001Good evening everyone. We're going to get started. I call the May 14th, 2026 meeting of the Middleborough School Committee to order. Please stand if able for the Pledge of Allegiance. We're on this side this week. 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 for all. Thank you very much. We are going to start tonight off with a special presentation. Our student spotlight tonight is from the Memorial Early Childhood Center, and we welcome the students from Mrs. Cook's, Mrs. Paling's, Mrs. Stokers, Miss Sai, and Miss Tilly's classes for their space camp presentation. >> [clears throat] >> Sorry, our spaceship just got back. Wherever you want to go. You can come up front if you'd like
002or right there. Good evening, members of the school committee, um MPS staff, and the Middleborough community. We thank you for allowing us to join you tonight and be the student spotlight. My name is Carly Paling and I'm a kindergarten teacher at the Memorial Early Childhood Center. I'm Katie Cook, kindergarten teacher. I'm Christina Stoker, kindergarten teacher. And I'm Courtney Satcher, another kindergarten teacher. In an effort to engage our classes in non-fiction texts, we spent several weeks reading, writing, and learning about the solar system. The kids' knowledge of text features and space facts is truly impressive, and at the end of the unit, we boarded a rocket ship to travel to each planet in the solar system. On the day of space camp, students came wearing spacesuits and astronaut helmets. We traveled via space shuttle and rover
003and engaged in many hands-on activities. Students mixed alien slime, dropped craters onto a lunar surface, worked as a team aboard a space station, painted radioactive moon rocks, and more. Our kindergarten journey into space even timed perfectly to coincide with the Artemis, adding to the excitement and authenticity of space camp. Our kindergarten space camp would not have been possible without support from colleagues, families who donated their time and supplies, and of course the kindergarten astronauts who put on brave faces and prepared to board a rocket ship with their teachers. A special thank you to Mr. Perrone, Sue Panini, Kristen Phillips, and other district admin for making time to attend. We could stand here and tell you all about the event that was space camp, but really who better to tell you about it than the youngest
004learners in our district who experienced this event. So, we have some eager kindergarten astronauts and astronomers ready to share with you. You'll notice that some of them are reading and some of them are just talking to things that they know and and and learning that they acquired. Um we feel strongly at our level that events like this, hands-on, integrated activities are the parts of school that children are going to remember the most. So, that's why we make such an effort to put on events like this. And um I speak on behalf of my colleagues, we feel grateful to work in a district that values big ideas and lets five- and six-year-olds learn like five- and six-year-olds. So, without further ado, we will introduce some kindergarten astronauts to you. My name I Hi, my name is
005William Dabrowski and I am 6 years old. Could our teachers really take us on a 9.3 trillion mile journey through around the solar system? Mhm. Well, kinder Kinder kindergarten teachers can do anything. So, we went to space. >> [snorts] >> One, nobody was hurt. Two, we learned a lot and three, just like the original event, there's some other people that are going to talk and also the same thing at the original event. Thank you. My name is Ryder Reardon. Six. We blasted off off from Mac and land on Mercury. Did you know Mercury is the closest one to the sun? We had so much fun at space camp. I want to be a astronaut when I grow up. >> [applause] >> My name. My name is Maddie Menard. I'm 6 years old. After we blasted
006off to Venus, but we had to be careful because is Venus is the hottest planet and it's hotter than oven. >> [applause] >> My name is Carly McHugh and I'm 6 years old. We got hungry. We took a stop on Earth and we got hungry. So, we took a snack and we had dried fruit and there was strawberries and the kindergarteners didn't like the strawberries, but I did. >> [applause] >> My name is Carson Hannah. I'm 5 years old. We traveled to Mars, the red planet. We met met a Martian and took a ride on a rover. Even Mr. Perrone took a spin. >> [applause] >> Before we hear about the next planet, there's something between Mars and the next planet, right, Will? Right. Can you tell us about that? The asteroid belt, known as
007asteroids separating the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars from the outer planet planets, which are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Uranus, whatever you want to call it. And Neptune. We avoided the asteroids. We also avoided black holes. Black holes are are formed when stars die and collapse into each other. The sun is a star, so don't worry, it won't do that for a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time. >> [applause] >> My name is Calvin Frazier. I am 5 years old. Next, we visited Jupiter, the biggest planet. We We had to be careful because there's a red red spot. It's a big storm. >> [applause] >> My name is Lincoln Parks. I'm 6 years old. The sixth planet from the sun is Saturn. This planet This planet is my favorite
008planet because it's famous for its rings. Saturn has seven beautiful rings just like Tom Brady. Just like what? >> [applause] >> My name is John Cooney. I am 6 years old. Most planets rotate like a top, but but only the planet Uranus spins on its side. Most of all, Uranus is a gas giant. My name is Jacob. I'm 6 years old. The eighth planet from the sun is Neptune. It's a cold, icy giant with strong wind. We made sure we fasten our seat belts so we didn't blow away. >> [applause] >> Now here Now here's the big debate. Pluto used to be considered a planet, but then scientists determined it didn't meet all the criteria. The kindergarten astronauts all wanted Pluto to be voted back into the planet club. All in favor? All. >> [applause]
009>> My name Jackson Burley. After our journey, we safely made it back to Earth. We even earned a diploma for our bravery. We have more astronauts here to share a poem with you. Let's hear it, astronauts. >> [applause] [snorts] >> Climb aboard [music and singing] the spaceship, we're going to the moon. Hurry and get ready, we're going to blast off soon. Put on your helmets and buckle up real tight. Here comes the countdown, let's count with all our might. 10 9 >> [screaming] >> 8 BLAST OFF! >> [screaming] [applause] >> NICE JOB, ASTRONAUTS. ALL RIGHT. Thank you so much. That was great. Thank Thank you for sharing. >> for having us. Yes. Any thoughts or comments from the committee? Okay. Um Oh, um I went to the event and it was awesome, but my son
010also did it with Ms. Paling's class. Um so I got to experience again times two and it's just I I think it's a great experience for these kids. I think you guys are pretty I can't believe the way that you read and how confident you are out there in front of everybody. It was really cool to watch you. Thank you for coming. Yeah, I think you did all did a great job. Thanks for coming tonight. Thank you very much. Uh one of the things that's so important with our our younger students getting experiences like this is fostering that love of learning. And there are great interactive events. Maybe not as adorable as this, but all the way up through the 12th grade. And I would love if we could, you know, spotlight all of these
011more often every every meeting that we have. Cuz this is really where that love of learning is fostered. Thank you. Perfect. Well, thank you all. Thank you families for coming out and bringing them and sharing them with us tonight. And thank you guys so much. Hopefully we'll see you again at another presentation. Thank you. >> [applause] >> All right. Moving on to less cute >> [laughter] >> parts of the agenda, I'm sure. Um so, the next item on the agenda is the rules and procedures for public comment. So, as during the last two meetings in response to the community's desire to have more participation and removing the 3-minute rule, which is a current policy, the committee will enact another one of our policies to pause this. Um so for tonight's meeting, I'll entertain a motion
