um the classroom open reconfiguration at Brook Majestic and Somerdale that's scheduled for this summer. And we're going to be working around the HVAC um revamp at Majestic and Summerdale as well. The comprehensive infrastructure renewal and utility assessment of the solar is ongoing. Um P Gen is kind of where we're at, a little standstill. So, um hopefully we'll know some more news in the next month or two on that. Uh projects in progress continued. Uh we have the fire alarm at Northwood which is almost completed. We are going to be testing that this coming weekend and hopefully by um June 1 that will be um fully executed. Security replacement is down to now three schools. Cherrywood Lane View and Vincy Park. We're going to be doing Vincent Park while we do the window and door replacement because that school is not going to be a summer school.
When you came to Village High School, you intentionally chose a path that honored who you were as an individual and supported your unique needs and goals. A few years ago, I had an experience that changed the way I think about education. One of my favorite things to do is travel with my husband and experience different parts of the world. During one trip to a small Caribbean island, I noticed something I'd never seen before. Some children were walking to school in brightly colored uniforms, while others sat outside their homes watching them pass by. I asked our tour guide why some children weren't in school. He explained that education was not free, and many families simply could not afford to send their children to school. Then he told us how proud he was that he had a job that allowed him to send his own son to school.
At this point in time, no matter what we do, we'll be revenue neutral. So the reason I'm putting it up here is that it will be revenue neutral. Otherwise, we can't make the budget work. And so the the question is we have some additional meetings coming up [snorts] um just to make sure that we're all very clear on what the numbers would look like. Um, we're pretty close, but there's a few questions that have come up. And rather than trying to push it through tonight's meeting, we will make sure that we uh work it through over the next couple weeks and then we'll finalize what we're going to have for you at the June 10th board meeting. Some operational efficiencies that we're going to have to recommend. We're looking to make some recommendations for what you would call stipens or extracurricular savings of of just over $62,000.
Um we had uh Sparky there from ASU. Um and then it was just great that the kids they got to come down by the table that they that for their school when they got called out and um it was just really great to see the number of graduates that are committed to continue that education. Um so that was it was really cool. I I I want to see I can't wait to see how this develops in the future. Um, and then I did attend the MHS and the uh, Desert Sunrise um, honor nights as well. Um, I was not able to attend some of the events that started this week because I was home ill. So, Mr. Becket, I apologize for not being at your retirement party. Thank you for your service. Um, 18 years. Yes. Wow. Uh, school's going to be over before we know it.
And so I ask my teachers to make sure that kids are reading at least 60 minutes a day across the curricular that 40 minutes of their day is spent writing in large part in response to what they're reading. and to make sure that we're sticking to the five pillars of reading which is phonics phmic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Now, you're still going to have those students who are just are not getting it in tier one even if you do your subskll group. So, that's when our interventions for tier 2 and tier three come in. I have my interventionist push into the classroom that maximizes our instructional time because it's less time of them moving and going elsewhere. And it also helps with behavior because you have more than one adult in the classroom. The interventions we use are dyslexia approved and they have a strong effect size, meaning research shows that if you use that intervention, you're going to get maximum growth out of your students in the year.
We don't we don't have that new growth. And and the challenge there is a lot of people in our community don't want a whole lot of building or >> they don't want to see change. They don't want to see additional homes and things in the community. >> There's lots of >> Oh, yeah. That's a that's a whole other discussion, >> right? [laughter] And and and I I'm not in favor of these huge apartment buildings that really are all they do is give money to the developers. They don't really help with housing. >> Yeah. Um but it's those are all monies that that aren't there for us and those are choices that we make, right? And so um we it really needs to be a time when communities are saying to the state, you need to step up, right? >> This isn't right. This isn't >> and and unfortunately, you know, our anger towards state government and to towards the federal government about all these things.
And I've asked for years, and I don't know why they want to keep us in the dark. Again, democracy dies in the dark. Uh so the budget by the time you get to town meeting, it's too late. I can get up and say, "What does this mean?" or "I don't like that." or whatever, but is there even a mechanism to change the budget? No, I think we'd have to just vote down typically the whole thing. >> thing. It's it it's really a crying shame that the people who are paying for it, and the people who are supposedly at the top of this structure, again, once again, are sitting there powerless because of the way this thing's designed. And again, people have great ideas and I'm actually going to segue into that uh before I forget. Um because we call this the information parlor because the people, citizens, have a right to share information.
