001Good evening everyone and welcome to the um regular meeting of the Cohasset School Committee. Today is Wednesday, September 17th, 2025. Um we are going to call ourselves to order with a roll call. Um Mr. Dial is not here because he is traveling due to work. Um Mr. Reis, >> Mr. Evans present. >> Mr. McCullen >> present. >> Jen Leky present. Um, and as the community has been made aware, we do have an empty seat on our committee at the moment and are taking um, statements of interest for anyone who would like to fulfill that seat um, for the next 10 months or so until the next town election. Um, and you may do so by emailing a statement of interest to me um, at my town email address, which you can find on the school's
002website and on the uh, town's website. Um, and that should be into me by Friday if you're interested. [clears throat] We welcome your participation. Um so with that we will um stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Um we will start with our public comments. If [laughter] there is anyone has public comment um you may um let us know if you are participating virtually by raising your hand. We have no one here with us um outside of um the members of the committee and our administration. Um, but if there are any hands and people interested in speaking, now would be a good time to do
003so. Please remember to state your full name and residential address um for the record. So, seeing no um public comments, we'll move on to the superintendent report from um Superintendent Shannon. >> All right. Well, thank you and good evening. Um feel like I have a lengthy little report this tonight, so I apologize for that, but there's lots of news to share. Um so yesterday actually marked the completion of the first two weeks of school and happy to share that the start continues to be a great one. Since our last meeting, we've actually had three or four open houses. The only one left to have is tomorrow night at the middle school. Um, each of the nights so far have been really well attended and really parents, caregivers, and staff have all come away talking about
004what great nights they've been. And having just attended the high school last night, actually, as a parent, I was just reminded how nice it is to have those nights to be able to connect with your child's teacher and to hear what's ahead for the kids for the year. And I just wanted to say that I appreciate all the time our teachers put into preparing for these nights. Those days are long for our educators. We know that and we appreciate their efforts to bring us into our kiddos's learning experience. Um I also want to highlight our partnership with the cohesit safe harbor coalition. Their work with our students is tremendous in trying to keep them safe. This weekend, a cartre of young youth ambassador leaders trained another new crop of student ambassadors. The training was held
005on Sunday at the Lakekeepers in and it was a huge success. Um, Mr. Mlen and I and another member of the safe harbor board were there to see the kids um interact with them, serve them some ice cream. Approximately 40 new members were there and were being trained and they're ready to help support the mission amongst their peers. And I just wanted to say thank you to Nicole Bashi and Emily Lewwood for being such great facilitators and mentors to our student ambassadors. Um, additionally for parents, safe harbor is supporting a screenager watch party among the cohasset families. This is an opportunity for you to see the movie screenagers, a parent version um, in your own home from September 25th to the 28th. This at-home event offers you the chance to stream one of them. It's
006something that our students in grades seven, eight, and nine see as part of their health curriculum. They see different versions of it each year. Um, and it's part of their wellness class. And, you know, we think it's important for parents to see what the kids are seeing. And so, this is that opportunity. And if you sign up and register on the Safe Harbor web page, they're going to give you some popcorn to have while you're enjoying the movie. And I believe there's a discount at one of the local pizza shops, so you can turn it into a true event. And that's all on both our website and the Safe Harbor website. Um, I'd also like to remind all families that this Friday, September 19th, is a professional development early release day. is also homecoming at
007the high school and that runs Friday night through the weekend and it's supposed to be beautiful weather. So, come on up, catch a game, support the students and our wider Cohesive Public Schools community. Um, another invitation to families is for folks to join us next Wednesday night. So instead of tuning into this, they can come to our auditorium here um and join us for a community forum with parents of all ages. Not the parents of all ages, we'll all be all ages, but students of all ages um who read the book Never Enough by Jennifer Wallace. This is in our community read all summer. It is directly aligned to our strategic plan as we think about achievement culture and cohasset and how we need to find the right balance for ourselves and our students between
008striving for achievement and excellence and having a healthy well-being um healthy students who can balance well-being. Um, and so that is happening, like I said, next Wednesday, middle school, high school auditorium at 6:00 p.m. And so we welcome everybody to attend. And that is truly for all parents no matter the age of your student because this is something that you know [snorts] starts the thinking starts early on in elementary school and just builds and we see the impact of that achievement culture in our middle school students and our high school students and they're telling us that at times it can be much a lot. So this will help us strike that balance. Um and the other thing that we're inviting folks to is to join our committees. Um we mentioned last time we met that
009we will be creating some committees to move our strategic planning initiatives forward and we are looking for parents and caregivers to be a part of three of those committees. The PBL steering committee, the AI and tech task force and the communications committee. information will be shared with families this week and we're asking those interested to let us know via a Google form um which of those communities they're interested in serving on and why. Ideally, we're looking for people with experience in those respective areas to join us. We know that there are a lot of community members who have expertise or particular passions for certain things and we're hoping that if this strikes one of those for you that you'll look to join those committees. The signups will close on September 29th and we'll let folks
010know if they were chosen by October 1st because all of those committee meetings will be kicking off throughout the month of October. So, we want to have a set of who's on what committee. So, those are my updates and then I have a few other things to share, but I'll pause and see if there are any questions before I move on. >> Questions from any small groups of fire. >> Okay. Um, so tonight I'd like to introduce you and our families to something called the dignity index. And you have copies of this laminated in front of you. And I want to share this with you because it's something that we have shared with adults and some students. And I want to bring us all into this conversation. This is something that this summer when Dr.
