North Brookfield School Committee Meeting June 15th, 2026

001All right. So, it's 6:01. I'm going to call this uh June 15th North Brookfield School Committee meeting to order. If you'd all please rise and pledge the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Uh Tim, I know you have some recognitions. Yes. So, I I just want to give a couple shout outs. I know that I mentioned these names during graduation. um these past couple weeks between both buildings, we have a just a copious amount of events that go on. The highlight is is probably graduation for the high school. But I just want to thank again Miss Carrie Bradshaw and Mrs. Mark Hansen, uh our two senior class co-advisers for

002all the tremendous work that they have put into this the all these events over the course of the year, but obviously the last month or so of school. uh Miss Heheart, our school counselor. Um you know, she's a school counselor by trade, but making sure that graduation, those events run smoothly. There's a lot of work behind the scenes, uh that doesn't go. So, I just want to thank those three people specifically for all their efforts. Um so, again, thank you for your hard work to make sure those events went well for our students and their families. I also want to thank uh the elementary school staff, but also I think we have about 15 or 20 parents who volunteer their time last week for our field day. Um we have a great turnout every year.

003We have a lot of dedicated parents who love to come in and see their kids having fun. The field day was a hot day. Um last Friday was a hot one. Uh but our kids starting with our youngest students all the way to our fifth graders had a fantastic day. So thank you to DJ Dan who was there. uh but all of our family uh volunteers who did a great job for our field day. So, thank you very much. And then the one person we wanted to recognize today, but unfortunately I think was working uh was Sergeant Martin. And I I know that Mr. Murphy recognized him in his newsletter this month, but uh Sergeant Martin has been really been gone above and beyond with with helping us with our PBS program at the elementary

004school. One of the awards that students can work towards or earn Starbucks towards is a ride to school from the police officer. Uh in this case, it's Sergeant Martin. So, he's done this how many times, Mr. Murphy? >> Over 35 times. >> Yeah. Um so, it's a it's a it's a pretty cool thing for our students. [clears throat] Uh they come in with all the bell bells and whistles, so to speak. Um and they they really appreciate it. And I think it's a great way for us to build our relationship with with the local police department. So, I want to thank Sergeant Martin for his efforts and thank you, Mr. Murphy for kind of making sure that that keeps going throughout the school year. And I will add I can segue to donations. Sounds good.

005All right. So, my apologies. We did not put this on the agenda this month, but we do have some donations. We believe I have four that we're going to go through this evening. Um the first is the senior class, the class of 2026 has donated a tree uh and also a plaque um that they are in the process of purchasing or ordering uh in remembrance of Mr. Damian. Um, so this is going to go out by the the bridge in front of the school building. Um, but obviously I need schooling approval to accept this donation. You can go we can go donation by donation or we go through all four if you like. >> Um, I'm fine with all four together. Is everyone else's? >> Yeah. >> Okay. The second is a PTO donation to

006the music department. Uh, this is in the amount of $273. Um, and I do you recall, Mr. Murphy, where they this money was raised? I believe it was at the spring festival. >> Okay, I could be wrong. >> So they they are giving back to the music department um our districtwide music department in the sum of $273. Uh the third donation is from Michael Kitridge and this is another $120 which he earned by selling the 3D prints that he makes. He sold this at uh our music festival back in May. So $120 to be split evenly between music and art. So he's donating back to the school. This is the second time he's done this. If you may recall, I recognized him earlier in the year for making such a donation. So he's a very

007hardworking, ambitious, and generous student of ours. So thank you to him. And then the last donation is for some flags, I believe, for Mr. Avery. >> Correct. >> Um I don't know. Um he had donated an American flag um to be for like hanging outside the front school and then a 250th uh flag as well. >> Okay. So flags for the school. >> Yep. Um so those are the four donations that I would need your approval as well. See I'll accept a motion someone wants to make a motion to accept the previous uh four donations. I will make a motion that we accept all four of the previously discussed um donations. Second. >> Any discussion? >> Thank you. >> Yes. Thank you to everybody uh who took the time and donated. Um any more discussion?

008Seeing none, all those in favor? >> I I thank you, Mr. Is that is that all you had for recognition, right? >> Yes. >> So, um I'd also just quick recognition. I know this past week I received notice um I don't that the uh field hockey coach Sheila Blank uh will be resigning after well field hockeyy's fall so she's no longer going to be coaching. Um Sheila has been coaching field hockey for 36 years. I think it's 36 years. So 36 years she's been coaching field hockey here at the school. I just thought as a school committee we should recognize her and thank her for her efforts year in year out. I think everybody most people here know who she is. She's currently a town captain as well. Um and she's probably touched you know

009more kids lives in this town than a lot have [clears throat] been here for so long. So um just wanted to recognize Sheila for that. That's all I have. Anybody else have any recognition? see public participation. >> I wrote it down just so I can uh keep it to a minimum so everyone else can participate. Um, [clears throat] so I've been to a bunch of graduations as a school committee member and this year I got to go as a family member and it was it was really moving like having that personal connection to to it and what I what I saw was my nephew and how he changed and I'm sure he love me talking about this here but he uh how he changed during his time in North Brookfield um it was pretty striking.

010It showed me the impact the school can have on a student. Made him confident enough not to only go to college, but to go to college in Boston, which is about as big of a change from North Brookfield as you can get. Um, and I wanted to thank the administration and the teachers for their their part in that. Uh, they I I feel like they help each student as they go through the school. And the graduation ceremony showed the personal connection between the administrators and the I mean when I was in high school I I don't think I said two words to the superintendent the whole time I was here but Mr. Reformer has anecdotes about all the graduating seniors. I think that's an important thing. Um and it not only showed the connection between

011administrators and the staff and the students uh but it showed the great possibilities of those graduates. Uh we have a constant uphill battle as a small district. Budget's always on our minds. We've been doing it for a long time. Every every year seems to be a struggle. Um but this year, thanks to the efforts of the administration, it it went seemingly more smoothly from my perspective uh having watched some real rough ones. And uh the budget talk only really matters if we have an opportunity to celebrate the success of the kids. And so I wanted to thank everyone that's here, the committee members and the administration, students who participate, you know, the the students drive the school. And uh I hope you all have a good summer and you kind of go into the summer

012break with a feeling of appreciation from the students past and present and the community as a whole. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Seeing no others here for public comment. Close public comment. So student student represent communications. Um no communications to go over right now. Student representative report. >> I do have one. >> Sure. >> Um so and I shared this with the chair. Um I I did receive an email back in the middle of May from Superintendent Hobby uh who is the superintendent of Spencer East Brookkefield. Um and he had inquired about the potential of sharing IT director position. So just to give you a very quick kind of um summation of what happened, we did end up connecting uh I brought Mr. Bar with me. Obviously we met with Mr. How heath and

013with his business manager and his outgoing tech director. Obviously this is not something that we have um decided to do just yet. This would need the committee's approval. But the conversation was around if we share this position, how would that impact North Brookfield? How would it impact Spencer East Brookfield? Um and where sometimes these shared positions will be a cost savings. In this particular scenario, the way I presented to uh superintendent is that we would we would share this position, we have to backfill another position. So, we would actually be gaining a 0.5 position for our district. Again, this is just early conversation. Um nothing has been finalized whatsoever. They're in the process of interviewing finalists for the IT director. Um so, he is going to get back to me. If that doesn't pan out,

014we will continue that conversation. But I just to to make the full committee aware um of that what happened. >> Thank you. >> Student representative report. So past information, we have had our class elections on June 10th for rising 7th through 12th graders and our rising sixth graders from the elementary school will hold the their elections in the fall. Uh we had class day field day on June 5th. The students started in classes and transitioned to the elementary school auditorium for the class day ceremony. Then we headed off to field day and our cookout. Uh today we held junior conference. Uh this event was for fifth graders to allow them to learn about our school and our student council. Upcoming information, we have the last day of school where the Hansen family and student council

015work together to make milkshakes or non-dairy slushes for all students. as an end of the year send off. We have lock in on Thursday, June 18th into Friday, June 19th. This is the event for student council members only. Stay overnight in the school and we're locked in overnight. We participate in workshop workshops, run team building activities throughout the night, and then we get free time for the rest of the night. Social media, we invite all community members to follow our social media accounts to keep up with all MBHS Stuco activities and events. Our accounts are as follows. Instagram at NB Stuco, Facebook, NB Stuco, Tik Tok at ND Studio. Student council meetings. All meetings are open to the school and community meetings are typically every other Monday in the high school ka starting at 6

