Methuen School Committee 3-23-2026

001At this time, I will call tonight's executive session meeting of the Methuen School Committee to order. The date is Monday, March 23rd. The time is 5:36 p.m. We're meeting in the media center at the high school. Uh let's start off with a roll >> Vice Chair Desaulniers Jonathan Grassi, present. Member Bias >> Present. >> Member Keegan present. Member McCarthy Seroyce >> Present. >> Member Willett >> Here. >> And Mayor Full of Grace >> Here. We have a quorum, so we can proceed with our meeting. We first need a motion and a second to accept our agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion is from member Bias, the second is from member Keegan. Any discussion? If not, we'll vote. All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? The ayes have it. Um It's not on

002the agenda, but let's rise for a flag salute. All right. First on the agenda, we have public participation. I don't see anybody in the audience, and we haven't received anything in terms of written correspondence, so we'll move on to number two on the agenda, executive session pursuant to Mass. General Laws Chapter 30A, Section 21A2, to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-union personnel, or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with non-union personnel. This is regarding the acting superintendent. Um what I will ask us to do first of all, I want to mention that we will be reconvening into open session at the conclusion of the executive session, so we'll be back for that. So with that, I will entertain a motion and a second to enter executive session, again with the

003reminder that we will reconvene into open session. Motion is from member Keegan, the second is from member Seroyce. Any discussion? If not, we'll uh a roll call vote on entering executive session. >> Vice Chair Saviano. Donna DeGrassi. Present. Yes. Frias. >> Yes. >> Fegan. >> Yes. >> Patricia Royce. >> Yes. >> Juliet. >> Yes. And we're being joined now by the Vice Chair. Uh, so we're now entering executive session and uh we'll see you on the other side. Time is 5:38. >> Mhm. >> Great news from Jeremy and sales. He's loving the AI sales agent. >> Yeah, he's following up leads 23% faster. >> Jeremy. >> Great. So, I can tell the board that the company is more productive. >> Oh, no. I wish. But, you can tell them Jeremy in sales is following up

004on leads 23% faster. >> Oh, Jeremy. >> Jeremy. >> Any business can use AI. IBM helps you use AI to change how you >> So, uh the Methuen School Committee uh just wrapped up an executive session and we're going to take attendance as we enter open session again. >> Okay. Mrs. Judges, Ibleau? >> Yes. >> Mr. Graci? Yes. Bias? >> Here. >> Mr. McCarthy Sr. >> Present. >> Mr. Regan? >> Present. >> Mr. Willett? >> Yeah. >> And Mr. Beauregard? >> Uh here. Uh we need a motion and a second to approve the acting superintendent's contract. >> Second. >> Motion's from member Bias, the second is member Sr. Discussion. >> Oh, yes. >> Member Sr. >> I I would like to thank Lisa for taking on this task and you've done a fabulous job so

005far. It's been great working with you and it was my pleasure to in a moment vote for your contract. >> I'll just say ditto. Uh we're going to be posting uh this online of course. Uh so if anyone's interested uh we'll have that up in uh the next couple of days I'm sure. Uh so with that uh let's take a roll call vote on the contract. >> Vice Chair Zoglio? >> Yes. >> Donovan Grassi? Yes. Bias? >> Yes. >> Keegan? >> Yes. >> McCarthy Surro? >> Yes. >> Wallett? >> Yes. >> And Mayor Bogart? >> Yes. Congratulations and thank you. >> Thank you for your confidence and thank you for the opportunity and I look forward to continuing to work with you all and our faculty and staff to support our students. Thank you. >>

006Thank you. Thank you. Uh so with that I will entertain a motion to adjourn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion is from the Vice Chair, second's from uh member Keegan. Uh all those in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? The ayes have it. The time is 5:58 and the uh the executive session meeting is adjourned and we will begin our uh workshop and business session at 6:00 separately. >> Did you hit that button? Just >> So I've been told that the live feed is still rolling, so we'll just begin the 6:00 meeting. Uh what I'll do now is I will call the meeting to order. All right. Uh so uh the School Committee business workshop session of March 23rd, 2026 will now come to order. The time is 6:01 p.m. This meeting is being recorded

007and will be made available for viewing on the Methuen Public Schools website. I'll ask the secretary to call the roll. >> Vice Chair Zaraglio? >> Present. >> Donovan Grassi? >> Yes. >> Bias? >> Present. >> Keegan? >> Present. >> Royce? >> Present. >> Ouellette? >> Yeah. >> And Bogard? >> Here. >> All are present. We need a motion and a second to accept the agenda for tonight's meeting. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion's from the vice chair, seconds from member Keegan. Any discussion? No discussion, we'll vote. All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? The ayes have it. We'll rise for the flag salute. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice

008for all. >> Next on the agenda is public participation. I do we have the list? Thank you. We'll start with Jack Burke. >> Start. >> It is now. Sorry. I have provided slides of what I'm going to uh speak about tonight. I apologize that I did not coordinate appropriate audio-visual resources to project to any audience present. Mr. Chair, superintendent and committee members, I thank you for your time this evening. I did peruse the school committee and high school processes and found no written procedure for what I am going to propose. I want to start with a simple observation. What we call debate in public life today is not debate. It is moderated discourse, parallel statements, carefully prepared sound bites, and performances designed to avoid genuine argumentative accountability. I have produced these programs. I have sat

009in those rooms. And I can tell you with confidence what you see on television when a moderator asks a question and candidates respond without answering, it is not debate. It is theater. That distinction matters more than it might appear and is the reason I am here. The problem when an entire generation grows up believing that political theater constitutes genuine debate, something important is lost. They have no model for what real argumentative accountability looks like. They cannot recognize it when it is absent and they cannot demand The skills that genuine debate builds, constructing a clear argument, engaging in opposing position honestly, reasoning under pressure, changing your mind when the evidence warrants it, these are not just academic skills. They are the foundation of civic life. And they are not being taught. What I am proposing is

010specific and funded. A formal speech and debate club at Methuen High School and all four middle schools. Membership in the National Speech and Debate Association, which is an established national organization with proven curriculum, coaching resources, and competitive pathways. A dedicated municipal trust fund, named for its civic purpose, and not for any individual contributor, that protects this program from annual budget pressures. And a DEI framework embedded from day one because the confidence and self-worth that genuine public argumentation builds belongs to every student in this community, not just those who already feel comfortable speaking. We also have a natural home for broadcasting student debates through the schools' existing audio-visual studio and its existing relationship with our community cable network. Students doing genuine debate on the same platform where political theater calls itself debate, that contrast will speak

011for itself. We are not building from scratch. The NSDA provides everything needed to start. Curriculum, standards, and national competition access. Massachusetts has one of the strongest university debate ecosystems in this country. Harvard, Boston University, Tufts, UMass. Students who begin this program have a documented pathway. What that ecosystem also offers is something that does not appear on a budget. Line mentoring does not appear on a budget. Line mentoring, program assistance, coaching visits, and competitive preparation provided by university debate programs at little or no cost. Several Massachusetts programs, including UMass Amherst and UMass Boston, explicitly emphasize accessibility and community outreach as part of their mission. That means our students gain access to collegiate-level coaching and mentorship without placing that burden on the fund. The universities benefit from a stronger pipeline of prepared students. We benefit from resources

012that would otherwise require significant investment to acquire. This is a partnership waiting to be formed. We are also not experimenting. Debate training was once considered foundational to a complete education. Sorry for the delay. I have a guide to debate from my own freshman year of high school. What I am proposing is a restoration, not an invention. Starting middle school matters. Students arrive at high school with skills already developing. The program becomes self-reinforcing. Funding. I am prepared to make a personal founding donation of $2,500. That covers NSDA membership for the high school and all four middle schools for 5 years. I'm asking the city to establish a separate dedicated municipal trust fund fund, not a budget line item that disappears in a difficult year, but a protected fund and to match the founding donation as a

013signal of institutional commitment. Business sponsorship, grant, and community giving will sustain it beyond year five. The NSDA affiliation opens grant eligibility we do not currently have. The fund will be named for its purpose. This is a community institution. It belongs to Methuen. What success looks like. In year one, the program is established, students are training, faculty are developing. In year two, the first students debate student debates broadcast on community cable. Genuine debate, not a forum, not a panel, visible in this community for the first time in a long time. In year four, the first cohort of students who went through the program graduate. They carry something their peers in most communities do not have. The experience of building a real argument, defending it against genuine challenge, and earning their conviction. By year five, the program's

014governance expands to include members of our special needs community. Not participants only, but as leaders. Because this program is about developing genuine human capacity, and that belongs to everyone. So, the ask. The ask is this proposal, and it's straightforward. I'd like to establish a dedicated municipal trust fund fund for speech and debate education in Methuen. I'll match I I'm asking you the city will match my $2,500 founding donation. And we'll need approvals to enter the National Speech and Debate Association membership for our high school and four middle schools. What we are building is not just an extracurricular activity. It is civic infrastructure. It teaches the next generation that a well-constructed argument matters. That engaging honestly with an opposing view is a form of respect. That you can change your mind and it is not a

015weakness. It is what genuine reasoning looks like. Those things used to be taught here. I am asking that we restore them. I'm available to answer any questions and assist in any way to help establish this program with our town. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jack. Maria Figueroa? >> Hi, good evening, everyone. My name's Maria Figueroa. I live at 10 Hughes Road in Methuen, Massachusetts. I just wanted to come in and just share some thoughts. Vice Chair DeSaglo, you had asked at the last meeting, and I want to thank you, by the way, the question about if one of your friends or colleagues or someone that you knew would come and work in Methuen and why not. And I just wanted to give some insight that Methuen is a great place to work. I have worked

016in Methuen public schools for three three years. So, I have my lived experience to share. With that said, there are its challenges. I don't think that it's not that people don't want to come and work in Methuen. I just think if we don't talk about the audit, um which has just seemed to somehow vanish, um and we're not having a conversation about it and there hasn't been any follow through, that we're not really going to have the opportunity to address the challenges that are there in hand. So, today I am respectfully publicly asking if the new committee members have been privy to the unredacted version of that audit and if those conversations are still being had. I would love to see Methuen move forward in a positive way, but if we're not having these conversations

017and we're pretending that these problems aren't existing, we're doing no justice to anyone. With that said, I do also want to talk about, um the resource center and what came to my attention about being, um a change in the hours at central office, um which I did bring to Dr. Galaspie's attention. I did reach out to her February 26th, I believe, um because I had a family that went to personally want to take some documents to central office. I'm just quite not understanding why the change of hours of operations if it's a universal unit D, um union and everyone should be held by the same standard in terms of what's expected for a work performance day. Um I know there's a lot that comes into questions in terms of registrations. I've heard that as well

018regarding the kindergarten and um the numbers. I can tell you from my lived expertise, a lot of what's being said is, you know, kindergarten is not mandatory. That is not something that we should be telling parents when they're coming to central administration office and they're looking to register their child. We should be doing what's within our possibility to help them understand the process, bring in the documents that are needed, and make sure their children are properly enrolled by that deadline of October, I believe it is, 15th, um so that we're not running into any budget issues. The reason I bring that into light is because as we approach kindergarten registration again, um you're going to factor in what is going to be proposed as needing overtime. I wish that more questions were asked. I wish

019that spreadsheets were requested. Maybe within the last 5 years so that you can see the differential of what is needed and what wasn't needed in terms of overtime and that there is respectful work that can be done within the expected time of a regular work day. Um and I factor that in only because as we talk about budget and deficiencies, that matters. It also matters the fact that we're bringing back retired secretaries when we have secretaries in central office that are capable and able to do the job. So, why are we visiting a selective pool of secretaries to come in and fill gaps that aren't needed or if they're needed, why are they needed? Why are we spending the extra budget on that as well? Um so it's just things that I want to keep

020you want you to keep in mind. My understanding prior to me coming into working at the um family resource center, um, is the fact that there was one person doing that prior to the family resource center coming to light. One person doing it for the whole district. And from my understanding, she was more than capable of doing that job. Then we had three. Then we had two. So, why are we tapping into funds that aren't necessarily available? They could be a salary for another PA in the classroom. They could be so much more. So, I would appreciate if more questions are being asked of the moment a parent first walks into central administration office, what does that look like? How welcomed are they feel? Who's answering the questions and how is that being approached? Very

021important. Very important things to ask. Um, I also wanted to piggyback a little bit on the process of the concerns with bullying and harassment and how those are addressed, um, because transparency is important, accountability is important. Reason I'm bringing that is because it's still ongoing. Again, if we aren't addressing these issues and we aren't talking about it for what they truly are, how are we going to find a happy medium to find a resolution that is comfortable for everyone? And this isn't a means to shame and blame. I'm not pointing fingers. We're human. We make mistakes. But if we don't take the opportunity to learn from them, what are we doing to improve the situation? Um, I think that was overall what I wanted to talk about tonight. Um, but before anybody runs with any

022false narratives, which is accustomed, you know, to Methuen, and and I apologize, and again, no shaming and blaming. I am not a disgruntled employee. Again, I'm an employee with 3 years of lived expertise in Methuen public schools, and I am so grateful for that experience because it helps me better understand, even in the job that I'm doing today on the challenges that I know families face and how to help them address them. Hence being why I had suggested to that parent go in person, do it before your work day, ask to have that time stamped and get a copy because her concern was documents were either being misplaced or and it happens. Again, we're human. But if we're not presenting those opportunities for families and we're programming doors from 8:00 when the hours of operations

023are from 7:30 to 4:00 and it took a mere what? 5 to 10 minutes for that to be changed in the webpage that now we're at from 8:00 to 4:00. Why do we keep putting hurdles for these families? We need We need them to feel welcomed. When a family moves to Methuen, when a family buys a home in Methuen, their first stop if they have kids is that central administration office. Let's make them feel welcomed. Let's make them feel a part of something greater than themselves because that's what community is all about. And in the wise words of a man just recently said, there's what we say privately and what we say publicly. Let's be transparent. Let's hold ourselves accountable and let's have those difficult conversations because the community wants to be a part of

024this process. Families want to be a part of this process. Our educators want to be a part of this process. You have amazing employees in Methuen Public Schools. Let's honor them for who they are so that we don't have that revolving door mentality and we're able to retain what we have and build on that. That's all I'm asking. I thank you. Have a nice evening. >> Thank you, Maria. We don't have anybody signed up, but is there anyone in the audience who wishes to speak? If not, I will close public participation. Just to share with any residents who may be watching if you're not able to make a meeting in person for public participation, you can send an email to Susan Shanti at sns c i o n t i at methuen.k12.ma.us before 3:00 p.m.

