Taunton School Committee...April 1st, 2026

001Uh, good evening. The finance and law subcommittee shall come to order. I'll start out with roll call. Mr. Vieiraa, >> present. >> Uh, Mrs. Shav, >> present. >> Chairman Dlo, present. Uh, first item on the agenda, we have Taton High School student activity request. See attached. Uh, this appears to be a replenishing of the Taunt High School. Superintendent, anything you want to add on this? >> No, Dr. Nela, you pretty much summarized. It's just a typical replenishment request we receive from the high school this time of year. I anticipate you'll be seeing several more as we approach prom season. >> Motion receive and place on file. >> Seconded. >> All in favor? I opposed. The eyes have it. Thank you so much. Next item we have the coaching for change. Uh see attached. And just

002to provide you with the memo uh regarding where we are budget-wise, we budgeted 51,000 for fiscal 26. uh this statement uh we were charged 67006 $6,7716 which year to date we have spent $3,878.64 64 leaving a balance of $13,414.20 and we will not exceed the 51,000 that was contracted and just want to make the the finance and law subcommittee aware and we'll talk about this next week at our budget hearing that we did meet with coaching for change today to talk about fiscal 27 and programming. >> We have a budget hearing next week. >> Okay. Gotcha. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, superintendent. Um wishes of the committee. >> Motion to receive and place on file. >> Second. >> All in favor? I opposed. Eyes have it. Next up, we have the pennis penny policy. This

003is uh interesting. >> Yeah. So, this and again, I apologize for addressing this on behalf of super assistant superintendent Moran who couldn't be with us this evening, but the city of Taton uh because of the penny shortage and regarding transactions involving pennies. They're going to be implementing the following p. Do you have it in your packet, guys? >> Yes, we do. Thank you. No, we have something. Just making sure. >> Just making sure. So, you'll notice how they're going to be rounding uh the pennies or rounding the dollars down and up when it comes to a certain amount. So, this is just what the city is implementing and I wanted to make sure that the committee was aware. This will impact the school store at the high school. This will impact Tiger Den. This will

004impact the food truck and I don't anticipate there are any other I don't think there are many other programs in the city in the school department where people are making purchases that would require change. Okay. >> Okay. Wonderful. Uh motion to receive and place on file would be appropriate. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? Opposed? Eyes have it. Thank you. Next up, we have special education expense service. See attached. Superintendent. >> Yep. As requested at the last meeting, we reached out to Lions law group for the fees for December, January, and February. So, we were right around the $7,900 that we projected we would be spending for the remaining of the year. So unfortunately as of now we are 13,000 over budget with the months of March, April, May, and June to

005go. So I haven't had a chance to analyze the student services legal fees with the labor management uh labor law fees to see how far we're over budget because we did budget 100,000 between the two of them. >> Wishes of the committee. >> Um motion to receive and place on file. discussion. >> Is there a second? >> Second on discussion. Mr. Vier, >> thank you, Mr. Chairman. >> It we we budgeted 50,000. We're at 63. Do we know how we're going to pay for it, Superintendent? >> Yeah. So, right now, uh we you're probably due for a quarter three budget update. So, we will we will have lines in we will have lines that are in a surplus right now. And usually when I we come to the committee in April and make requests to

006use some of the surplus in the lines that have a surplus to offset lines in the deficit. But I also think it would be as I mentioned at the last meeting uh I haven't had a chance to connect with Dr. Dlo yet to schedule a fiscal 26 spendout meeting where we can discuss uh where we're sitting at right as of now uh to close out the year. We do have a surplus right as of now and put together a spending plan uh that we can prioritize as we project through the year. So, I don't anticipate this being a major issue because we are sitting on a surplus and we also do have another uh pool of reserves that we uh are required. We may or may not be required to spend for the you remember

007last year when we had the students staying at the holiday in the state reimbured us. So, right now I'm appealing to the state to allow us to carry those funds over into fiscal 27 and fiscal 28. Uh if not, they're saying we have to spend it in fiscal 26. So, we're sitting on a we're sitting on a decent surplus to carry us throughout the course of the year where I don't anticipate a $13,000 over legal me being a major issue. But again, I' I'd prefer to meet with the committee, lay out where we are year to date, and propose to you a spending plan moving forward as we close out fiscal 26. We're in a very healthy position. >> Thank you, Superintendent. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you, Mr. Vier. Mr. Shuffs, >> thank

008you, Dr. Dearo. When we look at this for next year, are we going to increase the amount so we are closer to I mean I know it's hard to predict because it depends on how many kids are in special ed and what kind of things come forward for >> we can we can adjust the line. We when you look at the line item budget which we'll talk more about at the budget workshop we are budgeting 100,000 again. Uh but the other thing to keep in mind is we don't we're not negotiating any contracts next year. So, I anticipate the labor side to be really low, which should keep us within the ballpark if the student side goes high. So, I think 100,000 is a good place to start. >> Okay, >> great. >> Thank you,

009Dr. D. >> If I may, um I have a a problem with this. Uh first and foremost, um if we add up the December uh services rendered, that would put us at 48,17334. Once you kick in January and February, that's an additional 15,20350. And since we've only budgeted 50,000, I would make a recommendation that we only pay the December uh warrant and take away from the full warrant 15,20350 because as we just heard, we don't have any allocation for that above budget cost. Right now, we are going to talk about a spending plan and how we're going to move line items. So, and this is what happens when you don't get bills on time, unfortunately. Uh I mean, I I hate to say it. I mean, you know, you're getting bills from December, January, and

010February, and today's April 1st. No fault of the school department, uh, you know, whoever the person that's given us the bills, you know, shame on them. So, because we don't have more than $50,000 allocated, I would recommend that we only approve in the final warrant uh, the amount of December and exclude January and February for 15,20350 and then deal with that once we reconvene and find out where we can move money from one line to the other. That would be my recommendation. So, the motion was made to what? What was >> just accept the report? >> To accept the report. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, we're not actually voting on this until we get to the final warrant. Okay. Motion made and seconded. All in favor? >> I >> uh opposed. Eyes have it. Thank

011you. Next up, we have Stoneman, Chandler, and Miller LLP rate change. I just want to make the committee aware uh that Stonem Chandler Miller which provides us with uh labor legal services uh they're increasing their fee for fiscal effective July 1st 2026 from $240 to $250. >> Wishes the committee >> motion receive and place on file >> seconded. >> Uh so there's no vote taken to just increasing just we're just accepting the increase. Is that correct? >> Mhm. >> Okay. I think it's still a great rate. >> So all in favor? I opposed. Eyes have it. And last item, we have bills payable in the amount of 983, uh,74.75. At this time, I would like to split out uh some items. Uh, first and foremost, we have a colleague that has a um conflict of