011Scholins and I were at the superintendence conference, we were introduced to. One of our keynote speakers was Dr. Timothy Shriber and he introduced the entire superintendent community to the dignity index. Um in his speech he talked about how this was designed to help bring people bring people together across difference in a way that honors the value dignity in and inherent worth of every individual. Um I know Mr. Evans weren't on the committee last year, but for those of you who were, if you recall last year, we actually talked about how our teachers were asking us, especially at the secondary level to help build their capacity and their skill to have dialogue across difference and to do that with themselves and with us as adults, but really with our kids as well, because that's something that
012we need to teach them how to do. Um, it's important for the curriculum that we have. It's important for life. And as we continue to raise, you know, the bar for our own selves, we as adults are engaging in dialogue across difference. Some of those differences are what curriculum should we teach? Some of them are how should we handle a certain situation. We don't always have the same ideas, but how we talk to one another is really important. And when we as adults can talk to each other in a way that is respectful and expresses the dignity and value of each person, we're modeling for our students how to then do that as well. And so when we saw this, we brought it back here. We shared it with the whole administrative team and then
013we shared it with the department heads as well. And people really latched on to it because it is so simple and so concrete. And what the folks who designed this say is that when you're engaged in conversation, we strive to have conversation that is at a five or higher and stay away from four or lower language. And what that really means is that we come into each conversation with curiosity. We listen to learn. we withhold judgment. Um, and even when we have to agree to disagree when we walk away, we've done so in a manner where everybody walks away and still feels like they were valued. Um, so it was really something that people saw as useful. Our secondary folks saw that it was so useful that on the first day of school, the entire
014high school introduced it to all of our high school students. Um, and they have continued to refer to it, especially in light of some things in our country that have happened because no matter what, we need to be able in this community to speak to each other and to disagree with one another in a way that preserves everybody's dignity. So, I'm going to be well, actually, Principal Scott introduced it to the high school community in his newsletter this past week. I'm going to share it in my newsletter as well, but I wanted to present it to the school committee because we're going to have some conversations as the year goes on, budget conversations, other conversations where we also may not always be in agreement. And I think we do a very good job actually of
015modeling this practice. But I think as the the leaders of the district, if we are talking about it and we are using it, it's really good practice so that our teachers see us using it, our students see us using it. And it extends out into how our parents communicate. We communicate with our parents, they communicate with us. Um, as we just think about what does it mean to be a community that is supportive of one another, where everybody's voice is invited in and where everybody's voice is valued, it doesn't mean we always agree, but it does mean that we value each person. So, it's just something that I wanted to share with everybody um because it's something that we are using in the district. And you know, I think one of the things that surprised
016me at least when it was introduced was even though I think I do a good job at this, >> I was able to recognize times where I didn't. And it's those times where something feels really personal to me and that those are the times I have to practice this the most. And so that's what we just shared with staff and with kids as well is that it's easy to say we're going to do this and sometimes it's hard to practice. So just wanted to share with everybody. >> Thank you. Any comments or questions from the committee? >> I think it goes to the heart of what we do here. Yeah. >> Kind of that's that the six skills there are kind of like >> overarching >> approach or perspective that we want the kids walking
017out of the school when they're crossing that stage in the music service with >> so it's kind of just hear black and white right? >> Yeah it is. >> So I mean just good life skills to have in general no matter what your calling or vocation. >> Yeah. >> Thanks. I think that's great that kids are going to be thinking about that. >> And there are versions for our younger students, too. These are this is for high school students, but there's a middle school kind of inter. And then um early elementary and so um the teach the principles really loved it and u superintendent Shan said it grabbed so quickly like I think it could resonate with us and so I think it's really exciting. >> Yeah. I would also I had the same reaction
018you did when I saw it that I thought to myself, "Oh my goodness, it's so nice to see this concretely because it's a wonderful reminder." Even if it's not the way in which you communicate, if it's even the way you're thinking about an interaction with someone, it can shadow how you are responding, your facial expressions, um, all of those things that I think it's it's it's critical that we pay attention to when we're working with each other. So, I I had the same reaction to it, like, "Oh, I thought I was good at this, but maybe there are some things that I need to pay attention to." Yeah. And I think that that's that's absolutely what that's for. And we It is an ongoing point of work for everyone. >> Um, regardless of how socially
019skilled you feel like you are, how kind you think you are. >> Yes. And their website's free, so you can go Yeah. Everything's free, all the resources. So, you can go right on to the dignity index and see all the things that they have. So, it's really terrific. and and thank you to the high school for for being leaders in initiating this. It sounds like relatively organically um uh for our students and for that the high school community. I think that's um incredible. >> Yeah. >> All right. I'd also like to share two MSBA updates with you tonight. One on the Osgood roof and one on the Khasset Middle School and High School statement of interests. So, first the roof. Um, that project is moving along. At the August 27th MSBA board meeting, the district's