012to suspend the 3-minute rule policy. Oh. No, you got it. Second. >> [laughter] >> So moved. Oh, second. All in favor? I. >> I. All right. Still learning. >> Any opposed? Great. Vote passes unanimously. All right. I'll now open the floor for public comment and would like to just remind the audience that the school committee is committed to respectful dialogue. Um and to please keep your comments concise so that all who wish to speak are able and the school committee cannot have discussion on topic not on tonight's agenda due to the open meeting law. Also, we ask that if an individual has come up once um that they not come up again until everyone who wants to speak has the opportunity. And please remember that we do allow people to come up during the agenda
013items, so that may be a better time um to ask some questions about what's on the agenda. So I open the floor if anybody wants to come up. Oh. All righty. Seeing nobody, we will move on. All right. Oh. Sam. Caught my eye. >> [laughter] >> All right. We will move on to discussion items. So report from our student representatives, Jackson and Mason. All right. So we have some uh district-wide reports to start with. Um this will be Mason and I's last meeting as the uh school committee reps. There will be new people for the um the 28th. Correct date was it? June, my bad. Um, and then May 22nd is going to be an early release, and May 25th is no school for Memorial Day. From the Mac, the May word of the month
014is cooperation. May is all about life cycles and growth. They just received baby caterpillars and will watch them grow into butterflies. Field day is scheduled for Thursday, May 28th. If it rains, it will be held indoors. Uh, this week the kindergarten families got to see the first of three music shows led by the amazing music teacher, Mrs. Katie Iverson. This year's theme is about our love for our country and with patriotic songs. Last week they celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week and Nurses Day. Uh, they are so thankful for every single staff member over at the Mac. And last Thursday, their staff had and students had fun dancing and moving during their dance-a-thon. We want to thank the PTA for all their hard work for this event, and all the families and local businesses that helped them
015raise over $25,000. And a big shout-out to the top five raisers from that event. Benny and William McMenamin tied for first and second place. Carly McHugh was third place. Raina Curran was fourth place. John Boylan was fifth place. And the top raising classroom was Miss Paling's class. Okay, and now we're moving on to MKG. Uh, fifth grade science MCAS will be held, um, was held May 12th and May 14th. So, congratulations to all students for, uh, making it through that. Um, and then HBB, uh, May 12th through 15th is the grade four field trip to Blake Planetarium and Nelson Park. Check bulletin for your classes field trip dates. May 27th through 2026, my bad. May 27th through 28th is the third grade field trip, New Bedford Whaling Museum. Check bulletin for your classes field trip
016date. And then May 29th, 2026 is the fifth grade tour of NMS from 12:15 p.m. to 1:40 p.m. Their second annual celebration of us will be taking place June 9th. >> [music] >> They need families and community partners. See how your family and/or business can get involved in this event via the link in the HBB bulletin. Fourth grade students selected their subject for the wax museum project. Students will be researching a famous historical person and will make a slideshow and dress up for the presentation. The wax museum presentations will be held May 28th for Mrs. Kennelly, Mrs. Messier, and Mrs. Amodo from 2:00 to 2:30 and on May 29th, Mrs. Grady, Mrs. Penny, and Mrs. Russell from 2:00 to 2:30. The annual fifth grade science fair is quickly approaching. Students are strongly encouraged to begin
017the brainstorming process for their projects. Please note the key dates for this exciting event are Wednesday, June 17th and Thursday, June 18th. So, we have nothing for the NMS, but to jump to the high school. We want to congratulate all members of the performing arts program, specifically the music department, for their outstanding spring concert, which was last night. Um the chorus, band, and orchestra all performed and that was the induction night for the Tri-M Music Honor Society. AP exams began on Monday, May 4th and are concluding tomorrow on May 15th, 2026. So, congratulations to all of our AP students. We're nearly there. Uh all members of the class of 2026, senior dues can be paid by bringing $50 to the main office in cash, by money order, bank check, or through Unipay between now and
018May 22nd. To pay through Unipay, please visit the MHS website for the link. Uh we I to congratulate and thank our Unified Track and field team and the incredible number of volunteers who helped make the South Sectional Championship meet amazing. The event was awesome to see our school community come together to celebrate the power of inclusion. Our unified team also did an amazing job at the event. We want to congratulate the new class of 2027 officers. Jack Doherty is returning as president, Arya Bruzzo is vice president, Christian Alexander is treasurer, Lily Pond is secretary, and Bryce Drayton is a member at large. Bryce will be serving as a new member of the student advisory committee which will work with you all next year. Job well done to This is a repeat. Job well done to
019the many students who are involved with the AP tests this week. We want to congratulate everyone who survived the double day which was last week. A lot of people, including Jackson, had two APs in one day. So, our students have really pushed themselves through this time of year. Congratulations to Ruby Cole and Bella Townsend for being named winners of the METG play writing competition. It is a statewide competition where people write plays or monologues and submit them to be judged in a competition. This year, there were two students from Middleborough who won awards. In the first in Sherwood Collins' monologue contest was Ruby Cole with First Date and second in the METG monologue and 10-minute play contest was Isabella Townsend with Nine Crows. We want to congratulate all the students who achieved honor roll for
020quarter three. We are very proud of you. And we want to extend a huge congratulations to Officer Wixton for being named the 2026 school resource officer of the year. We're so lucky to have him at MHS and Millie, too. We want to congratulate Middleborough High School for being named a 2026 Project Lead the Way Distinguished School for their outstanding work in the program. And we want to congratulate Lexi Boyd and Megan Kennedy who are the who have been selected to serve as the coordinators for Start Strong for the class of 2030. Our newest sachems are in great hands with the both of you. MHS will engage in our annual spring Panorama survey for all students in grades 9 through 11 during this week >> [music] >> and the survey has been conducted during English classes.
021Class of 2028, the mathematics MCAS exam is being held on May 19th and 20. Please be look out for the testing room locations. With our continued commitment to ensuring a safe prom and graduation season, we are proud to share that our juniors and seniors will participate in a powerful pre-prom event this Friday the 15th during the morning hours. We welcome Taylor's message and a ThinkFast Interactive to MHS to kick off our weeks of celebration with a powerful message about having fun, making memories, and being safe. A note of thanks to Middleborough Matters and Mr. Dieselle for bringing these programs to MHS. Attention to all members of the class of 2027. There will be 2 weeks of college boot camp offered this year. Week 1 is August 10th through 14th and week 2 is August 18th
022through 21st. This program is designed to prepare students who will be applying for a 4-year college or university during the fall of their senior year. You will work on writing and revising your college essay, setting up score, and additional resources on applications and college essays. If you have any questions, please see your school counselor or Mrs. Casey in room C148. The acceptance night for academic honor societies is coming up. That will be May 27th in the auditorium. If your student gets an email accepting them into any academic honor societies, please make sure they attend this event. We Project 351 is coming to Middleborough High School and they invite us to join them for a fun relaxing workshop embroidering bandannas to spread awareness about mental health in support of the Green Bandanna Project Threads of Hope.
