DCRSD SC Mtg February 4 2026

001Meeting today on Wednesday, February 4th, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. at the Shepherd Hill Regional High School Library. The chair declaration in accordance with Mass General Law, Charter 30A, Section 20, in accordance with Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023. I announce this meeting is being recorded by the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District and ask if there is anyone else present that is recording today's meeting. All right, seeing none, please let the minutes reflect that no one is recording the meeting. And we'll stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And we'll have a moment of silence. Okay, and moving on to the Charlton Elementary School Showcase, Principal Laura Ramos. And

002yes, I know I did just read off the... the recording of this meeting. I do expect parents to actually record their children. We're excited to have our pre-K students here tonight to share part of their daily routine. They will be demonstrating the four components of the greeting circle, which is unite, calm, connect, and commit. Thank you so much for giving our young learners a place to shine. Let's go. We're ready to sing. Ms. Toramo? Yes. Do you mind introducing the staff that's going to be here? Yes, I was. From Ms. Provost's class, we have Cecilia, Ariana, and Jameson. And from Ms. Freeland's class, we have Jake, Dylan, and Oliver. And this is Ms. Freeland and Ms. Provost. I will help out, but somebody's got to tell me. You can go to the next one. That's

003great. So the first component of our reading circle is unite we start our morning or afternoon with this component every single day and we use this as an opportunity for students to feel both a sense of belonging and to participate in music and movement. breathing techniques that the children have been working on all year. It helps us learn to control impulses, to regulate behavior, and to manage our emotions. Does anybody have a favorite breathing technique? What's yours, Oliver? The bunny. Which one? The bunny. The bunny breathing? The bunny breathing. Alright, are you ready? Let's practice the bunny breath together. Anybody else have a favorite one? What's yours? Balloon. Balloon. Do you want to do the silly balloon? Alright, you ready? Put your hands on your head. We're going to blow it up and then we're

004going to let the air off this one. Are you ready? Here we go. I've got one more. Jake, would you like to pick one? Drain. Drain. Ooh, drain. Ready? Shh. So the next component is connect. This teaches students how to feel a sense of belonging, how to show empathy and care for others, how to express emotions, and most importantly, connect feelings with their behaviors as well. We're going to start with the who's absent today. So we always check in every day, and whoever is missing, we put their name in a heart, and we wish them well. So if we can click on miss you, we're going to wish our friends that are not here tonight well. How's that sound? For Connect, it's some type of partner or team activity. So we're going to sing Row,

005Row Your Boat, but we need to make partners, okay? All right, you ready? Click on the vote. Row, row your boat to spring, and a sword. Follow... regulate behavior, and take responsibility for their actions and their choices. So there are four commitments that we talk about and practice every single day when we come to school. Walking feet is one. That one's pretty self-explanatory, right? A big strong voice that encourages children to advocate for themselves, to ask for help if they need it. Encouraging them to use a strong voice that others can hear in a way that's appropriate. Helping hands, right. Again, also pretty self-explanatory. We're helping other friends pick up. We're helping them when they need things. And what's the last one? Listening ears is our last one. So this gives them a little onus

006to choose how they want to be safe in the classroom. They pick one every day. At the end of the day, we talked about how well they did with their commitments. Did they do a good job or do we need to work on it a little harder next time? And I think that it really has done a nice job teaching them how to be safe in the classroom without us putting that on them. They make their own choices for that. Thank you so much. Great job. Thank you. You're welcome. So cute. I love it. I know. Went to all that adorableness and now on to consent agenda items. Now on to business. I know. All right, so Anthony. It's just so cute. Not to disrupt you from the cuteness. It is just so cute, I

007know. But, you know. We got carried away with the littles. But I'd love for, like, you know, something to be pulled out of the consent agenda. I would love to. I will move the table of the minutes for January 14, 2026. Awesome. Second? I would love a second. Bill, second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Unanimous. So then, how about the rest of that then, Anthony? I'll move to accept the rest of the consent agenda as printed. I'll second. And then second from Kelly. All those in favor? Aye. It's unanimous. So Haley, you feel good about that then? Okay. Alright, moving on to communications. Does anyone have any communications? I know Haley was looking forward to one of the out-of-state field trips. That's why she was... In terms of subcommittee, we've been very busy. We've been

008grinding away. Ms. Zeller and myself and Caitlin and... Oh, well, you can hold onto that until F then. Okay. Sorry. Since it happens to be an agenda item today. I forgot. Alright, so then if there's no other communications, we can move on to the student representatives report. Semester two has officially begun. The National Honor Society has completed its annual Krispy Kreme fundraiser. The Drama Club held their additions for a spring production. If the set could talk a night of one acts on January 29th. The Biomedical Innovations Pathway held its capstone presentations last Friday the 30th. The show choir group Fantasy won third place for the small slash mixed division at the Tantasqua Show Choir Festival this past weekend. Shepherd Hill will be hosting the Central Massachusetts Show Choir Festival Show Choir Competition this Saturday, February

0097th, which is also their home show. The academic decathlon team will be competing at North Reading High School on Saturday, February 7th. The boys varsity basketball team is currently 12-3 with their next game this Friday away on Marlboro. The girls varsity basketball team is currently 8-5 with their senior night game this Friday home versus Marlboro, which will also commemorate the A.J. Congdon Memorial. Hope Squad is planning some activities for the week of February 9th to raise awareness of mental health in their program, including activities at lunch, a high-five Friday. And a gene day for teachers to raise money for Hope Squad and the Jack Elf Foundation. And finally, Smart Pass will be fully enacted beginning tomorrow. Does anyone have any questions for him? Hearing none, moving on to the superintendent's report. Madam Chair and school

010committee, I do have two items to share this evening. One is that the Dudley Education Foundation, which was in the Charlton Villager, I don't think it made the Webster Times, has announced their 2026 Heroes Among Us. Tickets are still available to attend. Recognize and support these incredible individuals who have made a significant impact in the Dudley Charlton schools. The event is Saturday, March 28th, 2026 at the Wellsworth Hotel in Southbridge, Mass. The heroes will be recognized and presented their award at a reception that includes dinner, dancing, and silent auction. The 2026 Heroes Among Us recipients are Heather Bowes, Laura Campos, Mary Ellen Sabone, Nicole Fossis, Lynn Harmon, Michelle Hooper, Steve Labs, Principal Peter Olson, Cindy Snow, and Wayne Tower. We look forward to celebrating their recognition by the Dudley Chilton Education Foundation. The next item

011I have, and I also included a position paper that came out from the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. This is regarding statewide graduation. I brought this to the committee a couple of times already as kind of introductory to it. I did not try to go through, I'm not going to read through the mass position paper, MASS, but I did have a couple of statements to share with this regarding their position on this. As part of this report, I've attached this position paper. The position paper supports the reestablishment of a consistent statewide graduation standards to promote fundamental fairness and clarity following the elimination of the MCAS assessment as a graduation requirement while also maintaining high expectations for all students. Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents endorses the graduation council's vision of a Massachusetts graduate and its focus

012on holistic competencies while emphasizing that the scope and timeline for implementation must allow for thoughtful planning meaningful stakeholder engagement in phased implementation over multiple years. The reason that position is being taken is because right now we're led to believe that in June a decision will be made and then it will have to be implemented the following year. Our organization of superintendents believe that there should be a little bit more planning time involved with that. Also, the position paper raises concerns that the number and breadth of proposed graduation requirements may be overly prescriptive and urges the state to provide districts with flexibility by treating proposed components as options rather than as rigid checklists for graduation. It also identifies feasible challenges associated with certain proposals including state administration and of course assessments, which again as I've shared

013with this committee feels a lot like MCAS assessments, but also that the, for to graduate from high school in Massachusetts that you're required or mandated, excuse me is the actual word, to complete the FAFSA and the MASFA. For those of you who aren't fully aware with FAFSA and MAFSA, that's for applying for student loans and for college. Right now in the proposal by the state, that's a requirement for graduation from high school is that all families, whether attending college or not, has to complete the FAFSA and the MAFSA. Finally, the position paper stresses the importance of clear cost estimates and full state funding for any new graduation requirements in order to avoid unfunded mandates on school districts facing ongoing fiscal pressures. Obviously, Dudley-Shelton is not one of those districts that feels fiscal pressures, but... So

014I completely support that and understand that. And while no action is required by the school committee at this time, additional guidance and opportunities to learn more about the graduation council's work are expected as the state continues a listening tour and tries to refine the recommendations based on stakeholder feedback prior to final approval. Again, we're led to believe that this is going to occur in June. There's a lot of work to be done between now and then, and I really hope that, you know, as a position paper for the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents does register with the state moving forward with that. And that concludes the superintendent's report this evening. Thank you, Chair. That seems like a pretty aggressive timeline for superintendents to adopt. Yeah. Any other questions for Mr. LaMarche? No? Hearing none. Moving

015on. Next on the agenda is public comment. Do we have anyone here for public comment this evening? Seeing none moving on to new business. Oh We do have one already. Yeah, I did not. Okay. Sorry. I am slightly hard of hearing so yeah, that's okay so for a recap a recap for For policy for public comment, which is be EDH you have three minutes You're speaking to the school committee through the chair. Okay All right. Joe is the timekeeper of three minutes. Okay. Okay. You basically state your name, the town that you're from, and you try to keep it under what the school committee really has purview of, which is basically the superintendent, policies of the district, the budget. However, you do have your First Amendment rights. You try to keep it civil, though. Okay.

016You know, just because. We do have students here. I'll keep it calm. And it's not, unfortunately, it's not a time for where we can actually have a give and take conversation because, unfortunately, that could be considered where we can end up having a debate and that can end up bringing us down where we can end up being a violation of open meeting law. So, you know, it's time for where you have your three minutes. I guess I have a question on that then. Is there a point after bringing stuff up that we would be able to, there would be a, ability to have a discussion or do we just say what we're feeling and then you guys discuss after another time public comment is a time for you to actually be able to state something

017that you feel and and then okay because the meeting is a meeting held in public it is not a public meeting okay got it okay um So I'll start. It's okay. I just wanted to try and understand. I'll start now then. I just want to start with good evening, Chair and members of the school committee. For the record, my name is Michelle McLaughlin. I am a resident of Dudley. I'm a parent of a student who attends Bay Path Regional Vogue, as well as two other students who are part of the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District. I appreciate your willingness to continue discussing the issue that I brought up previously about... One of your policies, I believe you'll be talking about it on G in your agenda. So my daughter attends a public school that does not

018offer color guard. Her resident district, Shepherd Hill, does offer color guard, but vocational schools are not permitted to participate, even though vocational schools are already allowed to participate in certain district athletic programs. As I understand, that has to do with the MIAA. The question before us is not about special treatment. It is about whether public voc students should have access to extracurricular opportunities when those opportunities are not available to them at their voc school. After the last month's meeting, a comparison was made that this was brought up previously because a private school student was trying to have it changed. I would like to respectfully clarify, while voc schools are different from private schools, vocational schools are public schools governed by state education policy. Students attend them as a part of the public education system with

019the resident district, even paying the tuition for said students. Families do not opt out of public education by choosing voc training. They're choosing a different public pathway. Private schools, by contrast, are independent entities with their own government, admissions, and program structures. Treating voc schools the same as private school students overlooks that key distinction. We understand that while our girls may not be able to participate this season in Collar Guard, our goal is to prevent future students from being placed in a position where they must choose between their career training and their extracurricular passions. Finally, there may be longer-term solutions worth exploring, such as whether districts could jointly petition the MIAA to recognize color guard as a sport. I have reached out to them. They said it's up to the school, not to the parents, to

020try and have that changed as a sport. I recognize cooperative participation would become possible under existing frameworks. I can go into how color guard is very much a sport if needed at another time. I'm just asking that the committee... consider whether current policy fully reflects the intent of the public education equity and whether guidance from DESE or collaboration with the MIAA could help resolve this issue moving forward. Thank you for continuing this discussion. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Calista Lawless. I'm an 8th grader at Dudley Middle School, and I'm here today to speak about the possibility of Bay Pass students joining Shepherd Hill Color Guard. I've been a member of the Middle School Color Guard since 5th grade and a member of the Middle School Jazz Band since 6th grade. I'm also the

021president of the Junior Triad Music Honor Society at Dudley Middle School. Several years ago, when there was potential budget cuts threatening the music program, I organized a fundraiser selling pillowcases at the winter band concerts and chorus concerts. Over three years, I raised over $4,000 for the Dudley music program. I am very involved with music, and I can't imagine not having it to get through middle school. I am worried about the color guard program at Shepherd Hill shrinking. The Shepherd Hill Color Guard is small. Last year, the high school color guard had six members, and a minimum of five is needed to compete. My friends in 8th grade at the time were torn between the decision of music and learning a trade at Bay Path. Color Guard is a big investment, and only those willing to

022make the commitment would consider joining. The ones who chose to go to Bay Path are trying to join their friends at Shepherd Hill in doing something they love. This year, even my friends and I are stuck between the two, knowing both will influence how we live the rest of our lives. Thank you for listening. Please consider allowing Bay Path students the opportunity to join the Shepherd Hill Color Guard. Chair, Costello. Can I just have it noted that Calista is our Project 357 representative from Dudley Middle School? I thought you might want to connect the face with the rep. Anyone else? Okay, hearing none. Moving on to new business. Dudley Elementary School Report, Principal Christopher Audette. All right, good evening, everyone. Thank you very much for having me this evening. My name is Chris Audette, and