012interest uh that would like to split out the amount of $1740. That appears on page >> 20, >> I'm sorry, >> Page 20. And that is voucher number uh voucher number >> 27020. >> No. >> Uh >> 26 >> voucher number. >> Okay. I'm sorry. >> 27020. Correct. Yes. >> I'm sorry. You're right. Yes. Okay. >> In the amount of 1740. So that would that would reduce the total warrant from 983074.75 to 981334.75. And additionally, I also uh as I just brought up, would like to uh split out 15,20350, which is the amount due for uh January and February to Lion's Law Group, and uh in this case, make the warrant 96613125. So, let's think about this. Can I have your calculator, Mr. Vieira? >> Well, certainly, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. I had done these

013numbers but I need to do them again. 5.75US 15,000 87225. Um so the first motion in order would be bills payable in the amount of 96613225 25 cents I should say. What that means is the 96613225 would exclude uh the voucher number just presented in the amount of 1740 and the two items uh which appear on page 15. Let's see a lot of numbers here. Page 17. Page 17 would be the two POS uh the two uh well it's on the one voucher. Uh so the items 7388.40 and 7815.10. So that would make the bills payable warrant the amount of 96613225. What are the wishes of the committee? >> Motion um to pay the bills and the amount stated. That excludes your wish. Then we can come back to the others. >> Um, I'd like

014to have a discussion. I I'm I'm not sure why we're not going to pay them for their January and February. I mean, they've given us the services. They've been rendered. I think in good faith we should pay them. I mean, I know that it's it is extended the amount that we've budgeted, but I had I had also talked to to Superintendent Cabraw about the concerns about it being over, but he did say that it was a h 100,000 for our legal services and we haven't we haven't extended that yet. >> Right. But the if I may there there's two line items. One is for the negotiation part which is and the other one is for >> lines. Well, at the very least, I think then we should pay them up to 50,000 because that's what

015we budgeted at this point. >> Well, I I I arrived at that number because the way the bills came in for the month of December, that's how I arrived at the number excluding the January and February bills. >> If I may. >> Yes, superintendent. >> So, we do have lines that are in deficit in the budget and we are paying vendors out of those lines in deficit and we again we have lines that are in a surplus. I would just I'd say I mean we we're s as of the last budget update I received from Susan Bulock and Teresa Raphael we're sitting on a seven figure surplus to close out the year. So I'm very confident we can absorb the $13,000 that were over on legal fees but I'll give you better detail when we

016have our closeout meeting. >> So my recommendation would be that we pay our attorneys who have provided the services. They honored your request and provided you with the bills that was that was missing. So, I think in good faith we pay them and I'll I'll show you where we are as we plan to close out the year. We're we're in a very healthy position thanks to the trust and the work of this committee. >> Sure. I appreciate that, Superintendent. All I'm doing right now is the is eliminating two items. One is Mrs. Sha's conflict and the two outstanding invoices for January and February from the Lions Law Group. I will come back to those two items and the committee will decide if they want to pay them. I I thought it was important that we

017separate them out because I don't agree with you. Uh we have a $50,000 amount allocated and we are presently at 63,37684 and you said yourself until we actually can move stuff around and we know what we're moving because that's our duty, right? That's our duty as many members budget. I think that's important. So once again, the motion on the floor, it's on discussion. Is that correct, Mrs. shops. >> Yes. So the amount that you're giving us to can I be correct? It is less >> um the the conflict of interest and this these two >> and the two uh invoices uh in the amount of 15,20350 which are the invoices for January and February >> and you're going to pull each of these out to vote on them >> and I'm going to bring them

018back. Yes. Correct. >> Okay. Then >> so just to repeat the motion the motion is to approve the warrant the amount of $966,1325. Okay. So, >> all in favor? >> I opposed. Eyes have it. 2 nil. Uh, next up, we have uh the amount of $1,740. Uh, motion to approve would be in order. >> Motion to approve. Uh, and the amount stated. >> Second. All in favor? I >> opposed. >> Present. >> Two yes, one present. The motion passes. And the last item is the motion to approve the amount of $15,23.50. Uh motion to >> motion to approve >> the amount said. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> no oppose. >> So that motion fails. 02. Okay. And I guess that concludes the finance and law. Motion to be in order. Motion

019tojourn. >> Seconded. >> All in favor? I opposed. Eyes have it. I'm I'm sorry. We are adjourned. >> All right. Uh good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us. I call the meeting to order. If you could please join us in the pledge and remain standing for the national to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Oh, say can you see by the dawn early light what so proudly we held at the twilight last gleaming who brought stripes and bright stars through the peril. last fight. Or the ramparts we watched were so gallently streaming. And the rockets red glare. The bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh,

020say does that star spangled then yet wave or the land of the free and the home of the brave. >> All right, Mrs. Fagan, would you be the invocation? >> Yes. Lord, as we begin this session, let us acknowledge your goodness and mercy and ask your blessings on all our deliberations. We thank you for this opportunity to be of service to our community and to the young people entrusted to our care. And if you could please remain standing, we've got a couple of obituaries here uh that I'd like to just have a moment for silence of for these people later. Uh first one, Anna Maderas. Anna was born in Don, the daughter of the late Matthew and Annie Dosta Gul um Gulot. She retired from the city of Taton, having worked in the cafeteria at

021Taton High School um up till 2004. She was a Taton High graduate of the class of 1954. Affectionately known as Tootsie, she was lovingly called Gingga by those who loved her the most. Lived a life devoted to serving others. She spent many years serving the children of Taton through her work at Taton High School and Eole School and in Lady is Brighton many days greeting customers and sharing samples at Costco working there until the age of 84. She was incredibly hardworking even for while working for full-time for the city of Taton. She always held an additional part-time job because she truly loved working not just for the work itself but the opportunity to meet people and connect with them. In her spare time, she Anna cherished being with her family above all else. Also enjoyed

022playing bingo and attending triad meetings where she found friendship and community. And let's not forget her famous rice pudding. Selfless, compassionate, loving, and generous, she was the hot matriarch of her family. She always put the needs of her family first. She has survived both her loving children uh a daughter and a son and she also had a son who had passed away earlier. Um she was the grandmother of Scott Flannery um and several other grandchildren, a great grandmother also and she was the sister of David Gulot, Richard Gulock and many others. And so please keep this family in your thoughts and in your prayers. Next person is Janette McFale. Um Janette was the mother of Jesse T. McFale who is a DECA head of the DECA program at Taton High School and two two other

023daughters, Margot and Molly, three grandsons and and a granddaughter. She took pride that she was able to successfully raise three well-educated children by herself. She especially loved her animals and walks on Ducksberry Beach, teaching children how to make a Duxberry duck for their gardens. And I'll explain to you in a minute what that is. She was a hairdresser by trade, worked in Stoton for Arnold Hairstyles and Cut and Curl beauty salon and owned the Capri Salon in Abington. She later worked in Penroke, Mass at the Crown and Glory beauty salon. She also owned the handover consignment shop at the Four Corners in Hanover. later enjoyed working at Good Health Natural Food in handover, Mass and Home Instead Senior Care. This woman kept herself very busy. But this is the nicest thing out of this. As

