001all right we're going to call the meeting to order of the dudley charlton regional school district we're meeting at the shepherd hill regional high school library it's wednesday december 10th 2025 and it is 6 30 p.m i'm going to stand for the pledge of allegiance I have a moment of silence and this moment of silence is the very sad news that Carl Schubert passed away peacefully in his sleep on December 1st of this month surrounded by his family which would be Nancy Schubert who also taught here and Those children Ryan and Carly and his four grandchildren Tucker Cooper, Kaylin, Terran. For those who don't know Mr. Schubert Carl he taught here at Shepherd Hill from when it opened. He was also in Charlton High School in 1969 and I believe he retired here in 2002.
002Before that he actually was the art director at Milton Bradley. The joke was he actually said, if you ever wondered why Milton Bradley never actually had the Rubik's Cube for sale, he actually said, ah, it'll never sell. But that's not why he became an art teacher. He actually designed the art. The art rooms here at Shepherd Hill started the art department, the photography studio here, the humanities. He did all the drafting, and he actually designed the logo for Dudley Charlton Regional School District. So he was a wonderful man, and it was a privilege knowing him, and I know I will miss him. So take a moment for Mr. Schubert, please. I'm going to try not to cry. Okay. Madam Chair, the next item on here is we're going to invite the Sheppard-Oak Regional High School
003Show Choir to come in for their annual visit with the school committee and present in preparation for their events Friday evening and Saturday of this weekend, which is the annual Christmas holiday. Spectacular. Spectacular. And it is always spectacular. We're in the middle of dress rehearsal for the Holiday Spectacular this Friday at 7 and Saturday at 1. We all have different costumes on because we're in the middle of different songs. So, but this is concert choir and that's our entry-level choir that anybody can be in. And they want to perform along with you this year because they never get to. They're gonna do a song called Holly Jolly and they're really excited about it, right? Yes! And then they're gonna leave. Okay. Holly Jolly, Holly Jolly. Joe Quire would like to do Getting in the Mood
004for Christmas. Oh yeah, thank you. Welcome to the Slaver, go to rockin' tonight. I got my reindeer hat up and we're ready for flight. Let's hit all the parties, you know Santa's the guy. Love to hear the music blasting up to the sky. Headed for the mistletoe, my baby and I. It's Christmas and I'm really getting in the mood, in the mood. So girls are ringing in the groove. The party's swinging in the mood. Santa's bringing good creepers and a couple of ties. That we're celebrating with bikinis and cats. I hope you're swinging people, grab your coats and your hats. Consent agenda items looking for a motion. Second. Thank you. Thank you. So that would be Kelly and Kathy. All those in favor? Look at that. It's unanimous. And Jamie is here. I know, right?
005Great job. All right. She was part of the show. She snuck in during intermission. All right. Moving on to communications. Does anyone have anything for communications? I guess I can just follow up. I did go to the Jackal. Kelly and I actually went to that informational night or class, I guess, seminar. It was a low attendance, but the... Shepherd Hill nurses were there and then there were some teenage they look they might have been I don't know if they were in high school or not or if they were student nurses I'm not sure and then Kelly and I I definitely feel as a nurse I get that train I have you know training but I feel like it would definitely be beneficial for people that you know to attend it was it was a nice
006presentation it was very comfortable for an uncomfortable topic So I just wanted to follow up with that. And it was definitely a worthy seminar to go to. So if other people have an opportunity to go, I think it's worthy to go. As a reminder, though, the JACL one was the QPR, the question, persuade, refer one, right? Yes, that's correct. Yeah, because I get that every year because I do human services, and we get that every year in our training. Yeah, that's a really good one. Yeah, I thought it was good. So I'm glad you guys attended. It was really good. The only communication I have is just because all my friends are still in it is so for those of you that may not know the Charlton Dudley Youth Football and Cheer, the cheerleaders, the
007U14, they took third place in the nation for nationals because they've made it to the top five. They went on to Super Saturday and they took home the third place trophy. That's awesome. Yeah, good for them. I think we've been starting to say things that we've been going to, but I had the opportunity to be able to attend the installation of the new National Junior Honor Society officers at Dudley, and that was great. And that was also for the tri-am as well. So it was a nice night to really put those kids out there, and Principal Desto did a great job there. And so the advisors, Mrs. Snow and Mrs. Laporte. So that was great. And then I've been attending lots of different show choir, like concerts this holiday season and band performances. And I
008have to say it's really nice at the concert at the middle school in Dudley. They did a nice job really weaving in not just Christmas music, but they also did some Hanukkah music as well. So it was nice to see different... perspectives represented so it was nice and it could be why isn't Jean plugging CPAC I don't have to CPAC is going to be here today talking about CPAC so I don't I'm not plugging CPAC today all right do you have any communications no all right all right so then moving on to one of the best parts of the day student representative report today it's Haley The National Honor Society Thanksgiving food drive successfully delivered to 66 different families in the district this year. Boys varsity football won the mid-watch BLE championship. Girls varsity cheerleading
009won fourth place in their Division II state competition and third in their regional competition. In recognition of mental health, the National Alliance on Mental Health and Illness, which is a club ran by Mrs. Morin, is currently working on getting a speaker for a potential school assembly and has created its Instagram account. And along with this, Hope Squad, which is run by Mrs. Morin, Mr. Haig, and Mrs. McGrail, has officially launched as of yesterday. Students who are part of the AP Research Capstone Program have received approval for their IRB project reports. Winter sports tryouts began this week. The boys basketball team will have its home opener of the season this upcoming Friday against Shrewsbury at 7 p.m. The music department will be hosting its annual holiday spectacular this upcoming Friday and Saturday. In parallel to this,
010they are also running a toy drive. The guidance department is hosting a PIA staff day tomorrow. And finally, on this upcoming Friday, the students involved in the biomedical science innovation pathway will participate in a student-solved program in which they will be partnered with a company from the biomedical industry and will be presented with a real-life problem they are looking for solutions to. I might have to... Buy one for each person. I fully support it. I love it here. Fully support it. How much are they a ticket? I've got to give my daughter some money. Okay. A dollar a ticket. Good. And how many, how many are tickets? I saw the thing. Nine, I think, this year. Is it? I think there's nine people. I'm not one of them. No? You're not one of them? No.
