001first open the shade pull the shade motion >> like good recording. >> Right. I will call to order the February 4th mask economic uh regional school district school committee meeting 7:04 p.m. I'm going to do things out of order just for a second and uh we have our student advisory board joining us tonight. if you'd like to introduce yourself and then if you have an update for us to grab an update. >> Hello, I'm Ava Wexler. I'm the SAB for the class of 2027 and I'm here to give you all an update on what we're doing at student council and all upcoming events we have planned. To start, Friday is the freshman sophomore sunny formal at the double chain dampers. On a similar note, junior prom is on April 10th at CLport in Glouester and
002the theme is by the sea. And we're planning to sell tickets for that after February break during second lunch. And then for student council open projects, there are some updates because we had a um a meeting this morning. Um we have the teacher student basketball game and they picked the date of March 13th. And then we're going to be doing a battle of the classes, which is a schoolwide game where they're going to be gold coins hidden around the school, and whichever grade finds the most and puts them into like this cauldron thing wins. Um, and then the blood drive is set to take place on March 6th. And the bake off, we don't have a set date yet, but we're planning for the first week of March in the small cap after school. And
003for the food drive, it's going to be March 13th, and the food should be dropped off in front of the library. Um, and then the charity fundraiser, they picked do a car wash and the proceeds are going to go to Burnstock Farm. And these projects are only just beginning, but our hope is that these events and fundraisals will bring our school spirit together and strengthen our community. And then just other school things, the freshman are doing a Valentine's Day fundraiser this week and they're selling candy bags with customizable Valentine's Day cards and that started on Monday and during first lunch and then the bags will be delivered on Friday the 13th. And then tomorrow, Best Buddies is doing a movie night from 5 to 7 in the auditorium and they're showing Bad Guys, too. And
004the tickets are $5 a piece and everyone is welcome to. And that's all I have for this week. That's Thank you. >> Any questions, comments for Ava. [clears throat] >> Ava, for the for the battle, what's at stake? Is it just bragging rights or >> So, I actually asked and they didn't really have anything planned for that yet. I'm assuming it's going to be some sort of like school or like gradewide um like ice cream party or something like that, but I don't think they have anything like >> nothing tops braiding rights anyways. >> Yeah. So, awesome. Well, you're welcome to stick around and hang out with us for a while or if you have homework or anything else you need to do, you're also welcome to Okay. >> Thank you. Thank you. You >>
005Thank you. >> All right. Uh so, I'll jump to comments from the audience. I have a show of hands of who has comments tonight. one. Awesome. >> Please, if you can come up to the podium uh to the the desk and uh just sign in and let us know your name and where you're from. [cough] [clears throat] Good evening everyone. Um my name is Joyce Mack and I'm a senior here at Masco. Um I'm also president of the Appreciating Cultures and Ethnicities Club or ACE Club here at Masco. And this past Monday, um school committee members, Mrs. Adrien Heppy Tenny and Mr. Jeff joined us during our meeting and we're very grateful that they were able to take the time to speak with us and listen to our ideas. and we definitely got to understand
006more about how the school committee works too. Um, I just want to I just wanted to emphasize something that we had talked about here because I as well as other Masco students find these things to be extremely important when it comes to the school community and improving it to be more inclusive and accepting of everyone. Um, although we've improved from the past and it's definitely better now than before, we can't forget that we need to keep going. there's more to do, to build on, and we can always move forward. Um, so with that, uh, I'd like to ask that our curriculum include more diversity. And by diversity, I mean a few things. Um, for one, tying current news and events into our discussions in the classroom. Um, especially what's going on right now. Um, be
007it in, Palestine, Iran, or Minneapolis. I can guarantee you us students want the skills to be able to process and understand these things specifically right now while we're in school because once we graduate we won't be protected by these walls and we won't be able to pretend that these things aren't happening. Um the maskment vision 2025 says our students are culturally sensitive globally aware through their study and experiential learning and they act confidently with an understanding of their impact on the world. This is the best way to help Masco students achieve the vision. This vision is to equip us with the skills we need to navigate a diverse world after graduation and to allow us to be exposed to difficult conversations so that we may learn and grow and thrive once we leave school. Thank
008you for listening. >> Thank you. Great. Nico, you making your way up? >> Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Hi everyone. Uh my name is Dedro Zortis. I am a civich teacher in the eighth grade and I also uh get to serve as the president of our membership for the teachers. Um sorry can't multitask. All right. Um I'm I'll keep this brief. Uh I know that you are at the the earliest stages of this budget conversation. I know you have many decisions to make as you move forward and many uh ideas to consider as you move forward. I just want to uh kind of put out into the into the space as you discuss this and as you hear uh one of the options kind of available to you. Um over the last two years uh our membership
009has had uh four cuts to the teaching staff. We lost a adjustment counselor, a nurse um and a librarian. Uh and I know that a lot of the conversations that happened at this table last year kind of focused around the notion of if everyone's unhappy then we've done our job that we've addressed kind of everyone. Um and last year felt like ultimately with the when the cuts ultimately happened felt like they impacted our membership disproportionately. Um, so I we would ask that as you consider this and as you go through the various uh permutations of what uh this might look like to bring us to a budget that is going to work for the school committee that you consider what has already been cut from our membership over the last two years um while you
010have those deliberations. I appreciate it. >> Thank you. Uh we'll jump past Sabbath date and onto turf failed plan discussions. >> So we have a a donation from the Masco Sports Foundation. I don't know if we have to have a discussion on this or if we have a motion or so. I think we'll we just have to make sure that everybody's clear that accepting the gift means that we're moving forward with the one field plan. >> That's sort of >> it's make sure everybody everybody is understanding of that. >> It's accepting funds and asking um Jeff to execute on a contract with Stantech that goes down the path of the single single field. Correct. >> That includes the RDA. Correct. >> Yeah. So, any other deliberation? >> Maybe a point of order is that we
011never voted on the RDA. >> I think we have to accept the gift and vote on the RDA separately. >> Okay, great. >> Just reiterate what I said last week. I think the better path forward would be to continue the one we're on. Either get denied or get our project approved. if we get denied, I think it's a $250 fee to then appeal to the higher powers. I forget what department it is within the state. Um, and I've heard they've been pretty gracious when it comes to schools and permitting these types of projects. Um, and I think we [clears throat] could have a favorable result there. Spend a lot less money um, and reserve these donations um, that this group has worked very hard to get over the past few years for um, construction of
012the project. If I could one point, um I would I guess question that uh Trevor that um my guess is that there would be some substantial legal fees also associated with with that that appeal. Um that would definitely change the uh cost calculation of of going that route. >> I'll just respond. I don't believe so. I've heard it's um and it's not like in a courtroom. Um I'm assuming our lawyer would be a part of that discussion, but um I I don't believe that's accurate. So we don't need the people here to answer that. So I want to reiterate that I think middle of last year this body agreed that we were going to pursue one field, not two. I don't see the point in moving forward with a two- field solution. whether it can
013be approved or not, we decided we didn't want to do it. So the only in my opinion realistic path here is to go ahead and switch to one field which is more in line with what I believe uh the concom people of the town of Oxford will support. So that's it. If there's no other deliberation, do we have a motion? >> Make a motion to accept the RDA as presented. >> Second. >> A second. >> Uh, nobody's online, right? All in favor? >> I [clears throat] against >> Chris. Okay. Uh any abstain? >> Okay, we have one, two, three. 82. Melissa, to your point, I think we needed a second motion. make a motion to accept the gift from the Masanomonic Sports Foundation in the amount of $65,000 for um funding the design redesign or
014any cost related to the development and construction of an artificial turf playing service at Mascan High School. >> Didn't we need to take $5,000? >> Yeah. So, we'll let's get to that in a second. I didn't know that motioned to be >> We have a second >> second deliberation. Lisa, >> sorry. Need to take $5,000 from our stabilization fund to >> No, there's a um an operating budget line item called ARing fees with five grand in it and it's available. So, we'll use that to supplement the 65 and to cover the full cost. >> [clears throat] >> Any other deliberation? >> All right. All in favor? I >> I >> against you abstained. >> 811. Awesome. All right. Well, uh a thank you to the Masco Sports Foundation. um get all the efforts they put