016p.m. running until 7:30 p.m. Please feel free to join us if you have anything you would like to discuss or just want to see how things are run. I do want to say we're done meetings for the year, so you'd have to come back next year. I just want to just thank Noah again for all his efforts this year. I know um Somaya Johnson is is taking your place. She was able to attend this evening, but she's going to be great as well. But thank you again, Noah, for all your efforts this year. Great job. [applause] Thank you. Great. So, with uh that being said, I realized I I was so excited because we had a public participation that I skipped over approval of minutes. So, in my case to get to Tim, I uh

017skipped over approval of minutes. So, we have to approve the minutes that we had in our packet. So, I will entertain a motion to approve those minutes. I think they were from the May 18th meeting. I'd like to make a motion to approve the minutes from May 18th. I'll second that. >> Any discussion? Anybody have anything need corrected or anything? Going once, going twice. All those in favor? >> Thank you. That's all we have. So, back in order. All right. So, school committee reports. I don't have anything. Anybody have anything on the school committee reports? None, but we have financial reports. All right. So, I I attached the financial report for your review. I also attached a financial memo this month just to kind of outline outline uh what we are have remaining in our

018general accounts general fund balance for the remainder of the fiscal year 26 that will run through June 30th. Additionally highlighting what we are carrying over in our accounts for both school choice and for circuit breaker. Um, so we're looking at a remaining general fund balance of $730,000 just over and then we're looking at carrying over just north of $500,000 between school choice and circuit breaker. This is aside from what we are projecting for offsets for FY27, which is north of $1.3 million between circuit breaker and school choice. So this is a revolving account that we've been able to build back up from the last couple years that we will be able to offset uh potential changes in the financial picture for next year based on chapter 7 funding or if we entertain um down the

019road adding additional positions in the district. So this this is money that that can be used to support both endeavors. >> Anybody have any questions? So this is combined 1.2 million. >> What's I'm sorry. >> So this is combined 1.2 million. The 732 plus the 500,000. >> Well, the general fund needs to be spent down or will be spent down by the end of June. That's so that's for salaries, all of our bills. That's the general fund that we have to to support the school district. The revolving account do not accounts do not need to be spent down. Those can carry over the next fiscal year that we can use to offset again expenses right by 27. Um emergency that may come up or if we add a position or two down the road that

020money can be used to offset those costs. >> So the 732 has to be spent by the end of the year. >> Yes. And and that will be that's that's basically the remaining salaries, the summer payouts, all of our utilities, everything we have to pay the final transportation bills for the end of the year. So all of that money will be used towards wrapping up FY26. >> Okay. So the 732 will not be available to us. Got it. Okay. >> That's the remaining balance for the FY26 budget. >> Understood. Okay. And so we will have a $500,000 balance. >> Yes. So those two are all the accounts. >> And that may even increase more based on the supplemental budget from the state. So if we get additional funds per circuit breaker that number may go

021even more but that's where we are right now as of June 50. >> Okay 500 even though it's in school choice circuit breaker if we had additional headcount that we needed to add we could tap that. >> Yeah. So we can we can use those funds those revolving accounts to get again to offset potential positions if we have emergency placement for a student. um if something else comes up within the infrastructure of the school that we need to pay, we can use those funds to to cover those costs. My hope and my part of my goal is that we continue to build these up so that as we incur offsets for FY27, FY28, actually, we'll have money in reserve to offset the increase that we're going to have to pay off or that that's going

022to happen based on the increase chapter 7 fun chapter 70 funding every year. Okay. Thank you, Mr. McCormack. Anything else under financial reports? >> Just before you're all set on your financial reports. >> Yes. I'm sorry. >> Yeah. No problem. >> Um, no other questions from the committee. >> All right. This is you again, Mr. McCormick. Superintendent. >> All right. So, I have a my typical memo and I have a few presentations. So, so bear with me for a few minutes here. Um, as I alluded to in my opening kind of remarks, this is the busiest time of the year for both school buildings. Uh, we have events pretty much every day from last week even before for graduation. That whole week is busy with high school and senior activities right through next week with

023end of the year activities for for a lot of our students. So, again, just want to thank our admin team, our teachers for all that they do. Um, but there's a lot and it's a lot of of extra hours for a lot of staff and students. So, again, thank you for all your efforts. Uh, just to highlight a couple, uh, graduation was obviously on June 7th. Our prek step up is on June 18th. Our grade five junior conference was today and and know if you want to speak about that, feel free. But that is a way for our rising sixth graders to spend the day shadowing here at the high school, going to classes, meeting and doing activities here at the KA, going to lunch, uh just making sure they are very accolad to the

024building here. Um we also have one more NBES student recognition coming up for the elementary school along with middle school uh awards coming up as well at the high school. So a lot of events still to happen. Our grade five step up ceremony is on June 18th. So that's coming. And then I believe Thursday is 8:30. Go ahead. >> I'm sorry celebration. >> Yes, >> it's Thursday. >> So, a lot is going on. Uh I may have missed a few things. So, if if the principles want to add in from the reports, uh I also just want to mention that on Sunday, May 31st, the leadership team hosted a pancake breakfast. As you as you may or may not know, um Westbrook Elementary recently closed. um this was something that obviously is happening and and

025there was a an outcry or there was a a question from many families about what are the opportunities in North Brook. So we've held two kind offormational sessions for those families, two days of tours. This is a more formalized uh day. We had again pancake breakfast for families where we gave tours to both buildings of both buildings. So I want I want to thank Mr. Murphy, Mr. Balsari, Mr. uh Beck for all attending. uh we had over 30 families attend the CPS at this that breakfast. So it was very wellreceived um and we have a lot of interest a lot of families who are obvious already filling out paperwork to enroll into our district. Um additionally, and we talked about this during policy subcommittee, I submitted a grant on or around June 5th. Uh this

026was through the attorney general's office. This is a cell phone policy grant. As you may or may not be aware, um this has been coming for a little while now. Um, but there's a fair certainty that by end of this summer, there'll be a law in place that limits cell phone use for all students from bell to bell. So, when they enter the building to when they leave the building, their cell phones need to be put away in some sort of device or locked up where there's no access during the school day whatsoever. This is obviously a change in our from our current policy. So, we began to discuss some of the policy revisions that that will need to be enacted. This grant fund of of just north of $10,000 will help the district purchase

027what are called yonder pouches, which is what students will use to put their devices in when they enter the building. They will be sealed magnetically and then when they leave the building, they will unseal these pouches. These pouches are kept on the students person for the remainder of the day. We don't take these devices, but they do not have access based on these devices. So that's something that is very likely coming to the entire state. >> Uh what is the you said the 10,000 would go towards the cost. Out of curiosity, what is the actual cost of those? >> Uh they're expensive. >> Yeah. Well, I've heard >> um I think so with with professional development, the the order of the pouches and the devices that are used to close and unlock them were just

028around 8,000. Um, there's additional money I put in there for marketing as well so that we can message that hopefully families and students. So again, it's just just more than $10. >> So you think the grant would cover the whole cost? >> It would. >> Okay. I did what would I? >> Yeah, that's good. >> Any questions with those memo items? >> So no no uh matching required on the grant? >> No, this is through the attorney general's office. This is I think their sec their second round of funding. um they they have allocated $500,000 for this. So, this is a competitive grant, but where we've not received any funds for this before, I think we're in a pretty good space. >> Um and I just wanted to go back. So, we had four new

029hires and then five departures, >> correct? >> Are these new hires to It doesn't look like it's to uh fill in for the departures, right? Uh some are um so yes some of them most of them are we did have some movement internally >> okay >> so we had some positions that um I'll give you an example um we had a fourth grade teacher who moved into a first grade position >> um and we had a high school teacher that moved across content areas >> so um but we have those hires are for the 26th 27th school year those aren't for right now those are for next school year but We've been I again I want to applaud the principles and directors. We've been on it in the sense that we've been posting the positions.

