Salem School Committee Meeting - December 1st, 2025

001Good evening. Call to order the meeting of the Salem School Committee of December 1st, 2025, 7 p.m. This meeting is taking place in person at 29 Highland Avenue, room 227 in Salem. You can also join via Zoom using the link posted in the meeting agenda. Um, first order of business is approval of the agenda. >> Motion to approve. >> Seconded. Motion made by member Cornell, seconded by member Campbell. Under discussion, seeing none. All in favor? Any opposed? The agenda is adopted. Have a request to take out of order. Um well, you do you want to start with the moment of silence? >> Yes. I'd love to uh um just have a moment of silence. Uh we lost a staff member on Friday um November 28th. Uh a food service worker, Karen Clearary, who had been

002with us for a long time. Uh she was an invaluable member of the horse man community over the past several years. Um and she did she also worked at Collins Middle School before that. Uh she brought warmth, dedication, and kindness to everything she did and she will be deeply missed by all that had the privilege of working with her. Um she uh battled the long illness and so our respects go out to her family and friends. Um and uh we I just ask for a moment of silence out of respect for Miss Karen Clearary um an employee of the Salem uh public schools and food service. Uh we're going to take out of order under your superintendent's report item number one, the certificate of academic excellence. >> Uh yes, thank you. Uh it's it's my

003privilege every year to give out um our certificate of um academic excellence. Every year um the state of Massachusetts or the association of school superintendents um allows districts to or superintendents to give out an award in their district for excellence. Uh we are always given the opportunity to give out two awards given our size. Um and the certificate of academic excellence honors students who have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement, exemplary character, and meaningful contributions to their school and community. Local superintendents are invited to select deserving recipients and the awards are often presented at a school committee meeting and hence we are here tonight. Um the recipients must exemplify the following criteria. They must be a high school senior. They must have strong leadership qualities, impeccable character and consistent pursuit of academic excellence. And I have in

004your packets school committee members a um a bio on each of the individual students. When I received the names from New Liberty and from Salem High School this year, I was very um it was an easy uh easy to say yes to these because these are both students that I knew of um and uh had worked with in the past. And so I was really proud that these are the two folks that will be uh nominated here tonight. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to read uh the bio bio of um each individual and I will ask each one to come up after I read their name so we can take a a photo. so I can present them with a certificate and some Salem Public School swag. I'm really um pleased

005that their principles are here tonight and some staff from the school as well um to honor these outstanding students. These are the very best in the Salem public schools and I'm really uh proud to um be able to uh recognize them and I hope they are able to put this on their resumes and uh their college applications. So the first from New Liberty is Jay Thompson. Jay Thompson embodies the mission and values of New Liberty Innovation School. As a senior, he has shown exceptional growth across all portrait of a graduate skills, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creative problem solving, cultural competence, and self-awareness. Jay's strong leadership, impeccable character, and relentless pursuit of excellence have allowed him to engage deeply in real life learning experiences both about himself and the world around him, such as uh the

006Build entrepreneurship class competitions that New Liberty participates in, the presentation to the Bar Foundation on New Liberty's components of competency based education and how students track their proficiency, teaching the freshman class on the New Liberty portrait of graduate skills, which are really the Salem public schools portrait of graduate skills. engaging in deep reflective writing and conversations on the cycle of socialization. Successfully completing an internship with MGB Salem Hospital, participating in a real estate certification course that will guarantee a certification upon completion in December, pursuing a health science degree post-graduation at either a two or four-year institution, and being willing to face challenges such as public speaking, climbing a mountain, and adjusting to social changes. Jay is always a classroom leader, sharing his thoughts and taking risks, demonstrating vulnerability in group settings that sets the tone

007for others to do the same, and having high expectations for himself. He consistently contributes positively to his community and demonstrates the drive and skills to achieve his goals beyond graduation. Jay is a deserving New Liberty Innovation School senior recipient of the Superintendent Certificate of Excellence. Jay Thompson. [applause] Well, then we'll invite the family to come up. >> All right. Don't blink. >> Excellent. >> Okay. Can we get Principal Kamar, Miss Liry, Miss Davis, family? Can we get the whole group up here? I'm not shy. >> No, I know. >> You know, >> you travel well. >> You're not shy. >> Congratulations. [laughter] >> You can get You're the mom. >> You should be ready. and one, two, three. >> All right. >> Yeah, you should be really proud. >> Appcate. Okay, next up is um

008Alexia Coleman. And I know I've known Alexia for the last few years. She's a member of the student superintendent's advisory group. Had the privilege of working closely with her and it's an honor to recognize her here today. Alexia is a dynamic uh eclectic student who appreciates every opportunity to learn and grow academically as well as personally. She has challenged herself from day one and continues to build her academics, personal, and leadership skills every day. Alexia knows herself well and is willing to ask for for and accept help from others. She's self-motivated, disciplined, manages her time well, and is a great team player on and off the wrestling mat. Alexia has a true respect for the ideals of good sportsmanship, and she never expects from others, which she does not expect of herself. She has proven

009her time management skills with her ability to balance academics, school, and community activities, athletics, as well as part-time employment. Alexia is committed to each and every endeavor that she becomes involved in. She takes each challenge seriously and always takes it to the next level of learning. It is these qualities that have earned Alexia the respect of her peers, the teaching staff, and the administration at Salem High School. She is one of the most sincere, committed, confident, and positive students in her class. And she will prove to be an asset to our college community and a credit to her chosen field of study, international relations. Two more things to say about Alexia before we bring her up. First of all, she is the first female wrestling captain in the history of Salem High School. Give it

010up for that. [applause] Um, and secondly, I have to say the first day she walked into my advisory group three I think three years ago, I remember saying, "Who is this person?" I mean, I was so blown away by her maturity, her intellect, and just uh just the confidence uh to really push my thinking around how to improve the school system. and it's been a real a privilege to get to work with her and she will be missed um in the Salem public school. So, I'll ask Alexia to come forward uh and then we'll do a photo with her family as well. >> ALEXIAUL [applause] You're making it worse. >> Excellent. >> All right, we get Principal Burns family. I was looking at you. I was laughing at you. >> I think I might have

011been doing that. >> All right. >> Lovely. [applause] All right. now return to our regularly scheduled program. Um, our next item on the agenda is public comment. The Salem School Committee would like to hear from the public on issues that affect the school district and are within the scope of the committee's responsibilities. Spanish interpretation is available for anyone who needs it. The members of the school committee would like to remind the public that Salem public school students regularly attend school committee meetings. We encourage all meeting participants to model respectful and public productive public discourse for our young learners. We'll start with any comment in the room and you can use the microphone over you know it is please do not touch the mic. All right. Yes, I can read. Um first of all, good evening.

012Uh my name is Lori Miranda and I'm a very proud history educator at Salem High School. I've been working with teenagers for a total of 27 years. 20 of those here in Salem. I'm also someone that has struggled with mental health, mostly anxiety and depression. I am very open about my mental health struggles with my students, so they know there is someone out there who understands what they are going through, but also to understand that it is okay to be open about those struggles and end the stigma. And I've also become a resource for students to go to when they're struggling with their mental health and provide support and get them help with trained adults in our building. Tonight, I am not speaking as a teacher, but I'm speaking on behalf of an a phenomenal

013organization called Mental Makeover. as their board, president of their board. Um, Mental Makeover is a mental health 501c3 nonprofit organization committed to fighting stigma surrounding mental health and empowering young people to learn about mental health and talk about their own thoughts, emotions, and experiences. This organization was started by two former Salem High School graduates that saw the need to end the stigma around mental health. At mental make at mental makeover. We have two major fundraisers. We do the world needs you here walk which is usually the end of July and the other fundraiser that we do is a polar plunge in January. Both events help support college scholarships that are given to students not only at Salem High School but at Essex Tech as well. And those scholarships are in the name of two former

014students that have committed suicide. Other pro other events that we plan is we do programming such as yoga sessions, cookie decorating, guest speakers, school presentations. Um the founders of Mental Makeover have um done numerous presentations here at Collins Middle and also at Salem High School. They also provide educational boxes for elementary students and the world needs you here boxes for middle and high school students. Mental makeover education boxes are filled with interactive tools and activities striving to teach youth about mental health in an open light. And I lost track. Open, light, and easy tolearn way. This box is not meant to replace the existing social emotion emotional learning curriculums, but rather act as an engaging additional resource to enhance them. The world needs you here boxes filled with activities, resources, and coping tools that can

015typically be found in a therapist office and clinics that support an individual who is experiencing mental health struggles. Each activity includes personal words from our word words from our team members to show that the person using this box is not alone. We currently have boxes in schools all over the Northshore. In fact, uh we just dropped off about 20 plus boxes um were delivered to our adjustment counselors at Salem High School. Hospital ERS like Salem Hospital in Tus in Boston. Leap for Education was just delivered. I think almost 20 or 40 boxes as well. We have boxes at homeless shelters, doctor office waiting rooms, and counseling offices all throughout the Northshore. I even have one of these boxes, the world needs you here box in my classroom when students utilize them when they're struggling with

016their mental health. The reason why I'm speaking about all of this is because I would like to formally invite all of you, every school committee member um to be a part of our Polar Plunge in January. Whether you plunge, you volunteer, or you just come out and support the plungers, it really does make a difference. It doesn't matter how old you are or even how young you are. Anyone can participate. The first year um we did the polar plunge, I volunteered and it was such a warm, wonderful, positive experience that I decided I was going to throw myself literally in the water and plunge. My goddaughter, who was 12 at the time, decided she wanted to do it as well. She was 12. She's now 14, and this will be our third year doing it

017the plunge together. Plunging is a lot of fun and it helps you to feel better, not only physically, but also mentally. So, on Saturday, January 31st, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. out at Winter Island, Mental Makeover will be hosting our fourth annual Freezing for a Reason Polar Plunge. The Polar Plunge is done in loving memory of those that we have lost to suicide. For more information, please check out our website, mentalmakeovertoday.org, or see or email me for more information and details. And remember, you are not alone and that your life matters. Thank you. [applause] >> Good evening. Uh my name is Jade Bachmann and I'm a proud graduate of Salem Public Schools and the school nurse at Horus Man. I'm here to share the nursing perspective on the proposed elementary reconfiguration. As a former SPS student

018who went through school transitions myself, moving from Bentley to Bowage, I know how impactful these changes are for kids and families. Years later, I returned to SPS as a nurse because I wanted to give back to the community that shaped me. Since 2017, I've served in several roles across the district, including at Carlton and New Liberty, as well as a district's first float nurse. I've been able to support every school in the district and see the unique culture and needs of each building. I'm proud that today we have a full nursing team with two full-time float supports to keep our schools safe. But we need to be honest about the impact a reconfiguration has on school nursing. Our work is often behind the scenes, and because of that, it can be overlooked. Even though nursing

019is one of the areas most affected. When Bowage closed and students were dispersed across other buildings, nursing felt the impact immediately. We absorbed new case loads overnight, updated care plans, and adapted to unfamiliar student needs with no transition period. A school merge is an even larger shift. Every student requires medical clearance, physicals, immunizations, medication orders, health histories, and updated healthcare plans. We prepare emergency plans, verify and secure medications, update emergency bags, complete staff trainings, and meet all statemandated documentation, including screenings for every student. And that's before the daily work. Injuries, illnesses, mental health concerns, chronic disease management, crisis response, and medical emergencies. Many of our students have complex medical needs, including tube feedings, seizure protocols, diabetes care, mobility supports, and daily medication routines. These are time-sensitive, legally regulated responsibilities. HMLS currently serves about 300 students.

020Adding nearly the same number more than doubles the clinical workload in one building. Reconfiguration doesn't reduce student health needs. It simply relocates them. For that reason, I strongly urge the committee to maintain full nursing staffing if a merge occurs. Two school communities coming together still requires two sets of nursing resources to ensure safety, compliance, and equitable care. I also want to note that school nurses do not work over the summer. These changes must be fully planned before the school year begins because we return in the fall expected to immediately manage new students, new systems, and all medical clearances with limited preparation time. Our school nurses work tirelessly behind the scenes and our presence is essential during a transition of this scale. Please ensure that nursing and the health and safety of our students remains central

021in any reconfiguration planning. Thank you for your time. >> [applause] >> Hi, my name is Melinda Baker. While I have spoken previously at one of these sessions, I'd like to reintroduce myself. As a parent of a Colton student and an active member of our school PTO, I want to provide some context as to why several community members are asking for a delay in the elementary school reconfiguration decision by speaking to the process of the past few weeks. And rather than speaking in terms of individual students stories or anecdotes, instead speak to the system. And I'll use terms similar to your own as we've have frequently heard these these business terms from you like rightsize the the district the budget shortfalls cost projections and realize now that perhaps your original motivation was to pressure test different

022scenarios without considering the emotional turmoil that you've put families through in these last few weeks. So I want to give you then another business term, a business case, and ask you to consider a hypothetical. Instead of thinking about reconfiguration or mergers, think about how this body would put together a business case for a new school, much like what's probably ongoing for the new high school. As a concerned public, we would expect you to have done a rigorous traffic analysis, enrollment modeling, and then identify any of the the relevant educational models than in many other things. While you have answered a lot of relevant questions posed by many of the parents who use the done in front of you, several of us have routinely worked in the business how communities throughout this this region. And while

023I can only speak for myself, I would most definitely deny then that business case. This is why you've received push back to merge proposals because you haven't taken the next logical next step to explain and plan for the new school that you would be creating. you've instead provided a speculative cost savings that don't even fill the next year's gap, let alone speak to any of the subsequent years. So, all we're asking is that you do your homework and you write by our young learners now and in the future. Then bring us a true winning business case. Do the work to gain the the buyin from our h community. And I promise you, parents will get behind those plans and help you fund our schools and improve the pay education of the whole health community. Thank

024you. Good evening. My name is Alexandra Dietrich. I am a proud parent of a Carlton um E1 I almost said P2 he moved up um student and I have lived in Salem for the last nine years. I thank you all for hearing many people's personal stories but I would like to share mine because my child [clears throat] has not always been verbal. When COVID landed the day before the world shut down, we found out our son is autistic. He doesn't have anything. He is just like we are. And there were no resources we could access. Just everything stopped. And we all went through it together. And at some point, we'll read a book about how none of us processed it fully and it'll be life-changing. When it came time for the world to reopen, he