011Must be on the nice list this year. No. No. Any questions? Any questions for Haley? I would pay a dollar. You'd pay a dollar? I would. I'd pay a dollar. $1. So if there's no questions for Haley, then moving on to the superintendent's report. Madam Chair, it'll be tough to follow Haley, but I'll do my best. I do have a couple of items to report on this evening. The first one is one that I seem to be covering annually. I just want to make sure, because we did have a weather-related day last week that there was a lot of questions about, and I did receive quite a few communications regarding it, so I just want to review that this is the time of the year when we have weather-related school closures. It does become a
012real possibility. Keep in mind that these decisions are imperfect by nature and impact families differently. Our priority is always safety, specifically the safe transportation of students to and from school and the safe travel of staff reporting to work. I respectfully ask families and staff to prepare for any one of three weather-related decisions that may occur throughout the season. Throughout all of these decisions, I work closely with the Dudley-Chelton Regional School District support staff, principals, and local DPW directors, as well as communicate directly with neighboring superintendents. The first choice, always, is school closure. A full closure is the most straightforward option, but significant time and coordination go into making that decision. Depending on the forecast and timing of a storm, the determination may be made the night before or early the following morning. While I prefer
013to make the call the night before, evolving weather conditions sometimes require additional time before a final decision can be reached. If a morning decision is necessary, communication begins shortly after 5 a.m. The district uses our DCRSD notification system, including telephone calls, text messages, and emails, and we also post updates on television news stations as well. The next choice that could happen is a delayed opening. A delayed opening is used when additional time is needed to ensure safe travel for students and staff. Most often, this results in a two-hour delay. Although I have as a superintendent in my 16th year I have had a three hour delay once and I had a one hour delay once but those those are not the norm. Two hour delays seems to be the norm which provides time for our
014staff to complete needed building preparation supports the work of our town DPW crews on local roads. As with all weather related decisions a delay is not perfect but it is sometimes the safest option. If a delayed opening is called there will be no morning pre-kindergarten sessions. because pre-kindergarten is a half-day program for us. The third option is early dismissal. An early dismissal may occur depending on the timing and severity of a weather event. We strive to follow our established early release dismissal schedule, although slight adjustments may be necessary to ensure safe transportation. Under all conditions, we must provide at least one hour between secondary and elementary dismissal times. If an early dismissal is necessary, there will be no afternoon pre-kindergarten sessions. We are required to serve lunch in all of our schools now, so therefore
015the timing of the dismissal may be adjusted to meet this requirement. So again, we try to follow the early release schedule, but that may need some adjustments based off of those two items right there that we need an hour in between the levels, and we have to serve lunch to everybody. We know that many of our students participate in after-school activities. It is our goal to communicate the cancellation of activities in a timely manner so that families can make appropriate adjustments. We thank everyone for their preparedness as we moved into this unpredictable winter months. Your flexibility and understanding help us ensure the safety of all students and staff. So, for example, Sunday, it looks like rain all day Sunday, for those of you who are paying attention to any weather rolling in that people are
016talking about snow. But right now, it looks like rain for Dudley-Charlton. The next item I have is each year, Charlton and Dudley Middle Schools proudly select their Project 351 ambassadors. Project 351 is an independent nonprofit organization that fosters youth-led service by engaging an unsung hero from each of our Massachusetts 351 cities and towns. The program provides eighth grade students with a remarkable opportunity to unite for a full year of leadership development and community impact. Through a series of service projects and leadership experiences, ambassadors, 351 ambassadors, work to strengthen their communities, promote kindness, advance social justice. and build the courage, compassion, and skills needed to lead positive change. This year's ambassadors are Gabrielle Recruit. Did I say that correct? Recruit. Recruit. from Charlton Middle School and Calista Lawless, who we saw at the National Junior Honor
017Society. She's an officer of the NJHS from Dudley Middle School. Gabriella and Calista were nominated by their schools for their integrity, empathy, and commitment to helping others. We congratulate both students and look forward to supporting them as they represent the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District in this highly respected statewide initiative. And for Mark, this started when we had Governor Deval Patrick. He was the governor who started this program. So think of all the years in between and all the ambassadors that we've had over the years. I think it's an incredible, worthwhile program. So congratulations to Gabriella and to Calista. The next item I have for tomorrow morning is for the 24th year, Dudley Middle School staff, led by Ms. Lisa Patrick, have been working diligently on the annual community service project, Adopt a Child for Christmas.
018This long-standing tradition reflects the generosity, compassion, and community spirit that define Dudley Middle School. This year, the project is providing for 412 children. 412 each receiving their three requested gifts in addition to the efforts of our staff and community donors we are grateful for the extraordinary extraordinary contribution of Miss Darlene Walcott which we've heard her name before Miss Patrick's daughter's mother-in-law who has personally assembled 200 pajama bags that will be donated as part of this project her kindness and dedication are deeply appreciated the marching of the gift celebration is scheduled for Thursday December 11th tomorrow 9 a.m. The event brings our school and community together in a powerful display of service and gratitude as students and staff deliver the collected gifts. We are pleased to share that Senator Ryan Fatman, Representative John Marcy, and President
019of Nichols College Bill Pazinski will be joining Dudley Middle School Principal Greg Dastow and Lisa Petrock for this special tradition. The project is a shining example of the values that guide the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District, reminding us that when schools and community partners join together, we can make a profound and lasting difference in the lives of children and families. The next item I have is last week I had the opportunity to meet with Bert and Janet Goodrich of Charlton, Massachusetts, who represent the Rose of Sharon Masonic Charitable Fund. As longstanding members of the Masonic community, they are deeply committed to supporting children and families in Charlton. Their outreach and generosity reflect a genuine desire to ensure that no child goes without the essentials that allow them to learn, participate, and thrive. This year they provided
020each child in school with $250 in gift cards to be distributed through the school student support staff to families in need. In addition to those immediate supports, the Masonic Charitable Fund stands ready to assist children who may require help obtaining things like eyeglasses, a winter coat, footwear, field trip fees, after school program fees, or summer camp opportunities. And it's all anonymous. They are not asking for names, families, and things of that nature. They are just willing to give. All requests for assistance are completely anonymous, which I just said. No formal paperwork is required, allowing families to access help quickly and without barriers. We do encourage families to connect with the student support teams within the Charlton schools for masonic support. The Rose of Sharon Masonic Charitable Fund can also be reached directly at 88 Masonic
021Home Road, Charlton, Mass., or by contacting Mr. Bert Goodrich at 508-434-2525. Again, this partnership represents the best of Charlton, and we are grateful for the care and compassion the Goodrich family and the Masonic community continue to extend to our students. And an interesting tidbit, Mr. Goodrich used to be a superintendent, and Mrs. Goodrich used to be a principal. So they are very well connected to schools. Very generous on their part, but I had a great meeting with them last week. The next item I have is the Dudley-Charlton Leadership Council, for which Haley is a part of, is in full swing with a robust, engaging membership. This is the largest membership I've had since I've been here. This year's student leaders from Shepherd Hill Regional High School include President Aiden G. I'm going to just read
022the names because I've done some phonemic work with this as well. So I'm going to name the names. We have Aiden Jeake. As president, we have Adrian Warner as vice president. We have Jaden. Jiroji who is here tonight for we had a couple members here tonight singing to us who is the Treasurer and then we have Thomas Dolan who's here tonight as well. Who is the treasurer excuse me secretaries Jaden We also have Alexa Zanotti Andrew Hayward Carter Gendron Chelsea to tour Massey on on cropped Elise Peculis Elise Reznor Emma Koczynski Aaron Gormley Haley division Haley Pamela, Pamela, sorry, I messed it up, Pamela, John Sebastian Bardier, Jillian Clark, Joya Addeby, Kate Morin, Kennedy Davis, Max Sanchez, Natalie Magus, Natalie Habib, Paige Warner, Sadie Landrum, Sarah Miller, Sinead Ennis, William King, and Brianna Degua as
023our members. So we have a robust of 28 members of our DCLC this year. which is quite large. We met yesterday outlining the council's work for the year. Students identified several meaningful projects that reflect their commitment to leadership, service, and community building. These include continuing development of an alumni network to support current Shepparton Regional High School students who are thinking about their futures, environmental sustainability efforts such as composting initiative. Mental health awareness campaigns, college application assistance, which is a new one this year, the Sheppard Hill Regional High School podcast ramblings, which we believe is going to get off the ground this year, appreciation efforts for our cafeteria staff, and after-school snacks and refreshments for student-athletes or those that stay after school. I think these are all great projects for this group. The dedication and creativity
024of these student leaders demonstrate the strength of our district's commitment to student voice. which I really appreciate, and highlight the powerful role young people play in shaping positive and inclusive school communities. And then my last item, which I have a copy of it here. It's 107 pages if people want it, okay? But last week, Governor Healey released a new statewide graduation framework. Anyone want a copy of it? No? Haley? At this time, Massachusetts does not have a uniform statewide standard that determines what a student must complete to earn a high school diploma. This new framework is designed to change that. It proposes a consistent set of expectations for all high school students and school districts while positioning Massachusetts to become the first state in the nation to adopt a comprehensive student-centered approach to graduation requirements.