015in to fund raise and be able to support the uh the path forward cited by this committee. >> Matt, I'll get them the information first thing in the morning and they're ready to start to work tomorrow. So, >> thanks. It's great. >> All right, on to FY27 budget presentation. >> We go. All right. So, we uh have some updates from uh two weeks ago um when we last met and talked about the budgets. On Wednesday, um January 28th, uh the governor released her FY27 state budget plan. Um and the part of that comes out as the preliminary cherry sheets and the pre preliminary net school spending and local minimum contribution figures. Uh and we've used those to update the uh FY27 budget materials. You'll see what the impact was in a little bit. Uh we
016want to note that there was a $29,900 difference uh between the FY28 uh I'm sorry, the uh January 28th FY27 preliminary cherry sheet figures and the placeholder estimates that were incorporated. Um so as a result, we've uh our budget or our level service operating budget has increased by $29,900. Uh so you can see kind of a review and this will reflect those numbers uh that I just talked about. Um we're looking in our operating budget uh for a general operating expense budget after offsets um proposed for FY27 of 45,943,133. Uh that's an increase of $2.1 million or 4.8%. Um, and for a total expenditures budget, which includes $393,000 in capital costs, of 46,336,287, which is a $1.8 million increase or 4.1%. Um, as we, you know, as we work through this, we take our total
017expenditures, we take the out, we subtract the outside funding sources that we received. Um, so that chapter 70 number of $5.9 million now reflects um the governor's uh initial FY27 budget proposal. That's an increase of $227,000 over the current year. Um again, we have uh transportation reimbursement. It's basically it's $25,000 difference. Um charter school tuition reimbursement is a $4,000 increase. Um we talked about this last time. interest income is reflecting uh you know a change in interest rates. So um lowered interest rates which people tend to like but you know when it tends comes to our bank accounts we actually see a a decrease in the interest that we we receive. Um just looking the local receipts um just trying to see the excess and deficiency is one to look at. Right now, we're looking
018uh we're um projecting a Z um uh element from the uh excess and deficiency account in our level service budget, which is $712,000 less than the current year. Um so, we take those total funding sources of $7.6 million. uh we subtract that from the $463 million uh total expenditures budget and that gives us our net assessments. Uh as you can see there um about 38.7 million um and the c that's broken out to 38.3 in capital and 300 38.3 in operating and $393,000 in capital. Um the total uh expenditures budget uh which is a 4.1% increase uh over the um current year and the operating assessment is a 7.4% increase >> [snorts] >> uh over the current year. Um the wrong way. Sorry, >> Mike. What was it uh two weeks ago? >> Pull it
019up. you have >> Yeah, it was roughly a $30,000 increase in operating assessment. >> $30,000. It's the same percent. >> Yeah. Didn't change didn't change uh materially. >> Yep. >> The the element that changed was primarily was the um the chapter 70 funding was uh or is about 45 grand less than what I had projected. Um, I used a minimum aid increase per student of $104 and and the governor came in at $75. So that's the driver of the difference. >> Remember what it was last year? Okay. >> $150 at the end of the >> That didn't really happen until July, >> right? >> That actually materialized. Um so now with those uh required local minimum contribution numbers um we could actually do a projected uh level service tax assessment by town. Um so if
020you look at Boxford the operating assessment is $14.2 million uh which is uh basically a million dollar increase or 7.6% 6%. Uh, and Middleton, the operating assessment would be $12.3 million, uh, which is an $800,000 increase or 7%. Uh, and then in Toppsfield, $11.6 million, uh, which is $817,000 increase or 7.5%. U see down at the bottom, the total of that $38.3 million uh, operating assessment increase is $2.6 million over the current year. 7.4% 4% um increase >> and uh just remember that the regional agreement um dictates how >> how this does >> both operating assessment and capital assessment are aortioned amongst the u the me the three member 10 >> slightly different methodology between operating and capital as well [clears throat and cough] just a quick question cuz I wasn't here last time. Sorry.
021But the uh capital assessment for FY27 projected, Jeff, is that just the category 3 stuff there or is that something else? >> The 393,000. >> Yeah, >> that's the Chromebooks. >> Yeah, category. >> Exactly. >> And um doing the work out front on the uh the curb installing an ADA ramp. >> Thanks. Yeah. Okay. Um and so the committee asked administration to propose a respon to create a response um to cut uh between $850,000 and $1.2 million um from a level service budget. Uh we did go through that >> [clears throat] >> um couple like two weeks ago. You can see uh looking at 10 positions at roughly a million dollars. Um increasing the amount um that we would contribute from excess and deficiency um at $443,000 and actually about 100 sorry about $100,000 in
022non- salary operating cost reductions. Um so this scenario that we have responded with is a total of $1.5 million um reduction from the level service budget. >> So that would decrease the operating assessment increase of 7.4 [laughter] >> which was the ask. >> Right. So there's that um again expenditures and funding sources sheet with the decrease to the general operating expenses after offsets line. Um you see there it's a 2.4% increase with scenario one. Um, and then when you get down to the net assessment, uh, the increase is $740,000 or 1.7% um, which is a 3.1% increase to the operating assessment. So, here's the difference um, for the towns with scenario one. Uh Boxford's operating assessment is 13.7 in this scenario, which is a $436,000 increase or 3.3%. Uh Middleton's 11.8 million assessment, a $316,000
023increase or 2.7%. Uh Topsfield at 11.2 million uh assessment uh which is a $357,000 increase or 3.3%. And again, a total operating assessment of 36.8 8 million a 1.1% increase $1.1 million increase or 3.1%. >> So the new numbers run through that same calculation model that's dictated by the regional agreement that is the quest. [clears throat] this might not be the right time to ask it, but me and Lisa are just having a little side talk. Um, and how the towns chose to fund us last year. And I know Costa came here and tried to explain it again. I don't know if that process he explained to me was the same one or a different >> but are we going back to okay 2 and a half% no override anything over that could possibly be
024an override of the town's assessment do we know or is it of our total budget >> I think it's best for each of the liaison to go talk to the town representatives to make sure it's clear on how we're going to get funded this year >> this year by year >> yeah what' you say I can tell you what Topsfield's doing. >> I bet it's the same >> Topsfield is allowing 2.25. Anything over that is going to upgrade >> of your individual town assessment. >> I think so. Yes. >> Okay. So, it's back to normal >> languageish >> for now. For now, >> unless they collaborate again. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Let's reconnect with Costa. You seem to you up in Tossfield >> in a couple weeks too. >> Joe, you want to get
025a perspective from Boxford's perspective? Perspective from Box. Okay. Sure. Been a long day, folks. Um, thanks Trevor. >> Great. So, we're going to go through um impacts of um the scenario one reductions and start off uh Mr. Donardo is going to go over the high school staff. >> Thank you. Um first I just want to say like I know it's very hard um as was just shown that we do need to cut um and balance our budget as school all schools are doing right now as well as households. Um, but I want to say that I'm just very proud of the educators that we work with. Um, and no matter where we land, I always know that our educators will make sure that they meet all the students needs. Um, and it's going to be
026a rough decision and no matter what the decision is by March 18th, um, there are impacts and I will go over the impacts for the high school um, of these cuts. But I just really want to say thank you to all the educators who worked with. So during this fiscal period, we do recognize again as I just said that we do have to make some adjustments. Um and so just want to go through what these impacts look like for the high school. Um just a quick background. Next slide. Um the English these numbers these are staffing numbers. They're not including department heads but just reminder department heads do teach they teach two sections. Um so you can see that um for ELA they have 11 staff would go to 10 math 10 staff to nine
027social studies 11 to 10 and visual arts 4 to three. Each teacher at the high school teaches five classes um and again department heads teach two classes. So just to put that into perspective um for you as to what this this means. So next slide. So for English eliminating a teacher is eliminating five sections. As I just said all teachers are five sections. Um the English department that's three core what that is for our cores English 9 English 11 English 10 and then also two electives. So some of our electives are documentary film making true crimes um the office. So that's the definition of core verse the electives. Um, we are not going to run American studies next year. Um, losing a staff member. We need to redeploy some people. Ninth grade and a lot