025attended the ECC and we found Miss Lisa and a team of teachers who helped him go from nonverbal to verbal. It was incredible. When it came time to pick an elementary school, we were steered for his IEP to be at the one elementary school they could legally meet what his IEP said. This was witchcraft Heights. I love that all parents who've been speaking up love their school. I did not have the best experience there because my son's autism was not profound enough to always get the attention in the ASD classrooms. All students deserve attention. All students deserve what they need to succeed. But his autism presented that he was uh to use a very outdated term, higher functioning. We don't use that anymore. We know the harm that it causes, but it doesn't mean that

026people in his room paid attention to him first when a nonverbal student also needed something at the same time. His inclusion on his IEP was not met fully. We had such a struggle to explain to his teachers that he used to love reading. He used to love numbers and inclusion time was being offered back to us at lunch, at recess. This was not where he needed inclusion. He needed it socially. He needed it in an academic room. After two years, we said, "We can't do this to him anymore." His light went out. He hated going to school. He was receiving injuries in the classroom because people weren't paying enough attention to him and because his word retrieval delay due to autism and his own ability in the room to just advocate for himself was less

027verbal than potentially some of his peers his own age. He was falling through the cracks. I look at the numbers of what it could mean to merge elementary schools and the numbers projected are higher than that of Witchcraft Heights. He was just a number at that school. And I my heart breaks as an educator. Um I've taught from elementary music up to university level music. My heart breaks for the people who can't advocate for themselves verbally in a way that gets heard and gets absorbed. So, we did what we had to take a gamble of doing and reject things from his IEP and place him at Carlton. And every teacher knows his name when he has a sensory meltdown. They know how to use a subclassroom space. They know how to deescalate. Small schools really

028do help make visible the neurodeivergent invisible peers that we have among us. I'm not saying that at some point fiscally that these smaller schools won't become larger schools. But all I can say is that from someone who has seen their child go from loving school to losing their inner light to regaining it and now being two grade levels above where he is in math, that was always in him. But when kids fall through the cracks because they are either too difficult in the room or too easy in the room and can be left to their own devices, this is what's at risk. All of these students at all of these schools deserve to be seen and loved and heard for who they are and to be able to have a school that can see what

029they need because they know them. I've heard amazing stories from other elementary schools. So, I can only speak from my own experience, but I fully love that those stories are shared. The Carlton helped my child stop selfharming, helped him be um social among his age group. All he wanted was friends. I wanted him to succeed at everything, but at the end of the day, all he wanted was friends. Now he has everything that he could ask for. And I've been very honest at home about what's going on because he doesn't do change easily. When he was a baby, if I turned his stroller back somewhere we'd already come from, he would have a meltdown. And it wasn't throwing a tantrum. It's just his sensory wiring. So, I have to say, please consider that this vote

030really does impact those tiny numbers on such a huge level. Thank you. [applause] Um, >> yeah, if you if you want to offer comment, it's a five minute limit. >> Hello, my name is Tatiana. I am a Carlton parent. I am a Salem resident and I've been through this school. I've been through Salem High and I've been through witchcraft. I have family that's been through Bates. I have family that's taught in these schools and I'm have been here about 19 years in America and Salem all together. I currently have a wonderful seven-year-old that goes to Carlton. And [sighs] I was somebody that went through schools and wasn't met where I was I should have been met. I struggled with um ADHD and I struggled socially being bilingual and it was constantly a battle being present,

031being there, trying to fit in, trying to catch up. But one thing I was always good at was math. [snorts] And I used to get in trouble for that. I used to get my I had a teacher that ripped my book because I did most of the math work. And I had teachers that wouldn't give me extra work because I was already done. I got in trouble for finishing work and reading books um under the desk. Um, and then I was also the kid that went into high school and said, "Why am I doing this? I'm not being met where I'm [clears throat] supposed to be." And I struggled really, really bad where I almost dropped out. And I didn't drop out because of Mr. Wonderful Mr. Buchanan. Oh, well, like everybody here probably knows

032him. Hi. And he was the reason why I didn't drop out. and and I realized why I was in a smaller classroom. I got the attention I needed. It's not like I'm somebody that can just, you know, that has struggle um making friends or doing what I want to do. I had struggle being like I had the biggest struggle being in the room with a lot of kids. a lot of kids that would talk that didn't care what they were doing or that there's only one teacher per what 20 students if not more based on the classroom and I didn't do well but being in smaller classrooms shorter classes getting extra teachers having the space if I needed to do my work by myself to step outside and sit outside or be in a different

033part of the classroom to focus focus on what I needed to do. It worked for me a lot. When my son started school, he got accepted as a prek to Beats. Great school might work for some, didn't work for us. And one of the reasons was I do believe my son sometimes might be smarter than me. Um, [snorts] and especially if he keeps going like this. And one day he would come home and say, "Mama, we're not doing math. We're not doing science." And as time progressed, he would his attention in school started to go down. My first choice was always before Bates was Carlton because I love the aspect of innovation and how it's structured, smaller classes, you know, teacher support. There was just so much about that school that just drew me. And

034we are on our second year there. And my son, I could not be any happier about how he gets math. He gets to do the hard work when it comes to math. He ex He's great at it. He's almost at second grade. He's only in first, but he's almost a second grade math. he wants to be a quantum physicist and that's been like that for two years now. So, I think my my point is that if we merge these schools without making a plan on how it's going to affect these students, whether they're neurody divergent or whether they're not, it's going to affect everyone. And I don't want to see my son or those who were like me or like him or some of these wonderful like parents that I've built relationships and have been

035talking about it how it's going to affect all the schools here all the parents all it's I think merging may not be an answer but having a plan to do so is and I don't think our city is ready for that. I also do know living here and experiencing the Halloween I know that we can make a little space in the budget for certain programs if that's what's needed but again it needs to have a plan. I've read over 500 text messages in weeks. There's days I wake up and my phone is blowing up of 100 text messages because parents are breaking everything down and there's no real answers. And I don't think that's okay. I don't think that's fair. I don't think it's fair to the kids and I don't think it's fair to

036the staff that is going to be affected by this. >> That's Thank you. >> Okay. Well, thank you. [applause] Hi everybody. Um, good evening. My name is Elizabeth ID. My pronouns are she, her, and I am one of the parents of a seven-year-old public school student. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to speak in support of our public schools. It's good that so many of us have come together. We've been coming together, haven't we, folks? Um, at a time of year that can feel hectic. It feels hectic as a routine. And it's so difficult to make time to slow down, show up, and do the important work of civic life together. Maybe that sense of urgency and overwhelm is something we all have in common. Is it? Yeah. And maybe everyone here is at least

037somewhat stressed out about what brought us here this evening. Something I've noticed is that stress can be isolating, even when it's about an issue that's widely shared. Who doesn't care about our kids? No one. We're all in this together. It's almost as if some of us, most of us, never really outgrow the sense that we can stay out of trouble if we follow a command to keep your eyes on your own paper and no talking. There's a reason that some of the most common nightmare scenarios involve test taking and other situations that are all pressure and no collaboration. Stress isolates individuals and it forces groups into silos where focus and urgency can build up barriers into an us versus them mentality. When we're struggling with our most important problems, especially when they involve our kids,

038that's when it's most important to get out of that test taking mentality and get into a conversation. I hope that our meetings have brea breathed some life into some of these statistics, line items, and data points by sharing our stories, and that we're all here, all of us, because we care about Salem's children. We're still learning, after all. For example, at the Chapter 70 hearing, dozens of other cities and towns of Massachusetts are struggling to fund their public schools, too. And as a newcomer, this came to me as a huge surprise. Massachusetts has a national reputation for excellent public schools. That's part of why my family made our home here. There's no substitute for the benefits of stability and community toward our kids' education. And issues of disruption put to scale are part of why

039researchers at George Washington University and several others found school closures, whether they are called mergers, reconfigurations, or something else, to have profound and lasting negative outcomes for the whole community. like lower test scores and graduation rates, increased episodes of violence, and worst of all, the harm done to a generation of children whose leaders treated their needs like expenses to be minimized rather than an investment in our most precious collective resource. for kids who already have a challenge accessing their education. And I would say that applies to literally anyone who survived a pandemic or has parents who remember it and more uh directly the populations like our kids, our schools serve. All of those repeated shocks build up and deplete their resilience at a time when they're growing up and working so hard in school that

040they really need it. Someday today's children will be our doctors, our plumbers, our legislators, and our teachers. And giving them what they deserve right now takes more than money. It takes the dedication of a team who believes that we can do things that are important to all of us. And so, let's work together as a community to balance the budget by finding somewhere else to save a buck and protect all of our public schools. Our kids are worth it. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> ANY FURTHER COMMENT IN THE CHAMBERS? Have any comment on Zoom? Please use the raise hand function. >> [applause] >> Hi, I am a 7-year-old and I love my school. And if they combine schools, it's not worth it for us kids. And if we do that, it's kids will be bullied

041a lot. >> [applause] >> All good. All right. Um, so we've been joined by one member who's participating remotely, member Manning. So votes will be by roll call vote. We'll move to the next item on the agenda, which is approval of the consent agenda. These are the minutes of the regular school committee meeting of November 3rd, the minutes of the forums of November 17th and November 24th, the approval of some donations, and the warrants of November 6, uh, November 13th and November 20th. >> Member Cruz. >> Uh, move to approve the consent agenda. >> I'll second. >> Seconded by member Miranda. A roll call vote. Member Cruz, >> yes. >> Member Miranda, >> yes. Member Manning. >> Member Hoffman. >> Yes. >> Member Campbell? >> Yes. >> Member Cornell? >> Yes. >> Myself? Yes. >>

042Yes. >> Unanimous. Student representatives report. >> Uh yes, Sydney uh could not be here today. Um but I did meet with her today because I met with the advisory group today. Um, and I can just give a quick update. Um, the um the we're working on a project or they're working on a project about welcoming new students to Salem who come after the start of the school year. They did host a lunchon uh that they didn't feel like was well attended by the new students because they didn't do a good they didn't feel like they did a good enough job promoting the lunchon. So, we got to work on other ways of getting the message out. But um they did meet today with Laura Assad, with Kathleen Silva, who runs our parent information system, and

043Anna Grato, who is our, um is the face of our college and career counseling center at Salem High, to really pick their brains about how we welcome new students to the system who come in the middle of the year. So far, Salem High School has welcomed about 24 students after the start of the school year. And so they're just uh they want to find ways to do a better job of like on boarding them uh to uh to continue to like connect them to uh mentors, connect them to buddies uh because you know it they are very clear about how overwhelming it is to come be new um and the lingo that the school uses and how confusing it is and how to figure out how to access all the activities. Um and so we

044are going to interview uh willing students uh newcomers um at our next meeting to really understand from them what they uh need and we're going to be putting they're going to be putting together a system for that. Um I know Sydney would say if she were here that she's really wants to make sure that the bylaws are up updated because they need work and she says she she that's her commitment before she leaves to make sure that the bylaws are set. Um and they have invited five ninth graders to join the uh advisory group because there are um a number of seniors who are leaving and they want to bring on the next wave. So they've invited um 9th graders. And then finally, we we tenatively talked and I can talk to the school committee

045about this after about a Zoom with the school committee next uh Monday at 5:30 um where some of them are available. They're just their schedules are busier than mine by a lot. Uh but even if I could get five or six of them to be available, they know that you want to meet with them school committee about you know that just their concerns and questions and so forth. So I tenatively I'm going to ask for those members that are available at 5:30 uh which is before um the meeting the mayor will talk about later tonight. Um and uh on September uh not September 8th, December 8th um I'll send that out to you tomorrow just to confirm that at least some of you might be available for that. uh zoom with them. Um so yeah,

046that concludes um uh the student advisory up uh representative report. I'm certainly not as adept at Sydney at giving the report, but I did my best to getting through. So >> we are up next. Superintendent report. >> All right, superintendent report. Uh before we get into the I do want to um while Lori Miranda is here and of course she's so humble that she comes up to the microphone and doesn't acknowledge the fact that she received a really impressive recognition. Um she was uh named to the Holocaust Museum Boston Teacher Advisory Council. Uh the museum is not even opened um but it's projected to be complete by the end of 2026. and she's part of the inaugural team to be a teacher advisory member um to support the director of education. I I think this

047is a tremendous honor for her. Uh she is a real expert in the Holocaust. We're really lucky to have her here in Salem. She's a gift to our students. So, I just want to give Miss Miranda a big round of applause. [applause] She'll never she never brags about herself, but I'll do it for her. So, um I'm just we're grateful for um all the work. No one puts in more time and professional learning um outside of school than Miss Miranda does. Um and so I and I also love following her adventures around the world on uh Twitter. So I would or whatever it's called now. But um you're well, you know, I would encourage you to follow because you'd learn a lot about the world. Um anyway, um so congratulations to Miss Miranda. Uh we

048we my comments tonight start off with um an update on the FY26 budget. Uh a few meetings ago at one of the forums we gave an update on projections for FY27. We have a very very challenging budget also in FY26. And every year though around this time we do give you an update of where we stand. Um it's not a very long presentation but we can certainly give more backup but we want to give you a sense of where we are for FY26 which is the current fiscal year. Uh we knew going into this year it would be challenging. Um and it's proven to be the case because we can never predict many of the things that happen during the course of the year year and we have to make adjustments based on the needs

049of students um that are often unforeseen before the school year starts. So with that, I'll turn it over to Assistant Superintendent Paulie. >> Great. Thank you very much, Superintendent Reich. I am joined here tonight um by Camila Salazar who's our director of financial operations and the two of us are leading the team that stewards our financial work uh including the analysis of FY26 and 27. So we hope to be able to answer whatever questions you have this evening. Uh I wanted to start with just a reminder about what our budget looks like. Um on the slide you can see our total general fund appropriation which is $78 million. Most of that is personnel and personnel includes all salaries, stipens, longevity payments etc. Non-personnel is everything else the lights the curriculum the materials the transportation etc.