030We've been hiring. We've been interviewing as quickly as we can because it is kind of like the Hunger Games out there with physicians. So, we're trying to get the most qualified people we can uh to work with. >> And there are no other departures, no other hires at this time. >> Um I only post when we have a final resignation letter. So, there may be some more coming down the road, but I I don't add these to a memo until I have that letter in hand. Got >> any other questions? All right. So, I have two presentations this evening and I and I want to start with a map assessment data review and I know that we have three new members or members back to the committee. So back in I think it was March,

031we presented the winner presentation for the winner maps assessment data. So you guys were not yet on the committee. So I'm going to start with some brief definitions of what this is and then go through the data. I want to preface this by saying that we had some tech issues with our high school data. So we're still trying to gather that information. So unfortunately this is elementary school centric right now. It's not not by design. We had some errors with reporting. So we're trying to get that data back from you which if we don't have it before the end of this year what I will do is review with the committee uh next fall. Okay but I did mention it on the slide press before we start with that. So what is map testing? So

032measured academic progress uh this is a computer adaptive assessment that um was developed by NIWA. Um, we've been using this program or these programs for with Fidelity Cross buildings for at least four years. I I think it it was started in the elementary school and then we quickly adopted it for both buildings. Um, but we're looking essentially for two things. We're looking for student growth and student achie achievement. And this is very similar to your benchmark assessment data that you may use as a teacher. teachers use in both buildings to to monitor that progress over the course of three tests that we give to students uh per year. Um so results reported as RIT scores. RIT um stands for for it's a it's a it's kind of internal lingo that they use, but essentially what

033we're doing is we're looking at measured progress regardless of grade level. So we're tracking progress from students regardless of what grade level they're in. And there's a couple slides later in the presentation, you're going to see some of that growth and achievement over the course of a three-year time period. Um, okay. So, how we review this data? So, what we what we have been doing and we will continue to do this. We uh back in October the leadership team and then both building faculties and staff went through a very kind of streamline succinct data analysis protocol which is essentially four parts describe reflect interpret and prior prioritize. So what we do as a leadership team we go through this data we start to look at what the numbers are telling us and then in turn

034the two building principles PDS director will do that with each building staff. Um, and if you if you've seen it in action or you've probably heard me talk about this, it's very rich conversation whether we do it uh by grade level, by content area. We want teachers to really look at the data and reflect on what we can do to better support our students moving forward. So, some some key takeaways, some key strengths that I want to really highlight. Uh, one, and you're going to see this in the next couple slides, the grade four math was just outstanding. Uh, some of the best data we've seen in a very long time. So, so I want to again give give kudos to those teachers. Uh, our grade four teacher who has been teaching math now for

035several years. U, I I've mentioned this before, Miss Peterson does a fantastic job. So, we're seeing some really great great work coming out of her her classes year in year out. Um it's also carrying over to our grade five uh students as well. We saw some really tremendous growth in achievement this year from our grade five students. We also saw some really good um uh some reading improvement from from grade 1 but also grade five. So when you are above the 60th percentile um that's a really positive sign. When you're in the 81st percentile that's excellent. That is excellent. So I can't say that enough. So again, just kind of a graphic here. Um again, grade four was the standout, but you look at all grades from kindergarten to first all the way up. You

036know, you're seeing some really some really good work going on. Um obviously grade four and grade five right now are standing out. We're going to talk a little bit more about some of our middle school data in a few slides, but this is this is what we have right now. Again, I I want to mention again our high school data was not pulling correctly, so we don't have that to share this evening. This is our reading achievement. So again, I want to just highlight uh a couple places you're going to see some tremendous uh achievements in both kindergarten and grade 1, but also again in grade 5. But again, if you're over 50, um that that's a really good place to be. So, uh we know we still have some work to do, but but

037we're seeing some really good achievement and growth um for this this third testing cycle. Mr. Garfield, do you want to just this next slide which is the growth over time? This is the the student cohorts. >> You want to speak to these? >> There it is. So growth over time, two student cohorts. So I took two students just to show the committee what the reports look like and what you can see yeartoear with students as they go through. So what happens is as they take the test, they're given the RIT score. just like a rous unit and from that they're then given a growth number that they're supposed to hit. And so blue is obviously exemplary and you want to be in there. Green that's kind of proficient growth and then when you're down in

038red and orange that's a space that we want to target students when they're really struggling. So, this was a student who had 199 as a second grader and now they've risen all the way to 242 through the hard work of our teachers and himself. And then the second one, you'll see this one. Don't go back. >> No, it's okay. And in cohort B, you'll see someone from a 158 when they were in first grade and now they're in third grade and they got it all the way up to a 211, which is excellent. >> Can I just ask? >> Of course. >> I I couldn't understand this. So, what's the black line? So the black line just kind of shows their scores over time. So it just connects them so you can have a better

039visual of how they did. >> So which one is A? Which one is B? >> So B will be the next slide I believe. >> Oh, okay. >> Yeah. So this is B. Sorry. >> Sorry about that. >> Okay. >> The the black line represents the student sheet over three years of time. >> Yeah. So this student started down in the yellow when they were in first grade and as they went through so there's a fall test, a winter test, and then a spring test. this three a year and as they went through and now they're in third grade you can see that they're all the way in the green which is great growth for them and as those sorry as those charts go they're also they can be different per student. So if you

040scored a very low score then your rouse unit would be a little smaller just to show the growth and that way a student has something that's regional but that's different from their achievement score. So, it's a little bit different. So, this year we really wanted to talk about how we're motivating students. So, how are students, mostly our first graders in kindergartens, sitting down in front of a test and trying to do their best, right? Here's this weird test they've never had in kindergarten, this computer kind of giving them different words, different sounds, different things, and they don't really understand the meaning of it or why they want to do well. Um, so this year we started to really conference with students. We wanted to make sure that our data really spoke to where our students

041are um, and kind of take out that non-engagement factor. We really try to make sure that they were engaged. So we started this from our fall, excuse me, our winter into spring. [clears throat] When we went through the data cycle from our winter test, that came up through the data cycle. We were walking through the four steps. A lot of teachers were like, "Well, my kids don't know why they're taking this. My kids, you know, they don't really care about this. They're overested. This happens a lot." So, we really wanted uh to be mindful of what our kids are feeling and what our students are feeling when they take these tests. So, we put it back on to our staff to talk about our conferencing and our goals. Really getting students to understand why they're

042taking it, what it means, what could happen from it, and the data that teachers get from it. So for our smaller grades, our K through three, more fun, quick conferences, but then teachers would use that information throughout the course before the test to do check-ins with them. >> So this is an example, I believe. Um, want to go to next slide, Mr. >> Yeah. So I apologize. Um, in your packets, you have two examples of some some goal setting sheets. They didn't pull on my presentation, >> but what Mr. Murphy is referring to is is >> these conferences that took place with a student and the teacher. This is obviously a kindergarten or first grade student. Obviously, it's a little bit cuter than a fifth sixth grade stuff. Uh but then you see a little

043bit of an older student uh where it's a little more detailed and again the rational behind this is we it's very important that the student buy in with their growth and achievement. if they feel like they're just taking a test and they don't see the rationale behind it, they're going to be less apt to putting their full honest effort into it and they're not going to be able to, I guess, celebrate the success, too, uh, as they grow over the course of the school year. So, that is the rationale. We pilot it with this with the elementary school. What we hope to do is make this K through 12 for next fall so that these conferences are happening throughout the school year. Not just around MAP testing, but all of our benchmark assessment data, all

044of our all of our assessment data really. We should be having conversations about how we can support each other in getting student growth and improvement. What I think is great about that too is we didn't just say this is how you're going to do this. We gave our staff some freedom to do some research to to go into other programming we have and how to do conferences with certain age groups. And now we can take this data and see what conferences work the best for what kids. And now we can start to build a profile of how to talk with kids about testing and use this before MCCAST, use this throughout the year. Um, we're really excited about and I think again with engagement MCCAST, we started to do raffles. We started to try to

045make it fun and let students know how how we appreciate their hard work and our younger grades don't get that through maths testing. So that's something we're going to look to bring on board next year too is to celebrate their hard work. It's not easy for a first grader to sit down and take a 35minut test. Um you know not with any help usually because you want the true data. So it could be stressful for kids. They don't know why they're taking it again. So all of these things are to alleviate that really get to the true data. That way we can target our help the best way and give them the right feedback. >> Yeah, you can see. >> Yeah, of course. >> So, just we did have some areas of focus which I

046want to just discuss right now. Um and and again this is for for grades eight and grade six and grade eight. Um we we we adopted uh inter literature. This is our first full year of that HQIM at the middle school level. uh this was kind of on the on the the heels of into reading which is our K through5 HQM that we brought in two years ago. So this is the first full year into literature and we're seeing a little bit of growing pains. Um but I think that I think in year two we're going to see much better results because this is a more formalized curriculum. Uh that there is some learning for both the student and the staff member uh who's involved with this. But these are right now these are areas

