School Committee Meeting - 11/5/2025

001Good evening everyone. Um this is the regular meeting of the cohasset school committee and today is Wednesday November 5th. We will call to order with a roll call vote. Uh Lance Style is not present away um on professional matters. U Mr. Evans >> Evans here >> Mr. Mlen >> present. >> Mr. Srio >> present. >> Jesus present. We have a quorum and um we can call the meeting to order. Please uh join me in the pledge of allegiance if you're able to do so. >> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you everyone. Um we will start with um public comment. Um, and that is for those of you who

002are with us online. Um, that can be done um, via the chat feature on Zoom and we will keep our eye on that. Um, we do have one um, guest in the audience. I'm not sure if they have a public comment or not. I know Mr. Spear, you are a guest. Okay. And, um, we always do appreciate your input and thoughts. Um, and if school committee time isn't a good time to reach us, you can always reach us by email um, in between meeting dates. So, seeing no public comment, we will move right into our inviting guests and inviting Mr. Andy Sims to the table. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. um just have a prepared statement here and um just to so that I stay on track. So, good evening, Miss Ley

003and esteemed members of the school committee. I hope you're all doing well. Um by way of introduction, my name is Andy Sims. I'm the head coach for varsity softball here at Cohasset High School. Uh and this spring, this upcoming spring 2026, will be my fourth season as head coach of the team. Um, I come before you this evening uh to present a gift to the high school of a new equipment shed for the softball team. Uh, and um, the shed is located at Freedom Field at the Barnes Complex on North Main Street. That's our home field for uh, varsity softball. Um, and um, I'm here uh, seeking a vote from the school committee in favor of accepting this gift. Um the the equipment shed is a result of uh several years of volunteer work from

004families of Cohasset High School softball players past and present um including myself. Um and uh a quick sto backstory. The raw materials of lumber um etc hardware were provided as a gift uh by Hangingham Lumber of Cohasset. Um and the professional assembly was provided as a gift by Dennis and Construction of Hangingham and we just feel very fortunate to have such supportive local businesses and good relationship and good relationships in the community. Um actually I brought a couple pictures here that we can hand out. A color one and a and a black and white just so you guys know what's what's hap what you're voting on. >> Oh great. Oh my gosh. Wonderful. Fantastic. Thank you. Even better. Um, okay. So, the new shed is now 100% finished, including high quality exterior paint, hardware, and

005locks. Um, uh, and it is, uh, it it stores probably, uh, roughly $5,000 worth of softball equipment. um uh a pitching machine, a outfield fly ball machine, several sets of catchers equipment, um and uh everything else that goes along with the team. Um and uh basically, you know, it is great, it is with great optimism that I present this to the school committee and hope that the gift will be accepted. Um and thank you for your time and I'm happy to take any questions that you have at this time. Um, thank you. Great presentation. Um, Mr. Adams, do you have any questions? >> Uh, one, this is wonderful. I mean, especially, it's amazing just sit through a lot of meetings where there's a lot of processes and it's nice when it's like, oh, got it

006done and here we go. Like that's refreshing. Um, but, uh, to kind of backtrack on that, can we accept this gift? Because it's on town land. Should it be a select board that accepts the gift? I'm not sure if we have I think we can accept it in principle, but I think officially I'm not sure we're allowed to accept it. >> It's on Freedom Field. It's not on school property. >> Maybe both. Uh because I think that because it's specifically for the girls softball team. >> Wonderful. >> I think that that's definitely within the realm of this committee and then maybe also the select board because we don't own Freedom Field. But um but the purpose of it is for one of our teams. >> Understood. Great. So that was one of the process questions.

007So thanks for bringing this to us and thanks to everyone who who you know got this done so quickly. Any questions or comments? >> No. Thank you Mr. Sims. Appreciate it. >> Um I have no questions but I just want to highlight the community involvement in this project and how everyone came together and did a little bit um for a great end result. So thank you. Um Do I have a motion to accept? >> Second. >> Roll call vote. Um, Mr. Adams, >> Grahams. I, >> Jake, >> I, Mr. >> Hi, >> Jan Leky. I >> So, accepted by >> Thank you so much. Awesome. Thank you. >> I hope you have a great season. >> So exciting. Thanks. Appreciate it. >> All right. We will continue to move on with our superintendent update. Thank

008you. >> Um so thank you very much and I'd like to start this evening off by congratulating our school. This week the Cohasset Middle School um was ranked number nine out of all middle schools in Massachusetts by US News and World Report. We're incredibly proud of our middle school. Our staff is deeply invested in providing an outstanding experience for our students and our students are also committed to learning. We also have very supportive families and I'd like to thank congratulate all involved in this recognition. Um I'd also like to thank the community on Monday night at the special town meeting who voted to support the incumbrance of funds for the school from the school stabilization fund to move the Ogood roof project forward. Um that project is being done in collaboration with the MSBA. And

009as a reminder, we'll be back um probably just after the new year as our OPM and our design firm have more concrete cost estimates because they will be 60% done with their design documents and then in the spring we'll have actual costs in anticipation of the work beginning actually the day after school gets in June. I'm also hoping to use this section of our meetings to provide you every once in a while some updates on different aspects of the work we're doing that's directly related to the strategic plan and our district goals. And one goal that we have this year is to refresh our professional learning committee and include more staff engagement. I'm happy to share that this group has already met twice as a full committee and once as a subcommittee. We've hit the

010ground running and are actively working to bring a teacher-led professional learning day to life on December sec 22nd. So we can highlight the expertise and passion of our cohassent educators. We've also started to design a staff survey that we hope will lead to a lot of learning about what our teachers thoughts are about professional learning to inform our planning for 2627 school year. And we're very excited about being able to work with this great group of people. Um, it's a collaborative group of administrators, teachers, and ESPs to ensure our professional learning plans meet the varied needs of the district. And it balance and we find some balance between the tension we have with a lot going on that we need to do and never enough time. Additionally, our strategic plan looks to build opportunities for

011intergenerational and cross school collaboration for our students to improve their communities. And this week, we had two great examples of that. On October 2 27th, all grade five students rotated through engaging activities presented by high school students who are safe harbor ambassadors. The activities reinforced empowering messages of red ribbon week, which is an annual substance awareness and prevention week. And these messages included how to help a friend in need, refusal skills, coping skills, and dangers of substance misuse. Additionally, two students from Mr. Ford's freshman wellness class. Selenia Lethon and Charlie Taberniski presented their civics project on coping strategies at Deer Hill. Their topics included defining stress and learning to identify feelings. And students learn how to implement valuable strategies such as breathing, journaling, taking a break, and reaching out for help. We're very proud of

012all of our students, the high school students, and the Deer Hill students for engaging in this work together. Additionally, it is playoff time at Cohasset High School and we have a lot of teams who have made it to the postseason. The golf team, their season's actually over because time change makes it difficult to keep playing late into the fall. Um, but they wrapped up their season with a seventh place finish in the MIAA sectional tournament and a fifth place finish at the Southshore League tournament. It's the first time they've made it to the postseason in quite some time. the volleyball team. Um, they secured a number 11 seed in the tournament. They already won their first game against Sandwich and they are traveling to Greater Lawrence Tech later, I think Friday, um, to play in

013the second round. Cross country is traveling to Debons, Mass on Saturday to compete in the um, division three divisional meet. The football team secured the number one seed and will host Lester on Friday night here. um at our field on the alumni field. So, anyone who's interested in cheering them on can join us. The field hockey team has secured the number three seed in division 4 and they already won their first game as well. Um they won their second game and they are advancing to the Elite 8 where we will host the winner um of Hopeedale and East Bridgewwater. That day and time is yet to be determined. The girls soccer team secured the number five seed and they will host Gardner um this Thursday, so tomorrow on Alumni Field. And the boys soccer team

014is the number 17 seed and they opened the tournament with a a win and they are going to play Maynard on Thursday, but in May. So, lots of things going on for anyone who's interested in checking out some of our athletic teams. And if sports aren't your thing, I would invite you to come watch the Deer Fifth grade Deer Hill Circus on Friday night. So, you can watch the circus at 6:00 and the football game at 7:00. Um, it's the Deer Hill Circus is one of my favorite events in the in the community. Um, it's a great opportunity for students to learn new skills, try new things, take risks that are safe. Um, and it builds a really great community among the group of students who are in fifth grade at the time. And finally,

015I just want to remind all families that this coming Tuesday is no school because we will be celebrating Veterans Day. Any comments or questions? Nothing. Mr. >> I am also looking forward to the circus on Friday because my brother is in fifth grade. >> Awesome. I will see you there. >> Mr. >> Um No, thank you for the updates and I will note that we were number one on Southshore. >> Yes. Middle of the state. >> Yes. >> Um thank you for all that great news and positive updates. Um I think I was really struck by just and probably following off off of um Mr. Sims um gift um that the community engagement piece is is so huge knowing that Safe Harbor is connecting within the schools that our high school kids are connecting with