023This will be happening during the success block on Monday, May 18th, so make sure to sign up. Contact Lily Price with any questions. And the last thing from the high school is seniors the countdown is in the single digits as we officially have eight days of school left. Technically we have five full days and then three early release days and since most seniors I know plan on skipping at least one day between now and then there's really only four days of school left. Some important important dates to keep in mind in the near future before Mr. Branigan goes over the full senior week is Thursday May 21st is future signing day for all seniors so make sure you wear your college regalia or your future plans so you can take the photo. Tuesday May 26th
024will be an early release day for seniors only. I believe it is 11:07 dismissal. And Wednesday May 27th is the senior last day. It is also an early release day. And Thursday May 28th there is no classes but is a makeup day if needed. All right and then we have some announcements from athletics. Congratulations to Wyatt Goyette for once again making history at MHS. Wyatt is the highest scoring athlete in our boys lacrosse program. Well done Wyatt. And the outdoor track and field league meet will be held at Carver Middle High School on May 20th. If your athlete qualified for the meet make sure to come support them in their last scored meet of the year. The nomination process for the new school committee rep is ongoing. People who are interested have been told to
025email Mr. Branigan. The opinion between Jackson and myself and the student advisory committee was to only have one rep serve next year. So if there is the need for an election one will be held within the school. Um the hope is to have this new rep elected and we will send out an email to each one of you just with a short intro to who they are what they do at MHS what they hope to bring and then you will meet them as they will hopefully deliver the end of year student report during the meeting in June. It is tradition typically for the school committee reps to not attend summer meetings, but if the new rep decides they would like to, it is their decision and yours. Um and with this being our last meeting,
026we wanted to thank this committee and all past members that have been on the board for this past year for all their efforts to support the students in the district. We hope our voices at this meeting have given you insight into ongoing events, as well as making the students' voices heard during these meetings. We hope that the next rep can carry on what we have started and continue building the relationship between the board and our students. We thank all of you for listening, trusting, and respecting us, and we wish Middleborough all the best in the years to come. Great. Thank you so much. >> [applause] >> And we thank you guys for all of your effort and time that you have put into this position. You definitely have exemplified what it means to be a
027super student representative to the school committee, um and we really do appreciate that. Any other comments from the committee? No, just thank you. Have fun. Good luck. All right, perfect. Thank you so much. All right, um moving on to superintendent's report, uh we will start with Mr. Bernegan and the senior week schedule. Hey, for one, good evening, and I'm Jackson and I may so I want to have a conversation tomorrow about the skipping that you've just referenced, so >> [laughter] >> um so I'm really excited to to share, especially with our newest members of the school committee, the senior week events that are approaching. As Mason had shared, we're in the single digits to finishing up the class of 2026. And just to give you a sense of the events and the events that you're
028more than welcome to come to and to be a part of. And first as Mason mentioned about the future signing day, which is next Thursday, which is the day you saw online maybe a lot of the decision days and all of that. We do ours a little bit different. So on the one of the last final days of their final full week of school, we always bring the entire class together to celebrate their future endeavors, so we call it future signing day. They'll take a seat here at the table just like we asked them to start strong when they started high school. It is now about they're about to finish strong and they're making a commitment to starting strong in whatever their next chapter will be. And that if you've had an opportunity to walk
029through the high school on the second floor of the academic center are all the photos that have been there for the class of 2025. And so by taking the seat that the seniors will be taking, they will then take place on the wall of finishing strong. So we're looking forward to that and I want to thank Sean Sassiano and Liam McDonald as they will be really instrumental in making that happen. On Friday is is the early release day and then we go into their final week of school. On the Tuesday and Wednesday after the long weekend, it is the their early release days for seniors only. And it also allows for us to be able to work with students seniors that still have things to make up and to finish any activities that they need
030to do. On the 27th is their official last day of high school, which is really quite exciting. And and then it begins of their senior week, which is really quite a thing here at the high school. On Thursday as it was shared, it is a no school day for seniors and we use that as a day for all of our teachers who work with seniors to finalize all grades and to also work with any seniors who still have anything outstanding that they need to be able to do. so that on Friday morning the 29th we're able to announce the top 10 graduates, the valedictorian, salutatorian, and all of the things that we need to do with the seniors to get ready for senior week. That Friday is a senior class meeting. It is also the
031day that we will do the senior barbecue, yearbook distribution, and it's really just a fun afternoon for them out on the quad. That evening is our senior memory night where our senior class comes together really casual. They bring their yearbooks, it's food. We do a huge slideshow in here that they compile all their pictures and parents will contribute of all their photos from their two years in Middleboro. And I want to thank Sachem Pride Alumni Foundation because they have been so generous each year of donating an ice cream truck for the seniors to have all they can eat ice cream as well. And then on Monday, June 1st, we'll come back after the weekend and it is a rehearsal and then of course the senior prom that will be taking place at Granite Links in
032Quincy. So we're looking forward to that event very much and the senior class officers have put a lot of work into making the event great. But that morning before we begin, it always has our senior breakfast which the food service department here puts a lot of energy into making sure that event happens. Tuesday the 2nd, there is nothing happening for seniors during that day because it is the day after the prom. But that evening is also it's a really special event that started last year with our with our Futures Academy that our Futures program will come together with their staff and students and families and have a special night just for them to recognize the journey that they've had and that they're graduating. So that will be taking place that evening and a thanks to
033Lacey Foley and her team for making that happen. June 3rd is scholarship night. We're in the process right now of finalizing all of the scholarships of the class of 2026. And once again, the town of Middleboro has come out and has represented and my goodness, wait till that evening where we're able to share the total amount of scholarships that are being handed out to the class of 2026. Um that is an invitation-only event and we're hoping invitations will be going out for that event early next week. June 4th is senior last assembly with our final rehearsal. But what has started in 2020 out of just a um response to the pandemic for the class of 2020 has now become a community tradition. And with the leadership of Patricia Farley and her team of community members
034to bring senior baskets every year to our seniors. And those will be distributed on the morning of the of June 4th. Senior last assembly, it's our awards night where the senior class will come together and celebrate each other and um all of the awards from academic to athletic to activities to the arts and um it's really a special night for the school. And then June 5th is our final graduation rehearsal and it's the day we go back in time where the senior class will board buses at 10:30 in the morning and parade through town and visit each and every school where their journey began to where they ended. Um it's an [clears throat] incredibly emotional day that day and I don't know why I'm getting emotional. But the senior walk when they come back here,
035you always think that when they get back here it's that they've already been here, but they're so unbelievably emotional when they come back through the doors of the high school for their final walk of the building. And um of course June 6th is the big day and you're all welcome to come. It's a tradition of school committee to to actually hand out the diplomas if you would like to be a part of that. And um that happens at 6:00 p.m. in the stadium here at the high school. If it rains, we'll move into the gym which we've proven we can actually do it with the class of 2025. And um and we'll be sending another unbelievable class off into their future. So thank you for letting me take a moment to share. Thank you. Any
036questions for Mr. Branigan? Is there a um if committee members are wanting to participate in graduation, do they need to let Marsha know by a certain time day to cuz I know you put it in your Right. So, it's either we'll send an email through the chair or you can email Mrs. Holgren if you would like and just to let her know you'd like to be a part of that day. And you would be queued into a section of the seniors and you would be the ones actually handing out the diplomas to the seniors. So, we also have offered a few years ago we started and it's become really a special opportunity for staff beyond the high school. It's always been that if there's a faculty or staff member at the high school, they've always
037been given the opportunity to hand their child their diploma. And we extended that to the entire district. So, if there's a teacher or staff person throughout the district who they have a senior graduating, they have to be the parent or the guardian, we've allowed that to happen. So, it'll just allow us for another special moment for that family to be able to hand that diploma. So. All right. Thank you so much. >> Thanks so much. All right. And moving on to our next presentation. Um Mrs. LeBlanc and Stukenberg for the ELA curriculum presentation. There you go. Hi. Um we are here to report out for the ELA subcommittee review that we did earlier in April. Um and so we had two two-hour meetings April 8th and April 13th. The committee um Sorry. The committee um