028of the classes will go up. I mean, you pull a teacher out, you got to put the student somewhere. So, there will be an increase in class sizes. Also, as we're redeploying staff, it will um our flexibility changes a little bit because we are are down one staff member. So the flexibility in some of our co-eing classes as well as what electives are able to run um will be affected. So there's always an impact. What are the impacts? And again, as I said, the core classes um we're um focusing on core classes because everybody needs to take four years of English to graduate. It's whether or not certain electives will run. We'll have to look at that as we start building the schedule. Um but everyone is all students are in a core class. So
029definitely core classes will go up um of these. So that's English. Mathematics is a little bit different. Um we have a lot of students who take multiple math classes. Um currently we have a three-year math requirement. Going to the four-year hopefully. Um going to the four-year there is going to be an increase in class sizes. Again, as I said, removing a teacher does change your class sizes. Um, math, we do have, um, classes both at the AP level, um, the CP level that we intentionally leave small. Um, I'll just start at the BC calculus. We're not going to throw 30 kids into a classroom for that. Um so these numbers are also representative of how there will be a um increase in the class sizes but we have um a core set of about five
030classes that we will always keep at a lower level. Um also for math math I know a lot of you are math and engineers I am not. So, as you're getting into the more difficult math classes, their M blocks are full, their after schools are full, and a like I said, we have a lot of kids who will be taking, you know, they choose to take two courses at the same time. Some are taking statistics and calculus, some are taking algebra and geometry. Um, so it is really stretching our math teachers um a lot and their demand will increase. Again, you're removing a human demand does increase. Uh, and also like I said, the class sizes. Um, so I'll make sure I hit all the the key points on math. Math is a little bit
031different. All all subjects are different. Um, but my biggest point is removing somebody there are increasing class sizes. Um and a lot of people do forget that the students do double in math because in we looked at our numbers how many take four years of math around 98% of our students are taking four years of math in addition to that we have a high percentage that are taking two uh social studies again we'll be losing five sections which be our American studies bless you um is our American studies class class sizes will be impacted minimally. And again, it's how we rework our electives. We will always have the core graduation requirements taken care of. Um, as I said in ELA, social studies and ELA, it's the electives. We will we'll take some off the table.
032You know, we can't have 30 electives. We're going to have to pair those down to make sure the students are getting what they need. We want to make sure everybody hits all of their graduation requirements, but we'll pair down our electives as well. Um, and same with the English. It's just we're redeploying teachers, so our flexibility changes a little bit on the co-eing aspect. Um, and the average class size is about 17 to 19 students. And then art um art is a program loss. Art is woodworking. Um the problem with losing woodworking it it's a lensure. Um you know we're people art is a lot like the sciences that everybody has you know their their discipline. Um our woodworking just so you know our woodworking um class. Semester 1 had about 60 students. Semester 2
033is 67 students. Um it's nine semesters. They can also the woodworking. If you have not been into the wood shop, we can only take 14 students at a time. Safety, there's a lot of saws, there's a lot of tools. We want to make sure everybody's safe. Um, so it is a it is a smaller class to begin with. Um, but losing the art teacher, the visual arts teacher would be losing our woodworking program in addition to our architecture too. Um, with that also being said, as we all know, we have our arts requirement. It is performing and visual arts, but removing a teacher removes that entire wood section and so the remaining uh visual arts classes. Yes. Can you explain the licensing requirement? Like I I didn't understand the >> So woodworking has a has
034a um STEM license and so the teacher that you know so the teacher that teaches it has as well as a visual art license also has a trade license. >> Is that teacher retiring or you're saying if we were to eliminate that teacher? >> If we would eliminate the position it would directly affect the woodworking >> specifically. Let's say that individual holds the license. Got it. >> Is the least least senior in the department. >> Got it. Okay. >> Thank you. And it gets confusing. >> Um so, so that is a program loss. >> Okay. As the others were absorbing the students across making sure all their graduations requirements are met and um deducting some electives to make sure that we're meeting [clears throat] their their graduation requirements. And as I said, we have professional
035teachers who will always make sure the needs are met. it's just been students in the touch. Um and another question that had come up um clubs, activities and athletics, how losing um the four staff members would affect clubs activities and athletics. Those are stipended positions. So um it might have different faces. The um the stipens will always remain. The question is is it the same person that will be receiving the stipend? Um, but so clubs, activities, and athletics, when I say athletics, I mean like coaches and stuff, those are all stipen positions within the contract, those will all remain. It's just [clears throat] whether or not it's the same people who have been doing it currently or will new people um take on those roles. But also that happens a lot of times, a lot
036of years, people change roles within the stipens as well. Um, but I know that that was a concern. Um, how would those be affected? those are stipen positions that people can apply for. Um so I mean overall losing teachers is always difficult and you will see that the main theme is class sizes will increase and electives will change. We will always make sure that graduation requirements are met and the kids needs are met. Anybody have questions? Tried to keep it as factual. flash. [laughter] >> I don't necessarily have a question for Katie, but sometimes part of our materials have a staffing chart to see. It's usually in the big budget deck. Um, but it comes usually around this time. So, I'm hoping that the school committee could get that. Um, and also enrollment projections. >>
037What the enrollment projection? So, I I actually sent the school committee the ones from last year, but having updated projections would be great. Um, >> you weren't those shared or so ago? >> Yeah, >> not the projections. I don't believe I scrubbed my email today. So >> back in November, I think >> in November, you think it was >> all >> that was the Yeah, the the October 1st numbered. >> But does that come in the So this one from last year has projections or an estimate for >> like October 26, 27, 28, 29 through 30. >> Would you mind would you mind sending it around? >> Yeah, thanks. Yeah, appreciate it. Joe, >> um just on the social studies front, um perhaps I missed it, so I'm sorry. Um why is the 11th grade
038American studies >> one that would be dissolved as opposed to something else? >> Yeah. So that class is for those who don't know it is a twob block class has an English teacher and a social studies teacher. Um and in the past we were having to 60 in it. Um, right now it's on the lower subscribe to begin with. And if we're going to lose a staff member in both of those departments, then we'd rather redeploy them out. Instead of having two people in one class, not teaching 50 plus children, they're now teaching about 35. Um, and so it's just better use of time for this for the teachers and for the departments. >> Okay. Thank you. Have >> you seen an increase in the woodworking because do you think it's because of art or
039an interest in teched >> interest? Yeah. >> I think you said that the co-eing numbers would increase. Can you explain that a little bit more and how how the co-eing classes the students would increase the numbers? >> Well, it's the flexibility of scheduling >> because we're deploying teachers in different directions. So removing a staff member across the board is going to put more kids in any classes to begin with. Um and so as we're redeploying who has the lensure or who has the background of co-eing, we just need to be mindful that we pair everybody correctly. And so having five less sections changes our flexibility. Anything else, folks? Thank you, Kitty. Appreciate it. So, Dr. McManis is going to talk about middle school. >> Hey, good evening everyone. Um, I just want to echo what
040uh Katie said about our teachers, our educators. Very proud of the work they've done and I know that regardless of the outcome of the budget this year, they'll continue to deliver top-notch education to our students. Um, but I thank them for all their hard work and I know that this is a very difficult process. Um, obviously none of us want to get into education to have to reduce teaching positions. Um so for the middle school uh the objective and rationale is built around uh fiscal responsibility. So achieving significant budget reduction through the reduction of five full-time positions which is the equivalent of one teaching team. Each of our teams in the middle school includes five teachers. Um our enrollment alignment um adjusting our staffing model reflects the current and projected student enrollment numbers. We've had