024a remembrance, Janette invites you to take a simple walk before dusk on a warm summer evening at Powder Point Bridge in Dubberry to cross over to the beach and make a Dubberry duck out of two triangle-shaped rocks while enjoying the beautiful sunset. It is a heavenly place to visit, and that is where she'll be smiling. So, please keep her in our thoughts and prayers and our our sympathies go out to Jesse who's does a great job for the city of Taton. And the last one, this is this one really touched me. Anthony Mocha and I don't know how many on this committee. Remember Paul Mocha? He was the principal over at Chamberlain Elementary School. That's how I knew him. So, this has been a while. This young man was born um 1982. his son and

025died this past March 2026. So, he's a young man and they wrote the most beautiful obituary for him, but he said his they said his life again uh fighting against cancer, his fight against cancer ended on March 13th. But his end wasn't what is important. It's the way he lived his life. and he's been described as a superhero who didn't crash into earth like a meteor, wasn't bitten by a spider. He wasn't avenging a great wrong, but even without a beginning that included fireworks or car chases, he became the sort of hero no one will forget. As his orbituary goes on, it talks about all the friends that were in his life, all the people that became very dear to him. He was a very athletic young man. He had a wife and uh three

026children and um he everywhere he went he met more people they all consider theirelves themselves heroes and his heroine was his wife and his children. He is survived by his parents Patricia Mosha who's married to Ted Rogers and Paul Mosha who's married to Mayor Stro his um survived by nephews and nieces and so on and predesceased by grandparents Phil and Anne Scott and Cosmo Mosha and uncle Steve Scott and they concluded the thing his his obituary with while we are devastated that we won't see Anthony every day I think he would tell us that we don't need to project a sing sign signal in the sky to remember him. His strength and humor live on in his wife and children and the good that he did in the short time he was here on earth.

027So this was very touching to me. I I just think I I feel very badly for this family for those in this child so young. So, if we could all have a moment of silence for all of them and keep them in our thoughts and prayers. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Mrs. Fagen. >> Yeah. >> And one last responsibility roll call. >> Mr. Powski, >> present. >> Dr. Dlo, >> present. Here I go. Miss Santos >> present. >> Mrs. Fagan is present. >> Mr. Laura, >> present. >> Mrs. Mullen, >> present. Mr. Vieiraa, >> present. >> Council I mean, I'm sorry, council. School committee chairman Donna Shabs, >> present. >> And Mayor Okonnell, >> present. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> Pursuant to Massachusetts open meeting law, this meeting

028is being recorded and live streamed via on local cable. The recording will be made available to the public on Taton Educational Network as soon as practical. I also ask if anyone is present and is recording to please notify the chair now and no one is present. Thank you. >> All right. You're welcome. Uh next on the agenda is approval of the minutes from March 18th. >> Madam Mayor, motion to approve the uh minutes as so called. >> Second. >> Motion and second to approve the minutes. If there's no discussion, all those in favor. >> Opposed, none opposed, so voted. And Isaiah Wendell is here to deliver the student advisory committee report. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. As me Connell said, my name is Isaiah Wendell and I am part of the Taton High School

029student advisory committee. I'll start with a few updates from Taton High School. As we continue to progress through the spring, things in the building are definitely picking up. Students are staying focused as we get closer to the end of the year and there's a noticeable push right now to stay on track academically. Report card grades will be closing on Friday, April 10th. So students are making sure they are getting their work in and finishing the term strong. With AP exams right around the corner, students are starting to lock in and prepare for those exams. And at the same time, seniors are getting excited as graduation approaches and they get ready to walk across that stage. It's a busy time, but there's a sense of motivation in the building to finish the year the right way.

030In terms of testing, our eighth grade students completed their ELA MCCAST over the past two days. They took the test yesterday and today, and from what I've heard, things went smoothly. Attendance rate for this year for students MCCAST was 97%. Um, a typical year would be roughly 90%. It's great to see these students taking this assessment seriously and putting in their best effort. Something new and pretty exciting we are doing MCCAST this year is a student incentive focused on responsibility and readiness. Students who show up on time with their Chromebooks fully charged and ready to go for testing are entered into a raffle for prizes. It's a great way to encourage students to come prepared and ready to do their best. Outside of academics, spring sports are in full swing. It's great to see everyone

031excited about their games. As Mr. Cabraw always says, you know, it's that time of year when you drive around the high school and you see everyone using the fields and spaces that we are so fortunate to have. Thanks all of your support. And that concludes my student advisory report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Isaiah. Hard to believe it's already April and we've only got a few more months left. >> All right. Uh it doesn't appear that there's any public input tonight, so we will go to F, which is the preliminary FY27 budget. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jakes. So, good evening everyone. Uh, thank you for this opportunity to present what I believe will be one of three budget presentations that you will receive. Actually, actually four budget presentations when you include the presentation before

032the city council in June. So before I dive into the budget, I just want to come out and just state that what what I'm presenting to the committee I believe is a very responsible, very fiscally responsible budget that does not provide any reductions in force. Uh you may see some positions not being filled in the line item budget due to retirement, but as of this budget, no reduction in force. all the services that we currently have in place, all the staff members that we currently have in place are rolling over into fiscal 27. And that is something that I'm very proud of. But is I also want to caution the committee that this is the final year of the student opportunity act. So moving forward, the only increases that we will see in our chapter

03370 funding will be due to increased student enrollment, which this fiscal year we saw a decrease in 93 students. So if that trend continues, we're not going to see additional growth in chapter 70 because of new student growth. And then other than new student growth in the district, which would bring around 19,000 per student, we're the only other additional growth would be the inflation factor. The inflation factor this year in the chapter 70 foundation budget was 2.76%. So the days, the last six years, we've been blessed. $4 million increase, $10 million increase, $9 million increase, $6 million increase, $4 million increase. I think we're going to be back to where we were prior to COVID where on average we're going to get around a $2 million increase in chapter 70. So, for the first time

034in maybe five or six years, actually second time because we dipped into reserves last year. And I'll explain this better during our budget workshop. We're going to have to start utilizing some of our reserves as we did in the past where in the past we utilized revolving account. We utilized circuit breaker carryover in circuit breaker as well as the chapter 70 increase on the fiscal year. So for the last five or six years we've been able to roll our budget over just using the chapter 70 increase. Those days I believe are gone. But I also do believe and I want to state that for fiscal 26 we are in a very strong position to close out fiscal 26. And as I discussed with the budget subcommittee or the finance subcommittee, excuse me, that I plan

035to hold a closeout meeting and to discuss where we are year to date and put together a closeout plan to close out the year and position us in position us even stronger for fiscal 27 and then also to discuss how if we continue to be strategic, continue to live without within our means, I think we're at the point where we're done adding a lot of staff only if we can reduce in other areas. is and we need to be very strategic when it comes to programming if we're going to continue to be in a position where we're not laying off staff the way we here in surrounding communities around us and communities north of us. So again, I'm very confident in fiscal 26 and I'm very confident in fiscal 27 and beyond if we continue