023I am the very proud principal. Dudley Elementary School, home of the top dogs. So I'm sharing with you a few documents just to sort of guide my discussion with you tonight. As you get your folders on the left side you're gonna find a document called the Big Rocks. And as principal of Dudley Elementary School, I try to spend some time every day sort of moving my big rocks. And these are sort of big school-wide goals that encompass basically big portions of our school improvement plan. I basically synthesized it into one document for us to guide our discussion. So on the front of this Big Rocks document, we have our school-wide mission and vision that we worked really hard on articulating. It's important to be able to tell our story as top dogs. Our mission is

024what we try to do every day. The joyful learning, the inclusive practices really guide what we do. And our vision is where we're trying to go, right? We have big dreams, and we have a lot of work to do, but we're making tremendous progress. Just a few highlights. We want eventually all of our students to be known and valued. We want our students to excel at grade level and beyond. We want really partnerships with families in terms of supporting our children in their education. We want our kids to be able to engage with the world. I know these are really big statements, but we have some really big aspirations. lot of work to do but we're definitely making progress and doing some great work at Dudley L. On the back our big rocks are basically

025students first and foremost supporting their success and wellness, our teachers strengthening our professional learning culture together, and our parents and community partners strengthening those those partnerships right. Just a few highlights of some things that we've been working on with students. Our motto is really more proactive and less reactive. Trying to be as proactive as we can in supporting them. We have some great programs really initiating. with the foundation of our positive behavior and support system PBIS We're all about positive recognition and positivity We implemented a new youth leaders program this year. That's going really well. So there's students Chosen every month to be youth leaders. They help me they make They participate in some making some important decisions for the school We choose them based on their ability to follow expectations at lunch and recess.

026So that was a way to sort of address, a proactive way to address some of those issues. We have a monthly character trait program at WL where students learn more than just academics, but they really learn about strong character and what it means to be a top dog. This month we're learning all about self-control, which is a really important one at the middle elementary level. We are all about supporting the whole child and making our high-risk students a priority. I was really, we made great progress with MCAS last year. I was really excited that we, a lot of our sort of bonus points for supporting our students who are below grade level but like making progress, WL really did well in that category. So I was really proud of that. We have a really strong

027MTSS program to support struggling students at WL. We do have some work to do around academic discourse and that's like one of our goals, something that we're trying to work on. In terms of teachers, strengthening our professional learning community, I am out in classrooms every day. I make it a priority to do daily instructional rounds. So I spend a lot of time in classrooms, sometimes observing, sometimes teaching myself, sometimes going through coaching cycles with teachers. So instruction is my passion, and I really am in awe of the great instruction that happens every day at Dudley Elm. The teachers are phenomenal. We recently articulated a vision for excellent instruction at WL and there's a visual in your left-hand side of your folder that sort of outlines those different components and this is something that the staff

028at WL came up with. We really wanted to be able to articulate what good teaching and learning looks like from our lens and this is what we came up with. So when I go out to visit classrooms, I look for these things in action. On the right side, I provided with you some data. I don't want to take you into the weeds of the data, but the data that I compile going out for instructional rounds every day is there. We have a lot to celebrate, a lot of glows, a few grows that we are working on. But on the data side, too, I also provided you our MAP data, which is hot off the presses. Teachers really just finished these assessments at the end of January. And I'm happy to report, according to MAP growth,

029and this is one data point, in ELA and NAF, we're both in the high achievement and high growth category. So that's really good. And I am really proud of the great work that we're doing at Dudley L. This year we're really working on collaboration in action and that means common planning time all teachers have it and we're making the most out of that time really trying to focus on instructional outcomes and priorities I do regular data dives with teachers, meeting with them one-on-one, looking at their data, coming up with some goals, things that we're working on. We did a deep dive into MCAS and really looked at, like, granularly all the different questions and things that we excelled at and things that we struggled with. And we're making instructional tweaks to address those things. We're

030working with Heritage. collaborating on a PD supporting students with challenging behaviors using developmentally appropriate strategies that's something we have in the works and there's always a need for additional tools to support our students and culturally responsive teaching is another big category that we're going to be working on with professional development in the future in terms of parents we're really working on strengthening two-way communication I am big about having an open-door policy and making sure families are heard and communicated with regularly. I think that's really important. And I also want to give them the opportunity to communicate back with me. So that's, I think, been going well. We do have monthly town hall meetings at WL where we do special shout outs, give out some special awards. We started inviting parents to these to talk about

031their careers. So we have some parents coming in on Friday as special surprise guests. We sort of keep them behind stage, backstage. And the kids are young enough. They really want their parents to come. So it's been working out well. And kids are learning about some great careers. And it's a great way to engage families. We also have character trait breakfast a few times a year where we invite families of students who earned a special character trait award. These are very well attended. I think we're getting like fire capacity in the cafeteria. Like we really are well attended at these character trait breakfasts. We're constantly seeking to build meaningful, mutually beneficial partnerships that impact teaching and learning with families and with other community partners. So there's a lot of great work happening at WL. I

032want to invite you all to come see me. Many of you have already to visit classrooms. My door is always open. It's a really fun place. It's a positive place where great things are happening. So I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. I'm happy to give you an overview of the data. Again, I don't want to take you into the weeds, but I wanted you to have these things. We are doing some really good work, and we're seeing some great results. And I am really proud of the staff. They are phenomenal, and it's an honor to lead them. I have a wondering, and you probably already do this, but I don't know. You know, we talked about creating those... you know, making sure we're watching our high risk students and then really celebrating

033the achievements of students with character awards and positive growth. And I'm just wondering about the middle. And I'm wondering if, have you been able to track, like, which students you're recognizing as the year goes on and then correlate that with... What is the two-way communication with students with those families because I wonder You know how many of the students that may not be Reaching you know that may not be in our low area, but you know not in the high Are we reaching them through their families through communication as well? Yeah, yes, we do have a lot of data that we look at. And yes, we do track the students who earn these awards. And that is something that's on our radar. We have so many great kids. We have so many kids that do

034follow the expectation and do show like self-control. And it's hard to pick just one. It's really hard for the teachers every month. But we have other ways of recognizing everyone. Like we have the Bragg Tag program that Mrs. True started. We still use those. So every kid can earn a brag tag. Every kid can master self-control. But we have special recognition for one who really stands out. So yeah, I think it's interesting what you say about the kids in the middle. Because many times we do need to make sure that they are also challenged and also celebrated. So I think that's a really good point. Are you finding any barriers to communication as far as any barriers with language or anything like that? Are you able to overcome those? We have some really good tools

035now in 2026. So we have, I mean, Lexiki translation software where we can actually get a translator to help us. Google Translate, I mean, is a tool, right? It's not always 100% accurate, but there are some really good tools to help us. So yeah, I think we're in a good place. Outstanding Mr. Audet. We are so lucky to have so many great principals in our district but I'd like to highlight a few of the things that have really stuck out for me with your accomplishments. I had the privilege of meeting with Mr. Audet during the summer and I firsthand got to witness the desk on wheels that rips through the hallways from class to class and just shows how he's so motivated to make the rounds and make an effect. and an impact on every

036student in that building and in concert with the faculty. Additionally, you brighten my Sunday night every week because I read that newsletter you send out every week. So I think that's beneficial to families and is the starting process for that dialogue that you're discussing, having that two-way communication. I really appreciate what you brought here tonight. I'm looking forward to the days to come. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you, Chris. I don't know if you really want to run away so fast. Oh, I know, right? Should I stay for the... I mean, we can go elementary first. Come on, Priya. Proposed handbook changes, 2026 to 2027. I mean, don't we normally go high school to elementary? We'll go elementary to high school. Give Mr. Elwell a reprieve for a little while. Yes. just

037so the committee knows mrs. Destel could not make it this evening just to let everyone know she's not just skipping out on her peers the changes we're proposing are mostly changes that were recommended by DESE as part of our Integrated monitoring. Integrated monitoring, yes. So that's where a lot of these came from. And we added one additional piece on video and audio recording. I did update in the folder the correct one for you. So the correct CMS-DMS one and the correct elementary one are both in the folder for you. Thank you. Do you want me to read them all? helpful it's okay so yeah the first one is sort of new language on page 16 and this is a recommendation from Desi regarding IDEA the second proposed change is regarding video and audio recording and

038this is additional language around an issue that was previously unaddressed in earlier iterations of the student handbook so this is like totally new that we are looking to add on page 22. um definition of bullying on page 24. updated per recommendation from Jesse. Through the chair, I'm not sure the school committee is going to take action on handbooks tonight, but we're listening, and then it's like policy. We're going to come back at the next meeting and take action on it. I believe that was the plan? Yes. Okay, all right. I didn't want the principals to sit at the table waiting for the school committee to do something. No, no, because we're always trying to do it where we listen, we discuss, and then we can vote on another meeting, like try not to e-jerk things.

039That's our main. Yeah. Do you want me to start over? Is that helpful? No, no, you're at new language page 22. We just needed to catch up. The next item was policy ACR, and it was a really long one. So we just, we said, we removed the previous policy and added this current policy. It's the non-discrimination policy, including harassment and retaliation. And again, this was per recommendation from DESE. We added new language on page 34 around suspensions and again this was per recommendations from DESE. Page 37 we added some additional information about the 10 school day waiting period and removed some language. So replaced it with new language, again, per recommendation from DESE. Page 38 added some new language per recommendation from DESE. And then once the changes are approved, we do need to update

040our table of contents as well. That does impact the document. Does anyone have any questions? Yeah, go ahead. I have one, too. I just have a question about, and this is not necessarily for you guys. When we talk about the new language on page 22 about video and audio recording, some of the issues that have been brought up lately in other districts might be the glasses, the smart glasses, where you don't realize that someone has a smart, wearing smart glasses. Yeah, true. And they may come back and say their prescription. So I think, you know, I don't know. And they could be used for an assistive technology device, but I think it may be something we need to incorporate. Thank you. Not be at the elementary level. But who knows? It's typically not at the

041elementary level. After Christmas, that was one of my questions, so thank you. My other question, I think this is more for the rest of administration and policy sub is also, but is a lot of this looks like it's just been gleaned from the MGL. So has it been crosswalked through the policies that are already in the district because like for example you know for page 37 within 10 school days and then new language page 34 before suspending or expelling a student like that's That's all under the policies that are already there. So I'm assuming it's all similar, but I'd hate to be the one that's assuming so has it been crosswalk to make sure that the language is similar across the you know the policies of the district as well as going from the staff

042handbook Yeah, yes. Yes. Yes. It's not it's not their position to do that. It's our office. But I'm just saying like, you know, so that will be done or has been done or is being done. that policy sub will be doing that I don't know what somewhere along the way before we all vote on it so and the answer is yes yeah we're required to change a policy or an update in policy would bring it to policy sub but it doesn't at this time the elementary is usually the easiest handbook so you know the only other comment I have is just like making sure we spell out things Like we have LEA, we have IEP. Oh, sure. The acronyms. But I think that's going to be all through. It's elsewhere in it. It's elsewhere in

043the 37 pages of the elementary school handbook. Typically, yeah. LEA is identified in it. It's abbreviated further in the spot. Okay. We just have like child's. Do we want to call it students? No, because that's part of the language of the MGL that it's part of or something. It's where we got into that kettle of fish before when policy sub, like four years ago, when people were requesting, can we please have caregiver, but we can't have caregiver because the language was very specific to parent guardian. Yeah. Okay, middle schools. Good evening. Good evening, Mr. Dastow. Did we set these chairs extra low? Go blame Mr. Audet, okay? Chris and I have decided that we are the Jan Brady of education. Always in the middle between Cindy and Marsha. Yes, that's true. But nonetheless, we thank

044you for the opportunity to be here tonight. Our suggested changes really fall into two categories. The first part of the document, is basically minor edits or just things that change the wording to show what we actually do on a daily basis to improve the accuracy of what we are actually doing. And then the second part is similar to like Mr. Audet said, add-ins for regulatory purposes based on either DESE integrated monitoring or other newer legal best practices. There is one thing that I'm not sure is in your electronic or paper folder, but I could be wrong. And it is and when we get to that well, it's the thing about video recording We're not sure whether we got it in in time. Well, it's not in your paper copy It is in the electronic school

045committee folder. I like to say there was one addition after press time Yes, we don't really say that anymore, but it was a Hail Mary. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for your help on that So with that I'll turn it over to my colleague. This is Bo gosh to be the leadoff hitter Hi. Okay. So, again, like Mr. Desto said, a lot of these are just minor edits. First one, agenda books. We don't provide agenda books at CMS, so that's outdated. Page 10, my school council felt like we should put they there instead of he or the principal and the pronoun there. It was just we realized it was a wrong link so we fixed the link on page 10 too. Page 11, school cancellations, we felt like it was too specific so we just

