I have a motion. >> I'll make the motion. >> I will second it. If there's no question or discussion call for >> all those in favor say I. >> I.
And so he's applying 1.1470. and for this year 1.0895. So he's inflationing up and medical trending up those claims. So he has a projection that those claims that happened uh two and a half years ago for next last year or for next year would be around $379.73 per member per month, $423 and 385. And so that's how he's getting what his medical projection should be. >> [clears throat] >> um we waited. So we have claims that were for two and a half years ago. Last year, which is the last full year, and this year, we're going to wait it on a 20 30 50% basis. And so those claims only that were happened two and a half years ago, we're only going to give them 20% weight. But because we're talking partial year with this year, it's not an equal. So we have to readjust it based on that partial year.
[snorts] um and also look at if there are other ways we can support the station um as they look at their needs for space capital and potentially if there's other things they need to do. So I just want to offer my support as well. >> Thank you Makita. [snorts] >> Uh yeah thank you Mr. Chair. Um I just wanted to chime in. Uh you know uh WACA is not just a nice resource to have. It's a vital community resource for all the reasons that everyone stated, but also um you know without WACA I I I completely believe that our community would not be able to remain informed. It is so vital especially in this time when we see lack of local news coverage in major newspapers. Everything's drying up. you know, when we have a community resource like WACA that can get vital information out to the public, allow um a certain amount of uh interactivity uh and allow people to participate as well as uh making sure that young people get some vocational training and communications as well.
>> Um, so yeah, I I think we definitely want to limit the three >> at least three minutes or or two max, you know, depending upon the number of people that want to speak. I I noticed attorney August is here and let him have some some guidance on the best way to proceed. >> Okay, attorney August, good evening. >> Good evening. Good to see you all. Um this is um the purpose of this hearing under the cable act is to allow the public in and interested persons an opportunity to be heard about um community public uh mun and municipal uh cable needs. So, it's really just all about it's it's almost like a primarily a listening session because the public has to have an opportunity to be heard. However, that can also include comments from uh select board members as issuing authority. Um so, it's a very simple uh not very technical or complicated uh type of hearing.
is I'm joking with you. Is 24 high in an elementary classroom? Is it 22? Is it 20? Is it 18? And and where? But I'm saying where is it? And wherever that number is and we h we have so many teachers, right? Then we know that equals the budget a lot of times. >> We had a practice but not policy >> and that practice was 18. And the minute we went over 18, we advertised. That was a practice. It wasn't a policy, right? And it was for many years. >> Does GPS have a policy in place like that now? >> I don't know. I I don't think so because the policy manual was done by MASC. So I don't think it got personal, >> right? >> Like like local sort of like the laws, but it was definitely a practice. and parents, we knew parents looked at class size was critical.
Um we also have conversations around staffing. The past couple years we've we've prior to the past couple years we haven't had to have conversations about staffing. in these past couple years we have around um you know some difficult conversations around potential reductions based on class size and um where there can be reductions um whenever possible due to attrition um and then moving forward there um my I also know what is palatable to the community and when we have three member towns so we have we have three specific member towns even though we may serve 13 other towns um or 13 total towns or receive students from 13 other towns. We have three member towns who are who are um supporting us financially and they have different pain points. um we have two that are very small and two or three students um increasing population at the high school has huge impact on their budget.
>> Thanks Kelly. This is this is a a more of a rare occurrence in our district ever. More so now than even in the past when I think Kelly and I both started teaching. You don't um we do not retain students without really a a serious review and look at their uh what's beneficial for the student long term. Um and you know takes into into account a variety of factors um related to the student and oftentimes um you know those are kind of long-standing issues. So, thank you, Kelly. You explained it very very uh eloquently. >> Thank you. It also, sorry, one other point to highlight in here. It also talks about um when a student is having difficulty, it's not just how it is a consideration of are there additional supports during the school day, additional personnel to work with, um possibly summer school participation, uh after hours tutoring support, a variety of different things that we can do to support that student so that they are able to achieve academically.