038had principals, teacher leaders, school committee members, parents, um the ML teachers, sped coordinator, and our purpose was to provide transparency and build understanding of the curriculum review process, current mandates by the state, and also current research. Our goal was ultimately to make a recommendation that's in the best interest of all of our students. The first meeting was to provide background information, and the second meeting um was to go over our process, the programs, and make a recommendation. So, as you can see here on the slide, um we just list all of the participants that were there for the two ELA subcommittee review meetings. Um that would be all of all of our principals, um our teacher leaders, um a pre- uh from pre-K, we had Jackie. I'm actually not going to read all the names
039if that's okay. Um we had our um MLE teacher, our sped coordinator, school committee members. Thank you so much, uh Kristen Sue, for being there. And then, um really some of the most important people there would be our parents to give us that perspective. So, the first thing that we really went over, um we're going to look at state, district, and then our um individual schools. So, the state level mandates that we looked at was the Massachusetts Literacy Strategic Plan, which is put out by DESE, um and this icon here with the four boxes is part of that plan. Um it says that we will advance high-quality core instruction through four goal areas. So, we talked about those four goals and what that looks like in our district. And really the purpose of this policy
040um is to really push high-quality instructional materials into literacy, and have a coherent standards-aligned core curriculum. So, we talked about that first. That's the state level. For the district level, then we went into the Student Opportunity Act, which is a three-year plan that is written by districts and submitted to DESE to have different goals in there. So, one of our goals um was focusing on foundational literacy. And there are four pieces there that you can see having an inclusive curriculum adoption process, supporting curriculum implementation, having comprehensive approach to early literacy, and early literacy screening and support. So, we have done part of this. Um you can find this on the mass on the Middleborough website if you're looking for it. And so, we've done part of this and that we have put in screeners in
041place. We had early birds for early literacy for dyslexia. Um the feedback was not great on that, so we switched to DIBELS, which was much better. Um and we've been using that, and I think that's been successful. And we also had brought in UFLI um Foundations for our little little guys um K through two and and partially three. Looking at phonics, phonemic awareness, kind of those base skills. We have seen incredible success with having a consistent program across those grades, which you can God. I just want to clarify. Um when you are writing the student your student opportunity act for the district, the state has specific areas that they would like you to focus on that you choose from. So, we chose um one of this one around the literacy adoption process. Um the other
042two goals that we chose was around the MTSS model and the WIN block at the middle school, as well as um the third goal would be the high school implementation of our innovative pathways, um which has to do with Project Lead the Way and our MyLab. This just has some links on here. Um and the next part that we really looked at as a subcommittee was this article Coherence by Design. It is by TNTP, and it talks about having coherent aligned systems across the school district, which is our goal. So, coherence ensures that all students, not just some, have access to grade-level meaningful learning, and adopting a high-quality instructional materials not just a purchase is a necessary step toward ensuring every student has strong aligned instruction every day. So, that's kind of what the point
043of the article is is having that vertical alignment for everybody in the district. And I think what's important to note is that during that first meeting when we introduced this article and talked about all of the mandates coming from the state and what everything means, um Laurie helped bring the group through a protocol to really dive into what this article meant to each of the individuals in the subcommittee and how it would then um affect the decisions that we would be recommending in our second meeting. And part of that process of having the coherence is the MTSS model, um the multi-tiered system of support. And if you look at this pyramid, the bottom is tier one, that's the foundation of instruction. So, while all tiers are really essential, um the core instruction really needs to
044be rigorous and responsive for those kids. This is the whole foundation of all of those pieces. And what else did we want to say about that? We kind of went through that idea of tier one being really solid and coherent over time so that then you have that baseline, and then that tier two is less and a little bit more short up because you have those systems in place to go from there. Fair? That's fair. And it ties right into the coherence, right? You want your tier one instruction to to feel like it's the same not the same, but the messaging Yes. Sorry. Yeah. Um I have some notes. So, when core instruction is rigorous, engaging, and responsive, more students succeed without needing additional intervention. The gaps are reduced before they widen and resources can
045be more effectively targeted to students with the greatest needs. This is um just data to show you. So, when we adopted UFLI at the core as the core instruction for foundational literacy for those pieces in grades K through 2, this is the data that we're seeing. So, if you look at the graphic with the triangles, which I think I may have showed you before, um there are skills that are finite that you need to address in those earliest grades and get solid, and this is what this program really is addressing. So, we've seen really incredible growth. If you look at the um column far to the right, the grade 3 by the MOY, which is middle of year, compared to grade 4 at the end of year and grade 5 at the end of the
046year. So, grade 5 had limited to no UFLI, grade 4 had UFLI only in grade 2, and grade 3 has had it in grade 1 and 2. Um the numbers there by midyear are far exceeding what we already had by end of year by having that core one that core um instructional program. So, from our subcommittee, we had um those two meetings. The committee agreed across that we really need to have a core instructional material. Um and the recommendation came out of that was to go with HMH Into Reading for grades K through 5. There is a grant that we are applying for. It's called the Prism grant and it covers grades K through 3. It will cover half of the cost of the materials and it will also cover the PD. So, the cost
047of the materials are what in those are is what is in those line items, and then down the bottom is the actual cost of what the prism grant would cover should we be awarded that grant. Um, this is a grant for this year. We don't know that this will exist next year. Last year the state said it wouldn't exist this year. It does, so you never know with the state what's going to happen. Um, but this is what it would look like if we were awarded this grant. For implementation, um, we have tried to work with HMH and look at what this could be for the 25-26 school year. We would have training for educators and leadership that is more of a getting started PD, looking at the materials, walking through that. And then really
048it would roll more into 26-27, having training for educators and leadership, um, four in-person job-embedded coaching days where the company would come in and really work in the classrooms with grade levels. They would also be here on early release days for professional learning sessions, and then there is an opportunity for something called Coachly where it's a live interactive coaching session. So, during your PLCs that you could have across grade level across both schools, they would be able to meet with someone from HMH, ask questions, get feedback, um, in real time from someone from the company. As far as Middleboro support, um, we would look this year to establish an implementation team to guide that moving forward. Um, there's many teachers that piloted. There's, um, lead teachers, principals. So, having kind of everybody on that just
049like we did for the review review committee, parents, um, school committee. Um, making this a priority for PD, um, really having grade level common PLCs across for planning, monitoring, and reflection. So, across both schools together um to work on that. And then also having the instructional coaches and interventionists embedded within this to support our teachers. And I think another piece to note is that coherence um article that we had brought to the um subcommittee, Lori and I have plans to have um professional development around rolling out and implementing those ideas with our leadership team, which will then lead into um some of the practices that we will have within our implementation plan of of this ELA program if we move forward with it, and it would could become practice for any implementation that we are
050doing within the district. All right. Thank you. Um so, to move into discussion for this, um I am looking for a motion to approve the ELA curriculum recommendation from the ELA subcommittee. I have a few questions. Is now the time or Yes, we have to go um into a motion, and then we can get to the discussion. >> Okay. So, I need somebody to do a motion. I motion. >> [laughter] >> Second. All right. We can move into discussion. So, discussion from the committee. Okay. Um I have a few questions. Should we spread it out, or should I just rapid fire all of them? >> [laughter] >> No, we can do one at a time. Okay. All right. So, out of all the teachers that piloted HMH, what was the percentage of teachers that were
051for this curriculum program? I don't know the exact percentage. Um I'd have to go back and look at it, but it was Percentage, I don't know. Can I uh speak to that? >> Yeah. So, being on the committee, um it seemed like the teachers who piloted piloted HMH who were there and then the ones that I got to speak to on my own or who reached out to me, um there was not a lot of hesitation about the program itself. Um I heard more negatives about Savvas than I did HMH. HMH generally there were some kinks with the the rolling out and the implementing of it, but once they got I guess a hold of it, it seemed like mostly the feedback I got was positive. Okay. And as far as um like the importance
