Right, but You're You're thinking differently. You get music classes especially they would go through >> Yeah. So at Why can't Chorus and band they're like extracurriculars. Chorus and band happen at the same time. I I'm curious if the curriculum like the curriculum happening at the same time so everyone gets music So then I'm pulling anyone out of the math. The special happens at the same time, but whether you sign up for band and chorus That happens at a different time. Because >> Right, but why can't they happen at the So then if a kid's taking trumpet or we'll use that for an example like coordinating a 6-hour day with that cuz you only teach them for 6 hours, right? Including all of ELA, math, science, and social studies, plus they're having phys ed, plus they're having that band not band I mean music. They're taking that as a group, right?
Um, and so it's it's a continual process. And so once we define what that looks like and we can come up with some steps on, you know, how to train our staff and um in the different roles, then we then we move forward that way. I know that as a building principal, if that's what you're asking, um I think that just having that good relationship with your with your parents and your staff and your students and really um being open to feedback and constantly being open to refine what you're doing is a critical piece. And I think that you can learn a lot, you know, just in your um site council meetings, in your PTSO meetings, and um the schools I've worked at have been very vocal in in how they're feeling. And so I've been very fortunate in that sense. And um we've, you know, collaborated with our our staff to to make it a place everybody wants to be.
They're going as a group. So when does the instrument take place? They won't have private lessons. You would just be able to have one So this This is a completely different discussion. >> [laughter] >> Yeah. It's been an issue, right? That we've Well Agree to disagree. We're talking about the budget. >> Yep. We're not losing a band teacher. We're not Not losing the position. So it's not affecting the >> So to add an extra special Add the tech. Yes. Add tech back. Yep. Yep. Yeah, I don't I personally don't know that we can add every single one of these. So I think we need to try to prioritize maybe pick and choose a few for the first round and um keep in the back of our heads that we might not even get that, but But we could add them all. Because that would be the ceiling.
But it's a continual process. It's never perfect. And it's just being open to change. I don't know if you guys want to add some >> I'll I'll just share that um I former principal of Camp Overy High School and um I I like what was said earlier that sometimes culture is a feeling and you can you can kind of articulate it when you walk on a campus. So 10 years ago when I started at Campo um I felt it immediately when I walked there that it came before me and um there was the um the challenge sometimes when there's a strong culture and um to live up to that and I will also say that I had the experience of coming in new to like Gilbert is um has a strong rich history and foundation here and so sometimes coming in as the newbie uh when at the time that I came in there was a our district was in a different uh place and there were a lot of people that had spent their whole career here and a lot of new people.
Mhm. Aaron, what if you did this? Um you can probably use it to do a spreadsheet. I can help you Yeah, I can help you. Give us the level service breakdown like you've got existing. Mhm. And then give us a spreadsheet that shows the impact of each of these. Yeah, I I could I could basically create a version A and a version B. Yeah. Right? So, I could really just take my budget spread. I couldn't do 12 of them, right? But if you if if if the will of the committee was for me to create an NA and a B, um I could, you know, have something at the end that says, "If we include these in the budget, here's what the budget and here's what the assessments will look like." Um Yeah. And and I apologize that not giving the clearest explanation about that specialist, but I think Rob and John will be much more helpful and Lisa because she's been doing the work for Kiln Lakes for next week to talk to you about that as well.
So there was like this 5050 split and I just remember looking at the people Marcy was one of them as my mentor that I felt like man I know I couldn't I can't fix where I came from. I can't change where I started my career but I like envied the fact that she got to kind of be a part of the the old-timers and and spend her whole career here. And I feel like, >> you know, I in the best ways. >> I'm so glad this is on video. >> Oh, I'm never going to live this down. You know what I mean? But honestly, I think that people strive for that in Gilbert. They look up to that and they want that. Um, and and it starts with the the people that laid that foundation probably long before Marcy. And I'm sure she has a similar story to that.
>> All right, let me ask you this question here. So, on these priority ones, you have location listed and I see three separate locations. Tahanto District and BMSB ES. Yeah. For each one of those, that's a different calculation that's split between the towns, right? >> And yeah, it would be it would be different. Um most of our our districts or the ELA coach or the the tech um the the the floatness, for example, um those would [clears throat] be typically divided among the schools. A lot of those positions were have been floated in the budget as uh 25% >> you could do a you could create a calculator and spreadsheet three separate cells with the formula to calculate the breakdown for each town. Yeah, I could do that. >> of those. Yeah. And with a summary cell for each town that takes into consideration Sure.