025The goal is to ensure that every student graduates with rigorous and engaging learning experiences along with a wide range of opportunities for success after the high school. I do have other information here, but I really want to get to the nuts and bolts. The nuts and bolts of this, the frameworks, which is on the last page of my report, there are three major areas of focus that they're working on at this point in time. Strong starts, students complete a program of study aligned with admissions requirements for higher education, ensuring all graduates keep college and career pathways open, which is great for strong starts and for those that are wanting to go to higher education. to vet that out a little bit more because not every student, not every graduate goes to higher education. They want
026proven skills within their graduation requirements. Students demonstrate mastery of their coursework through a limited number of DESE, administered end of course assessments in a locally designed capstone or portfolio project. So these are their recommendations at this point in time. And then the last is bright futures. Students develop their own individualized college or career plan using the MICAP planning tool complete with a FASFA or a MASFA. with the option to opt out. Obviously, if you're not going to go to higher ed, you don't need to fill out a FAFSA. But these are components. So what are the, I just want to share what superintendents across the state are saying. We're saying yes, we're okay with some type of standardized approach to graduation. But we have expressed that we need statewide support for the standards. And we
027also have to make sure that it is manageable. Manageable, it's a key word. Manageable not only by students, families, educators, but also administrators within our state. They also stress the importance of ensuring that schools receive the resources needed, as said. So what are the next steps for this? The next steps are really the rest of this year. The Graduation Council will refine these recommendations over the next several months. The final statewide graduation requirements are expected to be released in June of 2026. During this time, the Council will continue to seek input from students, families, educators, school leaders, advocacy organizations, and other key stakeholders to guide the development of a final set of recommendations. So again, I just want to repeat, you know, what they're looking for right now is as far as a graduation requirement,
028our end of course assessments designed by the state for some courses. I just want to be clear about that because I don't know about to you, but to me that sounds like MCAS in so many ways. But we'll see what that comes out to. They are looking at capstone projects, which I do appreciate that. I do think capstone projects is definitely a vehicle for graduation. And they are looking for portfolios portfolios of work which we've had practice of that in the past as well so the Capstones portfolios those make perfect sense and of course assessments I'd have to see a little bit more as your superintendent I have to see a little bit more what that actually means But that concludes the super chance report this evening And questions and again, it's 107 pages Oh,
029yeah, absolutely I just brought in case somebody wanted to flip through it Any questions on it, on my report? All right, so moving on to public comment. Do we have anybody here for public comment? No? All right, so moving on to new business, Special Education Parents Advisory Council, CPAC. CPAC Chair Kenny LaFerriere. Evening, Kenny. Thank you. Good to see everyone. Happy holidays. I decided, Gene, that this is the meeting I want to come to every year because of the entertainment. So it is the best one. So hybrid CPAC meetings are continuing to be held to widen the reach and provide opportunities for all families to attend. And we do have a core group of repeat attendees, which is great. Special thanks to members of the administration for attending a recent CPAC meeting. We had a
030large attendance at that particular one. So thank you to the superintendent, assistant superintendent, and principal Ramos, as well as Director Harriman. Additionally, Director Harriman also held the Basic Rights presentation and did that on behalf of the CPAC, which we're required to do each year. And so that went well, and we had some attendance. Additionally, I want to also thank the district office and the support staff for continuing to be a resource for us and getting us what we need to continue the CPAC and hopefully strengthen what we're doing here in the district. It's wonderful to have a point of contact, especially on Mrs. Loretta Andre. She's been just excellent. We also have steady attendance at our coffee and conversation gatherings at Sturbridge Coffee Roasters. Special thanks to Sturbridge Coffee Roasters for hosting us at the
031two locations. People have expressed to me that they appreciate having the opportunity to connect with us outside of a regular CPAC meeting or have the availability to come. That's the reason for it, because some folks can't come to the night monthly CPAC meeting. I know the administration doesn't want to hear this, but I will say that every time we advertise that a member of the administration is attending the coffee and conversation, we have the highest attendance. So I don't know if that means anything, but from what I have heard is folks in the community do appreciate having a time to meet with the superintendent, assistant superintendent, in an informal session. So I know people appreciate that. So thank you for your continued support. So a few things this year, and we have talked to Director
032Harriman about this as well, and it's come up in CPAC meetings. There's been a recurring theme of feedback from families, caregivers, regarding communication. Communication seems to be a continuous issue that needs some more support. And we've noticed it's a communication issue across the gamut between special ed coordinators, team chair, classroom teacher, the principal. I mean, there may be, you know, confusion among all aspects, including the caregiver and the parent. But my point being is that there is a disconnect with communication. We've gotten lots of feedback from families and parents at both the CPAC meetings and our coffee gatherings. So this is a theme that gets brought up time and time again. Additionally, as reported in the past, we did have a survey, and we had a response of 75 families, caregivers responding to the survey
033from last school year. According to the survey, just some high-level results here, 87% of the respondents were aware that the district had an active CPAC. So, again, some work to do to increase that number, but not bad overall for the group of respondents we received. Overall, there have been good results, but again, the survey results, especially some of the text responses, did highlight communication and some frustration with getting reports back from teachers, special ed coordinator, whomever, as far as the status of their student and all that. So things to just talk and work on. We are working closely with Director Harriman as well. Additionally, the survey, we're going to continue doing that, and it will be good to have additional data, especially with the consistency of having the same director of pupil personnel services. As
034you know, there's been a changeover through the years with that position, to no fault of anyone, but there has been changeover, and so that does affect some of the consistency that families and caregivers feel. So we hope that the survey results will be a little bit more consistent now that we've had some really great work with Mrs. Harriman. Let's see. At this point, I'll take a pause, and I do have a few other brief things, but I wanted to take a pause and offer an opportunity for questions and discussion. Question. Are your... And I guess your coffee and conversation type things, are those agenda-driven, or can people come up with just... concerns and discussions yes it's it's wide open yeah there's not really a formal agenda for the board meeting we have a formal agenda
035for the officers um but as far as the cpac meeting folks can come forward they can bring concerns have discussion there are meetings that we do have a particular topic or we have a workshop or we have a presenter like heather's did the basic rights presentation so that was the theme of the meeting but there's No matter if there is a topic or not, there's always time for families to bring forward a concern and discuss it with us. Absolutely. It's a little more informal at the coffee gathering, but it still happens. And like I said, and I don't mean this in a joking way, people love hearing directly from administration when they attend those gatherings. So it's been a positive thing. Makes sense. Thank you. You're welcome. Good question, Kelly. Anyone else? Yes, hi, Marie.
036In person and Zoom or just Zoom? So for December, we're going to do a fully virtual meeting. We are continuing doing hybrid at our meetings when we meet in person, but the past three years in December, we end up having it, and it's just me, Heather, and Jean. So we decided to do a virtual one for the month of December to see if that helps attendance. That's what I thought I'd read. yep yep you're correct you're correct yes so and then and you'll see the email go out that I send out that I send to mrs. Andre and she sends it out but um you'll see that the communication go out yes and the in-person meetings that was part of my next just know that's okay that's quite all right quite all right the A
037couple of little changes, nothing big. So the in-person meetings do alternate between Charlton Middle School, and now moving forward we're going to be meeting at the Shepherd Hill Regional High School Library. Instead of Dudley Middle School, Dudley Middle was converted, the library there was converted to learning spaces for the reading teachers, and so we found that the space here will be better for the Dudley CPAC meeting. And we do alternate that. to again widen the welcome for so both towns feel supported and be able to attend a local meeting um the next meeting just to put that out there for the folks at home and everybody here is next wednesday december 17th um again fully virtual meeting and it's we'll have our board meeting at 6 30 and the cpac meeting will begin at 7.
038and it's open to all And then the next Coffee and Conversation will be next year. Can you believe that? We're already there. Next year. It will be Friday, January 9th at 9 a.m. Please note, you'll know that that's not the first Friday. We normally do the first Friday, but I've moved it to the second Friday because the first Friday the district's still on holiday break. That one is in Charlton. Yes, that would be Friday, January 9th, 9 a.m. at Servage Coffee Roasters in Charlton. And that is the second Friday for that particular month. And then we alternate the coffee and the meetings oppositely, if that makes sense. So we do Dudley one month for coffee and Charlton the same month for the meeting. So then that way we kind of spread the welcome. Any other
039concerns or questions or anything I can answer? Thank you, Kenny. Thank you. I've had the pleasure of attending a few, and it's been very educational. I've had an opportunity to meet with a lot of families, and I think it's a very positive atmosphere. And you're right, there's high attendance when Mr. LaMarche is true in attendance. Mr. LaMarche still doesn't want to agree with us, though. I'll be on the bottom of that list anyway. Although, I don't know, they hear Director Harriman and they might think there's baked goods there. Right, and that is the benefit of coming in person, that Heather does bake us treats every meeting, every meeting. So that's great support there, too. Not that we don't like it for other reasons, but, you know. But I've had the pleasure for a few years.