050So in the blue box I have noted that 72% of our personnel budget is still available. So that's good news. Although it's still very early in the year and that will be the theme that you hear from me throughout these slides. Um there is 72% of our personnel budget available but most of our staff uh is school-based or school year based. So uh I would expect to have at least that much available at this point in the year. And I would note and I'll get into this further uh in the subsequent slides. We are in fact over budget in our personnel budget. And I'll dig into why and how that is. But briefly, we've added new positions as we've opened school and needed to uh pivot and respond to student needs. We've hired new staff

051who make more than their predecessors and what was budgeted. We've seen shifts in grants um as well. Um and so that's the personnel. We are in fact on track to be overbudget. We do see a deficit in our personnel lines, but we do expect to end the year balanced. And I'll talk more about how we're going to get there. The non-personnel vertical bar um is 29% expended. And the reason I've phrased these differently is in personnel, we don't encumber our money. So, we pay as we go. But in non-personnel, we open up purchase orders that could take us all the way through to the end of the year. So it is a little bit apples to oranges here but we have spent about 30% of our p non-personnel budget. We are on track to balance

052although there are a few budget lines in non-personnel that are um substantially over budget and so we do expect to see a deficit there too. We do expect to end the year on balance in non-personnel as well as personnel. Um, we assume that we will be able to balance and we assume we will be able to do that by taking steps now and uh in the coming months to make sure that we do. So, we're going to monitor our expenses carefully and we assume also that there we will at some point in the year impose a budget freeze so that we're very carefully monitoring any new unnecessary expenses. So, let's start with personnel. Approximately 3/4 of our budget um is funding for our roughly 970 employees. About 3/4 of those are school year and the

053rest are year round. So [clears throat] for the people who work this school year, they've only received about six when I pulled this information six of their 26 paychecks. So when I say there's 72% available, it's because most of our payroll is still very new. Um it is early as I said. Um and the reason we're projecting a deficit here and that we are over when we play this out through uh June, we think that there the deficit is about $700,000 in our personnel line. So we're about $700,000 over if we um project out to June. and why we think that is um a are a variety of things that I've listed here on the slide. So first the um lane changes to recognize professionals who have received extra or who have earned I should

054say credits uh additional degrees those happen after the budget that that timing happens um those come in September. We have um seen salary adjustments for staff on individual contracts. So contracts that had expired were renewed. Um many of them at higher rates. We have seen new positions added due to enrollment changes. So students moving into the district who require a one-toone pair professional, a new kindergarten class, etc. Um I did mention we've seen staff hired at higher rates than what was budgeted. Um, this has added about $300,000 to our budget. Um, and then the last the last I think contributor to how we have come to be over budget um in our personnel budget is um in our PSRP contract, we um note that PSRP members work the student day. That was part of our

055collective bargaining agreement. However, for safety reasons, there are um PSRP members who are needed to safely greet the students, help them transition into school, and then the same at the end of the day. And so, when we add up the 20 to 30 minutes per day needed um for safe arrival and dismissal, that could be another $155,000 beyond what had been budgeted because it lengthens the workday uh for these employees who are needed. um for student safety. So, those are some of the contributing factors to our personnel overages. Another um note on personnel Oops, Carlos. Am I pointing it in the wrong place? Aha, thank you. Uh is our substitutes uh budget. So, we are concerned about our substitute um budget lines these years. On the left hand side of this chart, I show the

056$250,000 we have budgeted from the general fund for daily subs. So, somebody is sick, they're out, we get a sub. On the right hand side, where you see $90,000, that is the um budget line for long-term subs. So, when someone is out for more than 20 days, the sub who has been covering uh becomes a long-term sub and is paid at a different rate. they're paid um on the step-in column for the teachers contract as opposed to the daily sub rate of $130 a day. Um we have seen a couple of phenomena this year uh that has made us very confident we will be over budget in our sublines. Um the first is and this is a good thing um but it is putting pressure on our budget. We do pay retired teachers the daily

057rate that they retired at and we had 0 to one retired teachers subbing last year and now we have eight um and that uh is great but that they get paid a significantly higher rate than that $130 a day. So that accounts for about 40% of what we spent on our subs so far. Um and I pulled this uh this is through November 7th. Uh, so it's actually there's we've probably spent more on subs since November 7th. So that's one of the contributors to us being over budget. The second is we've seen many more leaves in schools this year than uh even last year. In fact, we've seen twice as many. And this includes FMLA as well as parental leaves. And in those instances, we have long-term subs. So just getting more long-term subs is

058also putting pressure on um on the sub budget. So I assume that these two lines will go into the negative. Again, we're assuming we can meet this deficit by transferring funds, which we'll do towards the end of the year, but these two lines I expect will be significantly over budget. That is the update on personnel. So on non-personnel, uh, as I mentioned, it's everything that isn't an individual's pay, salary, stipens, differentials. Um this is about a quarter of the budget and it goes to materials, utilities, transportation, hardware, software, special ed tuitions, etc. You can see that we're 71.7% committed and this was about a week ago that I pulled that information. But that includes both what we've actually spent as well as what we've encumbered. So our real actual spending dollars out the door is

059about 33% at this point in the year. The rest of that is um incumbrances. You would expect to see us at about 33% at this point in the year because some of our expenses are in fact 12 month. Um we pay utilities all all year long for example. Um now I highlight this uh next non-personnel budget line because we've talked about it as a body a lot and I am here tonight to tell you I am not concerned about our homeless transportation costs. So, um, we often flag transportation and there is a transportation slide coming that I'm concerned about, but at this moment we are not concerned with our transportation for students experiencing homelessness and that is likely due to the fact that we have fewer students experiencing homelessness. Um, in both September and October

060and those were the only two months that I had full data for, we had fewer students experiencing homelessness andor in foster care. So the chart is very small on the right hand side but it is September and October comparing this year to last year. Um but in October for example our total number for both students experiencing homelessness and students in foster care was 224 compared to 296 at the same time last year. So I believe that accounts for the decline in our numbers. We've spent about $25,000 less um at this time than we had last year. We um when we think about what is contributing to this uh and I did speak with our um Mckin Vento coordinator about what she thinks is behind this. She did note that many more of our families are

061housed. So many of our families that were formerly experiencing homelessness are now housed and that is great news. Uh I don't this could change these numbers could change as new homeless shelters come online. So we'll watch this line carefully because this has been a significant cost driver in years past. But for now we are not concerned about this line. Um electricity is also something that we often talk about here. Um and I would note uh on the left hand side you can see that 88% of our funds are encumbered. But this is a change because in previous years we've never encumbered our our utilities. We didn't have to, although the rest of the city did. So now we have aligned our practice with the city's practice and encumbered our funds. It does appear that our

062expenses and our usage are on track to stay within our budget. So that at least as of December 1st is a huge relief and we will continue to monitor that closely. So here's what I am concerned about and that is in district transportation for um students uh in our special ed programming. So since September we have added six wheelchair vans and six monitors which has increased our monthly cost by $56,000 and we project that will be put us about $400,000 over budget in this particular line. Now, we are committed to and legally required to safely transport students. So, we're going to look at whether there are ways to make the routes more efficient without compromising student safety or the student experience on the bus. Um, but if we have to maintain these additional vans and

063monitors, then we'll have to transfer funds later in the year to make this line whole. But this is where we see a non-personnel the largest overage um so far this year. So as we look ahead to the rest of FY26 um the bottom line is that at this moment we are projecting to be over budget in both personnel and non-personnel. We are assuming we'll institute a budget freeze at some point in this year to slow our spending and ensure that we'll end the year on balance. It's still early. We'll monitor our spending carefully and things could change. Expenses could come in below what we have projected or they could come in higher. We are now um in addition to analyzing our roots for indistrict special education, we're also looking closely at any expenses that can

064be charged to grants as a strategy for balancing our budget. So that could also change the amount of what we assume our deficit to be. So um at this point we are committing to provide you with ongoing information but most certainly another update as we get deeper into the winter and have a clearer picture about what the back half of the school year will look like. And of course, this connects to FY27 partly because we often use any surplus funds to prepay special education tuition for the next year. And so, as we think about where we stand, we also have an eye toward will we have any funds to be able to prepay tuition. So, um I guess I'll just say one last time, we're monitoring it very closely. We'll be paying careful attention to

065all of this. Um and also we'll be very eager to see what um happens in January with our chapter 70 uh projections for next year. So I will leave it there and happy to answer any questions uh for now or you know for followup >> questions Cornell. >> I just have one question on the um the personnel number. Did you say it was 700,000 over? What does that look like? You don't have to answer this right now. I mean, you can um but I'd like to know what the difference is between that number right now and what we were looking at last year, what that gap was. >> I' I'd like to look at that and respond uh as a follow-up, but my first reaction is it is much higher than what we would have

066seen last year, but I'll save my final answer for a follow-up. >> Member Cruz. >> Thank you. [clears throat] And uh I first got to acknowledge the good efforts that have been done on the the substitutes. I think it's a big challenge for us last year and we partnered with SDU to get the word out. So glad to hear that our retired educators are coming to uh fill in the gaps. Um you had mentioned on that particular front that you had saw an increase um most likely related to FMLA uh parental leaves as well. But then you just said there's other just general leaves that are taking place. >> There are twice as many leaves. So that was inclusive of all leaves, FMLA and parental. >> Would you be able to share with the committee

067kind of um you know since we've enacted the contract? I know one of the big priorities was around parental leave, FMLA. Can we just get a breakdown of like what's what's been that uptake? Sure. >> Uh from uh those new provisions across the units. Uh and then my other piece would be you had mentioned that you uh that there were some shifts in grants. Uh what were the shifts? Were it state grants, federal, philanthropic? just trying to get a sense of what that was. >> Yeah. What I meant by that was, you know, we get a certain amount for say title one um every year and that we find out in the fall. Our salaries go up in the spring. So, we don't always have real-time information about well well our salaries don't go up

068in the spring. Our salaries also go up in the fall, but when we're projecting out what the salaries are going to be for the fall, we don't have our final title one numbers for the next year. So sometimes if somebody's salary has gone up the then a larger portion of their salary has to go onto the general fund versus fully on a grant and I just use title one as an example but that happens across our grant portfolio. >> Okay, understood. And then uh you had mentioned that uh at some point you'd recommend and I know that the uh budget subcommittee finance is probably getting together to talk about next year's budget and probably diving into the weeds on this but uh could you give us just like a general sense of like when you

069anticipate the budget freeze would take place? Is that like >> the last two years? We've done it. Uh we did a budget pause in January to assess where we were. Um but the freeze came later closer to April. Um we don't have a hard fast date, but probably sooner rather than later. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. And can I just also jump in? I mean, we're also looking at not filling um certain positions that are not like critical for student needs. Um we're shifting roles currently as well where you know like for instance our multilingual learning um population has shifted and so we're instead of filling um every open role that we have, we're also looking at you know um utilizing our staff you know differently if case loads have dropped in different places. Uh

070we have you know we have to be judicious. I mean, some of it is like, you know, the the contract that we settled um a few years ago, we're now really seeing this school year um the uh you know, in the first we settled right before the beginning of last school year, but a lot of the um the aspects of the contract went into effect this school year. And so, you know, leave provisions and uh salary adjustments are really hitting now. And so, it's giving us a better sense of what our, you know, costs will be um for certainly next year as well. Um but we have to be really thoughtful about uh how we use um you know the resources we have. Our enrollment also went up so we had to make adjustments um

071you know in terms and and Jen Ducet Lee who we should get in front of the committee at some point soon can is the best position to tell you about how you know uh with moveins and um unexpected needs. We have to service the needs of the kids in front of us. And you know, many uh many folks did move in over the summer and uh also are moving in every day that require services and so we've had to make you know adjustments um there in terms of staffing and opening new classrooms particularly around special education. While our multilingual learning population has dropped a little bit or at least is not growing um in the same way it was, our special education population in and students who have significant needs and and involved IEPs has

072grown and we have an obligation and a responsibility to meet their needs. And so that's something we're um you know and I think it would be worthwhile for Jen to come to a committee meeting in the future to share that information with um with the committee. Any further questions from the committee? >> Do you want to give your uh other finance updates? Transfer. >> Oh yes. Uh thank you. So we have in the packet a request for a series of budget transfers. Um they total above our threshold which is why we're bringing them to you. And also they're in some instances transferring across um non-personnel to personnel. So the first um the first is um transferring from student supports contracted services which is a non-personnel line to stipens to fund to help fund safety care

073stipens. Um the second is moving funds from instructional supplies um to a stipen line to fund um multilingual student tutors at Salem High School. Um Bentley has requested to move funds from their non-personnel to stipens to um support the stipens a range of funds they will need uh for the remainder of year. And then the last is our music department um needs to transfer funds from stipens to contracted services because um the piano accompaniest is not an employee of the sale public schools and therefore we can't pay them as a stipen. We have to pay them as a vendor. So it's a collection of things um that we hope you will consider. No further questions. Back to you. >> All right. MSBA update just quickly uh on the high school building project. The committee met

074on Thursday, November 20th. Uh we reviewed uh the schedule, the milestone schedule. Uh there was a robust discussion about field surfacing and uh the use of turf for natural grass at the site. Still uh getting some information from members of the committee before a final decision is made. Uh there we reviewed the schematic design submission table of contents. Uh the total budget project format and estimates were reviewed and what we're moving forward on is completing the final design for schematic design submission which is on track for the due date of December 17th to the MSBA which is significant milestone. Um and there is a meeting uh we have two meetings in the next two weeks in anticipation of the 17th. There is a Zoom meeting on Wednesday this week, 6:00 to 7 on Zoom, and

075then Thursday, December 11th, um right here in the chambers. These are all public meetings um for the public to attend. Um and so, yeah, we're uh lot lot is happening with the building project as well. So, um stay tuned. Those concludes my comments, mayor. And I know next on the agenda is elementary reconfiguration. I'll turn it back to you. >> Thanks. Um, so I'm going to just start with a a brief statement for the committee and then uh we'll get into some questions for the consultants and for the district about what we've been presented with uh in November. Um first I want to say thanks to the elementary school communities, the caregivers, the educators, and most importantly the students and to everybody who's provided feedback to this point. Uh these discussions are the outcome of

076a process that began with a district facility master plan in 2021 continued through multiple retreats and committee meetings looking at our portfolio of facilities in the light of budgetary challenges, new models of learning, building needs, and declining student enrollments districtwide. That process has led to a number of important decisions for our community, not the least of which was the decision in 2023 to pursue a new Salem High School building. Many other components of our district's trajectory since then have also been shaped by the foundation of that effort, including the ongoing review of school assignment policies, transportation plans, our capital budgeting priorities, and a conversation about Salem's elementary school buildings. Earlier this year, two specialists in the field, themselves, Salem residents and parents, were brought in to assist the committee in examining the data and the

077opportunities for actions that might help address our financial challenges, minimize the need for staff reductions, which would increase class sizes across the district, and maintain or even expand student access to our most successful programs. In evaluating the options before us or whether or not to act at all, the school committee is centering the same values we have centered for years. Equity, elevated learning experiences for every child, and financial sustainability. I want to acknowledge that conversations about changes to schools are emotional ones. As a parent of Salem public school kids, I know how much we all love our schools. They shape our children's lives and the heartfelt feedback we've heard from many of our elementary school families speaks to how much they care for their schools and how well the programs in those buildings are working.

