Please use the raise hand function on Zoom. And while we're waiting for that, we do have one more person at the podium. So, go ahead and introduce yourself. Jim Jones, Robert Road. Jim Adams, you've been great at the schools and I as a Warren schools, fantastic. Really appreciate that. Also got to say the police department, awesome awesome in town. I just had a question, what can we do to get more of the special needs kids that get booked out to private schools? Is there a way to create something to bring them back and would we save I think you mentioned 200,000 per student, right? So, I'll let you have it, but I just want to say we appreciate you, Jim Adams. Thank you, it's very kind of you. So, I I would say if you if you take an opportunity and this is online in the Ashland public schools um website.
And this number continues to rise as pollution increases. Once microplastics are inside the body, they accumulate in organs like the lungs, liver, and bloodstream. This can potentially lead to inflammation, cell damage, and hormone disruption. Our water sources are also being affected by pollution. Ocean water can contain harmful bacteras, chemicals, and toxins. When people swim in or come into contact with contaminated water, it can cause illnesses like skin infections, stomach problems, and respiratory issues. To end my presentation, I want to bring it back to us. What can we do to help our ocean before it's too late? One simple but very powerful act is recycling. Recycling helps reduce the 17.6 billion pounds of plastic that enter the ocean each year, protecting marine life from entanglement and ingestion. Even small habits like this can make a huge difference. There are also local organizations working to help protect our ocean.
I have a Is it in this book? Should be in this book. We've built, since I've been superintendent, we've built numerous programs in our school system to bring students and keep students in our community. And because we do value and believe that we can do a better job with our students than sending them to a private school residential school or whatever it might be. There are some kids, we got to remember, there are only 32 kids that are going to different schools. Some of these students are actually students who are moving into our community and they've already been in an out of district placement. To when a child goes out of district, it's really difficult to to bring them back in. You really have to show that you've got a proper program, right? So, I can give a great example of a program we started two years ago.
The Buzzard Buzzards Bay Coalition is a group that focuses on habitat restoration, reducing nitrogen pollution, and conserving land to pro to improve ocean health. Another local organization is the Lloyd Center for the Environment. They protect coastal ecosystems through research, outreach, and education. Their work includes monitoring water quality, studying marine species, and educating students and residents about protecting biodiversity in local areas. Because these organizations are nonprofit, they rely heavily on community support. Donating, volunteering, or even spreading awareness can help make a real difference in protecting our oceans. In many ways, pollution works like a cycle. The more humans harm the ocean, the more the ocean returns that harm back to us through the food we eat and the water we rely on. But the more we are able to help rejuvenate the ocean we rely on, our environment and lifestyle will get arguably better. Breaking the cycle of pollution is how I'm making waves for a better tomorrow.
This is the third year now. It's our 18 to 22 program and we used to have all of our students, so we're obligated through federal law three to 22 years of age to educate our students on IEPs. So, we were like, "Wait a minute, we can do a better job." So, we created a program three years ago and town town meeting funded it. It's it's it's expensive for sure cuz you have staffing, you've got a vehicle, you've got paraprofessional support, you've got supplies, you got all sorts of things, right? So, we started out with three kids, Mike, and next year we're anticipating seven. And so so that alone, if if that just that that one program is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Ashland public schools. The programs we've created, it's it's not really great math and Paul and I always have this conversation, but let's assume a student a special education student who could potentially be outplaced to a different setting because we couldn't meet their needs, that might be a student at $38,000 per pupil.
Thank you, Sienna, for being very informative on our environment. Our second presentation for period 3 is two houses, one childhood re redefining family after the split by Noel Mitosumo. Noel is a junior here at DHS was part of the school council. This is Noel's first TEDx DHS talk and we are thrilled to have her with us this year. She has various interests in topics such as forensics, science, psychology, and family law. Noel chose her TEDex DHS talk because of her personal experience. Noel is driven to be the advocate that she once needed and wants to help people change the conversation about custody issues from legal battles to emotional resilence. Please welcome Noel Mitoso. >> Imagine an image of the perfect nuclear family. You probably thought of a dad, a mom with two kids. You would never imagine a family of a single parent or the same gender or even a diverse family.
