stuff that we were just talking about You can see the propane tanks over here Those are your two new propane tanks This underground line is probably going to come up around the school Underground and then to a second stage regulator over here in order to us to reduce the gas pipe sizes This is your silo And this is your existing outdoor classroom as you can see it's pretty much taken up the whole space of the outdoor classroom Um, I'll go to the next slide So this is your energy recovery unit. So this is your main entrance coming into the school Um, so your energy recovery unit would be located right here on the roof We're standing i'm standing right here inside of this classroom So this duck work here would get replaced because it's kind of ugly And then we would go with a nice spiral with a new diffuser in here And then this is all new duck work leading out to the classroom exhaust fans for the bathrooms A new heating coil that will be integrated into your existing boiler plant Controls upgrade same thing All these rooms will now be on a web-based ddc control system same with the energy recovery unit um, the gymnasium i'm going to leave out of the controls for now just because it's operational and uh, it is at the end of its life So it should be probably looked at getting replaced in the near future There wasn't money in the ventilation project grant to do that one Um, but that one will stay off the existing dial thermostat and time clock that it currently operates next slide The best part Total contract price of 1,495,800 Um less the two grants that were getting from the state of brahmat including the wood heat grant and the iaq grant less the efficiency remont rebates at rochester Which is for controls and for the biomass um less The efficiency remont rebates here at stock bridge of 2,500 So the total after grants and rebates is 1,08,300 um Based off what we've been talking all along esser contributions to this school would be 385,000 Leaving a total district responsibility of 623,000 In this case, which is something that I kind of want to discuss here I have a lease right now From municipal leasing services or consultants of grand alp remont. It's a little bit less than five percent It's like 4.89 or something like that just below five percent And then this number here was I think just just below 42,000 with that change So you guys would be looking at annual lease payments of right around say 42,000 plus or minus a year Total savings per year of 36,700 And then we'd be looking so with that 623 minus the 450,000 from the lease You guys would still have to put in capital funds of 173,300 from capital reserves And that's my presentation. I don't know if anybody has any questions concerns of where we're at and I've Passed along a couple motions Looking to get approved today So we can move forward with the project Any question about the in it you were talking about the removing the oil tanks and And it said that if there was any leaks that you are not responsible for On you know that that wasn't in the cost and I just was wondering if we had a plan a backup plan or You know How the state of Vermont has funds for that kind of stuff Yeah, state of Vermont would cover that. Yes for the most part. Yeah, okay Yeah, they have funds specific essentially every project is there's such a large cost associated with removing it State of Vermont fees and there's fewer and fewer people looking to do it doing it. Yeah doing it. Yeah, it's just yeah There's a lot of third-party testing So someone has to go and clean the tank verify it and they go down through the soils They do soil samples of it. They leave it open for a couple days and they come through backfill it and patch it And filling it wasn't an option No, not based off the conversations that I had with the state. They want to see them removed Unless there's some specific reason of why You would have to have it filled but they want to do the soil testing around it and make sure there's no contamination All right, anybody have any more questions or comments or discussion regarding This project I got a lot of local I think teams on it narrow mechanical to be looking at doing the mechanical at Rochester Sunwood biomass Doing the split system. They're up in weights field. I know they've been down a few times Central Vermont electrical service looking at doing the electrical at the two buildings. So We're trying to build a lot of local teams and we have it the same thing. I think the the tank installs by dead river And then the removal is Oh boy, it's either Not master, sir I'd have to get back to you and somebody else there's like three companies in the state And this was the one that was the low of the three. So I forget the name of them I think they're out of like the Heinsberg area or something So it's pretty much all old Vermont construction team and for the most part everybody's Really really local I'm just gonna ask Robert and Patrick for their Take summary and do you recommend this project to the board? Yeah, no, I do Everything so far seems seems good Yeah So just to clarify my thinking As I understand from these figures Um, that for this these projects The we'll have to have a capital outlay of 173 And change Outlay plus annual Outlay an increase in expenditures of 6,000. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Well, you know if it works for all these these Um Grants and such I would say it was a poor return on investment In this case, I'd say the extra appeal. Yeah Thank you Um, what are do we have available for capital funds? Um, and this is where would be Um, immediately essentially like in this next budget No, I mean we would If you you'd approve this and then we would come to the board to request access to the capital funds Do we have 173 Tara, do you remember where they're at currently right now prior to us putting some more money into this year? Tara You have um upon my last review There is 109,527 dollars and 95 cents And this was last february when I sent you all that memo in the stock bridge construction fund You had 70 904 available in the rochester fund that you created last year Um, which was from the dandelion daycare sale. And then you used 45,400 and 26,000 So that leaves a balance of 25,478 dollars and then you created the new r sad Capital construction project fund not the correct name. Sorry and you put 63,650 in it last at your um annual meeting last year Thank you. Thank you. Tara. You're welcome Okay, um, is there any further discussion or comments on this? Otherwise, I do have a motion in front of me to approve this Phil It seems to be the will of the board All right, uh, the first motion is Uh, shall the rochester stock bridge unified school district authorize the superintendent to enter into a performance contract with energy efficient investments INC for a contract amount not to exceed 1.5 million Take a second Motion has been made second seconded by bill Is right discussion No discussion All in favor say aye All opposed Motion passes second motion Shall the stock bridge The rochester stock bridge unified school district Authorize the superintendent to enter into a lease agreement with municipal leasing consultants at a grand isle vermont For an amount up to 450 thousand dollars at a rate no higher than five percent for up to 15 years This lease will contain an escape clause Motion is made. I'll have a second second bill seconds any further discussion All in favor say aye Aye Aye All opposed Wonderful Thank you One quick question. Yeah, like uh regarding scheduling so Is it guaranteed that everything will be completed before school starts fall of 23? Uh, no not guaranteed Essentially the goal will be um, I will be out of I'll definitely be out of all the classrooms by them The only thing that sometimes these like pellet boilers take a little like the silos giving them take a little bit longer so our goal is um to have the propane system Up and running by school start to have that boiler up and running first, which is your primary And then to have essentially that pellet boiler up and running by mid-october With the idea that that's firing probably end of November's when you'll usually start firing those units. So Um, this as long as you know boilers. I'm not worried about For some reason like these pellet silos have been tougher to get lately but No, I mean overall the lead items on this project are not a huge concern. So we should initiate great More so here than some of the other schools. So I have a quick question too Yeah, um, and did you say that the um area was gonna the outdoor area was going to take up the Stockbridge outdoor classroom No, Rochester outdoor Rochester outdoor classroom. Is there did we talked about relocating that last time, right? Yeah, I thought I thought he was Okay, I thought he was talking about Stockbridge this time. So okay, we we've already got Rochester on our minds. Thank you Excellent. Well, thank you very much Great. All right, we'll move on to report to the board So you have my report in hand I just wanted to mention you're getting the the winter 2022 academic data report. You probably should actually say And so the One thing I wanted to highlight. I Have a meeting with the rochester high school repurposing committee on a regular basis And I captured some bullet points. So why the Bella program would be important to pursue in regards to that endeavor That's also on the agenda tonight And I thought Catherine shakeman is going to join a little bit later too during that report as well and so We I'll get into more of that when it's on that's up for discussion. There's just some key dates approaching That are important in regards to that work Otherwise our next community Conversation is this Wednesday and sharing And we've been having positive attendance In general, I've been pleased with the Show of community support around these conversations thus far and the march one will be held here in stock bridge What time to kick off on wednesday? Wednesday at 5 30 always at 5 30 always the first wednesday of the month But the march home will be here and it's focused on mathematics Yeah, it's just because the first fell on it. Yeah, I think the second one. Yeah Right um, does anybody have any questions for the superintendent about his report? Just a bro. Is that a shorthand for umbrella or Do you know what Bella stands for? I don't have a clue. I don't remember I I've asked after it might be It's a state program that encourages. I've heard that in town to do the right thing with With rules regulations and money What is it partner? per Google brownfields reuse and environmental liability Limitation. Oh my gosh program Okay, great and we'll be discussing that part a little bit later than in our agenda. Okay. Well, there's No questions for the superintendent Then we'll move on to the principal's report. Yes, so we have two reports this month that normal principles report To start with I think the highlight that I didn't include here is we have two students from stock bridge who In the four or five six classroom. There's something called row row bank Which is named after miss row the teacher where kids can cash in their hands remember where I was talking about those for recognition last month and they just to cash theirs in to be superintendent for them. So last friday, um, they got to participate with genie we They got to have pizza which was exciting because they weren't pumped about lunch That came up but then they sat in an interview with him in bevel. They toured the bevel campus with him and did classroom walkthroughs And then came back and had another meeting So then now it's become in high demand as another student just cashed in Oh, that's great. It is great. They're very fascinating. Apparently the principal doesn't make enough important Decisions It's great, but they want to go do that So they're pretty excited about that and it started to get out at rochester that this was happening So I have a couple of requests waiting for me on how do rochester students get to do that as well So it's pretty exciting that they're Excited about that and then the other thing I'll add is our preschool screenings for next year for new families are coming up So I believe stock bridge is the 17th of march and then rochester is the 14th of people And so we'll start to get those numbers going and have a better idea of what preschool will look like next year But do you have any questions about this report? Are there any questions specific to the principal's report in hand? Okay, great So if you go to the next report, it's actually like janey said our universal academic benchmark from winter 2023 so students took the second round k through six of Track my progress as a universal screener To just notice our progress and where we're at So if we want to go section by section the first section you see on page one Actually shows our rate of progress compared to the national average since this fall so If look at the numbers on the far right that 1.0 means we're keeping pace That grade level is keeping pace with the rate of progress for the national average A 2.0 means we're doubling the rate And 0.5 indicates half rate. So as you can see we're doing excellent We are Great progress and I think it just really speaks to the fact that we have a lot of unity going on in the curriculum We're utilizing we're not putting parts and pieces together anymore. So it's great investment and you're really It's exciting. Yeah, when the question Usually the national average is that the national average that The information Goes through those school systems that use track my progress. So we're kind of measuring Apples and apples What's the definition of natural of national average? So that's a good question. That is yeah, that is that is set by track my progress So that's the study they have done of it. It's a little bit why just to why Even though we're making this great progress We'll still see that we're not right not every single kid is proficient But