025on the day of the school committee meeting. Next on the agenda, we have the DECA International Career Development Conference running in April. Uh this would be motion to approve the attendance of students at this conference. >> So moved. >> I'm sorry. >> That's all right. Motion from member Troy. >> And we we do have students here this evening to present as well. >> Sounds good. So we'll entertain discussion and start off with the presentation. >> Good evening, members of the school committee. I am Josh Rigado. I'm the DECA and business teacher here at MHS. I'm proud to share some exciting news about our DECA program and the incredible work our students have accomplished this year. This season, we had about 250 students um compete at the district level, which has gone up from last year,

026and 43 students competed last week at the state competition. Our students represented our school with professionalism, preparation, and determination, and several placed in the top 12 in their respective events, which is a significant achievement at such a competitive level. Most notably, four of our students have qualified for the DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta this April. This is the second year in a row. Last year we went to Florida with five students, and now we have four students this year. This marks um our program has advanced students to the international level, which is something we're extremely proud of. These students have put in countless hours preparing, studying, practicing role plays, and pushing themselves academically and professionally. Their success is a direct reflection of their work ethic and commitment. And this program, we talk about

027all the time, it connects the business world from the classroom um to show, you know, things they're going to do in everyday life. Um you know, whether that's talking to someone or actually working in the business world. We're incredibly excited to represent our school and community in the international stage once again. And we look forward to building um all this momentum in the future. Thank you guys for your continued support. Uh this club is constantly growing year by year, probably going to reach 300 students next year. So, uh thank you guys so much. And I have some of the students here with me, and they're going to talk about their experience in DECA. >> So, before I begin, I just want to thank you for letting me speak up here today. Uh I just want

028to speak about how DECA has allowed me to understand what I want to do in the future. So, before I entered DECA as a club at our school, um I wasn't sure what I wanted to do in the future. I knew I wanted to do something like finance tech-related, but I wasn't really sure what sector I would enter, you know, the specifics of it. And I knew I had an uncle in finance, and I understood that that's something I want to do in the future, but I just wasn't sure what type of job in finance that I want to do. DECA has allowed me to understand what I truly want to do in the future because there's different uh choices that you can choose. For the role plays that I did, I went into the

029corporate finance distinction, which is when we get a case file, we get a scenario, and we act out as like a financial officer or a certified public accountant, things like that that truly uh help you understand the business scene and what actually goes on behind the scenes. So, just going through the role plays, speaking to judges, just understanding the finance scene, that has allowed me to understand that this is what I want to do in the future. These are the people that I want to meet in the future, and this is a job that I want to pursue. Chibigays a DJ. Thank you. >> And do you want to share the records that you broke from Methuen High School, Dhaka? >> Yeah, so first person to qualify for the International Career Development Conference in the

030Methuen High School's history, highest exam score in the state, 96, and top exam role play medal in the state with a 96 on my role play. >> Hello everyone. I would I just wanted to say thank you again for allowing us to talk to you. Um my name's Cayden. This is my partner Damian, and unfortunately, like previously mentioned, our partner Jacob is sick today. And I just wanted to point out that DECA for me personally has helped me work on my presentation skills and my confidence and making sure that like I am able to work on tasks at appropriate times and make sure I work on like not procrastinate as much, and that has allowed me to progress a lot in school. I've been doing much better in school now. And I imagine this also

031has helped my partners as well. >> Hello guys. And once again, thank you for listening to us. My name is Damian Pellegrini, and I'm partners with Cayden, and unfortunately, our partner Jacob can't be here. Um the way DECA has helped me is really just been talking publicly, especially presenting. It's kind of helped me get more familiar with talking to people I don't really know or big groups just like this. Uh it's also helped me kind of figure out what I want to do. I want to do construction in um my future life. I also strive to own my own business along those lines. The category my group had went into is the five is a business growth plan, so it kind of helped us get familiar with our finances of our business, running a business,

032uh how to estimate growth and kind of to plan a a year plan for our business, which I feel like will help me in the long run once it comes to run my own business. It's also helped me kind of network with people and get to understand why people do the club and kind of learn more about the club to help me make new connections in life that can also benefit me possibly in the future. I would like to thank you for your time. >> Outstanding discussion, Vice Chair. >> So, outside of approving this tonight, I just want to congratulate the four of you because this coming tonight should be a recognition as well. So, congratulations. I want to Uh for over 20 years, DECA has done some great things here in Methuen. Uh so,

033it's great to see the advisor, too. I want to give you uh credit, too, on keeping this going and and sending two years in a row now to international uh the international conference. So, congratulations, guys. If you haven't realized, I'm a yes on this already. So, you didn't have to to bribe me on that. So, congratulations and best of luck in Atlanta. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> And we'll have them back after Nationals for their recognition cuz there may be more awards to be won. >> Absolutely. Any other questions, discussion? If not, oh. Anyone else? We'll vote. All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? The ayes have it. Congratulations. Next on the agenda, we have uh interview uh of firms for the superintendent search. Uh we'll start with uh HYA. Uh that is

034uh first on the agenda. And uh perhaps we'll uh allow the folks from HYA to share a brief presentation then we'll engage in questions, conversation, etc. You know, actually this spot here would be fine and we'll get a mic for you. >> Okay, so then I can press and talk. Thank you so much for having us here tonight. And I don't want to get too close and get some feedback. I'm Dr. Susan Gurney. >> And Dr. George Perry. >> Good? Okay. Oh, they could just hear us that way. All right, great. Thank you. All right. So, we'll get started with the presentation. Um what George handed out to you were was a response to the questions which you forwarded to us and we really do appreciate you sending us those questions so we can give

035you targeted responses. We'll go over many of those responses as part of the conversation and do the presentation. And of course if you have any additional questions, please feel free to to ask them. We're here to to answer them for you. So, um the first slide talks a little bit about HYA. And you know, HYA is the premier, uh, executive search firm in the country, if not ranking first and the top, uh, tier. And we've done They've been in business for over 35 years. They have done over 2,000 searches. We do about 80 or more searches per year. And we have 130 or more and more nationwide associates. George and I would be your local associates. We deal primarily with this particular region. We work with school districts in New England, in the state of

036Massachusetts, as well as in New York and Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Um, but we are focused primarily on you. And that's why we're here for you. We have a client satisfaction rating of 9.4 out of 10. We have a full back office staff, and we have partnerships throughout the country, as well as in the state, and many with local universities. Okay, go to the next slide. Do you want to talk a little bit about this one? >> No. >> Okay. I'll go on. All right. So, um, this really is an incredible opportunity for the Methuen Public Schools. Because when you are doing a superintendent search, and you're looking for a new leader, oh, everybody's eyes are on you. And it's a wonderful opportunity for the committee to understand what the stakeholders are feeling, to

037gain their insights, and also to select a leader that meets the expectations of your community as you step forward on a new path and a new, um, roadway. It really is an opportunity for you to demonstrate community committee leadership and to build capacity and collaboration amongst your ranks. And that's it. As we said, this is your leadership team. So, there are three of us on the team. A little bit about me, if you haven't, uh, read our our bio in the in the uh, materials that we forward to you. I'm a former superintendent of schools. I worked for 10 years as a superintendent in the Mount Pleasant Central School District in New York. I had a long career in public education. I started as a high school English teacher and I worked my way up.

038I was a K through 12 school library media specialist. I was a director of technology and I have a background in information technology and library science. In addition to that, I was a director of curriculum and then I landed in the hot seat of the superintendency. So and I enjoyed my time there and fortunately for me, I retired right before COVID hit. So I have a lot of compassion for my colleagues who worked through a difficult time in public education. But I very very much have a very broad interest and understanding of what goes on in K through 12 schools. I've taught every grade level. My doctorate's in leadership from Columbia University Teachers College. And I bring that to the table really cuz I'm passionate about leadership and about learning. So I'm happy to bring

039that and share that with all of you in Methuen. Now let George introduce himself. >> Hello. Thanks for the opportunity to be with you today. I'm uh uh for 25 years um I was on the other side of the search uh the superintendent search function. My colleagues and I worked in partnership with school districts across the country. We worked over those years probably with uh 30 school districts. Uh similar demographics to the one to to Methuen. Um and in that time we would partner with school committees, school boards, uh superintendents and um sometimes even with uh city uh city administration uh as as with schools all focused on raising the achievement uh opportunities for for students, for all students within the school district. Uh we ended up having long-term partnerships with us with in some

040of our districts 10, 12 years. Um and it during that time uh we would also we engage in strategic planning with the boards, we would engage them in um uh board retreats, superintendent evaluations, thing things that the board board orientations, things that the board needed to do in order to do be effective leaders and of a school district. And um also we would not be the we would did not do superintendent searches, but we helped school boards decide how who they should choose, what they wanted in a search firm, uh what uh what the search process would be look like, how to anticipate that. Um and um uh and to make good decisions. One of the things that I came I became familiar with HYA because many of the school districts that we worked with

041chose HYA as as a search firm. Um One of the reasons why they do that we did that and was a deciding factor in the school districts that I worked in was that HYA has uh is was a trusted broker of uh candidates. They had a very broad um uh reach in terms of being able to attract candidates across country, but also uh do a really good job of being presenting the the school committee with uh um I say details about individuals. You know, when one of the biggest problems is people can say a lot of things about what they can do and what they can deliver and what their possibilities are. Uh but you have to really dig deep into that to find out who is really able to do that. And HYA has

042um uh the capacity to be able to do that and is even um more so I think over the last four or five years been able to broaden that deepen that that capacity uh in terms of uh really presenting to school committees candidates who you can be confident about what they're saying and what their background So um so I'm happy to do be on this side with HYA and have I really appreciate the opportunity to work with you all uh going forward. >> Mhm. Okay. Um and we should have to mention about Danielle Martel. Danielle is the third member of our team. She is our project manager. She's located in our home office, which is in Illinois. And she handles all of the paperwork and all of the contracts and all of that kind of

043stuff because our focus is really to work with you. And so we don't have to worry about that because Danielle's got that covered on the back end. And she's always available by phone. Very um easy to get in touch with. And of course, if you can't reach her, you can tell us and we get in touch with her. And so we work very cohesively and really are here for the committee. So close by your side throughout the entire process. So why HYA? What makes it important for you to think about us as your search firm? Well, HYA like you really believes as as we expressed to you that it's about every child and about giving that child a quality education. And recruiting the right people and developing them and retaining those leaders here in your

044district is really what it's about. And it's about our relationship with you. We want this to be a long-standing relationship. And we want to help you to improve your district student outcomes. And by getting you the right leader to have in the right place at the right time, that's what it's about. The committee and the superintendent team, we're the catalyst for that advancement. So, you can expect from us deep meaningful engagement. We And we'll go through the process, exactly what are those What does that look like with all of your stakeholders? You can expect from us that the candidate that we are candidates that we will present to you are going to match the profile that is your profile. It's personalized to Methuen, and that we have worked on with you and have spoken to

045you about and communicated about throughout the process. And you know that the the team that you have working for you, our focus is on your district. There are no sitting superintendents or committee members or board members who work as associates at HYA. We're trusted with that reputation for over 35 years, and we ask you to please contact our references to confirm that and to ask about our dedication and our professionalism in that regard. Okay. Go to the next one. Okay, so the process. The process has four phases. And one of your questions was about, you know, do we think it's reasonable to have someone in place by July 1st? And we think that's really cutting it close. We would not recommend that. But we think that because search generally takes about 4 to 6 months,

046we think it would be very reasonable to have someone in place by August 3rd. The phases of the search are four: engage, recruit, select, and transition. And we'll go through those. So, we believe that once you appoint us as your search firm, we would get started immediately. And we would begin with the engage phase. And this means really getting to understand what the district wants and getting to know you really well. We do that first and foremost by having a planning meeting with all of you. We detail the calendar of what the search is going to look like, and we go through any and all questions that you might have regarding the search. We document everything, we put it in minutes, we give it to you, it becomes a document for you to have and

047refer to, and we will refer to it throughout the search. We then interview each and every one of the committee members. We want to know what you personally want in your next leader, and we ask everybody the same three questions throughout the entire search. So, whether we're meeting with committee members or we're meeting with stakeholder groups and parents, we ask, "What are the strengths of Methuen? What are the challenges the next superintendent and the Methuen school district will face in the next three to five years? And then what are the qualities and characteristics you'd like to see in your next superintendent of schools?" We document everything that you tell us. We don't put anybody's name. It's all confidential. We just put it under a broader heading. So, we'll have community members or students, cuz we

