 Hello, everyone, and welcome to this one-on-one conversation today with Bill Hayner, who is seeking to return to the school committee. And Bill, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you for doing this. One of the things that emerged, one of the main themes, of course, how could it not be, that emerged in the debate that the school committee held, or sorry, that we held with the candidates, was clearly just this confluence of major events that we are looking at very shortly into the beginning of the term of the next school committee. And that is, of course, how is it we're going to come out of the pandemic and open the schools? You know, what is that going to look like? And then, of course, the main task on your agenda for the fall, which is a superintendent's search. And then, not exactly in the background, right? We've got the high school rebuild just starting to kick up. So I'd like to just to get your thoughts on, you know, prioritization of those things. How do you see this playing out, you know, for the school committee? The three things that you mentioned saved the pandemic. The other two would have been the priorities going forward. The pandemic is driving everything that we're doing. We have the technology to implement education in a remote manner. We're still feeling our way through that. It is my hope that all the bumps and most of the bumps will be worked out by September if we have to continue doing this. I've asked that the superintendent prepare an outline for the committee before we end this season. I'm not even sure if we're going to end the season. I'm speaking as one member. We may have to have meetings during the summer as a result of this. Which you don't usually do. No, we end it in June. And unless there's an emergency, we don't come back until September. But that being said, I asked for an outline of all the possible scenarios that we might have to implement in September. I want us to be prepared. I don't want us to be in a reactive boat. I'd like to. It's difficult. It's very easy to be sitting on the top and telling people what to do. It's very hard to implement. So I'd like to get ahead of the game. As far as the superintendent's search, last night we voted to hire Massachusetts Association of School Committee Group to manage our search. They've done searches in the past for us and other school committees around. There were only two applicants for it. And they, according to the subcommittee, and from what I've read, were the best applicants. So we voted that. That's in place. And as far as the rebuild of the high school, all you have to do is go down Mass Ave and see all of a sudden you can see more of the high school and less trees. I'm happy that they've kept a lot of the trees. And if you look over the fence and get somebody a boost, you can see some of the monuments that were in place. They're going to be preserved. Yeah, as you mentioned at the outset of your answer, the pandemic is suffusing absolutely everything that all of us are doing and all the decisions we're making and clouding everything with uncertainty. So acknowledging that. What, as far as you're concerned personally or as a current member of the school committee, are you guys collectively? What do you see as the main challenges, the things that are going to be the hardest to deal with right away in terms of getting school going again? I think the organization, making sure the infrastructure is there, it was difficult at the beginning to make sure that all the homes and families and students had the electronics available to them. That took a while to get out. We've been told that everyone has it right now. I'm talking about Chromebooks and laptops and things of that nature. There still seem to be some people that are having trouble with wifi, but thanks to the three providers in town, my understanding is that if you can't afford it, they'll provide it. So that's getting the infrastructure in place. The second part is coordination and training and make sure I'm 74 years old. I was a teacher and I started thinking what it would be like to be in the classroom again with all this going on. And as the viewers can see, every now and then I look at you and I'm not looking at the camera and then I remember to look back at the camera. I've been trained to look at people's faces and get their reaction. And it's difficult for me to look at this little thing at the top of my computer right now, but teachers adapt and kids adapt extremely well. Whether we're doing one-on-one or what is going on, we need to be there to support the teachers for whatever goes on with the material, time and understanding of the parents. This is brand new for everybody. Yeah, and speaking of brand new, you have already alluded to the fact that there have been some bumps in the road early in this given that how abruptly everything changed with the remote learning model that has been followed for the remainder of the current semester. And we may, as you've already said, have to rely on at the outset of next school year as well. From parents, students themselves, even teachers, we have heard that this has not been working that smoothly. What can you tell us about lessons learned as far as you guys understand going forward? You've mentioned gotta get the infrastructure set. What else about this is troublesome but can be dealt with? From my perspective, partly as a teacher, partly as a grandparent of anything, is understanding on both sides and not be defensive, be supportive of each other. If there's a problem, communicate the problem in a way that the person that you're talking to listens. And I say that both ways, both from the parents to the school, from the school to the parents, we both have one thing in common and that's the betterment and education and the safety of the children in this town, as well as the staff involved in this. We need to have a plan 100% going, work out all the bugs in September. Whatever that plan is, whether we bring the children back in a safe environment, that is the priority. Education