046made it simplified. School cancellations due to inclement weather will be posted on the district website and notifications sent to parents, faculty, staff via email and or text notification to reflect what we do. Also on page 11, this one is additionally principals or designees must ensure notification is provided to the parent or guardian. This just had the word five and has the number 10, so we made it consistent. It was just like it's a typo there. Page 12, we wanted to omit you must come in and sign. The student in or out of the office. This isn't a Practice every single time in the middle school. So we're trying to limit the unnecessary traffic So as long as we know the parent on the camera, we let the kid go out to them 13 we wanted

047to omit bring an acceptable note signed by a parent under late to school this is not a better practice when they're late to school no one brings in notes when they're when they're late so we wanted to take that out page 13 we just wanted to add the word email to acceptable notes a lot of times parents are just emailing so we wanted to make sure that was reflected Page 13, we found some spelling errors in there under dress code with the words do rags, bandanas, and we felt strongly it should be changed from cultural heritage to racial or religious identity. Page 14. At this current time, we do not grade WIN classes because they're intervention blocks. We might explore that later as we develop WIN, but at this time we don't grade them, so

048we wanted to omit that for now. We also found in the cheating section there was nothing about AI and we felt like we needed to update that. So our proposed language would be use of generative AI tools will only be allowed for an assignment with prior teacher approval if the teacher permits the use of an AI tool and if it is utilized by the student, the student must cite the source and treat it like any other cited material that's not their own. Again, it talks about agenda books. We want to omit that section because we don't provide those. There was just the wrong page listed on page 16, so we wanted to reflect the correct pages, 42 and 46, not 47 and 51. 16. was also a wrong page number. This was a typo in

049our thing, but we also wanted to add, this should be a new entry, but we wanted to add at the bottom of page 16, students are to talk and not shout in the cafeteria and maintain appropriate personal space between peers. We felt like that would be important to highlight on that section. Page 16 was the addition of the video recording which Mr. Ardette went over. So we wanted that in ours too. I was wondering if we should leave the card playing in just for good luck. But that was the one that snuck in after page 16 that we will finally get it out of there this time. Now we're getting into the recommended language from DESE on our integrated monitoring. Do you want to take this part over? So when you look at page 21,

05022, which carries over to the next page, and then also here on page, it goes back to, it says page 21, but largely that stuff is meant to take, to spell out the requirements of. the legal chapter 71, 37H and three quarters, which requires us to follow certain procedures for disciplinary issues. And we had had the citation of the law in there, but not all spelled out in every category. And so that was one of the things that DESE asked for us to correct. And then similarly, where we have under 21, a written 24-hour notice, that's about detentions. And we just want to change, take out the word written and simply use notice because a lot of times notice to families is verbal or something like that. But we always make sure families are aware

051and that there's a plan for the kid getting picked up and those kinds of things. And then on page 25, there is a... It's a policy that's cited in the handbook that still says, and I'm embarrassed to tell you this, but it still says proposed for adoption from 2014. So obviously it's been adopted by that time, and we need to get that out of there just to keep it accurate. And then the rest of it I think is just a lot of the rest of it is stuff that was just Changing updating it to make Chris exist in the handbook and Kelly of her. Yeah, it's like that so This was another desi 137 to 39. Yeah. Oh, yeah, and then 38 We felt like under, there's currently no check mark, that's the grid there,

052under school-based response for fighting and physical aggression, there's such a wide range of fighting and physical aggression that to just jump to whatever the next column is, I think suspension, we wanted to have a school-based response for that. So we wanted to just add a check mark for that, plus with... Some of the MGL to its you're supposed to try to find other alternatives before suspension So you need a school-based response before you do that. So it should that should be reflected there and that I think it yes What I know that at Dudley middle school you do the step program as a yes we do It's like a behavior man Is that something that also is in place at Charlton middle school? It's basically just spelled out like warning then this it's progressive discipline.

053Oh, I thought that was a good curriculum. No So progressive discipline is utilized there. I don't think it's spelled out to the degree that we have it. It's certainly not identical Okay, I think it would just be important like as a parent to understand what that is because the kids definitely come home and talk about it. And they get very worried that they're going to get stepped. I was going to say I love that they use it as a verb. I got it. Stepped. And I think that it just would be a good communication whether it's in the handbook as like an aside like, you know, I don't know how you might word it, but I think, you know, if it's something that the STEP program is on the website so that parents can reference

054it, something like that. Okay, so yeah, we could definitely do maybe like right before the grid that we have. It does have something about progressive. It does talk a little bit about progressive discipline, so we'll just review that and make sure that it's accurate with both schools. Even if you just said any progressive discipline models used will be provided to parents at the beginning of the school year or something like that. questions and comments to continue slightly on what was coming on he was speaking about something I learned about at CMS this year was something that was instituted by many of the instructors which was an infraction law but it's nowhere near it's nowhere in the handbook and so families have no idea what this is until a student comes home and goes I'm in

055the infraction law okay it seems to me that that's something that they should be aware of and what the steps are in that and how it's instituted with consistency if that's something that's in play. Otherwise, there can't be any cooperation between the home and the classroom if we're not on the same page. So I think that's something that if it's an instituted practice, it should be in the handbook or alluded to. I remember when we talked about, when we spoke in August about the handbook, I had a question about backpacks and consistency. Because it's spelled out in the handbook that they're not to use backpacks from class to class. However, when they get to Shepherd Hill, they are not permitted to have a locker, and they have to have a backpack. So I'm just wondering

056if you guys can speak to how that... looks for a student in terms of consistency when they've built a culture of no backpack and then only backpack. So I only can speak, so at the middle school level, going back a ways, when we first opened the middle schools, we decided not to, it was pretty much best practice at that time, coming off of Columbine, which was a year before we opened these schools, to not allow backpacks to be carried around in most schools because of, the thought at the time was for safety purposes, which we've learned over time, if somebody, it's not necessarily the backpack that presents the danger, that things can be hidden in other ways as well. We've stuck with that and we think that it's, what we try to do is like,

057there's seven hours of the school day to get kids seven hours of time where they can really just focus on being a student and try to minimize as many distractions as we can because obviously the age group is a very distracted age. I'm not sure that we ever get away from it. And messy. So we've kept with it, even though, you know, in my previous school, with COVID, we allowed backpacks for a little while and found it not to be that much of a problem, honestly. But still, I would prefer slightly to keep it with no backpack. So it was started off as a safety thing, and then it kind of morphed into like, well, let's keep it that way because it helps the kids to focus better. The only downside is that... Historically they

058may have to carry several textbooks in hand, but now they don't have to do that as much anymore with Chromebooks and so forth. So it's working pretty well. Can I just make a comment about the backpacks? I was with you. We had conversations about the backpacks and should our middle schoolers have backpacks. My daughter complains all the time that she has too much stuff to carry. I spent the past week at a middle school that has backpacks. And I'm totally for no backpacks. I'm not making a judgment. I'm just bringing to light that we have one standard at one level, the complete opposite standard at another level. So the next question I was going to say is, because you're right, we do not issue agenda books. What they're issued, or at least the previous practice

059was at... Heritage is fourth grade. We do it as well. And they attend the book and they do they spend all year working really hard at learning I'm gonna put this assignment in here. I'm gonna do that assignment there and then they They fulfill those though that that planning process really well by the end of the year You get to the middle school and then it's here's your Google slide. There's your homework. I felt like that was a skill That was a good skill for them to acquire I just, again, one of those, we don't have a perfect linear parity. If I may, through the chair, just to address the second part of your question, which was about the transition from eighth grade to ninth. And I can only speak for my own boys that

060live in my house. Well, one doesn't live there anymore, but it's okay. Lived in my house. My understanding, and obviously Darren can speak better on this being there every day, is that when my son went to high school, He was assigned a locker, but the school is just so ginormous that, and he might have a class on the far end of the third floor and then another class down on the first floor, so he found it more efficient not to really use it hardly ever and to carry the backpack with him instead. So that was what, it was more for just like efficiency than anything else. I don't know if they assign lockers now, but they certainly did when my boys were there. And I'm sure Principal Elwell could speak to whether we have a

061problem with that transition. Sorry. I'm going to ask for permission from the chair to speak. Madam Chair? Sure, since you asked so nicely, Mr. LaMarche, you may speak. Through the chair, it's really, I know you want a standard that goes all the way through, but you have to also think about developmental and cultural as well. Sure. So middle school, there's nothing more exciting for a fifth grader than to get a locker. Right. Okay, that is probably the highlight of any orientation that any fifth grader, incoming fifth grader gets. So that is definitely a cultural norm for that. In the high school, it's no longer a cool thing to have a locker. So you have to kind of work with that as well. So, yes, we can apply a standard all the way through, but if

062it's not working or not effective, I don't want high school staff to be chasing kids down to make sure they're using their lockers. I'm not suggesting it. I'm just trying to understand the rationale why there's different standards. Sometimes that standard could be culturally or developmentally adjusted. over the years i think your explanation with the principal's explanation makes sense but if you're just a person reading the handbooks and you're like why this and why that you don't quite put it together i don't know but i mean kelly yes did you have a problem using the lockers here in shepherd hill and going to classes on time or even using backpacks in in the intermediate school i mean i know i didn't um no not yeah okay not necessarily although i find i think they're small Yeah,

063they are small. It was hard to put a lot of things in if you had after-school sports and stuff, but I didn't really have a choice. But their backpacks right now are so darn heavy that I would think they'd want to put some stuff in them. I just remember my daughter complaining about carrying everything in the middle school. You had a question, though, Kathy. I do. I'd say one thing. It's just not a thing in high school anymore because we don't have huge textbooks anymore. That's probably the biggest thing. And they don't wear coats. Nobody wears coats. We all wear shorts. My question about agenda books is that I think there's a little bit of discrepancy between I know that Dudley Middle School uses agenda books, and I do think that that might be a

064conversation to have between the two of you because I have found, at least from my children and maybe other children, that starting in fifth grade, it was a big help. to see that agenda book come in and come home and have the folders and as a parent it was a big help. I don't know enough about how it is to be a parent at Charlton Middle School. My other question to you is about hats. Always an issue. I don't, you know, kids at home that yell at me that it's in the handbook but my teachers don't allow it. So I think that figure it out because we need to be consistent with them. speak to that. I would probably rather not see it in there, but it is in there. And frankly, since I've been

065the principal at Dudley Middle, it really hasn't been a problem. I thought that hats was going to be a bigger problem. It's really not. Kids wear their hats. They're not disrespectful. There are some classrooms where the teacher asks them if they will remove their hats when they come in the classroom. And I don't know if that's okay or not, but I'm okay with it as of right now. Because I think it's a polite thing to do. And there are times when you go places in the world where you have to remove your hat. If you go into your grandmother's house or church or someplace that's respectful. So to my knowledge, it's not become a problem because the students have been so good about it. And it hasn't caused conflict. I do see that that could

066be considered inconsistent, but as of right now, I feel I'm okay with it. Yeah, and maybe it just needs to be about the messaging. Yeah. You know, maybe not, we do not allow hats. We would appreciate your support in not having hats in our classroom. You know, something like that. I mean, to Anthony's point, I mean, I see it too. For the fifth to eighth grade, there is that disparity that's going on from the elementary to the high school, but I think... I think I do see a lot of parity starting to happen between the two of you working together. And so I like where it's going. And I think that was just what I was trying to allude to. Yeah. Yeah. Because, I mean, middle school is hard. I mean, what does everybody always

067say? You know, it's got to be really special to teach middle school. You know. Everybody wants to be in the young times because they're so cute, so wonderful. They're all turning into adults at high school, but man, fifth to eighth grade, man. Awkward. Yeah. Tough times. Going from that prompting to that independence, it's a crazy time. So power to you. Because they are wonderful kids at that age, but it is a handful. So yes. You have the best ones. They are the best ones. But thank you very much, guys. Thank you. All right, saving the best for last, right, Mr. Elwell? Or at least the largest handbook. For the chair for clarity, is this the one or is that another opinion? This is the one. This is the one. So the paper one you have

068is the one. There's no last minute sneak for you? No? Okay. Good evening. So I don't know if you've heard, but recently we had an integrated monitoring visit. And in anticipation of that visit and in the aftermath of that visit, there are a number of items that need to be addressed. So bear with me because a lot of it is spelling out legalese in greater detail than what we had in the handbook. First, page 43, there's a reference currently to the principal developing a school-wide education service plan for students who are suspended beyond 10 days. And the proposed language spells out that... educational service plan, namely tutoring in person or virtual, but also an online credit recovery option. So again, this is just providing some additional detail on what that school-wide education service plan is.