036to maintain the same strategy, the same trust in my administration when it comes to putting a sound, fiscally responsible budget before you. So provide you with the table of contents. I also think it's important for us to understand and see how we're growing and how we've changed. So the some of the numbers and what I'll do moving forward is maybe I'll I'll update this for the May presentation so you can see the differences from the year before. But areas that I tend to focus on is at the bottom on the lefth hand column. Uh we've actually added five languages spoken in the city of Tin. We went from 21 to 26. So again, we're a very diverse community, which I think is part of the beauty of this community. Our high school graduation, so residents

037in Taton, so of the 62,000 residents in Taton, almost 86% hold a bachelor's or hold a high school degree or higher. So that is that is increased by almost 1%. Uh what I'm not too happy with is something that I think our partnership with BCC will continue to grow and the work that you are supporting with our early college program at the high school is the number of residents in Taton who hold a bachelor's degree or higher. We saw a slight dip by 0.5% so to 23.9. And on the right hand side of the column you'll notice that we increased by having 26 additional graduates. That number is going to increase substantially this year. We're going to have the largest class to date. I think we're looking at about 589 graduates this year. And then

038the number I'm also really proud of is of the work that we've done with our early college program to identify marginalized groups and provide them with access to early college. Our multilingual learners uh went up by almost 20% to 46.9%. We have some work to do with our Latino population. We have some work to do with our low income, although we did see a slight increase of 0.5. and we saw a slight decrease with our special education students of 2.4. So overall the the numbers are mixed. Another important number is that we're seeing more students attending four-year public co four-year public colleges. That number increased by 7% to 53.9. So while two-year public may have dipped by 1.2% 2% and four-year private decreased by 6% 6 7% more students are attending public universities and that

039can that could be attributed to a number of factors. So again that's that's Taton public schools and city of Taton in a snapshot. I won't bore you with our vision and our mission but I will spend some time super proud that we are in year one year two of our strategic plan that'll carry us through F through 2030. So, rigorous instruction, talent development, student culture, stakeholder engagement, and this is all work. And I'm blessed to have my leadership team here supporting me and super blessed and proud of the work and the support that I receive from the school committee in leading this work. I think it's very important for us to frame where the state is in terms of budget because it really paints a picture of where we are locally as a city and

040as a district. So total spending in the governor's budget equates to just under $64 billion. That's an increase from fiscal 26 of about $2.3 billion or just under 4%. And projected revenue is actually over by about 1.1% from what they actually projected for fiscal 26. So the state actually received an extra 688 million in revenue above and beyond what they projected. So the main drivers that are that are creating the increase, it's 10 programs that make up about 85% of these costs. Human services, transportation, group insurance premium plan cost, which the city of Taton has done a tremendous job in keeping those costs down compared to neighboring communities. Mass health fee for student payments. And then you see chapter 70 number four. You see special education uh circuit breaker number five. Those two directly impact

041the city of Taton and Ton public schools. And the rest again are drivers at the state level. So how do they figure out or how do they project what they're going to be getting for revenue for fiscal 27? So you have the department of revenue upper branch, you have the department of revenue lower branch, you have the Massachusetts taxpayers foundation, you have SEPAR, which is the Center for State Policy Analysis, and then you have a gentleman by the name of Alan Clayton Matthews, who's a professor at Northeastern. They all come together and they report at a at a hearing on what they project the the revenue to be for fiscal 27 and then they come up with an average and the agre the agreement. So, the conference agreement is that they're projecting from fiscal 26

042to fiscal 27 that the state of Massachusetts is going to collect an additional 986 million, just under a billion, which is an increase of 2.4%. So, that's what the state is projecting FY27 revenues on. They're projecting to receive or collect 42.2 billion in revenue. And then again, this just provides you with a snapshot on what the revenue collections have looked like going back to fiscal 22. And you may remember fiscal 22, there was a lot of revenue because of the amount of federal funding that was poured into the states. And then you saw the drop once the funding went away. And then you start to see uh the uptick or the increase again. And again, 26 and 27 are still projections as we are still a little more than halfway through fiscal 26. and then

043spending on the governor's side. So the general appropriation act or the GAA, you'll notice going back to fiscal 18 or 2018, the average growth has been about two was 2.4% to where we are now, they're projecting a 3.8. You'll notice those years coming off of COVID substantial growth because again the influx of funding from the federal level into the states of 9.1% growth 6.9% growth and then once the funding went away that's when you see a decrease you see a modest bump in fiscal 26 and we believe that 3.8 seems to be the average on where we were or where the state was pre- pandemic levels. Student Opportunity Act. Again, City of Taunt and Ton Public Schools, we've benefited greatly from the Student Opportunity Act. What this slide does a nice job of showing is

044that from fiscal 22 to fiscal 25, the state put in just over a billion dollars to support the student opportunity act and then started drawing from this those funds in fiscal 25, fiscal 26, and then used a little bit of the sir tax, which is the millionaires tax to balance the budget. So the state met its obligation to fund the student opportunity act. And then taking a snapshot at fiscal 27 when it comes to chapter 70 aid. No. So governor Healey's budget proposes full funding of year six of the student opportunity act. Total chapter 70 is coming in at just over $7.6 billion which is a 3.3% increase or $242 million above fiscal 26. So what's driving the student opportunity act? Inflation 2.76%. And obviously they use the employee benefits which is fixed at 8.29.

045That 8.29 if you ask the mayor does not cover the true health benefit cost. Health benefit costs across many cities and towns is well over 10%. So but that's the number that they use when putting this putting the budget together. Enrollment trends across the state as I've shared with you in earlier presentations is we're down 15,000 as a state and in the city of Taton or statewide foundation is down n 15 decreased by 15,000 from the prior year and the number of lowincome students decreased by 19,000 students mark making that about 45% of the total foundation enrollment and then obviously we've met or the governor has fulfilled the student opportunity act or the requirement On slide 10, just providing you with a snapshot of the growth over the year. And the top line reflects billions.