you think that when you first look at those numbers because we also still are setting our benchmarks For vermont and the region which is higher than the national average. So it's a little bit Why I think there's a disconnect which we were still making great. We're making great progress I think this is good to celebrate and why when we looked within the whole region We still have some areas to work on in this Track my progress their database is it Pretty reflective of the country as a whole or is it more rural than urban more Affluent suburbs then you have any sense of whether how I get this at all the sense of when they set they when they set benchmarks and rates of progress They are pulling from as representative a sample as possible from within their entire their entire group I don't I don't think I know exactly there. No, I wasn't exactly that. Yeah, I hope that they would be doing that Yes So then if we go to page two You will see a comparison the top chart is from our winner Score so this is the percentage of students at each grade level that Our meaning proficiency or exceeding proficiency Um compared to the fall So again a lot of great celebrations. We're starting to see some of those reds and yellows Which is well below and below meeting expectations. Um start to shrink With the exception I believe of grade Oh, no, sorry. I'm looking at it in reverse. I'm right. I was like wait. No, something's not growing. Sorry All right, uh, so you will see that our we're starting to see an increase in the percentage of students meeting expectations And I mentioned this in my notes, but the really exciting thing is to look at our kindergarten and to see This is the first time they've taken it. So you're not going to see them in that comparison To the fall But that all of our kindergartners in both buildings are meeting our exceeding expectations right now That's great. So we that just lays the foundation that we're seeing some great progress Like our preschool teachers should be celebrated because they were using some of the bridges components as well And it's starting to carry into kindergarten So it's pretty exciting. That's great. Yeah, that's really exciting. It is so, um I'll move to page three and again, um what you see here is our average scaled score and the um pretty much every grade level with the exception of fourth and sixth grade we are exceeding like the expectation for average scaled score But we're closing the gap even we are closing the gap like it's dropped tremendously. It's exciting to see And this has also been data that we've used as we've started to implement Just direct instruction programming for phonics as an example Of what happens when we all commit to one curriculum and providing it with fidelity. Nice. Um It's a great way to show that that makes a huge difference question. Um, honor. Do you or in lindy set the expectations How are those established? So we set those again in conversation with track my progress understanding where other districts in vermont had set them And where again where what we would expect to be the regional? So it is at 60 percent is is meeting expectations I think there are places where that expectation is set at 40 percent And where it's set at 50 percent. So we are on the high end of sort of the You say the options there they are where we had them set last year for the same for the districts that use track my progress So that part is consistent When we have had questions from teachers that why why we have it it said it said at 60 and in the In the dialogue that we had when we were setting this up last year It was um The indication that we got that it was most also aligned with at the time our state summative for the s s back And I think we saw that for the most part for the results We got last spring their track my progress for the grades that get tested and track my progress and smarter balance There wasn't a big difference between the two. It wasn't like one was a lot higher than the other So as much it's not the only way me. I think this is a lot more actionable for instruction than s back But we also wanted to be predictive. So we're not surprised when the state summative comes and our kids are in one direction We love this to be somewhat predictive and we found that to be true So hopefully again, we have a new state summative. We don't know exactly how that this will map on to it So we are keeping this is our you know our baseline so that we're not switching the the end goal for our I like that and it's also an su expectation these are I'm the only one who can change it like I'm no Is that the way you were taking a given or a free thing at the wrist was that Thank you One thing as we talked about like proficiency based report cards And those assessments, you know that are being provided home This also explains the birds down for folks what grade level you're seeing some of these domains So when I say we focus on a different strand like number operations in base 10 Bonnie born would tell us that if students aren't strong enough They can't have the building blocks to progress forward Which is why you see it something assess k through fifth grade Um, so these are just you know fractions is pretty heavy on the third fourth and fifth grade assessment So just kind of to give you a an idea of what sort of standards are being Or types of questions might be there and there's even some examples For you um on page five, but on page four it really shows you How again we are progressing as a As a school district in those different standards So we're seeing lots of growth You'll notice counting and cardinality is not there. That's typically a kindergarten Skill set, which is why you only see it in the winter. You don't see it in the fall But um, you'll notice that our number and operations in base 10 We're starting to see a great increase in the number of students who are mastering that or meaning the standard in that Which is an area we Go but overall, you know, the red and yellow is getting smaller Which is the big goal in the blue and the green is getting Larger so we're seeing great increases in those areas Which is great Um, and then page five those are some sample questions if you care to uh You care to uh challenge yourself It is an advantage of this assessment too that we can see these questions, right And we even include an example where a student got it wrong just so you can see so that that first question Uh, the student who's who's assessment. We took it off of had gotten this one wrong It gives you the options and what we can do on the platform is just to toggle between show student answer and show Correct answer the fact that's the same and you could also see how long the students spent on it Those sorts of things but just to see how easy it is to sort of see What it is the question is what the standard is which is always written right next to the question Um, and then what they did how long they took on it. So And these are points that we're using in our data teams and our mtss to look at uh, I'm multi tiered systems of support Team to look at to focus in on what strands we need to progress monitor and make sure that we're making More gains between now and the spring and so some of those areas are going to be fractions expressions and equations and ratios and probabilities are really Um, what a nice tool. Yeah much more Detailed like teachers seem to enjoy it because it they feel like it gives them ability to conference With students on like explain your thought process. What's going on? um Especially with the literacy one, but yeah, we're seeing a great correlation. Wow. Well dawn's not even getting minimum age Where are you? Where The other thing you can do is you can give feedback on questions Like if you saw this question, there's actually a little thing that says and it sends an email right to the organization We had one last year that thought was not culturally responsive I think and they were immediately responsive to the things for that feedback So we could say that this is not really promoting that our students will have sort of a high expectation. Yeah, right? Doesn't help with those babysitting services Or maybe it does appear and it does appear Um, so that's kind of a summary map any questions about that before we go to english English arts Let's go to page six here Um, so again the first uh Chart on page six is a percentage of students at each grade level within the proficiency Band so they're meeting the expectation or exceeding and again our kindergarten students All students both grades. They're just rocking it. It's awesome. It's very exciting It is we're getting them on a good level to start with they'll be very Um, it'll be really great to watch this great progress Exactly and challenge. Yeah and challenge. Yeah and see how you know, like you said the system of of unity and right cohesiveness um And then also if you look at that sixth grade cohort Only 15 of them were meeting the expectation in the fall enough 53 of them so there's a lot of gaps that are um being closed and we're making some great progress and even It's each grade level, right? Um, we haven't been focusing on our phonics instruction For very long, but it is starting to make some differences And we'll continue to monitor that through different tools because this doesn't necessarily give us An in-depth look at phonics Understanding we use something called the dibbles assessment which tells us how students can decode words and things like this This really focuses on comprehension skills Fluency nouns verbs Okay If you go to page seven, you'll see that rate of progress again. So we want at least a one 1.0 rate of progress Um, because that means we're staying on track with the national average or 2.0 and above means we're doubling and then 0.5 means it's at half the rate. So again, we're progressing a double the rate In all our grade levels currently Making progress that way and then under our average scale score, we're still in the yellow but we've um our Our scale scores are increasing and that that difference like you mentioned in math fill from fall to winter Starting to close the scale score numbers down tremendous and then back to the different standards Uh in literacy that you see those reading foundational skills Which was a point of emphasis after our fall assessment you will see that we've um shown an increase of 23 percent who are meeting the expectation And then 10 percent who are exceeding it and 25 percent who are almost meeting it and then 40 percent well below So those percentages are starting to drop like to see them drop a little quicker, but we're putting in work to get there um And again Then on the bottom are some examples and on to the next page page eight or some examples of some of the questions You could see hopefully there's no five dollars an hour That is a little easy that Yeah, we're looking at as a math equation right at you're right and yes five is a good thing for kids to Question On the english language arts these two the data here is this past fall and winter and that's Prior to our direct instruction initiative huge huge initiative So we're not going to be able to see those results that are going to build on these until the april A test and I that's only three months. So i'm i'm not expecting you to be walking on water, but What should our expectations kind of going forward for this first Three months kind of look like I assume would the the progress would continue and maybe you have an upswing what What are your what are your hopes at this point? Um, I think in the upswing I think to see what we saw in math will take us yet another fall or winter test cycle to see For them they're totally yeah of a change because then it'll be something that's been so I mean teachers have really Implementing this for about a month with coaching So just like with the math material like the math curriculum It takes a little bit of time for everybody to have it In place with fidelity and that being said I wouldn't even say we're still at the point of math fully implemented Like we're only on year two So we're still We're making progress in the right direction Well, that's tremendously exciting. It is it's very exciting other questions So any questions for uh, lindy? I guess, you know, this was looking at it nationally, but if we're looking at state standards Does it I guess is Is that gap? A lot closer. Is it still are we still exceeding even at state? So I think the the best view of that given that we don't we don't really know the state Comparison until the right until we do that state summative. I think the best comparison we have right now is looking at that scale score So where we saw that, you know, all those long green bars in progress in both math and and ELA Especially in ELA when we look at that scale score except for kindergarten like all of our scale scores are still Below expectations. They're getting a lot closer to that expectation But I think that's that's where you can sort of see where we're More on par with the rest of the state. We're not we're not going past it Um, and I think um, I think a lot of folks are in the same situation when I talk to the You know folks in my role across the districts. I mean every a lot everyone is looking at literacy Everyone is trying to figure out how do we sort of I think it was just like there's really big Like ocean liners, you know to try to move it In a place like this that's very responsive, right again To to to both to professional development instruction like I think I think it will ship quicker Because you've just yeah, it just feels like as soon as you walk in these classrooms Like the teachers are trying something new and they're like pull on into it So I you know, I think that a lot of high expectations here that kindergarten data almost makes me nervous Right, because now we've set the bar really hard to high for ourselves I think it's a good kind of nervous It's like the kind of is the place you want to be