069A lot of this language has likely been in the handbook for a while from when this first came out when the law changed, and there was a lot of boilerplate language that now we have to provide some additional detail since we've lived with it for a number of years. Next, on page 43, there is language currently that states that the principal and a team will review discipline data, and they're looking for some additional details there where we've outlined our quarterly review process and how we pull that information from school brains and how we then use that information to then make some decisions and referrals. Next, on page 35, prior to a suspension that constitutes a change in placement of a student with disabilities, there is some additional language for context, but really what we needed

070to provide was some additional details around what is considered at the manifestation determination, including the student's file, teacher observations, and any other relevant information that would be considered at that manifestation hearing. Next is page 40. Again, the boilerplate language was around identifying that there are alternative remedies or alternative consequences to suspension, but we have been asked to provide some additional information around the exceptions. So although we're encouraged to avoid suspension at all costs, There are two exceptions that are quite prominent that we were asked to spell out in detail. The first is why alternative, in a case of moving forward with suspension, we have to document why alternative remedies are unsuitable or counterproductive and be able to prove that the student's continued presence in school would pose a specific documentable concern about the infliction of

071serious bodily injury or other serious harm, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So just looking for some additional detail there. Next, on page 36, this relates to in-school suspension. So we literally copied and pasted from the law, teasing out steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, rather than just the brief summary that we've currently had. Regarding page 40, for emergency removal or for any notice of proposed suspension, Rather than summarizing what's in that notice, again, we were asked to spell out in A, B, C, D, E, F, G and beyond each of the different pieces of information that needs to be contained in that suspension notice. So that's been spelled out. Regarding page 87, this language is really a disclaimer that we would include before the disciplinary matrix that just reiterates to the maximum extent possible.

072We will exhaust alternative remedies in order to avoid suspension. So that's sort of a general disclaimer for all of the consequences that are listed and infractions that are listed. Excuse me. Yes. Anything after that is not in your paper packet. So whatever he's reading is going to be. in the electronic file so I apologize for that. But the good news is you've heard it before. It's language regarding video recording. So I don't have any variations on that language. You may recall about two years ago when we updated the cell phone policy we also included some language at that time around photo and video in the bathrooms in the locker room. so we have a little bit of language already but this additional language does uh is helpful for us so that is also proposed and

073through the chair we do appreciate the feedback on the um i'm gonna call them google glasses but the glasses yes yeah what you're laughing at me no okay um don't and maybe you had it and i just missed it as i was going through um the the middle school and the elementary school the middle school put it with addressing the language about racial, ethical, or religious identity. Do you have that same, I think you have the same language where you say cultural heritage, but you may want to update it to the language that the middle schools are using. Because I think I looked at it this afternoon too. That was one. The page, let's see. Oh, on page 75 of your handbook, you talk about alternative ed programs, Project Coffee, Project COPE, something about Project,

074like the RISE project. I didn't know if those are still accurate. That would be history at this point in time. Okay, so it might be something that needs to be updated. It is what was. Yeah, we can update that. Okay. And you talked about... With report cards, you talked about the honor roll and things like that. And while you don't have anything about, specifically about report cards, and this may not be the right time, we were maybe talking about it in teaching and learning, but I know that you put the GPA and the class rank on report cards, and I think that could be something we discuss at a future meeting. But I thought, the one thing that I did not mention in middle school is that I think that... Your AI policy is a

075pretty good one where it says that they have to use the school's AI. They have to use any kind of like anyone that falls under our data protection policy. And that maybe should be mirrored in the middle schools. And in general, AI can only really be used by 13 and plus covered by Google. So something we might want to look at for the middle schools. Thank you. I took my point. I forgot. I was flipping through my notes on the middle school section. Because I wanted to talk about that because even with IEPs, a lot of people use predictive generative AI for their IEPs for their accommodation. Well, I think we might need to have an AI at some point. But somebody has a two-year goal on that for his evaluation. I wonder who that

076could be. I'm so close to launching it. It's okay. I'm launching it in mine so we can follow. Don't worry. Thank you. Not to throw you under the bus Steven but It is I did mention two years Yes With an unfunded mandate All right you're up Oh, come on. The FY27 budget review and discussion. Come on. Yeah. So I appreciate the opportunity to be able to present the FY27 budget as of today, February 4th, 2026. Please know in your electronic file you have all of the detail, all of the backup information. You have more than I think you've ever had before in your electronic file. And just to share again with... Member Kamenyany, you did ask for like the full program studies, full handbooks. Those were put in the file too, so you can review

077for today. Yeah, we saw those. Thank you. So we are trying to get organized in that fashion. But you do have all the backup information, so we do. This will be the first time you're seeing this presentation, meeting publicly. We're ready for questions. And as you know, we are meeting next week with all boards at Charlton Middle School. So I'd like to go through the budget presentation this evening for you. So the agenda tonight is very similar. We're going to talk about relevant information. We're going to touch upon assumptions and risk. We're going to look at the fiscal year 27. That's kind of a breaking point to ask questions about. That's more of the operational budget for FY27. We have talked to you, and you've talked about this in subcommittees as well, capital planning as

078well. I have to give a lot of credit to Director DeSantis. He has been working his tail off to try to really... understand where we are and what our requests look like and what our focuses really should be for the first time going after this. So we kind of separated the operational thing, FY27, with the capital stuff. So you'll see that as kind of a separation as well. And then, as always, there's opportunities for questions either throughout or at the end. So keep in mind that the annual budget process, I do have always an introductory statement. This one's just a little bit different than I've had in the past. I will reiterate it somewhere through the middle of this, but remember that the annual budget process outlines how our community's tax dollars are thoughtfully invested

079to support the Dudley children's education. Together they translate financial planning into meaningful opportunities for students, ensuring resources are aligned with the district's enduring commitment to excellence in teaching and learning, of course. This work also anchors important district-wide dialogue, requiring a careful deliberation and informed decision-making as priorities are balanced and how programs are valued within a finite set of resources, meaning dollars. Keep in mind there are always competing interests from year to year. There are always priorities. How we try to balance those based off of ongoing priorities, set year over year, to new priorities that come in, we really work hard to try to... bring in a balanced budget that will reflect that effort and that work. We wish we were in a position where we could just ask for everything we wanted with the understanding

080that we were going to get everything we wanted. We know that that's not reality and will never be. I always try to connect our opening budgetary processes with the school committee goals that you've set this year. So I identify those school committee goals. You have the governance and leadership capacity. The Dudley-Chelton Regional School District, this is one of your goals. Committee will strengthen its governance, practices, and leadership capacity by building consistent systems, fostering effective communication, and deepening collaboration with students, families, and community partners. Your other goal was educational excellence and student experience. The school committee will ensure all students have equitable access to high-quality instruction, effective educators, and enriching experiences that promote learning, engagement, and well-being. Then you also have fiscal responsibility and resource stewardship. This goal is really wrapped around that 10-year capital plan

081that we've been working on for some time. But we always know the fiscal responsibility is more than just what is written on this page. It is the year-over-year operational budget working with our two communities as well. We have a multi-year district plan. Keep in mind the district plan is always looking to strengthen the continuum of learning, enhancing instructional practices within our district, improving student achievement, fostering community engagement, family and community engagement, and building meaningful partnerships and effective communication. So now this is the assumptions and the risk. This is pretty consistent. There is a new one on here. And keep in mind, when I check a box, when a box has a green check to it, we are feeling very confident. It's almost like being a meteorologist and predicting the weather. We have a high level

082of confidence that we are receiving a minimum chapter 78 for FY27. We have a high level of confidence that our excess and deficiency is stable for FY27, which we use year over year to offset our operating budget. We are not. This will be the first time you see this. Our school choice charter assessments, stable for FY27. You'll see why this box isn't checked as I go through the presentation. Because we found something this year that just threw us off just slightly, just a little bit. But it should work in our favor based off of our trends and based off of the data that we have internally when it comes to these assessments. Keep in mind that the state for students who are attending school choice outside of Dudley-Charlton. This is another public school that offers

083school choice. Dudley Charlton gets charged for those students going there and that comes off of your chapter 70 money. So it's not, we never write a check for this. That assessment comes right off of your chapter 70. Same thing with charter assessments. Our charter assessments have been relatively low year over year. But it was particularly the school choice that didn't build in confidence to check that box that we understand how stable it is going into this fiscal year. And you'll see why in a couple of slides moving forward. Level-funded supplies technology, I have to be honest, this is checked again. You have HQIM. We're looking for that investment. The school committee gave us a direction for HQIM to invest more from Amazon into our investable high-quality instructional materials, which is what HQIM stands for. So

084we are continuing to do that. But we are really at a position where we can't just keep level-funding our supplies and technology year over year. We've been doing that for way too long, but you'll see why we're doing it again because of the request and the budget at this point in time. But obviously, school committee could certainly direct and say, no, give a 5% bump in all supply lines or something of that nature. I know you're not going to do that, but I'm just saying school committee certainly could do that if they so chose. But we are recommending for a balanced budget, and you'll see why, that we level fund these again as we did in FY21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and now 27, level funded supplies and technology. Okay, the next one this

085is a new one you have not seen this in here before and assumptions and risk We never I never thought I'd have to put this in here, but the federal entitlement grants are they stable for FY 27 I have no idea No idea and that's title 1 title 2 title 4 title 3 and the 240 grant which is supports our students with disabilities Those grants we do not know as the federal government continues to try to diversify and close down the Department of Education in Diversified meaning the title 1 will go to this federal department 240 will go to this federal department title 3 which is to support students with English language Will go to this department. We don't know if that's We're going to either run into a shortfall on that. We don't know

086if we're going to run into a delay in getting that money. There's a whole bunch of unknown at this point in time, so that is not something we are confident in. And the value of that is I'm just going to throw out a number. It's not 100% accurate, but it's north of a million dollars. So if that is in flux, that's a million dollars that you're looking at as well. Okay, it's more than that, but I'm just giving you just I think a million dollars is a registering number for people to hear So this will be the first year that you've seen me present that we try to pay very close attention to this we just received a I think a memo from Masc Mass Association of School Committees that told us to be cautious

087about these federal entitlement grants Because of what's occurring federally with the diversification and closing down the Department of Education And then reimbursements remain stable for FY27. I still can't check this because this is a fluctuating number. Remember, these are trailing reimbursements. So whatever we're spending this year would be reimbursed next year to help offset next year. But the example that I give you is every one of these, like transportation, could be a 95% reimbursement. I think the governor has us a little over 90 right now. Excuse me, 87 right now. We've heard that last year the House, when their budget came out in the beginning of April, said they're going to give us 100% reimbursement, and then it landed somewhere around 90, I think. Yeah, around 90. So that's why it's fluctuating. So I can't

088build a level of confidence in here to say, yes, are we going to get some reimbursements? Yes. But looking at the numbers, the governor's numbers at this point in time and what the House did last year, I can't confidently tell you that this is going to be there yet. Again, I can't predict the snow on this yet, that we're going to get five inches of snow on reimbursements. Okay? So those are still the risks and assumptions moving into a fiscal year. Now, between the reimbursements, federal entitlement. Let's set aside school choice for a second. I mean, we're talking well over $1 million to $2 million worth of revenue that we need to operate our budget. I don't have, as your superintendent today, February 4th, I don't have confidence that those are going to come in

089flush so that we can just balance the budget completely from that. Okay? So this is the reminder of what I talked about. You've heard me talk about year over year about 360. It's a budget process. The budget process being 360 means that we don't just wait until January 1st to say, okay, let's think about budget. Even after today, we're going to talk about budget. We talk about budget all the time. We talk about balancing budget, freezing the budget. What do we need to spend money on? A chiller unit goes at one of our schools. That's $100,000. We've got to come up with the money for that. That's budget, budget, budget. It's a continuous conversation. It is never just a season. Budget presentations are a season, but the budget process is always a 360 endeavor. We

090know that there needs to be some type of conservative fiscal approach to our budgeting here in Dudley-Charlton. That's a requirement by our communities. We understand that. We embrace that. I don't have a problem with that. But we know that that's our approach, is to be conservative for our two communities. Remember, every investment is made. is done with a purpose. We don't just have frivolous requests. We don't just push things, and you'll see that in this presentation as well. We could certainly, one item we could request year over year, just where we are as reflective as the Dudley-Chelton Regional School District, but we are very conservative in our approach, and we're only asking when we really, really need it at this point in time. So that will come up in this presentation too. So when we

091look at the budget process, what are our areas of focus? You know, we've actually, you know, when we talked about the fiscal planning that happened with the override in Dudley, there was a lot of work around that. But these are some of the things that continually come up year over year that we have to focus on because these are real dollars that really impact our operating budget, meaning how we operate from day to day. So class size is one of them. School Committee has a direct to us as to what their expectations are around class size. And again, evaluating where we are and where surrounding communities may be, we are still in really good shape when it comes to class size. I know it doesn't feel like that because there's always an outlier. There's always

092one class that's a little higher than the other. But even with one high class here or one high class in this grade, it's still much better than our peers in our surrounding neighborhoods when it comes to our class size. And that is a direct result of school committee's direction for us to maintain class size as an operational fiscal imperative. Contractual obligations, obviously paying employees. I haven't really figured out how many employees Amazon has, but we are still the largest employer in both the town of Dudley and Charlton. Amazon may have more people, but they may be part-time. But we employ, you know, we have, if you count all of our substitutes and people who are part-time, there were around 600 employees within the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District. So there are there's so when people see

093the contractual obligations they look at a very big number Yes, I do too, but that is really because we are the largest employer Full-time employer with between the towns of Dudley and Charlton individually and or combined We also have active employee benefits and health insurance. I don't think anyone has missed any conversation or article or anything around the exacerbation of cost of health insurance. It impacts us as well, so we do have some increases there. The one that we're going to share with you tonight, we've already shared with you, is our retiree health benefits. Keep in mind, we are responsible for retirees as Dudley-Chelton Regional School District. Our retirees do not get absorbed by one of our two towns. Dudley-Chelton Regional School District is responsible for all of our retirees. We have over 360 retirees

094that we are providing 50% health insurance coverage for right now. And with some of the wrangling that went around for health benefits and stuff, our retirees saw a sizable increase in their insurance coverage starting January 1st. Retiree insurance goes from January 1st to December 31st, where active employees is fiscal year. It goes from July 1st to June 30th. So we had to absorb a very large bump this year, which is why Mr. DeSantis, Director DeSantis, had to freeze our budget to make sure that we can help pay for our retirees' health benefits. Now that feels contradictory to the people who we have in front of us right now, but we are responsible for our retirees. And again, we have 360. The number of retirees we have in Dudley-Charlton Regional School District is a larger number

095than the town of Dudley active, town of Dudley active. Town of Charlton retirees, Town of Dudley retirees combined. Our retirees are more than that. So I think it's not always well understood that Dudley-Charlton as a regional school district is responsible for over 360 retirees. We also have to talk about student safety. One of our proposals is around an SRO for the Charlton schools. It really balances that resource for us. We do have a bump in our out-of-district tuitions and the need for some of our students to be placed in specialized programs out of our district. Those are very costly tuitions for our particular students. They are costly because there is a significant need for those students, meaning that we are not able to educate them within our public schools. Therefore, they require an out-of-district placement.