052of actually purchasing this curriculum this year, looking at what the curriculum is for each grade level right now, are they actually using curriculum that has been, you know, um evaluated for its effectiveness? Or what are they doing, you know, right now? Why is it important that we get this done? Um so, we've gone through a series of changes in in literacy over the years where we went from um we had units of study that were teacher developed. Um we sat in committees, developed those curriculums together. Um there was six units per grade level. And then over time we went and we went into Fountas and Pinnell, and we went into that model, um and teachers were trained in that model, and we switched to that. It was looser in a lot of ways, and it's
053not like a set curriculum where you're looking at lessons every day and that it's more um laborious to plan for, I guess, in a different way. Um and so some have gone back into units of study, some use more of those practices as far as alignment and being on all the same page, that's not happening. Um and the curriculum that they do have is more not that it's not some of it is wonderful um teacher-created pieces, but it's not consistent. I don't know if that answers your question. So it's causing it can cause more gaps Mhm. Yeah. >> that we're seeing across grade levels, across you know, Berkeley and each week or MKG, different things like that because um you know, it's not that one consistent um piece of material. I actually see it in
054my kids. My kid I have twins in fifth grade and they have definitely um suffered from not having a standardized curriculum in place throughout their entire elementary school career. So it stinks. Um So if you had to kind of look at the pros and cons of getting this done now or waiting, what would you say? I personally think they absolutely need to do it. I think that um I don't believe that a program is the end-all be-all, but I do think having that consistency of having a place for teachers to go to and pull from that one core resource, having common language, having consistent practices um rather than teachers either working from the units they have or or hunting down lessons that they're going to do, um it just gives them that one place to
055draw from. I also think that the longer we wait, the more gaps we widen. Um I don't think it's going to fix everything, but I do think it's a starting point to at least have some coherence, especially across having two schools. You know, you have two sets of teams of teachers and they can be on the same page as much as they possibly can be, but they're still in two schools. So, they're they're separate. Um and I may think that makes it tough sometimes. Um I think that this gives them a place to go to where they have that one core. They can pull those pieces. They can use their time and mental load to, you know, refine those practices rather than kind of hunting things down and I think it's really important. I also
056think the opportunity that the grant is available now and not knowing if it's available is a pro for me, too. You know what I mean? Yeah. I think the other part of that is we can um streamline our interventions in our tier two and we know exactly what those kids are getting at that grade level, so we can address those needs at that time. It's harder for interventionists or and teachers when you're then inheriting from the previous grade level to know where to pull from and keep those interventions consistent to make sure those kids are making growth. Mhm. Yeah, definitely. Um and as far as the training with the staff, so is it typical and I'm not a teacher, so I don't know how this works when you roll out a new curriculum. Would training
057typically be done beforehand? So, are we kind of under the gun now? Is that going to put them at a disadvantage? So, it really depends. I think that um waiting until next year to do the training is not ideal, so I think that's if we can get this in place and get it started this year so that teachers have it in hand and start looking through it and um I think a lot of teachers will end up, you know, thumbing through and looking over the summer and kind of figuring things out cuz that's who we are like as people. We're planners. Um so, I think getting anything in their hands now is a better start and then I I we'll just have to be really thoughtful about the implementation and the rollout. I think that
058um I've been in this district for a long time and a lot of times we are handed a resource and you maybe have one training and then good luck. So, I think that being really thoughtful with the implementation and the support um part of that thoughtfulness was in going back to HMH and trying to get the quote where we wanted it to be, where we thought was manageable um with as much PD and coaching days and support for them to push in um was really important to us so that we have that for for our staff. Okay. Thank you. Sure. Yeah. Um so, I saw that on the subcommittee there was a a special education coordinator. Was there a special education teacher also there in the um to look it over? I'm not familiar with
059like names. So, a couple of them are inclusion teachers um not necessarily special ed teachers. The way that the committee was composed was because it was during the school day, we pulled um teacher leaders were selected to be on that committee. So, Toby um the special ed coordinator was really I guess the representation for sped. Okay. Um and so, as far as the grant, who's going to follow that? Cuz do we still have a curriculum director? Or who just cuz you know the importance of following through with grants. We don't want to lose it. I want to make sure that So, I wrote it so I would be the one following it. >> Okay. Do we Do we still have a curriculum director also that oversees all of everything? Or Yes. Yeah. Okay. No, I
060I just wasn't sure. Okay. Um I think that answers my questions and we did that special education coordinator find this program to be inclusive of all students? Has been talked amongst other special education teachers yet, or are we waiting to kind of get the vote to I think um from what I have heard from other special ed teachers is that having something consistent is the most important piece because then they can modify and and make changes as needed. Okay. Um I don't again, I don't think any program is is perfect. It's how it's what we make of it. Um and that's kind of the beauty of our our teachers and their autonomy and what they what they do with it. No, and I and I do think it's great. Um you know, as a twin
061mom who both children receive special education services, I pay privately out of my pocket to have my kids tutored because I don't feel that they're getting exactly what they need. So, I I just wanted to check my boxes. Thank you. Yeah, I just had a couple questions. I think it's more procedurally um and I did some research, so please correct me if I'm absolutely 100% wrong. I don't mind. Um Is it my understanding that this HMH is not on the DESI um approved HQIM right now? So, what happened is um every I don't know if it's 5 years that 5 years that they update their CURATE reports. What's that? It's It they change it. So, they just they just updated it. Um so, when we went into piloting these programs, um both Savvas and HMH
062met all the criteria on CURATE and EdReports, which is why we selected to pilot them. Then we went through the process um and now DESI has decided that they're going to update all of their CURATE reports. So, the programs such as Savvas, HMH, and there's a few other ones, they're basically sitting in queue. Um I did talk to DESI and they have said that they are going to expedite the process for these programs, but they just happened to kind of redo it all in the same just kismet, I guess. Um perfect storm. So, you're not incorrect, but also it's like in process if that makes sense. >> Yeah, that's kind of what I understood, too. Um and just kind of piggybacking on that, um I think I saw something maybe in May they were going
063to do this review. Is that possible? Or I don't know what you're referring >> So, they said they would expedite it, so I don't in DESI terms, I >> [laughter] >> Their expedition in DESI is not our version of expedition. Um but they they have promised to do that, so hopefully. And please note, Lori's been in communication with our liaison at the state level for the grant, as well as the literacy um contact for the state, and she is also in contact with other district um job-alike positions that are going through the same process and having the same roadblocks and just trying to come together to find the best way to advocate for our districts. That was a lovely surprise this week. >> Yes. And do you know what would happen if it wasn't approved
064by them? So, I think that um I can't imagine a world in which it would not be because it was met all the criteria before. Called Prism 3, which covers grades 4 through 12, but in order to be able to apply for that grant, you have to have um other criteria of it was like 50% of low income to be able to apply for that one. So, we didn't meet that criteria, so we can't apply for 4 and 5, um which is why all of the PD is in this one. This quote of K to 3. So, we don't know what the cost for uh 4 and 5 would be or I do have the cost for that. Yeah, I can find you the cost for that. This was just to show you for the
065for the grant. Okay. >> What that looks like. Yep. But the money budgeted >> Sure. The money that's act budgeted in the budget is what the correct amount total is. >> Yes. Yes. So, that doesn't exceed what's already budgeted in the budget. So just looking at the the timeline of the PD it to me as an educator it looks like 27-28 is when we should expect it to be fully implemented. Because I know even though the program was generally well received the biggest consternation that I heard was rushing it in and being full bore September. So that I just think it it's important to kind of roll it out. with Yeah and to do to do anything well it takes a couple of years to really get into it and know the program to make
066those you know adjustments and get everything in place. So I think that that's would be fair to say that 27-28 would be really when it was really getting going. Like next year would for sure be you know it takes a while to learn the whole thing and and figure it out and make changes and work with your colleagues. Um sorry. So I would say 27-28 would really be in full swing. The only other thing I want to say is I mean no curriculum is going to solve every problem. The biggest thing that I took away from the subcommittee is that this is a tool which our wonderful principals and teachers can use. They're the ones that are really going to be the ones that put this into use. It's not the curriculum that's going to