048talked to students as well, administrators. We have focus groups. We have um small intergroups interviews, individual interviews, and then we also have community forums. Did I get that everything? Okay. Okay. So, we see ourselves as your ambassadors to the community as part of this search process. Like we said, this is an opportunity for the committee to really showcase their capabilities and to really bring people in. We want to be transparent. We want you to know that we are actively listening to everything that you're telling us as well as to your community voices. We're very flexible in terms of formats. We're here face-to-face. If you ask us to be in person, we will be here in person. And we'll work with you during the planning meeting to decide who are the groups you'd like us to

049meet with, who are the individuals you'd like us to meet with, and if you'd like us to be in here in person to meet with them. If you'd like us to meet on Zoom with them. If you'd like us to be in various locations. And we always accept email feedback. So, one of the questions you asked us was about, you know, would we be face-to-face? Would be Would be remote? And what we tell you is that, you know, it depends on what exactly what you want because this is your search, but also it depends on the task. So, for instance, we found that when we do searches during the community forums, especially the one that we offer in the evening, it it's easier and more accessible to parents if we do it via Zoom, an

050online format. They don't have to worry about child care. Teachers, they usually like to meet with us after school, usually on Zoom because they could be home cooking dinner, taking care of their family, and they can still take some time to be on the Zoom call with us and share their ideas. The senior community, we found that they like to meet in person, and sometimes it's at the senior center, or it's at the local library. We go where your constituents are, and we want to be there for them. We want to be encouraging. We want to be open. This is a very inclusive process. If you have members of your community who need a translator, we like to work with a member of an organization that's in your community to do translation services so that

051we are working in partnership and you bring those individuals in. It's about building relationships, building partnerships, being accessible, being flexible, so that people feel that they're part of the process and this all shines a great light on all of you and on the school district. I should do this this way so that it's easier for me to go on. Also, during this time of engagement, we are providing a survey for you. The survey is research-based. It's all IP-driven. It's online. It's tabulated back in Illinois, so you can you can be sure that George and I are not staying up nights tabulating all of the the responses. It's available in English and Spanish, and if you like any other languages, we can make arrangements for those languages to be put in place as well. We present

052a beautiful report at the end to provide to you. Again, we said it's research-based and it's going to give you information about how people feel regarding the state of the district, in addition to what they're looking for in their next school leader. We put all this information together and we feel that we can have this done and presented to you in a lead what we call a leadership profile report. And that will give you kind of the story and the statistics. So, we will combine the information we heard from all of the community engagement with the statistics from the survey, present that to you, and we'll ask you with that to take a look at what we call a draft leadership profile. And if you agree that we we kind of hit the target, this

053is exactly what you're looking for in terms of who your next superintendent will be, then those are kind of our marching orders, and we're going to go and find the person who makes the closest fit to what's in that profile. And we tell you also, we recommend put it up on this report up on your website. Let everyone see that what they told us is what we told you and that it's there for everyone. We're very transparent about that, so it's all up front and available for them to look at. So, key happenings. We mentioned that we would hit the ground running as soon as we were appointed with that engaged phase. And also know that as soon as we talked to all of you, that gives us an idea of the kind of person

054that you're looking for. So, we will start immediately researching, reaching out, contacting people. Think of it as we're going to cast a very broad net to find the widest range of talented candidates who are going to meet your expectations. This process when we're contacting people is completely confidential. And just so you know, people will ask us they ask us two questions really. They'll ask us why is the last last superintendent or the current superintendent leaving? And they'll ask us what is the committee like? So, when we reach out to them, we're going to talk to them and let them know about the district. So, you remember they're going to be interviewing you as much as you're interviewing them. Um but Methuen is a really special place and I say that in the best possible way

055because um you have so many incredibly phenomenal programs. I mean, just tonight that you have uh members of your community come forward. They feel comfortable speaking to the committee. Your students are incredible. I mean, that was fantastic. 300 children involved in the club. That's great. Um and superintendents, we're a really strange bunch. We like to come to a place where there are some terrific things and where there are some things for us to do and get our hands dirty. So, we will tell them all about the good, the bad, the ugly of Methuen so they really know. We believe there are no surprises. We want them to feel very comfortable. We want them to love you. We want them to have a long relationship with you and you want we want you to love them

056and to want to have them as your superintendent for a really long time. We are aggressive recruiters. We try not to be annoying. Uh you talk a lot. You can tell so I don't I try not to be annoying but but we go out there. We really dig. We contact people. We have local networks, national networks. We have a lot of colleagues in HYA. We make phone calls. You never know, there might be someone in Nevada who has family here in Massachusetts and wants to come back to be with their family and they're a superintendent and they hear about Methuen's opening and and they want to come. There's advertising on our website. We have over 25,000 hits a month. We have very active on social media. We have an email subscription list of over 30,000

057email subscribers and we we do all the usual advertising as well with SchoolSpring and Mass and all of those general things with AASA and then the local national associations for black administrators and Hispanic administrators as well. We screen everybody and we check references and we're happy to say that 94% of the superintendents who are put in place through HYA stay full term through their contract and 75% of superintendents that committees select were recruited from HYA through HYA. So, the advertising is helpful. We do it. We get it out there. We cover all our bases, but primarily the people that we will present to you are people who George and I have recruited for you. During the months of May and June, we anticipate moving into the next phase of the search, which is the third

058phase called select and during this time your selection committee will be presented with a slate of candidates. It's usually five to seven depending on what the committee would like to see. And all of these in all of these individuals would have been vetted initially through us. We'll also with your screening committee work directly with them. We'll go through interview protocols with them. We'll talk about best practices. We'll help them craft questions on what to ask and will help them to come to consensus consensus if need be. And we would anticipate then you would meet with the those candidates, those finalists in the end toward the end of May early June with the goal of appointing someone by June 2026. So before the end of the school year. The final phase of the search process is

059the transition piece and HYA is very pleased to have initiated a transition academy because like we said it's about the relationship and it's about success. It's about your students. So the person who you select as your next superintendent would have access to the HYA transition academy and we would work with this person. It's a six-month program building a 100-day transition plan, talking about how do you measure success, setting up key performance indicators, going through the evaluation process, working with the committee, how do you evaluate your new superintendent, agreeing on an instrument and then taking a look at your current strategic plan and working with you about thinking what comes next strategically for the Methuen public schools. All right. I think I got everything in. Thank you so much. What other questions do you have? I

060tried to tried to address most of what you requested but I'm sure there's a lot maybe other things that you'd like to know. >> Thank you very much for the presentation. Uh so we'll uh go right around. Uh just raise your hand and be recognized. Member Royce. >> The the screening committee, you said five to seven members. >> Yeah. >> How do you seven candidates that we present to them? >> Excuse me. Um how do you choose the members of your screening committee and who do you choose for that committee? >> We will work directly with the school committee to make those decisions. So they're individuals that you may you know, you really would love to have on your committee. So, traditionally what we would see is that many districts, many school committees would select

061for instance, members of their teachers bargaining unit to be on there or members of the administrative team. There may be one or two members of the school committee who are on the selection committee. So, it really is up to you. We work closely with you and to craft exactly how many people you'd like to have on that committee and who those people would be. >> And it's also Sorry, just a >> No, jump in. Go ahead. >> Ted on the It's also an opportunity to bring in community representatives onto that onto that group. They're not the group that makes the decision, but they're a group that makes a presentation and recommendations to you all. >> Right. >> What What do you see as a good number for that committee? A good number of people. >>

062seen is 7 to 10. Once it gets larger than that, then it gets kind of unwieldy. So, 7 to 10 is pretty reasonable. And they usually meet over we It depends on people's availability, of course, but we recommend for an as an example, let's say a Friday evening, Saturday, and then maybe a early Sunday. If they Depending on how many candidates they have to interview, that that selection committee would meet They have The interview that they have, it's a scripted interview, so we help them craft the questions. They ask the candidates the same questions, so they're comparing apples to apples. Those interviews last about an hour and a half each. When they're done, they have conversation, who would they like to forward on in the process to the school committee to meet. And sometimes they

063recommend Traditionally, three people get recommended to the school committee. Sometimes they'll say two, you know? And that once it comes to the school committee, then it becomes public. So, everybody knows. So, So, we're very careful, confidentiality first and then of course when it comes to you it's all open conversation. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Other questions? Member Willett? >> Thank you for the presentation. Offhand you highlighted 20 searches in Massachusetts and Holliston is the most recent. >> Yes. >> Do you have a sense of the other communities that you can mention to us that we might be familiar with? >> Yes, well one of the ones that we did prior to Holliston, one of the newest ones was Newton. So we did that. And um I don't I don't have the list. Go

064ahead. >> So yeah, the I think there was more of a presence by HYA until the last 5 years. The person who was doing it here retired. But that the commit the ones prior to that were communities that are similar in some ways. Cambridge, Somerville, um uh Lawrence was really on. Um uh Then there were uh as Sue mentioned, Newton. I'm trying to think of some of the others. I can get a list to you if you'd like. >> No, I I think that covers it. And then I think one of the mandates from the committee is in terms of the diversity and and how would you approach that with the diversity of the community to make sure that that search committee is composed of diversity. How would you tackle that? >> Okay. >> Just

065I think that's a a conversation as Sue mentioned that in the planning meeting with the school committee, that's the kind of discussion that happens. Who do you want on the on the search committee? How can we work with partnership groups do you want to be able to work with? We're aware of the audit that you've just had and some of the concerns about being bringing people together to have conversations. How do you How would you like to handle that as a committee? Uh and we're open This is your search, so we're open to doing a way that you think works best for Methuen. >> Right. And you know, one of the things that we would recommend to you is that you have members of let's say you have diverse members of your community on that

066search committee, but in addition to that, we would set up focus groups as part of the engagement process with maybe particular groups that you have in your community that you'd like to have get their feedback and get their voices into the process. So, even though they may not be sitting on the search committee, they definitely would have input with their ideas, questions, things like that, and we would include them in that way. So, we want to be more inclusive than anything else. That's most important. >> And then, obviously, we want to preserve our element of confidentiality >> Yes. >> and have a firewall and not necessarily have the school committee itself be involved, you know, cuz I my personal view is I want the search committee to be composed and have the confidence that they

067can confidentially report things to your attention. >> That's right. >> Um and have like a firewall, so that's something I would be interested in >> Yes. >> as well. So, making sure that if someone's forthcoming and wants to serve, that they can volunteer things that might not be putting us in a great light, but also be honest in the assessment as well. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Member Donovan and then the vice chair. >> Um thank you. I do appreciate the pretty extensive list of uh communities that you've worked with that you provided with us um in your first package. So, here's my questions. Um You say that typically five to seven candidates. How many of those candidates are typically sitting superintendents? >> It depends on the search. I'll give

068you an example from Holliston, so I'm not talking out of school. We give every uh school committee that we work with uh what we call a candidate summary sheet, and we break down for the committee to show them exactly how many individuals We don't give the name of the individual. We don't give the district, but we let you know how many people we've reached out to, how many people applied for the position, and what their current positions are. Uh in the search that we did in Holliston, we had um six interviews that met six six candidates who met with the search team, and of them, two were assistant superintendents, four were sitting superintendents. The selection was made uh by the school committee. They selected an an assist sitting assistant superintendent as their new superintendent. So,

069that's how that search went. So, it really depends. We um One of the things that may come out as we meet during the engagement phase is that people feel that they would like an experienced superintendent coming to Methuen. So, of course, if that's what we hear, that's what we're going to be looking for. But, if we see an incredible assistant superintendent who comes, you know, with high high references and glowing comments, we're going to definitely talk to them, and if we feel that they, you know, measure up to what the standard that we're looking for, and that they would be a good fit culturally for Methuen, we're going to bring them to the table and let let you meet them. >> Okay. May I ask a few follow-up? Okay, thank you. Um it We If

070we started something and look hoping to get someone in place by August, truly, what kind of candidates are looking for jobs as we end school year when we know we have you know, um contract obligations, trying to get out of a contract. Uh, truly does the caliber of the candidate kind of diminish as we get closer to the start of the school year cuz we don't want to waste our money or your time or anyone's time. >> That's That's a fair question. Um, what we tell you, like we said, we are aggressive recruiters. That's our job. That's why you hire us. We're We're, you know, there are people who are out there looking for a superintendency right now. Then there are people who are not looking for a superintendency who are the people that we

071really want to tap into. There may be a sitting superintendent who would be a phenomenal candidate for Methuen. We want to find them. We are We are making phone calls, we're researching them, we're contacting them. So, when I call someone, or as I said, when George calls someone, he's going to say, "I'm call I'd like to speak to your city your superintendent." And they're going to say, "Who's calling?" He's going to say, "Dr. George Perry." "Why are you calling?" He's going to say, "I have a safety concern." They're going to put the superintendent on immediately. They'll put them on. "What's the safety concern? Or what is the personnel issue that you're calling about?" And when the superintendent gets on board on the phone, you say, "This is who I am. This is why I'm calling.