096It's a very rare occurrence, but we do have a number of students that require that. It's not their fault. It's not the family's fault that they need that. we as a district are responsible for paying the route of district tuitions for those particular students. And then we have what I'm calling a regulatory overload or restoration kind of project that we're looking at, and that's where we've approached things conservatively year over year, but we're at a breaking point now where we really need to address our regulatory overload and our restoration of a position that we used to have in our district. Okay? So what does that really look like at this point in time? What are the big numbers for Dudley-Charlton Regional School District? So you look at FY25 was a 2.68% increase for the operating

097budget, which also included capital requirements for our two communities. If you remember in September 2022, there was capital improvement. We put two new roofs on our middle schools. I think it was 2022, right? 2021? September 2020, it was the early 20s. Not the 1920s, but it was the early 20s. So these figures do include the capital expenditures required of the two communities. So last year for FY26, we had a 3.88% increase to our fiscal year budget. And right now, as is, without any adjustments, we're looking at a 5.83% increase to our budget based off of those areas of focus that I identified in the previous slide. I'll be honest. I struggle with that. I think 5.83% is a very large increase. School committee may say, no, that's what we want. That's what we're going for.

098But I'm presenting you, trying to present you a balanced budget that I think, from a conservative view, that may be more palatable by our communities. So I'm not populating our target yet because I want to show you how we got to the target. So before I talk about how we get to the target, there are two new proposals in this budget, which does obviously increase the budget. One of them was the SRO that I spoke with spoke about so in Dudley We have an SRO that's cost shared with the Dudley Police Department in Charlton. We do not We're at a point now where this resource is extremely valuable for not only for our Communities but also for our schools. So we are looking to propose a cost share with the Charlton Police Department I've worked

099with chief doubt over the years He's have tried to apply for grants for I want to say at least the last four years To try to put this in place with no success But it is time for us to try to look at a cost year in adding a school resource officer for the Charlton schools. So this would be a cost year between $30,000 and $35,000 a year. We would work this through the Charlton Police Department because the person would be hired and employed by the Charlton Police Department. The reason why cost share works is because school is 300, excuse me, is 100, not 300, it's 185 or 180 days a year where this would be a full-time employee for up to 260 days is a full year-round employee. So the Charlton Police would benefit

100from that side of it as well. This does the rationale is here. It does extends consistent access for school safety It does strengthen our collaboration between our buildings among students staff administrators and local public safety partners And it does leverage a cost share model so we don't have to bear the full cost of adding this to our budget The next one the assistant director for pupil personnel services, so if you go back and look this is the regulatory overload restoration item that you're looking at for adding to our budget So the proposal for this is $105,000. So here's the rationale for adding this position back. Number one, it restores our leadership role that was here before the override. We had a budget line item between $40,000 and $50,000 for a part-time role to look at

101out-of-district placements. This position will have to do more than that because of the other bullets that you see here. But it's restoring that position. We never restored that position after the override. But we're at a time now where if we have increased out-of-district placements, you as a community and as a school committee would expect if we're spending $300,000 for one student for an out-of-district placement, that you would expect some very tight oversight of that expense. So this position would do that for us, would certainly aid and assist us in this. So you see that as the second bullet, the out-of-district placements. This also addresses new for DESE. You've probably heard integrated monitoring or tiered integrated monitoring. You may have heard some of that. What we found out this year through their process with Director Harriman

102is they have moved or slid a couple of what previously we would have called regulatory education items. to now be overseen by the director of special education, student services, people personnel services, whatever that title may be. So we need some assistance with that. Those two things are IST, which is an instructional support team, and MTSS, which is a multi-tiered system of support. You heard Principal Odette talk about that tonight as well, but that is now falling within this department. We need some more oversight of that. And over the past couple of years, we've seen an increase of 30% students qualifying for special education within our district. That is a huge number, huge number of increase for students. The oversight of that is, and it's a regulatory heavy program, not only for us, but for our

103state, but also federally. We need more oversight in that area. So to expand upon this, because that's where people are going to choke. They're going to choke on $105,000 position. I get it. I understand that. So to help assist with that I've gone back to my little data data. Well, it's been a couple of years since I've shared this but I want to share this again When we propose this I want you to see on this particular slide You have everyone I include everybody within our geographic area so what you'll see is the highlighted yellow is actually all of the Members of the Southern Worcester County Education Collaborative before which were a member of then you have Bay Path is the bottom one This is the administrative costs. So every year we have to file

104with the state what our administrative costs are broken down per pupil. This is what Dudley-Chelton has for oversight costs for our district. We are the lowest at $295. In this whole area, we are the lowest. Again, that's the administrative cost to run our district. We spend $295. That's oversight. That's regulatory. That's compliance. That's personnel. That's health insurance. That's HR. We're only spending $295. So let's take the next lowest one, Auburn Public Schools, which I was a little surprised that Auburn was at $414. But let's take the difference between DCRSD and Auburn Public Schools. It's $119. That would be an influx of $416,000 to Dudley Charlton if we spent that, if we spent the next lowest amount. Conversely, if you went to the last one, Bay Path, that would be a $2.2 million influx for Dudley-Charlton

105Regional Schools if we took their per-pupil administrative costs and applied it to Dudley-Charlton. We would have an additional $2 million, over $2 million, to work with. So our request for this assistant director I don't think is out of line. I don't think it's going to bump 295 to 414. It's certainly not going to bump it higher than that, but it's really needed at this point in time, and we are very conservative in asking for this. We know that the town struggled with trying to fund us, but we're at a point where this accountability position, this position for regulatory compliance and oversight is desperately needed. We're at a breaking point for this, so we need it. For next week's meeting, I think it would be this slide is great, and I think it would be really

106important to show adding this person, what would our cost be, because I don't think it's very far from $295. It wouldn't be. No, but I think it would be very powerful to show even if we add this, we're still this much lower. I can tell you in a second if you want. Yeah. It's a little difficult. It would add about $0.84 to that. That's what you need to show. Okay, but to expand a little bit more This is a reflection of regional schools because we are a regional school So somebody may argue that you know you looked at Auburn arms a single town So I wanted to look at regional schools as well so people had all their information. So if we were to look at regional schools and what their cost is compared to

107ours, if we took the lowest one next to us, which is Bridgewater-Raynham, again, it would be an influx of over $500,000 if we were even the second lowest for administrative costs for oversight and compliance and everything else that you do expect of us. Not that you would expect of us, that you continue to expect of us at $295. But I appreciate the feedback. So you can hang on to the 84 cents or just give Joe a chance to really do his math because he's much better at it than I am. As we talked about, class size is obviously very important to the school committee. We talked about last year that we had very good parity, we thought, between the two communities. We still think we have very close parity to this. We do have a

108couple of areas that we are looking at to try to balance the budget. Again, school committee could say we're not reducing any staff. That's your role. You could say that. You can go with the 5.83% now and say that we're not doing this now. If we need to, we'll get into it. But right now we are targeting three positions. The third one is not on here because it's at Shepherd Hill. but you do have some class size adjustments to try to stay within what school committee expects of us. We've always talked about 23 being a real high watermark. We talked about 20 being where we should be. So right now we are looking at, and you have a little note next to where something may be highlighted, you have for grade one at Mason Road,

109because of the class size, we could reduce by one. You have at the middle school, you have, right now you have grade seven, which you could reduce by one. Again, how these assignments work out, the principal will work on it, but this is what we're looking at for staffing. You have some other adjustments in here, too. So, for example, WL is making some adjustments based off of class size, but it's within the building and there's no reduction in there. So I'm just trying to highlight, you know. potential reductions to try to balance the budget. Same thing in heritage, you have some movement within heritage as well. There's nothing in there to pull out to say that we're going to be able to reduce our budget by more. But this is really where our class size

110is. Again, if you look at the average class size for Dudley, it's 20.86 overall. If you look at Charleston, it's 21.54. It's well within the parity that I would expect or assume that the school committee would want to look at as well. So that's class size. Can I ask a question, Chair? Would any of these potential reductions include or take into account retirements? They always take for retirements, yes. We always use attrition for us. That's what I was going to say. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions on class size? Okay. So here are the areas of specific focus with values next to them now, so you have a better understanding of what 5.83% represents. So transportation, our costs increased by $133,834. This will be our fifth year. This will be our fourth year out

111of a contract. Within two years, we're going to have to renegotiate a contract, so this will not be the number in two years. So I just want to prepare you for that, but it is in combination with all of these, this is what's building some of our increase. Our contractual obligations for next year are $1.4 million. Again, that's for all of our employees. Our active employee benefits are increasing by $673,000 for next year. Our out-of-district tuitions are projected to increase by $250,000. Our retiree health benefits, this is the one that I was talking about as well, that we're responsible for retirees, has increased by $522,000 for one year. Our Worcester County retirement system, and again, I apologize for the acronym and not spelling it out, Worcester County retirement system is a $173,000 increase. Our school

112resource officer and the assistant director that we talked that I were proposing is $145,000. Our school choice assessment right now is set as an increase of $227,219. That's what we have for an assessment. And then other line variances, ups and downs within the budget, gets to a total of $3,626,252. So that represents the 5.83%. So in essence, we could ask the school committee tonight or the next meeting to vote on a budget that has a $3.6 million increase to it. That is not what we are recommending or proposing to the school committee. So how do we work on that variance to bring 4.83% down? What are the things that we do? What are the things that we work on? The first item, FY26 per pupil increase for E&D. So what happened was the state increased

113the per pupil minimum contribution to the districts by a value last year that came out after the budget came out. There was a memo that was written out by DESE that said you had two options for that. One is to do what we did, put it in E&D, or if you have costs or expenditures that require addressing right now, go to your school committee and readjust your budget. We didn't identify anything that needed you to address that right away So we it was put into E&D and now we're going to take that part out of E&D and apply it to FY 27 So once again, I want to prove to you that we worked it worked on conservative principles They're not just because we got the money to spend the money that we use it

114for future purposes So that we don't just balloon our costs for this district We talked about the Amazon money. We did receive money last year and this year. So we did not expend it last year, as we shared with you. We have not planned on expending maybe minimal this year on what you directed us to on high-quality instructional materials and stuff. So we are targeting entering next year with a balance of around $300,000 in the Amazon money. So we're targeting $250,000. You'll see a slide that shows more than that, $290,000, just because that's projected. cost at this point in time but we're looking to to expend that money moving forward as you have asked us to do so that pulls it out of the operating budget what we were proposing in the operating budget so

115that is a huge assist for us The governor's school choice assessment, we're looking to reduce what her assessment was. The governor's assessment, again, was an increase of $227,219. Keep in mind school choice is on $5,000 increments. Unless it's students with special needs, then it's a minimum of $7,500, and then there's any increment over that for types of services or other things that may be applied to that. We've done our numbers. We've looked at our school choice. going into the next fiscal year we don't see that sizable increase of 227 000 So we feel confident right now, again, without checking that green check in that box, we feel confident to put this into our reduction mode that our assessment will not come in as high as the governor has proposed. And then so that reduces the

1165.83% by another $140,000. We feel confident to try to use that number. We'd like to use all $227,000 at this point in time, but we feel confident enough to look at $140,000 as a good number to take off of the 5.83%. that we have at this point in time in the budget. And then class size management, I talked about three positions within that. Again, we try to go through attrition first. There were two, one at the elementary, one at the middle, and we also have one at Shepherd Hill. not on the class size chart. So that's a value of $195,000. So that totals $832,425. If you take that off the 5.83%, which is the $3.6 million, that brings us down to a budgetary increase for FY27 of 2.793,827, which I think is far more reasonable