016our youngest kid um children and that sort of idea that community starts small and gets bigger and it works out um within circles is just lovely to hear. Um, I think that it is super um, enriching for both the older students and the younger students um, to start to develop those relationships. Thank you. >> Thought I just jump right back in. >> Sure. >> Apologies if you mention did you mention the homework symposium or homework? >> I did not. Dear Hill tomorrow at 9:15 or 9:30 >> for 9:15. >> Um, yes. Dear Hill PSO is hosting a donuts and discussion around homework which is part of their school improvement plan and um principal Sullivan will be there as well as several staff members and I think Mr. Scalleti principal Scotti from the middle school is

017going to be there. I may I have another meeting but we'll pop in after. Um but it it it opens up conversation that continues from last year around homework, homework expectations, the purpose of homework. Um it should be very fruitful. >> There are many thank you for the reminders and there are many schools I think grappling with that issue and finding trying to find the sweet spot um within that issue. >> Thank you everyone. Um we will move on to our teaching and learning block um starting with Drs. Collins. Good evening. So, in front of you, um the first thing we're going to talk about is the middle, excuse me, middle school pathways exploration policy. So, the state has um asked us to come up with a policy for middle school pathway exploration and it's

018uh required that all school districts create a policy that informs and exposes middle school students to high school career technical education programs and other students to high school career um I'm sorry and other career pathways. And those key components include providing students with information and opportunities to tour um those career technical education schools, connecting this exploration to students personal academic and career planning in sharing information on district and regional school options and um to use some sort of tool for that and we use um mass hire 360 is our program that we work with students. So they just want to make sure that um all schools are offering those opportunities. And so we've already had our visit from Southshore Vote Tech and our students have had the option to go over and then North AI

019also came in and those would be the two schools that we would partners with. So this is your first read of this policy. Um and so I will um I did not include the actually code for that in the second questions. Mr. Evans, Mr. Mr. MF >> and my understanding is just to simplify this for anyone listening that this is really what we've been doing all along which is in compliance um with the state regulations but it just codifies it um >> uh and updates it. Um, so thank you. And I think that the BOK schools and the agricultural schools are really wonderful options for children and um I'm glad that we're giving all of our students the opportunity to explore explore that alternative. >> Absolutely. >> Um and then the second is just an

020update. Um so Mr. call me remember member back in 2022 there was a proposal for a bill on the floor of the house for um looking at literacy and creating parameters and guidelines around literacy for K through three kind of went silent um but it came back and without too much notice to many of us and it was passed on the floor of the house of Massachusetts on October 29th and um so it will put parameters around what kind of resources you can use um in your school. There are pieces um around making sure that it's ev evidence-based literacy instruction ground and I'm taking it right out of the bill. Grounded in scientific research methods and demonstrated through well-designed and well-implemented studies to produce significant and positive effects on student learning outcomes. um the and

021if you move to any programs, they need to be state approved, but there is a waiver for piloting new programs that are not listed. So, um I'm digging into it. It's just recently been passed on the House floor, but um it has to go to the Senate. Um but for your information, it was passed 155 to zero on the House floor. So, um it will be an interesting process to see what happens next. you have a a short memo just to send it around to all of us about what changes or how this will affect us. I don't know if you really yet because it's hasn't gone to the Senate. So, this is really just a heads up. >> Okay. Gotcha. >> And I don't know when it's going to senate yet. >> Okay. So,

022>> but as soon as I have that information, I will. >> Wonderful. >> Thank you. >> I can even I can even share with you the actual >> the whole thing. Thank you. >> It has shifted. >> It has it changed on the floor too. So they could change it finalized. It' be hard to predict. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Other questions? >> Um I know a lot about it. If you ever want to ask questions. >> Wonderful. >> Okay. Um Mr. Stapleton. >> Great. Thank you. Share my screen. I just have a few uh two brief updates tonight. The first is the data sharing that I share at HSM that I'm here. Um, October was a busy month. Sorry, >> we're going to invite our reps up. >> Thanks for being here, guys. >>

023October was a very busy month. Um, as we, you know, settled into the year here. Um, there were 30 total meetings. Um, in the month of October, there were seven annual reviews at elementary level, three re-evaluations, two initial evaluations. Um out of those two um two were from family you know one student was eligible one um one was not eligible um there's one private school evaluation held and then one independent evaluation and then similar numbers trending at the secondary level you know seven um annual reviews two revals and then three initials um you know there was three split there where um two were found eligible one was from MTSS and then one was from the family and then two private resident um class resident evaluation meetings were held and then one independent evaluation And then

024as the out of district coordinator, I chaired four out of district meetings in the month of October. Pivoting to an extension of Superintendent Jannon's update on professional development. It's been a lot of talks about professional development recently and I just wanted to highlight some specific PD opportunities for the department of student services. Um so since I was a teacher here so years ago we partnered with Seaside Consulting um to provide professional development co-eing for our co-teers um within the district and that's something that I've continued this year as well. Um and so there's that going to be three full days of PG for um through seaside consulting um which really does provide high quality um training for our staff members. Um one of those you know so there's broken down into three kind of categories

025here. The first is continuing what we've done in previous years, which was like an overview training for staff, for co-teers, for both the general education teacher and the special education teacher. Um, we're, you know, kind of always like reassessing how those relationships are going, how the practices are going. And so, um, Shannon Pillo is our consultant who's worked with the district now for, you know, eight years, I would say. Um, and she works directly on like working with staff on co-planning, on differentiation, what the co-chop model looks like, and how we continue to build within that model. Um she had originally worked at the upper level so six through 10 where we have the co-eing um but now she's really focused at Bosgood in Deer Hill which is great as we think about that vertical

026alignment and making those structures and supports similar across the district. Um, so Shannon will be here. Her first day is actually tomorrow, Thursday. So she'll be at Osgood tomorrow. And the teachers really like to see her again and just to connect with her each year um as they talk about just specific problems that they're having or issues and then how to problem solve and troubleshoot. And she brings like an um a sense of expertise which is just really reassuring for them. >> Mr. Stapleton, would you mind supplementing this um with just a general explanation of what co-eing is for people? >> Yeah. So co-eing is an instructional model for special education where the um a special education teacher is paired with the general education teacher and they're providing specialized instructions in like the general education

027inclusion setting. So the grid for like IE services and understanding um and so at the middle high school our model really is um English classes and math classes may be co-taught. Um it's tricky with like personnel and just like amount of time during the day. So right now we have different se like there's pairs of co- teachers at Osgood and Deer Hill. one general education teacher in the special education grade level double leaison um that will co-e depending on student IEP needs that really looking at the ELA the reading and writing component of special education and then also the math pieces so those like the main focuses um and so you know I can add it to I think it's on the website too like the list of the pair of co- teachers but it's

028great to just establish those relationships then build upon them over years because like the joke is like it's like a marriage eventually where like they can you know really work so closely together um you know within like the classroom setting to support student needs. Um, and then really it is a service delivery model for students that receive special education services. So again, Shannon will be here tomorrow. The teachers are excited to spend some time with her and I really empower the teachers now in these like later years to like make the time what they would like how they would like to use it. So in the past it was always Shannon would come in, she would do a quick observation, she would meet, she would provide feedback um visit tomorrow. um some of the staff

029have asked for her to sit in and like on a co-planning session to talk about how do we differentiate during the um the reading block like how do we kind of think about the students that we have in front of us and really tailor the instruction to their needs. So I'm excited to like kind of turn it over to them in a sense of like run with it take what you need and then use the time wise I'll change it here because Shannon always has great ideas too when she's here and so like that piece will be allowed make it happen through conversation. >> Is she just meeting with the co-taught classroom teachers or is it like kind of meeting with all of that? So it will just it will be like the two core

030like degree levels on special in the future. >> But that's a perfect segue. Um Shannon is a great resource for everyone. And so she's coming back on the half day PD day in January to offer to the elementary level a workshop on differentiation of instruction and what that looks like. So that will be open to more teachers too. Um which I think that's been an area for years now where um people are looking for more like deliberate PT on like how do we differentiate? How do we still hold students to a high standard whether they're special education or regular education or need some form of tiered support? Um, and I've always been trying to empower people to like yes, we hold a high standard for all students, but it it's okay to differentiate whether that's

031how students demonstrate what they know and it doesn't always need to be tied and mandated through an IEP. And so Shannon's coming in and part of her work on Thursdays to meet with Megan Greeny, the team chair, and kind of like lay that reward um for that map ahead for um being here to provide um for more teachers that have that availability. um just to hear from someone who has done it before and works with other districts across the commonwealth too. Um so we're really excited for that day. Um and so that's a you know official workshop that she's been putting on which was new. She's never done that and she's never been a resource for a general education staff before but I just thought it was a great way to kind of build out

032her role and to use. And then the third day um recently principal God and Sullivan and I met with Bob McAdle who is a former special education teacher administrator. um he's a retired um you know educator who works for seaside consulting and in my reflection and as I prepared to work with seaside this year and kind of map out how I have used them um as an outside resource um I really you know came through conversations and this came out through feedback and surveys through strategic plan as well um and looking to provide like deliberate and direct PD for our ESPs um because that's something that we're committed to to doing but is an area of growth that for the district. And so we met with um Bob and we really just like talked through

033like the role of the ESP here at Osgood and Ger Hill, how they support general education students, special education students and we were all left to be like very inspired by him. Um he just like brought this message that like we're all like working collectively like wheels on the spoke to like help students. Um and so he's going to you know provide some overview of like the role of the ESP and it's really to empower them too um to work you know with all stakeholders whether you know parents um related service providers specialist teachers um and so he'll be here on the December P day and I'm excited to offer that to them. I haven't sent out a formal message yet. This is the first kind of announcement of that there but Amy, Alex and