020schematic design and total project budget was presented and approved by the MSBA. Um, what this means is that we now have a total estimated not to exceed cost for the roof. um it is inclusive of contingencies and that that number is 5,858,522. The MSBA has awarded us a grant that will cover 32.47% of the total costs. So their estimated um grant is $1,900 $92 to $92,262. That means that the total project cost not to exceed the for the town is $3,956,260. So all of that is still estimated cost. We don't know the rail cost yet. That will be part of the next phase of this work. The current balance in the school facility stabilization fund is up just over $2.6 million. We will be moving on the November 3rd special town meeting. There's a warrant
021to appropriate that money for the roof project because of the way the stabilization fund is funded. Each year we have to with or you have to with the select board vote to put more money into that fund and that happened yearly. So the the vote for FY27 hasn't happened yet. So when that vote happens and then when that funding is put into that account that will then support the remainder of the almost $4 million that we will have to pay as a town for the roof. Um in talking with Chris Senior, there will be a period of time where we need to bridge what we currently have with what we will have. And so he's looking to bond that um and has a plan for moving forward. So the money has been sorted out of
022sorts, but we still need to go through special town meeting to make that happen and to make it official. Um, and talking with some architects, um, and just the MSBA in general and our OPM, the estimates are higher, but they're finding that the actual costs are coming in lower. Um, so we're hoping that that happens. The actual roof won't start to be replaced until summer of 2026, so we have a bit of time. I am meeting with our OPM tomorrow afternoon to learn a little bit more about the next steps in the process and to figure out what the paperwork is because they just sent us a whole lot of paperwork that we need to get signed. And so we'll be working to to make that happen as well in anticipation of the vote. The
023warrant language has already been shared with the town. So that's all set, but we need to make sure that all the deadlines are met in order to to move the process forward with the MSBA. So that's the roof project. Um, and we will also be working closely with Michael Stapleton on ESY for the summer, Ted Carroll for Wreck, um, Mr. Dyus and Miss Gibson who run a camp every summer. Lots of things happen at Osgood. So, we're going to once we get a little bit more information, we will um start working with all those folks so that we can make sure that everybody is set for summer 2026. Um, regarding the middle school and high school statements of interest, so as people in the community know, we submitted our revised statements of interest this past
024April. Um once you submit the MSBA then reviews all the statements of interest and from there they engage in one of three actions. They either dismiss a project outright. If it's a project that was submitted before they've done a senior study and they have all the information they need, they may choose to keep it in the consideration pile or they may say this is a school we need to know more about. And so they come to those schools and they do a senior study. We actually just had the MSBA on site this past Tuesday where they did a senior study of the high school and the middle school. Um they brought with them three members of the MSBA and two architects and they met with myself and Sue Owen and Nick Ferardi and Dr. Collins
025and Principal Scott, Principal Scotti, Craig, Chris Senior, and Michelle Liry, and they asked questions about our statement of interest, the building, our academic programming, and they toured both buildings. Um, on the tours, they got to see all of our systems, they got to see the facility, and they got to see and talk about our learning model. And they also shared with us that this year they received 27 core project statements of interest from 21 districts. Just as an example, we actually submitted two statements of interest. So one of those is us and it's two statements of interest. And they were visiting 14 schools to do senior studies while also considering another three projects. We felt like it was a very successful visit and that we'll hear either way about their decision in advance of their
026December 13th board meeting to let us know if we're being invited into the project pipeline or not. Um if we are invited, we'll have to systematically move through their prescribed process which will involve the feasibility period where we'll choose um an owner's project manager and a design firm and then engage them in a more robust feasibility study than what we've done in the past. And that new feasibility study will review what we've done and will result in the creation of a formal school building committee. multiple building options, including addition renovation, a decision about a preferred design model, and a schematic design of said building option. We'll have 270 days to engage in that process once they give us their start date. And that start date could be January. >> Sorry, did you say 270? >>
027Yes. >> Okay, thank you. >> Yep. And that start date could be January or they often have like two waves or a later wave and I depends on what date they set for that second wave. Um but again we don't know if we'll be invited in or not. We feel like the visit went well that our numbers are in our favor but ultimately it is up to them. Um but we do want to be ready and have done some prep work in case we do get invited into the process. So those are my updates. >> Um again um any comments from Mr. Evans? >> Just say on the roof we should be um as a committee with our messaging and um ready to to field questions about the cost. The cost is significantly higher than
028think anyone would have reasonably have expected. Uh but I do know that the MSBA scope is larger. It's it's more of a more than just kind of a slap in the roof on. So we should communicate that. I also think uh for this we should also highlight things we have done with that fund and thank the community for the amount of money that you know taxpayers have given us and we're showing that we're executing on it. So um this is just going to be you know the first step of many. So >> thank you. Now we will move on Dr. Collins with teaching and learning. So the year is moving quickly. It's been really nice walking around the schools seeing everyone all excited to be there and really settling in. um now that we're in
029the next couple of weeks and we are still continuing our work from our curriculum side because that's what we do. Um and so we'll be pulling together our curriculum review committees for math, arts, and comprehensive health. They've already done phase one and so we're going to pull them together just to go over the action plan and make any changes that we need to do for that. Um and then we'll be completing our social studies and ELA committees um work in phase one. So there's some things we have to finish up. So we'll be doing that this fall. So that's exciting. The assessment windows open for our students in grades one through eight. Um students one through eight participate in the I Ready math and reading assessment and grades K through five um participate in the