040It seems like the numbers are growing in attendance. It's growing slowly. I mean, the CPAC, generally speaking, not just here, but CPACs in general tend to have lower attendance. as of themselves, no fault of anyone. But what I've noticed, and this is true about anything, even my time on the school committee, you don't hear from anybody unless they are upset or there's a complaint. Otherwise, the room is empty like today. So the same kind of thing with CPAC. People are generally okay. I mean, I'm not saying there aren't issues, and I'm not saying there aren't areas of improvement that we can work on. But we haven't had a great... Crowd of upset or concerned people there was one meeting we had a particularly high attendance due to recent situation But that has been as far
041as my knowledge is concerned his result Oh, yeah, please. Since you did the survey last year, is this an annual thing? We're going to try to do it annually. Again, it's Jean and I, and then we have our new secretary. Oh, she escapes me. Her name escapes me right now. I'm sorry. Yeah, we have Shauna. Shauna. And we have someone new that just wants to help us out. Because we now have a full board, and her name escapes me right now. Me too. Thank you, Jean. And the reason I bring that up, Kelly, is... Our goal is to do a survey every year, but remember it's three of us doing all the work. So that's why we're doing the best we can with our personal lives and everything. But our goal is to do one
042every year and be able to track and trend and look at that over time. But I do want to highlight, as I shared. Not that it all falls in the director of people personnel position because it's a team effort But because of the change in leadership in that position We don't want to hold results from four years ago to now right we have to be mindful of that. Yeah, when is the survey? Jean Jean helps me run up put it together so yeah Since I was the original one that did the survey way back when because I was the CPAC person before I was school committee So I typically did it January February middle of the year to kind of get the get the pulse I agree the general plan was then at one point
043to try to do it in the beginning and the end of the year but for comparative data yeah but it just never kind of came I think the first goal not to interrupt you Jean would be to get some data over a three year period and then have that information shared with school committee because I think a year by year it's not a kind of get data sets but then well that and because if you go by year by year you have such a small N Looking at it over that many years you'll have a better perspective No, but I'm trying to get like like the warmth of like like the beginning in the end agree then to also get the trend Yes, yeah. Yeah, that was that was the that was the idea will
044hope we'll work that work on that We have nothing else to do, but that's that's what I'm pushing off to you Kenny. Yes. Yes No, I will work on it for sure. I just need you to Guide me is it possible to get a copy of a blank survey so I can kind of see what what the survey looks like yeah I'll write that I'll write it down yeah cuz we get we do the because you create the survey and then I send it over to Heather after the CPAC board approves the survey because we keep the survey pretty simple and keep it pretty same. The only changes we've really made to it were when it first came out, it came out during the COVID years. So we removed the COVID questions when it was
045no longer COVID relevant. But we keep it the same because we want to kind of keep the trends, the data the same. So you can compare the data. So we can compare data. But then we hand it off to Heather Harriman. And so then, so that way then she and Loretta Andre can send it out. And then they get the data, you know, so they encapsulate the data. And then that way. We don't see the people's information. Right. So that way that stays secure, but we get the answers. The data, right. It's scrubbed for anonymity. Yeah. And what's the window for responses? Is it two weeks? It's open. About three weeks. Yeah, but do we really close it? We don't really close it. No, we close it after three weeks. We do? Yeah. Oh, I
046didn't think we did because that way they give people more time. So that will be more work to follow on that. Thank you all for your time. Thank you, sir. Thank you. And then moving on to the Dudley Middle School report, Principal Greg Desto. I think I have enough for everybody. I got a little nervous when a couple people came in later, but Mr. Albee, would you please pass the mic? My pleasure. Take one for yourself, of course. Don't laugh at me now, but I'm going to try to move this thing up a little bit. Don't worry, the camera's on you. That's okay. Good evening, everybody. And I thank you for this opportunity to talk about what, besides maybe 1980s music, is my favorite thing, and that's Dudley Middle School. It's a place near and
047dear to my heart. I didn't know exactly what to present to you tonight, and at the end of the day, I decided to put together something that is in some ways similar to a State of the Union address, except that I'm also going to include the difficult things too, not just the victories, but also the things that we're in the process of trying to improve. So I hope that I've put together a very honest look at how things are going at Dudley Middle School, and I hope you'll come away tonight with a better view. of how things are going. I'm going to cover certain areas. I'm going to start with attendance and then go to student behavior, academics, staffing, and school culture and speak on those five topics largely. But if there are questions about
048anything else relative to the school, I'm certainly willing to answer those too. Beginning with attendance, because if you're not there, it's hard to learn. This is an imperfect comparison because what I have on the left is the entire school year last year attendance rate versus what we have so far this year on the right. And so far this year, we're up between 1% and 2% in attendance across the board, which means about, on average, eight more kids in school every day than what we experienced the entire year last year. So we're happy with the way it's going, but we also know that the winter... the longer the winter goes, the more difficult it can be. So our eyes are open on that. But we're trending in the right direction as far as attendance is concerned.
049And I think everybody probably knows that since COVID, attendance has become more difficult in all schools everywhere. But we are seeing a little bit of a difference this year and almost like the tide is turning a little bit on that. So we're really happy about that. Student behavior. is something that I think is incredibly important. I know a lot of people, I don't know, they don't necessarily maybe wouldn't put this in a presentation, but I think that if we don't have this part of it down, it's incredibly difficult to get all the other stuff down. And so I recognized pretty quickly when I got there last year that it was an area we needed to focus on. I've always believed that students need calm hallways, calm, not quiet of course. These kids are between 11
050and 15 years old, so it's never going to be really quiet. But they need a calm atmosphere in order to be able to learn at their best. Not a boring atmosphere, but a calm atmosphere. And I think that when middle schools fail, a lot of times it's not just what they're teaching or who's teaching it. It's about them being able to get the students to buy into what they're there for. The first three months of this school year, there's a couple of things I'm kind of proud of. We didn't have a single phone violation until last week. That doesn't mean some people got away with it, I'm sure. But what this means is that no student was caught using their phone, disrupting class, anything like that until one time last week. And then, of course,
051there was another one today because right as soon as I wrote that down, something was going to happen. But it's still, I'm really proud of the students for how they're handling that. Vandalism incidents are way down. And the only data that I have there is my own two eyes walking into the bathrooms each day five times and seeing the kids taking better care of the building than they were at this time last year. And I'm really proud of them for that. Not perfect, but better. And a statistic that I'm very proud of is that so far, and we do know it's early in the year, we have a 55% reduction in classroom and students being out of class for disciplinary reasons. I can't explain exactly why that is, but one of my big things is