034I all left feeling you know really excited for that day and to be able to provide that for the ESPs at the elementary level. Um, I'd also be looking to expand this in future years too to the secondary level as we think about quality productive development for um for ESPs which plays an important role across the district. Um, in addition to those the SEAT consulting PD um this year I was able to send um two of our educators across the district to the Wilson overview the three-day training which would make them eligible to participate in the one-year practicum. Um this is you know Wilson reading system is multiensory specialized reading instruction. Um really great for students with specific learning disabilities who require that higher level of um intense specialized instruction. Um there had been a

035push before I was director for getting more staff trained in Wilson. The pandemic halted that. It's a it's a rigorous year-long practicum with x number of hours to meet you know working with a very specific student profile. Um, and with some newer staff that was complicated as you know, people finish different various degrees and things like that. Um, but I'm trying to get us back on track. The Cellore Educational Collaborative, which we are members of, they offer a really high quality great PD2. And so, they were able to partner with Fitchburg State to get that practicum going. So, I'm hoping trying to lay the groundwork for next year to have some more staff be trained through that one-year practicum program. But, it's great to attend the three overviews. you receive like specific materials and it

036really like again does like a refresher on like what multi-ensory reading instruction is. Wilson is very specific reading instruction. Um but it's great to kind of flesh that out as I build that out from you know a number of our Deer Hill staff are certified and trained in this program but I'm looking to extend that you know back to Osgood which some are there as well and also up to middle school too. >> Are the educators that did this are they which level are they at? So they just did the overview for now. >> Are they from Osgood or >> So there was one Osgood staff and then there was a high school staff. >> Okay. >> Y >> um and so that's something again I'm looking to, you know, to both like budget for

037potentially to support because there's a financial plus to it. >> Okay. >> Um but it was great to get the 3D overview in for two people um this school year. Um another professional development opportunity. Um so safety care is a training that's provided to staff that is evidence-based strategies to prevent behavioral crisis before they start. It teaches staff how to deescalate situation safely and effectively. It protects individuals from in staff from harm. The goal is to protect individuals in staff from harm and reduce the need for any physical restraint or restrictive interventions or management. So safetyare is an organization that um we are trained in. So there's three district trainers, myself, Dr. Jackie Potter, our board certified behavior analyst, and then Caitlyn Stroberg or cohasset school psychologist. So we are the trainers for the district.

038Um and so on the October 10th PD day, we reertified everyone. you have to be reertified every school year um or every calendar year. And so we reertified um those appropriate staff. Um and I've gotten a lot of feedback this year. Safety care is great. Um and I've been training it in for years really like on how to like it sounds very serious and it is when it relates to like physical management of students and you know knock on wood that is something that we avoid at all costs. Um but it's great because it provides like all these strategies to deescalate individuals prior to ever even getting close to that point. And so it's really a lot of great practices on how, you know, to work with kids, how to look for anticedants or triggers

039within the environment, how to set up the environment for success. Um, and I've gotten a lot of feedback across the district that more staff, both general education and potentially special education, are looking to have this type of training. Um, because it offers just a different mindset um, and just a different outlook on understanding student behavior. Um, and I think that's changed over the years and just the population that we serve, especially like post pandemic, too. And so this is a great way for staff to feel empowered and you know to work with students directly um to be okay with some you know potential challenging behaviors or escalating behaviors but then how to manage it safely and effectively. And it really focuses on like debriefing with students, keeping families in the loop. Um and so this

040training um I'll be looking to offer more initial trainings this year which I think will help build out the capacity of staff across the district. And then my final professional development update is just special education department based um on the October day the secondary team chair um who is new this year to us which has been like one of the greatest assets I would say that we could have right now because she's bringing a fresh set of eyes to IP process forms how we do things here and so she reviewed with the secondary staff I would call it fine-tuning of the new IEP looking at some trouble spots areas where we could just have collaborative discussion on like how did this work last year how can we make improvements this um she really focused in

041on a goal of mine as well is accommodations or modifications and how we implement those within the general education setting within the special education setting and staff left like really refreshed from that too of um just having some new ideas floated around and also being empowered to try new things um and making sure that we're providing the highest quality IEPs to our students. Um, again, PDAL targeting supporting ESPs. We did some brainstorming about how we can support ESPs specific at the secondary level internally too. We have a lot of great resources like I've said in previous presentations. And so talking with special education teachers about how can we help in the moment. What are you seeing? What are ESPs reporting they need some support with? And then how do we use our time, you know,

042wisely to to make improvements within um in that domain. Um we're continuing our executive functioning supports as I've you know typically mentioned at my updates related to the fed strategies work from last year. Um we all shared out resources recently um within the department and we have a shared Google folder right now um just of templates and forms and just different strategies to teach various executive functioning skills from time management to graphic organizers. Um I'm trying to make a central hub of just various resources for staff to access and then adapt based on you know they have in front of them. This summer, two special education staff members, Lisa Ripley and Marie Boris, went to a specialized math workshop. Um, and really got some great resources on like a scope and sequence of understanding of,

043you know, when the student has specific learning disabilities, what are like the access points to the general education curriculum and then how you can use scaffold from there to make sure that they are able to access those curriculum standards. Um, and so I've let them settle into this year, but the goal will be for them to share some of those resources out with both special education teachers and general education teachers. um to further develop our understanding of what specialized math instruction looks like um and how we provide that to students that receive special education services. And then an area that I struggled with last year that again is tied to the strategic plan and providing high quality professional development is empowering our related service providers. So our occupational therapist, speech language pathologist, school psychologist, those

044personnel that have very unique and specialized roles. um empowering them to access different trainings through their own professional organizations and then allocating time during our PD days um to then maybe access those workshops and then work on their own individualized training um in their area of expertise. And so that was something that again trying to empower across the district to um staff to identify like what they what they would like for PD and then how we can provide it and support it in you know an effective way um for everyone. So, those are my updates uh for November. Okay. Answer any questions? >> Thank you, Mr. Stapleton. And in fact, maybe we could have our our our CPAC reps introduce themselves, the roles that they um fill in the CPAC organization, and anything you would

045like the school committee to know at this time, if you have any comments for us or anything you any news um from your organization. Um I'm Jamie Scott. I'm um co-president of CPAC. Uh, I have a second career and I don't really have much feedback. I came in very hot right now, so I'm like, >> "Well, welcome. We're glad you're here." >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I apologize for my tardiness. I came from a parent obligation. >> Oh, uh, Stephanie Saunders, secretary, making notes over here. Um, I want to say I really, really appreciate all the professional development you've done. Um, and I love that it's kind of integrating into general education because that for those of us with a child with special needs is the goal is that we want them in as much general

046education as possible. So, I am I sent an email this week to you and Amy that the co-taught second grade class has just been like magical for my daughter. Magical. Like she's so confident. She I've never seen it before. But I also pulled back on her IEP purposely to have her in the classroom getting the instruction because that's so important I think for her confidence and and self-esteem with peers. So I just want to say that really appreciate it. I think this is like really awesome everything you're doing. Um and then for what I said before I I hope we can have further conversations. Um the literacy bill was put forward by special education advocates. So, I would hope we can all just be part of the conversation. If there is, if it does pass

047and there's a change um in the curriculum, I think it'd be a really good opportunity to try to work together on what that looks like for our kids. And I'd love to be at the table personally and respect respectfully for all of you. >> Thank you. Um do we have questions um for Mr. Stapleton about his presentation, Mr. Evans, or comments? >> Uh I I've been through now a few of these. Um my feeling every time is I'm just incredibly proud of what we have here and the feedback that you just gave. Exactly. I mean again from looking from this table I see one perspective and I hear about the efforts to you deescalate. We're seeing that even in society how important it is to get ahead of things because once you know once if

048you don't get ahead of things then it makes it difficult for everyone to act in ways that are productive and bringing that to the to the district integration programs all that. I mean I'm just really proud of kind of what we have because um it's I think it speaks to where our priorities are as a district, as a community, and um I'm glad you're on the team, and thank you guys for all the work you do as well. >> Thank you, Mr. Stapleton. I think your presentation's done instill um a fair amount of confidence in terms of our special education department, which is always improving, right? Um, I just wanted to ask you about um the the data sharing portion of your presentation and it's something we see all the time. I just wanted to

049ask you that whether you have any concerns when um when we're seeing um initials that are arising out of um family um referrals as opposed to MTSS. sometimes um that may signal to or could be interpreted to mean that MTS is is not MTS are are tiered supports is they're not performing as maybe they should in terms of identifying people um students with uh learning differences. I'm just wondering if you share those concerns or if you know of facts that maybe mitigate those concerns that that some people may harbor. Yeah. So, I think it's a tricky balance and like I'm constantly monitoring that. Um, like the district has an obligation to propose psycho educational evaluations to determine eligibility if there is a suspected disability. So, I think there's like the fine line of like trusting