030dynamic indicators of basic early literacy orbibles which you hear about and also bridges math assessments. um for those students also. Um and then just as a reminder, every year we um screen our students in grades K through three for dyslexia um or for risk of we can't diagnose it, but we look for students that are at risk. And so um this during this time, grades one through three um we'll be looking at those students because we don't do our assessments for kindergarten until they a little bit. So that will happen in November. Um but we look at our students, we look at their dibble scores and if they have composite score where they're in the red which means they have um there are some subtests that they are not at benchmark yet um we will
031then create an intervention plan for them and parents will be notified and we'll do that again in for the kindergarteners that starts in November for those students and then we do it again um in the winter for one through three um grades one through three and kindergarten a little bit later. Um, so we want to make sure that we're catching those students to make sure that intervene early for their success. And um, our interactive whiteboards are being installed this week. It was very exciting. When we ordered them, we were told it could be a really long time before you get them. And right before school started, they said they're here. So, um, the teachers have been amazing because it's a little bit interesting to start school and then all of a sudden have know that
032you're going to have a new large device in your classroom. So um we are dividing that up between Deer Hill and Ozgood and next year we'll finish the pro the um program by implementing the remainder of those boards at Deer Hill and Ozgood. And um it's been really exciting. I have a couple of pictures. Can you just make me a close mine? >> You should already. >> Am I? >> Oh, I am. Oh, okay. Great. >> Did you do that? >> There you go. All right. Let's see. I am okay. And so just a quick picture. So um we had two teachers that were when they got to their classroom. So they're installing them in the evening uh and then they're in they're plug and play which is so here we can see them. So,
033we have two of our teachers, um, fourth grade teacher and two fourth grade teachers actually. Um, and, um, they plugged it in that morning and off they went. And so, you can see the excitement on them. Um, and they're they're um, easy to use and they had no issues at all starting with them. And you can see that the teacher on the right, she she's filling in on a on a on a map. So the kids can see different things and then um students and the teacher were actually using the whiteboard to solve that problem. So um they have great speakers which is really helpful because some of the speakers were aging in the in the classrooms or they were coming out of the older projectors. So overall I think they're great success. So they'll
034be complete with those probably by the beginning of next week in both buildings. So over just a little over a week. That is my update. >> Thank you. Any comments or questions, Mr. >> Think we have one, you said one more year of >> We do one more year. So, I really want to thank the capital budget committee because they've really supported this program for it'll be four years by the time it's all done. But, um, it's been really nice to to have these new boards for our teachers. >> No questions. Thank you for the share. >> Um, Dr. Collins, if you can do it off your head, can you let parents know? Lots of times as parents we hear my child is being evaluated or tested. When can parents expect to hear any sort
035of news from the school about results from testing? >> Just the ballpark. >> Ballpark. >> I can actually tell you. >> Um and so it has to happen 30 days after we finish our assessments. So let me pull up my window first. I was I bounced myself out. I apologize. >> But yeah, but but typically it's it's [laughter] 30 it's it's 30 days after. Yeah. So we're going to finish up in early October. So sometimes toward the end of October, early November, you'll get a letter. >> I think I think that is that good enough. I think that suffices just so that parents can start to have an eye out and not panic if it's been a day since their child came home and said, "I did I ready?" I haven't heard anything. >> Thank
036you. It's It's about 30 days. >> Yes. Yes. >> All right. Thank you. >> Um All right. We are moving on to section E which is budget resource and governance. And um Superintendent Shannon is presenting tonight on behalf of Miss Owen who was unable to be here. >> Yes. and she had a emergency that was unexpected. So, I'm going to fill in for her. Um, um, so we've been meeting with the budget subcommittee. We've met [clears throat] twice. We met this past Monday as the most recent. And one of the things that we've been talking about is finding a new format for the school budget reports. Um, and so this is an iterative process that we are working through. So, I'd be curious also about the format of this, if this works or not. Um,
037because we've been looking at different districts and what they share and how often they share. Um, so this is this is our first attempt at a different at a different format. Um so school budget overview the school budget for this year that was the voted appropriated amount was $24,830,589 and there was a one-time additional cost or aotment of $150,000 to address some special education. Um, so we had a total of $24,251,86 available to us for this year. To date, we have expended 2,44,875 and we've encumbered $3,64,378. The reason we've encumbered more is because we are trying to encumber some salaries. We've encumbered purchase orders um and some utility costs to ensure accurate forecasting. And so one of the things that we have been really working hard to do is to be able to say to
038you that we are on track for a balanced budget for FY26. And after a lot of work, we know that um we are likely going to be over in two line items, utilities and athletics. However, we also are really appreciative of all of the work that our principles did this summer in hiring and given some savings that we have um found as a result of that hiring, we know that we will be able to cover those over spent line items. So, we feel really good about where we're going to land at the end of June. Um, additionally, we have been awarded $88,537 in grants for FY26. Um, the breakdown that Miss Owen provided to you. I think what's important to note is that last year we actually did not qualify for title one money. This
039year we are back qualifying for title one money. Um, part of that, I think last year we made a real push for our families to fill out the free and reduced lunch form because that form is a misnomer. Um, especially in this day and age where lunch is free for all students. When families fill out the free and reduced lunch form, it tells us if there are ways that we can financially help those families. That might be beyond lunch. It would [snorts] be field trips. It might be other fees for athletics or transportation or >> SATs or AP exams. Um, and so it's a really important form for folks to fill out if they think they may qualify for free and reduced lunch because it allows us to be better able to support them and