117as an entry point for budget. We would ask the school committee if there are no changes if you were voting tonight to vote on that budget with a 4.49% increase to the budget. So let me go to this slide first. So what that does is that reflects what the FY27 target was for us as an administrative team. to really try to bring down that 5.83%, use some of the strategies we've used over the past fiscal years, use as much as we can, introduce new ones, because we have some new ones there that we looked at, like the school choice assessment. We were a little shocked at the sizable increase in that based off of the governance budget. So we are looking at a proposed budget of $65,003,722 for FY27 at this time. Going back real

118quickly, the Amazon money, just to give you an idea, I shared with you that we're targeting $250,000. Right now, with the assistant superintendent's work, this is what the values look like for elementary math looking at implementation. We have a series to go, but we're looking to purchase that in the next fiscal year. That's at least $230,000 for that. We are looking at open-sided materials for labs and implementation. That's an ongoing but needed cost, $30,000. And then we're looking at high school mathematics geometry implementation for 27-28 for another $30,000. So that represents the use of the Amazon money as directed by the school committee. So in this presentation, you have the initial assessment at the 5.83% increase. This includes all of the transportation, capital, what have you. I wasn't going to go over this or ask

119Joe to go over this this evening. I will obviously ask him to do that next Wednesday. And then the slide after that, you have it with our administrative recommendation, the draft version of what we would consider 2.0. And this brings it down to the 4.49% increase overall for our two communities. And we think that this is a... a really good starting point for us for a fiscal year budget. So we're at the point, if there are any questions around the operating budget, the fiscal part of this presentation. Is that supposed to be there? No. No. Okay. Just checking. Joe, the chair brought up that it says FY25 on the assessment sheet. I see that. Okay. I shall update that. Okay. I just have a question, and I know we don't have an exact answer, but

120do we have a timeline of when we'll get? Like when the state will come out with what they're covering through the grants and reimbursements that's so true the chair week every year it's the same we get the governor's budget at the end of January we get the house budget somewhere in the beginning of April and then the Senate takes their dear time and sometimes goes beyond your approved budget and then on the federal side I have no no understanding what timeline would be for that what that would look like I really appreciate the breakdowns. I think it makes it much more simplistic and linear to follow. So I think you guys did a really good job on this. Thank you. And through the chair, keep in mind, every one of you has all the backup

121for all of this, too. So we don't go into the line-by-line budget presentation and stuff like that. So this is to try to give you the highlights, and then you have the backup to look at as well. And Mr. DeSantis, Director DeSantis, is always welcoming questions on any lines you see or line items you see. Okay. Anything else on operating? Thank you. So next we have the capital planning. And again, I purposely tried to separate these two out because capital planning and the timelines and the process for this are definitely different than our operating budget. Keep in mind that the last time we voted for capital, which it does say it on that assessment sheet, doesn't it? It doesn't. 2024? No, that's the bond. That was the bond. So keep in mind, for example, this

122requires a vote by two communities that we hold a vote here to support the capital planning. The last time we did this was in the month of September. We do require town support as well, town meetings and stuff for this, but it does require a ballot vote outside of the town meeting and outside of the town votes. It's something that we hold. We'll work with our towns on it. So again, this is separated out so you have capital planning. Yes. Just a quick question on what you just said. So when we set out the capital, it's usually just a single capital request to each community. Are we able to break it out so that it would be the middle and the elementaries, the high school, and then the elementaries? Because they may independently be able

123to, the citizens might want to approve. but maybe not other capital projects. I'm not sure what the legalities of how the assessment for capital was done. Through the chair, we can set it up any way you want, but it's only one election from both communities. There's only one ballot for both communities for Dudley-Charlton, for the capital. But it's two separate assessments because you have two separate values. Right. And you'll see that in this presentation. Right. So keep in mind that our capital planning, this is something that, you know, when we went through the capital process for the two roofs and looking for that planning, we were asked a lot of questions. We had a lot of community forums. We were asked a lot of questions about expertise. Have you had this reviewed? And part of

124that capital vote was to have a thorough review, which we appreciated that the community is voting to let us do that. So that is what is being presented this evening as an outcome from that. So because of that, we did have a comprehensive facilities condition assessment and student capacity study. It was completed by Habib and Associates. I didn't bring it with me. I thought I had it with me, but it's a very long document. And that was published and presented to the school committee in May 2024. During the 24-25 school year and part of this year as well, the district worked through the school committee capital and safety subcommittee to refine, validate, and prioritize the findings, and we did as well as administratively. We worked through all of that too. That work translated the original

125study into a practical and community responsive capital plan, addressing urgent needs, extending timelines where appropriate to support a conservative fiscal financial approach. We know we need to do that in evaluating opportunities to offset costs through the Massachusetts School Building Authority. As a result, the projects presented this evening are informed, carefully reviewed, and ready for consideration moving forward. So to get into a little bit more information. So I would consider this phase two because phase one to me was really the middle school roofs and the architectural review and things of that nature. Some updating to our fire panels, things of that nature. So this would really be considered phase two, which we're looking at for years 26 to 29. The Habib and Associates, through their multi-year cost, they identified $164 million worth of work within the

126Dudley-Charlton schools. Again, I want to say $164 million worth of work in the Dudley-Charlton Regional Schools. So it was our job to refine, extend, review MSBA opportunities and focus on students' and staff's safety. Keep in mind with the Habib and Associates review, they basically had three tiers, things that needed to be done immediately in their eyes, things that could wait slightly, and then things that could wait a little bit longer. We tried to take that and expand that over years so that we would have a 10-year plan versus their evaluation of immediate versus patients, required patients. But with $164 million proposal by Habib and Associates over the next couple of years, our first request for capital improvement for the two communities are as follows. For the town of Dudley, it would mean a capital improvement

127for Dudley-Chelton Regional School Districts at a value of $4.6 million. The Shepherd Hill Regional High School portion of that, because that Shepherd Hill is the only school that's divided between the two communities, and it's divided along... through the percentage line so it would be forty six point two nine percent of the value for capital improvement for Shepparton Regional High School that's three hundred and twenty thousand dollars for the town of Dudley and then the town of Charlton would be five point eight million with the Shepherd Hill being three hundred seventy one six fifty seven as part of that capital plan so the question will come is what what are we identifying is focus on students and staff safety is this first iteration of a capital request or capital plan. So these are the items that

128are listed in there and they're very consistent across our buildings. I didn't identify the exact building here and I definitely identified district if it was something that is district wide. So for example window safety film that is something that was identified across all of our buildings, almost all of our buildings not every one of them. The telephone system, all of our telephone systems, I still laugh to this day when people say, oh, you've got my number because you have caller ID. I don't have caller ID. I don't. I can't even tell who's calling me. If the phone rings, then I pick it up. It's just we are still way back in the late 90s, early 2000s with our phone system. We actually have to look at replacements and purchasing some of them on eBay. because

129that's how we integrated our phone system is within our district. And then on top of that, if we want to even change something like a voice message or an extension, not only can our technology and our staff and us not be able to do it, we have to bring in somebody who has experience with a very old system to be able to go in there and change that for us. It is quite interesting, and it's been that way for quite some time. I don't think I don't know how somebody couldn't argue that that isn't a student or staff safety need for us as a district given this day and age Fencing we have plenty of places that need additional fencing around some of our schools some of our playground for safety Again, this isn't stuff

130that I'm making up. This came out of the Habib and Associates architectural review of all of our schools We have playground upgrades that are required around student safety Loading docks, we have a couple loading docks that need to be refreshed. They're a little unsafe. Windows and masonry sealant needs to be applied to many of our schools. Our standby generators need upgrading or significant overhauls. Many of our parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, with the exception of Sheppard Hill Regional High School, and I'll explain that in a second, need to be addressed. You can see that for anyone who goes to all of our seven schools, you can see our parking lots need to be addressed. And we have done patchwork here and there, but that is very limited. We will continue to do the patchwork as we

131need, but we need some more work on those areas. A water filtration system within Dudley. As you recall, there continues to be even Dudley is investing $11 million, $12 million. Ms. Comer-Yanning? Maybe $12 million in their water system. Our schools need some help in Dudley as well with the water system, so there is water filtration. We need IT network infrastructure. Worn carpets. Some of our carpets date back to 1988, but we have lots of carpets that are easily 25 years older. And again, I just want to share, I've been in several districts. I'm still blown away with the number of schools that have carpets within Dudley-Chelton. I don't know why, but we have lots of carpet. the dudley charlton schools so that is a sizable cost and again you have the backup for all of

132this within your folder uh fuel oil tanks uh they're supposed to be the ones in the ground are supposed to be out we haven't addressed that i'm not trying to bust us or try to have dep visit us after tonight's meeting but we need to address those storm drainage within our around our schools weather stripping windows and doors i think i may have put that in twice I just put windows and masonry ceiling. Electrical upgrades because we keep adding more and more technology. So we need electrical upgrades and we need some more additions to our site lighting within our particular schools as well. So while that, I want to go back to... This particular slide about MSBA opportunities, so you don't see sizable increases in here and later on in the agenda We are going

133to talk about MSBA statement of interest and looking at a priority the two schools that are the highest value for looking for capital improvements are Yes, somebody can say Shepparton Regional High School is because it's such a large school requires capital improvement But the school that requires the most based off of the architectural assessment is actually heritage school It requires, I don't want to throw it off, but $50 million worth of work out of the $164 million that's on the table. So it's quite extensive. So those are what we're going to look for to file a statement of interest to the Mass School Building Authority. And the reason why that one is so large is because of the way it was constructed. It's a relatively newer school. It was built in the 80s compared to

134Charlton Elementary School, which was built in... 50s. 50s, but it requires the most amount of architectural support. In the MSBA, when we talk about, in those, we're looking at statement of interest for those particular schools, but Mass School Building Authority also has accelerated repair program. It's not open this year, but it will be open next year. That replaces things like windows, boilers, HVAC systems, stuff like that. Very high cost numbers within that $164 million that's here. We're looking to apply for that assistance on that, and we've identified within the documents you have what would be MSBA eligible if they did pull us into an accelerated repair program. We think that that would cover a large majority of the $164 million. So that's why we are, once again, coming in with a conservative number for our

135two communities. And I know nobody is going to hear that and say, hmm, $4 million is conservative. But I'm just telling you, out of $164 million, $4 million, a total of $9 million out of $164 million is a relatively conservative ask from that assessment by the architects at this point in time. So that is the capital planning in a nutshell. I wasn't sure if there were any questions on the capital planning or feedback. I think they're all very responsible. Again, next week with all boards, we will present them with the detail behind all of this as well. They already have the Habib and Associates Architectural Review, and we've already shared that with them when we met with them last year, but we're coming in with a refined process now, and there will be refined spreadsheets

136that, again, Director DeSantis has worked really hard on to try to. have them consumable compared to a over 100 page Habib report. And so what are the next steps for us around budget? We're meeting next week with all boards at Charlton Middle School. There's a budget hearing typically at the beginning of March. That would be, I believe that's March 4th, Wednesday, March 4th. Then there is a, if there's any adjustments or changes from that hearing, there is another meeting for school committee meeting at the end of March. And then the town meetings, once again, this will be, I think, the third year in a row that the two town meetings are on the same Monday night. Which for a couple years they weren't but for the past three years I think they've been on the

137same night so we will have to divide each other once again. So those are the next steps Okay, any other questions or feedback on the budget presentation you also have directed sentences memo you have again all the backup Class size comparison from last year to this year. I only put in the projected and then you have the initial seat sheets as well You want to take a break, and we can have Mr. Elwell come down for his next topic? Yeah, unless anyone else has any more questions. Break time. I'm going to put my Zoom on mute right now. You're going to put your Zoom on mute? Yes. Have throwbacks from five years ago? No thanks. Okay, so moving on to Program of Studies, Shepard Hill, Principal Darren Elwell. Hello again. So this year I have

138just... A FEW ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION IN THE PROGRAM OF STUDIES. THE FIRST RELATES TO, ON PAGE 6, COURSE WEIGHTING. WE STILL HAVE FOUR DIFFERENT WEIGHTED CATEGORIES HERE. AND I WOULD PROPOSE THAT CHANGE THE FOUNDATION'S WEIGHTING TO REFLECT THE COLLEGE PREP WEIGHTING. THAT IS AN ISSUE OF EQUITY. ON PAGE 49, THE ONLY CHANGE THAT WE HAVE THIS YEAR REGARDING Coursework relates to our project lead the way biomedical innovations class What we are proposing is to change this from a course that is specific to the biomed pathway and instead create a common capstone course and so That would allow all of the students in our different pathways to go through this common capstone experience including the clean energy path as well as the engineering path. So we would basically take something that we're doing already with our

139biomed pathway, but we're expanding it to both clean energy and engineering as well. So this will maximize staffing. We currently have a teacher who's been teaching the biomed innovation course now for several years, so we're ready to go on that front. It also satisfies some of our grant obligations. We've received considerable funding through the years to implement these pathways. They're always looking for some form of a capstone experience, and this finally gives us the ability to say all three go through the same experience. And as I mentioned, it weaves the other two pathways in as well, engineering and clean energy. Next, on page 75, This is a corrective item out of the integrated monitoring visit. We needed to add some additional language around independent studies and how we ensure that the hours are logged and