041the same level of staffing as years past with our lower enrollment enrollment. So between October 2014 and October 2025, our enrollment in the middle school has decreased from 662 students to 562 students. And that has been with no change to our team staffing. So we've had 30 teen teachers over that time with 100 um more students 10 years ago. So our current structure versus our proposed structure, our current model is we have six teams. So that's three teams per grade. Three teams in seventh and three teams in eighth. Yes. >> Can you um can you just walk me through those numbers slowly again because they're they're not in the deck, right? >> Correct. >> Okay. [clears throat] Yeah. I just feels to know that >> in 2014 we had 662 students in the middle school
042and now we have 562 students. So that's a decrease of 100 students in the middle school over the past 10ish years. And we've had the same number of teen teachers in that span of time. And in 2014, it was the same team-based model, >> correct? >> You have to say, okay, >> thank you. >> Well, that's just if I do quick numbers, that's 15%. >> And right, cool. Um so we have three teams per grade between the seventh and the eighth um grades and it's a standard departmentalized structure. So your five um your five subjects for those teams include math, English language arts, social studies, science and then special education. So each of the teams have those five core teachers, hence the five positions. Um, so the proposed model or five teams would be two
043dedicated seventh grade teams, two dedicated eighth grade teams, and then one what we're calling a quote hybrid or split team. So it's a unique seventh eighth grade split, which would consist of three core seventh grade classes and two core eighth grade classes. So meaning that the five teachers on that team would teach seventh and eighth grade. So the impact on class sizes um our current model with 30 teachers would go to that 5T model with 25 teachers um teen teachers in the middle school. So our average class size is approximately 18 to 20 students right now and it would rise from 22 to 24 students. So based on the enrollment projections for fiscal year 27 uh of 301 students in seventh grade and 289 for eighth grade our total next year is projected at 590
044students. So the split team model um the configuration like I was saying before is three sections of seventh and two sections of eighth grade per teacher. um this team, it would require high levels of collaboration and flexible scheduling for those teachers since they're teaching two different grade levels. Um it does allow us to absorb enrollment fluctuating students without needing that six team. So we could do it and maintain a middle school team structure with five teams. Um teachers on the team would have to focus on specific grade level standards among two different grades. Um, but they would still share that common team identity and they would have the same student support system with the special education teacher and the guidance counselors and other support staff that we have. Um, as far as operational impacts, I
045discussed the five core teaching position reductions. Um, it would increase complexity for us in the master schedule to accommodate that split team. um you know it would take some figuring out and doing that. Uh as far as team time, it would be important for us to maintain team meeting time for the teachers so that they're able to meet to discuss their students. Um and you know because they'd be discussing students in two different grades. Uh and then for special education, each team will continue to have a dedicated special education teacher. So, one thing that's important to note now, we do have seven special education coordinators in the middle school even though we only have six teams. Um, so next year, uh, we would have that same re ratio in that we would go down from
046seven teachers, um, for special ed to six. So, it would still give us one extra special ed coordinator even though we would have five teams. So pros and cons. I mean the pro is a significant budget reduction. So it's a major savings and salary and benefits. That's the reason why this is a response. Um the cons are we would have higher student uh toteer ratios. So the impact would be on student learning and increased workload for teachers. Um the hybrid complexity. So the seventh eighth team grade team requires specialized scheduling and it may feel quote unquote different from traditional teams. Teachers would also have to teach two curriculums instead of just one. Um and it imp impact school culture and staffing you know regardless when you lose five five teachers know. So bottom line with
047the reduction of five positions, while it's a difficult transition, it does provide a fiscally responsible path forward that still supports students and teachers in the building. Um, and it's something that we could do, but it would have some some drawbacks. >> Yes. >> What does this look like from the student perspective? >> What does it look like from their perspective? >> Yeah. I mean, obviously the kids that are in those non-hybrid teams maintain the same experience. >> I assume that the kids in the hybrid team are going going to experience seventh eighth grade a little bit differently. I'm just curious, you know, we understand the operational impacts. What's the student impact? >> So, for those students, they won't be with as many of their own grade classmates on their team. Um, and so, uh, they
048wouldn't have the same variety of different kids in their classes because say for eighth grade with, um, only two core eighth grade classes, um, make up on that team, you wouldn't be in classes with a like a hundred different kids that could be in your classes that like they have this year. you'd be in classes with um approximately 60 different kids. So, it'd really be the number of different students that you could interact with over the course of the day in your various classes. Um but they would still have the same schedule. You would still have five different core teachers. Um the experience for them academically would be the same. It would be more that social aspect variety of kids that they would see throughout the course of the day. Yes. >> Would the kids
049on the hybrid team have the same teachers for both seventh and eighth grade, the same subjects? Is that work? >> No. So, let's say a seventh grader coming in next year is placed on that split team. They would have that team for seventh grade, but then we shuffle all the kids around um for the next year anyway. So, you know, I there could be a chance that they're on the split team again in eighth grade. Um or they would be on a different team. >> Yes. >> Um at what point do at what point would you anticipate that growth would require adding back a six or the 16s or a team? I guess it is. Um, I mean I would say probably if you had 150 students per team. Um, so that would be uh,
050you know, four between 400 and 450 kids u per grade. I would say you need that 16 for sure. >> Okay. So we have a maybe I need to ask this question. At what point do we get above 24 students in a class? Like how many students is that overall? >> 24 students mean like a class average of 24. That's about 120 kids per team. So that's what we'd be looking at. >> Okay. Because our policy requires that we can't have class size bigger than 24. Um and what are the projected enrollments for 27 and 28? >> 2 for next year. >> Yeah. October 27. >> Yep. We just got to get back to that. You gave us >> I already have a note. >> You gave us fiscal 27 which would be October of
05126, but I'm looking for October 27 and October 28. >> Well, I don't have those numbers. I just have next year's >> Did you look at those as part of this model? >> I did not. I just >> Okay. Because last year it was projected that in 28 we were going to have 614 students in the middle school. um which was a jump a significant jump from 562 in October of 25. >> So the with the projection next year of 590 if if the following year it did go up to 614 we could still maintain the same structure. >> That seems like it would be a lot of kids in classes. That's a big that's a big jump between 560 and 615 anyway. Next year is 590. >> Yeah. >> So Melissa, I think what
052you're asking for is for the projections, can we also can we tie class size to those projections based on a five team organization? >> Yes. >> So beyond next year it would be the projections beyond that and then the class size. >> Yeah. Yeah, because I think well personally I I think we need to look beyond September >> to see what the what the actual impact on the school would be >> to lose five perfectly wonderful teachers and a team. >> We can look at those projected numbers. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, I hope we're done yet, but thank you for taking that action. to ch I'm just having a hard time visualizing this in because right now it makes just very simple sense a wing you have the same five teachers and everyone's right
053there what is the dayto-day so would kids be a cohort be downstairs and go upstairs for two classes a day I'm I'm having a hard time visualizing >> you mean like would eighth graders be going between two floors. >> Yeah. Or is this hybrid team all going to be positioned in one? I'm just having a really hard time picturing it. >> We We haven't figured that out yet because it's that would really get into all of our scheduling work and where teachers are going to be situated and things and we haven't gone that far yet because this is preliminary. Um I mean I would imagine that our students would travel between floors. Um, but the teams right now are aligned vertically on the two floors. So, if you have a split team, you know, you
054could have the teachers go up and downstairs and the kids stay on one floor, or you could go the opposite, have the kids go between floors and the [clears throat] teacher stay on one floor. We'd have to figure that out. back the 10 years you had talked about and actually I'm gonna ask this question. I don't think anybody was here 10 years ago. >> Also was [laughter] ever >> I was sitting here 10 years ago. [laughter] >> We go back 10 years ago. I'm assuming that the class sizes were 24ish. >> Yeah. I think if you were going to be back at that enrollment that we had 10 years ago, you would want the 16s. So if you >> again if you we were at the enrollment that we had 10 years ago, you would