078I also understand how important it is to make sure every child is supported to the best ability of our district. I have confidence we can navigate this process and land in a place where all kids in all of our schools have the greatest possible opportunity to thrive, succeed, and grow no matter the address of the building that they go to school in. At one of our recent public forums, a parent asked the committee, "What is the vision?" It's a great question. Our vision is for a diverse and welcoming community that promotes each student's academic, social, emotional, and physical development through the equitable delivery of challenging, relevant, and joyful learning experiences. Those aren't my words. That is the district's mission statement. They're the foundation of the strategic plan that's guided our work for these past two

079years, and that's centered on four core priorities. elevated learning, empowering educators, centering belonging, and strengthening our district's foundations. The reconfiguration discussion is an extension of that vision and that strategic plan, not an outlier from them. And it's part of the actions that this committee and preceding committees and many, many thoughtful and dedicated educators and caregivers from across our district have been putting into place for years at every grade level. expansion of the ECC and more indistrict pre-K classrooms in our public schools combined with the preK partners in our community so we can achieve our goal of every child having access to the highest quality prek and early education opportunities possible. Broadening opportunities for as many Salem children as possible to benefit from innovative learning, dual language options, and other programs that have proven effective and

080are demanded by families. aligning our middle schoolers into a building where every one of them has consistent access to programs, specialists, and opportunities and where was once a pilot program for experiential learning and which has proven wildly successful has been expanded so every seventh and eighth grader can benefit from it. moving our alternative high school to a safer and more conducive facility and creating a new Salem High School that's intentionally built to support the career and college readiness programs that have over the last 5 years drawn back60 students to Salem High School, an increase in enrollment there of 60 of 20%. So that's the vision for our district. PreK opportunities for every Salem child, equitable access to the best possible elementary programs for every family that seeks them. a middle middle school experience that gets

081kids enthusiastic and engaged in learning and a high school that prepares them to succeed and thrive no matter their chosen path. All of that with the strong foundation that was mentioned in the strategic plan, competitively compensated educators, safe and healthy buildings, financial sustainability, and a commitment to always being open to new ideas and hard conversations. I'm going to open the floor to committee members if they wish to make any statements or to ask questions to the district or the consultants. We're going to go one at a time. Um, so folks each have an opportunity to ask their questions. Um, and I'd like to invite the consultants to come on up. Um, after we've exhausted the questions from the committee, uh, we'll have a a further discussion amongst the committee members and, uh, and then I'll

082share some, uh, upcoming opportunities for additional public engagement that we're scheduling. So, I will now open the floor to anyone who wishes to start from the committee. member Cornell. >> Thank you. Thank you Sarah and Dan for being here. Um, so my question is around one of the uh proposals that you said wasn't the best idea. Um, and I and I just want to preface this by saying I'm not necessarily um by asking this question it doesn't mean I want to put it back on the table. I just would like a little bit more clarity. So, as as you know, when we all held our June retreat, uh, and we sort of gamed out different scenarios for reconfiguration, the one that we walked out the door with that we felt was sort of was pretty

083viable was to combine Carlton and Salt and Stall at Horse Man and to move Nope. >> Bentley, >> thank you. uh yeah to combine Salt and Stall and Carlton stu students at the Bentley school and to move the dual language program to the Salt and Stall School. And it was one of those proposals that we all kind of I think felt pretty good about when we walked out the door. um not just because of the financial implications but because it would solve it could potentially solve some of the roadblocks that we see around equity and ex and access which we've been talking about for years with regard both to dual language and to the Carlton innovation plan. So, um, so just with that in mind, I I, you know, I can now see given some

084of your other proposals why this might not have risen to the top, but I would just like a little bit more clarity as to why you pulled that. That one was a do not recommend. >> I'll start. Thank you, committee [clears throat] members. We are excited to uh continue to answer all your questions. That one involved moving a really significant portion of the elementary school students in the district uh all at once and so it was sort of a larger impact than some of the other scenarios in terms of the number of students who would have a change. Uh it also had some other features that maybe made it just slightly less appealing than some of the other ones. And also I I will say personally I thought that since we looked at the fact

085that Bentley has not received as much update and support over the years in terms of the facilities updates. Uh there also could be a concern about you're finally updating that building and the Bentley students aren't there to uh benefit from it and that community wouldn't be there to benefit from it. Uh but the the biggest thing is really just about it moves so many students and I think it's >> seven00 over 700 students okay would be involved in that one specific scenario. Is there anything you would add >> just about the equity piece this is where some of these things are intention. So in moving Bentley to Salt and Stall that feels like an equity win by being so close to many of our Spanish speaking families in the point and in South Salem. Um,

086but the literature often shows that when a school that previously had predominantly Latino students in it, those students move out. That's when schools get improved. And so again, that equity concern is it reproducing a bit of what we heard loud and clear about Bowitch with a certain demographic of students in this case, fortunately a like heralded program. Um but nonetheless, concentration of Latino students um moving out to have other families with less Latino demographics move in to an improved building. >> Thank you. >> Member Cruz. Uh my my question is around the innovation plans themselves uh under the state law like what are our options with respect to uh innovations plans uh when considering mergers, closures and uh reconfigurations. >> Thank you for that question. So uh there I'm going to try not to be

087too complex about this. So innovation schools the concept is that it is governed locally by the school committee. So the state sets up the rules for how they work, but it is it is locally that the decisions about any individual innovation school happen. So it is and it is possible to amend innovation plans. There's language in the state regulations about uh the superintendent and the school committee can work with the school to amend an existing plan. Uh that is certainly doable. >> Okay. Thank you. And then uh I think this question is better suited for the mayor uh and for the superintendent. I I think one of the things that we're all wrestling with is obviously the larger budget landscape uh and the budget development process for the committee. Uh obviously we've heard from the

088consultants that they recommended you know tackling this conversation and then moving to the budget. Uh but what is the timeline uh exactly for kind of the mayor, the council and superintendent to align on what the projected city contribution is on the budget side? >> I mean it would be pretty consistent with the timetable from last year. So what was it Elizabeth? It was >> um well chapter 70 comes out at the end of January and then in February March we work together and then we brought the budget to this committee the very first week of April. >> Yeah. And I I don't think and mayor you can jump in. I I I don't think we're not anticipating major changes in the state's allocation uh for this year. I mean we're we've been tracking it for

089the last couple of years. I mean, I think it it's going to be relatively consistent. This is uh I think the second to last year of >> This is the last year of S SOA, even though we haven't seen much. Uh our enrollment has increased a bit, so we'll see a little bit of a bump there, but it will be consistent to what with what we've seen for the last few years. So, we're not I mean our projections uh we've used essentially the projections that the city has given us you know what the city's given us over the last few years um as a as a starting place um unless there's a huge windfall which we're not anticipating um you know I think our projection will probably hold you know true to the last couple

090years in terms of the city giving us between you know four and a half and 5%. >> Thank you. And I understand that part of the conversation around that is work that happens uh both with the city finance director and then uh on our side in the district. Uh but I think one question I got from members of the community is like uh where in the process uh would members of the community be able to advocate with the council about, you know, their interest in uh seeing the city contribute more to the budget? I understand we're going to have a number of transitions on the council because of the previous election cycle. So, mayor, I don't know if you can illuminate kind of the process of budget development with the city council and kind of

091how they think about those decisions given the I think growing interests of I think the incoming city councilors on this particular topic. Just want to make sure that folks have an understanding of when they can kind of interject and kind of influence the process. >> Um, so with the city council, that process doesn't take place until May and June when it's filed with the council. They the council as a legislative branch doesn't have a role in the the development of the of the budget. Um that's determined through the work of this committee and then separately on the municipal side with the city departments through the department heads interacting with the with myself and the finance director to determine what we can afford for those departments. Um but a lot of the constraints that we face

092in the budget development are governed by limitations that are imposed on cities under uh state law. whether it's the limitations of Prop 2 and a half, the limitations of our ability to increase excise rates, which we charge the most for under state law right now. Um, we we operate within those constraints. Um, and if we're able to capture new growth, which we usually estimate around a million dollars of new growth each year, um, that is above and beyond what we can uh what we can factor into our revenue projections for establishing the budget for the year. >> Understood. And then uh mayor, I know you and I have had this conversation cuz it's come up uh as you were negotiating with different bargaining units and then obviously we had a series of negotiations here on

093the district side. Uh but there was a lot of folks that I think had reached out wondering, you know, why we couldn't um excise or levy more taxes on folks that are visiting. Does the municipality currently have any ability to unilaterally kind of change how we >> leverage dollars that come in from visitation? So, when it comes to things like our hotel XIS and our uh meals excis, we charge the most that we're allowed to under state law currently. Uh the Municipal Empowerment Act was filed by the governor. It would allow us to assess a little bit more. Um if if that law passed and we assessed both of those excises to the highest level possible, it'd be an additional $1.2 million for the city. Um which is which is definitely helpful. I don't know

094the status of that legislation making it through the legislative process right now, but outside of that, we can't unilaterally impose like a local sales tax or a local income tax or uh a local ticket tax, any anything like that um would require a special act from the legislature. Um which we've we've, you know, made requests for and I know you've been, you know, supportive of with Senator Lovely. Um but it's a challenging process. So, >> thank you. I appreciate that. And I just think it's important for the public to understand that there is uh limitations on the municipal side that are outside of the control of this particular committee. Um and I think you know if we had the option here as a committee, we'd try to do everything we could to tackle those local

095revenue options. Um so just turning back to the consultants, I guess one of the things um that uh I'd be interested in understanding was around um kind of the savings themselves. um in your modeling. Um I I've heard from the superintendent that these were relatively conservative um uh projected savings. Uh but I I just want to understand from you all like by way of process like um you know exactly where you think like the boundaries are with respect to what we could save and more aggressive modelings and reductions that might happen as a result of mergers or consolidation. Yeah, thank you for that question and part of what this stems from is we did not want to give you a everything is best case scenario picture that then wouldn't necessarily come true. So, uh as

096you're noting these are somewhat conservative. So, for example, one of the things that the financial savings projections had for a merger uh they did not include uh regular classroom teaching positions at all. So there's there's no teacher uh changes in those savings in term there there are sort of one or two specialists but actually not even a whole school's worth of specialists because the assumption is that we would still want to maintain all the same kind of services and learning opportunities in the merge school. Uh and we wanted to be really conservative with that. So for example, if you had uh two schools that each I'm making up an example here. There's no specific case in mind, but if you had say two schools that had uh each had two fourth grade classrooms, but when

097there was one school and that uh is the amount of students that would be even in Salem's lower uh number of students per class would only be three classrooms. That might be one fewer teaching position. We did not include any cuts or savings from any kind of scenario like that. Uh because that's sort of highly individual to each school. uh merging and was just sort of as I said we wanted to not give kind of the rosiest best case scenario estimates wanted to give you the most conservative estimates as sort of a floor and sorry superintendent. >> Yeah I'd also just add like I've said this in a couple of the forums you know we also want to be prepared if we there needed to be some transitional supports like additional staff that we would

098want to add is certainly in year one of a of a merger like you want to you know that to be in consideration. The plan is to obviously have a transition team if there if this the committee votes to move forward with the merger. And out of that could come recommendations that would require uh that could require depending on what the committee wants to do uh in terms of like additional staff to support you know a merger. There's also unique student needs as uh Dan mentioned that we'd have to consider. Um, so I think we felt comfortable being conservative just because we didn't want to overpromise that there would be, you know, more savings. Do I think there will be more savings? I do think there will be more savings, but I I think we

099want to be careful because we don't um we want to be respectful to this is like you know it these are these are about individual needs of children. These are about individual needs of communities. These are about individual needs of uh you know depending on you know the in in an innovation model depending on because in some of the scenarios involves innovation uh plans like Bentley and at uh with Carlton um those all have to be in consideration and so we wanted to be careful with what we put out there in terms of savings. >> Thank you >> members. Member Hoffman. Hi, I have a question about the stride program and the space and availability, but also kind of tied to that that I thought of later was the >> um physical therapy and the

100OT like they kind of need some space. Is that incorporated in some of these rooms or like did you think of that in the bathroom like the um being able to get to the bathroom and use it privately? >> Dan, I I can take that I can take that question. Um so on uh with the stride classrooms I know there are three stride classrooms at Horus man. Um they do not currently none of them have bathrooms in in them but they we would you know uh they're they're proximal in some of the cases. I don't anticipate moving any of those dried pro uh classrooms. We don't anticipate collapsing any of those programs or shifting them. There is also a designated OT and PT space uh that um you know LA largely uh and Jade you

101can correct me if I'm wrong is used for um the stride program there but it also is used for other students at the school. Uh I don't anticipate moving that space. That's a very needed space for uh the students in the program. And there also a couple speech offices that mainly serve as stride. I don't anticipate any of that if if a merger happened to Horus man uh being impacted at all by uh by that. I mean that those are core parts of a program that would need to stay in place. Um and so um I don't anticipate any changes there. >> Superintendent, could I add also? >> Yes, sure. >> Just for clarity, we we just want to say very clearly none of the scenarios involve dismantling any of the special education programs. They

102are they would all be preserved in their spaces. >> Questions member >> Cornell. Um this is for the superintendent. Um, so in the in the high school building redesign conversations, we have, you know, we have a civil engineer who has given us some recommendations for like how you could improve traffic flow in that space. And I think regardless of what happens, like you know, if we leave everybody on that campus exactly where they are, um I would like to see if there's a way that we can implement some of those recommendations sooner rather than later. Um the folks traffic concerns around that space. Like I I understand that shifting the start and end times will help that, but um it's not lost on me that that will be a construction site and I think we