140supervised so that the number of credit hours, that there's a record of the credit hours before we actually grant credit for that coursework. So that additional detail is now proposed for page 75. And then finally, there is language pertaining to special education services. So there's a brief description of... special education at Shepherd Hill, what students are entitled to in terms of FAPE, free and appropriate public education, and also the need to work toward the least restrictive environment. And then there are just a few bullets outlining the continuum of services here at Shepherd Hill, including consultative services that are occurring, inclusion services. small group services and then substantially separate services and learning opportunities for students. So that's sort of a high level summary of special education services. I wish I had a few exciting new electives

141to share with you tonight. I do not. Budgeting. Perhaps in the future we can work some magic. With your weighted grade scale I really do appreciate that you looked at the foundations and topics and included them with the college prep because I think that is needed So thank you for that I'm wondering How with the weighted grade scale do you calculate There are some schools that calculate GPA at the based on the final average and some schools that calculate GPA quarterly And I wonder if it's a discussion to have in the future which way to go, because I think doing it quarterly does not allow sometimes for students to recover. And I think doing it at the end of a, at the final, allows students to have some blips in the year and then recover

142them. and get a final average. You have more of a runway. Yeah. And I know that there are some schools that only send final averages to a college on their transcript, whereas if you send the whole every quarter grade, it shows variances. We can discuss that teaching and learning. Yeah. Thank you. Wow. Really nice and quick, huh? All right. I hope you've recovered. Madam chair for clarity that means that principal these are gonna be voted on at the next meeting I just want to be clear for principal also he's aware Yeah, I mean I guess if you know cuz we're whatever was talked about I mean feedback in the folder come back in for the next folder and then yeah, it's Bozo can I ask a question that Because they're going with they're gonna be

143having to do class Like they're going with their program studies and they may want to have that voted sooner rather than later. It could be it for the next meeting or like the next meeting after that. But yeah. Okay. So if it's a priority to be in for the program of studies, then next meeting we can have it at the joint meeting really quick. Right. Yeah. I mean, I think your handbooks could wait until the following meeting. So. But definitely I would think your program of studies should be in prior to course selection. If that. Would that be accurate? MSBA statement of interest. Madam Chair and school committee, so I already indicated that we are working. Director DeSantis and Director Pusateri Facilities is working on preparing SOIs, Statement of Interest for the Mass School Building

144Authority for both Shepherd Hill Regional High School and Heritage Elementary School. This is the core program. The core program is either renovate or rebuild based off of what MSBA as well as the community sees fit. for the two facilities but because we're filing two the Mass School Building Authority MSBA does expect us to identify which one would be a priority it doesn't mean that they wouldn't pick up both it's highly unlikely that they would pick up both because it's based off of needs across our state but they are looking for the school committee to vote on a priority with the SOIs so that they would focus on one versus the other even though they're going to review both So in setting this up, ironically, this week, I forget what the actual date was, but MSBA

145sent out their 2025 school survey findings and reference for us, for all communities, and I put it in the folder for people to take a look at. I've looked through it. I don't want to say that I have my doctorate in it yet, but I looked through it and it's somewhat complicated to try to understand. But what I can share with you is that all of our schools, they did come out to our schools and they looked at all of our schools. It certainly helped that we did have the Habib architectural review for them to take a look at. But as you prepare for your, what you would take a vote for to try to prioritize. Building condition is one of the items that they looked at overall, and I'm going to read to you

146how they rate the building conditions. An overall rating for the general condition of a school facility's major systems, such as roofing, HVAC, windows, flooring, and site utilities. The building systems conditions were rated on a scale of 1 to 4. Excuse me. Yeah, of 1 to 4. They have a typo in their report. Imagine that. They have 1 or 4. We didn't get either one of those. Yeah, we did get one. We got one. With a rating of one indicating the best conditions and a four indicating the poorest conditions. So with this particular report, looking at our schools, this may help guide you in your decision making. So, for example, overall for Dudley-Charlton, schools were rated as a 2 in building conditions. And a 2, I think, is really representative not only of our two communities,

147but also of our maintenance and custodial staff and the amount of work that they do and put into our buildings facilities to make them look the best that they can, but also on top of that to ensure that our systems are working as optimal as they possibly can. Charlton Elementary School is a 2. Dudley Elementary School is our only one. It is listed as a 1. Heritage is listed as a 3. Mason Road is listed as a 2. Charlton Middle School is listed as a 2. Dudley Middle School is listed as a 2. And Shepherd Hill is listed as a 2. So as we file one for Shepherd Hill, which MSBA is already saying the building condition is for them, one being the best, four being concerning, they list Shepherd Hill as a two, and

148Heritage is the only one listed as a three or higher as far as building conditions. And again, I go back to that the accelerated repair can look at and address things like boilers, windows, things of that nature, but the building condition, once again, looks at all systems, including roofing, windows, flooring. And other major facilities, so I would consider that walls, et cetera. So they listed that as a number three in conditions in their study report. And, again, that's in your folder for people to take a look at if they want. There's far more information in there in decimals and numbers and things like that. So I'll leave it up to you as a committee. But we need your marching orders. Through the chair, Mr. Marsh, you're looking for a motion tonight? A motion to identify.

149To prioritize. Not a motion to approve the SOI, but just to prioritize. To prioritize. Prioritize, yep. So that as directors, the Santas and directors, they fill it out, they've already identified this as a priority. So through the chair, would you entertain a motion and then a second for discussion? Will I entertain a motion? I will be more than happy to entertain a motion. to for a discussion yes I would I make the motion to prioritize the SOI for Heritage School for the DCRSD school district when entering into the MSPA is that satisfactory Mr. LaMarche? yeah okay we have a first and a second all those in favor? no discussion Well, oh, you're right. Yeah, that's right. For discussion. Thank you. I was just going to take it. Sounded good enough for me. Right. All right.

150Since you're the first one to make the motion, you have dibs on the discussion. This is this is a very comprehensive report I spent about an hour I spent my entire lunch going through it today and I was printing this out and identified exactly Yeah, yeah, let's see. I got a hard copy right here Yep So and I've read the Habib and associates report many times Because it's such a vast resource that you have to review it several times to kind of digest all the nuances I think it's I think it's pretty plain that The the most imperative direction that we need to pursue is Heritage School For the for the best interest of our students, that's my opinion But doing a deep dive into the data. I think it's unquestionable. I also spent a

151little too long reading most of most of that beautiful thick packet from MSBA last night, which I think is why I'm having difficulty seeing today. Also knowing how the facade is pulling away from Heritage, the fact that we did have difficulty with the tanks, also with the water issue that happened. There's been so many things, even the air issue that we had with the HVAC. There's been a lot with heritage, and I think with everything that's been going on, if we were going to put one for priority right now, I also would concur that heritage is where we need to really kind of focus on. I would agree. I think that it's a matter of safety. the students and the faculty and I also think that if we think about our expectation of being able

152to get it I think going with a level three school is going to be a better a better way for us to get it than going with a school that's at level two not that Shepherd Hill doesn't need it but I do think that heritage its safety yes I would agree I think it's unfortunate because It is so significant at Heritage. I was hoping that we could get Shepherd Hill into that. For sure, no doubt about it. But I do think that this, unfortunately, like you said, being at a level three and some of the issues that we have had in the past, I feel like we're really trying to shoot ourselves in the foot to not go for what they're ranking as being a higher need, unfortunately. I would like them both to happen,

153but I think if we have to pick one, I guess right now. I guess I would have to say Heritage. One more point to be made according to this report is that Charlton L. says it's at 141% capacity, which means there's going to come a day where we're going to need to shift some of those classes up to Heritage. And we can't say, well, that wing is shut down because we didn't take strenuous action. We you know taking the longer lens at what the overall needs of the district are it's it fit it factors into that that piece of the pie All right, so I'm gonna call for a vote then let's like just finish the vote so all those in favor They want us to choose one, so they're not willing to consider. They

154are willing to consider both. Do we go back for Shepard Hill next year, like consecutively? Through the chair, it only means that if they were forced to make a choice between the two, which one did the school committee identify as being a priority for them? So when the Mass School Building Authority makes their decisions for the year, they start with a budget. Let's say the budget is... 100 million 100 billion dollars if if heritage if heritage fits into that versus shepherd hill based off of the needs across the state then they will look at heritage being that a project that they would take on within that budget if you don't the example i'll give which is this is why shepherd hill is going to struggle with any type of new construction i don't know if

155people have read and i know we're not lexington massachusetts but they just approved a 600 million dollar high school build for Lexington so So take that 600 million and put that in MSBA's budget and so let's Lexington's not gonna get a 60% reimbursement that we're gonna get But they still MSBA still has to fit that project within their budget So because that budget is that big they look for other probe other projects to fit within their particular budget But they do rely on you as a committee saying to us heritage is the priority So try to fit that one into your budget first if you can fit both in great But as you know, with Sheppard Hill Regional High School, even when we file this year, that'll be the 16th or 17th time we filed

156for a statement of interest for MSBA for Sheppard Hill Regional High School. So that can happen year over year. Yes. And that's based off of we've already filed for this. We take those steps prior to even getting to this point. Yes. Heritage didn't hit our radar until the architectural review. But now that it did and we're working with MSBA because we've reached out to MSBA and talked to them, including myself, and so that's why they just want you as a committee to identify what's your priority to see if they can match your priority. Okay. All right, so moving on to F, subcommittee and liaison review. I put this on just for transparency because with everything else going on, I forgot to put on for just... updating, having the subcommittees just kind of update the full

157committee occasionally on what they were up to and how the meetings were going. Just because one of the things as talking with other chairs and other, you know, through MASC, it turns out that what other... what other school committees across Massachusetts do is with their subcommittees instead of just reviewing once they review their minutes and approve their minutes at their subcommittees they actually submit them to the full school committee and then have the full school committee also accept those minutes to kind of that's how they kind of keep it apprised that way So I know that we don't do that historically or traditionally here, and we just try to do it through updates from time to time. But instead of just suddenly sending out an email and going, hey, you ready to update the rest

158of the committee next week? I just thought it would be nice if we could just kind of just like put it on the agenda, and I could just kind of say, hey, just as a reminder, I'm going to ask and put it up at one point. So if you can. Maybe let your next meeting just kind of talk about it and kind of think about what it might want to be. But as a reminder, Anthony, you're on multiple committees, right? And they're budget and finance, right? And on budget and finance, you're the chair, right? That's correct. And you're with Caitlin and Kelly. Correct. Okay. Not a more finer two. All right. And then are you also chair on capital outlay and safety? Yes, I am. Okay. And you're with Kelly and Maureen. That is correct.

159Okay. I'm just making sure. I remember making all these things, but I didn't know. But the chair thing, that was all y'all. Okay. All right. Let's see. Are you chair of anything else? Oh, no, I'm set. I know. Sure. All right. And then what kind of quick update were you going to give during communications? Because this is your time for that, if you were going to do an update for that. Oh, we've covered everything from cherry sheets to the governor's budgets to... updates with facilities, updates with Director of Finance, we've had updates with Mr. LaMarche, we've talked about many safety aspects, we've talked about everything all the way to the heritage lights on the driveway, we've covered a lot of ground and we're not slowing down. We've got two page agendas going. Checking all the

160boxes. I did see the two-page agenda. But we get it done in under an hour. Right. Because I knew if anybody had the recording bit, it was going to be Anthony. So I did borrow that from him. No, I'm very grateful for the administration and my subcommittee colleagues. We've been accomplishing a lot, and we're not slowing down. And Maureen, I'm not going to put you on the spot. Go ahead. Okay. I am the chair. I know you are the chair of Policy Sub because I'm on that one with you. Oh, that's right. I forgot. So it's you, me, and Jamie. We're doing an awesome job in Policy Sub, by the way. We're getting a lot done. Yeah. All right. And I think we do a great job having Steve speak for us during meetings. I

161love it so much. Okay. And then the other thing that you do is that you are the Special Education Parents Advisory Council liaison. Correct. All right. How's that going? I missed the last meeting. But you're doing awesome, right? I'm doing great. I hear good things from Kenny about you, who's the chair of the CPAC. Yeah. Okay. Am I missing anything else? School council liaisons. Not there yet. Calendar? And you were executive session minutes review. Yes. We only did it once? We did it once when we were looking for a future meeting. Oh, right, right. And that's you and me. Teaching and learning, I think. That's why I'm also doing this so I don't miss anything. Sorry. Because if I don't do it, I'm gonna. All right. Oh, that's the other thing we can do. Cool,

162yes. All right. And teaching and learning. Kathy. Yes. You are chair of that, right? Mm-hmm. Okay, and I'm on that with you and Jamie DeLovo. Yes, we've been looking at student achievement data. We met with department chairs from the high school in December and talked about what curriculum they're using and what their needs are and paths moving forward to kind of implement some high quality instructional materials. Oh yeah, we talk a lot about professional development as well. All right, and it's a discussion about you guys that have teaching and learning talking at the... future school committee meeting coming up. I think there's an achievement report coming up. Yeah. Yeah. So which one do you think that'll be? March. March-ish? Yeah. Actually June. Maybe the July. Through the chair. June. Don't start. Don't. All right, and