055want >> 16. >> We had class sizes were much larger, >> right? So >> if you had 650 between 650 and 700 students in the middle school total, you would want those 16. I'm trying to understand is just the quality of service that we were providing 10 years ago when the class sizes were around 24 versus they've come down to >> 562. So yeah >> sureish. >> Was the quality of service much better? Is the quality of service much better today at a smaller class size or were we was it just is it just less good? >> I I I mean I I don't know. Obviously, I wasn't here 10 years ago, but we do have a lot of the same teachers who were were here 10 years ago with the larger >> um enrollment
056and so I I would say that they still provided a similar level of education. I mean, it's more papers to grade definitely takes more time. So, tools we could put in place to help with some of that. >> I mean, you don't have to answer it on the spot. Yeah. I mean I mean it's something that we'd want to consider. I think uh if we were to >> we looked at Kevin and I have looked at some benchmarking um um models software that would help teachers to be able to have a better snapshot of student ability from different times throughout the school year. So that's something that we've investigated. Um I mean there's a lot more software that we have in the classes now anyway just compared to 10 years ago. >> Yeah, I'm I'd
057have to do a little more research on that. Second Joe Melissa had her hand up first. >> Yeah, I guess to that point I'm going to ask, do we have the same students we had 10 years ago or are their needs higher? So that the impact of having 24 students in a class in 2026 is much greater than having stu a class of 24 in 2014. >> I mean I think it's hard to generalize that. It depends on who the students are you have in any given year. I would say that, you know, teachers would probably say just postcoid, yeah, student needs have definitely risen. As far as special education goes, we would still have um we would have six special education teachers for five teams instead of seven for six teams. I I I
058just thought like recently we had a whole conversation about like we brought in or the the middle school schedule changed because there was a need for to address ELA um deficits. >> Yeah. >> And we we brought in, you know, we had M Geolab for or I forget what it's called to address that >> and I think those are all relatively recent programs since we had classes of 201. >> Geolab has been here for quite a long time. the found ELA foundations is the new one that we put in. Yeah. And that Yeah, we did discuss that postco there was definitely a lower um ability level on reading. So that's something we wanted to address. >> I'd like to see the data on the needs of the students and how it impacts 24 students in
059a class and I'm not talking about it from a special ed perspective from a gened perspective. >> Joe and Chris. So I'm wondering why whether there's a middle ground on this meaning why why not call the teams you know three core subjects instead of five [clears throat] and then make you know two subjects or one subject just general subjects and you could then make the classes and the core the class sizes and the core subjects smaller >> by maintaining six teams there. And then in the subjects that maybe you can deal with slightly larger classes, you divide, you know, fewer teachers over more kids and you and you get away from the team structure in just one or two courses. >> Yeah, it it would completely change the team structure that we already have in
060the middle school. And I think that's something we really want to maintain. I think that's integral to the overall middle school experience is keeping students on team and that turns it into more of a junior high kind of model. Um, and you you have to remember that when I say the core teacher is the special education teacher, they're a core piece of the team, but they don't teach all students. >> They just have the students who are on their own case load. So, if they're in a co-eing class that, you know, they would see more kids, but they're really there to service their the students who need that extra support because of their IEP. >> Yeah. Okay. Let me make one brief comment that as a parent of a student from 10 years ago, the
061service was outstanding. So, you know, like it was to the point that Katie made earlier, the teachers rise to the occasion. Uh we don't want to be adding additional pressures or making it, you know, a hostile work environment, but service was outstanding 10 years ago. I will say though if we're if we want to reimagine what the you know doing doing away with the team model that's a whole different conversation because that's completely changing the way middle school operates at Masco and something that's uniquely Masco and a really wonderful benefit and tradition how we welcome and merge the three towns in a really um intentional way. So that's for a bigger conversation too. But I also think it's really hard to continue having this conversation without the enrollment projections because we'd be making a decision
062in a vacuum. Like we can't make the decision based on the current enrollment. We have to look at what's coming up the pipe from third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades in the three towns and make a datadriven decision in addition to all these other um influences this would have on the teaching and learning >> and also to project forward. So you're not constantly changing the teacher schedules or having them shift from grade level because the numbers change. So looking even further to provide stability for the staff is huge. >> Yeah. We don't want to make a decision for the next 18 months and we lose [clears throat] fantastic talent and then we have to hire them back because the seventh grade numbers go up, the eighth grade numbers go down. So you're moving here and
063there and the small team, a big team, a half team. Yeah. It just breeds instability and frustration. >> So I just I something that was said was confusing me. So the model or the reductions that are proposed cut a whole team which includes a special ed teacher. >> Right. Okay. [clears throat] >> I thought you said there were So there's seven special ed teachers now. >> Correct. Right. Okay. Say it. Trevor and I are confused about the hybrid split team and the seventh and the eighth grade like or eighth graders going to class with the seventh graders. >> No. So they would >> But you say that they're consisting of three core seventh grade classes and two core eighth grade classes. So, >> so meaning that this the on the split team teachers would teach
064three seventh grade classes and two eighth grade classes. So, if you just take English for an example, that English teacher would have three sections of seventh grade English and then two sections of eighth grade English. And that would be the same for all of the teachers on that team. >> Okay? >> So, you would have more seventh graders on the split team than you would have eth. It wouldn't be like those students are going to a different team to receive the two >> 75 seventh graders 50 eighth graders. >> It was like I was I'm like I just don't >> get it now. >> Thank you. [laughter] Yes, I do. Thank you. >> The 6040 split was better. >> The 6040 split was >> Thank you. So the the difference would be that you have
065a team of students, seventh and eighth graders, who share the same teachers even though they're in two seven separate grades. Whereas now on each team, eighth graders only have eighth grade teachers and seventh graders only have seventh grade teachers. >> Okay. Yes, Phil. >> Thank you. [clears throat] Last piece is uh principal consolidation. So the benefits and drawbacks of one principle um you know obviously the first benefit that we're looking at is a savings of salary um from that one of those administrative positions. Um also look at these as streamlining operations. Um both the middle school and the high school principal have the exact same uh work performance standards. Um and so you know there's um a lot of you know they're [snorts] both basically doing the same job in two different lo you know
066in the different locations. Uh one of the other benefits we think about is more consistent expectations. And so you know the expectations for tardiness or the behavior or uh attendance or anything else would be consistent grades 7 through 12. Um the other piece is you know we look at we're already in the process of sharing resources uh and kind of breaking down some some uh silos between the two buildings and this might contribute to uh helping that. Um you know we already talked we're you know thinking about nurses for example as four nurses for the entire operation um rather than two and two. Um, moving on to, you know, unified communications. I think, you know, both principles really try hard to make sure when they're communicating that they're the same thing. And it's kind of
067interesting because I get the emails from both when they go to the high school staff and the middle school staff and there'll be identical emails that I know they both worked on together to make sure, you know, that the the messaging is the same um no matter which building people are in. And so having one principle would allow for that to happen much more easily. Um, another piece that um we kind of thought about as we as we were looking at this is in athletics. Um, in order for eighth graders to participate on v high school sports teams, we actually now have to get a waiver um because they're not in the you know under the supervision of the high school principal. If um there was one principle for 7 through 12, we would no