052that the kids need to be in the classroom learning. And in order to do that, they have to behave a certain way. And so we're seeing better behavior that we think is going to lead to better results. But of course, we still have a long way to go. Academics, which... is the core of what we're there for. Our first school improvement plan goal is to provide exceptional learning opportunities and consistent high quality instruction. Our student performance in school shows an upward trend from this time last year. We had more students on the first quarter. These are very simple measures. This is not a deep dive here, but just to give you an overview. First quarter on a roll, more students this year than there were last year. Very imperfect measure, but it's something. And fewer
053students every quarter, every twice per quarter, I get a list of students who are failing a class. and there were far fewer at the end of the first quarter, including zero kids failing a single class in grade five or six, which I was like, wow, amazed at. Just amazing job that they're doing. Our MCAS scores, as you may know, show mixed results. Looking at the state accountability report, we met or exceeded all our targets in ELA, which sounds good. It's not quite as good as it sounds, but it is good. And we improved slightly, but still below our targets in math. So that's not a tragedy, but it's also not where we want to be. Overall, we stayed the same in the state's accountability system. So we didn't lose any ground. We didn't really gain
054any ground. So, you know, I'll just continue on with my with the data here and then I'll explain at the end where I feel like we stand What the other handout that I gave you is the dark comparison and that just compares us to The ten other districts that are most similar to us demographically enrollment subgroups, low-income, students with disabilities, ELL. So what the state is trying to do is really compare apples to apples as much as they possibly can, understanding that no two communities are exactly the same. So in comparison to these other districts, you look at this when you're the principal and you say, the kids that I see and talk to every day... I feel like maybe we should do better than this, but I don't think it's for a lack of
055effort, and we have some ideas on how to help with this. But on my report, I had put down that out of these 11 schools that are compared, we are sixth in ELA, seventh in math, second in science. That's for the percentage meeting or exceeding expectations. When you look at growth, we're fourth in ELA and ninth in math. So a little bit disappointing there. Ultimately, I have to be honest, our average scaled score and percentage of students meeting or exceeding targets have been below the state average for many years now, more than five years now. And when I think about how hard our teachers work, how dedicated they are, how amazing our kids are, you've heard me say I don't think there's better kids in the world. I mean that. I feel like we can
056and we will do better. So we're 33 as our... accountability percentile and that just essentially means you get a number one to 99 if you're one it's like the worst 99 the best we're at 33 and i feel like we should be above 50 at least you know and that's what we're shooting for so a couple of things that we're doing that we think are working are the Titan Learning Laboratory. Kenny mentioned we had to divide up our library. It was a difficult thing for a former English teacher to do, but we had to divide our library into learning spaces. I say had to, but it's working out pretty well because we have three reading teachers, two Title I teachers in there. Thank you for that, Kelly, Steve. We appreciate that. And we think it's
057going to bear results at some point. We've got groups of kids, groups of five to eight students in those classes every day that we believe are going to bear results. As you know, we have the win block, which now every day, every student has a 40-minute block where they are, based on data in their performance, the teachers put them either where they need a little extra in math, a little extra in reading, or they're in an enrichment class. It's been hard to get it where we want it to be, but it's getting better, and I just believe it's going to show results. Kelly's been working really hard with us to increase our consistency with instructional materials, and that's starting to come together. Our staff, I think Darren may have mentioned this last time for his
058staff as well, we have a common lesson planning template so that each class that the students go into, they see a common routine, common terminology. And, you know, Mr. Lamar hears me use this expression, the academic culture, and it's getting better. Where kids come into school and they look up and they say, well, what am I here for? That's the academic culture. If you think that you're here to just socialize all the time, that's not an academic culture. If you understand that largely you're there to learn, have a few laughs at the same time, then it's getting better. It's getting better. Kids are in the classrooms more, trying harder. I hear kids not feeling good about when they don't do well, and I've been pleased with that overall. So that's the academic part. Still a
059ways to go. Staffing, all I'll say there is that we have a lot of changes. We have 100% licensed in their area, which is pretty cool. We also have eight new teachers, five new paraprofessionals, all of whom so far, let me think about that. Yep, so far, all of whom are doing well. And looks like a good recruiting class. And we have many returning staff who are in new positions and have had an adjustment period but are starting to thrive in those new positions now. And finally, one of the things that Dudley Middle School has been good at for 25 years is school climate and culture. which includes special events and activities. And our second school improvement goal is to strengthen students' feelings of wellness and belonging in our school. Our school spirit is very
060strong. It's not, like, when people come into the school, they generally say, oh, these kids seem to, you know, they seem to like the school. They seem to be wanting to get involved in the school. We have 37, 37 extracurricular options for students. And of those, 24 require no audition. or tryout. So anybody can pretty much join. A couple of them might be age specific, but there's a lot for kids to choose from and they take advantage of it. We have a huge percentage of kids involved in something after school. I wanted to highlight Anita the mini boat, not because I just want to single this out because we did that last year. I just want to highlight this as an example of what I think is the spirit of our school. When we had
061ten eighth graders when they were in fifth grade started this with this project They're now getting ready to leave and go to high school And so we're getting ready to start a new cohort of fifth and sixth graders who will see it through for the next several years but in recent weeks They asked their Spanish teacher. They wrote this book, The Adventures of Anita, the mini boat, okay? Telling all about the, if anybody doesn't know a lot about it, I could explain more, but I think everybody has the gist of what it is. Well, they got together with their Spanish teacher, and they stayed after school, and together they translated the book into Spanish. They all take Spanish class. And now the book is available on Amazon, both in English and in Spanish. And so
062in addition to that, the PTO has given us the support to buy a series of books so that our Spanish students can use this book in the class, which is pretty cool. So in some ways, the students wrote their own curriculum in some way. And that's really good learning right there, authentic learning. Very proud of all of them. And that's kind of like emblematic of the spirit, the heart of our school. But, you know, Mr. LaMarche mentioned a few things earlier. that are happening relative to community service and fundraising. Ms. True and Mr. LaMarche both came down to our Bring a Veteran to School Day. That's always a great day. The UINC thing is tomorrow. You may have said this already, Mr. LaMarche, and I apologize if you did, but we're the only ones in
063the state who serve these children. is Dudley Middle School. And so over the course of 20 years, it's gone from seven kids to like, what was it now, 600, four something. So it's a really big deal. And we had our food drive in November. We've got a bigger one coming in April. And again, representing the sort of the spirit of our school, this Tables to Towers is something that two fifth grade students came to us and asked if they could do a fundraiser. And you've got to be careful with that. It's not as simple as it sounds to approve that, you know, because a lot of people ask for that. But they had already made handmade keychains and scrunchies and said if people give a dollar, they can choose between a keychain and a scrunchie.