Yeah, call him out like I just did too. Maybe not the only one. Um, but what I will say is that um that experience that we feel coming in when you're not from Gilbert, I think it's really important to be aware of what that is because sometimes we make assumptions that it is how it used to be and a lot has changed. And so to be open-minded to the people that have different stories and and um come into Gilbert in different ways, I think that is a little bit of what I brought to Campo as a principal because prior to me um the the initial uh principal, Dr. Ryan opened up the school and had a great staff and um there really wasn't a lot of turnover and uh when he stepped away he did take a lot of the staff with him and then that turnover continued for a little bit.
Consideration, we can then play with that, see what the impact is to the assessment, just like we do with property taxes. The state has that calculator. >> Yeah, right. We we I could I could do that. I just I don't know how like how many iterations you want to walk through there. You give me the formula and I'll do it. I can do it. It's It's just It's more just a matter of like What I'm saying is you have pre-calculations there and we can just Okay, I want the ELA coaches, I want the district floaters, put those two things in the district cell, I want the custodian I want the biology, put them in the Tahanto cell, and I only want the recess aides, so put that in the school cell. Mhm. And then that you know that will give you the breakdown for each town for each of the towns and you just add them to the I can do that.
Um and I feel like coming in that that was the difference is that we went through some of these es and flows and all of a sudden it wasn't just people that were always in Gilbert. So you have to be mindful to listen to people and how they're feeling and what they're looking for um when they come as outsiders. And I I'll even extend that to share that um my son when I stepped foot on Campo's campus, I fell so in love that I uprooted my entire family and now all three of my children will be Campo graduates. My son at the time was in 8th grade. He had been at a K8 in my husband's district and I let him know that he had a year to say goodbye to his friends cuz he was going to go to Campo. So he also had the experience of being a brand new student into Campo where he didn't know a single person.
assessment. Yeah. Yep. Can Can I ask an important question for you guys cuz I think I heard something a little different? No? And okay. Can I ask anyway? >> [laughter] >> Fifth grade teacher. I I I believe that we need to have that fifth grade teacher involved and are we even having that conversation or is it Is that on I think that's that's I think that's lower service. Okay. Everyone's okay with that, right? I want that biology teacher. Okay. Would you prioritize that over a fifth grade teacher? Um probably not, but I I feel as equally strong about it than that. I feel as strong Okay. So the biology teacher belongs there. Well, let's talk with the fifth grade teacher then. So with two teachers in fifth grade, how many kids in the class? 33. So with three, we're at what? 20. 21 a piece, which is right where we should be.
And so I through being his parent and seeing what happened there got to kind of observe and wanted to make sure that any student who came in as an open enrollment student um a new student from out of state our our community is changing and we have to evolve with it. And so I think as a principal those were the things that I brought was being more open-minded to the people who maybe weren't always a part of the system. And you know I love you. >> That's great. Thank you. >> You want to jump? I would say that um a couple specific examples as a principle would be making sure we are making people feel valued. So finding ways to recognize kids, recognize employees, staff, uh making sure that um those that people feel like they have a culture on their campus where they can speak to an adult, find an adult that they trust.
So the difference is 12 per class. And that's with no movements. And we have classes that don't want them, where we currently have 12 per class. Lower class size is what we really want, but I just want What I mean I just think I I heard it was something a little different, so I just wanted to clarify. >> not equity if we don't do the fifth grade teacher. I agree. I agree. And the classrooms hold I think I don't think some of those classrooms can hold 33 children. Like they you will have to have I don't know what you would do. Yeah. I don't think they can fit 33 desks. I I don't agree that we should be be that at all. I I think we need to have that for a great teacher, but I just asked you guys, right? This is your budget.