068longer need those waiverss. Um because that's the way the MIA looks at it is if a if a student is under the supervision of one PR of a certain of the high school print the principal that has 9 through 12, they don't need a need a waiver. Uh some of the drawbacks, you know, so I looked around and what I could figure out, there's about 38 7 through 12 schools in Massachusetts. Um, and this one at 1500 students would be the largest. Um, however, kind of balance that a little bit. Um, I looked at, you know, there are plenty of high school 9 through 12 schools that are over 2,000 students. And some that I found like Bela High School, for example, is an 8 through 12 school that has 1,700 students. So, yes, it
069would be the largest 7 through 12. Um but again not by far the the largest school um you know of its type you know of a secondary school in the state. I'll say uh another drawback we looked at were more events for the principal to to cover. Um you [clears throat] know you know both of our principles I think pride themselves on getting to school events and so with one person that just becomes much more um intensive night uh responsibilities. Uh and then the other drawback that we looked at we talked about was um make whoever was in that role of that 7 through 12 principal, you know, we talked about just talked about trying to preserve the middle school model. And so we would really, you know, whoever's in that role would really need
070to pay attention to preserving that model and understanding that, you know, our seventh and eighth graders have different needs and that the program is very different than what the high school is. And that's why we don't call it a junior high school. Um, you know, that's why the middle school is actually, you know, a philosophy and a model that that we're committed to. And all that really assumes that there would be no other changes um to the administrative model um in the district. So I just kind of put it together sort of an organizational chart for the two principles right now on the left and their direct reports in school in their respective schools. Uh and then the right would be a revised um organizational chart for a 7 through 12 school principal. Uh, one
071of the things we have to look at is, uh, currently our director of safety and security, our school resource officer, and our middle school high school librarian. Both all those three positions currently report to two different principles. Uh, you know, so I talked about streamlining operations and looking more globally at um how the school operates. um you know that would eliminate a little bit of a layer of complexity for those definitely for those three positions. Um as we look at this you know but we look at the 7 through 12 principal would have the upper school assistant principal, the lower school assistant principal, the middle school assistant principal and the director of a athletics as administrator roles as reports. Um the two admin assistants in the high school office and the two in the middle
072school office would also report to a a seventh through 12 principal. Talked about director of safety and security and the resource officer. Um we would talk you know talked earlier also about curricular co-curriculars and activities and sports. Um there's 55 high school um clubs activities stipended positions and there are 15 uh positions in the middle school. So all of those would then um you know report to one 7th through 12 school principal and I talked about the the librarian as well. It' be different for sure. [clears throat] >> Thank you. That's it. >> I have a question. If would any of the responsibilities if there was one principal and three only three assistant principles would any of the responsibilities of the current principal then be delegated to the assistant principles and then would that pose
073a safety concern with 1500 kids because my limited experience three assistant principles for 1500 kids is is a that's 500 per assistant principal >> which is what we have now. But but with but with more responsibilities of appren I'm just wondering like what would be delegated to the assistant >> I think it would have to be something they'd figure have to about as you know if they were in that position you know as as a planning process to say is are there things that assistant principles would need to pick up >> absorb that would be okay >> principal the principal assistant principal relationship is different no matter what school you're in I think so there's always something. Anything else, folks? >> Sure. >> So, do we have a plan to get the enrollment projection? >>
074We can do that. >> Yeah, I think they'll they'll send it around. And then just as a reminder, I sent a a note out to everybody today, but for transparency with the audience and those watching from home, the plan going forward is I asked last at the last meeting to have all the school committee members submit questions to me. Um, a lot of those questions are are scenario-based and so what I plan to do is uh continue to gather some of those scenario questions. Um, I appreciate the presentations from Katie and and Phil tonight as well as from Mike. And so I think Jeeoff, what we'll probably end up doing is I'll take a lot of those questions that are scenario based and work with you to um, >> okay, [clears throat] >> to come
075up with, you know, sort of a next steps in terms >> decide the agenda for the next meeting. And, you know, if there's a different scenario we want to look at, I work with you on that. >> Okay. >> So, I should have that in the next few days, I'd say. >> Yeah. By early next week, it'd be good at the latest >> this weekend. Yeah. Okay. >> So, all right. [clears throat] Thank you. >> All right. Where are we? Uh, superintendent report. >> Yep. All right. Um, so our National Honors Society adviser, Andrew Vocal, uh, reported that on January 29th, uh, Masanomic High School inducted 74 new members into the National Honor Society. Uh it was a wonderful ceremony filled with proud students and families. The academic success of these students is due in
076large part to the dedication and hard work of the teachers they see every day. Uh the National Honor Society would like to thank teachers for being such caring and committed educators. Um Mr. Gopal would also like to thank the NHS faculty council, Ellen Shehy, uh Ryan Guadros, Rebecca Del Monaco, Kim Marini, Ryan Quinn, Chris Love, Kathy Natali, and Alex Verdiger, uh for the many hours they spent reviewing applications and recommendations to select this year's class. Uh as well as Katie Donardo for her support. Uh and lastly, Megan Murphy and Leah Campbell did an incredible job decorating the table that was on the stage. So, congratulations to all our new NHS members. Um, uh, last week, uh, Debbie Colton, the executive director of the Lapin Foundation, uh, which is a Jewish cultural and heritage organization, uh,
077spoke to the middle, our mascanomic middle school students. This was on January 29th in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Uh, she told the story of a Holocaust survivor who documented her time in hiding in Poland during World War II in a series of journals. Uh the program made a powerful impact on students and serves as an important reminder of why students need to hear the story of the Holocaust. Uh Mrs. Coloulton will be back uh this week on Friday, February 6 uh to finish up her presentation to students. Uh next up, each year the Masanome Regional World Language Department is pleased to offer our 12th grade students the opportunity to earn the seal of biiteracy. Uh the seal of biiteracy award recognizes students who have achieved a high level of proficiency in English and another
078language uh such as a native language or an additional world language learned in school or another setting. Uh it's an accomplishment that provides evidence to colleges and universities as well as employers of a student's ability to engage as a global citizen. Uh since 2022, an impressive number of seniors have earned the seal of biiteracy and the seal of biiteracy with distinction. Uh the languages represented include Spanish, French, Mandarin, Portuguese, Greek, Russian, and Korean. Uh participation in the program is voluntary and open to any 12th grade student. Um students who are proficient in a home language other than English are also encouraged to participate. Um, we have a form for them to submit uh by February 12th. Um, to earn the seal of biiteracy, students must earn a score of at least 472 on the ELA
079MCCAST to satisfy the English criteria and then demonstrate a high level proficiency in a world language by attaining a proficiency score of at least intermediate high on the stamp assessment in speaking, writing, reading, and listening. Uh students earning a score of at least 501 on the ELA MCCAST and a proficiency level of advanced low in world language will receive the seal of bi literacy with distinction. Uh language assessments will be administered during the school day in March and April. Uh the seal of biiteracy qualifying language assessment uh is the stamp 4S. uh and awards and recognition will be given to graduating senior seniors uh at the annual awards ceremony and at the graduation ceremony. Uh a notation will be added to students transcript as well. Uh for more information on the sealed by literacy uh
080ask people to contact uh director of teaching and learning Kevin Seir uh at his email address at maskanama.org. And next up, uh, so we're looking, uh, the, um, Masanomid Education Foundation is asking, uh, if for students who are candidates in the global diploma program, uh, who have an interest in a travel and a scholarship opportunity, uh, they're funding, MEF is funding up to four $1,000 scholarships each year for student travel um, to meet the, uh, global diploma requirements on student travel. And so there's an application process. So they have to complete the scholarship application. Uh they have to respond to the following question in the format of their choice which could be an essay, a video, a slideshow, presentation, etc. Uh how will global travel contribute to your high school educational experience or your learning?