103have to think really carefully about about the traffic. We all, you know, we've all talked about how terrible the traffic is. Uh but the fact that it's going to be a construction site is going to make it a little bit a little bit thornier. So, um you know, I'd just like I'd like to some reassurance. I don't know where it would come from. I don't know if it's like, you know, mayor you sort of bringing this up at at um with our architects or um if either one of you see this as a possibility being able to get in there and manipulate those uh those trafficways soon. >> To clarify, you're you're speaking about the making that roadway two-way right down to the near the golf course. >> Yes. >> Yeah. I don't see why

104we couldn't do that regardless of what happens here. here. I think there are issues with traffic right now. Obviously, there um I have no doubt that it can accommodate the number of kids um that we would project to have there if there was a merger based on my conversations with the traffic consultant on the project who is by all accounts an expert in this. uh he's made it very clear to me that um they had already projected out this many kids on the campus because we again we were we were planning for a 7 to 12 uh at one time. Um and so I have no doubt that it can be done. To your question though I think uh we would I think we would have to sit down with them and start planning for

105that. Again regardless of what happens in this decision I think the traffic situation continues to get worse there. I think there'll be would be some uh we'd alleviate some of it with the change in start and end time if we can do that. But to your point, I don't think that's all the, you know, all the issue. I think there are other things that you they we can do. And while we've consulted with Salem police on different uh different ways in and out, um I think we need to to rely on that expert. And he did say he he actually did say that he would get us a proposal um for um reviewing that now if that's something that we wanted to do. So I expect to receive that from >> Yeah. I think it

106just I I would want to be thoughtful about how the I'm not a traffic engineer but like everybody in Salem drives I am a traffic engineer. Um I would be concerned about how that roadway would ultimately intersect with the area right in front of the high school. So, we'd have to be, I think, maybe thoughtful about how that kind of >> operates because that's where the issue would be. >> Idea for that. >> Oh, okay. >> There's a traffic engineer right here. >> Speaking of traffic, if you looped it around, if you did the you can loop around where the buses drop off because they're high schoolers, so they can get dropped off where the bus zone is. Like, you stop for the bus and you wait. But if you were to loop around and

107go back, they would go out the same way they came in >> and then have Horus man go the opposite way. So they go to the top around the other way and then you make a no left turn. Sorry, folks. [laughter] >> During the school hours there, >> we'll talk about it. >> You're a traffic engineer. >> I had another question. >> Yeah, member Hoffman. Um, one about uh let's see. Um, sorry. If we I haven't heard anything about the calendar, but would we be able to put all the schools on one calendar versus having two separate calendars? So, would that alleviate some of this stress of um having a school open when others are closed? Um, yeah, you could definitely that can be a condition. I mean, you'd have to look. It's right now

108a part of the Carlton Innovation Plan that they have a separate calendar. Uh, but there's no reason why the committee couldn't revisit that part of it. Um there I think Carlton would say there are specific dates that they uh need to plan for but I know I've talked to principal Weaver about you know the fact that there are that that could be looked at if that was a concern. I I'm not sure there's tremendous extra costs to it, but it is logistically very um frust. I mean, there's challenges logistically. I we have so many different calendars that it now over time, the only school that is dramatically different is Carlton. Um most of the the Bentley has chosen to follow the district's calendar. New Liberty follows the district's calendar now. So, that's helped a lot.

109Um, but I there's no reason why that couldn't be adjusted. Obviously, we we'd want it there'd be a conversation with the school about how to do that in order not in in a in in so much as we don't impact um the continuous progress model and the need to have um you know the the schedule meetings that they have, the the um grade level shift meetings that they have or the uh programmatic shift meetings that they have. So, I think that but it's doable I think. Other questions? Member Cornell? >> Uh, I have a question about um if the prek programs were all located at Carlton. That came up in the presentation. I I do have a question about bathrooms there. Um, and then I have a I have a follow-up to that. So, I

110know Carlton has two rooms with in room single occupancy bathrooms. And then there are, you know, the school's much smaller than other schools, so it's not like you're running all over the place to go to the restroom, but um I just How does that impact our prek teachers? >> Um, well, there's no requirement to have bathrooms in any classrooms that we have. Um and so you know essentially you know you could move you could have prek and kindergarten and we and throughout the district while most of the preks I think have bathrooms not and a lot of the kindergarters not all of them do and like at the head start the head start program at uh horse man pathways they don't have bathrooms in their classrooms um so it varies. Uh that being said, if

111you ask teachers about bathrooms in classrooms, they would feel very strongly about having bathrooms uh attached to their programs. Um and I know the ECC teachers would say that if any of them were here right now, they would say don't listen to what he's saying to you, telling you because we need it in our space. And that's one of the reasons they do love the ECC space is that those uh all the classrooms that they utilize right now have bathrooms. There's also a need in um you know there's changing needs in some of the classrooms as well. And so some of them have set up um you know closet spaces that are used for changing that are essential for some of the substantially separate classrooms. Um and so we have to be cognizant of that.

112Uh again there is no requirement to have them. It is a preference. Um, and it is obviously for, you know, if you're trying to hurt a lot of, you know, children. I don't know if that's the right word exactly, but to manage and a group of children, 20 students or 18 students to go to the bathroom, it's very hard if you have to go down the hallway to do that. Um, and so I know that the teachers would feel very strongly and that's one of the reasons they don't want to have to leave the ECC space is because they feel while it's not the, you know, the most glorious building they've ever seen, they really appreciate the fact that there are bathrooms in every classroom. Mhm. >> I I just wanted to have a followup

113because I know that or make a follow-up statement because I know that members of the community have asked about the potential to have, you know, a prek K center and go, you know, one to six and um there's a community member here who left, but who always has this idea of putting, you know, our seven and eights at horse man. Um, and so I just want folks in the public to know that these are conversations that we've had pretty consistently over the years about the benefits or drawbacks of having a prekk grouping together. And part of what we've what we've learned is that this is where the space the space constraints are so tight. So when we're talking about okay maybe 10 years down the line if we can apply for another MSBA grant build

114a school that accommodates you know x number of students then we might be able to kind of game out or um you know to plan for some of these bigger ideas that we we actually can't execute because of the space constraints that we have right now. So people bring up really good ideas I think around this and I think um uh Jean Hersps has made a really compelling case for prekk center. Um but again it's just we're really confined by the spaces that we have. So we do have you know we have talked about all of these these great ideas and and many of which have been echoed by folks in the community but um you know those might be sort of longer visioning things and I have heard that from from people that like

115let's you know can we see what that longer term visioning is and I think absolutely that that's something that we should be working towards. >> Yeah. Could I just add to that? I mean, I think if you um the teachers, the prek and the um preschool teachers would say they would love to all be together. The majority, I wouldn't say universally. There's a few that have sent emails that suggest that they don't want that, but the majority would like to all be together in one place. We we do struggle right now with professional development because they're on different schedules. you know, Bates and um Horus man have a different schedule than ECC the ECC and that presents logistical issues with getting teachers together and there's some isolation for the teachers at Bates and at uh

116you know and at Horseman that they're not able to all be together. I think there is a and our if you talk to our coaches our the providers to a person most would say like you got to bring them all together. Many would say you get add kindergarten that to that as well except that is a much harder thing to do because of the number of classrooms and I don't know that that's as universally wanted uh in by the commu the feedback I've gotten from the community. What is pretty universal is they would love to see all the prek and preschool classrooms together. They'd also like to see more of those classrooms. The only exception would be the Bentley prek because it has to be attached to the dual language program unless committee member um

117Campbell feels differently. But I I it seems that all the guidance is that that should still be attached to the dual language program. If I can >> go ahead. >> Uh when talking to different experts in the district, um even if it was prek and K altogether, they estimated about seven bathrooms would be sort of a pitched number. And if there are two already and it's not including K, that leaves us maybe with five, maybe a few fewer. And we did estimate out with facilities that it' be about 25,000 to 50,000 per bathroom. It sort of depends on where the pipes are and where the water is already and how far you have to go to route it. But while that's a big number, given that we're dealing with a lot of bigger numbers, that

118is an an option that doesn't add up so quickly as many other building estimates do. >> So, just to clarify, so the the cost scenarios or the cost savings that are reflected in the scenarios that were presented in the fact base don't reflect >> they do not reflect that because the ECC domino and the series of dominoes came after. So we focused on the um elementary school core buildings. Not to say the ECC is not essential at all, but given its unique features, we focused on pricing out mergers or collocations of the um K5 spaces first. >> Cruz. >> Uh I think this one's for the superintendent. I know um and Elizabeth, now that I think about it, the assistance superintendent when we started kind of the process of negotiating with our bargaining units um

119and getting to the finalization, I know we've talked about a variety of different um like three-year horizons for what the budget deficit looks like. Obviously, we had a really rough budget cycle last time around. We have two in front of us that are coming uh really quickly. uh could you all just kind of name um I I think I've heard the superintendent say that this particular budget year uh is difficult uh and this is one of the impetuses for coming forward bringing the recommendations but then you talked about the subsequent budget year like what what is the projected kind of deficit uh for next year you know what are the factors that go into that uh and then additionally um I know you presented kind of like here's the menu of options of things that

120we would have to consider because again as a school committee we can't raise the revenue, we can't do the things that are outside of our control that we would have to take a look at if we were looking to kind of close the budget gap in these next two fiscal years. U but just wanting to understand like what's the what's the difference in um doing something this year versus next year? What does that budget deficit look like over the next two years? Just so that people have the full picture of kind of what we're up against there. >> I could start and then jump in. I mean I think our you know this upcoming year is of significant concern because we know we have a a contract that we have to uh fulfill. You know

121we know we have a known it's known what our cost obligations are particularly around personnel which is the biggest driver of the budget. Um and then we have an opportunity to renegotiate the contract with our largest bargaining unit. Um and you know that could that could you know change somewhat the landscape moving forward. you know, we don't we don't know, but next year is particularly challenging. Um the you know, the fact is right now, I mean, I'm I'm just as worried about future cuts to our title, you know, entitlement grants at the federal level. We don't know what's happening at the federal level. I I'm I hate to say it, but I I think it's pretty bleak uh where we're, you know, what we see both at the state level in terms of, you know,

122and you know, Mr. Cruz, you may know a little more about the projections at the state level, but certainly we are concerned about, you know, the 5 to6 million we get in title grants. I mean, with the Department of Education being dismantled, that could have big impacts on our future years. It's it's really tough to predict, but it doesn't look it's not it doesn't seem positive. Um the outlook doesn't seem positive at this time. And Elizabeth can jump in. I would say look either way even if I was having this conversation in you know good budget years we are running way too many schools for the number of kids we have that is definitive in my mind I from the moment I arrived here I I said that because but it was it wasn't the

123time to to look at that because we were in the middle of CO at that moment the reality is we and we weren't going to make changes to schools at that moment I my first day was in the middle of But as you know, the reality is in order for us to to do the kind of work that we want to do even in the best of budget times to be innovative to be able to invest in programming, the quality programming and the high interest program. It costs money to do that and we are running too many schools for the number of kids that we serve. Um and so I you know the recommendation whether it happens this year whether it happens a year from now five years from now I I I do unless

124we have major spikes in enrollment which doesn't seem to be you know the forecast I do think fiscally we're going to be in a tough position for a while you know a while now obviously it is more extreme when the conditions are like they are and the constraints are like they are right at this moment across the state, across the nation. We're not somebody mentioned it tonight and like this is happening every everywhere. Um and and it it it certainly um is exa you know our our the our portfolio of schools is is certainly um you know it's exacerbated in this moment in time. But you know even again even in in the best of times if we wanted to if we want to be able to spend money on in our innovative work and

125build on you know the successful things we're doing in schools it's very hard to do. I think our central office has to be bigger because of the number of schools we run the uh um it's it's just it's a it's a lot to manage to run 11 schools uh you know given the and and certainly harder given the constraints that exist right now. I don't know if you would add to any of that. >> Uh the only thing I would add is just we've estimated for next year it's between four and a half to 5 million. That's the gap. We don't know a number of things, but that feels like it's right given what we know about our personnel costs. Our contract expires, so we don't have that same level of certainty for FY28. Um,

126our contract with our largest bargaining units expires um in FY28. So, and I think I would just underline what the superintendent has said. We have not factored into these projections the absolute loss if that were to happen of federal money. So, that is not included in our estimates. >> Thank you. And then uh appreciate the the answers and the clarity there, Superintendent. I think the one thing that I'm uh going to shift gears on the uh the work that's been done in the district previously regarding transitions. So, I know that um as a committee, right, we're in charge of the governance. You're the chief academic officer under state law. Um could you just speak to kind of your um your thoughts on how you would manage uh a transition in the event of a merger?