067solve all the problems. This is something that they can implement and I think giving the teachers and the principals a lot of ownership and agency in that is important. And then thank both of you for all the work you did. It was impressive. Um I can put out any discussion from the audience. Apparently, I'm shorter than the last person. Janette Barrett, parent. So, my question is So, the difference between the funding and the grant is about $80,000. We're not sure we'll get this grant next year. Is that correct? Correct. >> So, we're thinking about this year. So, we're not sure we're going to get a grant. So, we're committing to something we don't know we can pay for. Because we don't have any money left in our budget this year. We know this. Well So
068This is factored in the budget for this year. >> Next year. We're out of money this year. So, this is factored in, but if we took this out, we could save three teachers, two teachers, two and a spec, two and an aid. We have really great teachers in our schools. And I I know this is a difference and we need a plan. But what about if we stick with the current plan for this year? We don't know this is going to be approved by DESE. So, we're hoping it's going to be approved. We're hoping we're going to get a grant to pay for it next year. We're hoping that we have enough time in May to get our teachers and students up to speed in this in September. Or we're going to give the teachers
069who are already facing a really difficult year a few months to implement a new ELA program, which is a huge part of elementary school education. I would say hold off. I would say hold off a year. If we don't have to do this this year, why are we rushing it? Why are we making this part of this year's problem when next year we could say, "Yes, DESE approved it. Yes, we're going to go forward. Yes, we have time to train our teachers on it. I I hear the concern. I also we have a better chance of being approved. Well, we know the grant is available and we can apply for it. For now, we don't know if that's going to be available next year. And I definitely hear, you know, all of the concerns that
070you're saying. Um This This cost is for 3 years. So, it wouldn't be another cost next year. So, it'll be in 3 years. >> So, this um the money that you see covers us for 3 years. Um and my understanding is that the money that's being used for it is not money that can be moved into um teaching salaries. Is that true? We can't move this money. Why? >> [snorts] >> Because it's from a line that is not is a for It's like a one-time >> a one-time fund source. So, you say that and I have a little bit of PTSD from the SSR funds and the position we're in right now. I don't love that we are again using one-time funding for a program that we don't know that we can sustain. We don't
071know. It makes me nervous. Do you know what I mean? Like, we did all these things and now we're saying, "Hey, by the way, we can't afford them anymore." And I just feel like in Massachusetts, we require our teachers to have such high standards. Most of them have master's degrees. And I feel like sometimes we need to put the education of our students in the hands of our teachers. I want my teacher focusing on my student in front of her and not trying to read a manual of curriculum of a program she learned 3 days ago. I just don't see we have the implementation roll out time for this program for this year. Thank you. I'm sorry. >> Well, I I think part of the reason if we do it now 26-27 is for the
072PD and the training. So, it can get rolled out to 27-28 instead of delaying it and then we're going in hot 27-28. So, we're looking at keeping the current program for 26-27 and not using this program? No, we would be purchasing the program to give the teachers a buffer to train and get coaching and PD and then it would get fully implemented in 27-28. >> So, they wouldn't be expected to use this program in the coming school year? They would to some degree cuz they would be learning to use it, but it's it's one of those things where if you are doing the training you need to be delivering the instruction while you're doing the training. If you're just learning it and then delivering it the next year, there's too much time in between. It
073It just feels very rushed for such a big part of our curriculum. And we have our teachers going to be going through a lot next year. Their class sizes are getting bigger. We know that. That's a fact. Um and they're going to be living without other resources that they currently have. We don't have our superintendent. We do not our our coordinator. Our curriculum is on leave. We just have so many changes right now. I think we're putting a lot at one time on them. Now, if you're telling me they're going to be training next year, but they're not expected to use it next year and they're I don't want my kid being a guinea pig, to tell you the truth. And she'll be in fourth grade, so she really wouldn't be, but I just feel
074like they should we should train them, let them own the program and not expect them to work it into their curriculum for next year. That seems like a lot. And that's the feedback I'm hearing from teachers who they can say this to me because I'm I can be anonymous for them. This is a lot to put on them. Okay. Thank you. Good evening. Pat Rooney, grade two teacher, town resident. Um I just have a couple of questions. Um mention the money I might have missed something in the the money that was in the budget that Mike talked about at the last meeting and you guys asked and said um that if we were to decide or that money could be turned into other places. Are we saying that money let's just say $160,000 for this
075year cannot be turned back into anything else? Is that what I just heard? Cuz that was a line item, $160,000 for the implementation of a system. We didn't know which one yet. Did Did I just hear that that cannot go anywhere else? Is that what we just were told? So I know from what I've been told it is in a one-time fund account. Any thing beyond that would have to be a Mike per like you'd have to ask Right. >> him those questions, but >> cuz you guys asked and said if we don't use this money for that he said yeah. >> back into the budget for other Yeah, he said that whatever you do with the budget once it's passed is up to the committee. It's not things aren't earmarked and said oh no,
076that was for that. So now we're not going to use it. So that's why I'm just trying to clarify because it was told if the budget passed, it is now up to you guys to determine where you want to use the money. Even though it was in say a implementation fund. That cuz that's what Mike told us clearly was no, that money it's up to you to decide where the money goes once the budget is passed. Mhm. Okay. Right. So, that would definitely be a question you'd have to follow up with him. Okay. Um obviously. Cuz he's not here. Okay. Um I have a a question on instructional coaches. Do we know are we going to have coaches next year? That's been decided? In terms of >> teachers are >> Not quote not these coaches
077that you're saying they're bringing in. Right here, MPS instructional coaches. Hopefully we're going to have interventionists cuz they're very important. All right. And I'm only talking about the position, not no people, positions, instructional coaches. We have teachers that are getting laid off or not coming back. We're going to be missing teachers, but we're going to keep coaches. So, I'm just curious if, you know, we really need So, that is >> students. Correct. So, that would be again part of the conversations that Mike is having with the union and about whatever is happening with how everything's falling out. Obviously at the select board meeting we had if people had heard there was some extra fun more funds that were found that were coming over. So, I know he is having conversations um because they are all
078>> not have any missing teachers or anything. We'll back up to full strength. There's not what? We should we could be back up to full strength or at least level funded where we are now with teachers. I mean I don't know that answer, but I know that he is reworking because we did get the extra funds. Okay. He did commit that any money that comes in would go to student facing staff. Correct. Yeah. And then the last question I have the um we're getting training from HMH. Um are the coaches going to be getting extra training? I'm just wondering what they're going to coach for when they're reading the same program I am, but they're going to come in and coach me. Are we You know what I mean? I'm just So there what when
079we look we're looking at how we're going to do training, there's the the part that HMH will come in is going to not only work with our teachers with the with the in the classroom training, but also with our leadership and instructional coaches so that there can be specialized training on on instructional strategies that align to the program that will help with supporting teachers as they start to use the program. All right, so the coaches will be like kind of running the our PDs and stuff like that to um uh get us into the into the nitty-gritty of it all versus yeah. >> that. Okay. All right, thank you. Hi, Christina Stoker, kindergarten teacher. Um, I think we've made it pretty clear that kindergarten is very apprehensive about these programs and understand a need to
080have a program. Um, I just noticed that you kept mentioning two schools for training and everything. I just want to make sure that like kindergarten it's obviously a very specific time um that kindergarten would have training pertain to kindergarten and what it looks like there. That is something that we discussed with them. Okay. Just wanted to clarify. Thank you. Hi, Alexis Barros, first grade teacher in resident. Um, a couple of things uh just that have been shared um from other colleagues of mine. Um I'm all for a high-quality education. I know everybody is. Um, I understand we want to make sure we have the best resources available for our students. As a parent, I want what's best for my own children. As a teacher, I want what's best for my students. I mean, I I
081see it on both ends. Um you know, a curriculum doesn't determine the level of education that a student gets. It is a tool. It's a resource. Um really what's more impactful are the staff, teachers, ESPs, interventionists that really provide that instruction, that level of instruction, uh that differentiated instruction. Um and for those of you not in education, differentiated instruction basically means tailoring a student's needs and meeting them where they are. Um in first grade, we followed the workshop model, which was the ability to give differentiated instruction to students. We would give our students um instruction in reading, phonics, meet them at their level. Maybe I had a group that really needed some significant supports, interventions. And then another group, I would have those kiddos that were considered like um performing on benchmark at grade level.