064So I gave them the first dollar. Of course, I took a scrunchie. But it was two kids who have a passion for one of their parents is a military person, and they got a passion for that, and so they put it together on their own. They sat in that lobby for two weeks every morning collecting whatever they could for that. And it just, again, shows what kind of kids we have. So long and the short of it is that we think that the tide is turning. We're going to find out for sure. We have a part of our school improvement plan is to administer a school climate survey to the students. And we didn't have it ready until maybe three weeks ago. And we're thinking that not to give it in this holiday time because
065the results might be skewed by kids not feeling quite right or feeling too good or whatever. So we're going to give it towards the end of the second quarter in like mid to late January for the first time and then again at the end of the year. And it basically just will measure how kids feel about school, how safe do they feel, how do they feel their peers treat them, and so on. And, you know, I think that will tell us, that will give us some good information. But we're very proud of the school. We, you know, we welcome you to come down any time that you want. And we also realize that... You've been very supportive of us and we appreciate that very much We know that you're trying your best to give us
066the tools we need and it's not always easy in our communities I know that so we want to thank you for that too, and I'll end with that and I'll answer any questions anybody may have Let's not let this fall into the wrong hands Not till about two years from now. Oh and then and does anyone get the reference at the bottom? Besides mr. Lamar and Joe you'll get it for sure Titan mania is running wild. Your husband would get it. Hulk-o-mania. Hulk-o-mania, yes. We have that on our doors at the school. Thank you very much, sir. I couldn't agree more with the uptick of attendance, and hopefully it will continue through. And the vast improvement in behavior really sets those students on a path to learning. That's where it starts. And then you couple
067that with... the Massachusetts initiative of having lunch for all students and breakfast for all students really starts to put them on a path for learning and I think it's an exciting time to be in the Dudley-Charlton system. I am hard of hearing. My apologies. So I'm assuming you're just being nice to Mr. Testo and being like, hey, great work. I like what you have written here. But just in case, you know. I'll speak into the mic. I'm just curious about the student survey. Is that for all grades? And is that something that will be shared at all? The results? Yeah. I can definitely share the results to you publicly, absolutely. Okay. We have the questions and responses written. We tried to do it in a way that was kind of entertaining for the kids so
068that the responses are not so mundane. It's more like, you know, it's more in their lingo type of thing. Sure. But, yeah, we can share the results, absolutely. Will the results be parched out by grade level so you can see if there's differences in those analytics? Yes, we can do that. My counselors are handling that part of it, and that's what we want them to do. We don't want me doing that. But, yes, we should have multiple different ways of looking at the data once that comes in. I'm sure that will be helpful. Thank you. Go ahead, Kathy. Sure. I have a couple questions for you. Attendance, I didn't know. Have you noticed any changes in your students that are habitually absent? And have you noticed, like, has their attendance improved? A little bit. You
069know, in all honesty, we had a lot of chronic absenteeism in grade 8 last year. So those kids are in grade 9 now and hopefully doing better. Of course, 5, 6, and 7 last year as well, there were some, and those kids are doing better, but it's not without a tremendous amount of effort from our teachers and counselors who call almost every day. We have this thing called attendance mentors where particular kids that have had issues in the past, if they're absent on a particular day, a certain person calls. So it's usually either an administrator or a counselor. But sometimes the teachers want to take it on on their own. And so the efforts that people like Scott O'Coin and Lisa Hinketoe and Delia Galoni are putting forth on this is astronomical, and it does
070lead to better results. We get kids coming in late, but they're coming in, and they're getting something out of it. And we'll try to make sure that they can maintain that pace. I am worried about the dark days of winter, of course, when everyone gets up and doesn't feel like going anywhere but in their bedroom. And so we're going to have to be vigilant and just stay on top of it. We'll see a dip, I'm sure, but hopefully it won't be enough to really make a bad dent, you know. I don't think you gave yourself enough credit. I think that you also did a program last year where you had, you grabbed all the students that were in need of support and you had after-school tutoring available to them. We did, yeah. And we, with
071the support of Mrs. True and Mr. LaMarche, We have started that again a little earlier this year than we started it last year. And it works out well. The thing is, though, it has to be a working environment. And we make it clear to the parents that if your son or daughter comes to the program and doesn't want to do the work or is disruptive, they won't be invited back anytime soon. And I know that sounds cold, but we want it to be a working environment because we have two really good teachers monitoring that. And there's a lot of kids who need the help, and that will take the help, and we have to make sure that they do. But we haven't had any behavior problems at all. little bit of work avoidance but and
072when you talked about the student survey I'm sorry I missed a little bit of it Were you also asking them about their homework, habits, things like that in the survey? No, it wasn't going to be that. It was one question relative to, it's more about how your emotional state at school. It's like a belonging. Yeah, exactly. Are you involved in an activity? Do you have someone in school that you think that you can talk to when you need it? How do you feel your peers treat you? Do you feel like you have friends at school? You know, things like that. There's one thing that says something about is the work too hard? And if so, do you know how you can get help? That's the one question relative to academics. I just didn't know if
073that's some, you know, I've noticed I hear lots of kids talking about AI. Yeah. increase usage of it and I just didn't know if you were gonna tackle that on that one but not on that sir this survey is intended to make sure kids feel safe like in that there and we have a thing that like is there where's the worst place the bathroom the cafeteria the bus you know trying to get a real sense of where they might not feel safe And I have to say with the book, it was great that not only the kids that have been in the program, but it was any kid that was in the Spanish class was able to participate in that, which I think just brought more kids into it, which is nice. I'm looking forward
074to a whole new cohort of kids coming through and learning about it. It's a very exciting program. I just wish that more kids could be involved, and we're going to get as many involved as we can this time around. Thank you. Exciting times, Mr. Desto. Exciting times, indeed. This is the life that I've chosen, as Michael Corleone said. But feeling blessed. Any other questions for Mr. Desto? I hope I didn't make it sound like it's Shangri-La. It's not. It's hard, but I'm proud of the way things are going. Thank you very much. okay back to you steven uh madam parent school committee i do have as the representative member for the southern worcester county educational collaborative i do have to periodically report on some of the work that they do as an organization because we
075are a member we are contributing member so what i did provide you is i provided you the fy 25 their financial audit which you're used to looking at for our own district What I would only point out to you is on the last page, and the last page basically what this is saying, which is critical to all the work we do, is that the results of our tests disclose no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under government auditing standards. So that's good news for the collaborative. And then the purpose of the report as well is that the report is an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with the government auditing standards. and considering the collaborative's internal control and compliance accordingly this communication is not suitable for any
076other purposes um you know you have to think of the collaborative as a 10 million dollar operation and they do they can as we've talked about i think in the past like for a regional school you can keep up to five percent of your operating budget to carry over from year to year the collaborative can keep up to 25 of their operating budget from year over year this past year they were able to obtain or I call it Reclaimed Appropriation Control Program. That's my own little saying and my own little acronym, RASP, for that. But they were around 23% that they carried over from year to year. But I want to be clear, most of that is because they weren't able to fill positions. So some of those are salaries that are built in, but
077they kept it under the 25%, which is really important for us to be a sound fiscal organization. The other thing, too, which I think Joe and I have talked about is we've, as a group, because I'm on the board, we have invested in OPAP in Southern Worcester County to cover the benefits. It's something Dudley Charlton has not done yet, but we need to at some point in time take a look at that. So I wasn't sure if there were any questions on the audit. the 45-page audit. Okay, so the next report I have is the annual report for 2025. This is just kind of a narrative of the group and organization. It gives you all the towns that are part of this, who was in those roles as leadership for that 2025, the organization itself,
078the collaborative, the history, the programs that are offered through there. The thing that I found that I think you should find interesting, as well as not in this report, it's in the next one, sorry. But that kind of gives you an idea. What I did find interesting in this one is page 11 where it talks about the costs, the daily rates, and it does do some comparative analysis of other organizations. So that just kind of gives you kind of a little bit of a snapshot of the collaborative and the investment when we do have students attend the collaborative for specialized programming, how that compares to other organizations or other collaboratives. Without any questions, if there are any questions on that. Learn any questions on that we do have the first quarter report for collaborative for
079FY 26 Basically the what I what I do think you should Understand is if you look on this one doesn't have page numbers, but if you look on Makes me feel normal. But the last stapled page on the front part, it talks about the services that the collaborative provides, and you can see that Dudley Charlton does utilize some of these services. For example, assistive technology, if we have assessments that need to be done in assistive technology. Orientation and mobility, we do utilize them for assessments on that. Vision services, we utilize them for that as well. The good news is that right now after the first quarter, the collaborative is operating on a revenue, a plus, positive revenue of $55,000. The tougher news, which is not in here in this particular detail, is their enrollment is