046So we went from 5.5 billion in state aid in fiscal 22 to where we are in fiscal 27 just over $7 billion. Again, fulfilling the student opportunity act requirement. This slide is interesting because if you draw a straight line between fiscal 21 and fiscal 22. So taking a look at this 12-ear snapshot from fiscal 22 to fiscal 27 the average growth in chapter 70 was 386 million. So from 22 to 27 the average growth 386 million. If you look at fiscal 16 to fiscal 21 the average growth is 146 million. So almost triple what was going on prior to the student opportunity act. So communities like Titan urban gateway communities have really benefited from the student opportunity act. Now we need to be fiscally responsible on how we manage our funds rolling forward so that

047all the great programs all the great work that you have led and supported doesn't go by the wayside. And again, just providing you with the inflation rates. What's interesting to point out here is I've shared in the past, so I know some of you are new, so I apologize for those who've heard this before, but for those who are new to the board, if you look at fiscal if you look at the I'll point with the laser pointer. If you look at fiscal 23 and fiscal 24, the statutory cap is five and a is four and a half, but true inflation those two years was 8% and 7% 15%. So over those two years, the foundation budget only added or increased by 9% when true inflation was 15%. That 6% for a city like Taton

048is millions and millions of dollars. And that's information I can provide for those who are interested through the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, Doug Hoggate and Megan Callahan. This is all information you can access on their website. They do a really great job of following the impact that the student opportunity act had and the impact of not allowing for true inflation has had on communities like the ton like the Ton public schools. So here we are with the budget timeline. I checked the Massachusetts cherry sheets today and as of today the house budget has not been updated on the cherry sheets. So where we're currently sitting at is in fiscal 25. We received uh chapter 78 in the amount of 105,442,30. This year's increase of chapter 78 is 109,617,416, which is an increase of 4 $4.2 million,

049which is a little less than half of what we received last year. Last year's increase was around $10 million. So again, the days of the Student Opportunity Act and seeing those hefty increases have gone. This is where we need to be very fiscally responsible and just provide this is the snapshot and I I want to spend a little time on the 93 students. So what does losing 93 students on the October one report really mean to us? It cost us about $1.2 million. So 93 students this year we're receiving $19,193 per student which when you multiply the 93 kids versus the foundation budget of that comes out to 1,784,949 of that $1.8 million figure we receive 68.28% in the amount of aid. So 68% of that 1.8 eight figure is $1.2 million. So if we

050had not if we had just maintained enrollment instead of our chapter 70 increase being $4.1 million it would have been 5.4. So losing 93 student had a significant impact on our district and again not just Taton it's happening all over the state. I believe the only urban district of the 31 urban districts only fall river saw an increase in enrollment. everyone else saw a decline. So just important numbers to keep in mind as we talk about how we're building this budget and the utilization of our of our reserves. And this slide just provides you with all the different foundation components. Now we we receive dollars for every preschool student or pre kindergarten student. So, I commend the committee for supporting the work led by Stephanie Hoy to allow for free prek enrollment because now those

051students will count toward our chapter 7 budget and we'll receive, I believe, $3,600 per student. And if you look at some of your previous memos, we did those calculations. Uh we do not have any half-day students. Our full day kindergarten program with 600 students generated $6.3 million in chapter 70 funding or foundation budget. Our elementary students 34 million. Junior middle school accounts for 20 million. Eighth graders are counted in column five. So eighth graders, even though they're at the high school, they're still counted in column 5. And then our six uh high school students who are not chapter 74 in the vocational program that counts for 185 and again the work that you have supported by growing our chapter 74 programs we grew by 50 students that results in almost the same amount of money

052that we're getting for a traditional high school student. So we're receiving 17.2 million. So again outstanding work outstanding support by the committee. That's how being strategic on how we grow programs, identifying opportunities to grow additional chapter $70 through prek, through expansion in chapter 74 programs. That's those are other ways that we can sustain the programming and the staffing levels that we built to this day. Required net school spending, I think every time we go over this, it doesn't get clear. It just gets a little clearer. So according to the state, based on the property value and based on the income level of our community, the state is saying that we have to spend $160,533,556 on education between an appropriation and indirect services. So the state share again 109 million. The city's share between indirect costs

053and actual dollars towards our appropriation is 50,916,40. So it's about a 6832 split. And again, you see that 68% right there. So that's how the numbers tie. And again, I give you a comparison. The chart on the left, you see the impact. Even though we lost students, we you still see an increase in funding from preschool all the way to low income. The one that really jumped out at me when I was doing the analysis was low income. So to have a decrease of 199 students, and I don't know the uh funding number off the top of my head that we get per student, but I it's it's in the millions. So if that number had stayed level and we hadn't lost 93 students or students no longer qualified as low income, you're probably talking2

054to4 million additional chapter 70 funding. So that that's a big impact. So I'm happy that the families are no longer and that students no longer in the low income, but it does have a tremendous impact on our budget. And again, you see the co the colas or the inflation factor where I highlighted 23 and 24 where true inflation was seven and 8% but it's capped at the state level of 4.5 and this year less than a percent increase in the inflation factor from 1.93 to 2.76 just following the trajectory of the budget. So again, last year that was the adopted budget in June of 25 at the state level. The governor's budget has been released and shared. The house budget has yet to be posted this which usually gets posted in April and the Senate

055budget gets posted sometime in May if not early June. So the appropriation that we're requesting so again the required net school spending just over 160,533,000 indirect costs. It's a moving target. So, we're projecting indirect cost to be somewhere around $40 million. When you back out transportation and you back out crossing guards, we're looking at indirect costs that are eligible unodudited of being around 25,81,754. So, in order for the city to be at net school spending, they would have to give us a minimum of $134,731,82. What we're requesting, and this is what the city has honored in the past, last year's appropriation of $131,56,516 plus the FY27 Chapter 7 increase of 4,175,286 for a total appropriation of 135,231,82. That's the appropriation we're requesting. I'll talk in a little bit. I'll talk about what I'm recommending for

056a proposed spending budget and how we're going to close that gap. So, providing you with a history of net school spending. So, your city under Mayor Okonnell's leadership has met or exceeded the minimum net school spending requirement. And the last time this actually you can't even see on this chart the last time the city did not meet its minimum net school spending requirement. So, I commend the city for meeting its requirement with all the competing priorities that communities like Taton have. Again, we are not unique when it comes to competing priorities. And I'll provide you with a breakdown. Again, Taton's share when it comes to funding, 81% this year comes from the state. So, of the $135 million appropriation we're requesting, $ 109 million is coming from the state, which is 81%. The state increase

057as I shared in previous slides is 4.1 which is a modest increase of just under 4%. And again you look at those years where I shared with you 9 million 10 million 6 million 10 million all driven by the S SOA that's gone. So we're probably going to be back in line with the four the two and the $2 million increases that you see fiscal 20 to fiscal 22. That's probably the reality we're looking at moving forward. So again, I want to emphasize fiscal responsibility. There's there's not a lot of room in our budget to make cuts other than personnel, and I would never propose making cuts when we have reserves that we can rely on and that we continuously roll over to sustain the level of services and staffing that we currently have. And

058you see the city's contribution dip by a little more than 1%. From 20% to 18.94. Uh this is Mr. Enus's favorite slide. So you see uh how uh the dollar is spent here in Taton when it comes to spending and education. So in the dollar the dollar portion on the right hand side keeps shrinking while the dollar portion on the left hand side continues to increase. Again it's not uncommon to communities like Taton. There are a lot of competing priorities and very limited resources, especially on the municipal side where local aid or state aid does not increase at the level that our chapter 70 foundation budget increases in all fairness to the city and the city's administration. So, what we're proposing for a budget, and we'll go into detail at our budget retreat, our budget