040sort of wrap services around them and their kiddos. And it is also what Title One funding is based off of. And so we're grateful to the families that did fill it out because one, we can better support them, but also it it brings more money into the district so we can continue to better support them. Um, and so we're we're thankful that this year we we brought some we received some title one funding which also includes title two money. Um, there's some other titles, too. We didn't get any of those monies, but um it's allowing us to like do a little Yeah. that we can do some um just gives us a little bit of help to do some things that we do students. >> Um our revolving accounts um they are our self-sustaining programs
041that generate revenue through fees to support those specific services. As of right now, our revolving fund balance is $46,54 and we are continuing to collect fees throughout the year. Um, we know that we went into FY26 with a deficit at the end of FY25 in both athletics and transportation. By September 30th, our transportation revolving account will be cleared. It will no longer be in the negative. Our athletics account will still be in the negative because we have only collected one season of sports fees. Um, but we also know that by the end of the school year, that will no longer be in a negative. And I had a conversation today with um Beth, who's the new town, and I apologize that I don't I can't remember. I think it's Beth Mosley. Um, she just started
042on on the 1st of September. We had a conversation about that being in the negative as of September 30th. And so we talked about the fact that she was going to call the state and talk about why we are in that specific situation and what our plan is to move out of there and she um is hopeful that our plan will be sufficient. Um and so she'll keep us posted on that. Food service is a self- sustaining revolving account. We continue to benefit from state and federal funding that provide free lunch to all students and that account is expected to grow as the year progresses. Utilities um mentioned it earlier, but based on last year's expenditures, the utility costs will likely exceed the current budget if gas and electricity usage remain at similar levels. That's
043a volatile situation because we don't know what the weather will be all winter long. A um a lighter winter may mean less usage, which might mean we don't spend as much. A heavier winter, the opposite. So, we're hoping for we're hoping for a lighter winter. Um and then I believe she also provided um just, you know, a quick overview of what has been spent of the total operating budget for this year, what's been encumbered, and what is remaining. And so at this point, I would say we are on track for um ending the school year exactly where we're supposed to be with regard to the FY26 budget. >> Questions, questions, Mr. Evans, >> I think so much of this is understanding the context of what the numbers mean, right? So obviously you know knowing we
044spent X and we have Y rating doesn't really tell us how we're doing. So I think the we still have some work to do about understanding what these like you know for for instance you referenced that we can project that our salary number will come in at at target. So at this point we can say well we've we've spent 5% but we also projected that we'd be at 5% now like something of that where we can say at this moment in time you know we've got a lot of money utilities but that doesn't hit yet. So where we can at least understand where we are because knowing how much we have left doesn't really tell us how much time we have left with that money. So, I think that's kind of where I want us
045to get to is a place where we can we have a target to say, well, we're actually, you know, we're going higher than we thought or go lower than we thought and to try to make these really targeted updates where we're just comparing where we are to to the baseline, right? Or to to whatever target that we're hitting. That way, we know, okay, we have to step in and do something different or things are going very well. And that's going to be important to do that. also when it comes to understanding how we spend money in that kind of ramp up is going to be really important for long-term forecasting as well right because money is not spent you know in a big chunk it's spent you know kind of in a pattern so um
046that will be I think the next iteration of this is giving us um a little bit of a where this should be and where it is um you know month so but I really appreciate we've had some great I mean really in-depth conversations the amount of stuff that that your office has put I think I echo we walked away from the meeting FY26 will be you know we're you know kind of going to hit our target. I don't think there's going to be a whole lot of expectation of you know wiggle room but um I think the efforts obviously the efforts that all the we've put on the parents for increased fees and fee collection we've you know no one likes getting a fee but it really is important for us to have buses and
047drivers and get sports teams to places like every dollar that we collect in a fee goes right back to your students use of that resource right I think as we're talking about a lot of different things, taxes and and funding and all these things. Remember that the best way to ensure that your student gets a service is through a fee which protects that service. Um so when we have fees that are able to again keep our sports teams healthy, keep our transportation, you know, our buses new and our drivers paid, those are things that that really help us daytoday. So, um I know no one likes getting that, but that's the most important thing for us to continue to keep going is parents just contributing. So, thank you to all the parents that do it,
048but also understand the context of how important those things are. >> All right. I will add that we do have a public comment and I will share that right now. Um Will Ashton of 125 Don Street writes, "Uh, regarding formatting of the budget reporting, the schools had a great system of reporting back in 2019 that would be beneficial and transparent if we could reinstate. If the committee does not have copies, I can email them over as examples. Um, thank you, Mr. Ashton, um, for that insight, for that feedback, and for the offer. And if the, um, central office needs the format, we can certainly reach out to you. I appreciate that. Um, and I will just um add that I appreciate the sort of level of attention that we are bringing to the budget um