Average cost of a student who is outplaced might be 80,000. So, you've got this this you know, $50,000 delta that we're saving every single student time, right? I estimate close to $10 million on a yearly over year over year basis the programs we've built. Now, that's a huge assumption, right? It's a assumption that every one of those kids would would would be outplaced. That's not the case. We know that. But even if it was half of it, $5 million year over year, it's pretty significant for the community. And we've invested in the in the the the community itself has supported that. It is in my book. Uh you'll see the programs that we've listed, all of the programs we have, the number of students who participate, and the estimated cost it would be uh if those students couldn't participate. Yeah. You might just want to add to that that, you know, I I retired before this program was implemented, but I was still there when you were planning for it.
We need to move away from society's 1950s nuclear model to today's modern family and start believing that there is other ways to succeed in life than just being believing that the 1950s nuclear model is the only way to we can succeed. The title parent is earned through trust, loyalty and being there emotionally rather than through a biological status. Unified parenting regardless of the parents if the part parents are together separated whatever the situation is it creates a psych psychological safety blanket for the child. Unified parenting also allows the child to stop being a messenger for both one or both parents and simply lets the child be a child. In these next few slides I'm going to be focusing on a collaborative mindset between both parents in successful co-parenting that we have created. Parents need to stop viewing themselves as former partners and start acting like teammates for life to make sure their kids don't get caught up in any conflict.
So, you know, I think that's key that there is planning that happens when you saw this need and what the potential, first of all, because it is the right thing to keep kids in our community, and then also the cost savings, and that that was being planned for for several years. >> Yeah. Jim, we talked I mean, you talked about that I think when we were we were just starting out together. Another thing I that I think is really important to note is that our charter school sending tuition has gone down I think a million bucks in the last 10 or 11 years. Because so many kids were actually leaving or going from Ashland public schools and wanting to go to charter schools. Um as the as the quality of the school system has developed over the years, what's happened is kids have parents have wanted to bring their kids back into the uh system.
When kids see their parents actually working together, it gives them a sense of stability and helps them feel way less stress when moving between houses. Family is really more about the consistent positive things you do people do for each other every day rather than who they are related by biology. Next, I'll be going through the different types of custodies that society has made. Joint legal custody is one of the most common custodies out there. One of one where both parents have an equal say in the big stuff like what school the kid goes to, what religion they have, and what doctor they get to go see, etc. Soleal custody is when only one parent has the legal right to make all the major decisions for the kid and they don't really have a say in what to do and check in with the other parent before doing it.
And so, we don't have to pay as much as a community to send them to charter schools. >> Right. So, we have we have I think I just kind of um 13 separate programs we've created internally serving 130 kids. Yeah. So, a lot of kids I think are back in the district. Um which also affects school choice as well, because school choice then you don't have as many seats available to get money in. Okay. Do you want to come on up? And can I just stand up and yell? No, you can't just stand up and yell. Come on over here. You are special, John. >> [laughter] >> Good evening. Thank you all for the presentation. It was very informative and I hope the answers to the questions that were asked were very helpful. Jim, I have a quick question. Um when it comes to school choice, the the funding that comes from is that is that state mandated or is that how is that $5,000 assessment made?
Joint physical joint physical custody is when the kid spends a significant amount of time with living with both parents' houses so they can stay close with both them. Though it isn't always a perfect 5050 split. Sole physical custody is when kids live when a kid lives with one parent full-time while the other parent usually just gets scheduled visits or parenting time. Phys primary physical custody is when the kid lives with one one with one parent most of the time but the other parent still gets regular overnights like every other weekend. The bird's nest custody is kind of unique because it the kid stays in one house while the parents swap in and out on depending on whose turn it was and what time. In 2025, mental health studies show that 80% of kids in joint physical custody have better mental health compared to only 67% of kids who live with just one parent.
Yeah, it's it's set by the state. Okay, so is if we needed to raise that figure, that would be something that we we need we would need to have our legislative representatives and bodies let them know that this is a not an accurate figure or is not a figure that it's helps supporting and maybe they need to refigure and we look at that and maybe increase that. Would that be beneficial or helpful at some point? >> Yeah, so what happens is remember that the choice number, say $5,000, if we send a student to say Holliston, it comes out of we get charged back the $5,000 right as a town. So, it's it's a wash one way or the other. The whole the whole goal should be the delta should always be in favor of the number of students who are coming in versus leaving, right?