059workshop, is we're proposing expenditures which result in zero cuts to staffing, zero cuts to programming in the amount of 140,277,587. We're requesting an appropriation. Last year's appropriation plus this year's chapter 70 increase which totals 135,231,82 circuit breaker for FY26. The good news is we received 7.5 million. So let that sink in. We received 7.5 million that we have not touched this year. So and we are allowed to roll it over. So to balance our budget and still be in a position of strength, we are going to apply five million of that seven and a half million and still carry over two and a half million in the event we need to fill in any or offset any deficits because you know our budget is a moving target. So again, we're going to propose spending very

060responsibly which results in zero cuts which sustains all our programming. We need 140,277,587. We are going to request an appropriation of 135, which is the methodology that we've been using all along with the city. And that's the appropriation that I'm requesting that we should request. And we're going to backfill that by using five of the $7.5 million in circuit breaker that we are allowed to carry over, still carrying a surplus of two and a half. And that balances our budget. So again, what some of you might be thinking, we just settled all these contracts, Mr. Cabral, why is staffing only going up by 4.75%. Great question. Because year one of the contracts is this fiscal year. So we've absorbed the brunt of the first year of the contract. So now we have the predictability of

061the next two years of what the contractual costs are going to cost us for fiscal 27, fiscal 28. Uh transportation again transportation we can talk at the budget workshop that's going to be our largest driver. Special education tuition modest increase but again we're still carrying two and a half in circuit breaker should that number go up. And when we do our closeout meeting with the subcommittee the finance subcommittee one of my proposals going to be to use $2 million and prepay that number down. So, we're probably really looking at 11.1 if we if the committee authorizes the administration, which they have since I've been in central office, to utilize some of our surplus funds to prepay special education for for for quarter 1, which is allowable under the law. Uh utilities, you see a modest

062increase. Contracted services, you see a modest increase. Supplies, modest increase, and maintenance, modest increase. And I need to commend the city on the city side for the maintenance cost that they are picking up, you know, to pick up coil and the $26 million to put in uh substantial amounts of funding to renovate the building, the theater seats, uh the contributions that the city has made on the maintenance side that I haven't seen since being in central office in 2010. The the city is really doing outstanding job. So, I commend the mayor and their staff. So, thank you, mayor, because it allows us to keep our dollars allows us to keep our dollars in the classroom and allows us to build up our reserves in the revolving account should we want to take on a large

063capital project alone or with the support of the city. And again, a modest 4.9 increase, which is in line with what we've looked at precoid. So, uh, in the past, I used to provide you with a per pupil expenditure slide. So I did a little different this year uh because I I really wanted to kind of drill down and see how we stack up and what what really jumped out at me after doing this for 15 plus years. I I never analyzed our allin per pupil how we stack up amongst the urbans. So amongst the 31 urbans we are 31 out of 31. We have the lowest per pupil uh per pupil cost. Our administrators uh which again if you look at the line item budget increases were not built in for our administrators because

064the committee has not taken on that difficult work. But our administrators are 26 out of 31 when it comes to per pupil expenditures. We have the 26th lowest when it comes to our administrators. Like the committee who wears multiple hats serving on subcommittees, right? Some of you serve on three, four, five subcommittees. My leadership team wears multiple hats. So, we are lean when on the administrative side. Our instructional leadership team, which we have built out like we've never had since I've been in Tom public schools. Probably Mr. Shavs has been in the Tom public schools. We're number 27 out of 31. And when it comes to our teachers, 27 out of 31. Other services, professional development. I'm proud of the work that Mr. Barata has led there. We see we're seeing some gains. Middle of

065the pact. our high quality instructional materials. Again, middle of the pack. Super proud of the work we're doing to support the mental health of our kiddos, number five out of the urbans. So, it demonstrates that this committee cares about the kids. Pupil services number 11. And we have one person leading that department, Stephanie Hoy. Maintenance and operations. Again, that number is misleading because of the the amount of funds the city supports on the way our charter works. The city's responsible for the maintenance of the buildings. So that one was a little misleading and I got to commend the city to be 16 middle of the pack with insurance costs. Mayor, that's something you and your administration should be very proud of. So the average per pupil, we're spending $19,590 per kid. The average at the

066state is $22,953. So if you multiplied $8,364 students by $3,363, that's $28 million. 68% of that is $19 million. So again, we work very hard. We provide our students with great services. And on the academic side of our house, on the academic side of the house, oh, bear with me while I find my chart. On the academic side of the house, when it comes to 10th grade MCCAST, we are number eight out of 31 urban districts. When it comes to I'm sorry, ELA, ELA, we are number eight out of the 31 urban districts. When it comes to math, we are number 11 when it comes to the urban districts in the 10th grade. In uh ELA 38 MCAT scores, we are number 10. And we have some work to do in math. In grades 3

067through eight, we are number 20. So again, despite having limited resources and competing priorities, we you as a group, this administration does a lot of great work to support our kids, support our families, and support our community. And again, um when I analyze this, the city of Taton is on par with the percentage of its operational budget or city expenditures that go or associated with educational costs. The average at the state level is 46%. Taton's on par, but for the public and for the committee, especially those new, the education expenditures include Bristol Plymouth, Bristol Aggie, and the Taton public schools. So that's what that figure represents, not just the Taton public schools. And again, uh, we've done our share. The city has really picked up and really helped us out with capital improvements. Uh, you'll

068notice that we have the murals that the city has that the school department has supported that Mr. Bark and his cousin have uh have done in our schools. the the playground structure that we installed at the high school that the community can utilize in addition to the middle school students and the high school students. Uh we also see the new theater seats that the city so graciously funded and the fully renovated softball. So I believe over since my tenure superintendent I believe that comes out to about $17.6 million and these are all reserve funds funds that are not impacting the operational budget and funds that we have not had to use a debt exclusion or deb debt override to have funded. So, if you have any questions regarding the PowerPoint presentation, I'll be happy to

069answer them. And then when when we have our budget workshop, we'll dive deep into the line item budget uh as we have in the past to discuss what are your budget priorities that you'd like to see me bring forward in May and discuss how we can fund them and also any questions you might have regarding what's in those line items, which I know will be super helpful to members who are new on the board. And as I've done in the past, any board member who wants to schedule some one-on-one time to go over the PowerPoint, go over the line item, I'm more than happy to meet with you via Zoom or meet with you in person. >> Okay. >> So, the only action needed tonight is to receive and place on file. No vote is

070needed. >> Thank you, Superintendent Cabraw. Uh, so the at the budget workshop is when really the the big conversation happens and all questions are asked. I I mean there may be some burning questions tonight that people want to get into, but I would just keep in mind that you're going to have the budget workshop where you'll be getting into all of those questions >> and I don't have the backup with me tonight if it's but I'll do my best to answer it. >> So maybe we'll keep it light and brief. U begin with a motion to approve and place on file and further discussion. >> Okay. So there's motion to receive and place on file and a second um on discussion. So this is Mullen. >> Thank you very much, superintendent, for the um presentation.