049across the board this year with our committee, with our administration um to really make sure that we are getting information to um the public, that we are keeping ourselves apprised of how things are going um and um just responding to um to sort of that feedback from the public in general. So, um, thank you to everyone who's been involved in that. Um, moving right along, we have, um, again, Superintendent Shannon to, um, chat with us about the disposal of surplus property. Actually, Dr. Schol is going to do is gonna do that. Fantastic. So, So, we have recently moved to an updated version of our elementary math program, Bridges. And so, it we needed to get rid of the old stuff and bring in the new stuff. So, um that happened over the summer. So, this
050is a request to get rid of the old um teacher binders because we have new ones and some of the consumables because they're no longer um no longer useful for us and they really have no market value because they're the outdated version. And so um so here we are and there's a picture so you can see um and so we're asking if you would approve the disposal of those so we can clear some space in the classrooms. Thank you. So I will be looking for a motion um to dispose of the property just described um immediately. >> So move second. >> All right. Motion made by Mr. McCullen, seconded by Mr. Evans. Um we will go for a vote. Um Mr. Evans >> I call I >> Jan Leky I. Please go ahead and dispose
051of the extra bridges or the outdated bridges. Thank you books. >> Great. Um and then finally in this section we have a substitute pay rate discussion. >> Y that is me. So, we've been looking at our substitute rate of pay and substitutes in general because we don't have a whole lot of substitutes and we need more substitutes and we need highly qualified substitutes um because they play a critical role in our district. They spend days with our students and each day they're with our students. They're caring for our children and they are educating our children. And right now our substitute teacher pay rate is $100 a day, which really is quite low. Um, and what I'm sharing with you is that we are very much on the low side for substitute pay. you'll see that
052while there are a few districts that are with us, um when we get to school districts that are in our immediate local area, so Ducks and Norwell are 110, which is a little bit more, but Marshfield, Hangingham, Southshore Charter, Situit, and Hull, those are the districts right now because they range in from $125 to $150 per day. Those are the districts that we are losing our substitutes to. We know this because they tell us and we know this because they have more subs than we do. Um, if you lived in Cohasset or you lived in Situ and you had a choice of where to sub and you could make 25 to $50 more per day, that makes a big difference. Um, and so while we are incredibly grateful for those who are subbing here because
053they are amazing, they also deserve that higher rate of pay. And so we really took a look at what this would mean for us. Um, we looked at the total number of teacher absences for last year. And again, we have a lot of teachers and this is over the course of a year and everybody has lots of different situations, right? So, this is not a comment on how many days teachers out because we those are include some surgeries and things like that. What we're looking at are how many days our teacher absences are filled by subs versus not filled by subs. Because when our teachers are out and we don't have a substitute, we still need to put an adult in front of children. And that means that either a teacher who has a non-eing
054block is in front of a different class or our ESPs are being pulled from the special ed service that they're here to provide to cover a teacher. And in either of those cases, we are paying a teacher or an ESP to cover those classes. Um, and so I tried to do a little bit of analysis of what we're really talking about. And so it's a little bit different depending on the level because if a teacher is out at the high school then a sub would come in to cover three to four periods a day depending on the day. If we're looking at the high school Deer Hill or Osgood we need somebody to cover at least five periods a day. So I did the math of what 174 unfilled days at the high school equals
055out with regard to periods. Same for the middle school, Deer Hill and Osgood. And I did that math for if a teacher covers that period and a teacher gets paid $4063 for a period or an ESP covers that and they get $12 per hour over and above what their regular pay is. I highlight it in yellow because at the secondary level often it's the teachers that are covering those classes versus the elementary it's often an ESP. Um and so we sort of gauged it based on those two column the two highlighted um boxes. And at our current rate of pay of $100, if we were filled each of those days, it would cost the district $48,000, almost $49,000. But really, we're paying more than that um when you combine the teachers that we're paying at
056the middle school and high school and with the ESPs that we're paying at the elementary school. And so we think that even with increasing our sub and I'd like to propose that we actually have a dual rate which many of the districts do in that a substitute who has never been a certified teacher would receive $110 per day, but a substitute who has been a but a certified teacher would receive $125 a day. We think we could actually still save money this year. Um, and some additional benefits to doing this would be a consistency of experience students or experienced substitute teachers. And I think there's a huge component to teacher wellness for our staff who need those non-eing blocks to do the things that we're asking them to do to call parents to do their
057grieving to do their planning. And in reality, unless you in the in the living the life of a teacher, sometimes that's the only, you know, time you have to use a restroom. I mean, there's a reality to that. If you have one non-eing block per day, that is your only time to not be in front of kids. And if we need a teach that teacher to cover a class, now they have no time in their day. So, I think there's something about teacher wellness embedded within this. And then I would actually propose that for FY27 we budget for this and we actually raise that to $125 for a non-certified substitute and either 145 or 150 for a certified substitute rate. Um and I would like to propose that each building has a building sub at
058who is daily at that higher rate because they become a known entity for students. They have really strong relationships with kids so that when they walk into a classroom it's an automatic okay this is what we're doing. There's a consistency of learning for our students. They can fill true short-term needs. Sometimes we don't need a teacher doesn't need a long-term leave because they're only having a short surgery. You know, I keep using this example, but a few years ago I had an appendecttomy, right? You need five days off at a minimum when that happens. That doesn't qualify for a long-term sub. But you want to know when you're out for that long that your kids are still learning because you know who's in there and you can have that conversation and that makes a difference.