081Uh and they submit that application uh and their response to the question to uh Kevin Seir, our director of teaching and learning. Uh for eligibility, the student must be a sophomore, junior or senior at Masconomic High School. They must be a candidate in the global competency diploma program. They must be a student good sta good academic and social standing. Um the limits to one uh scholarship per student uh during uh their high school career. Uh priority will be given for financial need. Uh and scholarship eligibility will be uh determined using a 10-point system which is five points for the work product, four points for financial need and one point for academic standing. And there's a link in my blog um for to the application for that. And thank you MEF for doing that. And our
082parents coffee schedule for February um the high school parent coffee will be on uh this uh next Friday, February 13th and on the at the middle school library on February 27th. And those all those coffees are Friday morning uh from 8:30 till 9:30 a.m. And we ask parents to report to the main office uh where they'll be escorted to the coffees. >> Yep. T >> question. Um so I know Gino Hearn had kind of I think she ran mostly the seal of by literacy stuff and I hear Kevin took over that and >> I think the glo global diploma as well. Is that the plan for next year? If that position isn't restored in the budget that Kevin would assume there's Duke um superintendent search update [clears throat] the template I have to read. I'm
083going to try and be loud so everybody can hear me but know that I'm still recovering from illness. So I hope my fruit doesn't get vote on me. [clears throat] All right. The Masanomic Regional Superintendent Search Subcommittee considered the applications of 16 candidates for the position of superintendent of schools conducted seven phone screenings or extended interviews and is unanimously recommending that the school committee interview in alphabetical order the following two candidates. First is Heather Galante. She's principal of Bedford High School. Miss Galante is an equity focused educational leader with more than 27 years of experience in public education, including nearly a decade as principal of Bedford High School. In her current role, she provides instructional and operational leadership for a diverse, high-erforming high school, [clears throat] excuse me, and contributes to district-wide initiatives commonly associated
084with assistant superintendent responsibilities. Her leadership has emphasized curriculum coherence, data-informed decision-making, professional learning, and inclusive school culture. Miss Galanti's career highlights include leading comprehensive curriculum and MTSS redesigns, advancing DEIB focused professional learning, overseeing a major high school renovation, securing grant funding, and guiding the school through a successful NEAC NEAST accreditation process. She brings deep experience building instructional leadership teams, strengthening student support systems, and cultivating strong partnerships with families and community organizations. The second candidate we put forward is Dr. Patricia Haynes, assistant superintendent of Portsmith School District. Dr. Haynes is a senior district leader with extensive experience in curriculum, instruction, assessment, and system level improvement in K- through2 settings. She currently serves as assistant superintendent in Portsouth, New Hampshire, where she acts as the district's instructional leader and regularly presents to the school board on student
085achievement, curriculum, safety, and equity related initiatives. Her responsibilities include strategic planning, budget development, staff supervision, grant management, and professional learning. Dr. Haynes has previously served as director of teaching and learning, principal, assistant principal, and classroom teacher. Her work has included district-wide curriculum redesign, implementation of uni universal design for learning, and the development of systems to support continuous improvement. She holds a PhD in education and brings experience experience in governance, collaboration, instructional leadership, and data informed decision-making as well. All candidates possess mass educator license for general district superintendency. All candidates were screened and interviewed using a rigorous and standardized question set. And [clears throat] after the interviews, the subcommittee deliberated on making these recommendations to the school committee. The questions used during the screenings and interviews will be attached to this report when I send it
086all to you. So you guys can have those questions and rubrics and scoring um have more visibility into how we did this. Um I will also attach the resumeumés of these recommended candidates. A copy of their complete application submission will also be submitted to the school committee following this meeting. Please note that the identities of those candidates who are not recommended to proceed in the search process are confidential in accordance with the open meeting and public records law. They are entitled to the privacy which law allows for a superintendent search process. Lastly, the school committee owes a debt of gratitude to the nine members of our community advisory group who supported review of applicants and participated in the phone screenings and in-depth interviews. Their work was thoughtful, candid, and thorough throughout this process. They were
087instrumental in ensuring this was a successful process. So, uh, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to every single one of our community advisory group members. Um, I'm grateful to you guys beyond words. Um, in terms of next steps, the school committee must now assume control of the superintendent search process, which includes the following steps. Please note that all the school committee sessions and deliberations have [clears throat] to be a public session. We know that um except under the very narrow grounds as stated by open meeting law for executive session reasons. The school committee should accept the report of the search committee and proceed with the process by interviewing the recommended candidates in parallel with other vetting. Candidates should be interviewed publicly by the school committee. In order to prepare, members of the superintendent
088search subcommittee have prepared questions to support a detailed and thorough interview. The school committee may ask some of its [clears throat] members to assist in screening, editing, finalizing those questions for the public interviews, or members may prepare their own questions to pose in public session. Candidates will be invited to visit the district next Monday and Wednesday to meet with stakeholders including central office staff, faculty, community members, and students. This day in the district will be organized in collaboration with our executive leadership team and this will allow members of the Masco community to interact um with the candidates more directly. Uh as available representatives of the school committee u should consider arranging with the candidates to visit their districts and meet with their colleagues and appropriate local stakeholders. Um we assert the visit to the district
089is important to gain further perspectives on the candidates um as much as it is if it's possible. Um, reference checking should be conducted by the school committee or its agents. Members of the school committee may wish to conduct reference interviews themselves, but HR staff or the district may also be asked to support uh or assist and do some of the reference checking beyond what has already been done. Um, and that's that was a lot of stuff, I guess. I'd just like to reiterate the uh the appreciation that Adrian expressed and I'll be a little bit more specific. Thank you to the staff here that participated in the search. Thank you to the school committee members who participated in the search. Thank you to the community members that participated and special thank you to Adrian for
090leading the charge >> the process. So, we're approaching the the home stretch and I hope everybody can play an active role in the remaining steps. >> All right. Uh >> oh, sorry, Melissa. >> Okay. >> Oh, I really just said that I can remember to say it. I sent everybody email about scheding for next week. You could just confirm that you're available for the times that I sent um because we do need to have a quorum for the public interviews. Those have to be posted by >> tomorrow. Yeah. >> So, >> Jackie already has the agendas. >> Just need to make sure we have a quorum then >> and I just have to add the names now that we've made it with you. >> Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, folks, get back to Melissa tonight first