071I just had a quick question and just for clarification in case there's other parents or teachers out there wondering if the the per pupil expenditure doesn't mean that we're providing less services to correct students. It's just we're keeping our expenses down. >> Yeah. It's again that that's the pool of money that we have as a community based on our property value. >> Okay. >> Right. property value and earning of the community. >> Yes. I just wanted clarification that we're not providing less services because >> No, I I think based on the based on the um data that I shared with regarding to our facilities and based on the metrics that I shared on MCCAST, I think we're I think we're providing an excellent service to our to our students. >> I do too. Thank you.

072>> Dr. Null. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh Superintendent, wonderful presentation. Uh very fluid and uh on point. The only concern I have and I think it's it's it's in the news all the time is we have smaller districts that are competing for dollars and of course they're on Beacon Hill lobbying our legislators to revise a chapter 70 funding formula that's antiquated since 1993 from your circles of superintendent. Uh will that have an impact if they change that funding formula? Uh, and do we potentially lose to give that loss to the other communities that are hurting? I mean, we see it in the paper, layoffs and very affluent school districts like Lexington going through some severe issues in your circle. Do you have any of those concerns? >> So, amongst amongst the urbans and I think

073it was two summers ago, I actually um testified regarding rural aid support be increased similar to the levels or similar to what happened with student opportunity act. So what would so pretty much the student opportunity act is when it's cost Dr. Dlo in those those student fees those student rates are set they're not going to go back they're only going to increase according to the cola so as far as the urban districts go in Taton those rates will not go backwards they'll only increase what you could see happen is at the rural level or the smaller towns uh some changes being made there to provide them more than the $75 per student that they're receiving. And I and I always tell my superintendent colleagues on the Reeds collaborative and the South Coast Collaborative, I don't

074know how they do it with $75 per student. Again, where we're where we're different, our low income because we're in the 10th decile, that's going to generate revenue. The number of special education students that we receive that we have because we're a large district that'll generate additional chapter $70 because we know it costs more to educate students. Those districts don't have the levels that we have. Therefore, they don't receive the additional funding to the levels that we do. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Madam, >> you're welcome, Mr. Laura. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Superintendent, as far as the S SOA funds, the future, will they decrease or will they >> It's done. >> Totally gone. >> Yeah. So, whatever the and I can share with you uh the rates, it's a public document that's in

075the chapter found the foundation budget spreadsheet. So, the rates have been set and those are the rates that they use every new fiscal year that they add the uh inflation factor to. So that 7 that 2.76% was increased to last year's rates in fiscal 26 to create the 27 rates plus the S so SOA. >> So now the increase for the governor's budget may decrease. It may be what frozen at 3% or 3.3%. >> So as it works its way through the house u I do know I testified it's in my supers report. I testified uh last Tuesday to support funding for a high dosage reading program called Ignite that was in the governor's budget to the tune of 25 million that the house removed. So yes, as they go through the house and go

076through the Senate, the budget could go down, the budget could go up. History um history, my I recall history that it tends to increase as it goes through the Senate. If we're g if we're going to see an increase, usually it doesn't go down when it gets to the Senate, but that's that's what happens when they debate the budget up on Beacon Hill. >> Yeah. But once it goes to the governor's final review, then it's could be >> Yeah. I don't Yeah. I don't Usually these numbers that we receive in the governor's budget are pretty solid to build that budget around. I would only anticipate that we might not see an increase on our side of the house, but you might see some of the rural communities that Dr. that Delo was talking about seeing

077a bump on their side as they make adjustments to account for the low amount the low uh the low funding they receive because we're receiving above and beyond $75 per student. We're above the $75 threshold. So, what the state is saying, you're guaranteed every student or every city and town is guaranteed a $75 minimum increase for every student in your district. We exceed that. But what you might see the House or the Senate do or the governor do is increase it to 100, 130, 150 to try to provide more support to those smaller communities. >> Thank you, Super. >> Hope that makes sense. >> Thank you, >> Mrs. Shs. Thank you. I just wanted to thank you for adding this particular side in there. >> I had a lot of fun with that one. >>

078Yes. And you know, I would like that because it has to do with numbers, but I just think that it it really does paint a picture and um we are when we look at where we are in terms of administration and leadership and teachers where we really are down at the bottom of the pack and see the incredible things that we're doing in our programs and that we've focused on, you know, guidance and pupil services. I think that that shows how well the team is working together um and our teachers are working to provide services and resources to our students. And I would like a copy of the other slide you were talking about um the academic side because even that sounds really good. So I think we've done some wonderful things considering that we

079don't have a lot of money to spend when you're comparing ourselves to other districts that are similar. >> Thank you. And again, and again, I commend the mayor and I'm always grateful to the mayor and her staff for any additional dollars that they can provide us to support facilities or support programs or to increase the chapter 70. I mean, again, always super grateful, but we also have to live within our means. And I believe what I presented to you is a very fiscally responsible budget that we can sustain moving forward if we continue on this path of prepaying and utilizing our circuit breaker funds wisely. >> Thank you. >> All right. All right. So, looks like there's no more questions or comments. Uh, so motion um and second to receive and place on file. All

080those in favor? >> Opposed? None oppose? So, voted. Thank you, Superintendent Cabell. All right. And now you get to continue on with your superintendent's report. Uh so uh I one I want to thank the school committee members who uh took the time and I know everybody has competing priorities and very busy schedules to attend our first uh community coffee and conversation. Uh I I was super excited that the coffee conversation that we held at the Taton area community table. I believe Dr. DLA was present, Mrs. Fagan was present and Mrs. Shabs was present. And I also want to attribute the success to our leadership team, especially Stephanie Hoy for all the hard work that she put into this with her community facilitators uh to to organize what I thought it was a great event, you

081know, to see the to see the children there to see the caregivers mingling and we had translators and we actually learned a lot from it. So at the at the next uh at the next event held on the 28th, well, it'll be bigger. it'll be bigger and better and better suited to support families especially families with with students who have special special educational needs. So again, huge success and uh it aligns with our strategic plan and it also uh it also helps address an area in my evaluation that I plan that I'm looking forward to improving upon. Uh second, just want to bring the committee up to speed that the bu the permit was issued for the solar project at the Freeman Middle School. So, I'll continue to keep the committee informed as that project

082moves along. I believe that project should be somewhere somewhere completed early May. Super excited about the work we're doing when it comes to early college. We are look we are very close to getting that early college designation with UMass Dartmouth. So, that's outstanding work to Carolyn Bono, our assistant principal for curriculum and learning and Dr. Harrison and their leadership team for leading this effort as well as Mr. Barata who works quietly behind the scenes to to support their work. And as I already mentioned, I had the pleasure of testifying on Beacon Hill with the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education and my former mayor Ed Lambert about the benefits of the Ignite program, which is a high dosage tutoring program that the students receive uh receive online with a tutor 15 minutes a day. We started