072I didn't want your secretary to know." I call and I say, "This is Dr. Susan Gaine. I'm the superintendent of schools. I'd like to speak to your superintendent. I have I'm looking for making a reference call or a concern." Person gets on the phone, I tell them what it's about. And I'll say to them, "So, I'm really calling because I think you'd be a great fit for Methuen." And they're going to say, "Is that why you're calling? I'm not looking for a job." Say, "You know what? We think you'd be really great. Do you know about Methuen?" And they say, "No." Say, "All right, well, let me tell you about them. Do you know they have this they have this these are all Would you like me to send you a copy of the leadership

073profile report? Would you like and take a look at it and I'll give you a call back in a day or two. Let me know what you're thinking. See if it's something you think is a good fit. And I can tell you there are more times than not that that individual says, "You know what? I'm in. Include me. This sounds like a really interesting opportunity. I think I can do a lot of good there. I'd like to try. I'd like to be put in." And and that's how we build that's how we build the slate for you. >> Mhm. >> You know. >> And my last question, not to put you on the spot. >> Put me on the spot. >> No, I really don't want to because I think it's something we're still working

074out. >> Okay. >> Talk to us about the impact of salary on your search. And what you know about our salary of our staff here. >> Uh-huh. >> And how that could serve positively or negatively in your search. >> Well, you know, um many of the superintendent candidates that we've spoken to have said to us, "It's not about the salary. It's about the committee. If it's a good committee and I get along with them and it's a wonderful place, I'm I'm fine with that. I'm fine with that. So, they're not looking um you know, it was interesting in the um Holliston when we did that search, they um they had a very competitive salary that they offered. And every single person that we slated had that response. When we told them what the salary was,

075they said, "What What's the committee like? What's the community like? That's what we want to know. What can we do there? How can we help? This sounds really fascinating. We'd like to come." So, um I think I think the people that we'll be talking to and about you know, about Methuen, we're going to tell them about the district. We're going to tell them about the finances. We're going to tell them about the salary. And like we said, there are no surprises. They want We want people who really want to come here to work with you. And we want you to love them and you know, it's kind of like with like marriage brokers, you know, we want this to be a good a good fit. So, um so that's how we'll handle it. >> Okay.

076Thank you. Those are my questions for now. >> I'd like to just bridge off of what the um Secretary of State had just a second ago, too. Is do you find the time of year, though, >> Mhm. >> a criteria on finding good candidates for a school district? Do you see most of your searches happening this time of year, or do you see it happening starting July 1st or September? Cuz there's really zero room for error here at this point. >> That's right. >> We're going into >> Well, >> Go ahead. >> I was going to say, you know, we find that we um it gets very busy at the beginning of the school year in September. People come back from vacation and they go, "You know what? I'm done. I'm I'm going to retire.

077I'm going to I need to find a new job." Or and the second time that we see things really start getting busy is um the you know, the the middle of of the second semester. So, usually around March, we start getting a lot a lot many more searches cuz people are saying, "You know what? I have I'm going to give my notice to the district and I'm you know, I have a couple of months. I want to just finish out this school year and I want to be someplace else for the start of next year. So, it really it balances. And like I said, somebody may may not currently be looking, but when we call them and talk to them, you know, they'd say, "You know what? I I've done enough. I've done, you know,

078so many years. I've accomplished what I wanted to accomplish in my current position. I'd like to move on to something a new challenge and this sounds like something very interesting that I'd like to engage in." >> If I could just add to that, um you know, we spend a lot of time talking about that very question. Is this a good time of the year? Um, and we responded to your request of July 1st was a question. Well, we're really flexible to do whatever you choose to do. Uh, so we want to do it now, want to do it later, you know, we can we're certainly open to that. Uh, you want to try something and see if it see if it uh, we can what the feeling is, we're open to that as well. Uh,

079but I think that there are times at this time of year where some that, you know, there are some sitting superintendents who uh, would be willing to make a shift. And they're also and what we were talking about is also there are a lot of uh, deputy superintendents or uh, assistant superintendents who have some experience and looking for an opportunity. And as the end of the school year comes, that's a good time for them to make a change. So, uh, you know, there are times that are better than others and more activity, but you know, now is not it's not that you couldn't do it and have a some strong candidates now if that's what you chose to do. >> And, you know, the other piece, too, um, that we discussed was and this is

080how, you know, we operate. We haven't had this happen to us, but just so you know, if we had difficulty finding candidates, we're going to tell you. We're in constant communication with you throughout the process. We're going to say, "You know what? We're not finding the people that we want to present to you. We're going to take a little bit longer." And when we plan out the calendar, we'll say, "You know what? We have a target date of let's say August 3rd, but if we don't feel that that's appropriate, we'll let you know." And we'll say, "You know, we want to extend it. We're not We're not there yet." And we'll work with you, you know, as part of that. >> So, and and if I can steal the floor, so >> Sure. >> The

081reason why I ask is is because one the dynamic of this community is going to really have a say in how this book committee votes. >> Mhm. >> So, I could see it going through the first round and potentially not finding the candidate that everyone's in love with. And that's what I would I want to avoid is is getting the four that we had to submit to the committee for review. I want the search committee to say there's three or four stars here that we would be fine with. Not just because I have to send it up to the committee. >> That's right. That's exactly how it works. And if they say to us, you know what, you brought us these we interviewed these five people, we don't like any of them. Then we go

082back and we find new people. And there's we just continue until we find the people. We you know, when in doubt don't do it. We and we would hope that the committee votes unanimously on the next superintendent. No superintendent wants to come to a school district with a full committee has right with a split vote. So, we really want to make sure that it's the right person. >> Thank you. I'm all set. >> Other questions? Everybody else? >> Thank you for your presentation. It was lovely. I just had a few questions. >> Of course. >> Um first, maybe I missed it, but I know you guys said you as a company conduct 80 superintendent searches a year. >> Yes. >> Um personally though, are would Methuen be the only search that you're that the team

083>> Yes, that's the only you'd be our only search. We're completely focused on you. >> Perfect. And my follow-up question is sometimes the loudest voices make the biggest impact on let's say interviews or surveys. And usually the loudest voices sometimes are the minority voices. Um in a dynamic which uh Vice Chair DiZoglio um rightly said that the dynamics play a role. >> Yes. >> So, how would you ensure that the engagement phase is fully inclusive of all voices, not just those that are the loudest? >> Right. Go ahead, Chair. >> Yeah, I would just say that that's the conversation we have to have with you all in planning this piece, right? You know the dynamics of the city, we know some of it. Um and we want to work with you on being able to

084say how do we get to success at the end of this this point? Who do we need to check with? Do Who are the focus groups that we need to have? Is everybody feeling that they are at least been heard. Um and again, this is a combination of community forums, this is a combination with the surveys. There is um focus groups that we'll be able to do. So, there are also a lot of opportunities to gather uh information. And of course, you've had some a couple of audits and other kinds of ways of hearing from folks, and that information is also going to be part of the how you all make a decision about who you want for a leader, what kind of call characteristics that person is going to have. Uh so. >> If

085you If you say to us, you know, there's a particular group you definitely need to talk to them. Maybe they're quiet, they're more reserved, but you give us that you tell us that you want us to speak to them, we're going to speak to them. We're going to make sure that you know, we include as everyone that you'd like us to include. >> Perfect, that sounds nice. Can I ask one more follow-up question? Um so, for example, let's say you guys are gearing up to conduct interviews, right? >> Yes. >> So, what's your selection process for participants? Is it a sign-up or variation of the the committee coming together and selecting candidates like how is that process handled? >> Great. Um, what we do is we we will go through as many candidates as we

086can find. Like I said, we're going to cast a a broad net. We look at people's You mean you're talking about interviews for like the actual candidates? >> No, I'm talking about like community members. Sorry. >> Oh, who are going to talk to for community members? >> Yes, how how that is how that is >> to we're going to talk to you. You know who we should talk to most of all. So, we have like George said, we know some a little bit about your community, but you we're going to sit with you during the planning meeting and create a list of all of the individuals you'd like us to speak with. And so, we'll give you kind of a draft of groups and people to talk to and then you'll say to us, you

087know what, we we don't need to speak to this group, but you definitely need to talk to these other people. And we'll put that list together. We'll ask if there's someone on staff we have who can help us send out invitations to meet with us. We have templates of invitations and everything that we will work with you with. We're really you know, go go through this together with you and we will invite those individuals to come to meet with us either, you know, like I said, in person, over Zoom, whatever's most convenient to them. We're very flexible with the time. We're very flexible with the location. You know, the idea is that we want to be as accessible as possible to them. We don't want to give anybody the excuse to say they weren't they

088weren't spoken to or they could we couldn't meet with them or anything like that. We want to be very accessible to them. Thank you very much. You're welcome. >> Other questions? If not, I I think that'll do it. >> Okay, so this is a very awkward situation because our competition has been sitting back there listening to everything that we've said. So, do we get a rebuttal? Cuz what if they say I just have to say Okay, thank you so much. It's so wonderful to meet you. We really hope we get to work with you. It'd be our honor and pleasure. >> Thank you. >> Next on the agenda we have uh interview with Zeal Education Group. >> Hi. Good evening. >> Feel free to dive right in. >> All right. Hi everybody. Um first of

089all, I just I I I know Sue Gainey. Um we've run in similar circles and um it's you can't go wrong uh with their firm. I actually spent 2 years working for HYA as a consultant while I was a superintendent. And um I I think very highly of of uh Sue. I don't know her counterpart, but um certainly no I I will have nothing negative to say about HYA. Um It is on or is not? Okay. All right. So, I will um try to go through uh this very this presentation very quickly. I know you have uh Sue you submitted the questions to me. I provided you some answers, but I'd love to uh be able to uh elaborate here. So, what I'll start with um you're doing the slides? Okay, yeah. If you can

090go to the next slide. So, um just a little bit about um Zeal. So, I've spent 25 years in education. I also went to Teachers College, got my doctorate, did some teaching there for about 12 years and as as an adjunct. Uh was a teacher sup uh teacher, principal, and superintendent. Um after 25 years, went right around COVID decided I wanted to uh I read a book by Dan Pink, The Power of Regret, and wondered if I really wanted to be a superintendent for the next uh 12 to 15 years. And I decided I didn't. And my wife was very supportive and started this firm. And we do everything from superintendent searches, we do security audits, we do financial special ed audits, we do professional development. Uh we have about 130 people on our team

091that have all different passions and expertise, and uh we My job is basically to put teams together uh based on the needs of the of the district. We work all around the country. Uh the search team that we have for this project uh is me. I'd be the lead on this search, and I'm going to lead on any search that we do. I'm very involved. Um we have a um a superintendent who is in Brockton. Uh her name is Priya Tahlani. Uh we have Dr. Matthew Friedman, who's a superintendent from New Jersey, and we have a long-time friend of mine uh who was a superintendent in Connecticut for about 10 years in a neighboring district, and he's now the dean of the School of Education at Central Connecticut State University. So, he has We have

092a team that I think um bring brings a wide variety of experiences, different demographic experiences, and helps with our recruitment. The things that I would say are um unique about Zeal, and and you I think you'll it's somewhat nuanced, but I'd like to try to help um elaborate on what we do slightly differently from HYA. The first is about stakeholder engagement. Um we do surveys, HYA does surveys, um we do stakehold we do meetings virtual and in person. Um we do town halls, they do community forums, but I think what differentiates Zeal is the um the passion and the exuberance with which we reach out to people. Um we are really committed to hearing every voice. We and I'll give you an example um actually, if you go to the next slide, um if you

093um we were we did a a search in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The board explained that they have a large tribal community. We sent three of We sent three of our consultants to the tribal um reservation to make sure that we spoke to and had an opportunity to chat with um members of that community. We meet with students as as most would. We were in doing a search in South Portland, Maine and wanted to get feedback from high school students, set up a table in the cafeteria, had a bowl of candy, and got to talk to students that way because getting them to come to a forum, you know, after school day would be very very difficult. The search we're doing in Stamford, Connecticut, we they have 23 schools. We sent consultants to every single

094school after school based on contract requirements. We worked with their assistant superintendent. We worked with their communications director. We we did a total of I think 72 stakeholder engagements in that community. That included in-person, virtual, at early in the morning, late at night. We stop at nothing to make sure that people have their voices heard. In addition, we do Thoughtexchange and your question one of the questions about diversity is a is a big piece and actually I think your your question about, you know, the the minority voice being subtle in the background, Thoughtexchange is a tool that we that is a proprietary tool. And has anybody ever here used Thoughtexchange or heard of it? >> We're actually doing some research on it. >> Okay, great. Yeah, and actually if you go to the I don't

095want to skip too much. Go go to the next one. We'll go quickly through this. Yeah, there's a QR code there and what we've done is set up a a sample use of that tool. So if you do want to have your if you have your phone and you want to take a scan of that QR code, you can see what it's like to participate in a Thoughtexchange. Basically, Thoughtexchange is a AI generated. It it has It's a more social way of engaging with folks. So what it does is it allows us to pose a single question like what's the most important thing for for you in Methuen regarding your next superintendent and people can respond. And it's a completely anonymous. It's natively translated into over 100 languages. So, if I want to respond in

096Hindi or in Mandarin, the the people that are reading the comments that people wrote um will be in their native language as well. And then you rate with a star from one to five stars how much you agree or disagree with that comment. And what it does is it um tabulates that and the comments that have the most merit rise to the top. And we use that piece in combination with the in-person meetings, the virtual meetings, the town hall meetings, and we use all of that to create our our our version of a leadership profile. Let's skip to next slide. The second thing that I think um and you and you definitely heard this from HYA and they're a very large organization about national recruitment. I'll I'll I guess what I'll say differentiates us, I

097believe, is um and you can read that quote there from a superintendent that we wound up um hiring. The the the the the detail in our leadership profiles is uh extraordinary. We we develop a SWOT analysis. We develop a um we provide verbatim quotes from the community that we were able to extract from our analysis so that people can see exactly what the top most relevant um pieces of feedback were and that star rating that we talked about with ThoughtExchange, how that translated into um why that you know, why that thought was so prominent in the community. Um we have uh like I said, 130 um consultants. We do the same thing. We have email lists. Um, LinkedIn has 11,000 members. I'm sorry, 11,000, um, yeah, um, followers. 11,000 followers. Um, we go to your