163then moving on to, let's see, the last one of it was, because it's another one that you're on, is school calendar review, which is you, Kelly, and myself, which I missed. I apologize. So since school calendar review was done, and not just one year but two years, you guys knocked it out of the park. Can we please disband that one now? Until it's needed Because you're not gonna need it next year so we can just Yeah, I mean I would leave it there like that is what we did this year but Yeah, I don't think you need to fill that role next year. Right so I'm just saying can we disband it for now? We don't have to report on it. I'm just yeah, okay All right, and then school council liaisons was All of

164us. All of us, right. We gave a report on that. And we gave a report on that just recently for communications for December, right? Yeah. And everyone's doing okay with that? No issues? Yeah. You enjoy your meetings with Heritage? They're excellent parents, excellent teachers, and who doesn't want to visit with Peter? He is a hero among us. All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate that moment of housekeeping for me and being able to also take. So moving on to policy, item G under review, JJIB-A, extracurricular participation. This is brought forward by Kathy. And Kathy, can you take a moment to speak on it, please? So it wasn't necessarily. specifically about the policy I think I wanted to be able to you know we've had our our students and our parents come and talk to

165us many times and I want to make sure that they had ability to have a conversation and that we could have a conversation because I think it's a little bit more than just the policy so this is in regards to the the color guard students that like graduated from eighth grade last year they're now Some of them have gone to Bay Path and they had requested to be part of the Color Guard. I think it is really important to understand where they're coming from in the sense that they watched, whether it was the right thing or not, but this was their view. They watched a student from Auburn participate for us in Color Guard last year. And I don't think that was a mistake. That that the principal did not even realize that someone gave

166permission that shouldn't have given permission But that was there that was what they were looking at so when they came here that when the next season comes around I Think they were really shocked that they couldn't participate. So I think that's where you're seeing that level of emotion come in And I think that we need to kind of go through our policy our policy doesn't talk about co-ops with other school systems, especially for sports. So I think we have to do that, and I think provide a little bit more explanation of the why. Why do we only let students from Dudley Charlton come? I put some supposeds, like I thought that maybe, I think that insurance, if something happened to a student while they were with us during a competition. They're not covered under our

167insurance. You know, I think that there are some things that they may not realize that we could have a conversation about. And I do think in past practice we have allowed people to have voices at this table, even though it is our meeting. So I would ask that we could have some engagement with them at this point. Okay. I'm fine for answering questions. We've had. Past practice where there has been a question where we have clarified a question But I'm not gonna go for a give-and-take Like a volleyball discussion. No, but I think if they have a we're having a discussion agreed And I think that if there is a question that they have We should be able to to allow them to ask it and if we can answer it tonight, we should We

168are having a discussion like it's right again. I mean I know it sometimes sounds like semantics, but this is still a meeting that happens to take place in public. It is not. I'm well aware of that. I think we had said last month or last meeting that we would have a discussion about it. Let's review. We have the policy up for review. Let's review the policy. Okay, that was not what I asked for on the agenda. But yes, okay, if you wanted to review the policy. Let's talk about it. Okay. Okay, all right. Because that's what you asked for. That was not what I asked for. I asked if we could have a discussion. That is the discussion. The discussion is. Okay, we're in semantics now. Let's have a discussion about this policy as it

169relates to their activity or any other activity. That might happen. Curricular activities are being considered. So it doesn't, like, we're not talking after school sports. It doesn't say, like, it doesn't specify, should it? Like, I did miss last meeting, but I did listen, and I appreciate everybody coming forward, and I understand there's a lot of emotion. I guess I might have missed the part that we had somebody from Auburn. I did not catch that in my review, so I apologize. But I was under the impression that this evening we would discuss whether this is, we want to consider the request or at least have a discussion about other activities that don't fall under the MIAA that aren't sports and having those students be allowed to participate if they live in Dudley or Charleston. That was

170my understanding. Through the chair, does the district have any established co-op programs currently? So my understanding is that the district does have a co-op with MIAA. So, I mean, Stephen, do you mind if I ask Mr. Elwell over, or do you have the rules with you? Through the chair, we have co-ops with MIAA, but we follow this 102-page handbook. Yeah, it's crazy. It's very heavily regulated. Yeah. And we do have that. And you know what they don't mention in here? Co-ops. Correct. Okay? But we do have that agreement, but you have to file with MIAA. They have to vote on it. The region has to vote on it to approve it. There's a whole process with that. So this is heavily regulated, MIAA. Extracurricular and clubs is not regulated. That's district by district. I did

171reach out to all of the Bay Path sending communities, and there isn't one community that has an agreement for extracurricular for Bay Path students to participate in their community out of all the Bay Path sending towns. Thank you for that context. I said thank you for that context. And for a little more clarity, most districts don't have an actual policy. We have a policy here. I wasn't here in 2016. A lot of districts actually list it within their student handbook that our extracurricular activities are for our students. And I found several of those in handbooks, but districts don't have policies. Through the chair? Would it be possible to give a little bit more information? for the students so that they can understand the why. Am I right that it's a matter of that, realistically, we

172do not receive funding for their student, so we would have additional costs for advisors, for transportation. We would not be able to have insurance coverage. in case something were to happen. Is that accurate or is that not something that was considered? Well, I think there's also that. And then there's also when you take in the fact of, well... Well, yeah, we're the home district if you're going to go geographically, this is where you live and we're the home district. But you are not enrolled in Dudley-Charlton. You are enrolled in a different district. Just because the districts overlapped in this case because you are in, you know, you, like, all right, in this case in point. Right like all right. Let's take me right like if I live I live in Charlton all right, and I

173go to You know and I go to Shepherd Hill because I live in Charlton, and then I choose to go to Bay Path Alright, just because I live in Charlton and I've chosen to go to Bay Path and I'm enrolled in Bay Path I am no longer a Dudley Charlton student so I can no longer take Dudley Charlton activities. Can I ask if we have a student that is out placed to a different school? Are they not, haven't they come back and participated in the Best Buddies? But I am out placed Because I am a Dudley Charlton student. I am still a student of the district at Dudley Charlton and Dudley Charlton is paying for that out placement. Okay, and I just want people to understand the why. Yeah. I'm not being accused. I know

174you're not. Yeah, I just want because people are going to ask and I want to make sure. I understand what you're saying. I guess I look at if somebody was homeschooled, they have options. Right, if somebody was homeschooled, then they are a student of the district because they're in the geographical boundaries. But I guess... We also have to approve their homeschool program. We're responsible for those students. We report those students to the state. They're our students. Homeschool students are still ours. Right, no, I get that. But the second part being, like, so they... Is it just an insurance liability thing? No, but it's an enrollment thing. We get money through the state through our enrollment. Okay, but there's no cost associated with something after school. That's what I'm wondering. I want to qualify. I want

175kids to do anything we possibly can. And so this isn't to try to be against you out there in the audience. But it's more than a liability. It's more than that. Extracurricular is a privilege. It is not an automatic. Extracurricular is also measured by attendance, grades, and not that anyone in here would have poor grades. I'm not saying that. But it's measured by all of those things to monitor those things, and this is why districts don't do this. Again, I checked with every sending community that goes to Bay Path, and no one does this. And I also checked the opposite. Can we send our kids to go to an HVAC class? That doesn't happen either. So I've tried to check on this to try to understand it better. So it's not as simple as just

176saying one thing or this thing or measure it. But the cleanest line you have is that attending Bay Path is that's the school district. You're no longer attending Dudley-Children. Even if you were a school choice into, you know, we don't have a lot of school choice kids. Most of our school choice kids go with their family because a mother teacher or father teacher is in the school district. If you go there, you can't come back and participate in our stuff either. Because you are now a school choice student in that district that district owns you I've tried I've tried all over the place to try to find where this has worked or people have done this I checked With Blackstone Millville and Blackstone regional vocational technical high school. They don't do it either Blackstone Millville

177has one of the best when it comes to performing and all these programs Blackstone Millville has asked they don't they don't permit it either this it's just This I think there's a level of complexity and then where do you draw the line? Are you going to approve program by program, extracurricular program by program, or club by club? People really struggle with trying to figure out where that line is. Right, and then if you don't have the line, and then there was the issue just recently about the one with the, what was it, hockey, Auburn, where they thought they were, because of the, they thought that they were actually trying to establish a ringer. Yeah, there's a one-year wing here. You know, because then, because they were, they. So here's another, I'm just throwing out another

178thought that I had in regards to eligibility. Let's say a sending student, what's hypothetically said, we accept somebody into the program, but then they are no longer eligible by academia from their sending district. We would never know. You don't know. And so is that equitable to the students in our district that have to be academically eligible? I'm just throwing that out as a... a possible problem i just want you to understand i am not like for having them come or not having them come i just think it's important whereas they saw a student from auburn participating last year that they feel that sense of loss and i don't blame them for feeling it but i think they just we needed to give a little bit more explanation so that they understood i'm just trying to

179work out all the aspects in my head and put them out on the table for consideration. It's not a fun circumstance. So Madam Chair, what action are you looking for this evening? I am looking for the will of the committee. Can I ask? I think that extracurricular participation, I don't think I would look at that as a parent and know that didn't include sports. Like I think we might may need to have policy sub look at it just to to understand that like maybe we need Language in it that says, you know This does you know not including this does not oversee athletics Correct, so I'm just saying like to understand like only Darlie Charlton Regional School District students Well, this is about clubs and activities not about sports Right that may already have agreements

180set with MIAA. I know our handbook has language in terms of eligibility Maybe that's where we should also look at. Yeah, the handbook splits it between athletics and and extracurricular. Right, but maybe we need some common language in terms of eligibility whether it's a sport or an activity for clarity But I think the policy goes for all seven schools. It's the overarching. It's the overarching. Agreed. I just wanted to make sure that we answered what questions they may have had. Do you think we have answered them? I don't know. I'd like to understand if they believe that we have answered them, if that's okay to ask that. Yeah. You're the chair. Go ahead. Are there any other questions? let me ask you this can you follow them up to the menu yep do i need

181to state my name please andrew ivansky i reside in dudley massachusetts um i i'd just like to to point out that we're trying to go about this the right way we didn't go behind your back make backdoor deals the auburn student last year i i don't know whose agreement it was what so What we're asking is that we're asking permission. We came, we asked, and we're trying to do things the right way. Like I was taught years ago when I came here, I went to this school, graduated from this school, and the values that I was taught in that music program made me the person I am today. So what I'm asking is, Don't you feel like they're being punished because they chose to go with different school. I pay taxes to this town regardless

182And I think that all residents in town have a right to participate that that's how I look at it I pay taxes you you asked me to support you With two, you know, whatever there's a two-and-a-half prop voting budget You threaten to cut these programs. It's the first programs to threaten to get cut. Yes. Yes. So they're asking and trying to go about it the right way. That's all I have to say. Mr. Chair, point of clarity, it is not the first program to be cut. When we were looking at the 2 1⁄2 override, everything was on the table, everything. And that was not the first one. And the second thing I really want to point out is, and you, school committee member Kamiyani, you keep going back to Auburn last year, not the color

183guard advisor, but the teacher who was responsible for oversight is no longer with us for questionable decisions. Nobody said it, so I just want to make sure that we're clear. I'm well aware. But I want to say, when we were looking at the two and a half override, music was definitely not the first thing put on the board. No way. Never has been in my life. I mean, to be fair, it's always a Spanish teacher in the middle school. Yeah. And library assistants. But... We're trying to go about it the right way. That's all I'm asking. I would just like to say I can empathize with you, because if it was my child in a similar circumstance, I would absolutely do the same thing. I appreciate your efforts in that, but I do understand that

184there is a policy that's not going to be in your favor. Thank you. I appreciate us at least having this discussion so that we were able to have a discussion about it because I think it's important. I did double check with MASC. I had a lot of long conversations. I did a lot of deep dives in the policy review. a lot most of the people I talked to and a lot of the schools and the policies were similar and all for the same reasons that we were discussing here right and I think it is important that like our policy says the principal of each school has jurisdiction over the extracurricular program that doesn't mean he has jurisdiction to allow a student that doesn't go to that school to be in the program So it's not

185that it's principal LL is not allowing it. It's that the policy itself. It's the policy. Yeah. Yeah. That's the policy. The only thing I wanted to speak on was the MIAA as being an option because color guard is just as intense athletically as cheerleading. I tried to reach out to them as a parent to see if they could get that, what process has to happen to have it changed into a sport. But unfortunately, like the email I got back was that it has to be requested by member schools to support and recognize it as a particular sport. So I can't do anything. The school has to do something in order for it to be considered a sport, in order for possibility of a co-op, like wrestling has a co-op here. That was my hope that

186you guys could... or whoever is in charge, athletics department or whatever, can work out reaching out to the MIAA to start the process. Because, yes, it's music, but it's not just music. There's a lot of athleticism that goes into it. And if cheerleading is considered a sport and there's music, then I don't see why colored art can't also be considered a sport. That was the only part that I wanted to add. Thank you. Motion to return? Yeah. Well, she made it so all those in favor