080down a bit right now. So they are they are we are I have to phrase it that way we are concerned with the overall health of the budget this particular year because their budget is definitely generated by Enrollment so right now even though it's a positive $55,000 we're paying very close attention to that because we want to make sure that the It is a sound operation, but that's the first quarter report as well for the collaborative Okay, any questions on the southern Worcester County educational collaborative for the end of the first quarter at about a a net gain of $55,000. What quarter is usually the highest quarter? The last quarter. Okay. Because usually by then enrollments, because enrollments can be rolling as well. So the target is about 123 enrolled. Right now we're at about
081116. So we've got to try to reach the 123, but that could be a rolling throughout. And then the revenue follows that. Okay. Yep. Good question. So that concludes the Southern Wistak County Education Collaborative brief update. Great job, Stephen. Okay. moving on to professional development update Kelly true so it wasn't in the folder but it is in your packet I asked Yes, oh it's separate from the packet? Well it wasn't in the electronic folder, sorry the e-folder. But I did put it in your packet just so you could follow along. So we have our first half day professional learning day coming up on December 12th and in typical PD fashion we have a lot of different things that are going on for the day. Our elementary staff is largely participating and carrying continuing on with
082their math professional development. We had really great feedback from the Different grade levels for the training that took place on October 10th They had a really successful training and they were looking forward to having the people come back We actually had some of the heritage second grade teachers reached out to their presenter and asked for a little tutorial During their common planning time now that they have common planning time and all the second grade teachers are off at the same time and can plan they jumped on with the presenter to show them again how to do one of the strategies that they were asking them about in the training and they got on with them with all those second grade teachers and did it with them again which i think is remarkable for them to
083be thinking about that outside of when we actually did the training and to reach out on their own to have them the person jump on with them like i thought that was awesome and it shows their investment in what we're doing which i think is great So they'll be continuing on with that, which is fantastic. Also with that training, our curriculum facilitators at the elementary level are going to have a training in the morning that is dedicated to them. Our special ed teachers are going to have training specific to specialized instruction in math in the morning as well. And then in the afternoon, the grade levels will have their trainings with the same presenters. So lots of training for elementary. For math, which is great at the middle levels because we have instituted the Schedule
084changes with putting in the wind block for enrichment and intervention planning To start looking at data and to be removing groups and doing all that great work The middle school staff is going to be for math ELA and history teachers They are going to be working on looking at data regrouping kids planning interventions the related the UA staff is going to be working on planning enrichments for the classes that they teach for the wind block the ESL teachers will be meeting with me and Open Sci Ed our Open Sci Ed champions are going to be meeting with our Open Sci Ed teachers and also some of our special education and paraprofessional staff which is great because we unearthed that there's some There are some issues with Open Sci Ed is a very different kind of
085format for teaching than a lot of people are used to. And we have a lot of special ed teachers in Paris that are going into our science classes and are supporting, but they haven't had this extensive training that our science teachers have had in Open Sci Ed. So the Open Sci Ed champions and I were talking about this. They actually brought it up as kind of an issue because we're also a part of a grant called SCAPE that is helping us to make the Open SciEd curriculum more accessible to all students. And phenomenon-based teaching kind of lends itself to accessibility to all students anyway. But this grant has kind of opened our eyes to see that everybody that's coming into the science classroom really needs to understand phenomenon-based teaching before they can expect it to
086be able to support and to help to make it accessible for kids. So we actually are having some of our special education teachers in Paris join the Open SciEd staff, which is... fantastic that cross collaboration with them so that's going to be great for them our reading and title one teachers who are learning language live for the first time most of them haven't taught that before they had training on the 10th and they're continuing with that training that's for our kids that go to literacy for reading intervention at the middle school so they're gonna be having more training in that which is great And our paraprofessionals at the middle school and the high school are going to be starting with a new training platform from the state that is specifically for paraprofessionals. Any of our
087new paraprofessionals, they are going to complete the first module for that along with the building relationships with students. Any other paraprofessionals, our veterans, will do the building relationships with students and then they'll pick another module that is consistent with. what they need for their own content. Our elementary paraprofessionals are working with Melissa Davis on that day. And then our high school staff, they're primarily, all of our departments are working on NEASC still, especially their writing curriculum. They need consistent curriculum maps and updated curriculum maps. So they're primarily going to be working on NEASC planning. The ESL teachers are meeting with me. The paraprofessionals are working on the courses from the state. And everybody else is working on curriculum writing. collaborating with their departments. Special Ed coordinators and principals are going to be doing a training
088with Tara Gere who's she's primarily working with our SPED coordinators this year for the whole year on continued professional development for their skill set. But we ask principals to come and join them because we're specifically going to be doing training on when paraprofessionals are appropriate in the educational setting, how they support in the educational setting, and how to establish fading plans for paraprofessionals when we do put them on IEPs. So they will also be doing that. All new staff are going to be having Alice. That's not on my sheet, but all new staff are going to be doing Alice training on that day. So anybody who is not part of DS. DCRSD previously and hasn't had ALICE training with us they'll be catching up on that and doing that lots of moving parts again. Can
089I ask a quick question about curriculum documents at the high school? Yes. When they build those curriculum documents are they gonna have as part of it UDL strategies? Yes. Any other questions? Alright, moving right along. Finance and operations reports. All right, Joe. That's for last. If you don't mind, I'd like to just jump to number three on my list first, just because it's outside of budget and fiscal. I'd like to just kind of lump that separately. We can't kind of like, you know, bookend the votes? We can't. Whatever you prefer. If you'd like, I can keep that until the end. We can move three up. Okay. So number three would be the disposal of our surplus school property, Charlton Middle School, Heritage School, and Shepherd Hill. are requesting the approval to dispose of school-wide surplus
090materials that are either in poor condition, non-recoverable, or outdated and have been replaced at this point. A list of the items being presented for disposal is included and available within the school committee packet to review and is maintained at the district office available upon request. So we do have the list of items being requested by all three schools. unless there are any questions I would respectfully request school committee vote to approve the disposal of the surplus materials I'll make a motion to dispose of the school property as listed second even though I hesitate to ask any discussion I just have a question did we get new rustling mats? The rustling mats, so we do have a surplus that's available right now to be utilized. These mats have already been replaced and are considered high bacteria,
091foam popping out of the exterior of it. Again, that would be considered non-recoverable and replaced at this point. They looked old to me when I saw a few of them. Yeah, they need to be replaced. It's good to hear, yeah. All right. So, all those in favor? Look at that. It's unanimous. They're surplus. We can chuck them. Excellent. Okay, so I will go back in order then, back to number one. I created a FY26 budget year-to-date report. DCRSD is in a relatively stable financial position as it completes the first half of FY26. Our federal grant funding, certain federal grant funding and circuit breaker funds have yet to be applied to certain qualifying expenditures. These offsets will be applied to the operating budget as the school year progresses, most specifically over the next month or two.
092the manner we had last year, all our salaries, benefits, and the majority of our operational needs have already been encumbered for the year and are included within our year-to-date budget report within either the encumbrance or year-to-date lines. Our aging infrastructure and subsequent unpredictability facilities and operational needs will continue to drive the majority of our unanticipated expenditures for the remainder of the year. We are in a similar situation and in a similar budget percentage as we were this time last year. So I feel at this point we still have relatively strong management over where we're moving. So I'm happy to take any questions specifically related to the year-to-date budget report if you have any. Sure. Have you frozen the budget yet? No. Unless there are any other questions, I will move on to our FY25 fiscal
093year closeout update. So our fiscal year closeout is still in process. CBiz, our audit firm, performed their annual audit the week of November 10th through the 14th. We're awaiting our results and then the subsequent issuing of the financial statements. To this point, there have been no major findings. Happy to report. Hopefully it stays that way until it's finalized and we can, again, move forward with a clean audit report. our excess and deficiency certification is in process for finalization with department of revenue i'm actively communicating with the rep for the department of revenue on the finalization of that figure so we expect to have that for a january school committee meeting so happy to take any questions on that as well Okay, so moving down to number four. It's a FY27 budget creation impact memo, which