098local state association, we go to adjacent state associations. Um, we're affiliated with and and when I say affiliated, uh, so for instance, ALAS, Latino Administrator and Super- Superintendent Association. Um, two Saturdays ago, I was asked to be on an, uh, a mock interview committee with them and I spent two and a half hours giving feedback to their candidates that are in the superintendent pipeline. And and and and meeting with them and and dedicating our time, giving them feedback. When it came to, um, Men of Color in Educational Leadership, um, Harrison Peters, the CEO, invited me to come to Florida and it was in January, so it was like, "No problem." And speak to some of his candidates and some of his his, um, you know, some of the candidates that are in their program. When

099it came to AASA in Nashville, again, I don't mind traveling to Nashville, Tennessee a couple months ago. And I literally, rather than getting a booth where you where, you know, people walk through these booths with their heads down, I I planted a chair right outside of the, um, the, uh, the sessions and spoke to probably 50 different people. I had a little a table and chair. Um, I'm out there. I'm grinding, trying to recruit people. Uh, and it's evidenced in in some of our results of the search search results and candidates we've recruited. This was the search we did in Rock Hill, South Carolina. We had 25 candidates from 17 states across the country. The one we just did in, um, and we didn't complete the search, but the pool of candidates that we brought

100for the Stamford, Connecticut search had 27 applicants from 11 states across the country. So, we have a track record when you want a national search, um, these are not just people we don't just sit and wait for applications to come in. Uh, we are actively on the ground pursuing um, and and leveraging our network, leveraging what we know about people. Um, the next thing I think that um, we do is in a slight different and again, like I said, I worked with HYA, so I know their process very well. Um, one thing I think that sets us apart in the the way we put together the slate of candidates is a little bit different. So, we we bring you eight to 10 of the best applicants based on the leadership profile and the criteria that

101we've established with you in consultation with you to um, to um, determine who would be the best fit at this time for your district. And um, we have each of the uh, so, let's say we have 20 applicants, we'll we'll bring the the best eight to 10. We'll have them create a packet, the packet will include their application, their cover letter, resume, recommendations, transcripts. Um, it'll come with an executive summary from our team that will personally write and explain why we're presenting this candidate to you, how their persona, which we'll get into in a little bit, because on the application they're asked which of the six personas they believe most represents their leadership style. And then we ask them to uh, record a 90-second video just answering the question, why Methuen? And um, we put

102that along with when we present all, you know, eight to 10 of these candidates, we we we do an oral presentation. They're not in the room, by the way, you just have their packets, and we show you this 90-second video, and then we do all 10 of those, and then we have a deliberation. I found that that that small little detail of letting the you see the candidates and hear their voice and and understand uh, what they're what they're passionate about, why they want to work here, uh, makes a big difference. And I've seen uh, my team and I, candidates that we didn't think were going to be uh, preferred by the by the board and school committee. They're they're they came across in a way that they felt would resonate best with their community

103and and did well. We then do a very comprehensive board prep. You you will if you choose to work with us, you will your time will be really focused and I'll get into this into towards the end of the last slide, but I want you as a as a school committee to focus on the candidates. We handle all of the logistics, but we want to make sure that when you do get to the point where you're interviewing that you are representing yourself and your community well. So we give you training on bias. We give you some ethical background on practices. Many of you may not interview. You only interview you only hire one one employee, so you're probably not used to that. So we go through that. We have you narrow down the slate from

104eight to 10 to five to seven semi-finalists. We bring those people in for in-person interviews. We help you develop the questions and then from there you narrow down to two or three final candidates. And and then through and very very similar consensus driven. It it really and this is something that we're adamant about is that the school committee needs to be unanimous. Has to reach consensus on the on the candidate. Consensus being defined as all the voices have been heard, but the will of group of the group is evident even to those who oppose it most. A superintendent cannot be successful if he or she is selected and and it's a split vote. And so I know that might be controversial and it's not suggesting that you you compromise your beliefs or you you give

105anything up. It's good to have debate. It's good to have discussion, but it's It's that on this decision who you're selecting, that you be unanimous. Um so, that's that's about the uh candidate assessment. Uh the next slide is about our our leadership profile. Again, you can see samples of that. And then, the personas. Let me just explain what the personas are. So, uh you can go to Yeah, go to the next one cuz it's a little easier to see. So, we came up with six personas, which we believe reflect um the archetypes of a superintendent and what they tend to be better at than other things. Um in the presentation and in my um submission, it it gives you a lot more detail about each of the different personas and how, if you're an instructional

106leader, this is a good example. If you identify as an instructional leader, that means you're the type of superintendent that might have been a CAO or curriculum assistant superintendent, you probably love instruction, you probably love being in the classrooms. If you're doing those things and that's how you're spending your time and that's your passion, you're probably going to neglect some other important attributes. If you can't be in a classroom and be out in the community at the same time. You can't be in a classroom and be in your office dealing with budget at the same time. So, it's about trade-offs and understanding how there are offsets. Um one of the most intriguing comments I had was with a with a high schooler from the Stanford search. And when we asked them about these personas, a

107student, a high school student, correctly identified that what they need in a superintendent is one that understands what they can bring to the job, but also understands their weaknesses and how to surround themselves with their people on their team to augment and to offset their areas of weakness. So, um it it isn't that this is the only um decision-making point, but it's a lens through which um I I urge the school committee to to think about what you need right now at this time. What you need today may be different 5 years may have been different 5 years ago and may be different 5 years from now. Um, the fourth thing is post-hire support. Um, we included in our proposal a month of executive coaching. Um, what we do with that month of executive coaching

108is we unpack the loads and loads and loads of data that we got from the thought exchange, the leadership profile, and the I'm sorry, uh, leadership the um, thought exchange data and the community focus groups and interviews which with each one of you. Um, we use this to help the new superintendent develop an entry plan. Um, it we help with transition support. We are mentors, we are guides, we are friends of um, both the committee and the superintendent working to try to get you to be a high-functioning governance team. That is what keeps superintendents in place is when they function as a team. And so, we are committed to that. We also do school committee retreats. Uh, that is something that would be optional if you would like to have us facilitate that. We can

109do that also with a board member and a school committee member from our team that has experience kind of with both sides of the equation, being on the the governance side and being on the administration side. That can often help ease some of the tension that might exist between a school board or school committee and their leader. Uh, and so we we love doing that. And then the final slide and I'm going quick cuz I'm trying to make sure you you know, we have time for questions is that like I said earlier, concierge level service. Um, our goal is to make this process so that you feel like you know exactly what is happening. We provide you weekly updates via email. We have a uh, we use a program called Asana, which is a um,

110project management software. You can see, I know you can't see it here, but there's, you know, over 60 action points that need to be taken that need to be need to happen. We have a little data dashboard that shows the progress. We fully transparent with with the school committee and you know, answer questions hopefully before you ask them. We anticipate your questions and your concerns and we want to make sure that you look good in this process and that a superintendent who's interviewing you sees you as the type of governing body that they want to be a part of. Last slide just has you know, no way you could see that but just some of the some of the reflections from from our former clients and current clients. So, I'll stop there and would love

111to answer any questions you might have. Questions? Mr. Royce. >> The slide that you showed um there was 17 applicants from all over the country. What do you see a lot of the reasoning for them to go from one side of the country to the other? I know lots of times it's family but what are they looking for that would would drive them to go completely across country for a position? >> Yeah, that's a that's an excellent question and one that we are in the process of sort of getting feedback from in some cases it is from the candidates who do apply because that's an important consideration. In some cases it is family. What I what I think though and and the clarity with which we described the challenges and the opportunities and the strengths

112and the weaknesses of the district were appealing to the superintendent candidate that it they they were they were compelled and interested in this. Now, it's going to take a certain type of person at a certain phase of life. If you have kids in the elementary school, you're probably not going to move from California to to to, you know, to Boston, but um but we I the feedback that we get and you can actually it was in that quote a little bit of it was, you know, the the detail that we put um the way we I don't want to sound bad but like market the way we express the opportunity is compelling. And we draw people from all over the place consistently. >> Thank you. >> Other questions? Remember bias. >> I'll defer to you,

113Mr. Chair. Um so ThoughtExchange and I know my colleague did research and thank you. Um one of my concerns is and please correct me if there's if I'm wrong, but what would stop me for example as a community member filling out the survey 10 times and representing my my my thoughts 10 times, right? >> Yeah. Um I get that question all the time. It It doesn't the system actually can detect from your IP address where where that is happening. And actually there's another interesting feature. If you put in a comment that is like let's say you put in gibberish, like you just just put it it says it'll respond back to you and say, "It seems like your answer was incomplete. Would you like to resubmit it?" So it uses really proprietary software. It makes

114sure that, you know, the person completes their answer um and you can only submit an answer one time uh with your with your devote your phone or your computer and um yeah. Good question, though. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Vice Chair. So I'm going to ask the same exact questions as I did to the last group that came up, uh, HYA. >> Yep. >> Do you feel that the time of year and the impact that that brings to us right now? I mean, it it's a crunch if we started this process right now. Do you see having a potential candidate by by September? >> So, um, the short answer is yes. Um, and the reason for that is because I don't know if um, there is a particular pattern to when candidates are looking.

115I think it's very individual and I and I'll um, I heard Sue mention that um, you know, when when people come back from the summer and it's the fall, I think the experiences and the conversations I've had with superintendents have been, that's not the time that they want to think about a new job because they feel obligated and committed to starting their school year off in the right way. I don't think she's wrong. I think she's spoken to superintendents that have maintained that that position and I've spoken to superintendents that have had a different position. So, I don't really know that there's a way to, um, to, um, determine the ideal time. What I would say is if, um, there are some things that are outside of our control that we need to consider. One

116being how much time a superintendent that needs to, you know, give give notice to his or her community. In some cases, that could be 3 months. In some cases, super I've seen contracts where superintendents get a tremendous bonus if they give 12 months notice. And so, you know, there there are incentives for that. I think if you're not it I think it depends where I would advise you on whether to start now or whether to wait would be how you feel. I know you have an interim in place. How are things going there? What's your desire to continue to stay committed? So, I think it's a conversation about when. Uh but, I don't know that there's a there's an easy answer or a or a definitive answer. One way or the other. I think there's

117What I do What I do have is I have data. Um I put in in uh question number 11, I put a little screenshot of a tool we developed that gives you a sense for how many days we need in each of these different component processes. Um we can play with that. So, for instance, I say 35 days to post it. Well, we could do 30 days. So, if that week would help, um we have to think about spring breaks. We have to think about, you know, winter recess. We have to think about different things. So, it's um you know, it's not in the presentation. It's in the answers that I that I sent. So. >> The other question that I didn't ask was Hazard does much more than just superintendent searches, correct? >> Yes.

118>> You guys do um broader audits and and things like that, too. Have you seen Oh, I mean, we recently did an audit, but we have also potentially thought about our our city as a whole. In in just navigating this question to you, not just throwing it out there. Do you see a necessary need based off of bringing a new leadership? Does an audit help find candidates? Do you see an audit being done from a fiscal piece and or also a organizational piece being helpful and being completed before finding a new superintendent or right when they start? >> Mhm. It's a good question. We um I'll speak from experience, and I'll give you uh I'll give you this point of view. We were just asked to um in December to do a comprehensive audit for

119Kennebunkport, Maine. It They want this to look at their finance and operations, their transportation, their special education, their curriculum and instruction, every single area of of operation. Um everything. Soup to nuts, literally. Had It was 202 pages. Um this audit. Um the superintendent used this to help make budget decisions. The recommendations that we provided 150 recommendations that And this is a small district. Could conservatively save $1.6 million. And it also gave recommendations for where they could reinvest some of those savings to have some of the outcomes that they want in their community. Now, for this superintendent who has only been there about a year, less than a year, it becomes their strategic plan because we create a a tool with this that has all 150 those recommendations. And it identify I don't want to too

120much detail but like how much it would save, how much it would cost, who would be responsible, what the deliverable is, KPIs, due date, etc. So, I think yes, an audit is a very, very powerful tool to inform decisions. Um when I was a superintendent, I I always said that our strategic plan is what guides our budget. If, you know, and so it's it's the way you make decisions about how to spend is what does your plan say? If you don't want to we say we need a new ELA program. And the school committee doesn't want to pay for it, then okay, well, let's change our strategic plan because we said we wanted a new, you know, a new curriculum. Um so I think it's it's incredibly helpful and valuable. Especially on the on the

121beginning of a of a person's tenure. Um but if you've been in the place for 5 years it's also very helpful to have a third party. We had a team of directors of finance, assistant superintendents for curriculum, assistant soups for special ed, um superintendents. We had a large team that went in and and did this. Um and gave them great insights. But so short answer, yes. Um but it it doesn't mean that it doesn't have to be essential, but I think whatever your whatever additional data you can give to a superintendent to guide his or her first steps is is valuable. >> Other questions? Member Willett? >> And I kind of mentioned it with the other uh firm. >> Yeah. >> And it it could be a double-edged sword. It could be advantage, disadvantage in

122terms of uh local experience and and forte into the local communities. And this would if we do the ultimately your firm is approved um in terms of it would be a new process for you in Massachusetts. And you are national firm. And then you would be going into Massachusetts. Differentiate with the with the other firms that had experience in Massachusetts and what would be your advantage as a firm and it'd be the first going into the new market of Massachusetts. And I know you mentioned New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut as neighboring states. >> Yeah. >> So it's not exactly entirely new. But please, you know, go into that experience was a factor. I think in our we did our initial criteria. >> Sure. >> So how would that is advantages and disadvantages to each? >>