So, can you elaborate? >> Sure. Um, there was a lot said. >> So, just some clarify. >> Oh, Jesse Suki, uh, deputy superintendent of operations, Department of Education. Um, just a a couple of points. U first, uh, one is so we are requesting though the board approved funding for three schools. Um they're about 141 million each um for East Capo Elementary um we're asking for planning money um for another school and the CAM 3 um replacement school. So uh and the planning money is was far less than 140. It's um off the top of my head it's less a lot less. So it's about 141 for the other two. Uh so first that the second thing is um the P3s um at uh I'm very familiar with um those are for student housing and usually with P3s because it's private financing the private financeers are looking at some sort of revenue to pay back the private bonds that they're going to get from the private bond market usually tax exempt.
So we'll keep you up to date when the when the next meeting uh comes. We talked about bringing members of the city council on uh as well as bringing members of the board on after we had this initial salvo to see if our visions aligned and it seemed that they do. So we will keep you up to date on as those discussions move forward and bring you in if you would like but uh Clare Barton and the playground is not forgotten. >> It is I think if we get the grant, we'll figure out everything else, but getting the grant for 229,000 for the playground would be step one. >> Number five, can you address is this a new system? Is this a partial system or is it and what have we had in the past? Okay. So, it's a great question. So, um the reason it says partial system is the district currently uses frontline for absent management and for onboarding of staff.
Any opposed? >> Motion carries three to zero. Next item is approval of governing board policy 96 policy DI. Yes, Mr. President, members of the board, um policy DIE removes the June 2016 reference to the office of management and budget OM compliance supplement to ensure the policy points to the current version used for audit and compliance purposes. Regulation DIER was updated to align the district's audit and financial monitoring terms with current federal and state requirements. The most significant change reflects the Office of Management and Budgets revisions to uniform guidance, which increase the single audit threshold from 750,000 to $1 million in federal grants expended during a fiscal year. This updated threshold applies beginning with fiscal year 2026 audits as noted in the regulation. And uh um any additional questions on this? I I will refer to Miss Cotay, but it's pretty much straightforward. Um our school district did spend over $1 million in federal grants, so we have to comply.
And so by doing that he adjusts it by 27% weight. The middle column is at 39% and the current year is at 32% based on the member months. How many member months are in each one um to realize it. And so he comes out with a projection that he needs $399.7 per member per month for next year which represents 63% of the total um claims. Um [clears throat] which obviously that means the pharmacy is 37% 6337 that is um a little off. Normally what he's looking for about benchmark is a 7030 split. So that's that's telling us that your RX spend is a little higher um that what was projected. We'll go into that right now.
Um, I I see this as not a nice to have, but a vital to have. And I wanted to uh speak on those supporting WACA and everything that they do here for Ashland. >> Thanks. >> Thank you, Makita. >> Audia, >> I'm up. >> You're up. >> Yeah. First, uh, Mr. Silver, I just want to say I remember Jake, too. And, uh, I just want you to know a lot of people remember him. And I on my computer, I have a little video. We made videos, uh, at one point for him to send to him. and uh every now and then I come across it for whatever reason but um anyways we remember him. Um, so I just was really going to say a little bit of what Makita said in that um, I remember many years ago being on the school committee and when we met there was a newspaper reporter in the room every single time and the next day there was an article in the newspaper and you know that's been long gone and so it's just such a critical way of informing our community and um, I won't repeat what Makita said so eloquent eloquently but uh, it is so important for informing our community.
It it does not require any decisions at this point. It's really the kind of hearing which the cable act prescribes to get the ball rolling by inviting the public to be heard first and that that that's really about it. Um during the negotiations which come later um most of the time and energy of negotiations has to do with continuing the uh Verizon in a Verizon renewal. Verizon support for the local facilities such as the local channels, the studio, their equipment budget, their operating budget. So testimony pertaining to that can become relevant down the road. But um as contemplated by the statute, any cable related matter is a fair subject matter. So, that's basically my overview of this first hearing. We're required to have a hearing down the road after the negotiations of a proposed license to give the public uh an opportunity to comment on a proposed document, but we're not at that stage.