but when we can't let those kiddos down All right, like we need to continue to keep that, you know that growth really moving for them also So I think they they are going to push us To make sure that this this they are sort of the the tide that Continues to move this kind of this level of of learning through all of our grades That's wonderful. Thank you great news Is ready for the questions about the pencils report or the social local data academic Sorry, it's wrong on the agenda Thank you. I was like as I was reading I was like that's not all we just Mean to cut you off. No, thank you. I appreciate this academic data Don't want to cause confusion. Yeah They're connected up Great. Well, then we can move on to the business manager's report And it's Tara She is wonderful. Take it away Tara I have my report which outlines the due dates for the business office during the month of February So if there's any questions there, I will happily try to answer them Otherwise the rest of my report is your budget discussion later Okay, is there any questions for Tara in regards to her report? All right Um 8.4. Um, yes. Thank you. Uh full board updates. Is that me? Thank you Well, I think the big thing was that At our last meeting the policy committee presented There the flag policy for adoption by The su board, you know, thanks to go to patrick and the full policy committee for working on this Last summer and going through I don't know five or six Drafts and versions to try to come up with a policy that was viable Um, just to remind everybody the reason we have a flag policy and need a flag policy No matter what it is is that there was a case in the city of Boston And a building I used to work in where the city made a decision on what should be flown on an exterior flagpole And it was appealed all the way the spring court and the spring court turned down the city of Boston One of the huge reasons why because the city didn't have a policy And so they were kind of winging it and so this is the first time somebody said hey wait a second. That's not fair So we're gonna we need a policy And what's unique here is for my researchers that it's not one policy necessarily It's a policy that allows each district To establish its own policy. So we have A district where the high school and we have our district with elementary schools So they can be different within the guy and then they give The The process that we need to go through and and to evaluate and to make that decision. So As you know, I've had some feelings about it I'm just gonna stop right there just because we're on full board update and we are gonna then move on to the policy Do you have any other full board updates before we move on to the flag policy that So that's the big thing I wanted to report on um, I guess the other thing is that we're continuing to negotiate with the special educators and Um, I think there's a good sense of respect and understanding Um on both sides that we work together. We're part of the same team. So I'm I'm hurt by that Okay, uh, is there anything else you want to report about the full board meeting? So you have your strategic plans and hard copy For the board members tonight Patrick you should have one there too Those are also being distributed all the town clerks throughout the su and other public Um community locations to try to get them in folks hands Great Thank you. Yeah, nice going The only other thing I would add is that the full board is working in a committee around, uh, a new mentor mentee program mentor program for newly New board members to the su And I think they're hoping to have a final draft for the full board to review in february At the full board meeting so that we could start to implement that in march Um when many of our towns will be Voting on new board members and reorganizing Great, I think that'll be helpful Not like it because it's not only for new board members, but it's for all board members, right? It's helpful. It's all kind of keep organized Great Okay, uh, so if that's it for the full board updates, we will now move on to the flag policy Which I'm sorry that is fine because it was indeed part of the full board meeting So we have the flag policy in front of us, um For any discussion Regarding it, um I will say that um, my opinion is is that I do not feel that the flag pole is a venue To fight for any group or individual beliefs Um, I've been and I feel that um I've been paying close attention to flag polls since this policy has been brought forth And any time I drive by an american flag pole on the top of another flag below I feel like it instantly tells me what that entire institution believes in and supports um It really makes a I feel it makes like a bold statement for like all that are involved in the organization when I see it um I also feel it is important for to support our students freedom of expression and voice but I don't feel that the american flag pole is the right venue for that. I um, you know, I've It's been far too much time trying to figure this thing out. So Apologize for that and I um, I agree with that sentiment I do believe that the policy we're being asked to vote on tonight allows each district board including ours to set our own individual policy and that policy Um, can be exactly Reflect your sentiments or not. We're going to have to discuss it And for the meeting and all that sort of stuff. So that's the power of this current policy That we can do that And um to that extent, um Um, I'd like to move Yeah, I think that being a part of the policy committee, I think that was Why we went the direction we went because we could we couldn't necessarily agree on that. Um, so I think this gives each district their own Opportunity to make that decision themselves. Okay Right, I mean It's okay. I'll move the a 32 flag policy white river valley supervision union flag policy as written As written Yeah, as we've received it in the You Second set Uh discussion I have a quick question. Do we have a certain timeframe? We need to come up with our own policy within No, I mean what we'll do is you'll just eat by policy. You're going to need to designate Where banners or flags could be posted. So that will be a future agenda item Okay, so so it won't be until all the districts approve it And then we'll make it an actionable item here in the next month or two. Okay, so we're not Figuring that out tonight. We don't have any group that I know of coming forward in the next month Um with a request Um, maybe you can hold me out because I was going to make a motion to change to make an uh amendment to this policy that the Rochester um they're reading uh Therefore this policy of the White River Valley SEO that each district will then the supervisory and shall adopt its own flag policy consistent with the procedures here within the amendment would be that UD will only fly the American The United States and the state of Vermont flag on our flag poles And will designate a space within the building to hang flies that comply with the requirements herein That would be something that we agree on so that's an amendment that I Was going to make and I'm just confused as to This is an su policy. Okay. This is not an rs ud policy. Okay, you would adopt Not adopt the su policy. This gives you the opportunity to do that an upcoming meeting When we when we talk about what our policy will be that that will be relevant. Okay All right, so there is a um, yes for a discussion. Um on the um, it designated space within the building Um, this is within the building encompass the outside of the building Yes, we had discussed that Okay, that's a motion a second on the floor. Is there any further discussion? I think if if within the building consists of outside the building I think that's a little confusing Because that was the thing I was hung up on before that Yeah, I don't know I agree because I um Reading this it says within the building right Uh, so that's something I I don't love about the policy But I guess we can just decide on whatever we want after we adopt this because I like You know most of it. I just some of things some things like that I was confused about so that's curious to me So by us accepting this though, we still have the option to You to designate a location adapt our own and By interpreting that meaning within and without the building Well by flying on the fly pole, I would have implied that it means without outside the building as well Okay But the we have the freedom through this policy when it gets to what we're going to do on our side that we can define we're that Yeah The five holes are one thing and inside the school something and nothing in the outside or inside an outside We had can have that discussion And uh and decide and create our own policy All right, uh, is there any further discussion? All right, um all in favor All opposed Great motion pass Okay, um Are we moving on to celebration of learning or do we have somebody here to Matt Cooper is here to uh Answer any questions and have a discussion around the potential solar donation. If that's all right with the rest of you I'd like to go ahead and push them up on the agenda to now Great. Thank you Everybody have a chance to take a look take a piece from the quick notes there Thank you for having me everybody Um, and a pleasure. Hopefully you've all kind of take a look at this. Um So Deborah Aldrich is kind enough to donate some materials for a solar project that she had Currently replaced. It's a system that's Used but still fully functional So she's decided to donate the equipment. I've decided to donate my time installing it. Um the cost still Does come out to $6,154 as an investment Expected return on that investment would be six years Producing a little over a thousand dollars in electricity annually Um, that's given that the current rate that's paying is 17 cents a watt That's the gist of it from a financial standpoint. Um, there's a little Bit more to it than that in that there's um There's still engineering that's still going to be needed to be done on this and permitting in other costs associated with the project as well So we have a six year return on investment and the system should Have a life expectancy of about 15 years remaining on What about the inverter I see it's a four year life expectancy is that that's Correct. So it is used it should have about that left now. Let's give or take. Um, there are warranties that are transferable from the original owner. Um, so that's those 12 years on the inverter and we have uh, 25 full on the panels and optimizers themselves which they now have 17 years, I think it's left on them and a little back story so Hudson and sons we we did the the solar replacement of her system about a year ago Um, and the reason wasn't because the system was wasn't functioning properly or anything like that The reason was is that she had the backside of her barn Just a certain amount of square footer space that she could fit her solar panels on And she bought an electric car. So with that she she needed to provide more power for for that stanchion for that system And so we ended up Going with a higher output panel on that roof. So essentially she just updated her entire system And then she with that she really wanted Us to try and focus on on donating this to the school. That was something she she was adamant about and we told her that we would Like thankfully matt is willing to give his time and if there's anything I need to do I'm willing to give my time um And so, you know, we wanted to try and kind of make that Come to fruition for for debra Um, and I think, you know, she does an awful lot for the town too. So well, she sure does She's donating the she's donating the panels the inverter And the labor to He would be So what are the additional what's the cat estimate on the additional costs? So you know more about that. Yeah, so we're looking at First and foremost, there's green mount power green mount power costs associated with this which is going to be interconnection fees. Um That's most of it. It's usually between two hundred and fifty four hundred dollars for that We're looking at getting an engineer to come in They're going to have to look at the structure itself make sure that the building can hold the additional weight um, so that's going to be And I think who was it we who was either we have that conversation or somebody had already Looked at that the structure should be finally black river black river. I believe it was in the black river design report I can share that and that would say that would be very. Yeah, I can yes I'll send it to you. You tell me if it has great. Okay. How about that? Okay Yeah, so there's that um, I believe that's Conduit, right? We do have to get a master electrician on board as well to do the interconnection of the ac at the meter itself Got to get a permit that's going to be a small fee as well To get the inspection done But other than that, we should be covered And I do have so that price could potentially drop depending Was that because you have an allowance in in that 6154 for the engineer or no, I do not you don't that's okay. Okay. That's the additional cost. Yeah, okay I haven't reached out to one yet. I wanted to meet with you guys before I really Put it so that I mean that cost also includes conduit, right? Yeah, so that's all the materials labor to get it installed the only thing's not included So such as like running wire You know things like of that nature that we don't have with this donated system. Does that make sense to everyone? Yeah So we're all parking in let's say under eight thousand dollars. I would say so. Yeah And so we have with that that would be a return on It would pay for itself in eight years Basically Yep And potentially to be there for 15 to 20 years, you know um And then when you were here going to site visit you also Did a little observation of that is going to be a little more of a project that one's interesting It doesn't appear to be working Yeah, does anybody