047of focus, areas of concern. um both math and reading. Um so we we we need to figure out how we can better support these students in these two grades. Again, looking at um some of the achievement and growth in grade eight reading um over 60% according to this spring test doesn't mean that 60% of the students aren't at grade level. It means that 60% of the students who took this third MAP test um were in the bottom 25%. Uh same thing with with math. We had we had a low percentile closer to average. So, you know, this is obviously something that we need to to examine. We need to look at this in a little more detail. Um, and I I think that going into next school year, I think this is going to be

048an area of focus, uh, middle school in particular, uh, for not only the district, but obviously the junior high school, looking at making sure we're maximizing the use of this high quality instructional material, maximizing, uh, what our teachers do with our students. So, some some brief interpretations of of what we came up with. Uh obviously we we talked about some of the elementary strengths and I can't understate those enough. I think the grade four and grade five results across both math and reading are in a very good spot and that's if you think about it in one other way too that's the first official year that we we start to look at MCCAST data for those students. So we're setting those those kids up for success. I think where we're looking, we're seeing a gap

049where we need to to to spend more time continuous improvement is around our middle school um performance and we need to to make sure that those results both achievement and growth become more consistent. Uh but I I don't think this is a lack of effort. I think this is more of of some growing pains, but we need to make sure that we fine-tune what we're doing at the moment level to make sure that this is not a trend we see over the course of several years. So again, some recommended next steps that the LT came up with. Uh looking at what are we doing support those students as they transition from fifth to sixth grade. We want to really focus on our middle school reading. So as I mentioned into literature is the curriculum that

050we've adopted. This is our first full year of of that use. Uh we want to make sure that what's working in elementary, we continue to use that in the elementary school. We also want to replicate that at the middle high school. And part of our PD planning for next fall, next year is having staff members across the district working with one another around those tier 2 supports, uh, around some other protocols we've adopted in the district to help support that instruction and learning. And we also want to make the student growth conferences something that's the norm, not just a pilot, not just a one-off. That's something that students recognize and access as a way to monitor and pro and to look at their own progress. And this is something that we can use, you know,

051not just for math testing, but also EDCAST, classroom data, interventions, attendance. So, this data analysis process that we've adopted, we want to use this for all facets of student data. And and that's kind of what we're building across both buildings. Again, this is just a a a picture of kind of the big picture. And and I and I want to just stress that the middle school needs more target intentional support. And and that's what we aim to do for the for the for the next school year is making sure that as students transition from grades five to six that we are we are supporting those students um as best we can. Are there any questions about this third map testing cycle? >> I had some questions. >> Yes. >> Um, so you're saying for the

052for the for the grade six reading there's a new program? >> Yes. >> Okay. And what is it about this new program that that you feel is causing the percentiles to like this? I I don't want to blame it just on the H on the high quality instructional material um solely. I think there's always a learn some growing pains or learning curve when you adopt something new like this. Um I think that we need to make sure that we're using the program appropriately. And what I mean by that is it's it's the sole way of delivering instruction for our students. We also need to take a look at what are we doing at the the tier 2 or tier three supports for those students who are continuing to struggle with with whether it be reading

053or math. What are we doing to make sure that those students don't fall further behind over the course of the school year. And that's part of our PD for next year is that the elementary school did a fantastic job this year with our UVL work in developing protocols and activities to really look at those tier 2 supports for our kids. So if a kid is struggling, how do we group those kids according to where they're falling with our assessment data and how do we support those students in real time so that they don't again they don't fall further behind the course of the screen. >> So it's it's twof. I don't want to put it all on the curriculum, >> but the curriculum anytime you adopt a new curriculum, there's always going to be like

054I said, there'll be some growing pains as as both teachers and students become accustomed to what's going on. I mean, the elementary school numbers look really good, really promising. Um, the middle the middle school grades that on the, you know, the numbers are are concerning. Um, the eighth grade reading 28th percentile, like that's not good. Same with the math. Um, I know that there's a large number of kids, I mean, in grade eight. Is is that have anything to do with, you know, the the numbers at all or it just the the grade 8 had me had me concerned? Um because the grade six is low, but then the grade eight seems like it's not going in the right direction that you would want it to go. And how do you make up for, you

055know, if the grade eight is having difficulties with reading and especially math where it's, you know, math is, you know, you build upon your your skills that you've learned previously and how do you how do we make sure that these kids are successful, especially the grade eights and in grade nine when you're getting into high school maths. So, how you know? >> Yeah, I'll say I'll say one thing. I'll let Mr. Beck jump in too. I think I will agree with you that the results are concerning based on what this map testing cycle is saying. I think the one thing that that I haven't said too much and and I want to you know I'm not putting again I'm not putting all the emphasis on this piece but where I think the elementary school is

056a little bit ahead of the high school at this point as far as students see the value more of these tests than our high school students. our high school students need to recognize that this is not a punishment that this is actually a good thing that we look at this data to support their learning. Um, and I think that we need to continue to work on building a a stronger culture there so that kids see the impact of taking these tests not as a punishment but as a way to really engage with our app. Mr. Beck, do you want to just jump in? >> No, I think that's exactly what more or less exactly what I was going to say. I think that that Mr. Murphy and his faculty and staff have created a a

057great model uh now that after my first year that I feel comfortable following. Um I have had some conversations with some students who I didn't expect to hear that they didn't really put full effort into it. And so what we need to do is establish that same time same type of culture around the value of the testing that the students find so that they're also taking it seriously. um midyear uh students did much better, took it much more seriously. But that goal setting process that's used at the elementary school and those points of emphasis that are used at the elementary school to inspire students and incentivize students to do as well as they can. Um each test takes approximately one class period. So it doesn't take an enormous amount of time to do these, but

058we do want to make sure that students find value in taking the tests and that they're consistently taking them seriously. So we're getting clear measures of how we're doing against the curriculum. >> So Mr. Beck then, would you say that when you when the staff looked [clears throat] at these results, were they kind of surprised and said that the results of the MAP testing didn't match what the students were doing on a day-to-day basis in the classroom? >> Well, we we won't do that analysis until next year when we when we get together to take a look at the full year of data for this year. Um but at midyear we were actually pleasantly surprised that there were a number of students who uh actually grew quite a bit um through the mid year. So

059I don't know if it's taking the test as late as we are in the year and the students have sort of you know um they're into their final projects they're beginning field day and so forth and it's harder for them in this time. So there are a lot of things to take into consideration with that but I think changing that culture will be really important. And to that point, I think it's it's one piece of data, right? So there's other there's your grades, there's other test, there's formative and summitative assessments, there's all the other things that we're doing. This is one piece of data. It's it's very important in my mind because I think it does clearly have a through line through UNCCAST scores and the same sort of information that you get out of

060it. So I think it's a very important piece of data. But to that point um there's a lot that goes into what a student knows and that's what we learned from UDL that you know students learn in different ways. Students have problems testing on computers and would rather show you something physically or do something different. So, it's it's one important piece of data, but it's not the end all be all. But, and I think that's the great part about, you know, rounding out a school is is all those little pieces of data can go in this student profile and then you use that profile to do what's best for the student to make sure they're learning. >> But the elementary school seems to have it figured out. I mean, it's it's a different it looks

061like it's different data, you know. So I think in the elementary school the kids are, you know, they're in the 60s and they're in the 80s and, you know, their numbers are better. The middle school seems a little tougher. >> Are are the I'm sorry. >> Yeah. No, you're and you're right. And I will add though, too, and this is not a defense of of, you know, what school is is here or there, but we saw a great improvement this year at our grade five students that we we we saw a dip last year. So, we've seen that trend for grade five students go up again. Um, and I think that speaks to some strong instruction um, and some really good protocols within our grade five classrooms. So, you know, things can change from year

062to year, but you're accurate to say that I think right now the elementary school data is much more consistent >> from K to 6 junior high school. >> Are the So, these numbers on the MAP testing, are they also reflective of what we're seeing as on the MCAST as well? Uh yeah there's there's strong correlation I think again the endcast um years back when they when they they shifted to more of they shifted the style of testing a little bit so we saw a dip with with everyone started dip really with scores about four or five years ago we've seen that gap close >> um we are I would say that again the MCCAST scores mirror what we're seeing with the math testing more the elementary school and the high school so that that that