Kids in shared care setups usually deal with fewer stress related issues like constant headaches or stomach stomach aches because they feel more balanced. Keeping a solid constant relationship with both parents acts like a shield that helps kids deal with the trauma of a breakup much better. The new standard courts are now pushing for things like required meditation and therapy to make sure the kids stay stable instead of just letting parents fight in the courtroom. It's much important for a kid to have actual inner peace and stable relationships than just following court rules. So things like their culture, health, safety from any kind of pressure by supporting going through to therapy isn't seen as a bad thing anymore. It's actually a huge help for parents and kids to stay stable and healthy for the long run. Instead of just doing what the parents say, now courts are now forcing the focus to shift towards whatever the unique kids needs are and actually needs to be happy and successful in life.
Um but yes, $5,000 is is not um you know, a a a good figure at this point in time. It's been that way for I don't know, I mean, 20 years, you know, at least. And the challenge is the funding at the state level needs to be revamped again. Paul talked about the Student Opportunity Act. What they didn't take into account was inflation. They didn't take it into account when they actually set up Student Opportunity Act. We saw a huge increase of $1.7 million in Chapter 70 number of times. Part of it was we had more students. They they broke out the the increments in terms of if you have an English language learner student, a student on an IEP, low-income student, all those things. So, when we're getting better at our data reporting, we're getting more funding. But we're maxed out now at $75 a kid.
Courts are now requiring written proof that they're putting the kids specific needs instead of doing what the parents said. Emotional impact happens when parents get into a fight or divorce. It usually h hits kids really hard and making them feel super sad, angry, constantly worried what's going to happen next or if they're going to be left behind. Wait. The mental and emotional strain happens when little kids sometimes fall into magical thinking where they actually start to self-lame themselves for the breakup while constant fighting happens between both parents, forcing kids to choose sides of which parents they want to go with. Not having a Oh my god, I keep doing that. Not having a stable home, it can really have messed with kids, making little ones act younger than they are, leading teens to get more aggressive and start making risky and bad decisions. When kids are dealing with all that emotional stress, it's really hard for them to focus on school.
Okay. Thank you. By the way, I forgot to identify myself. Joe Magnani, 2 Apple Lane in Ashland. Thank you. Just in case you didn't know who I was. Thank you. Um so, we are coming up on 9:00 in just a few minutes. I just want to give one more opportunity for anyone to ask a final question. Come on up. Oh, be careful. Yeah, be careful. There's some wires there. Oh. You've been here two nights in a row, you know. >> [snorts] >> First of all, my name is Donna Shaw. I've been a resident of Ashland for 14 years and have never been happier, more welcoming, and uh content with what I see, what I live with, and what I experience. Um because I've been known to have the gift of gab, I apologize in advance because I put my thoughts down and I'd like to read it.
Between the lack of steady routine and the constant distractions, their grades often slip and they're less likely to graduate on time. The future relation impact. Even though kids of divorce are 50% more likely to deal with their own relationship struggles later on life, it act it's actually fighting between parents is usually way more damaging to their growth than the divorce itself. The path to resilience. The good news is that most kids actually bounce back and do just fine as long as their parents stick to a steady routine and keep them far away from any adult drama. In 2025, we have came up with new ideas for co-parenting apps. Specializing co-parenting apps are the the be are became the go-to rule tool for the study split families that help everyone stay on the same page with schedules while keeping their digital paper for both digital paper trail for both parents.
I also want to thank you and let you know how much I appreciate the information you gave to us tonight because we can make informed decisions based on what we a lot of things that most people don't know and they don't understand and that brings them to a decision that may not be in the best interest of Ashland. Excuse me. One thing I believe people may be overlooking during these turbulent times is that it truly takes a village. Every one of us is facing challenges, holding different perspectives, holding um different ideas and desires for what we think Ashland should be doing, and we're asking a lot of questions because of the sacrifices we're going to be forced to make. At the same time, the federal government has withdrawn over millions, maybe even billions of dollars from Massachusetts alone. >> [snorts] >> Funding that was part of our community's budget.
The legal consistency UCCCJ JA which stands for uniform child custody enforcement act in by 2025 there's been a major push for UCCCJA which Massachusetts is working to adopt to ensure custody rules stay their same stay the same even if the family moves states it basically stops parents from judge shopping in different states and keeps the ch things stabled for the kids the law is finally finally catching up to reality by ensuring that adoption and s shuy provide the exact same legal rights to same-sex couples and all different types of family structures. Instead of just trying to survive the day, the goal shifts from actually chasing personal goals to finding real happiness and fulfill fulfillment for the long haul. It's not about toughing it out anymore. It's about building healthy ways to cope so you have a solid foundation for your mental health that actually lasts.