know where the credits for that are going? Yeah Okay, it appears to be on a separate service. It is feeding No, the summer it's feeding in summer. There's an existing. So yeah, that's not working Somebody's getting the credits. Um, where they're going. I don't know. Oh But they are feeding into a panel in the small shed out there by the fields And it appears to be on a separate service. So That's something I probably can't look into that and when you say that The concession stand there was a separate meter. Yeah, which is a separate meter. Yes So where that exactly goes? I don't know that's something you guys are probably going to have to look into Yeah As I don't think they're going to allow me to look into the bill. Was there anything I mean, what was it that you came up with around that that some of the issues there's Yeah, there's a good it's not the most efficient system back there. It's heavily shaded There's a few options. I mean you can cut trees to Pump production up as well as you know, you can drag it out through the field a little bit It is also a heavily overbuilt system It's got battery backup. That's not being utilized. It's a rather hefty unit for what it's doing Whether or not we still want to utilize that or if you want to look at It might be more beneficial to see if that could be sold if I'm being honest Because we're not really using that system to its capacity as to what about now if you I'm just Picking out loud if you're saying that there's a battery system on board Yep, we are discussing now at Stockbridge Central School being the town's emergency Um We are yeah center. Yeah Would that potentially have any value? It depends on what kind of equipment you're looking to run That would be looking to run. I mean Yeah, we have the generator, but I'm just thinking outside of that. Is there any value to having those batteries? you know I guess that's just something to think about but Robert was this system by any chance, I mean Installed around after Irene There was a system that was installed in Rochester. It's by the Count offices and its purpose was to basically provide Cell phone service because we we were Without without and I'm just wondering is is it possible that this has what do you mean cell phone service? You mean just power to come plug yourself on in to charge it or no no to provide Battery on the cell You could power the tower it basically had um facility for linking you to the Tristan, okay, so and and I was It wasn't a well thought out And I'm not even sure if it's it's functional over in Rochester, but it's possible that that's associated with um You know basically providing communications when there's we're we're In an emergency state and this the that equipment may belong to the statement So, I mean you might go into the cabinet see who There there must be some information about who installed it or whatever call them up and find out what they What they know about it Oh Question now if that is on a separate meter for that building potentially If those batteries were operating would it only be powering that building that's right now is that I mean now that that building is being used for computing community meals if we have a long outage those meals are no longer any good So the way I see it wired in there now I don't see it backing up any of the activity It looks to be like that's feeding the grid and that's it to be Giving backup power you'd have two circuits coming over and I only see one So there's the grid feed and then At the moment so it was like those batteries what It appears to me there's not one at the moment to collect power and then give it back to the grid at peak times Or you would have to dig into that cabinet to really know for sure if they're being utilized at all From what I can tell they're Who knows how long it's been there. So it's cool Your suggestion would be Sell it would probably be the best option if we have the You might make the most money out of it. Um That way It's pretty sophisticated system back there That's not really getting utilized Whether or not cutting the trees or moving that system forward at all how much electricity You're going to generate You're probably going to make more in the long run by selling the unit I would say Interesting Oh, we have to determine who it belongs to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Great for the cabinet's accessible where it's the key. Yeah, it is locked out there. Um Yeah, we can't get into it and we can take a look in there. Um, there's some information I have a couple pictures from inside it as well Um, I think northern reliability was the one sticker I did see as far as the company who may have installed it That's Are they still in operation? I know I did try to look them up and it appears To be operational though. I can't quite figure out their function within the state now They're not quite an installer, but Some sort of connection to the solar community So it sounds like a little mystery to to track down. Yeah I just um Deborah always is an amazing person And this is another example of her deep feeling for Serving and and helping and supporting the town of Stockbridge that she she loves and she's also the instigator instigator. She is the originator and the leader of the Stockbridge free community meals to go which is far as I know one of the first rural free community meal programs of its kind um Certainly in the northeast maybe in the country. There's a lot of models in this Serving the cities and in urban areas, but not so much in in Here so and statistics saying that 20 of the people in brahman have Uh food insecurity. So it's huge. So I'm sorry. I'm blundering out here, but um, Wouldn't would be a good time to send her a very nice. Thank you. Is it now or should we wait Patrick and tell it's all installed Or what do you what do you well? I think I think if we want to vote on it. I think She would be extremely pleased to hear that that we're that we're ready to move forward with it I would excite her. We warned this only as discussion. I did yeah for action Okay, um, because you hadn't discussed it initially But certainly could be born fraction next month. Okay, sure. And maybe we could dial in on the We could do some research on the architect cost just so we have a Yeah, whether we have we already have that handled or not. Yeah And I think That's what it was. I had a conversation with cricket And she didn't know yeah, and I think she was like, yeah, you're totally fine And if she would need her to stop and she would she would I think donate her services for that too Yeah Yeah, yeah, that's what she said. So yeah, great All right, does anybody have any further questions in regards to this uh future project? Sounds exciting Yeah, okay, great great. Thanks matt. Yeah, I appreciate it Excellent. All right. Well now we're move on to your celebration of learning the uh kindergarten Math number quarter. Yes, so Trick her a little bit. I shared that with you. You don't have to leave So, um one component in addition to a math block is number corner and it's something that happened K through six And this is an example of a straight kindergarten number corner It includes calendar calendar collector number sentences a lot of different components where students really work on their number sense skills And so it's just a great example. So you have an idea of what's going on in other ways that we build Number sense in our classrooms. That's probably a little different than when all of us went to school But if you want to go Here So it is february and today is third day So we have a new title so flip over take take one minute To think about what you think On our Determined The audio is very poor right now. Yes, unfortunately Are we going to get the audio or no because right now right now they're they're not talking Right now they're talking Yeah, there's no way for me to increase the audio that's to do with the actual recording Was it louder on your computer? I thought that I mean it was when I listened to it in my office, but Can you turn it up on the tv? Well, the tv is not playing the sound the owl is And that's I got you. Yeah Who's asked Good Okay, so you think there's going to be a color pattern this month. Yeah, and so how many dots do you think there will be? Two two and they will be what color blue. Okay, so we have one prediction of two blue dots I need two more predictions abby Two oranges, okay I see a silent agreement happening here And let's take one more prediction marily Two red dots So something I noticed that was in common about our free prediction was the number of dots He'll look your fingers to show me how many dots you think we're going to see Two so I see Most people are saying we're going to see two dots on our tower Why two Why did you choose two here's why did you choose two dots for your prediction? So we're thinking that maybe there's going to be a growing pattern of numbers That's what I hear is that we're going to grow our numbers. And so what number comes after one? Two two so we think that there will be two dots and I heard lots of different predictions about colors And I said two reds Blue and red and what how many are blue and how many are red? One is red and how many are blue And one is blue There's one red dot and one blue dot because one and one together makes two two Hmm So if we add this one to this two we have three dots now Based on what I have today, I know for sure what is going to happen tomorrow Why not marily tell me about it. Why are you saying no? I don't know for sure It might not be the same colors. Do we have a pattern yet? No, tell me about it. What do we need for this to be considered a pattern? What do we need this for this to be considered a pattern? Okay, so what I'm hearing you say is that we'll have red and blue and red and blue So that has to be that way to be a pattern You know, what makes it a pattern? What makes it that special word? What? Oh, it makes something make it a pattern And see where it repeats It has to happen over again for it to be a pattern and do we have anything that's happening over again yet? Yeah, red red See something that is happening over and over. Oh red red So I see red red Does something repeat there? Yeah, the same thing happens again So red Blue red Is this the same as this? Is it repeating? Yes Repeating would be something the same is happening and some of the same is not happening here This is not repeating yet We cannot predict What will happen tomorrow? Yes, it's something that repeats. It happens again Today is another wonderful moment of reading day How many are on this 10 grand? How many are on this 10 grand, Ollie? Two So who thinks they can lead us in counting how many days we have been in school? Can we be marley's echo? 20 When does an echo happen before or after? See? So we are being marley's echo. So marley goes first and we go after. Ready marley? 20 30 91 92 today is the 92nd day of school How many more days do we have until 100 days of school? What goes with two to make 10? So parker if you want to hit pause That's awesome You can absolutely I'll send it out, but it's a whole mother 12 minutes Um, so number of corners about 15 to 20 minutes So now they're going to do a number sentence to try and get to 100 which is a big celebration 100. Thanks school It's a very big deal in kindergarten Um, so they'll make a number sentence of how to solve or figure out based on the 10 frames that she showed you Or the docks that they've been collecting they also Will graph something based on the number days They've been in school as well And then they're collecting something and I believe it's unifix cubes this month but That they're working on counting and again, they build number sentences and practice with them again So that's incredible. I've been sitting inside a classroom. I mean, they're they're excellent. I mean They are that's a that's great On it. Yeah, and there's some big one. It's so So it's kindergarten in starbridge or rajas. Excuse me. It's kindergarten first grade in starbridge and there's currently quite the Competition of who can make a number sentence with a thousand in it Going on when you go into the one in starbridge They're all trying to like want to be but they really understand how to solve that They have figured that out and you can see that they're picking up on place value and some other things in the process look pretty cool Yeah, there's just so much in there. I mean that was just always a packed lesson right there I mean really And that's only 20 minutes the math class. So right and everybody has 60 to 75 minutes That's great I love the silent agreeing, you know, like You know, there's there's that space for that. There is it's great Yeah, wow, thank you. You're welcome That was wonderful Excellent any further comments on the celebration of learning Keep it coming. Yeah That's great Okay, well, then we'll move on to discussion items 11.1 Fourth draft of the budget 2023-2024 budget. So uh terrors with jihad tonight For their entire meeting. So I I can lead us in the budget and then lindy can pick up Where I miss she can rebound for me and put it back And so I would start by just saying in general I think as a board we're going to need some guidance here I believe where we currently sit with the tax rates We've got some tough decisions to make Moving ahead and part of that is Um One it's expenditures in general two. It's how do we want to use a lot utilize our revenues? Um, you'll see when we get to the revenue line that as administration We bumped it up since the last draft you saw to help cover some of the um Expenditure into the one time Our annual payment into the capital improvement funds was the thought process behind that Um, we've made some reduction in fte that we had originally proposed to increase In this current budget draft We did keep an increase in art But you'll see that the library position that we had increased we decreased back down again And in world language as well. So