123I I honestly don't think I think where the the where it's important to understand the local context is around rules and regulations, statutes that affect the process. And I'll give you an example. In South Carolina when we did our search, the three final candidates had to be publicly presented. In Texas, where I did a search um 5 years ago uh with HYA, the final candidate had to have their name put in the newspaper. Um a search that I did actually um Sue mentioned Newton. I was on the search team for HYA in Newton, Mass. So, um I was I co-led that search in Newton. So, I'm familiar with Newton. I don't think geogra- geography matters. I don't think um I think but understanding the nuances. And that's why I brought Priya on our team because

124Priya is a sitting superintendent in Brockton, an hour away. She understands the local context. Uh she also has a lot of relationships. She's a lifelong educator Boston public schools. So, that's what I do. Like I said earlier, I build teams. I pull together the teams that I think are going to bring the best value and reach and insight to the search. >> Thank >> Yep. >> Any other questions? >> Remember Donovan? >> In your answers that you uh provided today um number 10, you were asked if there's a bilingual person. Now would your company and you say you have several leaders on our team that can Is that a guarantee that you would bring someone who could Okay. As opposed to us saying, "Oh, we well we need to find." Okay. >> Yep. >> Um

125currently, how many searches would you Well, how many searches would you be conducting in addition to Methuen's? >> concurrently >> Like yeah, at the yeah. >> Uh Well, we have a couple of proposals out. Um uh right now, we don't have any We have We have ones that are ending. We don't have anything else that is beginning. >> Okay. >> But but I want to and I was actually asked this question um it was interesting. I was asked this question when we were uh being interviewed by Yarmouth, Maine. And and we were current we were then do at the same time doing the search in South Portland, Maine, which is a very similar uh or adjacent community, very different community. And um she asked if we were doing any other searches in the area and

126I said no at the time. And then we were granted I I don't think I explained that well, but then we were granted to South Portland. So I called the chair the school committee chair back and I said I just want to let you know um we we were granted that main that other main search and I wanted to be up front with you and disclose that to you and she really appreciated my transparency, but that's how I act. So if um if we were doing another search uh number one, it wouldn't impede or challenge my ability to give you the time and attention you need uh because I could always bring additional people on. Um but um I can't say that we're not going to pursue other opportunities at the same time that may

127run concurrent with Methuen. >> Mhm. And again, can you just remind me how many people you said you'd bring other people on? Okay. Yeah. Okay. I'm good. Um my >> And I could give and I I just to give an example to a little detail for Stamford. So we didn't originally realize that Stamford wanted us to go to 23 schools um and that we could only do it on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday given some contractual limitations. So I reached out to my team and was able to get um enough consultants to to go and and do those in-person sessions and um you know, it could only be between 3:00 and 4:00 cuz it had to be after the school day. So capacity is not an issue uh whatsoever. And and so I just want to

128let you you know, be clear about that. >> Thank you. I I I have one more question. Oh, you spoke about you know, I we all understand this would be your first school in Massachusetts. And you you explained Yeah, yeah. But you explained >> Yeah. >> um the process and how you'd become familiar with that. But we are a gateway city >> Mhm. >> with different needs different strengths. Do you see that impacting your the search? Would would you we be looking for a different candidate? >> So, it was interesting in the questions that I know we we didn't we didn't I didn't really address this one, but you know, you talked about some of the challenges that you're experiencing as a school committee. >> Yes. >> Um it's unfortunately more the rule than the

129exception. Um one question was and I thought about like a a kind of funny response like, you know, we're dealing with um financial challenges. >> Yeah. >> I I mean who isn't? I mean every single district that I've encountered has had the same exact um reality. So, um the key is to help you identify what you need and to help find a superintendent that has the same passion for that area of work that needs to be done. A lot of it is overlapping. And and reality is and there was another there was another question that I'll you didn't ask, but I'll sort of answer. I don't think I think superintendents actually suit suit did allude to this. Superintendents love a challenge. But they like a challenge where they can clearly identify it and where they

130can sup- And I'm adding this part, I think, where they can rely on their team, their school committee, their board, their community, their administration to to solve the problems that are put before them. Uh that requires incredible amounts of trust in incredible amounts of social capital. and what we've found we do when we have these engagements with stakeholders is we build that social capital for your community. We give you We give you a report that will detail your community more to to a so such a high degree that there will be no ambiguity about what your most prevalent challenges are. We really We go deep into that and because we can hear it from multiple sources across multiple platforms. Thought exchange, completely anonymous, in person, virtual. You know, so we I think that's really what

131differentiates us is we get We understand um what the community's going through. And it's an And it's an accurate reflection. >> May I ask one more question? So, of the candidates that you do bring to school districts, could you say what percentage of the candidates for superintendents are sitting superintendents? Are you seeing um more non-sitting superintendents applying? >> I would say that um it depends on the the district. Um so, for instance, in a small We did a We did a search in Oxford, Connecticut. Most of the candidates, it's about 1,600 students, most of the candidates were um assistant superintendents, some superintend- like a couple of superintendents, and some principals. Um however, we did the We did a search for uh we're doing the search for Stamford. I mean, and that's a very attractive and

132desirable position. And you know, we had we had candidates that are assistant superintendents or chief of schools in districts that have 100,000 kids. So, how do you compare the scope and scale of work for a superintendent of a 1,600 student district versus assistant superintendent of a district with 100,000 students. So, I I tend not to I try to urge you to look at the candidate, the skills and dispositions of that candidate, what they've done, rather than their title. The title can be a little bit misleading. Um I think um you know, you could have a superintendent been doing it for 25 years, not good. So, it doesn't matter. What's the title matter? I think it's about finding the right person, using those personas to understand that person's, you know, preferred, you know, passion, and um

133and then providing the right support. >> Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it. >> Any other questions, members? Joyce? >> You um you mentioned that it would be a um a four-person team from McPherson that that you showed us on the screen. Do you sit on every one of your teams or not all of them? If you had several um searches going on at once, are you available for every team? My reason and my thought process for that question is I'm wondering if one team has a candidate, do your teams cross-reference, I guess, is my question. Like, if you are they familiar with all the team candidates? And oh, that team might have one that would fit this team. Is there any type of >> 100% >> Yes, there is. Yeah. And like a perfect example,

134um we are mindful in the way we conduct our timelines. Not that we we we ask a school committee to compromise its intent, but we're mindful of how we stagger it Uh because we have may have one superintendent up's position closing and then another one closing a week later that gives the opportunity for us to to look at candidates, but but here's the here's the reality is I don't just This would be going back against everything that I believe about recruitment is if I just said, "Hey, I you didn't get the Yarmouth which is like a high-performing, you know, upper-middle-class, wealthy community and then you didn't get that one. So, hey, do you want to apply to South Portland which is a complete different demographic. It would be it would that would So, we don't

135just say because you didn't get that job, here's another job in the state that's an hour away. We're we're more diligent about who we're recommending because of the skill set that the candidates bring and whether or not they'd be the right fit because my reputation is whether or not I succeed at bringing you a candidate that's successful. So, I don't want to just fill a position. I want to fill it. I want to I want to help you find somebody that's the right fit. >> Any other questions, Mayor Byas? >> Just one more question from me through you, Mr. Chair. Um so, as a previous question that was asked how you you mentioned that you would handle logistics, right? Like that's in in your presentation. Does that mean in terms of creating, let's say, a

136search committee, right? You'd give strong recommendations to the school committee on who should be on them and and the the targeted members and and all that, like, walk us through that process of a search committee or is that something that you say we strongly handle um those preliminary candidates. How does that work? >> I don't know if I understand your question. So, you're talking about a search committee being independent from the school committee. Is that correct? >> Well, usual- usually there's be a search committee that would uh kind of filter through initial candidates, like let's say 25 candidates, for example, and then a search committee would present to the full committee three candidates or something like that. Do you work with search committees or do you would you do you handle, let's say, the preliminary

137candidates and then you would present to the full committee >> like three candidates or something like >> you. So, whatever committee is appointed by the school committee to make recommendations for candidates, we present to them the entire slate of eight to 10 candidates. That's the where we do the uh the packet with it's a single packet and it has the 30 90-second video and we present each candidate, it's like a dossier for each candidate, why we're recommending them. Um Yeah. So, so the the search committee, if that's been identified, will see all eight to 10 of those candidates. So, there's there's basically three meetings. There's the slate presentation, which is usually virtual, because we could do it all online with the videos and the presentations. Um and then we do the semi-final round, which is

138in person, and the final round, which is in person. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> All right. That'll do it. Thank you very much. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Next on the agenda, we have policy subcommittee updates. Do you have any updates? Member Bias? >> Uh thank you, through you, Mr. Chair. So, uh in our first meeting for the policy subcommittee of 2026, we identified uh a chair and a secretary. So, I was graciously appointed chair and uh member Sorois uh secretary. We identified what our duties are, our functions, and our goals. So, uh I'm happy to report that the goals that we identified for the policy subcommittee is to kind of finish our policy review with mask uh by June in terms of the important instructional sections, sections I and

139section section J, so that we could simultaneously be working on a handbook uh for the district. We will be meeting weekly, and we've also identified that one of our duties will be to consider policies that have been referred to from the full committee to the subcommittee on an as-needed basis. Uh we'll be meeting weekly, and we will likely be reporting to the full committee recommendations on a wellness policy that we need to um get passed. So, what from um what you guys can expect from us uh in the coming meetings is a recommendation for a wellness policy and uh finishing up sections I and J. Anything else from any other members? >> May I and and to the members of the committee and congratulations to our new uh leaders on that committee. But my question

140is, when you folks bring a recommendation to us, will it be a true recommendation that the board has agreed on and want us to consider cuz that wasn't necessarily the case in the past, and I think we spent a lot of time talking about things that if we knew it came from the board, I mean, from the subcommittee as something they all agreed upon to a degree, uh um I think we'd move a lot faster and be more efficient. And I don't want to put you on the spot, member Bias, but I'm wondering what the feel is right now. >> So, I think So something that we talked about in our subcommittees and you'll see it in the minutes is uh procedure, right? On how things are going to be get are going to get

141done. And so when we go through our policies, Alicia from Mask will send us her recommendations, her redline, and her analysis of our sections. We have time to look at it. We do the analysis live. Um members are willing and able to kind of give their two cents. And then what Well, sort of what I'm thinking is is going to be implemented is generally debate and then try to get consensus on recommendation. So I don't know I mean I publicly participated as a constituent before on public on the policy subcommittee, but I can tell you moving forward as chair, I can um commit to trying to reach consensus and true debate for the for recommendation to the full committee. >> Thank you. Thank you. I would certainly I think that would be really productive for

142us. Thank you. >> I mean more of a statement. I think anything that comes from any of the boards is a recommendation from that board, even if it's like two to one. I mean that's a pass. So and we would want to know that too from the the the the boards to to to provide that to us. However, I do think and and to member Donovan's point, these are recommendations that you guys have thoroughly went through. And I'm not sure how it was in the past because I've been on committees where it wasn't fully baked, the idea, and it it came to fruition here. So Or not so much on the school committee, but in in in other positions I've served. So um but on my side, I will be scheduling a meeting um for

143the redistricting group. I know I said that the last meeting, but I will have it on the calendar before our next business meeting so we can meet before the vacation period. Thank you. >> So, our budget subcommittee met today. We are starting to drill down to some of the numbers. All very preliminary. Um and waiting for some of the additional information. We will be meeting in a joint meeting with our colleagues on the school uh city council and I understand that date is kind of up in the air right now, but we hope to have that nailed down. And um excuse me, this budget will be the budget that is um pretty without any extras right now. We have an ala carte uh menu that um Dr. Golosky and her team is working on, but

144um it's definitely one with uh deep concern and responsibility to our fiscal situation in the city right now. >> Um I I do want to mention that um the Tribune was at our subcommittee meeting today. So, I would expect to be reading about it tomorrow. Just to so there are no surprises. >> I just have a So, this is to the mayor real really. Um the joint meeting of the school committee and and city council finance subcommittee. I do have it on the calendar for Thursday 4/9. I'm not sure if that's confirmed. >> We'll confirm that. But does that count as the school committee and city council meeting twice a year? Does that count towards that quota? >> I don't think it does cuz my understanding is it would be both full bodies meeting twice

145a year. >> I just want to make sure. And do we have anything in the agenda to start planning that second meeting? Cuz it sounds like you guys are going to be meeting, which is great. That's more than we have ever done before. Um so I I I know that both committees will probably be updating their own bodies. At what point do we think it's time for us to go before the budget cycle or after we have approved our budget? Just to throw it out there because I I do think time's going to creep up on us pretty quickly. We're going to table. >> Sure. Uh I don't haven't really given that much thought. I think that something that we could certainly do is align that first joint meeting with the budget conversations, so uh

146definitely something to think about. >> Thank you. Awesome. >> All right. We're done with subcommittee updates. Uh we can move on to the Methuen Public Schools subcommittee meeting recording and public access policy proposal. Uh this would be a first read vote. Uh it's been proposed by member Bias. Let's have a a motion and a second and we can entertain discussion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion from the vice chair, second from member Donovan. I'll invite member Bias if you want to share an introduction and then we can engage in discussion. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor, through you. Uh so this policy was really born um from the time when I was a constituent to this body uh in doing research and attending meetings and finding it very difficult to follow along. And to that

147end, I believe that it is important that we supplement public trust with a dedication to transparency and accountability. So just for the general public's uh knowledge, I'm just going to read out the purpose. The Methuen School Committee affirms its commitment to transparency, public access, and accountability. To ensure the public has meaningful opportunities to follow the work of its subcommittees, this policy requires that all subcommittee meetings be recorded and that those recordings be made available to the public through the district's official website and media platforms. So, this is what this policy would essentially do. I've had conversations with the acting superintendent about its feasibility and I was reassured that this policy could be not only feasible, but effective in its end. So, I don't know if the before my colleagues have a chance to ask questions