050in the MTSS process that students are getting what they need and then also knowing when the as district representatives we need to initiate that like the formalized evaluation. Um, I think there are many factors that go into that. Um, some of the parent requests like again and that's why it's important to monitor like the private school aspect. Some parent requests that may pop up as found eligible the students don't actually attend so they would never have been through our MTSS process. So I do think those numbers are represented in when parents the parent requests come through. >> Um, you I think you've separated those now, right? So we can see those because we before it was said that that could be a factor, right? I think now there's a box that >> Yeah. So I

051definitely think that that is a factor and I think again one of the main district goals is like that that fine-tuning of MTSS. So I think it's interconnected. I think sometimes parents do jump to requesting evaluation which is like completely within their rights and we respect that. We honor those requests too. Um and sometimes like those kids have been monitored and whether we were close to it to making that formal recommendation. Um, so I think it's it's interconnected and something I'm continuing to monitor, but I don't think that there's a a clear a clear number of parent referrals that come through as as found eligible versus MTSS being not eligible. >> So you're basically you're telling me you're not concerned about the current numbers right now. And one of those contributing factors may be also

052because especially at the early like elementary stage before so families al obviously have more um contact and interaction with their child than the schools do right we have for a certain amount of time each day and case of kindergarteners we actually haven't seen them before that year so that's another issue which you know we can't get into that depth um in the previous data sharing because of confidentiality but sometimes that may contribute to it. I'm just thinking as you're talking that, you know, families know their child the best. And so before MGSS really had a chance to sort of get its u proverbial hands around that child's needs, um the parents may have already suggested that um that their students eligible for >> correct. There's always an uptick of requests for evaluations following parent teacher

053conferences. Like there are a number of factors that lead into like the numbers and where they fall. Um, I also am continuously monitoring our percentage of each grade level receiving special education services. And something that I've talked about here before that I haven't fully like organized in an effective way is thinking about the percentage of students in total in each grade level, the percent that receive special education services, and then also percentage of kids that have section 504 plans, which is a separate obviously process. we are very close to the state like average of each grade level and I mean it looks almost like 20% of each grade level. So I think that that's always something that I'm keeping in mind too. And so I don't want there to be an idea that MTSS isn't

054catching kids when we are within the range of each other districts that and the percentage of students that do have educational disabilities that impact their ability to make effective progress and then require specialized instruction in order to make progress. So I think we are >> I appreciate that and I wasn't asserting necessarily that it was failing anyway. I just >> you know I just acknowledge that that could be one interpretation of the data and I just wanted to comment on that. >> Um obviously it was very interesting to learn about all these professional development opportunities as my perspective that's when teachers go to learn and nobody knows what happens there. Um, but I think what Stephanie pointed out and I really enjoyed was this discussion of co-eing and I thought about, you know, I um

055I've never like interfaced with special education, but having been in classes where that was taking place, how important it must be and if there's anything I can do to echo that, like um you know, just thinking about having to provide this support but not doing it in an isolated way and meaningful Um, it's just that jumped out at me from the presentation comments as well. >> Say thank you. That was a great presentation. Thank you to our CPAC um representatives for being here tonight um and engaging. Um I I too am also a huge proponent of the co-eing model. I think um in addition to its academic support benefits, it allows all students to be to be learning within um their peer community which I think has um huge effects on on everyone. Um and

056as I like to say, a rising tide lifts all ships. So when we are um all being um taught in a way that works for us individually um we all learn better um and our classrooms function better. And I think teachers being a teacher, I'm going to say I think teachers feel better. Um, so that's um, wonderful. I'm also really excited about the level of um, professional development um, that both you and Superintendent Shannon mentioned um, because it's exciting to continue to grow as an educator. Um, and I think that that um, is one way that we can retain um, our excellent teaching um, staff is by continuing to giving them opportunities to grow um, and to hone their craft. So, um I appreciate um that level of interest there. So, thank you. >> We'll

057move on to budget resources and governance. Um >> oh, that's me. >> Yeah. Um I'm actually gonna do this if that's okay with you. >> Absolutely. >> Share the screen. So last week I shared with the committee our budget priorities for FY27 as we start to ramp up to engage in that um process for both capital but really for operating >> purposes. And this week I bring it to you a second time for any questions and for a vote >> Evans a lot. >> Okay. So I the first couple months on this like I've been trying to listen quite a bit and and you know just try to absorb everything and you know we've had a lot of really interesting discussions last month. We had obviously a town meeting with other discussions and as I

058review this I think we should I'd like to take a look at it again to tighten up the language and to really be sure that these are all pointing to a line item in the budget that's identifiable. Right? So we have, you know, some things like how do we expand the definition of success? That's that's a I think that's a priority. It's a compass point, but it doesn't really answer the question of where our budget priorities are. We have a lot in a lot of sentences in in part one that are really all-encompassing. But for instance, like we just had from from student services, you know, funding that program, you know, can be a very specific thing that we put in these priorities. So I think as we get into the FY27 discussion and now

059that we have a lot of community engagement I and I the other reflection is I don't get the sense the community really understands where our priorities are. So, I think this is an opportunity for us to take a look at this again, try to be a lot more succinct, a lot more direct, uh, and try to really make this easier to understand um, in in a more direct way. Um, that and I know I'm kind of throwing a wrench at this. I've seen this before >> and I didn't really have too many comments because it all made sense. But as I reflected on it more, I think I think we can we can do better communicating what this means. That's my broad feedback. >> Okay. >> So, are are may I ask a follow-up question?

060Are you suggest suggesting and I I I'm thinking that this is an overview in my mind. Um, are you suggesting listing things like at to to the granular point of purchasing um curricular books for grade five um social studies um uh uh sending people to conferences the this conference on April 12th um so that they can learn about culturally and linguistically responsive teaching. Um I is that where you're getting at? Because then how is this document different from an actual >> like budget on a spreadsheet? I don't know what that's called, but >> yeah, great question. Uh and and again, I think the the challenges you're pointing to is like there's so many things and there are there's so many things that are priorities and I don't necessarily want to suggest that we go that

061granular. But I do think there's there's there's broad phrases in here that we can make tighter, that we can make more specific and that we can tighten up. So that way every line item we can say, "Yep, this is this line item. If we go through the budget, this is exactly compass point one, compass point two, this does that. I think we could argue already, but I do think it's I think there's a lot of there's a there's a lot of broadness here that we could tighten out. Um, a lot of sentences here are not clear expenditure priorities uh or operational, you know, budget issues, their culture, and that's great. But if we're going to have a budget discussion, it it should be should be very much focused on why we're spending the money and

062how we're spending the money. And I think right now that will set us up for success as we as we go down the road. So >> differ budget priorities. How does that differ from budget items? >> I guess that's what I'm I'm trying to get at because I I hear what you're saying and I'm just trying to envision. So, if you could give an example of how you would change a priority, the name of a priority into something that isn't a budget line item. Yeah. But does give the specificity that you think people are looking for that you're looking for? >> I would love to have the opportunity to workshop it if that's okay with we have another spend a half hour to talk through it a little bit more um with the staff. you

063know, they're not in the meeting because there is a lot of stuff and I don't want to take anything out that's important that I don't fully understand yet. Uh, so I request that we if we can push this off, give a little bit feedback. My feedback is as stated, >> I'd like to take another opportunity to look at this and try to to clean it up and make it more directive um and and kind of bring it back to the committee. And if it ends up this way, fine. But I I do I it's long. It just is. There's a lot of words and I think there's I think it's hard for somebody who's coming in cold to take a look at that and then understand exactly why we're doing what we're doing. So yeah,

064that I'll >> may I offer some thoughts that might at least partially address Mr. Evans position? Um, if it's all right. Yeah. Um, >> as long as it's okay. >> So, um, thank you. Um, this document has always been an overview. Um, and I I actually think that it makes I So, I have a few specific edits that I wanted to suggest to Superintendent Shannon and the rest of the committee tonight. Um, one of those was to uh title it FY27 budget priorities overview. >> Um, because I think that people might take away like um that Mr. Evans comments kind of reflect why I want to title it that way because I think people might expect a less overarching description of what the priorities are. They they want more specifics. Um and then um so

065in in in in that in that one way I I disagree with what Mr. Evans is saying just because it is meant to be an overarching sort of well an overview of what our priorities are. Having said that I do agree with Mr. Evans that it's very wordy and that it's kind of daunting and I don't know maybe people get through like one or two sentences and they just like I don't know. So I had some suggestions on reducing the language. um brevity is not usually my strength. So I um I offer this just because I'm I'm constantly trying to look at my my own work in this way. So um I was trying to identify things that we didn't necessarily have to have in there because again it's an overview with um regards to

066compass point number one um the clause that um about halfway through the paragraph it begins and trade books I suggest deleting and trade both through responsive and then adding an and before continued and then placing a period after PK through 12 and striking the rest of the language there that follows there's like six words afterwards. Um that is one suggestion with regards to compass point two. I suggest striking the second sentence uh all together. It begins with because and it ends with tier one MTSS priority and then um uh in the next sentence that starts with regard to wellness. I suggest um changing or replacing um R2 in our priorities R2 expand. So replacing R2 um with include and then changing the language to reflect that change right. So the syntax is you know include

067expand it would be expanding our definition of access building a strong culture of belonging supporting staff and students and engaging high level academic discourse um and continuing to prioritize integration. So that was um that was my suggestion for number two. For number three, I was I suggest um and again these are just my thoughts. So um take them or leave them. Um after uh in the second line down, it begins with community as we continue to um strike build an authentic sense of belonging by change creating to create. And then um in the next sentence it starts this work may require um strike new technology applications andor and replace it with new. So a new sentence would say this work may require new resources to support our efforts to streamline the rest of the sentence

068the same. And lastly, um, I propose in compass point number four, striking the entire first sentence and in addition to the word these in the beginning of the first this second sentence and replacing these with resource-based. So the new um resource number four um resources um priorities would read would begin resource-based priorities include focusing on capital budget. Just trying to I mean I understand why the other information was in there. Just trying to condense it a little bit to try and make it a little bit more um approachable. >> Do you mind if I tee off that because >> Sure. I mean these were pretty specific. So I mean you know I but that's what I felt like we're trying to do here. >> I I love that. All your edits I agree with 100%.