063constant through line between the two buildings. You're seeing both math and impass. >> And we don't have the high school to know if it was just a this is sixth and eighth grade. This is just kind of like where >> I don't have I don't have that data to show unfortunately tonight to the committee. I I I will when I have it next fall. Um uh but but that was a that was a technical issue that we couldn't resolve in time for this presentation this evening. >> Thank you. >> St. Do you have a sorry >> Yeah. Um, so I'm kind of curious like the the in and-out like school choice, how much of an impact do you think that has had on us? Because not all of our kids from elementary have come to

06463 and we have kids from other districts. Like it that would change what we see, right? If they started K through five at another school in the same year, that would show in like percentile fluctuations, wouldn't it? Does that make sense? >> Um, I'm trying to follow your question. So, so like we have our kids K through five going through our like our new approach to the setting goals and and whatever, >> right? >> But not all the sixth grade kids went through that like specific. >> That's correct. So, of your goals, setting your goals. So, >> yeah, the goal setting, like I said, was piloted this year with elementary school. We're going to do that districtwide with Fidelity next year for all three of these assessments. But to the to the bigger point that

065I think you're you're raising a little bit is that we have these high the acronym is high quality structural materials. So into reading into literature, open sad to name just three of them. Those have all come in with the last 2 3 years tops. So if a student is new to the district, didn't have them, there's a learning curve there. And students who maybe just started to dip their toe into those curriculums last year, there's a shift with thinking. It puts a lot more of the in the thinking back on the student. So the student is is the primary learner where the teacher is more the facilitator. And that takes some time. And as we as we we delve into these new curriculums, we knew that going in there might be some lag time for

066student achievement. Um, but this is a better way for students to learn. This is a more lasting way for students to learn because they truly learn how to learn and and that's what we're trying to do grades K through 12 is is to empower students to become better learners. You know, the content may come and go, but we want them to learn and figure out how to learn. And that's where we're seeing some of the biggest challenge for kids because often times students are are used to just hearing information, taking notes, and hopefully they regurgitate that. That's not the best style of learning for most for a lot of kids. And so we're having, you know, some pains across the whole district with that. But I think our our elementary teachers have had more time

067with some of these particular curriculums to really invest the time in and to really figure out better ways to support their students during those tier 2 or tier three support systems. Any other questions? I have one more presentation. You guys can obviously stay there. Um, so I I this is I gave this the title reimagining North Brookfield. Um just because what we what we did over the course of this process is to think about how we can move the entire district specifically the junior high school forward based on conversations around um everything from utilization tuitioning out what can we do to make the education more impactful for our kids here across the district. So this presentation encompasses all those themes that we gather gathered from our students from our faculty and staff and from families.

068So to break it down uh we had start with the students for example we had two working sessions middle and high school. We also had a student survey. We had 34 students who came to one or more than one of these sessions where we did an exercise similar we did with staff and families. We identified and talked about themes for growth and improvement. We had six listening sessions with our teachers and staff. We also had a staff survey. So we had over 27 staff members who participated at least one of those sessions. And then we had two family community sessions that we held here in the KA uh back I think early May or or even late April and just a few weeks back. So essentially what we did is we took all of these

069three stakeholder groups which I feel these are the most important three groups that really we're working with and for to make sure that we are giving the best product possible for our kids. We took all that information all that data all those talking points and put them in put them together into this one presentation Stephen and kind of show you what kind of where we where we're at. So the cross cutting theme. So we think about all three of these groups and and the priorities that came out across all three groups. So again, students, staff, which we started with staff and then families and parents and guardians. They saw a real need for career readiness. They wanted students to have real world learning opportunities. They wanted certifications. They wanted increased internship opportunities for all of

070our kids. They wanted increased student choice. So looking at the clubs, the electives, the pathways that we offer for students, those community connections, we continue to talk about this came up from all three groups, multiple ways uh across all these these all these meetings, increased partnerships with alumni, but also increase opportunities for dual enrollment. And then something that came out and our students really spoke about this loud and clear was they really although they feel very safe and supported in both buildings, they wanted more days to talk about student wellness, inclusion uh and talk about how they can support each other throughout that journey. So priority one was around expanding student opportunities. So the the the four overarching themes that came out again across all three stakeholder groups and the single most repeated request and

071I looked at all the sticky notes and I and I I tallied all those notes cards up. The single most repeated statement was more choices. Okay. But as we drill this down a little bit, the things that stuck out to us advisory and and what students were calling study hall. Um I I think we've we've adopted different models of advisory program. This year we have what we call a crew program. But our students wanted more time in advisory. Our students, our faculty, our our families talked more about how do we make AP courses consistent, but how do we phase back in dual enrollment? So I'm going to talk about more about that later, but dual enrollment was something that came up uh across all three groups. Real strong emphasis on the arts. arts ICP stands

072for inhibited career pathways which we have our advanced manufacturing pathway. They want more of that and they want more opportunities for electives. So if we again as you drill down into these conversations we had students, staff and faculty talking about drama, the arts, music. Uh they wanted more opportunities for our students in those those those spaces. Uh we even talked about culinary skills USA. So we we talked specifically with our students and our faculty around the health services pathway which I'll talk more about again in this presentation but that was something that came out very loud and clear as maybe a second pathway for our students at the high school level. And then as I mentioned earlier wellness days was something that came across very loud and clear uh but very very clear from our

073student group. uh they thoroughly enjoyed and this is part of our curriculum and our second step curriculum but they thoroughly enjoyed uh working with our staff around supporting holistic wellness for all students. So kind of looking at drilling this down a little bit more and I apologize this slide kind of cut off a little bit but looking at the student advisor groups. So students when we talked to students specifically they wanted more voice with building and district administration. Um so continue to have those conversations throughout the course of the year about what's working not. Uh they want an opportunity or an opportunity to look at what electives can we pilot and once those electives are piloted what's a success what what electives can we keep in the program studies. Um and then we talked about

074phasing in AP courses. So right now the plan is to have both AP language and composition for 26th 27th school year. Having both those EP courses back in program studies and then we continue to have a conversation around a structured seal block. So stands for social emotional learning. So we we use across the district what is called our second step curriculum. But what I think students and faculty were talking about as well is we want consistency across both buildings about how we approach social emotional learning. It can't just be a one-off advisory protocol. It has to be something that we embrace every single day. That our day is based around how we support all of our learners. Priority two is striking that creative college readiness. And I put these all in this kind of light

075orange color because we are doing these right now. And a lot of what we're going to talk about today is things that we're doing. We just want to do more of them and do them better. But we are currently offering certifications for our students. Uh we currently offer OSHA 10 certifications. We currently offer Solid Works certification which is that the drafting uh digital drafting that students can earn. We currently have internships and workbased learning. But we want to do more with that. I think what came out loud and clear from all three groups was we want more of those partnerships, the early college partnership with QCC, potentially Worester State, even Mount Wuset to look at dual enrollment and those credit earning opportunities for all of our high school kids. We currently have had a very

076successful career speaker day, which we do early in early spring, but students and staff talked about having more of these career exploration events over the course of the school year. uh maybe they're not as big, but we have more people in the building more frequently to talk about not only opportunities here in North Brookfield, but the greater area. Uh some of our students will travel as far as Worester for an internship. So, what else can we bring in to our students to see what else is out there uh outside of North Brookfield and then the the ICP or the CTE pathways building off the su the successes we've had so far with advanced manufacturing, what else can we bring in? And I think we can look explore some local opportunities with with fire uh even

077police. We have a vet veterary uh uh second chance veterary hospital or facility here in town. Um but there was also a a real large or loud push for the health services. When you look at ICP designations, part of the criteria for those those pathways is student interest, but also looking at this part of the state. What are the jobs that really encompass this part of the state? And advanced manufacturing is is one or two and health services is one or two. It depends on the year. So those are the two big areas of focus for our employment opportunities for for our students. So we want to really harness those interests as well. Priority three which is culture, belonging and wellness. So this again these are things that came out from initial from the initial

078staff conversations all the way through our students. We talked about student voice. We talked about contin to make this a welcoming district but also school. Uh so we talked about making more uh robust morning routines for all students. That increase of wellness. So therapy animals, wellness breaks was something that came across loud and clear across all three groups. We wanted uh students particularly wanted more safe spaces, more more uh diversity groups. Uh and also more recognition. We we think that we can do a lot more with recognizing student success. specifically at the junior senior high school level. So, we want to make sure that we really emphasize the good work our kids and our staff are doing and highlight that and share that with our families. And priority four was refining systems, structures, and communication.