is the secondary thing. Safety is first in my mind, education is second. And the education part is for everybody. You and I are both beating this drum. We're new, this is new area. My two grandchildren are in a high school that has been doing remote learning as part of their program. They have their students working projects together, all the time. So they find it easier, but they're still having problems themselves. I talked to a couple of the teachers there and they've had some problems, they're working them up. So I don't know if I answered your question well enough. Yeah, no, I mean, there are no definitive answers. So absolutely, I mean, and just good to know, of course, for us and the viewers, I think you have clear priorities. Safety first, education of course, always so important, but definitely second to safety. And decisions will have to be made according to those priorities as far as you're concerned. I'd like to emphasize again, just by repeating it, that the communication be done in a way that benefits everyone. That if there's a problem, let us know. And if the administration or the teachers have a problem, we need to communicate it in a positive way to the community as well. And what is the role and what are the limits to what the school committee can do in addressing these things? The school committee prior to 1993 was totally autocratic. They could run every element of the school system. After 1993, we have three elements, the policy, the budget, and hiring a superintendent. Saying that, because we have the purse strength, as long as there were four votes or more, we can get down to the nitty gritty. We are the spokespeople for the community. We are one of the things. But understanding that we have to be informed, we have limits within the structure of our mandates and stuff. That doesn't say that we're not available to listen to the parents or the community itself. And we can bring it forward. It has been done. I am proud to say that this committee is, we don't always agree, but we disagree in a positive way and present each other with the facts and things of that nature. Can you be a little bit more specific about that? I mean, because I think people are very concerned about the internal functioning, the dynamic going on in important government bodies here, school committees, you know, select board and others. So when you say, of course, you don't always agree, but you disagree constructively, let's say. What do you mean by that? Let me think. If there's something going forward, I can't think of a specific example because we usually, if something is brought forward and I'm not in, I don't feel that it is appropriate or I don't feel we have enough information. I will ask for more information. I will ask for clarification. If a member disagrees with me, they will, they have the right and the freedom to express that disagree and we deal with facts. This board really wants the information and the facts. If the superintendent brings something forward and we're not comfortable with it, this board has been asked for more information and will defer the vote unless it's an emergency. And we let the superintendent know and this happens really, I want to emphasize this, but if something is brought up at the last minute and it's an emergency, we may pass it, but the superintendent knows we're not happy about having that pressure put on us. I don't know if that answers- Yeah, so I think what I understand you to say is that it's an environment, you guys have together created an environment which there's enough mutual trust and respect that you're gonna be able to disagree and do so in a way that doesn't alienate each other and allows you to keep moving forward. Absolutely, real quick. I came on the board nine years ago and I was perceived as an outlier. I had in an open meeting basically suggested that the top administration be fired by the school committee and we were fortunate. We had a seminar where all the school committee members, and it was an open meeting. Just happened to be on Saturday mornings and no one else ever came, where we ironed out, we had a facilitator who talked to us and told us how to disagree in a productive manner. And in the first meeting of every year, usually it's right after the election, a document is read, it's part of our policy of how we communicate and the document is passed around and we all sign it as a pledge to go forward in this positive way. Okay, we only have two minutes left, but I wanted to ask you, try and step away from the COVID-19 lens through which we see everything. Thinking about your nine year tenure already and what changes would you like to see moving forward to make sure that we're creating a, an engaging and relevant 21st century education for our students? That's a tough one, because a lot of the things have happened in the past nine years going in that direction. I'm very happy with the things going forward. It's a great question. Does, is that, are you saying that like lots of work has already been done in that direction? A lot of work has been done in communication. I would like to see the special education program continue in the, in the direction that's going. A lot of the staff that's been hired. I think communication with parents in the special education area is very important. When I came on, I'm a child advocate outside of the community. It's a conflict of interest for me to do it in Allington. They need, they need to, we need to continue going in the productive, proactive way that we've been going. It's slow. I know people want change immediate, but I believe it's going forward. We will have at least one new member on the committee coming up, possibly two. It's, I think it's going in a positive way. Okay. Well, with that, we will conclude the conversation. And again, 15 minutes zoomed by. I have been talking to Bill Hayner, veteran member of the school committee, seeking reelection. Bill, thanks again for joining us. And to you out in the audience, thank you for joining us. I'm James Milan. We'll see you next time.