069I even go further really. I mean so like even for number three. >> Yep. If it's a budget priority, we can say, you know, improve the methods, improve how we engage with families by investing in new technology, active settings. That's what we're doing. That's a priority, right? Wellness, I read I've read that five times even with your edits. I don't know where that tells us to spend money, right? So, that's the other thing. And then for four, you kind of you you carve it around a little bit, but like the statement of interest SOI isn't really an FY27 budget thing. That's something that's going to happen, right? But we can say for resources continue to fi find ways to you know improve for food service transportation custodial by by by you know increasing by targeted

070increasing of services like that's an active sentence about what we're going to do with our budget. That's what I'm talking about. >> Um I I I agree with that you can strike in conjunction with through middle and high schools because facilities improvements kind of captures that and then you just leave the last sentence. that are also committed to buying fiscal way to reduce >> that could be a way to just to to I I >> can I interrupt for a second as chair? Um I'm wondering if this is an efficient or effective use of our time. Um I think some of this could have been done both in advance of the meeting because we had this document last two weeks ago. Um or I think we can make a motion to take it off the

071discussion list for right now. Um and um a non-horum group could could um get together to work um if that makes sense. >> Yeah. I mean before we did we didn't do that. So the only way to do this would be right now an open meeting where everyone's participating in the second final read but >> right in a final read but I think we're not having a final read right now. What we're having is a sort of in in time workshop that I'm sure like isn't the best use of other of your like real focus towards editing a document. And I'm happy to meet with people individually or in small enough groups that it doesn't create forums. >> Yes. >> To workshop and like take your feedback where you have your notes and start the

072process and >> continue. >> Sure. Short of that option, this is what when I found it appropriate to >> propose those changes. So that sound that's better. Yes. But I didn't today it was a final read and vote. So I thought, okay, >> we're going to have to address, >> but I think we can table it. I think you can vote to table it for more revision and work to happen and then I can bring it back in two weeks with changes and edits and it can be for conversation at that point. >> Great. >> Because I think while it is still being finalized, we can still have ongoing conversations that start our process. um >> as well. >> Great. I make a motion that >> Okay. Um before we close out this part of

073the conversation, there are several comments online that I just want to put together into all of this. >> Jake and Mr. I think um as I was coming into this tonight, mostly the the two that came out to me as you kind of pointed out were like wellness and community engagement because I think obviously we can discuss like edits to the language of one and four, but I think the outlays associated with those are pretty straightforward for teaching and learning. It's textbooks, curriculum, that sort of thing. For resources, it's the building and also the mention of fees which was important. um is something that's there. But more so on those two, I was kind of curious about um ways we could describe what the expenditures are because I think there you have to think through

074it a little more >> and maybe as Mr. Evans was kind of pointing out the idea of having specific examples. We don't have to go all the way and turn this into like a massive document that's merging and fusing all kinds of other documents that are available together. But I think maybe on those two points specifically it might be worthwhile either to include prior examples I kind of relate to that like community engagement I was thinking example might be um like the newsletter software I know all the principles and you as well use that's um like a real cost it's something that probably makes sense to be using but it's not something that you might immediately have come to mind on that one. So maybe just on those two compass points, it might be worth

075having some examples, but um yeah. Um and we have some public comments. Um uh Victoria Latanzi, 125 Don Street, who has made two comments. Um Miss Latanzi, in in the interest of time, I'm going to merge both of those. Um uh and hopefully that's okay with you. Um she writes, um I fully agree with Mr. Evans, I would very much like to have more tactical deliverables within our priorities, but doesn't have to be granular. I'm happy to help with this effort. Thank you. Um, and then she would also like to understand if these compass points are in order of importance. Um, so thank you, Miss Latanzi. Um, we've heard your your interest in um, uh, more deliverables. And are the compass points in order of importance or are they the order in which they have

076usually been presented? >> The order in which they're presented in the strategic >> in the strategic plan. >> Not in order. No. >> No. So no. Um uh Ms. uh Cassandra Dragon Arshambo writes, "I agree with community member uh committee member Evans. Um I think the word that may be missing is measurable or actionable. Um before adopting the 8 108 25 minutes, please make the following change. Lombardi is incorrect. Replace with dragon arch and bow. Below is the excerpt that needs correction and it lists um that correction. Um and basically it it's a um there's it seems as if um and Miss Archbo uh Dragon Archbo, please let me know if if I'm not understanding this correctly. he would like to make a correction to our minutes um that she is listed as Cassandra Lombardi

077in our minutes um that we are going to approve later in this meeting and her name that what's being attributed to her is not her correct name. Do we want to for any minutes at this we typically at least other boards we'd say if there's any edits to the minutes have them sent to the chair who's not present right now and then he can correct them and make it but if it's such a small thing and you're happy >> I'm here I'm here >> not the chair the secretary. >> Yeah. My apologies. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yes. Um we can um we can um let Mr. Dial know to connect with you and um we will note that. >> Thank you. That's a nice order of um procedure >> and especially um if there's

078any edits at all, right? The secretary is there to hear from the community and make changes because we want our minutes to be reflective of of what was discussed in the meeting. They're not a transcript, but it's important. >> Okay. Um, I'm also going to share budget timeline as this um is on the agenda for a vote as well. It was presented last meeting. So happy to address any questions and would request a vote. Well, I have a question. So, are we going to move to table as superintendent Shannon suggested? And if so, then we need to address the November 5th. >> Wait, we we would. >> Yeah. Maybe table both that we revisit both because we'll have to change when we approve the priorities. Is there a motion um to table the budget priorities

079and the FY uh 27 budget calendar? um for the purpose of um some reworking and repres representing um at our next meeting. >> Sure. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Evans, >> Mr. Rosi, >> Mr. I >> Okay. Um, so I do want to begin a discussion about capital requests tonight. Um, it is our first conversation about it. It is um meant to be a conversation starter and I'm definitely looking for your input and your feedback. When I arrived in the district, um the process for coming up with what our capital items and capital requests were were very disjointed or was very disjointed. And I think each year I feel the part of this process has become more cohesive. Um we now meet with the leadership team to hear requests and to

080look at what requests have been in existence and then we bring our department of technology instructional technology along with facilities into the conversation as well. and then we have a full picture of all of the requests across the entire district. And that has been leading to some really fruitful conversations amongst departments um and a much more collaborative approach which I've greatly appreciated. that I've appreciated with um Ron and Nick from IT and facilities respectively. Um and look forward to that continued work. Um what I'm going to share with you tonight is a full list of all of the requests. It is not what is going to go to capital. Um, but I do think it's incredibly important that we consider all of the requests that are made and determine which of those requests are our

081priorities to move forward to capital in this year. Um, one of the other things that has existed is that we have been a piece of a larger spreadsheet on a 10-year capital plan from the town, but we've not had our own necessarily um updated because there was an older version, an updated multi-year plan. And I am going to propose that we actually have our own plan that rolls then into the town capital plan, the the long-term plan for the town. Um because I think that it's important to look at the the broad picture while we're looking at the immediate future as well. And so some of what I will share with you in terms of our requests that are for this year will we know end up in different years on that longer term plan.