I'm not worried about it um because the applications are due June 6th and then we're going to start um the process uh of paper screening June 8th. First round interviews the 15th to 22nd will be second interviews will be with me and my staff um and then school committee interviews are to be determined obviously. I I mean if we have my two cents is if we have interest, I don't think we need to wait. I agree. >> Okay, that's fair enough. I I just wanted to make sure. Yeah. So Jim just for um clarify for for whoever this might be. >> Yeah. Which steps of the process would the the team involved in? Is it just the paper screening the first interviews? The the the search team is yes, paper screening and first interviews. Correct. Right. So it's that June 6th and the June 8th and then June 15th, right?
That's how I roll. I'd say, "Okay, cam two, ready." And I'd say, "Take two." And then that means I'm cutting to your cam. So, I'll see what I'm watching on cam two. You know, eventually motions, just follow your action. And then the camera can go back to cam one. That allows you to make some adjustments or adjust your shot or do whatever. That's that's the basic directing. So, I'm going to let Harrison my seat and let him I'm going to let him choose the camera angles. Generally, I use the cameras I always assume that the cameras are passing audio. And >> [cheering] >> Uh-huh. Mhm. Got you. All right. >> [snorts] >> Awesome. All right. Hey! Come on, boy. YEAH, CONNOR. OH, HE DIDN'T KNOW, DUDE. KEEP ON PLAYING. KEEP ON PLAYING. RUN OFF. RUN OFF. RUN OFF. WHAT? PLAYING THE MATTER CROSS. YOU'RE DOING A GOOD PASS.
Got some allergies kicking around. Oh, here we go. Senn with it. Senn on the near side. Going to pass it back. There's Hartnett. Hartnett over to Olsen. Olsen rubbing around. Oh, thought about it. Jason Drake quickly closed the gap, though. Now, here's Fowler. Fowler on that far side coming in. Pass. Oh, the pass did not get through. But, Olsen gets it and a giant save from Perrella. My goodness. He must have like 10 saves already. 3:50 left to go in the quarter. Pahan has it. Covered by Nostrum. Pass to Drake. Jason Drake He's run He's just jogging it towards the middle. Abrams hunting him down. Abrams trying to get him. Drake had to had to go back. Good defense from Abrams. Pass it to Pillard. Pillard fakes a shot. Trying to go in to Nice try on the pick from behind. But now it goes back.
I don't know if y'all know that, but it's like incredibly high comp. It's way cheaper to charge anywhere else. >> Um, and there aren't that many chargers around. Um, sometimes you got to check that app and you got to see if someone's on it and like there's like the secret one in GCC that everybody like hides out and waits for. So like I know where they all are. Um, so I guess my that's just my comment about that. Like I'd like to talk about like the possible revenue and how that would be calculated. >> But my question is what is the total upfront cost for the district? Like what even with the grant like what would we be putting out? And then also what happens to the charger if we sell the building? Let's say let's say we close a school. I'm not saying we are, but if we did and the building is no longer a municipal building and reverts to a private building, how does that work?
I don't know if y'all know that, but it's like incredibly high comp. It's way cheaper to charge anywhere else. >> Um, and there aren't that many chargers around. Um, sometimes you got to check that app and you got to see if someone's on it and like there's like the secret one in GCC that everybody like hides out and waits for. So like I know where they all are. Um, so I guess my that's just my comment about that. Like I'd like to talk about like the possible revenue and how that would be calculated. >> But my question is what is the total upfront cost for the district? Like what even with the grant like what would we be putting out? And then also what happens to the charger if we sell the building? Let's say let's say we close the school. I'm not saying we are, but if we did and the building is no longer a municipal building and reverts to a private building, how does that work?
It's one time. Those bills would have put uh put a mechanism in place for year-over-year increases. So, without those bills, we have this one-time funding, but it, you know, it could be a bellweather of things to come. Um, you know, that these may resurface in the next session with a little bit more momentum because now they're sort of in the, you know, they're they're they're in the spirit of, you know, what what people will be talking about. Um, another good bit of news, we talked a little bit about this at sites as um, there was um, an increase in the reimbursement amount for the walls that are being planned for King Street primary. Originally, we were only going to get a 63% reimbursement uh, on that cost. Now, that is up to 80%. Um, in my last conversation with Rep Santos, I said there are still ongoing efforts to find additional supplemental funding um, to kind potentially cover more of that cost.