A big driving factor for our budget right now is that tuition's are up We've got the announced tuition And so you'll see in your function codes 1101 That out of the 139,090 dollar increase 91,356 is tuition to vermont leas. You do see an offset of 26,000 552 so that's in 561 and 562 in the 1101 regular ed instruction And so I share that to say your teacher salaries in your your elementary classrooms And in your outdoor and pathways is not the driving increase to the 139,090 You actually see that based on staffing versus budgeted Meaning who we've hired versus what we have budgeted to previously that line's actually down The big driving force they are in the budget certainly Is um health insurance as you can see that's up But and remember it health insurance is up 12% for everybody This year so we're combating that there's also an additional pair on To help provide social emotional supports So that's where that That 139 comes from and of course like I just said started with tuitions I say all that to say to you There's not a lot we can touch in there We've got to pay tuition And so that 139 90 is solid What number That's all your regular ed instruction, okay I'm just saying there's not a lot of wiggle room in that area Um art is still increased so you can see the difference there That one from point two to point four So the the call of difference is the difference from the last All right You're here. No That's this budget Yeah, right 20. It's what this is these differences are your current years budget versus what we're proposing to you right now It's not from the prior budget and this is draft four. Yes. Even though it says draft three on the top I just did not get updated. Okay. Tara's had a lot of work. I Understand jayme. What's the vermont lea? What does lea refer to? So those are public schools in vermont that you tuition to those local educational administration administration, but those are really the The tuition school And academy which would be under private correct, okay the You know the other area in your budget um As far as on the expenditure side that we have any wiggle room in Is You know, frankly if you go to way down to page seven We We did not we did not carry The high school heating cost in this current year's budget And we've been trying to figure out ways how to reconcile that big part of that was we didn't hire a teacher that we had budget So that covered the cost So I want to be clear to you that why you see in function code 26 10 6 2 4 Why are energy fuel oil? It's going up one fuel costs have increased Um, and we're budgeting for them to stay high at this point in time based on what we're currently locked in at The other pieces we're budgeting for the high school. So you'll see it's up 41 6 2 4 But you also see that it talks about offsetting savings Just the increase in heating fuel that we're predicting for next year And the fact that we're budgeting for the high school. That's why that lines up Because we're doing we're doing both for is what you're saying. We're keeping in we're keeping in what we currently set at And so it's a say Rochester votes to Take over the the building Then we'll we'll just have an influx 41,000 we'll have some extra. Yeah budgeted. Okay. Yeah expenditure up there. Yeah But it probably is prudent. Yeah us at this time. Yeah, definitely Yeah I'm just I'm just showing you where some of these budget where it's gone at just so you have a sense What's making up your 8% um, and then the other piece that we've budgeted for in here Is on the back page You'll see the 65,000 for capital asset funding so your bottom line from In this current draft number four versus what your budget was for 22 23 is up 359,118 dollars or 8.11 percent Okay So to go into the revenue page now There is still We could increase Your local revenue By increasing the money from the what we're predicting as a surplus Into more revenue and not putting it away As much away into Capital reserves. So that's one of the areas that we will need some direction on So you can see the previous year This current budget what we have in is 150,000 And revenues that were contributed to the budget from the prior year surplus Mm-hmm Right now we're only using 100 Now part of the philosophy of that was to start to pay that down Meaning that we're not having to rely on surpluses In order to have revenue to offset the tax rate because if we don't have that surplus Let's say this year we do we're expecting that we will again For one we have a teacher that we couldn't hire although we didn't We'll have a surplus I will tell you that at some point These surpluses are going to get smaller and smaller and if you look at the general surplus we have Within the operating budget It gets good fiscal management. We're not running huge surpluses in your district We're also tightening our belts when we need to Around expenditures So I would like to continue to pay that down because if one of these years we don't have a surplus We're in a hole We're going to be starting without that $100,000 in revenue Right, so the goal would be to start to pay it down. You can see we use 173.6 Then we went to 150 now We're saying 100 if we're feeling like the tax rate is such That this is not the year to do so for example when we get to the tax rate sheet You're going to see the cla Has made a big difference in tax rates versus Rochester and stock bridge This is an area as a board that you could Get the tax rate down. This is a decision you can make So other so You're saying putting that surplus towards next year's budget Otherwise we would decide There's an option to put it into one of our capital improvements So the voters have to approve that so what so what looks better to the voters is it Us just not giving us the 65,000 and putting it in our capital improvements. No, that's The 65,000 is in our budget to go that we're budgeting for capital improvements. This is that will be used No, this is we're putting it in as into a capital improvements account. Yeah. Yeah, this is an addition We have 169 thousand as a separate money that we can decide if we want to this proposes That would take a hundred of it and we put it back into our budget to help keep the tax rate lower and we could propose to the To the voters that we take 69 and put that into a capital reserve fund so we're we're putting A good amount of money and which is what we want to do But we the best of discussion we need to have the tax rate versus the capital Yeah, and we had decided that We we do still want to last time we discussed that we want to Have a land item in our budget for capital Expenses, so we the capital funds because it's it's a statement I think it's important that that's there. We are thinking about our buildings. We we want to continue Yeah, okay Yeah, yeah, yeah And When we get to the tax sheet, I mean one of the things you'll see as we talk about revenue in order for us to make a change on the tax rate One cent is 27,992 and 22 cents say that again 27,992 and 22 cents Is what we need to change in order to change one cent one cent on the tax rate So we can do that one of two ways, right? We can do it by decreasing expenditures or increasing revenue, right? And when you look at this tax rate Before the CLA We are actually down About six cents Right from last year. We actually reduced the tax rate by six cents But because of our CLA it still is increasing our individual town taxes And that is a story across the state of Vermont. This is not specific to this district at all Well, right you some you some the equalized tax rates down about six cents, which means That the two parts of that is Well, it's it's our expenditures offsetting revenue Then you you divided through by your equalized pupils and you come out with your education spending per pupil cost of 21,543 and 33 cents There's no penalty anymore right now on the books But we are still under the excess spending threshold You remember for a long time in our this district that was something that was really important We've actually widened that margin From a few years ago Because the cost of everything's going up And so You then you get your equalized residential tax rate because then you you Look at your yield And the yield's really good right now And the what reason the yield's really good is that we have a surplus in the ed fund And they're projecting to use that surplus to give it back As an offset in taxes Particularly the governor's talked about they knew the clas were going to take a hand right there's been a lot of property selling in the state and so they were hoping to Use the increase yield to help try to alleviate some of that pressure which it has in a lot of our towns Um with the positive yield The problem we have is is that when you get to each town and you look at the Equalized tax rate, which is 1.3 9 1 8 And you then divide through by your cla, which is at 87.01 in rochester Which is down 8.62 percent Are you guys following me on the tax rate sheet? You come out with a homestead tax rate of 1.5 996 Which is up Just over 8 cents Or 5.41 percent In stock bridge The cla took a 14.12 percent hit So you can see that 1.3 9 1 8 equalized tax rate you divide through by 75.98 percent Which is in rsu. That's our lowest cla I have one other town that's just a little higher, but you stock bridge is my lowest Um And you come out with a Homestead tax rate of 1.8 3 1 8 Which is a 22 cent hit Or 3.73 percent That's 13.73 percent. So as a board It would be really helpful at this point in the game For you to give us some parameters for administration to work at for our next proposal Which would hopefully be a final one. Yeah, or close to it and What was really helpful for me in first branches, for example, they said We need an expenditure budget under 10 percent, which we have here already They were adding pre-k for the first time. So their budget was up significantly And then they said but we also need a tax rate under 10 cents We're not going to get under 10 cents here without Cutting a bunch of programming right Um But if you could narrow in for us where you're feeling comfortable around tax rate Especially at your higher level tax rate and stock bridge that then Gives us some parameters to come back to you with a few proposals um It is quite scary though that to try to change a tax rate by one cent is All 28 thousand dollars that has to be cut That's the or revenue that needs to be put in and I mean the revenue that we have from our projected surplus with Two cents is all it would all we would be able to do on That's top one. I was feeling more optimistic two weeks ago, but that's before all the announced tuitions came in Because everybody I yeah, I thought we were going to be able to tweak the budget some increase in revenue I was not expecting tuitions to come in as high as it did some of you're receiving districts raised You know, they're they're well over five percent right there at six seven percent And so I I wasn't expecting that right I didn't think we were going to have to be combating 93 thousand You take that off now, you know That's that's four pennies right so three and a half pennies and then you add some revenue and we're you know We were at 17 cents last year at last month My goal was to get that tax rate. My hope was around 12 cents is where I thought we could get it But not now I didn't expect the increase in the tuition to be as high as it was Well, how do we think you know to give just to give the board a sense like The announced tuition I ran off tear would have the exact figure. Do you have it lindy? Thank you Which you have students going to is 21 000 31 That that was a significant jump. They were under 20 last year Yeah, those and those are numbers we have to pay a man. Yeah, that's I mean I shared that with you because you have you have 11 Students at Randolph Jamie the uh, yes, please the increase in the Last budget we saw which was beginning in december dated in this one Primarily for the reasons you spoke to those tuition increases that we do not control Which is over 127 thousand dollars plus something that we did control and we said we wanted you to increase So we have a 65 thousand dollar building reserve fund that is set aside as a building financial building block when we Were in need it So that was the other piece of it And those added up the total increase in expenditures around 114 thousand dollars You then looked at how we could adjust our revenue And you did it through the carryover and Increasing the carryover and you did it through um, an item you call educational spending revenue and those two increases in our revenue budget for fy 24 Is 114 thousand So I read that to say that yes because of these tuition increases Our expenditures are going to have to go up seriously 114 thousand, but we've offset that With increased revenues are the same amount And where I need guidance on is when we go to the tax rate Sheet which we've been looking at Of the one that says fy 24 estimated tax rate When you look at the upper left hand corner The total expenditures have been increased by that 114 thousand dollars from our last budget go around and for reasons we've been told And the frustrating thing is those tuitions we can't can't control But when you look at less offsetting revenue The entire 114 thousand dollars of increased revenue that is in this I call draft three or draft four budget Were not totally increased included in offsetting revenue only 31 thousand dollars was and so what happened to that other 83 thousand dollars That was going to offset our increases. That's my question because if That's your act 68 spending. Yes, that's the end fund money. Yeah your tax stop right But why isn't why aren't we credited for that here? Because that your act 68 spending is your three three million eight nine five eight nine six Yes, eight nine three six zero seven Is your it's your local revenues It's all the buddy title funding It's all those other revenues. It's the hundred thousand dollars. It's