Um that you're constantly reminding your employees, your staff of that and then recognizing them and thanking them too. Um, I know as a high at a as a high school administrator, I think parents don't always feel they they get on an elementary campus very easily. They volunteer in classrooms. They participate in PTRO. So, I think it's really important at at our secondary levels to make sure that parents feel welcome on our campuses. Um, one specific example that I did as an administrator at uh the high school level was to create a volunteer committee just like they have in more in elementary school. So, what ways could we utilize parents who still want to be a volunteer in our schools? What can they do? What what can they help with in the office? And >> yo, it's a little testy here. um being in classrooms, being on campus, and it's a little it's a little trickier.
>> have Boylston kids go to BMA? That, so we talked about that like a couple years ago. It's like ridiculously difficult. You think it's fair and he's like doesn't someone have to pay someone back or blah blah blah, but and I don't want to get into the details of it, but that's all you, but I wonder if that would actually be a savings. That would have to be a change to the regional agreement and all that. Yeah. We >> Oh, we can't just do that. Okay. We came from a district that did that. We don't want to go there, right? That's This is unbelievable when kids could transfer across town lines. It was Yeah, I I think we talked We don't want to go there. Even before that we talked about doing like K through 2 and 3 through 5 in the different towns. Have like so many different things to play with things around.
So, making sure that teachers understand how they can utilize parent volunteers, not just for field trips. um making sure office staff realize, you know, we don't do the old stuffing mailers as much anymore because everything's online, but there were ways at that time where we could utilize uh parents in the office and they really really appreciated that getting to know assistant principles and office staff and and so forth. So, I would say there are some very specific I love your question because I think that's why and Julie pointed out we have current principles and we have a lot of people who are former principles and what ways did did we make sure that people felt valued on our campus whether that be from the students all the way to the employees to parents in our community. So, >> that's essentially what I was going to say is we've got to formalize celebrations, right?
>> require a change in the It would require, yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of conversations to be had about that, yeah. Moving towns, yeah, shifting lines. What's >> I mean, it might be a good idea, but it would it would require a change. >> know, yeah. But like then there's people that like live on the far side of Boylston that are commuting 30 minutes to school to bring their kindergartners to school. I think you did K through 2 in Berlin and then, you know, same thing in Boylston and Berlin and then I need to go like almost to Northborough having drive 30 minutes. So, that's all people. Yeah, that's all the other people. It would be nice to know what the biology class sizes are now currently with only one biology teacher. I'd almost say put that biology teacher in like with the level of service like we have And it's not it's not even just class sizes, there's other opportunities >> Scheduling.
What do we celebrate at each campus? What do we recognize? Because that's what you'll get more of, right? Um I know my daughter just came home with a positive and persevere award, you know, and so we got to have a cool conversation at home of why you got this, right? You got this because you were positive in spite of, you know what I mean, tough circumstances or whatnot. Um and I think it's formalizing that for teachers or for staff members and for students and that creates that experience. Uh, additionally, I think sometimes you can get burnout with unclear expectations. So, I think it's super important to define lanes, so to speak in different things, right? If you're going to be an amazing fourth grade teacher, this is what that means. Or just having three people in the front office. You know, sometimes there is some cross trainining, but it's like, hey, this is your specialty.
I absolutely agree. I missed the biology class sizes because there's some kids that instead of taking physics would have taken anatomy and physiology and now they're physics classes are larger. All of the science classes are now larger because it's not just bio. It would be great to know those class sizes. I can get that. Take a look if you have a chance. I know Rich did a did a heck of a job last time he sent it, but go back and look at the notes that he did in terms of the rationale behind it. Oh, yeah. But I'll get class sizes. >> I'm not questioning the rationale. I know. I get it. >> to have numbers to back that rationale up. Fair enough. Do you not have AP biology anymore? Because of this? Does our school not offer AP biology anymore? No? It's listed as an elective for the biology.
This is where I really want you to hone um your expertise sort of thing. So I think some of that and cross trainining and giving clear lanes um and job tasks helps a ton. >> Can I add one more thing? >> Yep. And then I'm out. >> So something that we immediately started doing is a we set up a a shared folder that allows our principles to start sharing how they're celebrating their staff and their students because our principles are already having so many amazing ideas. And sometimes just looking to see what other campuses are doing is spurring on additional celebrations. And like Marcy said, I was actually at the the high school level and then I moved to the elementary. I was a principal at an elementary, but then when I went back to the high school, I'm like, where is the PTSO? Like we have to have a PTSO at the high school level.