082Um, but I think the other part of that is the importance of recognizing that it's a need for multiple years. Um, and that it's not something that drops off shows when we're ready to finally do it, that it's something that we have been requesting for many years. And that is really important to us. so that when we're we're ready to move it forward to capital in that um budget cycle that we are saying that now is the time even though we've known it was an upcoming concern. So I'm going to share with you where we are currently and talk through some of what we have. So last year we worked really closely with the capital planning board to look at our buses and to get that work in order. Um and that was a really

083great conversation and we're greatly appreciative to the capital committee for taking on our entire bus lease costs. Um, and so our bus leases in total going into next year because we will have 10 buses. We had 10 buses. We still have 10 buses. They look different because one was an electric bus last year. All 10 are diesel buses currently. Um, and total costs of that lease, all of the leases is $196,236. Um, we also are in year one of a multi-year lease for a multi-use vehicle. That is the vehicle that we use for athletic trips. It is the vehicle we use. I have seen because it's right outside my office. I have seen kids get on it and go down to CSCR or go to Holly Hill in the middle of the day. Um, and

084I can tell you that it's getting a lot of use actually. Um, and so the cost of that lease is $22,000 approximately. We are also looking to complete year four of four for the um installation of interactive boards at the Deer Hill and Osgood schools. Um, in year one, all of the interactive boards were put into place at the middle school, year two at the high school. This year we did half of Deer Hill, half of Ozgood. Next year we'll complete the cycle and we will have full installation of interactive boards at all four schools. Um, and one of the questions that has come up in this process that we're still exploring is what's the lifespan of those boards so that we can plan out, you know, if it's 10 years and what's the replacement

085cycle. We need to make sure that on our capital plan we have have that in place. Last year we also went to the capital planning board with security enhancements. Um there was a recognition that while we have cameras and security in place, there were places where it needed to be enhanced. It wasn't that we were replacing many pieces. We did replace a few that had reached the end of their life or were not functioning but really we were enhancing it and adding to what we had because of identified needs. Um those needs were more than what we could or felt was appropriate to request in year one. So we will be requesting the remainder of those enhancements for year two this year. Um, we're still working in in different folks are working on getting these

086costs, but I think it's important to start the conversation on window shades. This is something that we talked about last year that is continuing to come up this year. Window shades in all four buildings. Some of them are functional, some of them are not functional at all. Um, and window shades, while it doesn't sound like a big deal, they actually are important for both security and comfort and um, energy savings. >> Efficiency is the word I'm looking for. Thank you. Um, and so there's been a lot of work done to to establish which shades need to replace, which ones need to just be fixed. Um Nick from facilities is working to figure out where our greatest needs are and we had a conversation together about making that a multi-year investment as well. Um and holding

087off for right now on the secondary level until we know a little bit more about where we stand with the MSBA. that's starting at either Ozwood or Deerville or depending on what the costs are, you might propose that we you do what needs to be done at both of those in year one. Um, in terms of athletics, the football, if you've been to the football field, you'll notice that the football uprightes are not actually upright. Um, they're a little bit tilted and they are in need of replacement. And so that is something that has been requested at the high school level. Um we did have a conversation about some of these athletic enhancements because they impact the turf with regard to the potential building project. And we did talk about the fact that in an

088ideal situation and we'll know by the time we really are moving forward with capital, we'll know where we stand a little bit more with the MSBA process. But when we did the feasibility study last year, only one of the options presented had work happening on the field. all of the other options presented preserved that field during construction. And so the thought was if we moved forward with a project that did not impact that field, that field would stay even after a project probably 99%. And that it would be a worthwhile investment because it would continue to be there um and support the teens until all the way through the the project. Um, so that is is a request. In addition, the fence at the field is broken. Um, there are parts that don't close. It

089is a concern when we have athletic events that people walk in when they're not supposed to be inside the gates during sporting events. Um, it's something that has come up multiple times. So that is something that um is a request to just fix the part where the fence is is truly broken. And so the most up-to-date estimate for that is just under $10,000. The other thing our fields are lacking are the permanent netting on the ends at the end zones and that is for safety purposes so that if you are walking around the track or kids are playing in the the end zone areas outside of the field during games, it's a layer of protection for those spectators. Um, most fields have those and it's something that would benefit not just our high school sports

090but all of our youth sports as well who use our fields all at night on weekends all year long. Um, if you've ever been to a soccer game or lacrosse game and you've seen the balls go flying, those nets really keep other people from being hit. And then for many years here, we've been talking about an athletic storage shed because right now all of our athletic equipment is just out in the elements. Um, this would we have a little shed, but not everything fits. This would be a larger shed that protects all of our athletic equipment and extends its life as well. We have had some conversation that has begun with um some members of CPC and there's a little bit of a question as to if they may also be able to help support

091the netting and the athletic shed cost. Um so I will continue to learn more about that. Um and then our our visual and performing arts department has several needs as well. Um our performance risers, that is what our coral singers stand on during concerts and other performances. They are becoming a safety concern. They are not ADA compliant. This request would replace those risers. They would be safe. They would be ADA compliant. and they would last for years and years to come. That cost is just under 13,000. Our art display boards. So, if you've ever come to one of our arts nights, you may not notice the boards behind the art because you're you're focused on the wonderful art that our students create, but they are falling apart. our art teachers sort of finagle and fix

092and make them work, but they are really at a point at which they need to um be gone and new art display boards need to be brought in in their place. And so they have asked for a replacement at the cost of $6,000. And they are also looking our timony and bass drums which are instruments that our students don't own. They are instruments that are sort of permanently here because of their size and we provide to those students who play them. They also are at the end of their lifespan. And so the ask is that they be replaced at the cost of just under $17,000. That is something you know and and part of the conversation with the visual performing arts department that we are going to be having is what is the most pressing

093need? what might be a need for that we can push off to next year. How can we make this less of a one-year request and more of a a maybe two or three year requests? Um, Principal Scotti has come forward with a a an idea to solve some problems that exist at the middle school. Right now, all of our counseling department is spread out throughout the building. Um, our guidance counselor's office is in the main office. It is a very public space where students who may be upset are sitting waiting to be seen and parents are coming through, other students are coming through. There's very little privacy. One of our counselors, um, her office, she shares it with a hot water heater. And so, we are making use of all of the spaces. However, they're

094not ideal for for our students and their their counseling needs. And at the same time, our um our language lab is not getting used at the middle school because the teachers are able to use um the the devices that are in classrooms for their language lab needs. And our STEM teacher, Mrs. land here is in a space that is not conducive to her STEM program as well. And so, Principal Scopali's idea, and he did work with Nick Bardi from facilities on this, is to take the language lab, turn that into the STEM lab, and then take the current STEM classroom and turn that into a counseling because it already has some office spaces in there. It would allow for our students to have a counseling area where they can get their needs met. Our counselors

095would have space to work with more than just one-on-one students. They could actually work um with small groups in a space that is conducive to that. And so, while this cost is pricey, I think it has a lot of benefits. Um, and as we continue to learn more about the MSBA process, it's something that I think we need to consider whether it's imminent or pushed out or not. Um, but I think it's an it's a very interesting solution to several problems that we currently have at the middle school with regard to space. We have been talking, I guess, since before I took this position about the resurfacing of the roads and sidewalks between Deer Hill and Osgood. Last year, we talked with the capital board about this request. Um, it is an incredibly expensive request.

096Um, the price that you see there, the $1 million plus is a price that Brian Joyce from DPW has secured for us. Um, it only does exactly that. It resurfaces the the driveway, the parking, and the sidewalks. It doesn't enhance anything. And in conversation with Brian, he has said that like in the next couple of years, we really need to do something there. That it's getting to the point where he can't in his department can't keep just bandating this the the issues. Um, and in our conversations, we also talked about the traffic flow and some other things like a lack of parking that we need to address because if anyone has been there on a very busy day at the elementary school with cars that line both sides of that drive between Deerville and Osgood,

097you can't really get a safety vehicle down there. And so there are real problems with that circulation. So, I'm actually meeting with the folks from Safe Reaches Schools tomorrow morning because they have a service where they will come in and help think about a redesign and then provide help get us some estimates for what that would look like. So, this is an ongoing item that we actually don't anticipate moving forward for next for this FY27, especially because we're doing the roof and we can't do both projects at the same time. But it is an ongoing need that we want to make sure is on everybody's radar each year because when we are ready to do it, it's going to be something that Brian Joyce says that like we can't keep fixing this room. Um Nick

098Bardi brought this one to us. This was new um in talking about the clocks across the district and that they are all failing. They are all old technology. A lot of them don't say the right time all the time. Um and it's becoming a lot for him and his department to to upkeep them. Um we did talk about the expense of them. He is getting quotes for them. He's going to determine for us if it makes more sense to do one school at a time or to do elementary and then secondary. And then I think I missed one. I think I missed did I miss the ongoing furniture requests? Um so in my conversations with capital last year um around upgrading furniture in the schools we they suggested and I agree that we have a

099recurring furniture replacement line item for about $35,000 each year. Um Deer Hill has all brand new classroom furniture. Um they have several spaces other than classrooms have been updated. They have a few left to complete their process. And last year we also we did the Bane room here at the high school and we did a few other spaces at the middle school. And with that funding, we'd also like to start creating some model classrooms in terms of furniture at the secondary level. um anything that would be purchased at the secondary level would be either something that we would take with us into a new building or would help update furniture in in another space um should we get a new facility. Um so those are the requests that we currently have. Um we have started

100let me see if this works. Yep. to draft out all the way through FY32 because we know in talking with um the IT department, for example, that starting in FY29, looking at the replacement cycle for our home plugs and our iPads, that that's when we're going to need to start thinking about that. So, that will come on the docket as replacement in capital items. Um we have started to look at um turf fields last 10 years in n in FY 32 the turf field on at alumni field will be 10 years old. It doesn't necessarily mean that it will have to happen in FY32. However, we want to be prepared for that and predict that. So, we're really starting to capture all of those items and get ahead of them now so that we can

101be thoughtful about our capital planning moving forward. So, I would ask for your comments, your questions, thoughts on what you're thinking could be moved to different years so that I can then bring that back, continue to have this evolve before we come before I come back to you with a next version of this and the next draft of it. >> Yep. Um, Mr. You >> want to go reverse because I I've got a lot to say and I don't want to take up all the oxygen like I did last time. Um it's up to you. >> Go in reverse. Um Mr. >> One thing that really jumped out to me and I an idea that I liked the way you spoke about it was STEM and counseling changes. Um, I think my only question and