your interest It's the tuition you collect All of that makes up Well, I've got on here on that eight nine three six the revenue budget grand total all revenues Right on this uh, it has to balance. Huh, it has to balance right so Do we get that 83 thousand dollars additional act 68 revenues, but your taxed on it But we're but we're not allowed that to to utilize that to determine our tax. No No, all you're doing is saying that the ed fund you need that additional money To pay for your your you're going to Montpelier and saying we don't have we need an additional 83 thousand That's why you're that's what you're taxed on That's why that number is what's divided through by equalized pupils That said this is where I'm Sorry, but I this is huge because for stock bridge. We're getting screwed my opinion and The reason is that we're going to the state says we need to ask for 83 thousand The state's going to do that to balance our budget But the taxpayers have to pay a tax rate that assumes that we're not going to get it and that's what I don't understand Everybody's following me. You're saying we go to the state say hey, we need from the ed fund another 83 thousand of the balance and they go, okay, then Well that increases your equalized pupil spending bill That that that 83 thousand became part of your part of your act 68 because it's all it does is offset our spending That doesn't add to the spending You know your revenue and your expenditure is total the same. Yep All right, so anytime you increase your budget your act 68 revenue is going to increase unless we have a different revenue line for Right, we're not able to there's not more The only local revenue we were able to put into this offset having 31 thousand dollars that came from the surplus. There was no other offsetting local Revenue that we were able to put in there to reduce Where we start the calculation essentially So bill, let's say you took that hundred thousand out. Yeah, your act 68 spending is going to increase by a hundred thousand So instead of it saying you take your budget expenditures Instead of it saying less offsetting revenue of eight nine three six zero seven that would say seven nine three six seven And your act 68 spending would say three nine nine five Eight nine six and that's what starts the calculation that three nine nine five eight nine six is then divided by your equalized pupils And that's how you get your education spending per cost per pupil By folks following. Yeah. Yeah, that's why that local revenue would decrease in a penny So let's say if you bumped the offsetting revenue and you put another 50 000 of your surplus in that would say nine four three six zero seven And the as the act 68 spending would say three eight four five eight nine six And that three eight four five eight nine six is what's divided through by your equalized pupils Yeah, which changed slightly Wow. Yeah, it's well, there's just a dramatic change in these last two budgets and uh The numbers I ran are as far as tax impact for the third of our residents that pay by their property assess value versus income sensitivity is is We're going to have to think about and uh, this See we've we're in a difficult position because Our moral Purposes to take care of the kids and make sure they can get Be the best they can be and at the same times we have to Make sure that our taxpayers are what we're doing is is reasonable And uh, we're this is a real potential breaking point. We've got to kind of think about how um, what we need to do on that and and I don't have any clear answers on that other than we were Looking at something very difficult. I'm not sure. I'm surely not ready to give you a Or suggest to the board strategy Jamie at this point. Well, I Maybe we could discuss the um The surplus because that is a place to We that we do have revenue. Uh, we have discussed the uh, extreme need to be able to put that money into on the capital Fund Uh, we have made provisions in our budget to be able to fund Uh, capital assets fund um Maybe we should I'd like everybody's opinion about uh putting more if not all of our Surplus projected surplus money back into the budget. You're we're essentially giving a fact to the taxpayers Um, just like they're talking about doing in the ed funding modifier, right? Yeah, 65 million dollar surplus. They they're giving it all back through the yield. Yeah Do we feel comfortable with What we have in our capital improvement funds now to move forward with e i as well as having Surplus in that fund for other capital improvements Right, you know that that's a question and then the other thing that my concern is Not personally, but I know You know, there's going to be stoppage residents that look at this budget and what's going to stick out for them Is that 40 something thousand to heat the high school? You're not going to like that Especially when we agree as a board over a year ago that we wouldn't do that right and we did Change our position recently with the updated Information from the repurposing committee I think the other thing that The realization that this is ours Right now and and if we don't put money in it To heat it and the town doesn't want to take it then we've got a bigger bill to deal with Million dollar Oh, absolutely. I don't disagree. I just yeah, I hear you exactly that this budget could potentially Set us back and and and we could be moving in a backwards direction after this merge And that's not anything. I think any of us want want to happen Um, I hear you so that's that's the concern. I don't want to give anybody any leverage to Start a I understand So I just quickly added up of the current reserve funds all three of them And we have a from what tariff said and we would need this clarified by her, but it was um 198 000 On that we have in the all of the reserve funds at this point on And in this budget we are discussed we are proposing putting 65 000 dollars in And so with the eai project we would not We won't have a lot. We won't have a lot, but we will yeah, yeah, so definitely um So that's not including the 65 or that's not including the 65 that's in this budget. This is what we currently have That's a little worrisome Yeah um And I I hear that because stock rich has always been very uh capable of funding a reserve fund um, and rochester wouldn't previously on Traditionally returned it all back to the tax payers But that wasn't the right answer Um, what is the heating cuts to the high school? I just I'm not down right now. We have about four. What was it 40? So the it includes the on elementary and the high school and we should see savings Now that that well that that is to pay for the heating in Stockbridge elementary in your high school It's remember the increase the dinner rock correct me for all the differences The heating cost of the high school It's more than 41 000 because you've got some saving your rochester elementary You're no longer budgeting for heat. Okay, so it Right, you're budgeting pellets and you're budgeting program. Yeah, is this new? Is this the high school? No, this is stockbridge elementary and The high school and rochester elementary has been pulled out of this number because we have put pellets in In lieu of pellets and propane pellets and propane and lieu of Um, so that's where the increased in propane It's 60 000 dollars roughly that I mean, is there a way that That high school, you know with the surplus can we take a portion and Put it in the stock bridge reserve fund just to say hey stock bridge. We're not So, you know, I don't know like just by moving money. We can ask the voters to vote. We can split it around Yeah, what's that? Oh, he was just asking if if any of the reserve fund could be allocated specifically to the stock bridge On reserve fund and we do have a stock bridge river and we do a Rochester reserve I'm just thinking I see the value in heating the high school. Don't get me wrong. I think we need to I just think that We don't want to give any residents from stock bridge any leverage that How much again how much money we talked about about 60,000 60,000 for the high school so that's between 55 and 60 Terrorists here. She tells you exactly So with the max that's the max is two sets But that that How about the the um portion that the repurposing committee is This is for next year Is there any Where else to look for specifically holding over the the Rochester building? I feel like we had a conversation about looking to find ways to raise money And I I feel like it was with the repurposing committee Did anything come of that? Yes, there I'm here. Hey, JC. I'm here the captain strengthman from the repurposing committee So we're part of the the heat task force That was composed of members of both select boards and The school district as well as the repurposing committee to date we've reached so so we so Who bills had proposed dividing the responsibilities in three different Towards three different groups and the repurposing Committee was to raise around 20,000 in three months. We've raised 10,535 dollars and we have three Activities that are scheduled to happen in 2023 so We we we met Uh recently with the task force and it was my sense that there was assurance from bill and from um any that The the heat will be covered this year from the other two sources as well So we were dividing it basically 2020 All right this year for that for the current year For this year because we were told that that's the our our side is going to be budgeting it For next year last year the the Rochester trustees paid an additional 15,000 over top of What the Rochester town pays as part of being you know one of a two-town school district Okay Well, I guess it's possible to look at that model again going forward This relegated model because I hear exactly what you're saying and a budget Of an increase in Stockbridge's tax rate by that much Is dramatic I think putting the responsibilities solely back onto our side next year is moving in a backwards direction I think so too and um I I I also am glad to have this conversation about the three-tiered approach and Also hearing the information about the the fundraising success and showing that the repurposing committee has a lot of Has some support And I think that's a thing that I think it's helpful to bring that up and highlight instead of just think Oh, what are we going to do? How are we going to cut our budget? There's other ways to kind of grab from the community A lot of people are behind the the high school repurposing concept So I don't know how much the school board can kind of Collaborate but That's true, but you know and I in principle we've all agreed to work together towards the An outcome that was going to benefit everyone and we're we're devoted to that I was listening to this conversation and Uh, it doesn't appear to me that the increase in Stockbridge taxes has a whole lot to do with eating the high school I I don't disagree, but they're not going to look at it that way Very important when you present this information that it gets presented in context absolutely So it is two cents and that is what we're discussing with Putting more revenue back in is is two cents So I hear you With you on this line item. I also know the importance of of Keeping the high school And this is going to come to an end. I don't know when the vote is on it but I know that would things are happening with our next agenda item is to talk about the uh, The sale and and and where we are with the phase one and phase two Things are moving forward. Um, yeah, they really are Maybe we should look at that look for next year at at the heating committee Going back with a Approach that doesn't solely put it on the back of the Rochester Stockbridge school budget Yeah I think so Okay All right, um and as far as Increases on and in programs that have been made. I mean I look to our administration to provide programs For our kids and if I use whatever you guide us on of what our needs are for On our teachers. That's what I support Because I mean I just watched a teacher do incredible work with these kids and that's what I want to support So, um, I don't I don't want to put any I don't want putting comments on that part of the budget. I would like you You know, I think that's why like just giving us an overall Sense of the direction you want to go and I heard you bill not want to give direction But we're gonna look to take action By a special meeting right after your march meeting Yeah, yeah We do have some more time though then you do but I just think we got a bigger problem I don't want to take a month We want to work right and so I know I'm I just think this is your fourth draft Starting the narrow in where you'd like us to be would be helpful for us Yeah, I think we need to We need to get that tax rate down at 22 cents is It's hard to swallow. I I think that Removing some of the the costs of the heating of the high school. I think is of an approach I do feel my opinion is to go ahead and put more of that The fund about the the fund balance surpluses in And what was that that was that what it was it's 169 They've allocated 100 right now. So we have 69 to go into a reserve What to ask the the but I'm saying I I suggest we tap into that more So why couldn't rather than this say you call it 60,000 For the high school, why don't we just call it a third of that? Like the system that we have in place right that's what us and then Rather than 100,000 if we have 169 What would it be if we out of number 20 30 you're still would like to put Have a little bit a little bit into the Okay, what is the rest of the board feel about that part of the Revenue and I'm gonna serve once I say that again Pat is recommending that we do indeed Put more revenue in back into the budget, but we don't do it all week. We Keep so there's 169. We're right now. It's proposed at 100 of it Right Why don't we go 125 130 in that way that we are at least getting 30 to 40,000. That's still going into the capital improvement fund We decreased