059Um, and every once in a while if they don't have a class to cover, they're also helpful because they can help cover a recess or lunch or in the office or any number of other things where we're always short-handed in schools. And so this is something that I would ask that you consider. Um, it is a two-year plan just because we don't have a lot of space in our budget this year. Um, but I would like to think about how we go to that higher rate and budget for it for FY27 because I think it's the right thing to do for students and for teachers. So, any questions? And it was hard like it's all predicted because you don't it's very hard to be firm in any of this information. We don't know how many
060days teachers will be out this year. We don't know if it's a teacher or an ESP who covers We don't know if we raise a rate, if we'll get more subs, like we just those are the unknowns, but we think that the benefits outweigh the unknowns. >> I'm curious about the 125 number. So I I So >> yeah, >> I think there's like three conversations, right? One is how do we budget for this? And that's going to be a challenging one. Uh the other one is the reality of the market, right? which is that >> um for the immediate towns as you pointed out if you can make 50% more money driving another mile you will do so uh and so I do wonder if the 125 number is different enough to give us a
061data point that will be meaningful because are we really obviously whatever we pay more we're going to have to pay the existing 762 fillins that more money and if we don't put a big dent in that 489 then we're really not getting where we need to So I I kind of I'm a little bit worried about us choosing a number which doesn't give us either thing. Doesn't give us the budget savings and doesn't. So thoughts about I mean obviously modeling this is as you just pointed out very difficult but I think if we're going to have a model that works we have to be competitive with our neighbors. I think we have to be at the 150 point and then we model based on the savings which you pointed out which should be we've got
062forgot what you said but $40,000 of of extra costs that we're paying our existing staff. Um, so if we're going to see savings there, to me it would feel like we need to be more competitive on the on the day rate. I also think it's frankly just incredible that it's $150 for one to take care of a whole classroom of people. Like that's just thank you to all the substitutes. I mean the value we get for that and the fact that the difference in in cost per pupil is like two bucks here for a day but you know and as a parent the fact that there are days where you know I send my my children to school and it's like a burn day because a substitute would because there wasn't the resource available is
063really frustrating and I would gladly pay a couple extra bucks for a really good day of education. So I see that's the third conversation which is the value of the service is undeniable especially at these rates it's a bargain. Um, budgeting is going to be a challenge as we said, but also I want to be sure that whatever we do gives us the outcome we want. So that's a lot there, but thoughts about going to 150 now versus 125 for this experiment or at least for the impact. >> Yeah. So I would love to go right to the higher number. I worry I I went with a lower number for year one to be just conservative fiscally because my while we want that many more subs I was also worried about going too far over
064budget. Um, but I could do that math and come back next time and see what that really would look like and really dig in a little bit more to see if we could make that happen because I think we'd get more people that way. >> We could put an uprun if it's if you know 125 and we say you know it's going to reduce it by 20% but 150 reduces it by 30%. That 10% different may pay for that. Yeah. >> Right. So if we can literally get a number of well if you know and we then we can track that. Is this good? Is this really working or not? >> Yeah. Uh, I think that would be hugely I mean that would help me when it says 125 or 150. Yeah. >> To really
065kind of make that decision. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Is that clear? >> Sorry. >> Yeah. >> Talking a little bit. So, I lean towards the conservative avenue, which is what Superintendent Shannon was just saying was her initial uh approach. Um, because of our recent budget issues. I think that I think that I I agree in in theory with what um Mr. Evans is suggesting, but I think it's very difficult to ascertain those percentages that you were just you were just uh speculating on. I I don't know that we're going to be able to like I I don't know we can we can [clears throat] predict those with any degree of certainty until it's in practice. So why not take a more conservative approach, see if that is enough to yield the results we're looking
066for, and if not, then consider going higher, which I think is probably what your consideration, which your thought process initially in presenting this was. Um I I think there's a lot of merit to what Mr. Evans is saying. I'm just expressing my um my preference that we remain a little bit more conservative in any this it's not just and this isn't specific to any sort of fees in particular or or or expenditures in particular. is just before us and as we're just emerging from something where I think we I I think we're fortunate to be able to figure out a solution there and I think as you just presented in the budget uh you know we're we're on the right path there to completing this year in a fiscally sound position. Feel like we need
067to be really careful about any expenditures. So that is uh and I I know Mr. Evans doesn't disagree with that. I think that he's just speaking um practically from you know looking at these numbers that you put up here like you know he just wants to maximize or optimize the value we're getting here but I'm just I'm just expressing my um I guess my uh apprehension about going too deep too quickly. Do >> you mind if I can I reply to that Craig? >> Because Sure. My I guess my my concern is that with 125 we do it's the worst case scenario because we do neither right so we pay we have a 25% increase in the number of substitutes that we have now but we don't lower that 468 number at all right because