127Like who are the folks that are represented on those transition committees? Because I just think um you know, I'd be interested in understanding, you know, how you're thinking about putting that together and what does that like process look like? Is that you know, through the end of the school year? Is that something that also continues throughout the summer? just trying to get a sense of like how that worked when you were doing the Salts Collins merger uh as well. >> Yeah, I mean I think this is more complex than that. Um and so you know it would require a team of um educators, families, students um district uh central office members to meet regularly and consistently to plan every aspect of it. I mean there has to be um you know it it depends on

128the context of each school uh um a little bit in terms of their identities but we want to be able to take the best of both school communities. I think you'd want to have uh and I shared some of this in one of the forums we had. We want to have events scheduled uh where communities were coming together. We'd want to obviously get feedback and input, but we having a steering group uh serve in that capacity and and and represent the stakeholders uh would be critical and that would be you know um led by a member of my team obviously uh who whoever is identified as the school leader. I think it would have to go through the summer and into the fall um or as long as needed, but you want to make sure

129that there's uh there's it's a there's strong footing and there's an opportunity. you know, you just don't let it you just don't drop it in the summer. I mean, I think you have to make sure that it receives the attention, the transition that it deserves all the way through the fall and if need beyond that u to make sure that it it goes well. And then there has to be reporting out on metrics. We, you know, I think it's important to survey people um at the in the school community. It's important to look at some of the outcomes that we look at as a district, not just uh MCCAST because we don't get that for a while, but we have internal data. We'd want to look at attendance. We'd want to look at um you

130know, we'd want to look at discipline rates. We'd want to look at our internal assessment data. We use the STAR assessment. So, we'd want to look at at at that. Um and I think those are all pieces that we we want to look at. I I don't know that it was as involved with Salt and Stall. Um it didn't involve as many children. It wasn't an entire school community merging with another. uh which represents, you know, I think a much stronger identity of a school. Um and that has to be honored and respected and so um yeah, it would have to be a substantial part of my team, my work for the remainder of the school year into the fall. >> Thank you for that, superintendent, because I think, you know, one of the things

131that we've heard from members of the community at the different forums was around, you know, what's the role of the committee with respect to the plan? And I I would just name um you I think that this committee is pretty much adhered to the fact that um you know there's a red line between what your role is as the chief academic officer and administration uh and then what our role is on the governance side and that the schoolbased management it best lies uh with you folks. Uh and I'll just name that like there's a lot of school committees that operate like 1993 never happened and we didn't remove um the management functions that school committees used to have. I think that it's a good thing that we did because, you know, quite frankly, um there's

132a reason why we have a superintendent that's been retained. I think district leaders that are doing good work and schoolbased principles that people really respect and value and that we're actually keeping in the district. And then I think educators who, you know, believe in what we're doing and then the families too. So, um, you know, I personally just, you know, want to note for members of the community that may be wondering like why, you know, the school committee in particular, uh, isn't named in that particular process is because there is a boundary between school-based governance and school-based management. And we want to respect that line because we know how important it is for the folks that are licensed to lead and educate in schools to do that work. And obviously with opportunities for information. I

133just named superintendent um and we have this history here in the committee when we did do the closure with Bowage that we did do that type of monitoring and and I think it was really helpful for members of the uh the committee to just know the progress that was being made but then thinking about like sunsetting that to make sure so if that is a factor uh for folks in reconfiguration that there should be some type of sunset on when we stop examining uh how folks uh are adjusting uh to their merger because eventually you know any merger that might take place, reconfiguration or closure. Those school uh community members become a part of that school community. So, revisiting that over and over again just I think tears back the wounds. We had to find

134a way to honor uh some of those pieces. But I would just put that out there for the committee members that would be here is that that was something that we did the last time around and I thought that that was important. >> Can I can I just add a few more things to that? I think it's also important that uh you know that it uh meeting with the teachers union will be very important. We've had, you know, I think we have a good working relationship. We've dealt with some difficult situations and trying to be respectful of staff and making sure they're placed appropriately and respectfully. It's not an easy conversation, but that is a conversation that would happen right away if the if a merger was decided on. I think that's uh, you know,

135important to note. Um, as well, I also think um that it is um I think it's also important that, you know, students have a a voice in this. I I I I I think that cannot be underestimated. There are very specific uh student needs that are that would be part of this and I think um I've heard from par parents individually. Some of them have spoken at forums that would have to be taken into you know consideration ve very carefully. There are unique situations that we would want to um you know work towards and work through. Um, and I also would say I think we have excellent school leaders and I think school leaders loom very large in any changes like this. Every one of our principles has at least three years of leading a

136school in Salem and the majority of them have been administrators in Salem for a lot longer than that. Um, and so I think um, you know, I would we would rely heavily on what I think is an excellent group of school leaders. The best that I've been associated with as a superintendent. Um, they're they know the community well. They have good connections. Not once have I heard any negative, maybe people haven't shared that at the podium, but I mean I I've heard very positive things. People feel very strongly about their school leaders and I think we are in a very good place at this moment with leaders who have um you know a good pulse on their communities and have worked well uh with their schools and I think we have to rely on them.

137I do rely on them a lot because I don't know the school communities as well as they do. And I also think we have excellent educators who know their schools way better than I do. And what we saw here at Collins is the success of the merger was because of the school leader here, the school leader on the sending side as well as the staff. I mean, I I can't say enough about the staff and how welcoming they were and how, you know, they stepped up to say, you know, these are our kids. All of these kids are our kids. Nobody is uh you know these are not Salt and Salt kids versus Collins kids. These are all our you know Salem children. And that's a that you know I can't take any credit for

138that. I've got to credit the the the team here at Collins, you know, Principal Softic and every one of the teachers from Salt and Stallin Collins that has made this as successful as it could be. That being said, anytime you have a transition like that, it's not perfect, right? And there has to be the willingness to continue to adjust, get feedback, and I'm not going to tell you that it's going to be rosy. Um, in every aspect of it, do I think it can be successful? Yes. But it's going to require a lot of back and forth, feedback, input, you know, um, from all stakeholders to try to get this right. Um, you know, this involves people. This is not a business. We're I'm not run we're not running a business here, but we are

139we are we we have children. We have staff. These are families with real feelings and real emotions that have to be taken into consideration very carefully. Um you know uh in a in a merger or transition um like this which is significant. It isn't small. Um I I do want to call that out. I don't just think that this is something that um you know is run-of-the-mill. I think it can be done well if people put the right attention to um put the right attention and focus on what needs to be done for kids. >> Thank you. >> Questions? Member Cornell? >> Can I Is it appropriate to make a comment? That's not a question. Okay. Um I just wanted to sort of because this is the first time that we've had an opportunity to

140chat about this as a body. um is that I just want to I don't really actually think that any of us here needs to be reminded of this, but but just as state that we really can't disentangle equity from budgetary concerns and and the way that we um the way that we all lot those funds. I don't think that ignoring ignoring equity would not align with the values that we articulate as a body every time that we come in here. Um, and I don't though I the research and I I think folks have been talking about research around school mergers and or school closures specifically. Um, I just want to kind of speak to that a little bit. I don't want to suggest that a closure and a merger are apples to apples. They're not.

141The research is around closures is um is pretty specific. Uh closure results in student dispersement which we've been very clear about the fact that we are unwilling to do. So a merger is a different animal but just because it's a different animal doesn't mean we shouldn't take into account that research. The research is important. Um and so I think it's important to keep it in mind. So but the most consistent conclusion and you all are the experts if you want to speak to this a little bit more but the most important conclusion that I take away from research on closures is that they disproportionately adversely affect students of color and low-income students. And so those because we are an equitydriven body and we are an equitydriven district and that is part of our vision and

142mission. We have to be thinking about that whatever decision we come to. Um and in this district the highest percentage of students who are low-income English language learners, high need students and students of color are at are disproportionately at Bentley and Salts. And sort of in the middle is Horseman. So, you know, again, we are we are equitydriven. And so, I just want to make sure that we're thinking about, as we always do, that the students who need the most get the most. And in this situation, the students who need the most and who are who are most vulnerable and likely to experience those long-term adverse effects that folks are talking about, those are the students. Um, and I want to be really mindful of of what any kind of merger, the effect that that

143might have on those students, whether that's leaving their schools or uh making new friends or adjusting to a a new model of education. Uh, that just has to be in the forefront, I think, for all of us. >> Cruz. >> Well, thank you, Member Cornell, for I think raising those pieces. certainly appreciate the the focus on equity and I know based on my conversations with all of you over the years that's what we center and then I think the other component of this is um we're the employer of record for the district and we also have an obligation to our people uh as well. So, like I know I'm weighing heavily, you know, what I'm hearing from staff within the district. Um, and I think, you know, hearing from the superintendent that, you know, in

144the last year, even with the fiscal deficit that we experienced, we were able to, uh, offer positions to many of the folks that, um, you know, had a position that was eliminated, we were able to keep people in kind of different and creative ways. Um, and I recognize that part of the impetus for the superintendent proposing this and the consultants as well is trying to preserve the most number of people so that we can keep the educational models that we offer in the district. I think one place that I would just name as a concern for me is um I think when we consider advantages versus disadvantages of each each of the options including um you know a delayed decision on this um either you know by way of trying to bind the next committee

145to take something on or not making action in this particular year waiting for kind of all those unknown factors uh to play out with the other sources of funding. um is that we would be talking about fundamentally changing the working conditions of all the schools within the districts and then eliminating a lot of positions based on what the superintendent provided. So um I think we've done in the yman's work of trying to keep uh a lot of good folks within the district and I am uh you know keeping in the back of my mind the concern just around the number of staff cuts that we would make if something isn't on the table. And I would just ask that members of the committee um think about that part of our responsibility because I know that

146there's a lot of staff that have dedicated many many years to this district that are wondering kind of where they fall uh and where they're situated uh depending on where we land with the conversation. So that's something that uh is top of mind for me and you know Steve to your credit I know you mentioned that there's sensitivity uh around that. So, um, you know, I appreciate the fact that, you know, that is what your commitment was at those public forums is to try to ensure that we're keeping the most amount of people that we can, um, and trying to protect, um, you know, what we've been able to accomplish thus far with the team that we have in place. >> Um, I I [clears throat] have a few follow questions that I I wanted

147to a lot of the questions that I have actually have been addressed, which I appreciate the other members raising. Um, this was a question that had been presented to me by uh a parent or family. Are any of the scenarios require the hiring of new administrative or non-classroom staff uh due to a larger school population in the building? And do those costs, if so, are they reflected in the the calculations that are presented in the pres? [clears throat] >> No. No. None of them would require any new hires. Um, I think if anything it would be the kind of thing the superintendent spoke about a minute ago where you would refrain from making a cut uh to leave sort of an augmented staff, excuse [clears throat] me, staff uh uh proportion in a specific area.

148So, in other words, you just wouldn't cut something if you wanted to keep extra support in a certain area, but nothing would require additional staffing. And this sort of reflects staffing of the schools that are uh in Salem already of the size that two merge smaller schools would be. >> Um so member Cruz mentioned this. This was another parent question I had which was is there a scenario in which relocation of an elementary school program could be phased over time so the currently enrolled students would complete their years there but without enrolling new kindergarten students going forward. >> Do you want to start? >> You can go ahead but I was on the wrong side. >> Thanks. So uh that's a great question. We really appreciated that. So that there's a couple in theory yes

149you could do a phase in over time of a merger. There's a lot of reasons that I think make that really challenging. And so just the simplest way to think about it I think is if you phased in a merger over multiple years and one of the schools in particular is staying where it currently is then the that one school would be all the way part of the merger and then the other school would be partially merged over a whole number of years which would be really truly I think bizarre for all of the staff of of no matter which school they were part of for it's much simpler, not just simpler, that's not even the right word. I think it's a lot more doable and humane even, uh, to do things all at once

150as opposed to having sort of a five-year transition where sort of one building is slowly shrinking and that they're slowly moving into a merger with another building. also because one of the things that was really important to you all in terms of doing things as a merger instead of a dispersement. I think part of the idea is to not just say you have one community that is taking on another community. You have two communities that are coming together that are bringing their values, that are bringing their rituals, that are bringing their traditions, and that you can create a new school that reflects all of those values and rituals and traditions and all of these things with those two communities coming together to sort of chart what do we want our new one to be, what

151do we want to bring with us. And I think that that's much more difficult to do if you have a gradual phase in of one school gradually moving into another school. So um I appreciate that. So one of the things that's maybe not it's a it's a nonzero sum is the something like an innovation plan, right? Like so if a school is being merged that has an innovation plan if if the receiving school is having an innovation school move into that building with them, what happens to families if they don't want their child to participate in that innovation plan? I mean would they So it depends on the innovation plan and whether or not the innovation plan allows for backfilling of seats. So in Salem's case, Bentley does not you need to qualify basically by

152your Spanish language fluency. You could backfill those seats, but you can't catch up the mislearning of not knowing Spanish if you're a native native English or only English speaker or another language that's not English or Spanish. Um whereas in the innovation model um given its trimester model there are ways to imagine although that have to be carefully planned and structured where kids can be integrated into that model as is as modified as Dan discussed those components and those are his wheelhouse not mine but I think it would depend on which innovation model and that would be part of that conversation but not all innovation models in Salem in particular are the same in terms of the complexities of those opportunities. So, if Bentley were to go to a space or a school were to join

153Bentley, um upper grades in particular would be a challenge because students would be ineligible to stay potentially, which feels, I suspect, a lot more like a closure of that school because they would essentially be kicked out for not being eligible to enroll in that new school versus um being able to create that new entity that Dan was describing. Can I just add a couple of details to to that? Um, so just to build on that, that's that's if the school was going to be wall-to-wall do a language in the case of the Bentley model. Uh, so right because students who are in say fourth or fifth grade or third or fourth or fifth grade haven't had the preparation as Sarah was saying to be able to move directly into a dual language immersion situation. You

154could have some monolingual strands and some dual language immersion strands. we have understood that as explicitly not the goal that the goal is explicitly to have the school be completely a a dual language school. So I'll just say that that's our understanding in terms of the Carlton model and I apologize if I was answering the wrong question. So if your question is about do a merger and then gradually phase in the model to completely uh if it was Carlton to completely um include the entire school. I think it would be possible to have a partial if it feels to, you know, the team that's coming together to design the combined school. I think it could be possible to say if you're coming from Carlton, things stay in the continuous progress model and we slowly grow

155that out if we want to make it the whole school. But we don't necessarily throw everybody who was in the other school if it's merging with another school into that model if it either isn't something that that community is ready for or if it's something that the educators who have been part of the continuous pro progress model are like don't just try to flip a switch overnight gradually work into it. I think that kind of a phased approach would be possible. >> Um so like related this is probably a question for the superintendent. Um you had mentioned that choice would be prioritized for families that impacted schools who might want to send their child to a different elementary school. Is that uh does that apply to families of both ascending and receiving school? I >>

156I think it should. I think it should because I don't think um you know I I think parents should have a choice given that you know that uh say their school was being merged with an innovation plan that they don't think is a good match for their child. they should have a right to make a another choice for their child in a choice school system. Um and so um I think it should apply to both schools that are part of a merger and we'd give them priority in the you know that you know you asked me about the transition before that should be part of the transition plan is soliciting from parents whether they want to be they want to consider another choice for their child somewhere in the Salem public schools. We do have

157space as I've shared before throughout the system. So there might be interest in going to another school because they don't think that the merge school is the right match for their child. >> Any other questions for the superintendent? Oh, Miranda, >> I don't know if it's for the superintendent or um committee member Cornell or Campbell or the consultants. Um but we've heard from Carlton parents uh this idea that the model can't work with a much larger group of kids. Um so just want to maybe get a perspective from some of um my colleagues here on the school committee or from the consultants around like do you believe that this um model can continue uh to be successful when adding a lot more children to the mix? >> You want to take that question? >> I