102I don't really remember was on the middle school side, >> but I think the STEM lab was kind of close to the entrance. Maybe I'm not remembering it, so I didn't know if that would but I also thought about the space of that room and it definitely would be a more private setting. Um, and also >> the language lab definitely not being a space that is being used anymore. I would be surprised if it's, you know, all still there because everybody has their own devices at school. Um, so that was just my flavor on that. Um, just like a small like logistical thing, I actually don't have access to a few of the documents that are linked. Um, anything on like a Okay. Anything on like a Google Drive I haven't had problems with, but

103when it links directly to like a Google doc or something, >> I just suggest that the first four are um I think no brainers. They're they're items that I think we have to prioritize list. Um and then um with regards to the football rights, I wonder do they need to be replaced or they need to be reset because we just had that turf field done. They're part of that project. They were taken up obviously as part of when they were putting that down or at least they were somehow modified or or you know there's work done right around them. So, I wonder if there's any sort of warranty on the turf field and whether or not that would fall into the warranty because I can't imagine that when they finished that field, our uprightes were

104slanted. >> I will double check, but I do believe that they were not addressed at that time. >> Okay. Well, let's check because if if they were already slanted and then we left them that way, okay, that's one thing. >> I believe that's the case, but I will double check. >> All right. Well, let's check on that. >> Yeah. Um, I I think that um the CMS STEM and counseling suite renovation may be dependent, as you mentioned, Superintendent Shannon, on what we sort of I I think it's a priority right now, knowing what we know now, but um and we're going to be submitting the current timeline calls for this to be submitted um the capital requests by the end of this month. Fine. But But we will probably know by the end of this

105month or early December whether or not we're invited to program that may that may adjust our um priorities on that current >> on that specific issue. Um you already mentioned that the asphalt reserfing would be something we'd be doing right now. That's that is I think appropriately uh designated as a special purpose stabilization fund project but right now that is completely um used up expended by the Osgood roof. Um furniture upgrades I think are necessary. Um they're also pretty short money. I think the window shades it' be interesting to see how much those are. >> I think that they're probably a priority. Um I I don't I don't see the turf field fence or the netting being a priority. U maybe the athletic storage shed because not only is the equipment outside, it's also left

106in various places on the turf and the weight of that can create impressions or indentations that don't fully um reform if they're left in the same place too and that can damage our turf and also make it an uneven and unsafe playing field. I'm not saying this has happened. I'm saying it can happen there. Um the performing arts um and visual arts items um fairly short money, $34,000 approximately total. So um I feel like if um we need to replace those things, it's probably going to be something that we're going to be able to afford to do. So those are my thoughts on those. Um oh, the clocks. Do we need them? I mean, do we need clocks anymore? Do we? And if we do, are these all hardwired? >> Yes. >> So, can we

107just replace the hardwired with going and get a bunch of clocks that you hang on the wall? >> No. No. No. We try it. We have tried it, but we've tried. But, um, then they're not synced. And >> it's teachers letting we're going to let my clock says this, so I'm letting my kids out. Their clock doesn't say it's time to go. >> But it's alarm, right? It's like the the the bell goes off. I just and I'm just sharing from my perspective of having lived in schools for a very long time that it creates >> chaos. >> Do we So why do we need them in each classroom? >> Well, teachers all have like they're probably >> everybody well so that everyone's on the same system and that everything is visual for everyone. So,

108kids do watch the clock and like see what >> But do they need to? >> I don't know. I I guess I I mean I guess if it's something we need and you're saying as educators we need the clocks. I feel like they're kind of like an antiquated. It's like I I don't know. I mean, do we need clocks? I mean, teachers all have their phones. I'm guessing they're looking at the phones for the time. Kids don't even know what time it is. They should be paying attention to what's going on in class. >> I would want to see how much it costs. I'm not familiar with it. It It could be unexpectedly cheap, but it also seems like one of those things that could cost a lot of money >> expensive. Yeah. Yeah, I

109think that it could hardwire. >> I also know that it can lead to chaos because like there would be days when the bell which was sing to the clock it wouldn't work and then every class ended three minutes early that day. So that is true, but I know that they're also >> it just feels like one of those things that I don't think we'd want to spend four or 500,000 like it, you know, it would just be frustrating. That's just that is just my random guesstimate. I don't know what clocks would cost. >> And I know that you're saying everybody has a phone, but if I'm a >> the way I tie, I very rarely was sitting at my desk and I'd be standing around and I'd look at the clock and be like, "Okay,

110we have five minutes left." And if I if I have to go to my desk to constantly look and see what time it is, that creates a very different teaching environment. >> All right. Well, as as I think uh um was just mentioned, I think that the cost is it's been we don't know what that is yet. So, I don't know. My my first my first reaction was anymore. So, those are my thoughts on the on the capital. >> Would you like to go last last Mr. Evans? >> You I can I I'll be brief. Um, I'm actually wondering if our window shades fit into the security enhancements. I mean, I know they can also be separated out. Um, but if there's any reason to put them together, um, that might be interesting. Um, I

111also agree with the athlet the athletic storage shed of all of the athletic pieces. Um, as a very close neighbor of the of the high school, um, it makes me super sad to see, um, equipment outside, um, rain, shine, summer, winter, spring, fall, because I know that there's also that environmental wear and tear on things that do end up needing to be replaced like goals and book balls and this that, and the other thing. I think it we also run into um because we have just such a nice public um place to to play and to practice that sometimes the the um equipment gets used and perhaps misused um and again shortening its life um and the responsibility for its replacement is on the district. Um I am always in support of our um of

112our performing arts. Um, and I think if we had to prioritize two, I'd do the risers and the band instruments because those can come with us should there be a major renovation or um, rebuild of the school. The counseling suite, I absolutely love that idea. I love the idea of small groups being able to meet. Um, I know counselors oftentimes like to get groups of kids together and this provides a nice private place. It also allows for um, teachers and counselors to meet in a little bit with a little bit more privacy for counselors to meet together. Um, I think that's great. again would be contingent on the um on what we hear from the MSBA. The clocks, let's get a little more info. I >> mean, I think it's good for everyone to know

113how to read a clock, which doesn't necessarily exist as a skill anymore in some of our children. Um that's those are those are my comments. I I wonder too um in looking at the long-term plan whether or not it makes sense for subsequent years to this year for those um static items like bus leases to add some sort of 2% and and someone with a Matthew background could say what sort of percent increase we might anticipate in those lease costs over time or whether or not those leases are frozen leases because they're fiveyear leases. >> They are frozen. So I think then we're all set for that. That was just a thought that I I had in terms of changing costs over time. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Evans. >> Madam Chair, before Mr.

114Evans goes, may I just make a point of information? Um, just because you already know this, but um, >> community members may see me leave, it's because I have an important family commitment that I I need very difficult to reschedule. So, had to have it on a Wednesday and it's difficult to res. So, I'm just when people see me leave early, um, it's because of that. So, just wanted to make that clear because it's probably going to happen while while Mr. Evans is speaking and it had nothing to do with >> Why are you saying we're going to talk for 10 or 15 minutes? >> I I I don't know. >> And our thanks um to Mr. McClullen for being here when he does have other obligations um personal obligations going on this evening as

115well and making both of those things happen because that is it is hard to do. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um so to your your point I think for like a line item like the uh the furniture requesting asks we should do two and a half% adder. So it uh the select board passed the informal I don't know if they made formal budget policy that the capital stabilization fund gets increased by two and a half% which is in line with prop 2 and a half which is you know kind of a baseline. So if we have a recurring ask that isn't a lease where we know the cost but it's just for like furniture we should be just adding two and a half% of that every year >> just so that we

116it's the same part of the budget. >> Um I do think we should break uh to that end we should break this up always into uh recurring things uh like so number one things that are lease that we already we've already committed to we can't get around right the automatics. Uh line two is any um things that are multi-year projects like the furniture but also the smart displays or whatever where okay we're in year three or four. So it's important as we go through to have context of these are musts. We can't not do them because they're leases. These are things that are part of a larger project. So it's not out of nowhere. Um so just to separate that out for understanding. Um >> are you thinking like just highlighting them in a different

117color because it looks it appears that that's how they're set up. I would break them up into separate spreadsheets. >> Okay? >> So, separate tables, my apologies. um just to have very clean these are recurring or or these are already um encumbered through through a commitment we've made to a a leasing organization and these are repeated requests or projects that are uh the three or four four and then under that we have I think we need to you know we have the the requests for this year the new stuff um and I think it's important because we need to be sure that the things that are at the top two tables those are non-negotiables those have to be done um and that way we're we're playing small ball at the bottom. Um, I have really

118kind of comments on really all of these. Um, I don't know if we want to spend this meeting here. I'm happy to do it here or if we want to hunt that back, but I as I know how the capital process goes. I know what these go through. I can see, you know, kind of what what issues we're going to run into. Um, for instance, like the STEM counseling suite renovation, we have a five-year plan. That way, we don't all of a sudden have a $72,000 request that comes out of I don't that comes unexpectedly and then we'll bump other priorities. That's why you have a five-year plan. You say, "Listen, we have these things we've already identified." If we're talking about going to MSBA and we're having all these other things, it's there's really