079So, this this again some through lines across all three stakeholder groups was keeping our schedule consistent. Uh some students and staff talked about no rotation for example, but making sure our schedule was consistent year in year up. Uh they talked about homework balance. They talked about grade six transition. So orientation supports and peer tuing for incoming students. So that transition from fifth to sixth grade is really important as we just reviewed some testing data. Obviously there's some concern from that transition, but holistically we want to make sure that students fully understand what that transition is about. We had a fantastic day today. Uh but we want to make sure that we we continue have that conversation throughout the course of the school year. And then something that also came out and it's something we started

080to do this year is that marketing piece. We know that we need to consistently message what's going on within the two schools within the district. So whether it's through cartoon edu or just internally from a principal, from myself, from a student, we want to make sure that we're telling our story. That's increasingly important. So, uh, we have some ideas around that for next year as well. So, again, our overarching strategic priorities. So, we're going to get really granular in a minute, but priority one, expand student opportunities. Priority two, creating college readiness, so certifications, internships, I ICP pathways. Priority three, increasing student voice, recognition, inclusion, and priority four was systems and communications. So what we can do this summer leading into the fall of 26 from the 26th 27th school year and most of the things

081on this slide are free. They're things that we can do or doing or in the process of doing we can complete for the fall to get going. Um I have already started part A of the ICP pathway for healthcare and social assistance that is based on the feedback from staff and most importantly students. This is all-encompassing. So this is anything from a CNA to provist to getting those certifications and experience while students metriculate through that science pathway. I will begin the early college application through DESI. So, what that will mean is that once this is going, our students will have the ability to earn college credit from either community or or 4-year university while they're high school students. But the things that we can do for free increase and those those first two things are

082free as well. That just they're just time. But increase student achievement celebrations. We can do that I think in fairly quick order starting for next few year. We can increase career and wellness opportunities based on the feedback we receive from all three stakeholder groups. We can also which I'm in talks with with ELPAC as as well as as internally we are in planning and launching a monthly cable show but also internal productions if you will to showcase and highlight and to talk to students talk to staff talk to members of the community about what's going on within these two buildings. But the two pieces that I I again that came out of this these conversations that do have a financial impact are two positions that that kind of got really finalized with our student conversations.

083Students were are angling or looking for a second world language opportunity. Many students asked me point blank why don't we have Spanish? That's a great question. We use that Spanish. There's an opportunity to bring potentially bring Spanish back. Number two is increasing opportunities in the arts. We had a great deal of success this year with both our art and music programs. Um what can we do to expand those two programs to keep students engaged? What can we do to start internal theater productions for our kids based on our our programs? Those two uh recommendations have financial implications. So that's where I'd want the committee to kind of weigh in on on some of those ideas. But those are the seven things that kind of when we when we took all this information and got as

084granular as we could, that's where it landed. So before we turn to questions, I think that again those are conversations I would love to get some feedback from the full committee around those two positions potentially because again those have financial implications. Um but I I want to leave with this last statement. And I think that this this came out loud and clear if you saw our graduation and you heard this from Nathaniel Stonehouse, you heard this from Alexis Cowat um that you know our small size is not a limitation. It's one of our greatest strengths and we heard from students who are going to WPI, going to to Keen State, going to UMass campus and the the the the size of the school and the connections they have formed within our school community really benefit

085and support their success. Do I think we need to build on that? Of course I do. But I think that cannot be lost in this conversation. It's really important to note that we have some students who graduated not just a week ago that are going on to some great opportunities both collegially the workforce that it would it it's v it's a large part to the support guidance and instruction that we received at these two school buildings. So uh I want to leave with that. I think that, you know, this this is a small district, small schools, but I think we have a big vision. And part of that vision is laid out here that this vision that we're talking about doesn't necessarily change from what we've been talking about all year. It just adds some

086more like specific ideas, some more some more impact from our students. But I think, you know, where we're talking about potentially adding positions, I think that's where I want the play. Are there any questions? Do you have numbers around the financial impact for fulltime Spanish teacher and is the second teacher full time or is that part? >> So that's a great question. Um I think that what I would what I would propose is that we would if we were to do one of these two things is do one not both to start and and to to see kind of to kind of gauge reward from doing one to start. when we when we look to hire a new position, if you are adding a position, uh we obviously we look at kind of that that

087average salary number. So, we're talking anywhere between 65 and $70,000 for the salary plus potentially benefits. Um and we kind of always figure that in. So, that's what we're looking for potential cost here. Um I think obviously with with if it was Spanish, for example, that would be a 1.0 full-time position. Music could be another conversation. I think it's harder to find a.5. We've had.5 in the past. I would propose if we went that way that we look at a second 1.0 full-time position. So, we have one music teacher in each building. I think having that increased, you know, increased presence in the arts would increase some of the extracurricular activities we'll try to explore as well. If that answers your question. >> Okay. and Miss Sanders has resigned last year. >> Yes, we're in

088the process. We we be making an offer to a new employee uh probably as early as tomorrow. Uh Miss Saunders had a wonderful year. Um she is uh will be sorely missed, but she she's um I don't want to say too much, but she's she's she's a fantastic teacher. I enjoy working with her. >> She's great. She's great. We're lucky to have her. >> So, as far as um budget for these positions, you said you want us to weigh in. So, how how would that impact for next year? >> So, it doesn't change the number that was obviously voted on at the time. I'm not asking change that nor could we change at this point. Right. What we're looking at is either through savings with new hires um or potential school choice funds, we could

089fund one of these positions safely, very safely. I that's why I would just caution both positions all at once, right? >> Uh because, you know, we do like I said before, we want to continue to build accounts to make sure that we have enough reserve to offset for FY28 and beyond. So I guess what we'd be looking at is what do we feel would be more valuable to start you know with whether it be the Spanish or the art I mean sorry is cuz I think they're both >> they're both great and and they're they're both fantastic opportunities for for all of our kids. >> Yeah. >> Did either one outweigh the other from the perspective of the students when you were doing these focus groups? >> So uh the student that's a great question.

090the students actually and they said this in a very professional and mature way is that they're like we need more world language. um they they started as a need, but when they move off North Brookfield, there are more opportunities, more jobs that that speak Spanish, for example, than than there are um other languages and they they saw that as something that would would set them up for success. I think we heard more about the music teacher from the other stakeholder groups. And I think that was we had a very good conversation with both our teachers and our families because they were thinking about, okay, if we have two strong music teachers, this helps build those extra co-curricular activities. This, you know, we we had a very vibrant elementary school band program this year. We had

091the mass marching band in that support our kids. We had a great we had two great programs this year with Miss Honors. We also had a great high school band of kids who just started learning to play instruments the last couple of years. So the right person to do a lot of great work. So we had potentially two people like that and then that funneled into supporting an internal theater group or theater production. I think that really is a way to entice a lot of excitement across the district. Both are are very viable but I think that was where both conversations went. I think I would lean more toward the Spanish teacher at this point because I do think um you know in the world you know as the kids move on into the world

092they're going to find uh that having Spanish as a second language to have some knowledge there will be helpful we get it you need a vote on them from us. >> I I think I I would prefer a vote because we're going to reallocate reallocate school choice funds. So, what I can say is that if we if we advertise for this position, say we advertise for Spanish and we don't find our candidate, >> we could always revisit this and repost and we could change course um we could work towards music. So there's there's opportunities here >> and we do have >> we do have even though I know it it gets thin in the end of August, we do have the summer to look for that right person. >> So we we we do have

093some time. >> Somebody wants to make a motion and we can go back. We can ask questions if anyone has questions on any of the other stuff in the presentation too. But if you want let's stick with this for now. >> So we would just vote for Spanish teacher and then vote for music teacher. [laughter] I think I think you can you can phrase the motion however phrase the motion and then we'll go from there. However you think you want to phrase it. If I >> I don't know. So if you want if you want if you want to vote uh put it on there for a Spanish teacher. If others feel uh like they want to do music, they would say they would vote no to the Spanish. Okay. >> Okay. So I make

094a motion that we vote for um including a full-time Spanish teacher at NHS. >> Second the motion. any further discussion? I know we discussed it a little bit earlier. >> Has there been any um investigation into community cooperative programs with respect to music or theater? I know we have a great resource or used to have a great resource with the recording studio and I know there's a theater guild here. Has there been any um investigation into those as options for students? >> The theater guild currently has students in their in their productions. I I I spoke about Alexis Cowette. She has been in several. I I believe Dante, you've been in a couple. So, they are very open to having our students be part of that. So, we're not trying to change that. We want