the 60,000 for the high school heating to 20,000 and hopefully we can continue the same relationship that we have right now with the um The repurposing committee and and the select board The tower and and the trustees you bill you have to speak to the trustees because that's the other third Yeah Because they're talking about a third a third a third so That's we're talking about the the the rochester um trust funds That are under the responsibility of the the school board. We're not talking about the stock bridge The trustees of public funds funds on this particular case, which is a high school heating challenge The trustees have been contributing to The budgets the school budgets As long as i've been a resident of But in stock bridge and we do it in a number of other ways too. So I also feel you're talking about those other Funding other things other than the high school Are you well? I'm just talking I'm talking about the school trust funds not the the rochester Public trustees of funds because I don't think they're you can count on them for next year They feel that they did their thing last year And I understand that you know, we're in a process which I guess we're going to speak to in the next agenda item but um It's a process that those of us, you know working to realize this Are not in full control of because much of it has to do with the state's process and the state's timing As jamie can attest right okay, well, I um Does that give you direction? Okay, so it provided jamie with direction and our administration with What our feelings are on this. Thank you for this presentation. Um, I know it is hard work and so one question, um the Revenues there's just like the revenues can they be targeted between the two towns in other words having If the revenue source is coming from one town Is dedicated to that one town or is it basically going to the same The entire and I would caution the board from even talking that way. Yeah, no just gonna clarify that Okay, uh, we'll move on No further comments. Let's move on to 11 to sale of the Rochester high school building update on two rivers out of peachy phase one and two a brownfield study and additional specific from Rochester high school repurposing committee So Catherine's with us and and Catherine is um Very articulate when it comes to all the others that have been happening So Catherine I can fill in any gaps, but I'd love to turn it over to you Well, okay, um I'll try I'll try to be articulate um So the just to go back to what this environmental assessment why we're doing it Has to do with the uh national environmental protection program or policy Which is called the nipah, which is an essential piece of being eligible for federal money And that's been broken down into phase one phase two and then phase three We have completed phase one the consultants were in the building briefly Uh in october and their reports have just been finalized and submitted jamie got a copy. We the town of rochester got a copy And jamie And sarah right from two rivers vick and dick robson myself We have a new um interim project manager lyrs lis curry. We all met to discuss Um, essentially the results of the report and what the next steps would be So there are few and and phase one is essentially a desk review with a brief onsite Assessment and so we we dealt with hazardous materials. We dealt with brownfield and The results I I thought were not too discouraging. I don't know how you felt Jamie, I think the greatest issue that just came up from the last meeting has more to do with the flood plain the floodway was pretty much resolved that issue by property boundary adjustments and um Duvall king is in the process of doing a survey for that to happen With respect to um the phase one we have some hazardous materials But it didn't seem too critical there's some lead paint on two doors that go off the what was formerly the library that large space in the high school and uh There was some mold and most of that will be remediated in the actual renovation process They found it in some paint in the oh and PCBs were also included That's not normally a requirement But the state wanted us to do that And PCBs were found in the eastern portion of the building Paint on the doors the windows and the cinder blocks adhesive But there there wasn't enough. Uh, there wasn't a high enough level to kick in the federal regulations Uh and d ec which is the department of environmental conservation They're not going to require us to take any action on PCBs at this point the asbestos I think the report that was submitted was 2019 and they didn't they weren't happy with that report, but then jamie Stated in our meeting. There was a more recent Asbestos survey and that was done in 2021 and he submitted that to sarah So I guess they're going to digest that right jamie Yeah, I I have not submitted that yet. It's on my to-do list I submitted the um mold Inspection of the mold. Okay. Thanks for that So then the other thing is the brownfield. We know we have a 10 thousand gallon underground fuel tank Which is going to be removed. Uh, there was other concerns about uh oil leaks from a compressor And then which has surprised me potential contamination From any surrounding properties. So I don't know what all that is going to mean Right now the reports have gone to a d ec again. That's the department of environmental conservation And they will then respond to those reports. I work plan will be the next phase Uh, and and then we go into testing which is phase two that's onsite sampling and Phase two there That's when the actual mitigation Efforts will be identified. So the money for this We're hoping will all come from various state agencies the town of rochester Has submitted a brello application and just today finally d ec Responded uh to pat harvey's request for a meeting because it's got to be a worn meeting. I think she's done she did that Wow Back in september. So we finally got a response today and after the meeting That we had on the third Where liz curry really stressed the Floodplains as an essential issue moving forward We were all under the impression that the floodway was the big deal. In fact, we were told that the the no-go For federal money it was having the property located in both the floodway and the floodplain We're resolving the floodway portion of it and now we're focused on the floodplain the consultant architect greg gawson's put out several suggestions for mitigating Where the building took water in and uh, and liz curry said we absolutely have to have All of that specifically done by an architect and then get approved. So right after that meeting Dick gawrobson put out An email to greg gawson's and he responded also today saying that he will be available for any part of this project that we want him to Uh to be involved with so that's a good thing and then um on friday the 10th and lindy had the meeting to email you about this On friday the 10th floodplain manager for our district. His name is john brooker cambell is coming to do an onsite of Look see at where the you know how the auditorium took in water We're working with him to get whatever mitigation plan We decide on approved so And here's here's the other thing We learned the other day, which was It's just one more piece of this journey That even though the neffa is standard and all the protocols are send standard each federal funding agency For instance, we've been working with um usda Each one can put their own sort of filter on on whether they accept the results of the neffa So that's just a whole nother layer layer of bureaucratic stuff that way we have to go through And that's what this whole process has been bureaucracy bureaucracy bureaucracy And I wondered sometimes if we had known in 2020 february three years ago this month What this would be if we would have started it with such naive enthusiasm But I think at the heart of all of us is that we really do believe that this building is an asset an asset to not only Rochester but to the community and in fact it has a lot of captured energy in it already Materials have already been used to build it It's already a space, you know if you were to build that building today It would cost you so much more than what the quotes are for renovating it And what we hope for is that it's going to be a building that'll be used Not only by the school system, but by the whole quintown area So I hope we can keep that positive outlook and not just feel like oh, what a burden, you know Heating the high school if because it was built on a slab if we don't heat it We risk the slab heating and we really risk losing the entire building so Any question That I will be joining the walkthrough on the 10th as well Um, and I think pat harvey's going to join the walkthrough as well and pat's on tonight as well And she's been attending these meetings as well as a representative from the Rochester select board the um, I would let the board know that Rochester is due for aoe pcb air quality testing um In the next six months and my sense is based on the fact that we own that building That they're going to probably do air quality testing in there. I have not been able to confirm that with the agency um, and so Even though that there's not a requirement to do air quality testing based on the phase one If you hear me talk about the high school being tested that would be why is because it's it's required by the agency as part of that legislation Okay Thank you. Is there any other questions for discussion? Let's see. I think in some of the The paperwork coming back and forth. Uh, you had mentioned Why we're having to delay having a purchase And perhaps you could Yeah, sure. So so We had thought earlier that we were going to be able to hold an acquisition vote in March but Because we don't have all the results all the information and we won't for a while yet Uh, that it was premature. We we've always committed to the fact that the voters of Rochester will be fully informed and so Sarah Wright did a revised calendar Uh on that and she said that the soonest we could even hope to vote would be in august because we really have to do the phase two testing and before Doing the testing sampling the work plans got to be developed. So those are the next two stages and Uh, I think did I uh, Jamie, did I send you the four page report that's going to be printed in the rochester town? report Okay, and I asked I hope that that got forwarded to the stock bridge town report two There was the I asked them to reach out to you for that I'm I if you asked me and they I mean, I'm sure I sent it on Uh, I can go back because that was several weeks ago now But uh, I'm pretty sure I sent it out. So that that was a That didn't have as much information as we have now gotten this week Right because we're talking about two meetings that happened on january 31st and on february third with Sarah Wright to kind of go through these reports and Really break them down and develop the next steps. So Um And as soon as that gets all totally clarified that will be Put into writing not just a verbal report to you at the town But something in writing so that people can really review it But but the important next step that my takeaway was on january 3rd I mean on february 3rd, uh, was the fact that we absolutely have to nail down this floodplain issue Because if we go ahead and do mitigation steps to prevent the water from coming into the building where it entered During iran and that doesn't change the equation Because the building still exists on the floodplain. We need to know that and we need to know what to do about it Excellent, and I believe uh steps are being taken to To change the property line. Yeah, but that's that's different. We thought that was going to be the floodway That's the floodway and now we're finding the floodplain It was it's the first time it's going to be a very important meeting. Okay Okay Yeah, friday's meeting is going to be very important. I'm glad that both jamie and pad are going to be there Uh, we're going to learn a lot of information. I hope from uh, the floodplain manager again his name is john brooker cambell And uh, we also invited grace vincent who is the environmental uh, the state environmental officer Who in late june was the one who notified us that hey this building is located to both the floodplain and the floodway And that's a non starter for federal money Which was pretty shocking to learn at that stage Uh, but we were told at that meeting that included josh hamford, uh, and uh, Nate cleveland and grace vincent that if we You know deal with getting the floodway The property the property out of the floodway that we need to that we We should go forward and we have done that we can we keep moving forward The thing that I have found that has been a little frustrating is that in dealing with all these agencies It seems though information is kind of siloed With uncertain agencies so that they give you information related to what they do But that's not all the information that you're going to need I wish there was a roadmap that we had that we were given at the start of this But anyway, we're we're working on it Can imagine excellent. Thank you very much for the update. Greatly appreciated. Yes. Thank you I appreciate it. Thank you guys. All right. Um So we have board development study chapter three Does anybody want to take five minutes on it? We want to push it off again to the next meeting I wish we had dinner beforehand like the other superintendents do I think I think this will be quick. I think this is going to be a quick chapter I'll think we should push it. I mean, it's just getting Okay, because the next chapter chapter four is new board And we want to make sure Time consuming Jessica. I think the most important thing This is all about the superintendent Right And then if we have time to discuss What we've read And that doesn't to visit how much time we have This chapter three was uh, the superintendents. What what does it take