094is saying a mouthful. But essentially what we wanted to do and what we were looking to do was twofold. A, we wanted to capture based on our October 2025. Budget workshop that we had with school committee. We wanted to create a rough estimate on what that ask would look like On a per school and district basis. So the top portion of the budget memo that I have Gives a general summary of that As you can see it's approximately 500,000 now Obviously there are ranges for each of these positions that could fluctuate a little higher a little lower I'm happy to provide a range if need be when we're working through this process. Additionally, on the bottom, I thought it was important to note what we already have on the horizon for the upcoming year. I
095will start with Medicare, which is our first number, a 67% increase. I will say that this is a common increase, both across the Commonwealth and within MSHG, where we're a participant. That 67% increase is split 50-50 between the district and retirees out of pocket. A couple of weeks ago, we did have a meeting for retirees held here in the library at Shepherd Hill. That was an informational session that allowed questions and answers for retirees to allow them that comfort level to be able to either stick with our Medicare program or look for other options if they deem fit. I believe to this point we've only lost two members out of our retirees that are moving off of our Medicare, which shows it's a comprehensive program. It's still a good service. Even with the rate increases,
096it's still highly competitive, and the options are fewer and fewer by the day. So this is something that again we're seeing across the board, across the Commonwealth, and hopefully there'll be some relief in sight in subsequent years, but we're seeing that this is pretty close to set in stone at this point. Healthcare underneath that for active participants. That is just an estimate. We put a 20% estimate to be on the high side for now. We hope and we anticipate driving that number down, especially with changes that we've made to the design plan. However, we do want to stress that we are yet to have our rate set by MSHG. So that, again, will be kind of a question in the air. But until we reach that point where we know what the final figure is,
097I wanted to err on the side of caution and put a generally higher-end number so that we are over-prepared as opposed to under-prepared when the time comes. The final item that I have under there is cost of living adjustments related to salaries. This is a 3.5% increase going into FY27 per collective bargaining agreements, which was collectively bargained. I believe in April it was finalized. Sorry, I can't recall. At this point, that's the finalized figure that we know we're working with. So that gave us a general tangible number based on what we have for current salaries. Obviously, that could fluctuate a little higher, a little lower, depending on hiring and step and lane changes, whatever it may be moving forward. So those are our big ticket items that we are anticipating right now. That's not fully
098inclusive. Again, I just wanted to... make sure that a we were including what we discussed within the budget workshop for further discussion and be What we may already know at this time. I wanted to add that in as well for your perusal and consideration so Happy to answer any questions directly related to any of these items for Joe and and thank you we did go through all these numbers and budget and finance and so these aren't a surprise but I did neglect to ask in subcommittee when we get a firmer number from MSHG do when do they give those projections I want to say around, we're shooting for February this year, correct? Okay. I thought it was late last year. It was. That's tight for our assessments to the towns. Okay. Thank you. I have
099a question. Why is Medicare a 67% increase? How did that come about? Why is that? That's a – I'm sorry. You sure? Yeah. I just saw you went like that. Give me the avenue. One of the major reasons is because we had a locked-in rate for three years. While the rest of the world was increasing in health insurance, we were locked in, and they could only have a minimal increase on the Medicare retirement. So that ended this year. And so that's why the rates have increased. Now, it is a big percentage, and we've met with retirees to discuss that as well, but it's continuing in the Aetna plan that we currently have. It's now market comparable to other insurers out there, if not even better still. So it's an insurance company? Yes. Okay. Because we
100had a locked-in rate with them for three years. Right. By the third year, they were losing money because of the locked-in rate. And so they're not trying to make it back, but they're trying to make it competitive with the other insurance companies that are out there. But it's still a really good plan because there's no copay and no deductible. Zero for retirees. The only copay they have is on medications. Can I be a teacher here? A retired teacher. You want to be a retired teacher right now? Like athletes, we'll sign you for one day. There you go. All right. Wow. Yes, so it's a really good plan. So again most retirees understand because it was such a low rate for three years in a row with minimal increase we're talking dollars to now 67% increase
101which is feel that that number alone feels really large But it is we've asked people to go out and look at other programs that are out there if they don't like what we're offering or what we can offer through our insurance company and They're coming back long saying this is still the best With a 67% increase So is that locked in for another three years? No, we could only get one year out of them because of the volatility of health insurance right now. Oh, gee. Yes. Okay. And again, going back to the Medicare open enrollment period that just ended, we only saw two subscribers remove themselves from our active roster, so that showed the general sentiment, I think, of the retirees of our plan versus the other one. Which we have 342 retirees on our
102plans. Yeah. So our office manages all of that as well. So only two out of 342, 340 now. Wow. Okay. It's a great question, though. So just so the committee, through the chair, just so the committee knows, this represents about a 5% increase on this year's budget. And what I heard from the committee is I shouldn't say the words, that's our high watermark, yeah. Because the committee looks like this year you want more and you're looking for more. So I don't want to call it the high watermark. But right now that's, and Joe did a good job of really identifying the substantial increases with the conceptual ideas that were presented. So that's a 5% increase, which I have to say, in our business that's not unheard of from time to time. Not every year, but
103that's not unheard of. But, excuse me, we have a lot of work to do. We're around that 5%. And we know where the cherry sheet's going. Correct. We do not. We do not. So again, the fourth Wednesday is when the governor's budget will come out of January. So we anticipate cherry sheets at some point in January. And again, I will keep everybody apprised of when we do have our first availability. We may not get as lucky with transportation. We may not. We may not. But we do feel there is some optimism still that Chapter 70 will continue to stay at a higher level than $30 a student. We do have some optimism with that, which will help offset any increases that we have. The Chapter 70 formula is – it needs to be revised to
104begin with. So we're hoping that the per-pupil minimum aid will stay at a level that until the Chapter 70 formula can be revamped to be more effective, that hopefully we'll be able to make up with that in the per-pupil aid increases. It was the same story. The Chapter 70 session? Yes. Yeah, absolutely. District after district. Like if you get a chance, you should really listen to the Hold Harmless that's out, you know, for the other schools that are out on the Hold Harmless ones. And also listen to some of the rural schools that are also banding together. Especially in the Berkshires. Again, through the chair, as a reminder, we don't qualify for rural aid. And they are looking to put a sizable amount of money in that at this point in time. But they're not
105changing that. We kind of fall in the in-between. We do. We definitely do. But right now with the formula, we don't qualify. Right. Because we don't qualify for the Student Opportunity Act. No, we don't qualify for that either. And we don't qualify for rural. No. And we're hold harmless. Yep. So we don't really qualify for any. old homelessness 2009 yes and there's other considerations like the first thing is what like 290 that's great like an insane amount of districts 70 something percent districts are old homeless and we were one of the first ones just growing so that concludes my report unless there are any other questions I appreciate it no it's spot on thank you very much so unless there's anything else Right, so the next school committee meeting. Do you have something else? Well,
106it's going along with your next, your announcements and stuff. I just want to. All right, go for it, quick. Okay. For the school committee to know, we are inviting the yearbook in to take your annual photograph at the next January meeting. That'll be a job. Were you going to say that? All right. So get dolled up and handsome up or whatever you call it. I don't know what it's called. I get dolled up before this meeting, so. But so we are and then we're gonna do this literally the one who told him this morning, but he reminded him and then we're gonna do the superintendents award as well in the principals award at the January meeting so Sorry, that's the only thing I'm sorry Sorry, madam chair. We do have some handbook changes that are
107going to need to come forward as well based on our civil rights integrated monitoring review So there are some adjustments to our handbooks that are going to come forward in the month of January, too. Globally to all the handbooks? Yeah. Yes. All three levels. And principals may take advantage of that opportunity to make other quick adjustments and stuff like that. I know one of them was Shepherd Hill class rankings or something like that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so there are other things that will come forward with that. I don't want to just say it's all civil rights, but it's just. It was the GPA. GPA. And, like, it was the qualifying points. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm not a manager. Yes, I'm sorry. All right. I'll only stop half my thunder now. All
108right. Thank you. So school committee meeting, 6.30 p.m. Wednesday, January 14, 2026, Charlton Middle School. Okay. And then I'll ignore anything else I was going to say. And any other agenda items that we might need to be aware of? All right. If there are, email me. Okay. Anybody want our favorite motion before Steve says anything else? I do have one more thing to say. Madam Chair and the school committee, I apologize. It does say on here, policy subcommittee, is this Friday, 945. That is not going to happen. That is not going to happen. I did cross it out. It's 100% of my responsibility. So we are looking to schedule that for sometime next week. You're going to want to put the school calendar on the next agenda. Because we'll have voted it. Oh, school calendar
109on the next? Yeah. The January 14th thing. It is. It's right there. Oh, yeah. Okay, great. Okay. Just one other item on here. It says for capital outlay and budget and finance subcommittee, the year on there lists both 2025. It's supposed to be 26, but those dates are correct, January 16th and the times. Thank you. Yep. Do you have a recurring link for those meetings for the agendas? Meaning recurring zoom link. Okay, that's not on this right now. So I can take that off life So can we go back to a motion? Awesome Second by Maureen. Yeah. All right All those in favor. Aye. Look at that. It's unanimous