095that to continue. What I'm talking about is that if we if we can build our own internal theater programming, we had that when I first arrived from district. It kind of went by the wayside. to bring that back and and to use the theater guild as a resource, as mentors. Um I I had one conversation with with Jay about this and I think that if we if we if there was an opportunity, I think they'd be very much on board with supporting our students in in a production. >> And are we still doing cat lab? I know cat lab was something that you talked about back then a year and a half ago. uh at Calab, we we had the opportunities last school year uh where we had we had I believe we presented or

096we showed the committee at the time one of the videos. Catlab did not u continue as much this year. Um but I don't I don't know where that will that will land going forward. >> Any other discussion? I I do agree that the world language is definitely more useful going forward for a wider um array of students. So that's a better starting point. >> I Yeah, I think I'm in the same boat as well. I think that the additional music teacher expanding arts is very important, but I think we can build on things separately. Spanish teacher first and then if things look good, we love to add the music teacher the following year if possible. >> There were some teachers who we had conversations with that expressed an interest in being more involved with theater

097and music going forward that we're not music teachers. So that doesn't mean we can't explore those opportunities outside of this position. >> Start at like at a club level. >> Club level. I I there's there's two teachers who I think Mr. Mr. Bmore, you know what I'm talking about that would be willing to kind of take on director roles if that was an opportunity that we could could give someone. >> All right. If there's no further discussion, we can vote on um the motion for the to seek a Spanish teacher. All those in favor? >> I I >> All right. Did we have any just to go backwards here? Anybody have any other questions on anything on the presentation? We're good there. We're good. We're good there. Move forward. Thank you, Mr. McCarthy. Uh, administrator's

098reports. So, we have three now. You want to go? We can go in order. Who? Whoever >> your first [laughter] oldest student. >> Sure. Uh, just a very a brief report from the high school. Um, as Noah had mentioned, the our students did a great job of welcoming the fifth graders over here today. Um, showing them around the building and um, had a pretty significant amount of programming for several hours. And tonight there's a fifth grade family meeting for those parents who are interested in learning more about outdoor classroom, what used to be called nature's classroom. Uh, that had been moved to um, Mr. Bradshaw's room and that conflicted with this meeting as well. Wednesday, uh, June 17th is the high school awards assembly at 1:00 p.m. in the gym. And Thursday, June 18th is

099the middle school awards assembly. That will take place at 2:45 in the gym. That's also the first day of high school final exams. Final exams will continue on Monday, June 22nd and June 23rd. Just a reminder that there's no school on Friday, June 19th in observance of Junth. Uh Wednesday, June 24th is makeup exams for students in grades 9 through 11. And the the last day of school is an early dismissal for students on Thursday, June 25th. Did want to say congratulations to one more time to the graduates of the class of 2026. And again, thank Margaret Hansen and Carrie Bradshaw, the co-advisers of the class, and Courtney Hart, uh, our guidance counselor for all their hard work in or organizing the ceremony, as well as all the senior week activities. In addition, I also

100wanted to say a special thank you to the commencement speaker, Kevin St. Seir, who is a North Brookfield High School alumni from the class of 1976 and happened to be in town for their 50th class reunion. Uh, so it's very gracious of him. did a very nice job. Also, congratulations to um the following students who received awards on graduation. The Julian Karen Memorial Scholarship recipient is Sophia Gian Grande and Alex Bur received the random acts of kindness award. I did want to also thank uh Kristen Rose as well as some parents and um the staff members who supported the GSA Pride Walk in which our students participated on Monday, June 8th. >> Thank you, Mr. B. Uh anybody have any questions for Mr. Mr. Murphy? >> Sure. Um, so I know we talked about it

101already a little bit tonight, but Sergeant Martin has driven 36 students to school over the past two years. Um, this is an incentive that students can purchase in our school store, and it's hands down the best experience you can buy. Way better than principal the day. Way better. So, do this one instead. Um, Sergeant Martin and I coordinated with the families. He shows up at the house in his cruiser promptly at 7:45. He takes pictures with the student in their driveway and then they load up and head to our school. As I enter the driveway, he passes the parent drop off line with his lights on and brings them right to the door. Um they get out of the car and these are the pictures I take um when they get to school and I

102send these to the parents. Um and this is a little collage if you start in the top left. That was in the fall. That was our first ride. And then you can kind of see how the seasons change. So it was fall, then like October, and then snow in the background, winter hats, and then now we're back into spring down at the bottom right. So he just does an amazing job. The kids get out, huge smile on their face. Um it's a it's a great way to start the school day and they get a little certificate that says, "I get to ride to school in a police car." Um it's laminated. They bring it home. It's just a great moment that that the kids work hard every day to earn stuff like this at our

103school, which is great. And the second part I have on here, again, another um local entity helping us out. This is goes to the NBFD. Um they've come to our school several times. Um teaching students about fire safety is an important job that can save lives. I want to thank all the firefighters that have been to our building to promote fire safety and create relationships between our students and the NBFD this year. Not only did they teach class around fire safety, they also did two touch of trucks where classes could see the fire uh truck up close and even go into it, check out all the life-saving tools and apparel that a firefighter wears. They also were posted at our entrance points for buses and drop off several times to start the day with a

104high five a firefighter. Um, these are local heroes and we appreciate all the time that they gave to our school this year. So, that is a preschooler sitting on the back of a firetruck with a helmet on. Um, he was so excited. That's a kindergarten class at Touch a Truck in the second picture. That is a I believe a second grade class doing fire safety. Um, down on the bottom left, that's one of our high five of firefighters. That's Mr. McCormack and a third grader in the driver's seat of the fire truck. And then down to the right, that is a third grade class doing fire safety. Um, so just a great job by our local heroes on both fronts with the PD and the fire department. And we appreciate everything they do. >> So,

105what's more expensive? The uh principal for a day or or the ride with Officer Mark? [laughter] It's actually equal and he's definitely got more students buying his than mine. >> Maybe you got to lower your house. [laughter] >> Sounds good to me. But um yeah, he does. >> Yeah, >> I can't imagine going there. >> I was going to say for a kid that's probably one of the best days of the year. >> Oh, without a doubt. 0 degrees out. He's out there with his winter picking kids up. It's amazing. >> Awesome. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Anybody have any other questions for Mr. Murphy? >> Thank you. I just uh before I begin, I just think it's so cool the our students are somebody's here. Principles know them by name. They're hanging out with

106our resource officer, principal for a day. When you guys talk about what your kids are doing, um you know, I get the sense that you are with them and it's uh refreshing. Bigger places, things like that don't happen. Um, for my report, uh, the first thing, uh, is, uh, probably won't talk about this again until the fall. Um, and close out about how our extended school year went. That's our summer program. ESY, extended school year is what it is called in [clears throat] special education jargon. Uh, it's it takes a little bit of time to plan for these programs. Uh, we do have 25 students who are attending. We do take the time to verify uh the students, not just the students who have the service available to them, but the students who will actually

107attend. Um as you can see, the staffing is heavy for the ESY program. These are students that have um the highest level of need in special education. Uh so to make sure that we don't overstaff, we want to make sure we know which students are actually coming. So we do have verifications from our families that these 25 students will attend. We have appointed it's 18 total staff but keep in mind that some of those related service providers are only here for one or two hours per week depending on um depending on student need. So we are ready to go for uh July 13th. We do also have a few students who are getting individualized uh tutoring programs for the summer uh to help them limit the regression um and uh continue on their learning journey

108as they enter the fall of 2026. The student transition meetings is uh new uh here in North Brookfield. A lot of often times in special education, the services are offered reactively, meaning something goes wrong um and then we we put services in place. Transition meetings are a way for us to prepare um before there are concerns so that the staff who are receiving our students in the next class or in the next school or in the next year are prepared to do so. So what we did was we required our special educators and service providers to meet with the special educators and service providers of the um of the students that they will be receiving in the fall. They actually documented those meetings and those doc those documents actually become part of the students special

109education file so that if we ever had to in the future we could articulate how our staff are preparing to receive our students uh in the next year. Um all of those meetings have taken place. I have reviewed the notes from those meetings and you know the kudos to our staff uh not just for how well they know their students but for how well they work together in preparing to meet their needs uh in the next year. The meeting with behavioral health partnerships that was supposed to take place on the 12th uh we had to postpone it because we um well Mr. Murphy and I were on the floor, so to speak. Uh we had just uh um you know, there were student needs during that day that required our attention. So, we postponed it.