148or debate if the acting superintendent could speak to that feasibility on how we could make this possible. >> Sure. I've checked in with our technology department and Mr. Wilkins, who heads up our our CT department and does he and the students help with the filming of these meetings. They feel confident that there's a way in which we could have a portable recording station so that it wouldn't necessarily need to be the case where we have subcommittee meetings in a larger venue with just a few people. But that through whether it be streaming, I'm not sure of the the technical um verbage here, but there'd be a recording station that would come along that we'd be able to to record the meetings. It's been also brought up that there may be a concern about storage or

149where all this footage would be stored, would there be a cost for that? I could certainly look into that with Mr. Wilkins. Um but certainly use by use of an owl camera or something of the like, I think we'd be able to to get it done. >> Thank you and so the you, Mr. Mayor, obviously your prerogative, but I'd open up the floor to positive criticism. >> Absolutely. Remember, we'll let them the vice chair. >> I mean, I think it's an excellent idea, and I'm fully supportive of it. Um the only things I would add is that we need to have um consistency of where we meet uh for the subcommittee meetings. Um it could be in the mayor's office or at the at city hall. It could be in the superintendent's office, but I

150think we have to really designate one location for subcommittee meetings. If it's in deference to the acting superintendent that we have it that location, and then the equipment could be installed, and it's easier for that to be accomplished, that's great. I'm also concerned about the different timelines. I want to have consistency on the timelines. I don't want to have like one would be 10:00 in the morning versus 3:30 in the afternoon or before our meetings. In order to accommodate people's schedules, I think we either have to survey the population or try to get some sense of the location and the timeline. And then if we have, again, matching as much as possible, cuz I brought up about the workshops in the years past, and previously we didn't have our workshops televised. And I wanted to

151make sure that was accomplished. So, I did that in the past. And then we had at the Searles building, but I also understand it's credit for the students here, and we have a good facility here to have meetings. I'm just concerned the subcommittee meetings, how we're arranging it. Sometimes it's at the media center, sometimes it's at the mayor's office. We've had it at the superintendent's office. And if someone happens to want to attend a meeting, uh there might be some confusion, and then also the the timelines. So, those were as we're going through the process, obviously this is a first read, those are the concerns I would bring to um um the subcommittee uh policy subcommittee on this in terms of the the timeline and having some type of as much as we can just

152a permanent location for subcommittee meetings. If the superintendent and her intelligence is willing to do that and then we have a reasonable timeline of like anything be like 3:00 onward. That would maybe accommodate maybe people's schedules if they take a half day or after the kids are dropped off at school. If you have it 10:00 in the morning, maybe people will have to take a day out of work. So, I think we want to do is have transparency and consistency and a good location for these meetings. Thank you. >> Thank you, Vice Chair and the member >> Thank you. I You know, I want to echo what member Willette said because, you know, we could have potentially these meetings at 10:00 at any location. But, we can't have it here. Um it would have to

153be somewhere in a private location in the school like in the conference room if that's even a place that we would want to do it. But, this is a school. It's actively working. Uh so, we are kind of locked in between what after 3:00 pretty much at this point. Uh Madam Superintendent >> Yes. >> So, anytime between 3:00 and before meeting um and or a day that is convenient now for this group. So, my question can be could we technically I mean it would the storage is YouTube. It goes right to the YouTube's what site. Could we in theory partner with MCS if we were to wanted to do live stream? Or could we in theory do it at the Searles uh in the great hall if we wanted to have it during the week

154and then post it onto the YouTube channel. >> Just to share a thought uh just based on my own experience as a counselor etc. Um you know, nothing prohibits us from for instance say uh holding a meeting, having it recorded somehow, and then it it being aired later. Like there's no I don't think there's anything that requires >> that but public access is needed. >> Well, something else to keep in mind as well. Right now in Massachusetts, we still have the ability to conduct remote meetings. And so one work-around to allow for all meetings to be recorded uh and let's say there were issues with location with say convenience in terms of you know, getting to that location at this particular time. One option that we might want to consider is we do have the

155ability to meet via Zoom and then have those recorded and such and that could provide some flexibility as well just to guide the conversation. >> I agree but but public access is what I'm trying to get at. If we were to have this meeting here, it would have to be open to the public after the schools closed. There shouldn't be any students in the school if we're going to have a public meeting. A subcommittee should have the ability for the public to attend at the subcommittee meeting. But what I do want to echo is that if and I do want to make a friendly amendment here to to policy uh subsection one recording requirement um A is video could be dead one day. It the video might not work. You could technically record it on

156your phone, the audio, and submit it as a a file. Um or we get a recording device here. I'm not sure if we have one but record the meeting. And then at that point it could be held anywhere. So I I like to to to do a friendly amendment here if possible. Um where it it says all standing and ad hoc subcommittee meetings of the Methuen School Committee shall be recorded in audio and or video format. And Mr. Bias, do you accept that friendly amendment? >> I'll accept the debate on that. I'll open it up. >> Is there a second? >> Well, I motioned it and he seconded it. So, yeah. >> Yeah. >> I I'm open. I mean, you're going to open it up for debates. >> Uh so, I get your point about

157the video might be dead. And if this is So, let me backtrack a little bit. So, the concerns that have been raised about time uh and location. On this policy, the reason why there isn't a specific and I talked to the superintendent about this. The reason there's not a specific location or place or time cuz we believe, and I think member Willett was getting at this, that's a separate probably policy that could be crafted about subcommittee meetings procedures. What this policy is just doing is just saying wherever it is held, in whatever format it's held, that it should needs to be recorded. Right. Um to the amendment on and or uh I get it, but how for the community is it any help to just have, you know, a voice or or I mean, I

158guess if there's a transcript, but that's even more work for for whoever's going to be doing the transcript on who's saying what on member on community members that don't know the voices of uh school committee members or officers that are of the subcommittee. Like, we have Alicia on the policy subcommittee, right? Who it's it I just think that it might be a little bit harder to follow. Um and if we have that and/or language, we might fall to that just audio out of convenience. Thank you. But I understand what you're what you're saying. >> So, two things. If a video is not there, then the subcommittee is canceled. So, you would you you lose the opportunity there. The second part is that's a podcast. I mean, I I podcast aren't video. It's not all of

159them are video. Audio allows you the ability to continue to do the business if video's not available. But again, it's and/or. So, it's really up to the subcommittee to make it available for video. It's just an alternative, in my opinion. So, instead of canceling the meeting. >> To your point about uh subcommittees being canceled if we can't do video, that is un- well, I would say I would refer to you to section three exceptions. A, where it says, "In the event that technical, logistical, or emergency circumstances make recording unfeasible, the chair of the subcommittee shall document the reasons in writing." So, it doesn't mean that the subcommittee meeting doesn't happen. It just means that uh in the event that it can't be recorded, it needs to be presented in writing to the full committee later

160on. >> So, going back to what you just stated, audio would be the alternative in- instead of writing the transcript. So, I'm just saying the easier route would be and/or audio. But also then, if we're just going to do that, then location is key. Because you need to be a place that video is acceptable. So then, going back to your original point of that being a separate policy, I disagree. We need a location for this before we can vote on this, in my opinion. >> Well then, I'll just leave that to the will of the committee on that debate. >> Again, through the chair, I think because this is a first read we we can amend this process before we vote on the final package. I brought concerns tonight that I didn't bring it up

161to member Baez. You might have similar concerns. Um I think there's an emergency provision in this that worst case scenario if you have the video would be the first thing the default would be the audio. If both things go then you have an a writing thing, but it wouldn't be the default to go to to writing. You would have a video component to it automatically. And I think you have to codify that in a policy. We don't have that right now. We could set up a meeting for a subcommittee meeting and not have video or audio. Someone would be just taking notes. And we could have different locations for that. So I think it's a good strong starting point and then we can we can tinker with it, amend it as we're going along the

162process because the second and final read will need to have certain things that I would be satisfied with. Um again, I'm you know, I'm concerned about the one person wanting to go to a subcommittee meeting and thinking it's at the media center. Or a person that would love to go to it but can't take time off of work but can be there for 3:00 meeting. And we've had subcommittee meetings at 10:00 in the morning. I think in order to have the the greatest audience potentially for these subcommittee meetings which again we're conducting very important work. Um I I think we need to be as transparent and consistent as possible. Um and we can explore it before we take a final vote. That's just my opinion on that. >> So I'm concerned about saying that we

163have to have it in a certain location or a certain time, etc. because for instance, the policy subcommittee requires Maggie to be there and Ian to be there. So, we do it at City Hall during work hours so that Maggie can be there because that's what's important for that subcommittee. The policy subcommittee requires Dr. Globensky to be there and possibly other people as we've pulled in. We've had to pull in Colleen before. Again, it has to be during school working hours because that's when those people are available. So, to say that we can't have a meeting at 10:00 in the morning is not necessarily a good idea because that might be when those people are actually available and those are the people we need to get the information we need to make the decisions and

164bring those forward to the committee. So, I'm very very concerned about limiting our ability to be flexible with the people who work in this city and being at us going to them when they're available. Um so, I would be very, very hesitant to any policy that limits when and where and how we do anything. Um Additionally, I'm also concerned that it doesn't say how long we need to keep the um the videos. So, for instance, if >> I have to interrupt, but we have a We're going We're going off the amendment. I don't want I just want to stay on the amendment. What you're saying is very important stuff. I don't want to interrupt it, but it's Let's close up the amendment and then go on to the rest of the policy. I just don't

165want you to lose thought on that. >> Sure. Sure. Sure. Okay. >> Can you Can you clarify the amendment just so we know? >> The amendment is under policy section 1 subsection A, all standing and ad hoc subcommittee meetings of the Methuen School Committee shall be recorded in audio and or video format. >> And that's the proposed amendment. So, and so let's take a We'll vote on it. All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? I PI's have it, so it's been amended. So, let's let's have a motion to approve as amended. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay, motion's from the vice chair, seconds from member Donovan. So, we'll have further discussion. I'll invite member Keegan to finish up. >> All right. That's okay. No, I appreciate it. Um so, my other concern is

166is storage and how long we're keeping things. And I know you said, "Well, it just goes to YouTube." Well, if this policy says that we have to have the video and YouTube goes away, we need a backup here somehow that we own and we're in in in um control of. Because if YouTube were to go away tomorrow because it goes under for whatever reason and then I know we'll think, "Oh, no, it never could happen." But, it could happen. So, we actually are responsible for storing our own things. And one, we need to know how much that's going to cost. Two, we need to know how long we need to store the videos for. Um videos are large files and so, at this point, are we buying something to store these videos on in perpetuity

167and at I mean, it's it gets to be a cost issue. And I would not be in favor of anything that's going to add cost to our budget right now at all. That's all. >> Let's hear from member Donovan then member Willett. >> So, I just have some questions that maybe will help us move this forward, um member Bias. Um All good points brought up. I would just want us to focus on this and not locations right now cuz that's a whole different ball game. And I'd also like to point out that many of us have responsibilities during the day and work and and have families and all sorts of stuff. So, it's really, really hard to schedule. And I'm referring specifically to the people in the school department who um have jobs to do

168and we we kind of try to accommodate the schedule because we so need them to do this important work. So, that's it. Do we have an Owl camera? Because I've seen it in action and it's pretty terrific. >> I have two. Uh um I have also, I should say, we're in the process of purchasing Owl cam- cameras as part of our early college program. Um and also looking to install them in some of our central meeting places. >> Okay, that would be a significant um help. The other question >> Owl, too. >> Oh, you do? Okay. Well, that's all good news. It's where in City Hall. >> IT maintains it. >> Actually, we used it for the meeting with Desi. Oh, okay, you're right. >> Member Donovan, can you just speak to the effectiveness of

169Owl cameras since you >> Well, I have sat in our meetings um for instance at the local library where we're able to have people um joining in remotely and people present. And it seems I don't know much about it, but it seems to be voice activated and um I found it to be incredibly easy um to be part of a meeting where the Owl camera was also present >> was heard. >> So, that would be terrific if we could somehow get our hands on that. Member Keegan, I think you have a really good point. Um and I'd be very curious cuz I believe this What does the City Council do? Maybe we can learn from them. No, but in terms of where where these meetings the video would be stored. >> May I? >> That

170could be. And then I'm done. Yes. >> So, I have to say that I do agree with member Keegan on time and location. Like I mentioned, this was the language was built to accommodate all possible scenarios. Um in terms of the retention, right? And where where it would be stored, the language in the policy does say, you know, it should follow state retention schedules. Uh where it would be stored, I think that that's something that we could explore with the website redesign and what does and what that means with the website redesign and uh you know, like just mentioned that that brought me back to the city and what the city does and they have their comprehensive website which um might be a little bit to my own personal experience, the city website is a

171little bit difficult to use in that sense, but um that's something that I think is good for the website redesign and what that means for it. >> Member Willett. >> Yeah, just to piggyback on the the secretary in terms of the timelines, I'd be curious too about the city council. I think the vice chair alluded to that they've had some flexibility in the in the time frame. So, if we can verify that, that might allay some of my concerns. Thank you. >> All right. >> So, I'd like to move the question. >> Second. >> All right. All right. Let's All right. So, we have a motion to move the question. It's been seconded. All those in favor move the question? >> Aye. >> All right. So, let's take a vote on the proposal as amended.