So, that's kind of we waited for that. Um, Cherrywood is ongoing. They've started that site and they're pressing to get to Lane View. Um, just waiting on a schedule to present to the Lane View tenants so we can get in there and do that. HVAC controls have been um updated at Brookree, Noble, Morell, Sierraont, and Somedale. We're working on economizers and CO2 sensors. And because I'm so excited about the storage shelves, I put it on the the agenda or the uh the presentation twice. With all that said, the projects that we completed was the TK playground structure at Brookree. Um playground looks amazing. I have pictures of that. We have one little snafu with a piece of equipment that spins a little too fast for the kiddos. And so, um, I've presented a replacement, um, piece that the company's willing to replace at no charge, um, to the principal to make sure to see if that's what they want to do.
Even though I understood that education is not guaranteed everywhere in the world, seeing it firsthand affected me deeply. It reminded me how fortunate we are to live in a place where every child is given the opportunity to learn, grow, and pursue a future despite their personal circumstances. That is something worth appreciating. The education you received at Village High School matters and is something I hope that you are grateful for. The lessons you learned here go far beyond assignments, grades, or credits earned. Learning changes the way you think. It shapes your perspective, strengthens your confidence, and helps you discover who you are becoming. What makes Village truly special is not just the academics, it's the people. The teachers, staff, classmates, and relationships you built here shaped this chapter of your story. Those connections matter and they will stay with you long after today. Before you walk across the stage, I want to invite all of you, graduates, families, and guests, to pause for just a moment and reflect on three things you are grateful for today.
First one, we would eliminate athletic coaching stipens. Really, most of those eliminations are we have a structure that has varsity, junior varsity, and freshman. In many cases, our programs no longer have enough kids to go ahead and have both freshman and JB programs. So, we can eliminate a a coaching position because we've eliminated basically a team because there's um uh not enough kids for the team. That would include, for example, football or basketball or [clears throat] volleyball, those kind of sports. Last year, we looked at eliminating swimming, and we needed to do it because of the cost. This year, we're going to look to eliminate um three different actually four different programs. Um it's three areas, but it's four teams. Uh the tennis program, we have not actually had boys tennis for the last two years because nobody's come out. Um and we have two, possibly three girls that come out for tennis.
uh families that uh still are looking for opportunities for your kids during summer break so they're not sitting in front of video games. MUSD has a summer break camp as well as uh Boys and Girls Club who we partner with. So please look into those programs. You can actually find them online. Um musd20.org for ours and bgcscorid.org for the Boys and Girls Club. um they're affordable programs and they'll really inspire our kids to continue the learning that they've done in a very fun and affordable way. So with that, we're going to move on to our retiree recognition. Dr. Lopeman. Thank you, President Coutree. [clears throat] Tonight we celebrate the lasting contributions of our retirees. on behalf of the governing board and the entire district. Thank you for the time, energy, and heart that you brought to your work. Your legacy lives on in every classroom, every hallway, and every life that you have touched.
And we have a short road that we have every year to get those students up to where they need to be. So, we need to make sure the interventions we're using are successful and um they're effective. Now, Camille is my third and fourth grade math teacher and she's going to talk about our math goal. Good evening. Thanks for having us. So, this year I got to switch from reading to math, which I love. More of a math person. Um, and so I was asked to point out that on this chart in 2024, we switched to reveal, which is a new math program. Um, and so every year our hope is the teachers will become more familiar, the students will have stronger foundations, and we'll continue to see those scores go up. Um, so in our math instruction, we have 60 minutes of groups, our own small group interventions.
And this is an opportunity that >> on the local level to take our money >> and do something for our >> community. I mean it it really is. And so I try because I feel a lot of anger about this. I can tell you that that's might be why the governor doesn't respond to me. [laughter] >> But um you know we we're trying to do the best thing we can for for our children and uh >> and for and and it's for the larger community too. It it does increase our home values and >> and you say, you know, um listen, we bought our home and I know you bought at a similar time 35 years ago, you know, for $235,000. >> Yeah. We've had we've had our house for 30 years. So >> So I mean, and you know >> Oh, yeah. >> So we have a a home that is worth a lot of money, but >> and we pay a lot of taxes as a result.
It's again, I think it's your civic duty to spend some time finding information, whether it's for town meeting or select board meeting or ZBA meeting or the town meeting. And I write the selectmen when I think there's something that needs to be said. And one thing I noticed, again, it I believe it was in the Wayland paper that my mother gave to me. Um we had one one Ashland municipal aggregation rate. And it got so high that it was actually higher than Eversource. And so I wrote them and I gave them a link. I explained that I think Wayland has four different choices. I think it was four. And that why don't we have four different choices, especially when it's getting expensive? So I was very happy to read um that we have now moved to three choices. Um there's standard, optional, and optional grain.