082And then for the, you know, maybe smaller group, maybe the kiddos that are exceeding what's expected. So, we were meeting those kiddos at that point. Um really what can affect a level education is class size, behaviors within a classroom, um scheduling and time. And when we're moving into a purchased curriculum like this, time's going to be an issue because we're going to have to meet so many minutes. We're going to have to follow it with fidelity, um leaving very little room for creativity and thinking outside of the box. Um and that differentiated instruction I told you about, we'll have less time for that because we won't logistically be able to meet with as many small group small groups as we're able to. So, years ago, I was able to take two to three groups a
083day in reading. Looking at the time that's scheduled and I get it, UFLI is a great resource is a resource. I'm not against a, you know, systematic phonics instruction. I'm not. I'm I'm all for it. But, when you add everything together, I could be meeting with one group a day. You know, and if you if you think about how many kids you we have in a classroom, how many times we can meet with them, you're going from a large number of opportunities to meet way down to a very minimal amount. And the focus, of course, should be on the kiddos that need more intervention and supports to get them to where they need to be, but then where does that leave the kiddos that should be challenged? Um we're going into a very uniform, >>
084[music] >> cut-and-dry, this is what it is. And time's going to be a significant factor on this. Um I remember there was a school committee meeting months ago. I can't remember what month it was. All the days mesh together. I know you've seen me a lot. Um but, there was a school committee member sitting up there saying, you know, what could happen with the money, the $200,000 that was budgeted, could that be rolled back into the budget? We're talking $200,000. We heard yes, it could. So, I'm looking at a reduction of potentially six teachers, because again, when you have higher classroom sizes, um more students to cater to, possibly more behaviors because not enough support for those students, just time time to meet with all the needs of those students. If we heard that we
085could get $200,000 back in the budget. I'm looking at about three-ish four teachers. Like I said, I'm not making myself to be uh you know, end-all be-all, but we're the ones that provide these supports to students. A teacher's manual is just a resource. Um and just to put it out there to clarify any mis- misinformation, um the units of study that were developed were by DESE. These were resources actually on the Department of Elementary um and Secondary Education of Massachusetts. I'm thinking about our grade one folk tales unit. I believe I'm looking at veteran teachers. There was I'm trying to No, I don't know. I believe um I'm trying to think of an exact unit, but most of the units of study they have Massachusetts state standards of reading and writing and literacy. They do
086follow Massachusetts state curriculum standards. They were resources developed and put out by DESE. The point I'm trying to say is can we put this off, save teachers? We're the ones that deliver the curriculum. And might I add, again, this is information that was shared with me by many colleagues. There were so many teachers, and I will say myself included, who were significantly disappointed when with how this whole process transpired. Um I had so many teachers who actually piloted the programs being upset that they weren't a part of this thing that happened in April. At they a lot of them were like, "Why is it the teacher leaders?" Most of the teacher leaders did not pilot the programs. Some of them didn't even pilot a program, period. And it seemed like Savvas was pushed through, whether
087or not we liked it, until people, my staff, my colleagues, everybody from Middleboro teaching stood up and said, "Hey, this isn't working. This is not what we support." And a couple of a couple of teachers, I will say, said it was a waste of time those April dates because they didn't they looked at it like they were going to be sitting through being able to compare information and experience. But that didn't happen until the last hour and a half of that meeting. So had we really opened the door and allow teachers and staff to really be a part of this, we could have saved ourselves a lot of time, a lot of headache, resources. How we rolled it out was not the right way. And it's not my own opinion. It's a lot of us
088teachers that really think it was not rolled out the right way. So, moving forward, if the if the money can be pushed back into the budget to save teachers, please. Because if those class sizes increase, if more students need to be met with their individual needs, time's an issue. And again, if we have a high-quality educational resource, fine. But let's do it the right way. Let's take our time. Do it right. But if we have the ability to save staff, I think that's more important right now. Thank you. Hello, Alyssa Beard, grade five teacher at HPB. Um just looking at all options here. I know there's obviously talk on the table about if we don't go with a program, but I guess I was just curious because of the state requirements coming down where 27-28
089there does need to be a program in place. If we vote not to go with one this year, what would that look like going forward? So if our budgets leveled out, we don't get a program this year, but we go into 27-28 without any additional funding, we still would have to purchase something and we potentially might not have the money we currently kind of have for that. I just I was curious if there is there anything else that we would need to consider with this potential option as one of the three options. And what that would look like or is there anything we haven't yet maybe considered or looked at that could help our determination. I don't know who that question is for. So in terms of a option I think I might need you
090to restate that one again. Like as we were looking at initially the recommendation was Savvas and then now it's HMH, but then there's also like the kind of floaty third option of if we don't vote on a program right now, but we will need one by the 27-28 school year based on the Massachusetts requirements. I guess would we be looking at then potentially having to still make cuts in that following year if we don't get any additional funding. I know it's all speculative, but just having to consider what the ramifications of that option would be is important in this very large decision decision, too. Sure. I mean, I'm definitely not Mr. Perrone and the bit you know, the business person. I don't know the numbers, but I do know that inflation is inflation and there
091are certain costs that will rise each year and working in a different school district, I know that you know, looking at that future budget, it doesn't look any better next year there than it does this year. So, I I think that having the opportunity to have a cost savings this year um is huge for for us have with the possibility of a grant. Um because I don't foresee next year's budget um having the leeway of, you know, the finances probably that we would need for this next year without the grant money. And on top of that, so I mean, hopefully this district has learned its lesson using temporary funds to try to fund salaries in perpetuity. It It just doesn't work. Uh a one-time fund that we could purchase this curriculum. I I mean, I
092don't want any cuts, but if we use if we just divert and don't purchase the curriculum and we put it towards salaries, then in the next budget cycle, we still have to purchase a curriculum, and that money's gone. So, those positions still might have to be cut. That's the the problem that we're facing right now. That's what I wasn't sure about, too. Just to consider as we look through all options. I wasn't sure if that was how things might unfold, too. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Coming back to the committee for any discussion before going back to a vote. I have a little bit of follow-up. Um so, so just to confirm, we have no curriculum. I just want to make sure that that cuz as a parent, I did not know that 6 months ago.