172Uh all those in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Guys have it. So, it's passed on the first reading. Uh next we have on the agenda uh maintenance and custodial supervisors job title and description change. Uh we need a motion and a second to approve. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion from member Saroyce, second from member Keegan. Discussion? >> This was the same proposal that was brought forth by Mr. Goslin on March 5th. On the agenda that on that date we didn't have the vote for approval. So although I think the committee was in support of this change, we're just put it back on tonight for formal approval. >> Any other discussion, questions? If not, we'll vote. All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? The eyes have it. Next on the agenda we have

173selection of additional school committee meeting dates for budget workshops. Um this is something that we can certainly discuss, but also uh you know, we could also uh just trying to think of uh scheduling. I mean I we could piggyback it off of regular meetings, you know, if we want to do them separately. I'll leave it up to the committee, but we can coordinate dates. I don't think we have to set dates tonight. >> Yeah, quick question. Is this coming from the superintendent's office or from you? Or subcommittee, sorry. Just trying to >> Uh we had discussed in our finance subcommittee today a special meeting to put the preliminary budget presentation. We just wanted to see if that was a date we could get on everyone's calendars and then subsequently schedule budget workshops or items to

174discuss on other workshop dates. >> So point of inquiry to the chair of the subcommittee. Are you ready to pre- present the budget to us by by May 1st? It's It's usually after >> Well, no, to prepare to present to the school committee. >> Yes. Well, April 1st is only a couple of weeks. That's why I asked. >> I think there are many moving parts and as we've learned from the past few years, it's never over till it's really over. But I think it's important. I would like to hear the team has been working really hard to I mean they're looking at numbers, stats student numbers. They're looking at what we really really need. But I think Dr. Golupski would appreciate some feedback from us with some of the information that she is now bringing

175forward. >> Um so we were thinking of on April 16th scheduling a special meeting to present um our first iteration of preliminary budget for for a review within subsequent workshop dates for us to discuss um maybe go back and alter revise based on your feedback. >> So quick question. Are you proposing when you have that sub uh subcommittee meeting with the council are you presenting the numbers that you would present to us at that following meeting? >> I don't think in in the comprehensive package, but I think we'd give the highlights of some um perceived areas of need or um significant um savings if there are any of those um and highlight you know like we did today in the subcommittee um changes in terms of salary and special education figures. Um but to give

176the comprehensive package and presentation, we would wait until that that date was the special meeting with the school committee. >> And that meeting with our friends on the city council came from them. That was the request that came from them. And I think it's important that we do meet. Um but I also think it's important that the board here give our listen to Dr. Golupski and then give her the feedback that will will drive us forward. >> So April 16th was the preliminary >> That was the thought. Um on the 27th of April, we have a regularly scheduled workshop meeting, which we could add some more um add item for discussion on the workshop uh budget issue again. Um and then we could follow up with other meetings as well. Uh we'd like to get

177an earlier start than we did last year. >> So quick question to you, Chair >> April vacation committee. >> Is it possible that we receive it then on the 16th and review it over vacation break and then come back on the 27th with our questions and review? If not, we would want I would personally would want it at least a week in advance before the 16th. So I'm prepping. >> I don't see any issue with that. >> No. >> All right. >> I if I may, knowing that there will probably be changes nothing is going to be set in stone. As we This is a living working document. And I know I think it sounds like part of the issue is the meeting is during April vacation. Would that be part of the concern? >>

178The meeting's not during April vacation. >> Oh, it's not. When is the meeting? >> before April vacation. >> Oh, okay. I thought it was >> This would just be an opportunity to give a presentation in a meeting we can just focus on that first pass and then you could digest over vacation. >> I think that would be fine. And we can coordinate this, you know, with with the acting superintendent. The the specific date. Remember what I said? >> And another thing to keep in mind too is that um concurrently we'll be dealing with the budget on the house side. And they'll be filing amendments and usually during that April school vacation week they reconcile the language. I think we need to have an initial meeting to to warn the population that there's going to be

179a differential between our expectations and reality. What we want versus what the the final product is going to be. And there's going to have to be a lifeline again with the circuit breaker funding and giving us some tools at the local level. Because like in terms of like I mentioned before with the pot dispensaries, right? It's a Herculean red tape drowning process to even entertain pot dispensaries. And we couldn't even if we established it, went through a controversial process, and had an industrial park, right? The funding has to be allocated for a different purpose than what we could for our schools. Um the meals tax, which I might want to increase incrementally and dedicate that to our libraries because we've had people at the podium year after year advocate for librarians. Now, if we increase

180the meals tax as a local option and take that vote, right? That might be entertained as part of the budget process. I know circuit breaker funding is a huge thing. And also on the house side and the senate side, the differential in chapter 70 to account for inflation in the past, that's been offered as amendments as well. And we're talking anywhere from 200 to 300 million dollars. That would be another lifeline. So, I think it's crucial that before the the house reconciles its budget amendments and goes through a whole marathon session, we as a body need to present to the community cuz what ends up happening is they'll go to the podium and they'll focus their energy on the school committee and on the city council, and that's not where the focus should be. I

181commend the people that went to I wasn't able to go to in Haverhill, and they brought the the local officials, but they also brought the estate officials, the legislative delegations from Haverhill and Methuen, right? It's paramount again as a body that we approach regarding the millionaires tax, that we approach for additional tools. Not to overtax people, but to help us fund literacy programs and and fund our libraries. So, that would be the the time frame I'm looking at, and I think I appreciate the subcommittee for it, but I think time is of the essence because we really have to mobilize as a community and focus our energies at Beacon Hill cuz it's going to be a very difficult year. Thank you. >> I think this is another thing we just need to move forward on.

182Um member Dizoglio and and other folks, do you think it'd be more helpful if we had our meeting first and then met with the city council? I don't I don't know. I did not say. >> want to hint towards that, but >> No, I mean we're >> I don't know how much we can accomplish before April 9th. >> what would be more and I understand that date is not set in stone. I was not involved in setting that, but I mean what would be the best for our what we're attempting to do, pull everything together. I'm open to either, make myself available, but if that's what you are were heading towards member Dizoglio, I understand. >> Again, the mayor just said it. What can we accomplish by April 9th? I mean what's another week for

183us to find out. That's why I was asking for it in advance before the 16th. I didn't want to hint towards that, but I did and and and speaking on on why you guys were meeting. Anything that's going to be said in a meeting like that, I don't want it to be the first time this body hears it potentially. So, that's why if we can get a copy of whatever's presented to them and or the actual budget so that we could have it a week in advance, your proposal, instead of just seeing it for the first time, digesting it, I feel like every time we receive a budget, it's a shock. You know, I I just I just in general and again, I I don't want the initial shock to be on the floor here

184or watching it in another room where the rest of the body is not at. That's it. >> That makes sense. >> Just a quick question. Oh, I'm so sorry. >> Uh yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair, through you. I just wanted to point out that I'm reading this you know, scheduling a workshop not to necessarily set super high expectations on where we want to be, but just to present where we are. Right? I think there's a difference in perspective on that and um I just think that we should let the subcommittee and the city council subcommittee be able to do their work without again, yes, we it is a timely uh process, but I'm personally willing to make sure that you guys have the tools and the time and and and and the availability to present

185to us what you have been working on, not necessarily have something that you're you're expected to present to us during this April 16th meeting, for example. >> Member Sirois and Member Keegan. >> I I was just looking for clarification on the dates you're speaking about. The one for April 16th, that's just the school committee that would be meeting at that meeting. And then you said April 9th, I wasn't sure what that >> That's the subcommittee. >> The subcommittee meeting. Okay. >> Subcommittee. I I'm not sure if there's anyone else, but I just want to >> Member Keegan, and this is something we we can sort this out, you know, offline. >> So, I have two points to make. First off, um subcommittee meeting handouts are public. And like I said, you're going to be reading

186about it in tomorrow in the Tribune. So, um it's not going to be a surprise come April 9th. You're going to get numbers tomorrow in the Tribune. Okay? So, I just want to be clear on that. Um you know, like that's that's the reality, right? Um and my I forgot what my second point is. Oh, we're doing things a little bit differently this year um and we're presenting a just a straight rollover budget of what we are funding right now, what it's going to cost us next year. And then we're going to add on the side a wish list of things we would love to add if there were money. Okay? So, it's going to be presented very differently than it has been in the past. >> The goal is to have one budget proposal

187for the committee to consider so that we don't have the issue that we had last year where there were multiples and uh the thought is uh for us to, you know, enter the process on a more united front. >> Yeah. >> And that's where we're at now. Yes, and we can coordinate we can coordinate this offline. We don't need to have this. >> It's just like, you know, think of it when you go book a hotel. You pick a standard room and then if you want to go up to the next thing, it's plus a number. If you want to go up another step, it's plus this number. The only reason why I am saying this now is because you know this room is going to be full at some point with people talking to

188us about not cutting theater or not charging for sports or not taking away bus routes. And I want that narrative out sooner and us understanding it before the council starts weighing in on their own commentary. Just prepping us all and Mr. Bias, for you for you for the first time going through the budget, you're now on the other side of the fence here, so that's why we all know that this room's going to get wild and crazy by April. So, I'm just I just want to be open and honest here of us finding out those numbers before everyone else. Thank you. >> All right. Last comment. Remember we let >> And we've we've been here. I've been here for This is my third year back on the school committee. We know that the governor's budget

189is devastating automatically. But one uh 0.5 to 2% increase isn't going to accomplish when you have uh insurance costs energy costs transportation costs um collective bargaining agreements Okay, so just the the normal costs of operation are going to be far exceeded by what the governor had presented in in her budget plan. That's been consistent over the last 3 years. And I like I said before, I think the millionaires uh tax is becoming um a poor uh bill of goods because it's it's being more diverted towards the T. And I I've said that in the record in the past. I think your foundation to your society is your your K through 12 public education. Going back to Horace Mann in in Massachusetts. Okay? It's it's not community colleges, it's not the T. It's not open borders.

190It's your K through 12 education. And we're grossly underfunded in Massachusetts. Okay? And we have a neighboring uh community of Haverhill. He has a PhD in economics. He'll tell you in in Mass budget, which is left-leaning, will tell you that we're undercut by anywhere from 7 to 8 million dollars. So, you know, that's all that figure is is well known to the the populace. What my concern is is is mobilizing that energy, and it's a good positive energy. I don't mind attending the the the public hearings. I really don't. Your focus needs to be on Beacon Hill. Because if we didn't get at the last second the circuit breaker funding, we would have had massive layoffs beyond the layoffs that we incurred. Okay? I don't want to go through that experience again. I also I

191hear at the podium a lot, too, is people crying to have librarians in our schools, and it's a valid concern. But we're not as a community we're not given the tools. Like I said before, the pot dispensaries it's ridiculous red tape. And we can't divert that money to the schools. It has to be for uh a mitigating thing for the pot dispensary. It's ridiculous. It should be diverted to the schools if we decide to do that. If we wanted an incremental increase to the meals tax, that should be able to go to the schools. What they focus on is uh doing away with Proposition 2 and 1/2, which is ridiculous, or doing an astronomical increase to the auto excise tax, right? Give us the tools and give us some additional funding. 48% of people in

192Massachusetts voted against the millionaires tax. I think those 48% of the people stand to be uh right in their assessment because if you're going into the endless pit of the T, right? The original promise was to education. And we're not receiving that. They have the sales tax goes to the T, and now the millionaires tax goes to the T, and we're paying off the debt of the T. Meanwhile, we're laying off Boston's going to be laying off hundreds of people. We've laid off dozens of people over the last 3 years. Okay? What is the purpose of the millionaires tax? What's the purpose of DraftKings? What's the purpose of casinos? What's the purpose of the meals tax? What's the purpose of pot dispensaries? You don't give the communities the tools and then you promote open borders,

193which is draining our accounts locally, right? You put us between a rock and a hard place, but we've had this same conversation year after year. I'll give the same speech again. Thank you. >> All right. Any other business from the committee? >> Did we agree on a date? >> No, I thought we had We'll we'll We'll sort that out. Okay. All right. >> Is there business from the committee? >> Yes. >> Telethon Wednesday, Tuesday and Wednesday night. Make sure. It's going to be great. We raise money for so many of our students, well, our scholarship committee does, and they are the best people. They work so hard. So, make sure as some of us will be there manning the phones. I hope everyone calls in and makes a donation for every $50 donation, you get

194$80 in like good stuff, like gift gift certificates. It's great. So, can't wait. >> Very good. >> Of course, I always have to mention the backpack program. They're still looking for donations if anybody has anything that they would like to drop off at the central building. Thank you. >> Um member Donovan, could you tell us about your literacy night, please? >> Okay, tomorrow night 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Timony. If you have not signed up, please feel welcome anyway. We'll be uh breaking into three working groups because as a result of the survey that we did, um we know there's a need for dealing with the summer slide, reaching out to our youngest readers, early childhood and their families, and then um building some sort of community bridge so we can have people in

195the community actively support our our readers. And keep in mind, this was all created because we truly believe it takes a village to raise a lead a reader. It is not the sole responsibility of our uh schools. So, we're hoping for a good turnout the first time, and we're hoping for more to come. So, 6:00 to 8:00 tomorrow at the Timony. There'll be a story time for kids, if you want to bring your children, and there'll be food. So, look forward to seeing people there. >> Just want to let the community know about the 22nd annual Valley Patriot Scholarship Bash. Two Methuen students will be receiving scholarships uh during this bash on March 27th. So, very proud. >> Member Willette? >> I'll be making my plea once again to have a second round of the

196survey for the audit. And hopefully that's going to be funded by the city council, or if we need to do it, I think we need to have a second round of the survey go out based on the audit results. Thank you. >> All right. Need a motion. Do you have a motion to adjourn? >> Second. >> I'll make the motion. >> Second. >> All right. Uh motion's from everybody, and second's from member Donovan. All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? The time is 8:43, and we're adjourned. >> So, what are we doing with our rubrics? So, we can call me Um >> I think that's just first of all about