>> Um, so where do the convers and I'm just looking for clarity, not um where like if we have some things we know we want added and I know that's a horrible word to say in this this fiscal year, but when does that conversation happen? >> That would happen now. Like if you I know you did listening sessions. A lot of the school committee members went out and listening sessions with whether it was schools, PTO's um pack groups, that type of scenario >> and if there are different things we've heard, obviously we'll take all those into consideration. >> Okay. And then just find out how much that would cost us to look at it. >> Right. >> I mean it's just Do we want to make the list now? >> Well, I think we did the list a little bit, right? Yeah, I think >> I feel like it is in your last meeting >> and we'll start adding a cost to those.
So we have to pay very close attention to you know I may only increase my budget by a small percentage but if they're increasing the number of their students by three or four kids it can increase their percentage increase significantly and it can throw off their budget. And so we go back to the table as um my my board and myself to look at where we can then make further reductions. Even though our bottom line number may be relatively reasonable if their percentage increase is going to cause them to have to cut teachers and cut staff, we really need to go back to the table because we are all in it together. And despite the fact that we are, you know, three preK8 districts and one regional high school, if they're cutting kindergarten teachers in a one given year and then maybe hiring one back the next year or whatever the case may be with their budget, it impacts the quality of their program, which impacts the quality of education for the students that we're going to receive in, you know, 12 years.
Um so that is the essence of um this policy. I do want to highlight as well there's a notation here which is not required to be part of this policy. Um but it it we can decide to keep it in here. Um it is a regulation that we follow anyways. Um and this is talking about Danbury as a priority school district um is required to also evaluate the reading achievement of students. Um, and for students K3 that are not meeting the grade level expectation, we offer additional supports and services during the school day, but also the benefit of participating in a summer school as a means to boost uh that achievement. Um, for those of you the reading research around reading achievement for students really uh focuses on making sure that to the greatest extent possible, students are on or close to grade level by grade three.
So when you're doing stuff like affordable housing, which I've done, student housing, which I've done, uh there's revenue generated so that the proforma pencils out because there's payments over time that can pay off that bond financing. So with a school like a DOE public school, there's no rents. So um we depend on public financing. Uh the properties that SFA is referring to out west are set aides from land use commission uh requirements when you know the old Campbell estate divided up and proposed projects and lands were set aside and so you know we know that those lands are out there and uh as the need for schools um became necessary when we're asking for funding like for East Capo and there's a lot of need fail. Um, but we're not using a P3 model um for Department of Education um because it wouldn't fit because again there's no revenue um source.
What we're adding is we are adding what they what Frontline would call professional growth. So currently the way in which observations and professional development plans are done here is on a um Excel spreadsheet and it is a very uh antiquated and it is a cumbersome uh process. Frontline will digitize that process. It will allow us to produce reports about staff evaluation and professional development. and it will also streamline the evaluation process and make it easier for everybody. So um it is not changing our evaluation process. We use the Danielson model of evaluation for our teachers and they simply digitize the process and it becomes a much simpler process for our administrators to use. It also becomes a much better process for us to actually pull anecdotal and real data about how our teachers are doing in the critical areas inside of all of those models.
>> Okay, I will make a motion. >> I will second. >> Any question? If not, I will call for all those in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries three to zero. Uh, next up is governor board action and a board member has any possible new agenda items for next meeting and I have a note about the J report this morning. So if there is nothing else I will make the motion to >> second. All say I >> motion carries three to zero. You joined at 626.
Any questions so far on how he came down to that projection? You guys are everybody's paying attention. Everybody this is amazing. >> Does the the decrease in membership have anything to do with it? Like I noticed we went from whatever it was 690 something to 650. >> That is a great question. The reason why we take the total claims then divide by per member per month is to kind of equalize against that so that a huge drop is not having the effect because we're only looking at per member per month. So [clears throat] yes, >> um, not to not to jump ahead, but from what you were saying earlier about the cost increases, it seems like the increase is coming from an increase in price from the providers allegedly due to inflation rather than anything like higher utilization of our insurance plans necessarily. >> That is a good question.