093So. So, there are um units of study that were developed and that they um had been used over time. They are inconsistent, I would say, at best. So some grade levels have them more developed than others, but there is a reason that curriculum is written and sold because it's not easy to do. It's ever evolving, so the short answer is no. No. Okay. And so when the teachers and everybody piloted the two programs, Savvas and HMH, it was the HMH that the teachers wanted. Is that correct? >> it to Savvas and that I think that was clear in that subcommittee. Okay. And then also, does HMH does that program have the ability to reach kids across the board, like all academic levels? It does. Okay. Um and then so right now, we have this program
094budgeted. We do we not definitely have the grant? So like if we got the grant, we would get 132,000 back in our budget? Yeah, so we the grant just closed on Monday and we had to submit it, so it was submitted knowing that even if we didn't go with the program, we can say thank you, but no thank you, we don't need it any longer, but we had to submit it just to get it in there. So if we do get the grant, then obviously the cost is cut almost in half. So if we do go with HMH then, we could still end up with money back in our budget. >> Mhm. It would solve our ELA curriculum issue. And we could kind of do like a soft rollout this year and get the teachers
095trained and start implementing it. Yeah, I I think if we establish that implementation team and kind of work collaboratively to have that cohesive mindset. Absolutely. Okay. Thank you. Sure. Uh just a couple points. I think our last meeting, I I Kim, you when you talked with Sue, because one of the questions and I was thinking the same thing, hey, what if you postpone this for another year? I think Sue turned to you and said, hey, do you remember what our rating was? And said it needs improvement. Right? And so, I think that leads into the state kind of peeling back the layers and if you don't have a curriculum or established curriculum, whatever their qualifications are, I think they tend to get involved. Am I incorrect in saying that? No, you're right. And um that
096it it is looking at the 27-28 school year where we're going to have to have something in place and they're trying to um other states have already done it, but they're starting to make it so that you have to have something and they're making it so that you are everything is tied to it. To force you into to having a curriculum. So, potentially there could be an issue with the state. And what it what that means, I'm not sure, but yeah, okay. >> Um the other piece is um I however long this goes back for not having an established curriculum or approved one, um however you want to call it. Um are we seeing those effects? If let's just say it's been 5, 6 years, whatever the number is, are we seeing those effects at
097those older levels now, if this was 5 years ago, whatever grade they're in today, are we are we seeing those effects? Yeah, I think um it's important to note that in that subcommittee we did have representation from middle school and high school and they they did speak to that. Also, we that this past year was the first year that we have implemented um something called literacy lab at the high school because we saw a need with our Star 360 dating for some data for um reading intervention for our ninth and tenth graders. All right. Are we ready to move to a vote? All right. So, we have a motion on the table to approve the ELA curriculum HMH recommendation from the ELA subcommittee. We had a motion I believe from Leah, a second from Shawn.
098Or Yep. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? The vote is unanimous. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, the next piece of our agenda is the June July and August school committee meetings. Uh first I'm going to just add the May 28th meeting onto that as well. Um that meeting will be canceled. Um the May 28th meeting will be canceled just because we do have so many May meetings. Uh we are canceling the May 28th uh scheduled meeting. So, for the June, July, and August So, we will have a meeting on and we'll get into this more um in the next item, but we will have one on June 3rd and June 11th, which will be a regular meeting. And no meeting on June 25th. That would have been the fourth Thursday, but
099there will not be one on June 25th. For July, it'll be July 9th and 23rd. And August will be the 13th and 27th. So, we're sticking with the typical two meetings, second and fourth Thursday, um as we onboard the interim. Sue and I talked and thought it was important to have those on the books, but then if we felt as though for some reason there wasn't a need for one of them, we can always cancel, but it would be good to have them on the books um while we're onboarding and just in case we needed to have that. Um all right. Going into the interim superintendent search update. So, May 7th, the community survey was launched via Parent Square to parents and staff. May 18th, the survey will close. So, if anybody has not completed
100it who wants to participate, um please make sure that you do that prior to May 18th. We will have a special school committee meeting on May 21st to review the community survey results, review our applicants. So, Shawn Costello from MASC will be here with us, review the applicants and create the interview questions. This meeting will be at 6:30 at Nichols Middle School in the media room, and it will be in person and recorded, then posted. It will not be live streamed because I guess the technology will not be an option for that that night. May I ask a question? >> Yeah. All right. So, when um Shawn Costello comes, is he telling us the questions for this or are we getting them >> he will bring um options for questions, but then also we'll be
101able to, based on the survey, um come up with questions that we have as well. All right, so we're going to do that on the 21st. >> Mhm. So, if anybody >> It'll be a working Yeah. working session. Send some suggestions if anybody has anything they want considered. Yep, for sure. Um All right. And then June 3rd, again, like the 21st, that'll be a special meeting as well to interview our finalists who we pick on the 21st. So, we'll review the applications on the 21st um and pick who we're going to move forward for our finalists to the 23rd uh to June 3rd. Um we'll interview and vote on that same night for the interim. That will be 6:30, again, at Nichols Middle School in the media room. And again, that will be an in-person
102and recorded then posted, not live stream. Um cuz we won't be able to be in here. So, we'll be at Nichols. Um All right. Our next Any questions about any of that? Everybody got all those? All right. The next item on the agenda is the consent agenda. Um we are moving just so everybody knows, the donation of books that is under informational should be on under consent agenda, so that's just moving up. And before we get into that, if I could put Mr. Rooney on the spot to come up and talk about the donation of books from the Elks. All right. Well, thank you. Well, for a little background, the the Elks, starting back in 2003, as a chairman of the dictionary project, and I don't know if some of you might remember that we
103used to donate dictionaries to all of the schools in the general area. Um we would donate over a thousand dictionaries. They all went to third grade classrooms. Um since COVID, everything kind of um has died out also with the more technology that we've had, uh dictionaries aren't being used as much, unfortunately. Um the state Elks switched their goal to think about, well, how can we put books in the hands of teachers uh that they could use in their classroom. So, they started a literacy project, um purchasing with Scholastic magazines. So, purchasing Scholastic books for classrooms. So, I was approached this year on it, and kind of like last minute we had to get it in. Um and trying to decide like, okay, for the whole second grade, what could we what could we purchase or
104what could we put in the teachers' hands? This is an amount of $2,000. Um in my discussions and not knowing or not remembering that we had to come in and get approved, I did talk with um Mrs. Doke at the school and said, well, why don't we look at what do you need? What do you need for the the ESL programs or SEL, rather, the social emotional learning. Um and she was able to find all kinds of books that she could use all through the classrooms for MKG and HBB, and possibly even for um the MEC as well. But I'm just going to read some of the notes that she gave me uh on her thought process. Um so, some of the books are going to be used to support the counselors and teaching social
105skills, like emotional regulation, kindness, accepting differences, and friendships. Some of the books are going to be used as tools in the SEL com kits that were distributed to each classroom. Multiple copies of one particular book called My Name is a Song was purchased to support the One Book One School activity of being a common text for all students that will spark school-wide discussions around having a community where all can feel included, respected, and supported. Um so, there were 201 books that we counted that we um did purchase. And I also purchased um Happy Birthday, America magazines from Scholastic America 250 uh from and they range from uh K1 two to three and four to six. Uh so, I had counted all the classrooms and I have one for each classroom. And again, not realizing that
106we had to get the approval, we're like, "Oh, okay." Um so, we're hoping that we uh get that approval, but um it's something that we're hoping that we can do every year as an organization. Uh we don't know for sure if we can continue to do it. Um but it was a good opportunity and that's why I kind of thought maybe focus on the um social emotional right now. And then if we can do it, maybe we can focus on grade one one year or you know, K then one then two, you know, among all of the schools for each of the grade levels. Um so, with your support, we've we have purchased them. Um and the money has been reimbursed to Scholastic already. I know there's been an invoice floating around, but um the
107bill was sent in and paid for. So, we have like almost 300 books or magazines that we can um disperse on your approval. Okay. Awesome. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. All right. So, I will entertain a motion to approve the items in our consent agenda, which include the minutes from the March 4th, March 12th, March 26th, and April 30th meetings, Unified Sports Grant, the warrants, and the donation of books from the Elks. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. >> Aye. And any opposed? That passes unanimous. Okay. So that takes us to the end of our agenda. So with nothing further tonight, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. Second. I'll second it. Yeah, second it. Discussion? Yes. I just want to say thank you to everybody who's been coming to the
108meetings, uh members of the community, and especially the educators. This is not an easy time to be in education. Um your voice matters. It's important that you are heard, and that this committee is dedicated to hearing from the community. Um it everything every vote we've made, uh pretty much since the turn of the calendar, has been very difficult. But we are trying to work with you and for you, and especially for the students of the district. So thank you, and I I hope you keep coming. It's important that you're heard. Thank you. All right. So I. All in favor? Aye. All right. That passes unanimous. Good night, everybody. Thank you. Good job. Sure. I all the motions. Yeah. It's all right.