068we're actually not that more competitive so we've spent 25% money more money with nothing to show for it where it actually would cost us more so what I'm trying to say is if we go to 150 there's going to be a break point where we're saving money right because we're not double paying paying because right now it cost us more money out of the budget to grab somebody off the staff. So that's much higher. So there's going to be a break point where we're saving money on the existing staff pay and because we're, you know, again, the substitution costs less. So my concern is that the 125 is the most expensive option where it doesn't help us operationalally and it costs us more money. I'm with you a million% about the about not having the
069money for it. That's obviously, you know, number one concern. But that's why for the modeling, I am worried that 2025 is even though it feels more conservative, in actuality, it's going to be the most expensive option. That's kind of my >> I think there's a lot of wisdom to what you're saying. I just don't know that we're going to be able to know one way or the other until it's in practice. >> So, I just did some quick math at the 489 days. If we got us up at $150 per day for each one of those $489 days, it would be $73,350, which is still sort of it's on it's a $2,000 more than what my model here is for what we did last year. Um, >> so at 150 it would still cost us
070more for everybody even if we had a substitute all the time. >> Yes. Okay. A couple thousand. >> That's the I want to hear. Okay. So in that point we still know it's your >> but maybe nominally I mean depending on what you're thinking. >> Yeah. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. But >> and so it's just you know we might not get the 150 like that's the 125 for non-certified and 150 right? Like we might get more people at the 125 rate. We might get more people at 150. We might not get people and still have to pay. So that's what makes it hard to >> sort of figure out but that's >> that would be like the most expensive version of that if we had a sub every day. >> Yeah. Sub every day was more
071expensive. Okay. That's was that was the piece of thing. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Um and I will we have a public comment which I will read in just a moment. But I would also add that perhaps looking at the way in which we're budgeted and against the amount that we're budgeted for this year for subs is also a point at which because the bal the budget is balanced at a particular >> um level right now and whether or not >> playing with that how far out of whack it gets us um at that time not even just the overage on what we did last year but then what we have planned for this year I think is is another thing. We do have a public comment from D uh Danielle Zedi, 12 Hillside Drive with
072two questions. Uh the first being, do you know how many substitutes you currently have with teaching certificates? And the second question, I'll read directly so we can answer them both at once for you. Um would you consider paying a substitute without a teaching certificate at a higher rate based on their experience? Those are both very good questions that I don't necessarily have an answer to at the moment. Um I don't I it would be interesting to try and figure out how many of our substitutes have a certificate because I don't think we currently ask. So we would have to ask um and then I think the second question would be something that we would consider as a >> and this is just our first discussion on this topic. We are not taking a vote on
073this topic tonight. Um so perhaps those two great questions from um Missy um can be incorporated into um discussion before the vote. Anything else from committee members? >> Thank you. >> Okay, that closes out our um budget resources um section um community relations um communications or any reports from school committee subcommittees and liaison. Mr. Mclen, >> dear Hill PSO is meeting tomorrow morning. Um and CPAC, our special education parents advisory council had their first meeting um last Thursday at 11 I believe. It was sort of a meet and agreed. It was their first meeting of the year and it there was a really good turnout I heard which is good that I think that group has really um I think been experiencing a lot of success lately and a lot of participation which is what
074makes it I think better. the more people that the more perspectives there are there, the more support there is there. I think uh that makes it better. So, um I think that's all I have for now. >> Anything for you, Mr. Adams? >> We already did the budget thing. That was a very great meeting. So, look forward to everyone. >> Yep. Nothing from you today. So, that will bring us to topics not reasonably anticipated by the chair, of which there are none. Um we also have no minutes to approve at this meeting. However, we do have reason to go into executive session um for reason number two, to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-union personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or to contract negotiations with non-union personnel. Um so I will
075take a motion to close this public meeting to move into executive session and we will not be returning into a public session. >> So second um so and now we need a motion to adjourn. Is that correct? We need to vote on the motion. >> Vote on that first motion. >> Mr. Evans. >> I. So, we have voted to move to into executive session. Now, we're going I need a motion to close this meeting. Ajourn this meeting. >> That does it. The motion that you just took and then we adjourn from executive session without returning which was the part of the motion that we just All right. So, thank you for um I appreciate it. We will see you in two weeks.