158think you all should start especially since Bethanne I believe you helped you can jump in on this if [clears throat] you want. I mean, we we believe that the answer to that is yes. Um, I've had I I don't claim to be an expert on the continuous progress model, but I have had conversations with principal Jalison. Kate and I have had conversations with both Principal Jalison and Principal Weaver. Um, you know, who know the model well. Um, you know, I I Principal Jalison because she was part of the initial writing of the plan and obviously Principal Weaver as the principal of the school right now. Um, I do believe that it can be expanded. I I have no reason to believe that it can't be. And in fact, I've said this before. You know, when

159I first got here, Principal Jalison at the time was asking me to find a way to expand the she she really actually wanted to move the school because she wanted there to be more strands. Again, I don't want to use that word, but more classes per grade level because she felt that it could benefit more kids and the demand was high. So um you know at the time again that was dur during COVID and as we were coming out of COVID um but every indication I received from people that know the model better than I do is that uh it can expand. It would have to you know look different. That's why there have to be some you know planning. But the good news is we have people who know it well and who feel

160like um you know in fact principal Jellison has told me before that it could work uh better with more staff because it gives you more flexibility and how you utilize your staff and and meet needs of more kids if you have more classroom teachers, you have more uh reading specialists, you have more f that gives you more flexibility. that that's the the the um the guidance that she's given to me over the years about the model that in in fact it could even be more uh beneficial to be in a bigger space. So I have no reason to believe that it couldn't be but like anything I I I would ask for people that know it well. We have staff who I mean that's the thing about the Carlton model is that there are many

161people within the district who were part of writing it uh the plan who have lived it who have implemented it for a lot longer than I've been in Salem and I we'd want to rely on their expertise to do that. Kate, I don't know if you you've been here longer than I have. So I'll uh >> yeah, I would concur with everything you said. Um, I don't really have much to add other than to say that I think um, you know, discussions around expanding the Carlton model have predated even uh, Beth Angelison talking about it and moving to um, Salt and Stall. There had been discussions many years ago around the Carlton model kind of being um you know part of the solution to some of our underperformance at the elementary school and should we

162be expanding that model to um include more students. Um I think if you look at the innovation plan there is a staffing model in there for two strands. I I don't see why that couldn't be um expanded to, you know, include um you know, a greater number of students. So, obviously, it would take some planning. It's going to take folks to come to the table um and and look at that together. Um but I agree with the superintendent. I I don't see anything inherently um you know, presenting as obstacles in the innovation plan itself that says, "Oh, there's like a cap on this. we can't, you know, expand it beyond x number of of students. >> Yeah. What I've always found interesting is that even though it's an innovation plan, there's nothing in the model

163that requires there to be an innovation plan. There isn't uh we're still adhering to the contract that we have with the Salem Teachers Union. It meets all the aspects of our contract. It it's good practice, right? It's good practice. Um, ironically, Elizabeth Paulie before she came here was part of an organization that gave Carlton the Posen prize for excellence and innovation and like at that time I think even Elizabeth before she worked here asked like why don't you expand that model and so you know there and while there are I mean I would say Carlton we have work to do with uh their data right now because their growth isn't as good as some of the other schools in the system The reality is though over time, right, there's been a lot of success at

164the school. There's been a lot of interest in the model. Everything that parents have shared resonates, right, in terms of meeting kids where they are and the needs of kids, although I would argue that that's really good practice, right? Uh and should happen more universally and consistently for kids everywhere. Um I do think you know they Carlton has systematized it in a way that um you know that I think yeah should be more instructive to how we do our work. Although I do think that it's also uh regardless of what happens with the merger we do have to look at the model uh because the the staffing ratios are really low um you know there relative to the other schools. So there are some questions about equity there and I also would point to the

165growth on MCCAST is an important data point and Carlton's growth right now and we've sh I've talked about this at school committee meetings is stagnant and so there's some we've got work to do to tweak aspects of the model but that being said over a lot you know there's a body of work there that is important for us as a district regardless of what happens to honor to maintain aign and hopefully to expand because I do think generally it is really good practice for us as a school system. >> Can I ask um a follow-up question on that? I'm sorry. Um I'd love to see some data if we have it on the number of students who or families who maybe have uh selected Carlton as their first choice and did not ultimately get there.

166like what is the demand for the program um maybe over time relative to the other schools and you don't have to sure >> find it now but if if somebody can provide that to me that would be helpful >> I have it for last year's kindergarten enrollment so that's imperfect I just want to name that and Laura Sad can correct me if I'm wrong but the it will we can look at it over time but it'll be the last three years worth of choice data um given sort of a shift in systems in the welcome center office so just to name what >> yeah we moved the over to actually being. >> So what over time can look like I just want to name is bounded at three years which given pandemic and everything may

167or may not be a meaningful metric anyway. Um I did sort of pull last year's kindergarten choice data and I matched it to the students individual current school. So if there were transfers after they were assigned and before midocctober there might be some discrepancies. So I just want to name that. Um, so 68% of those who ranked Carlton as their first choice now attend it. That's 28 out of the 41 families who picked it as their first choice. Um, in terms of the other schools, 90% of those who ranked Bates as their first choice now attend it. 56 out of the 62, 48% of Bentley, 30 out of the 62 who chose it first. Um, 88% of Witchcraft, 69 of the 78. um horse man it was 73% 36 of the 49 um and Salt

168and Still 80% who ranked as their first choice now attended 20 out of the 25 so if you're looking at raw numbers of kindergarten families choosing it um Carlton was the second least chosen by number of families >> Cruz >> um this is for Dr. strike and I think for assistant superintendent Carboni. Um I know that we've uh I've had the opportunity to meet with the Bentley families a few times uh and then members of the committee uh have taken uh their their calls uh and have gotten some advocacy from them. There similar question around the innovation plan there dual language. What are the current efforts underway to expand uh the model uh if any across the district uh this like the or increase the access to dual language? Um are there any efforts at

169the middle school level, at the high school level, like what's the current thinking with the with the team in the multilingual learner department? >> So um we just submitted the proposal to Jesse for the expansion to the middle school and that plan was um accepted. So it's a viable plan. We'll be working to implement that and that's been a a work in progress for the last three years by a a task force. So that's where the expansion has um you know focused because the kids are now ready to move from the Bentley to um middle school and there's been the internal expansion of sort of rolling up to the grade levels um in the you know in the current plan. So that Bentley hasn't sort of expanded its number of strands but has been more

170focused on um the expansion across the grade levels. they've really been um doing a lot of work around curriculum the last couple of years for the first few years they were more focused on writing curriculum and in this last year have adopted uh curricula that they think um you know is suitable to the program. So working with teachers to um you know get acquainted with that and use it as the primary um instructional tool. So, um, so that's been sort of the current work around expansion. >> Member Campbell. Um just a clarification on um what you had said, you said that Carlton was the least chosen, but if I'm understanding correctly, that is a combination of both those who chose the or who applied to the school but then ultimately did not select it, but

171also students who did not get into Carlton like listed it as first but didn't receive a slot. Is that correct? or >> so it's was the second least select second least preferenced as their first choice. >> Okay, got >> so of all the kindergarten families who picked their first choice, I went through all of last year's data to see like did they end up there or not? Y >> um and 41 families put Carlton as their first choice. Salt and Stall is the only school where fewer families put it as their first choice. >> Okay. Um, and 28 of those 41 currently attend Carlton. >> Okay. >> So, it is one of is the second most competitive, which is not a word I want to use, but to think we're in college acceptance season, so

172I'm thinking of that um like number. So, it's at 68% got in versus 48 or attend, which is a proxy for getting in, imperfect as it is. um compared to 48% with Bentley, but it's also one of the least preference as the first choice. So there's there's a >> there's a demand supply >> disconnect there that's more stark than other schools. >> Thank you. >> Any further questions? Um, so I want to provide maybe some more time for open discussion with committee members around the specific scenarios, any any strengths or disadvantages that stand out to you in looking at those. Are there scenarios that weren't evaluated by the consultants that we think um should be put on the table for consideration? >> Member Campbell. >> Yeah. Um, mine is not so much um a a

173comment on what I think holds the most promise or not, but I think what I keep coming back to is um what we hope to get out of what is the unfortunate reality that we're in. My hope is that we would walk away not just having made amends for our financial situation that we're in, but to also do some things that we've been talking about for a long time. um in the hopes that it would move our vision forward rather than feel um whether it was or was not a hasty decision to be perceived by the community as a hasty decision because of bud budget shortfall. I know that's the reality of what many many districts across the Commonwealth are facing. Um and we're no different, but I know we've also had lots of conversations

174around expanding access to our most innovative programs. um including potentially a standalone ECC. Um you know, making our schools the most accessible that we can to the populations that tend to select those schools. Um we've had conversations around school choice as well. Um, and what I struggle with across all of the scenarios is that while they address aspects of what we've sought to do, I have a hard time seeing um, something that will allow us to capture the full vision of what we're hoping to do. Um, and so in full transparency, that is sort of where I am stuck. I recognize that we if we delay enacting a path forward, we may not have innovative programs to expand. We won't have um you know the staff to be able to do this work. We'll be

175having to make some really very serious and very detrimental cuts um particularly around staffing and that will seriously um impede our ability to have those innovative programs that we're hoping to expand. Um, but that being said, you know, recognizing the need, but also trying to see how are we balancing all of these things that we've identified as important and all of these things that we hope to get um and finding it more than just a cost-saving measure, [clears throat] although that is ultimately also a a a component to it. Um, and so all of that to say, that is sort of where my mind is at currently and what is swirling around in my mind. And I do um you know, member Cornell, I'm really glad that you brought up the original conversation that we

176had had around um some potential alternatives. And I guess what I'm stuck on is is there a way, yes, there are some large scale shifts that are involved in that plan. However, is there a way to do a more gradual approach to it where we ultimately have some pieces that we know we want to move around um and and come to perhaps a a more long-term or make more clear to the community a long-term vision around those types of things. As in, is there a more phased approach, not in the sense of a phased approach across a merger, I wholeheartedly agree. I think that's hugely problematic, but is there a phased approach to the reconfiguration itself and what moves where and what goes where? um that that perhaps we're we're not thinking or we have

177not had a chance to fully discuss and dissect. That's where I'm at. >> Member Cruz. >> Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Appreciate the the question. I think I'm in a similar position to member Campbell and that um I'm still processing some of the community input that we've received. I think um still diving into the the fact base and would still love the opportunity to meet with Dan and Sarah. um a little busy this holiday season, but I promise I'm sending that email tonight so that we can get some time on the books uh for some follow-ups. Um I do have um you know in full transparency an interest in thinking through um that similar line of reasoning around uh you know how do we think about the phasing uh of this particular type of decision uh

178for I think a variety of reasons including the academic vision of the district but also some of the external factors that um right now um are unknown and that I do think merit some uh longer term kind of um understanding. ing for the full committee and those that will transition on because I I do think um you know those folks it's going to take them some time to get up to speed on you know what what conditions we're passing on to them. So um you know those are the things that I'm wrestling with as I go through the rest of the process. So on my part you know I think um uh it's not so much about uh where I have I view significant advantages or disadvantages or I want to see new scenarios introduced.

179Um I think I I do still want to have that conversation with Dan and Sarah to kind of get a sense of um you know what that actually looks like. What are other districts kind of doing to approach uh phasing in as they're dealing with similar budgetary constraints? So um I think you know on my part and I'm processing still uh and certainly um you know I'm getting the information that I need from the superintendent and from uh other folks in the committee which I think is super helpful. Um but that's kind of where I'm at. member Cornell. I I agree with um I think Amanda's point is is a good one because I've I've found myself when community members are asking this question like well yeah we've like these are a lot of the

180things that we've been outlining and sort of in some ways it feels like kind of chasing your own tail like you know it's like you have these ideas we don't have the space we don't you know what I mean so um I one thing that that I would like to see is not I know this is a lot of meetings in in a shorter period of time. But I do think it would benefit us as a body to be able to see it all in one place. You know, kind of what some of the things are that we talked about. It would be good for us to talk about that in front of the community that like we have in fact had conversations about what if we, you know, had one one through one through

181six, right? What if that was what our all of our elementary schools look like? um and a phased you know a phased approach to some some goal that maybe doesn't get attained while any of us are sitting on the stasis but um to really outline that for everybody I think is is important and again I would really like to remind myself I felt like that when I put the timeline together I was like oh right we've really been through a lot of these conversations um I do apologize to the public that I didn't do that sooner I should have um because it was certainly helpful for me but I think going through that same process of kind of looking at all of the things that we have tried to game out, think about in terms

182of what's best for our kids, you know, 5, 10, 15 years out. Um, we have had those conversations, but I think of of sort of maybe more mapping or of, you know, of what that looks like would be super helpful. Again, for me in terms of making a decision, I'm my I am not comfortable pushing a decision off. I think the the um implications of that are are going to be really devastating for for our kids. Um I worry about the financial toll and the human toll that that's going to take if we delay a decision. We will we will lose teachers we want to keep uh because they won't want to stay in an environment where they feel unstable. Um, and I think that we've had these conversations long enough that I'm willing to

183kind of assess, you know, continue to dig into the information for the next few weeks. Um, but, uh, I I personally it's I don't have any major concerns about the four. There are some that I that I like more than others. Um but uh the thing that that really keeps me up at night is is delaying um catching new new members up to speed and delaying a conversation that we've been having for years. Um you know, it's a tough decision to make, but it I think it's ours to make. >> Yeah. Member Campbell. >> Um I would also just add and I apologize. I I don't believe I've seen this, but I also think um I I don't believe this happened at any of the um at the forums that I missed um while I

184was away. But um I think having a real honest conversation about the state of the Bentley building and whether the repairs would in fact require not being in the building as discussed and again I apologize if this was discussed, but I think that is a huge factor of it. if you have a a program that's housed that the plan is to go wallto-all, which is what all the research supports. Um, but also it is the most complicated to backfill seats um without significant disruption to the balance of the two-way model um and the you know the family commitment to it or the family interest in it. Um, that to me feels like the hardest and most immovable piece of like you have this building that may or may not need to be taken offline, that