091thing tomorrow morning. I appreciate it. [clears throat] >> All right. Uh, subcommittee reports, uh, community relations. >> Great. Um we had a community dialogue session tonight at 6 o'clock and um we focused the the topic on the budget obviously and a lot of the common concerns over uh you know making it a hybrid team and what >> that would do to the quality for the students and for the staff here. Um so a lot of concerns about the budget process and what it's going to look like. We talked about how this is just the first step and there will be a few more steps to go. Um, >> are there concerns specifically about the process we're following or are there concerns about the the topics we're discussing? >> Um, no. So, specifically just the the
092first scenario and what is going to be cut and what that would look like with the the split team or the hybrid team. Um, but we did it was mostly faculty at in the community dialogue. Um, and we had a conversation about just making sure that school committee members know they can go in and really see what is going on in the day-to-day. You know, if you can be able to see what is happening from the other side, you know, I think that's the biggest um the biggest hurdle for me at least when I'm trying to make these decisions to figure out what is actually happening in the classroom and what are the needs, what what can we maneuver and and what can't we maneuver. So, um, but pretty much the the most basic concerns
093that we'll have at the beginning of the budget process. Uh, we haven't scheduled another dialogue yet. We're just figuring out what the schedule will be moving forward with the budget uh, deliberations, but the community relations working meeting will be Monday, this coming Monday at 11:30 on Zoom. Um and um yeah, and we're just trying to push out as we can good news information for to the public so that everybody can know what's going on, all the great things that we do have going, especially during this time of year when everybody's negative and unhappy and doom and gloom. So that's it. >> A piece of good news might be the finalist just if >> you have [clears throat] an extra post to spare. >> It's going in. Yeah, we already talked about it. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
094Yeah. And I'm sending I'm sending everything out now. So you'll have >> Yeah. Already on it. >> Thank you. >> Uh DCI budget. >> So uh we met on Friday. Um spent most of our time talking about capital related items. Uh we looked over the CMTA electrification HVAC uh final report that came in. Um, for anyone who hasn't really looked at it, pretty eye opening. Uh, costs range from $60 million to $80 million, well above what we had been estimating previously. Um, and we talked about uh and agreed to have them come in and give us a um in-person presentation probably either late in the budget season or after the budget season depending on on what makes sense. It's >> actually set for April 8th. >> April 8th. There we go. Who knew? Um, talk
095about MSBA. Um, we're going to be asking for 1.7 million for schematic design costs. [clears throat] Um, and that's an OPM for 460K of it and design services for for 1.27 million of it. And based on that, we all agreed that it's time to start talking to the community in the towns. Let them know this is coming. Uh explain what it's for. Explain uh the benefit of the 40% reimbursement on a project that could cost us 60 million or more. Now, uh depending um and then we discussed Stantech a little more, Vision Sports. Um Jeff has asked for a quote to move forward with the the design work on the uh softball field and the uh track improvements and um roughly that was about it. We had spent a little time on the operating budget
096but we had a short meeting um people had to leave to do some other things and uh discussed having another meeting either on the 13th or the 27th. We're going to make that decision offline. So >> February. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> This year. [laughter] >> Thanks, John. >> And and I'm glad to hear that you guys are saying it's we're approaching the time to talk with the towns. Middleton town folk have started to talk to me about wanting to engage on this topic as well. So, so >> remember that I circulated a very detailed communication to the full school school committee and an analysis of the um the money that's needed for the schematic design. I think it was on December 11th. I'll recirculate it to you tomorrow. >> Um but please take a
097look at it. >> Y >> uh thanks Joe. Uh vocal. >> Sure. Um, so we just had a meeting on Monday with the the Ace Club, which we saw earlier. Um, thanks for showing up. Um, it's probably one of the better meetings I've had in a long time. It's really nice to see a really engaged, smart group of people. Um, which is nice. And they took our advice. They're coming here more often, which is nice. So, I I really want to encourage the student advocacy. I think it goes a long way. So, um, we spent about an hour, a little bit over just kind of just basically a listening session and going a little back and forth. So um here's some notes but overall I think um you know school's doing a good job. People
098seem pretty happy. Um we identified some opportunities where we could kind of focus in the going forward. Um as you know diversity is always important whether it's diversity of thought or diversity of culture and all that which is nice. Um see going through my notes here. Um yeah I think it was um yeah current events are still always top of mind. We heard that earlier. So I think some there's an opportunity to kind of focus on that versus ancient history and the balance will be a challenge for the teachers and I think the other thing I just want to kind of reiterate is um you know some of the instances in the school in the past still kind of resonate you know there's a swastika issue and even though that been it's been a while
099I think there still comes up as a topic um I've heard it there I've heard other places as well so I think the school's addressing it but it's still those things linger and that's all I just want to say it's um there is an awareness of things like that so you know anything we do to kind of keep moving to improve on that be useful. Um, moving forward, we have a meeting with the general support team on March 4th here on campus and uh, we'll do an update on that at the next meeting after that. So, thank you. >> Thank you. [clears throat] >> Thanks, sir. Uh, policies. >> Um, we haven't met since our last meeting. I'm meeting with Jeff on Friday to discuss the EM topic. So >> policy team we may be
100having a meeting um in the near future to discuss any outputs that may be coming from that. >> Thanks for doing that. >> Uh leazison updates. Um, Middleton, I my small [clears throat] private capacity submitted that citizens petition, my 10 signatures were certified and the recall um amendment to the Middleton town charter to include the Middleton members of the school committee will be at the Mtown meeting. So, if any of the Middleton members have questions or the other towns want to know how they can do it too, you just let me know. Um >> Joe, do you want to do you have anything? Uh >> nothing new on Box. We're trying to get together with our uh select board and Vincomecom members uh >> probably the weekend after this, but that's nothing new otherwise. >>
101Um Toppsfield, we originally intended to meet this morning, but uh we pushed it because we had so much stuff with the superintendent search going on. So, we'll be connecting with ours on February 18th. Is it the 18th? >> Yeah. It's two weeks from now. Yeah. February 18th. Um, so that's good timing. We'll hopefully have some um reactions to the the numbers as they stand at that point and answer questions. >> Yeah. And Lisa, I know you've been helping to coordinate a meeting in Middleton. >> I did. Um, so March 1st at 1:30, I booked the Flint Library meeting room A and I am praying for no snowstorm. >> That' be nice. >> Thanks for taking that on, Lisa. >> You're welcome. Appreciate it. >> All right. And negotiations. I don't think we have anything there.
102All right. Off to the consent agenda. Anything on negotiations? >> Melissa, what's up? >> Negotiations. Anything? >> not yet. >> Okay. Wednesday. >> Yeah. Okay. Make sure. >> All right. Uh consent approval warrants in the amount of $1,852,624.89. Approval of the January 21st, 2026 meeting. No move. I guess Adrian put up >> what? Anybody want to second? >> Who does? >> All in favor? >> I against anybody abstain. Awesome. We have one more motion to adjourn me. Second favor I abain. Good night everybody. Hold on. Anybody not want to pretend karaoke karaoke? the music projection.