110It's going to take place in the next couple of weeks so that we continue bringing in that third party provider at no cost uh to the district, but increasing the frequency and duration of time that our kids have with behavioral health and social emotional learning providers. Um, and so after that meeting takes place, I will communicate with the committee and I'll also share the memorandum of understanding uh that is a result of set meeting. And then we did have our CPAC meeting on June 10th. Uh we had another spaghetti supper. Uh Mr. McCormack attended with me. We had a um we had a sit down at a table uh with uh with some parents and our CPAC president, Miss Josephson, um had arrived. Uh and [cough and clears throat] um you know, we were able

111to talk about how and what our parents want to see in the future, not just for CPAC, but uh with regard to programs and services for their kids. They provided us with meaningful feedback. I will generate um some notes to share with the committee and with the CPAC. We will continue uh CPAC in the fall and uh the first meeting will be a parents rights uh kind of aformational session. We are going to hold that via Zoom. uh that was the parents preference and and that's a group we really want to continue to grow. Uh not just because it's, you know, it's a mandate of of uh special education regulations, but it is great for our parents to be together um to talk about the things that are, you know, really pertinent to the life

112of a parent with a disabled child and for us to be there to support them. I thank you for uh providing me the opportunity to present and certainly I'll take any questions that any of you may have. There you go. Anybody have any questions? >> I have one question. So, uh with for the behavioral health network, um it's funded through students health insurance benefits. >> Uh yes. So when a when a child is enrolled in that program the um whether they have you know some students have private pay health insurance and some students have mass health what happens in the clinics is during the school year for clinic-based behavioral health they have about a 50 to 55% no show rate. So students book appointments and then they don't go because they have sports, because at

113the end of the school they've tired, because the parents have to work because a brother or a sister has an activity and they just can't go. So during the summer, these kids get a lot of services in the clinic, but then as soon as the school year hits, it it drops immensely. Uh so this model we call a preferred provider model where we allow one one one provider to come into the schools to provide uh services to the students and the reason why we use one provider is so that the staff come to know that person that person has an email address that person has an office that person has a phone and we can access them and we know when they're there uh every every week. So what happens is we're not just outsourcing

114service we're also outsourcing funding. So, we increase the services for our students with a relationship that we have with an individual and with an organization. Um, and it costs nothing, but it's a it's an incredible value ad to our schools for our kids and the families. >> Okay. So, the school system then builds the insurance company. >> The school system we the the provider they have an agreement signed with the families. So, it's almost the same as if they went to the clinic, but the clinic is actually here. So providers actually >> can I just add something cuz um so they >> in the field they call it the inschool outpatient. >> So it's it is an outpatient therapy service. >> So it's all built through them. So >> yeah so there is no expense

115to us but [clears throat] we're just providing >> well there's the integration is is it's yes we have a place we have a professional who's licensed. we have our kids going there, but that staff person that they assign has conversations and interactions with our students teachers, with our students counselors, with administrators if need be. So, it's not just like this thing that happens over there and we have no idea what's going on. It's actually an an amalgam between their organization and our in our district. And um I've I've done this um in multiple different ways over the years and it has only been an ad uh for the kids and for the school. >> Okay. And there's no HIPPA concern. >> No. No. It's all you know the parents the the parents consent to the

116service. Um and they also consent to the school district to be able to share information with the provider and with provider to be able to share pertinent information. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. >> Good questions. Thank you. Yeah. >> Thank you, Mr. B. Sorry. >> Thank you. >> No other administrative reports. Old business. I do have one under old business. I did receive I just want I sent this to the committee. I just wanted to acknowledge it at a meeting for transparency purposes. Um I did receive an email from Superintendent Duff at Quaog Regional School District. I'll just read it into the minutes here. And um we can have a I'll read it first and then we'll go from there. Uh dear Chairman Grant, I hope you're doing well. The QRSD school committee has asked me

117to reach out to see if there's any interest in continuing discussions regarding a potential future agreement between our districts. As you may know, QRSD is currently in the process of closing one of our elementary schools, a decision that will help stabilize the district financially for many years moving forward. With that said, I believe it would be beneficial to both of our districts to continue conversations about possible future collaboration opportunities. I believe there is potential for us to continue growing opportunities for students while also creating financial efficiencies that could benefit all of our communities and towns. Please let me know your thoughts when you have a chance. I look forward to hearing from you. Um, so what I will say is I we didn't have this on the agenda, so we're not really going to have

118a a followup discussion on this because just to not violate any open meeting laws, I did want to read it uh just for transparency purpose since we did get the email. Um, what I would say and suggest to the committee in my opinion and we can briefly discuss this part of it uh is that I can by all means my myself and Tim received this email. we can reach back out and ask for more information about that collaboration so we can bring it back to the committee so we have more of more details. Um I think anything else would be premature at this point as we're talking about a lot of other items here um within the district. So, I just wanted to throw it out there that we did get that email and if

119the committee is okay with it, either myself and or Tim can respond with an email asking for, you know, more detail and what they're, you know, looking for. >> I think that's probably the way to go is just continue a conversation. >> Yeah. I >> understand what what he means by that, >> right? And I think that like Mr. McCorman brought up the uh IT position with East Brookfield. Think things like that are always good to explore ideas. And what Mr. McCormack also said, there's Westbrookfield students looking to come here. I think just having a conversation about what the future might look like around here uh in our communities is probably a good thing to keep, you know, open dialogue. Uh so, like I said, I don't want to get into back and forth on

120the topic tonight because that's not an agenda item that's not fair posted. But if everybody [clears throat] is okay with it, uh myself and or Tim can reach back out with Mr. Duff for more information if that's okay, then we can bring it back to the committee uh for further discussion if that's okay with everybody. >> So we'll discuss in the next >> Yeah, we can discuss it. >> Is everybody okay with that? >> That's all. Anybody else have anything under old business policy? We have nothing under policy, Mr. McCorman. You don't have anything? >> Well, I just update the the full committee. We did meet tonight. Um both miss there uh part of the policy stuff committee. So, we did review um three policies either that we currently have or we're talking about. The

121first was you mentioned earlier tonight the updated belltoell cell phone policy which was is quickly coming down the road for all districts in the state. So, we talked about how that may look and I gave the committee a draft policy to review. If they have question, they get back to me which we can then look at during a second reading and a subsequent uh another policy committee meeting. Uh we also talked about the uh language that was currently in the policy around overnight school trips. Uh we made a we discussed a revision to that policy around um it pertains only to to Northfield public school students. Uh that was the first draft. and we talked about the uh public records request uh conversation. Um and I don't know if either Michelle or Michelle just wants

122to just share anything about that at this point or um we can we can >> I think it went well for first meeting. I think it's pretty straightforward just open communication and you know the Google's got a good understanding of what our next steps are as far as reviewing everything >> on the uh cell phone. We would probably have to vote on it by August. >> We would. >> Yeah, we would. So, so I think that um once I received some feedback from from M there to try us, >> we could schedule a second subcommittee meeting either for July or August. Um then we could bring to the full committee in August potentially for a full vote. Um, part of the grant that I applied for would obviously pay for the the pouches and the

123system for these devices, but also is some money around marketing. So, we could we would present this to families, but also get the message out and have some forums if needed to support questions around the policy. So, yes, we need to be voted on and put into place by end of August and then but I think even before then we can start a message to fail about what's coming down. Uh, new business. Anybody have Tim from Park? Was there anything? I didn't have anything. >> I I don't at this time. >> Anybody uh for future agenda items have anything that they wanted to see on there? As always, you can let us know via email before the meeting as well. If you want to send it to myself or Mr. McCormack, our next scheduled meeting

124as of right now is till August. So, I know we had discussed um putting on like the 12 mini goals, things like that for August. Um so, that would be definitely one that we'd want to have on there. Uh anybody have anything else that they can Thank you. Nothing. Okay. Well, you can shoot an email to Tim and myself if anything does come to mind before the next schedule. Um so if someone can read the executive session motion uh that's the next thing here. >> Go ahead. >> Okay. The committee will enter into executive session pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 30A section 21 A2 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations for the non-UN employee specifically regarding the superintendent's contract extension. An open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the committee's negotiation

125position. The committee will not return to open session. Second session. All those in favor will do a roll call vote. >> I Matthew Grant. >> I thank you.