185may or may not be able to be occupied while kids or may or may not be able to be occupied while the repairs are taking place that houses a building that is the most complex to merge. Like to me that feels very um challenging to overcome. So I I I think that for me I also need to have a I need for us to have a conversation about what that might entail um and what the possibilities around that would be. I I I cannot wrap my mind around those two. It's like the immovable object and the unstoppable force in my mind. >> Yeah. No, we don't believe um that the building needs to be vacated to do work. Uh it can be done while students are in the building or over the summers. Uh that's

186a conversation I had with our facilities director just to confirm that that uh we don't believe that that the the building has to be vacated. Dan and Sarah weren't sure uh initially, but after having a conversation with our facilities people, we do believe it can be done while kids are in the building. I I'll just add I think from a budgetary perspective thinking about our capital planning, you know, if the if there is a future configuration in which the Bentley continues to be um in our portfolio for the foreseeable future, it has to be our priority for the next round of MSBA um applications for the accelerated repair project. >> Member Cruz. And I think one of the other things member camp that thought was raised at meetings was um I think I had asked

187the question uh when we initially got this presentation around uh what was the status of the MSBA and kind of that inquiry about uh the repayment schedule whether or not there was options for forgiveness or forbearance. I think the short answer was that there's no option for forgiveness or uh an exemption uh but that as long as the building continues to operate for an educational purpose we don't have to pay back the funding. We talked about that with the parents at Bentley. Uh and then additionally, uh during uh some opportunities to connect with the community. So, >> well, there's not going to be a vote tonight. Um but this was, I think, a helpful opportunity for us to have a conversation about the the scenarios and the fact base that was presented to us. I'm

188not sure if any of the committee members would feel comfortable saying they want to take any of the scenarios off the table at this point. Um, but we're going to continue this conversation with two more opportunities for public engagement at a minimum. Member Cornell suggested a an additional one, but um, are there are there closing thoughts before on this conversation? >> Member Cruz. >> Thank you, Mayor. I just think with respect to um your last uh point around committee members taking things off the table or uh narrowing down if you will, I just think for the purposes of you know how we've deliberated in the past um as we think about like the construction of the agenda, I'm happy to work with you on this, but I think you know all the options um with

189all due respect to the consultants, it's just I think all of them should be on listed on the agenda and then when it comes time for the deliberation once we get to the motions, I think you'll probably reach a place where members have consensus or we don't have consensus and then people can put forward the motion for the option that they want to see people take a up or down vote on. Uh so I would leave it that way just so it's clear that again we have uh because the the core question here is whether or not to reconfigure the the schools and then we have these options including the option uh to um to not take uh any of those recommendations uh or to delay or to modify. Uh and then I would just

190ask that if members of the committee do come up with any alternative uh scenarios that you just petition the agenda by reaching out to myself uh the superintendent and the mayor um so that we can uh you know work on getting that on the agenda so that you know if that you're planning on making a motion on something that's not being considered at this moment you know that's how we would do that normally. Well, if it's a scenario that's not been studied through the process at this point, then I think that we should probably have a a dialogue about what that might be before it shows up on an agenda. >> Yeah. So, I would just ask that folks if you're planning on submitting anything that's not included that you you reach out and yeah,

191let folks know. Even if you're planning on modifying, you know, one of the proposals, we would need to see that well in advance. That would need to be sent to the members. >> Member Miranda. So at this time are like would it be appropriate for us to kind of like share what scenarios we're looking at? >> If if members feel comfortable then I think it's perfectly fine now to if something is a big red flag for you or you think there's a great opportunity I this is this is an open discussion. >> Okay. Um I not to put anybody on the spot um but Amanda I am interested in hearing um some of your thoughts specifically around the dual language program and equity and just seeing the percentage of kids um that are just looking

192at like the demographics and the data around like where our kids that are attending the dual language program are coming from. Um, that's something that I'm really struggling with and I I can't um um I have heard that at some point a previous body um had discussions around whether the dual language program should be at the Salts building and so just want to kind of I I guess I'll put it out there for everybody so I'm not like putting you on the spot but um I'm curious to hear what committee members thoughts are around that. member Campbell. >> Um, so I I think what's really challenging about that particular question is it's my understanding, please jump in if I am misunderstanding the demographics and enrollment because I've got a lot of numbers inside of my

193head is that while yes, there are a lot of students from Bentley who live in the neighborhood that is around Salt and Stall. So the same is true for students who attend Salt and Stall as well that they have a large percentage of of students from the community. And so I wouldn't necessarily feel comfortable pitching one or the other as this is a great move for the community because it is true that both schools are are enrolling from the same community. Um, that being said, as a dual language practitioner, my default is always that putting schools in communities that are research-based and designed for particular communities and are most effective for particular groups of students, especially high demand programs like dual language programs, is always um in the end, although it may feel tricky, is

194always one of the best things that you can do. and having um you know your dual language program far away not far away but far away in Salem standards um far away from the community it's designed for and intended to serve and does in fact serve um is a little complicated. Um, that being said, again, Salt and Stall also serves that same community. And I'm sure, you know, just because I'm immersed in the dual language world doesn't mean that those families don't also love their schools and perhaps choose it for more. I think there might be an assumption that they choose it for walkability. There are perhaps many reasons why they choose that particular school. And I wouldn't presume to know why that is. Um, so that that's sort of my my my mind right

195now between those two because I've had the same question as well. And then I'm sorry, there was a second one too that I forget was the second point. >> Uh, I guess it was around the history with >> Oh, it's my understanding and I would defer to Deputy Superintendent Carboni if she has a more detailed recollection of it, but I do believe that Salt and Stall was on the short list to receive the dual language program. um originally, but it ultimately ended at Bentley um as it was coming out of the Yep. >> Horseman was Horseman, Salts, and Bentley, right, were the top three. >> Yeah. >> Can I ask a followup to that? Um do what was the reason for choosing the Bentley building? >> It's my understanding that as it came out of

196charter, we knew that there would be a transition in leadership and so it was an opportunity to hire a specific dual language principal. um and that it was also still although not as walkable as stalts more walkable um just kind of in that period of transition for a school anyways that it it was an opportunity to not have an additional school in transition. Is that fair? >> I think that's right. >> All right. Um we are going to hold some additional opportunities for the public to ask questions and engage with the committee about this conversation. The uh first will be on Saturday, December 6th at the community life center from 1 to 3. There's no formal presentation. This will just be a open house style opportunity for people to come and talk with members of

197the committee. It will be posted as a meeting. Um, but there is no presentation or agenda outside of having an opportunity for direct questions and conversations. And then on Monday, uh, December 8th, as the superintendent mentioned, we'll be holding a Q&A webinar on Zoom. Uh, the link will be posted at salemk12.org and sent out to families uh, through parent square. Is that >> Yes. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Uh, if you're not able to join the webinar, you'll be able to get the recording after the event by visiting smk12mk12.org/re. org/reconfiguration. And uh lastly, you can always continue to email reconfiguration salemk12.org to share your feedback or questions with the district and the committee. >> Yeah, we'll make sure we put that out uh tomorrow to the public. Um we just wanted to wait till shared at

198this meeting and then we'll put it out to the public tomorrow. Sorry to be that person. I know it's late. My child's also here. Um and I'd like to get her to sleep. Um, but I do still kind of feel like a bit unsure like how are we I I agree with what um, member Campbell had said about like having a a vision and I also agree with what member Cornell had said around um, like feeling strongly that we need to make some type of decision and hopefully that ultimately gets us closer um, to some of the things that this body and than previous bodies have talked about in terms of a vision. But I'm still like not I'm how are we going to go into this meeting on the 15th and then like make

199a decision when I I still feel kind of unclear about like where my colleagues are are sitting with this. Like I heard from member Cruz that it's it sounds like you would prefer to have more time and I I just I'm still feeling like not a lot of deliberation happened in in some weird way. So like >> Yeah. >> So So to be clear, I I was uh regard I was speaking to the idea of phasing uh not so much that I need more time. I don't have any more time on the committee to be clear. So right >> uh and uh with respect to deliberations in the past when we've had to make decisions of kind of this magnitude um you know making the decision usually happens the night of and someone makes a

200motion and then people vote up or down. So, um, you know, getting a general sense of where people are going to be at. Um, that's not something that you're probably going to get tonight or in advance of the meeting. So, that I I would level set that expectation. It's going to happen on that evening that you're going to get a real sense of where people are. Um, and you know, I would just remind members of the public, members of the committee, um, cannot engage in serial communications. They can't, um, conduct the business of this body uh, when we're not all present in public at a publicly posted meeting. we fully comply with the open meeting law. So, um it's that day is the day where people need to come in ready to make a decision

201of some kind. Um and when that motion comes forward, that's when people will, I think, make make it known. What I've seen people do in the past is before we get to the motions and resolution sections, they will name uh you know, where they're at. So, if it's an item on the agenda, like you're seeing today, it's under superintendent report that we're discussing, elementary school reconfiguration. And I'm sorry, it's 9:47. So, I'm a little punchy. Um, but usually people would name it before, some people have named it before they get to the motions and resolutions. Some folks wait right until we get to motions and resolutions, don't really say what they're thinking and just vote yes or no. So, it's really up to the members of the committee to kind of come into that meeting

202prepared to to make a decision. >> Mayor. >> Yep. Member Cornell. Um, and I just on the the visioning piece, um, I can as as I did with the timeline sort of go through, um, some of those prior meetings and and look through as many notes as I can both in, you know, this iteration of the body and then before you were on, um, you know, when Kristen Bengal was on and, uh, member Fleming, uh, to kind of at least try to outline some of the the things that we've we've talked about for a while. Um because as I said when I did the the timeline, those things all became a little more clear to me that that we had had these sort of broader visioning conversations, but you know, as a body, you're always

203just constrained by money and space. Um so so I I can take a crack at kind of putting that together. Obviously, the way it works is that, you know, we can't deliberate. I send that all to a blind CC to everybody and then we can have that. Um, but I I still again I don't love the idea of cramming another meeting in, but I would like a meeting to talk about that if we could do it before the 15th. Um, because that for me I have I I I actually have pretty strong feelings about the four that that um Dan and Sarah presented. I'm not particularly interested in the other options. Uh those are the four that I'm that I'm looking at carefully. But I think for me, I would be much more comfortable having

204that vision outlined when I pull the trigger so that everybody who comes to that meeting can see where we're headed and not just the decision we're making in the moment. >> Member Campbell. Um, I would just add, you know, while I can I, you know, member Cruz and I have gone through a lot of complex uh, issues and challenging votes in our time on this committee, um, many of them have been more straight up or down without an array of options as amends as these. And so I can appreciate that some folks feel like we have not really had time to dig into every single one of the options and weigh the pros and cons and do our, you know, for me um, I'm more of an internal processor. I'm collecting information. I'm really thinking

205deeply about it. Um, but it it it sounds like it might be helpful to try and find perhaps like a committee of the whole style. I know for me, especially um in some of our more challenging votes, this format of sitting in this half circle is really hard to kind of connect and figure things out. And so perhaps a committee of the whole with no expectation of a vote and just like an opportunity for folks who can. I I know it would be really challenging to find the time, but I am it it does seem like that might be more helpful for um especially our newer members and and that might be perhaps the you know if if we could perhaps I can't believe I'm suggesting this but you know if we um you know

206I I I can appreciate that it is not as simple as do you like this idea yes or no. It's more of a like in relation to all of the other ideas and all of the other possibilities. Um do you like this idea yes or no? And it's more almost like a ranking process that and I think that makes it really tough. >> Yeah, I agree. And I think that a committee of the whole format would also allow us the opportunity to maybe evaluate each of the scenarios against that vision rubric, you know, like is is our goal expanding early childhood access? Which of these really helps us achieve that the most effectively? um you know which you know financial sustainability is is another one of those metrics which provides access for the most students

207to the programs that we want to try to provide access to which address >> because I have my own internal ranking of what is or isn't the most important to me and there may be compromises from within what I personally um view as the most um feasible or the most beneficial and so you know hearing other input you know we've had the opportunity to get a ton of community input which has been great um but it is in this particular case to sit here with, you know, a seven person body and have absolutely no idea what anyone else is possibly thinking or how they might rank things or how they might respond to my own rankings um in terms of priorities for the district is it is really challenging. >> Fair enough. Can I just

208suggest that I know we have had a lot of public feedback and I don't want to um I don't want to limit any further public feedback, but if we struggle to find a date for a cow, I think it might be a good idea to kind of take one of those times that we've all committed to. Um if we're all feeling like that's a priority. >> Yeah, we'll coordinate on on timely. All right. There's nothing further. Subcommittee member Miranda. Oh, >> no. I was about to make a motion to we got more business. >> More items. >> Yeah. >> Subcommittee reports. >> Can we let people go? >> What? >> Can we take a quick recess so people can go home to their kids? >> Oh, yeah. Okay. Is there a motion for >> take

209a motion for a a three minute recess so that everybody can get out of here while we make other votes on stuff not pertaining to reconfiguration >> just tobacco on school property >> yeah motion seconded all in favor any oppos >> yes reports seeing none motions and resolutions. The request for the transfers. >> Move to approve the budget transfer request in the amounts listed on uh deputy super or assistant superintendent Paul's sheet. >> Motion made by member Campbell. Seconded by member Cornell. >> A roll call vote. Member Campbell. >> Yes. >> Member Cornell. >> Yes. >> Member Cruz. >> Yes. >> Member Hoffman. >> Yes. >> Member Manning? >> Yes. >> And myself? Yes. Transfers are approved. Unanimous. Uh member >> Bernell motion to approve policy AA, policy AC, policy ACR, policy ACA, policy ACE,

210and policy ADC for a second read. >> Seconded. >> Motion made by member Cornell, seconded by member Campbell. Under discussion, seeing none, roll call vote. Member Cornell, >> yes. >> Member Cruz, >> yes. >> Member Hoffman, >> yes. >> Member Manning, >> yes. >> Member Campbell, >> yes. >> And myself, yes. Second reading is approved. Unanimous. >> Announcements. >> Seeing none. >> To adjourn. >> Second. I thought I had it. Motion made by member Campbell, seconded by member Cornell. Roll call vote. Member Hoffman, >> yes. >> Member Manning, >> yes. >> Member Campbell, >> yes. >> Member Cornell, >> yes. >> Member Cruz, >> yes. >> And myself, yes. We returned. Thank you.