119I don't think that's something that we want to entertain. in a way that would cause us to lose a different priority. So that is one which I would probably just not support because it is brand new and typically any kind of real like facility request if it's not repair there's usually more than one cycle we have to go through. I think we can bring it up as a as a next year goal. I think it's good to put it on the plan but it really shouldn't be for this year. Security enhancements the cameras. Um, I I'm personally not a huge surveillance guy. Uh, and I did my best to kind of not get into that, but I would like to hear more about it. Um, to because it is a large dollar figure and if

120we're going to be asking for this amount of money, uh, also we have to be aware that it's not just a onetime cost. Like these are cameras that will fail in five or 10 years. So, we are actually buying something that's going to increase our cost as we go. So, I would like to learn more about exactly what those get us for the expense. The uh band instruments, I would love to see that come from a donation from the community. Uh I don't know if we've ever bought band instruments with capital funding before. That's kind of just kind of seems inongruous. Um so, I think that's something where we should be we have a lot of really good artistic talent in this town. I think we can probably um make a few phone calls and

121and get those things sponsored because I do think that's going to be something where if the capital budget's weighing, whether we, you know, repair an ambulance or we get some drums, we're going to lose that battle. Um so this is how it is for the asphalt road. That one I just I kind of want to take that off the sheet completely. That way it doesn't scare people. Um, and that's something where, as you said, it has to be a larger conversation about redoing the whole plan. And there's no budget that can absorb this by one. We have to build a consensus across multiple districts of town uh to get this done. So, that should be like a long-term thing. We're having conversations about what that looks like. It shouldn't be in an FY27 total because

122it just blows up the total. Also, just for your there's only about 800 to a million dollars that really we could ever get because we already eat through about half of it. Um, so whatever else we request has to kind of fit in there. Um, there we go. And then I think athletic storage shed, we need a number, right? If we're putting all these things in, it's probably going to be a pretty big shed. It could be a big number, but I also think we should figure out how much the equipment costs to see if what exactly if are we is a shed $25,000. the equipment's only 10, right? Like there there's a question there. And again, with when we build a shed, what happens after 101 15 years? It falls down. We have to

123replace it. So, we want to be sure that if we're going to add an asset, it's going to be it is going to have a payback and it's not going to cause something in the future where now we have something a ship that's falling down because we haven't planned for the uh the other stuff. Uprightes seem broken to me. I noticed that. I think that's a great that's one thing we say that's priority one we need this year. Um CPC, I hope that's great. Sometimes they get a little bit prickly about school stuff, but they can do it. Um, and then the fencing though has been something which has been a repeated ask for a while and has been broken, but that's why we do things repeatedly. Like, hey, we noticed it was broken three

124years ago. It's still been broken. Now, it's time to elevate that. It's to say, hey, these have been broken for a while. We've waited. Let's get it done this year. And that's for every one of these requests and we put them on the plan. We have to say like there's going to be a time where we do it. And, you know, maybe that's that's this year. Um, and then the clock thing. I thought we did clocks in 2019. I seem to recall there was expenditure for that at some point. Do you remember this, Dr. Scots? >> I came in 1920. So, >> okay. 1920 here. Long time. Great. Um, but I don't they could have purchased the ones with the back because those are the ones. Can we do some >> mention that I go

125back to Nick and >> student perspective? I do remember that the bell sounds >> changed my freshman year which would have been 1819. >> Yeah. So maybe it was PA. >> I wasn't in the school then. So I can't >> you miss an opportunity >> but something happened with the clocks that year >> and then I think what you first said about having conversations where because our requests come from both inside the building and also outside the building right there's a five-year plan that Nick at facilities Nick is our our facilities director at town and the town facilities department handles our buildings so there's a list of requests he has that we need to know about and we should put it under the tab which you've already been doing. >> Yeah. So please include his

126requests. >> Gotcha. Same thing with it. I'm glad that you correct. So those are things where I wonder if we have like a tab where it's like our requests, IT requests, and we have like, you know, three fiveyear plans that are kind of actively >> that seems to be where you're going. >> So yes and no. Okay. I actually don't see their requests as separate. I understand that they make the requests, but they're still school requests because they impact the schools, >> but they don't that we don't author them originally. >> So, for the facilities ones, we do actually the ones for the school we I have been offering. I offered them last year. Um, and >> but Nick has his own his own list of like talk. >> That is so I I've talked

127with Nick. >> No, no, it's great. If you want to own that because typically he own it off to share them with me because I feel it's very important that they are part of our requests as well. >> Wonderful. >> And that we have full access to those requests because >> if they live as something separate then it feels very separate and we are we are a school building and they are doing work that's in support of our school district. Yes. Um but it really needs to be considered as part of the whole school requests. I feel very strongly about that. >> I fully support that. I think that's wonderful because uh what if we do it that way will address what my concern has always been which is >> kind of this who's making

128this request? Is it I it is the schools and there's been for years a very kind of circular process about keeping track of these things and who's owning them. And I think if your office has the bandwidth and you're willing to, I think that's great and it solves that problem and takes care of that concern. So, thank you. Okay. Um, I can keep talking, but I'm gonna stop. So, that's that's kind of >> Thank you. Um, we do have um a public comment um from Victoria Latanzi, 125 Jones Street. One additional request for clarification is if the counselors can use the proposed space without renovating. Thank you. So the answer to that is no because the counsel there's not enough space for each counselor as it is to have their own office and counsel need

129to have privacy. So part of this renovation would create additional offices within that room. There are two that exist now. This would create more so that every counselor has their own office space. Further comments or questions? This will be an ongoing topic for the for the school committee um and for the work that our administration um is dedicating a lot of time to. Um we appreciate the public engagement and the engagement of all of our committee members. Um we will move on to community relations and communication. Are there any reports from school committee subcommittees and liaison? I have none. Mr. Squad, Mr. Evans, >> uh on the town side, just the news which we heard at town meeting is that um our town manager of the select port leazison. I'm just going to share it

130here is that the town manager Chris Senior has announced that at the end of uh this year he will uh be departing Cohassid and we have an intern town manager Michelle Liry. So I'm looking forward to as we go through our budget priority processes re-engaging with all the all the people that are now in have done the shuffle and uh you know ensuring that we are uh you know continuing to make the progress we have been in previous years. >> Um thank you. Great. Then let's move on to H which is school committee governance governance. Um we do not have any topics not reasonably anticipated by the chair this evening. We do have the approval of minutes. Um, uh, Mr. Evans, would you recommend that we hold on the October 8th knowing that we have,

131um, a request to make an edit or do we approve knowing that edits can then can be made um, after >> if you're comfortable just making a motion to approve with that one edit? I don't remember what the edit was. I'm happy with that. Yep. >> Okay. >> Yeah. But again, but as as a system, as a matter of process, typically I would advise the public if there's any edits whatsoever to to just reach out and send them to uh both yourself and the secretary. Um that way when we get them in front of us, we have all the correct stuff. >> Thank you all. >> I would just add I was listed as the um is it representative the leaison for the high school council, >> but um we didn't decide on that. No,

132we didn't. >> Um, >> and is that in the October 8th? Yeah. >> October 22nd um had a change as well. All right. So, these will be um complicated motions, but I'm going to do it and we're going to do them both at once, so bear with me. All right. I am looking for a motion to approve the minutes of October 8th, 2025 with a note that we will change um the sentence um or remove the sentence that indicates that Mr. Jakeo is the lea liaison to um Cohassid High School. We will also I'm also moving to approve um within the same motion the minutes from October 22nd, 2025 and we will change um the name Cassandra Lombardi uh who was a guest and was um speaking um to Cassandra Dragon Archambo. >> I think

133they both of those edits were in the October 8 minutes if I'm not mistaken. >> Thank you. Let me go back to the Q&A. So, our only change the minutes I I'll create a new motion. Here we go. Is anyone still watching? This is great to say. So, >> our new motion is to approve um two sets of minutes. One being um October 8th, 2025 with um two changes. one that Jake Squatrio is not the liaison to Cohassid High School and that the name uh Cassandra Lombardi should read Cassandra Dragon Arshambo. Um we are also approving the minutes from October 22nd, 2025 um um as previously shared. >> So move second. >> Thank you. Um vote Mr. Evans >> or Evans I >> Mr. I. Jesus I thank you. Um we do have a a

134reason to move into executive session tonight under reason three to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining. We will not be returning to um public meeting. Do we still Sorry. Thank you, Miss Latanzi. That was Thank you. It's getting late. Um, oh, Miss Latanzi, for the record, just said you're doing great, Cherky. So, I appreciate that, um, vote of confidence. Um, so we do have a reason to move into executive session. We will not be returning into an open session. So, we will take um two um motions right now. One is to move into executive session um and the other is to um to adjourn our open um session. Is that right? Okay. In your motion for executive session, would you state the the reason? >> I did. It is for reason three. >> My

135apologies. So move. >> All right. All those in favor? Mr. Evans. >> Evans. I >> Mr. Scr. >> Jolleski. I um so we are adjourning um this evening's meeting. Thank you Cohazit for joining us. Um and we will continue. Um we will not be returning. >> Thank you.