to be a great superintendent when I Read it I felt very good about that, but it also reflects a lot of those Attributes of a good superintendent are also in my mind a good attributes of a good effective board Now now superintendents are responsible to us, but we need to be Far-sighted we need to be able to to build a culture of respect and trust And and build from from and have strength in what we're doing and and Oversee what's going on in a capable way and so doesn't our superintendent And the relationship between boards and superintendents I read this book is so true We don't trust or he doesn't trust us Um, or it doesn't believe that we know what we're doing or could care less Sharing a moral compass. Yeah, I share that compass that Falls apart. So I'm just wondering if anybody wants to share any Insights that they got from that chapter, uh with us. Well, I um, You know what stuck out is on page 62. It said, uh they're doing it they're talking about a specific superintendent and um, the practice To ensure that prior to any action the board is fully engaged in form Do you always make sure the board understands the why of the program before they're asked for approval and I started this I think this is very important. I think that we are doing this So thank you And patry you were saying something about the moral Yeah, I think just being in line the school board being in line with the superintendent as well as other districts that we all share the same beliefs and What we're trying to accomplish One thing that the su board has done in the past year is in the evaluation of the superintendent I think for the first time we really had A development of goals That the full su board reviewed as well and We're in sync and it was very this wasn't kind of just general stuff. These are very specific goals and the su board voted To be responsible as well to help Um, the superintendent as well as some other things that the su board wanted to do. So it's We're kind of putting into practice Um, I think what the the court governor's books was talking about I agree and I can definitely tell that pat Has read his book because look at how messy it is. Oh my dog ate my kidding him So that's that's a good that's a good sign when you see it looks well used It's not like the dog ate his homework. It made him look like he did his homework Well, I wanted to say I mean I kept in reading the chapter. I was like, wow, jamie does this Oh jamie does it like it was really cool to see and it made me what kept coming up for me was Man, we got to talk about those goals again Because I don't feel like we really like you know as far as this chapter goes. I'm like we could do more work on being more cohesive and and focused on the goals and and and thinking about them and kind of have the more solid Uh as a as a board because you know, I was on the committee But so we had all our big dreams and talks and but we haven't spent a lot of time as a full board on them So that's what came up for me Keeping them forefront and what we're doing. Yeah, exactly. Pat's kind of piggyback on that like I noticed, uh There was one district example that they they were actually holding three Um board retreats a year Yeah, and I I could see the value in that. I feel like we we got a lot done in our retreat like as we said previously I think it's uh We don't necessarily have this agenda in front of us and we kind of are free flowing and I think it's around table discussion. Yeah, I think it really allows us to to connect and to find that moral compass that we're talking about and And the values that we all share. Yeah Which I think Improves this You know this format Yeah, I like the idea of the dinners before the meetings too That's what you're talking about from the It was one of the examples one of the superintendents was holding dinners with some of the staff and the board members It was it was kind of nice and I know we used to do that when we were in all those merger meetings Because we they would take so long. I remember um It was bruce um used to you know pay someone to just bring a bunch of pizzas Um and that way nobody was focused on being hungry or needing this or needing that it was more casual And we were able to have some more conversation So when it's time, you know that we have maybe some of these retreats or maybe ahead of a lengthy meeting like this Things to keep in mind to kind of you know, keep the energy going or or start it off on the right foot kind of thing, you know Yeah Building full of meals out there Good meals too well 30 years ago the Rochester board had a retreat at the fire nice restaurant nice No, it is about I mean we joke about it, but it actually is a pretty valid idea for You know lengthy meetings. It's a camaraderie Yeah, great Wonderful. Well, that was actually a nice way to end the meeting Yes, keep going on the stock bridge Oh, right. We do have one more. I put it on. Sorry. I put it on my other agenda here. I switched agendas Okay, excellent. Um, if there's no further discussion on the um our uh book club book then let's move on to uh, just quickly that um, the stock bridge town planning committee is in the process of revising their town uh plan Which has to happen by law. I don't know how many how often on this is the year they're doing it. Um and So they we're looking they're looking to update the um Education part of their town plan um I would recommend um that somebody volunteer to to go to their meetings and to be a part of Helping them to revise the uh education Update, you know the the education part of the town plan Um, I know that they were looking maybe for some specific statistics. So with the support of the administration to to um to do that That would be my recommendation They'll have a comment on it Yeah, I think um I was part of the process back in 2012 Um, and we reached out as the chair of the planning commission reaching out to the school committee at that time And we didn't have our set. We just had our separate. Um And um for whatever reason we didn't get any response and so I remember writing the chapter and basically kind of winging at what I felt was the best interest of The town of stock bridge relative and it wasn't me that went through the whole planning commission and the select board And we had public hearings up and down and we had a survey um all those sorts of things but I see as an opportunity for our set to Not only guide but to provide You know, the concrete suggestions Um, both in the text which needs the information needs to be updated and made more accurate but also in Three things the their goals for the education of uh, the the town wants to support the policies they want to support And what recommendations they have going forward for the next eight years And I'd love to be able to do this is this is a bread and butter. What do we think? Um, so I was wondering whether you know, um, I'm willing to take the lead on this but it'd be great to be joined by a member from Rochester and another member from Stockbridge and we could zoom it whatever the case is and come up with some concrete edited chapter that we could then return to this board and and I don't think it should take us a long time, but um I think it's important for the board to kind of weigh in on it Yeah, me too. I was having when I got the email I was like, I'm not sure how to respond to this because I have a lot of personal ideas of what I think You know First pool and stock, right, you know a lot of them and that's why I was interested in being on the goals committee So I I hesitated to respond because my response is very personal and were a unified district So I think it seems appropriate for the goals committee. I know that Ethan is gone now I don't know if someone else would want to join and kind of revamp the goals committee and Kind of what you know with some other meetings with the purpose of developing this language Instead of just having one person go to the meetings, you know on behalf of the full board I feel like we need some more input Oh Yes Bill what what's I mean in the text that you wrote for the previous plan I mean what what sort of information information are they looking for I mean are they saying Trying to plan whether or not they'll have a school Here or yeah, I'm curious to answer. Well, they go back around a lot of it is history The history of education in Stockbridge is fascinating. We used to have 17 schools Yeah, okay And and how they wouldn't let down we used to have a middle school high school until it burned down And uh, where was that so there's some history that needs to be updated then they have statistics about enrollment and statistics about Performance student performance goes way back on or you should take a look at it. Uh, you'll go what? So those things have to be updated Back then we had a survey One of the survey questions was our statements was I believe having a local school strengthens our community that was one of the statements And overwhelmingly those surveyed and it was statistically very high got agreed with that Well, that helps drive A lot of things about having a local school another one was It makes sense for parents to have a choice and where to have their kids go to school You know after and that was popular. Well The planet commission has done their own survey and we haven't gotten the results yet But one of the things will be used for us to understand what the results they've got on any questions or statements having to do with education The recommendations are not it's not like a full-blown It's strategic plan. We've got a strategic plan, but there's some basic things that are important and One of them is the importance of having of having a quality public education and you'd want the town And it's education chapter do We want the best we can get and So we can help shape exactly what that sounds like or feels like So anyway, it's it's late, but I think it's worthwhile and justine I'd love to join you and I'd love to have somebody from Rochester to join us and And see what we can craft this out. Uh, lindy will need some update and information on data the planet commission is having a public hearing on the 14th on valentine's day at the meeting house And I plan to go just to listen in. I don't think they're going to present much I'm hoping they'll present results to the survey but Um, I think we can get a lot done justine. Can't we in in march? I mean, excuse me in february and have something to show for for our March meeting Yeah, I think a lot of the legwork is already done from the goals committee I just think tailoring it to this and maybe um, you know more specific to What the goal is for The planning commission so Yeah, I don't I think it would take maybe a meeting and then bringing it back to the board obviously Um to make sure it's sounds well What this is an official board committee that you're talking about The goals committee goals committee goals committee. Yeah, it was uh, yeah Yeah, there's volunteers that just want to work together and bring something back to the board. It makes meetings. Um A little easier to conduct because whether it's an official Uh board sanctioned committee you need an agenda in minutes and Right meetings and so um public access, but right. I you know, I'd recommend that that maybe some some Maybe bill you would want to volunteer and maybe anybody who has any input would could talk to bill about Okay, but that would be my suggestion. Um, what is that theme appropriate? Yeah, I mean if it's just just eating bill, I mean if we get to three that it's certainly looking like a committee Stephen so we're not a committee anymore. That's why I brought it up I guess I've you know, I've won for some volunteered and then an input was given to them Yeah, you know, maybe justine volunteers and bill gives input to justine I'll give input to bill That's very helpful, um just as a note on the subject Of committees, I guess it's been determined that the um The repurposing committee is in fact a a town Yes, so we've had to switch To having it as a public a war and public meeting in minutes Yeah But for a while people thought it was a school description, and I had to clarify Yeah, I know Okay, yeah Okay, that would be great. I'll be back in touch. Okay. All right, so We're now on to new hires and resonations Okay, that's great and Oh part time custodian That's a higher that's a higher I'm good Uh question, uh, Mary Ellen Willard has just started Okay, so, um, how does that work with the contract So the contract cleaning crew has not been able to continuously staff the bill. So we've been kind of We've broken that. Yeah that contract is Yeah, so She started last week Wonderful and it's support steps. You don't have to take you don't have to take action on our support staff Wonderful Okay, uh, then is there any public comment? Probably no public Okay, great. So our uh next meeting is going to be Tuesday March 7th At 5 30 at the Rochester campus and google meets Any future agenda items? Um, can be forwarded to me. We've got the well, we've got the budget budget. Um, we also have Maybe a solar update. Yeah, we had solar for action And I think 11.2 is going to be back on the agenda for next month as well We'll have that update around what we find out this Friday. Yes. Yes, please update and chapter four. Yes Great Now it was very that was a great discussion. I'm glad we had it. Um, that's that's great Robert, uh, I just want to inform everybody that Hi and my wife are taking off for Lord, I will still still attend the meetings, but we'll be leaving On the hopefully the 19th And staying down there through the end of march. So I won't be available for Oh, lucky for you Robert, can you zoom? Yes, I can. Oh, okay. So I'll participate from the beach Wonderful, thank you. I enjoy your trip. Yes. Yeah Excellent. Uh, well, if there's no further business then I Entertain a motion to adjourn so moves All right. Thank you very much everyone. Yes. Thank you all in favor Good night