083with 600. We started with 200 We started with 648 first graders. Of the 648 first graders, were identified one or two grade levels below. Five months, six months into the program, only 31 students have not met the first grade benchmark. This was a competitive grant to the tune of $660,000 that was in the House budget has since been removed. So the testimony before senators and other elected officials to put this funding back in using the millionaires tax or the sir tax will go a long way in helping to ensure that our first graders are reading by third grade. And a great example of how Mr. Barado and his team leverage this resource at the Gallagan school. Pretty much all the first graders now uh are not utilizing title one. They're utilizing this program except for

084a handful which then allowed the title one instructors to focus on the fourth graders. all the fourth grade students are fourth grade reading level. So now that allows the title one staff to push down the third and second grade to really get our kids uh reading. So again, very strategic move, very strategic planning to utilize a resource. And if we were unable to if we don't get if we don't receive funding to the $2660,000 and we were trying to fund this utilizing our title one funds, it's about a it's about a quarter of our title one funds and it would mean and we wouldn't do it. Uh we would just go without it. But you're talking about 8 to 10 staff members that we would have to cut in order to fund this program that

085benefiting 261 kids. So it's it's been a real gamecher and I instead of talking about the miss the miracle of Mississippi, we're talking about the the miracle at Gallagghan Elementary School. And then last but not least, um again, you all do a great job of supporting a comprehensive school system that has double the number of students in our high school participating in voc vocational technical education than we do at the neighboring vocational school. And our students continue to shine at the Skills USA Massachusetts competition. So I want to recognize Dylan Clayman and William William Lec. They received the gold in audio radio. Mel Vieiraa and Abigail Knox. They received the silver in audio radio. And I think someone in the back has a little bit to do with that. Mr. Jake >> Payton Colona received

086a gold in computer programming. Cody Cody Tullson a bronze in medical math. Haley Jackson and Gres Westber who many of you know Greg he's a great young man silver in restaurant service. Ashley H heert a silver in technical computer applications. Tyler Nunes got a bronze in TV video production. Again one of the programs Mr. Jake supports. Jaden Robinson and Ben Alivera got a silver in TV and video productions. Mary Price got a silver in early childhood education, which is a chapter 74 program that you supported two years ago that is now licensed by Desi. David Makavoy got a silver in in public speaking and Ari Tucker got a bronze in facilitating leadership. And that concludes my report. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. The eyes have it. Okay, we're going to

087move on to um administrative business. So the first thing is G1 staffing report. That goes to Mr. Cabar. >> Yeah, just nothing unusual, just something for your information typically to receive and place on file. >> Same procedure. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. The eyes have it. Okay. Next thing is G2 Taton Public School staffing update. >> Uh you'll notice that we are 99% staffed. Uh we have one pending vacancy at the district level and we have two remaining uh vacancies, one at Parker and one at Tan High School and those positions are listed on the back of the report. >> Motion to receive and place on file. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. The eyes have it. Next report is G3 Taton Public Schools March enrollment numbers. as I've done

088on a monthly basis is providing you with the monthly update on where we are with enrollment. Uh we started the school year with 8,261 students. As of now, we are up to 8,293 students where we did see a decrease from February to March of six students which I noted on the cover memo. >> Yes. >> A motion to place on >> second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. The eyes have it. Next thing we're going to is G4 field trip request A is DECA Atlantic Atlanta competition. >> So this is a this is a DECA trip. Uh typically uh if the committee has no objections would be to approve the trip. >> Motion to approve. >> I'll second that. How's that? >> All in favor? I Opposed. >> Did you have a discussion?

089>> Yeah. No, I found it. >> Okay. Opposed. So, the eyes have it. Okay. Next one is G4B, Protock Culinary Maryland Competition >> again. Similar >> No, that's still in here. >> The ProStar. >> Yeah, I don't think >> I don't I didn't see the Maryland one. April 24th. Correct. >> April 24th to April 27th. >> I lost my agenda. >> Okay. Where are we? >> Should be in our >> I have it. >> Yeah. >> That one. >> What are the wishes of the committee once we >> motion to approve? >> Second on discussion. I'm still looking for >> Okay, we can wait a minute. >> Okay. Yep. That's great. Thank you. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. The eyes have it. >> Okay. We move on to H, which

090is the subcommittee reports. The first report will be the rule subcommittee by Miss Santos. >> Thank you, Chairperson Sh. Um, so this was a while ago, so bear with me. Um, so the rule subcommittee met on Thursday, March 19th, 2026. Um the meeting was called to order at 4:36. Uh in attendance were um myself uh chairperson Shaz, Mr. Laura, uh Superintendent Cabraw, Mr. Chris Barada, and uh Mrs. Stephanie Hoy, as well as Dr. Dlo. Um as what you're going to be hearing from the rest of the year probably, we reviewed section B. Uh so we're just kind of going in order of all of the policies. So we reviewed section B which is board governance and operations. Uh so just one thing as an update to the school committee as a whole where our plan

091um is to go through each of the policies and then bringing any changes or updates to the committee as a whole to approve or not. Um Mr. Barata and Mrs. Hoy are doing a great job keeping notes on all of the things that we're um discussing changes updates so on and so forth. Um section B is really large, so I'm not going to go through everything. Um but one of the a couple of major things that we talked about were the school committee goals. Um and if you would remember, super um chairperson uh Shavez had sent out uh was it a Google doc >> for all of us to implement or post our own goals for ourselves and that we were going to use that together to put together a policy of our school committee

092goals. Um, I think we decided to wait until we go through all the policies and then go through that with the school committee. But just keeping that on your radar that you all should have gotten that email from Chairperson Shave so that when we when it comes time to that we'll be able to have that discussion more openly. Um, but part of our discussion about uh the goals also aligned with evaluation of the school committee which is section BAA. Um, so we talked a little bit about what that could look like. Um, it could be aligned to our strategic plan. We could look at a separate um, evaluations for through the MASC. Um, but that hopefully we could find an evaluation tool that would align with the goals that we set for ourselves. Um, but

093that is still kind of a work in progress for us um, on the um, the committee. Um some of the other things that we talked about some things were just rewarding um like on you know there was a couple of instances where it says secretary to the school committee and then secretary was a capital S which is Mrs. Fagan. So we want wanted to just make sure some of the uh wording was consistent throughout the entire policies. Um rearranging certain things as far as like where uh the policies on school visitations and all of those other things. We we wanted to kind of condense some of those as well too. Um, another thing that was mentioned with tripleBG is about the chairperson and secretary per our policy are only supposed to be one-year positions, but

094that obviously has not been the case. Uh, so I think uh, Superintendent Cabell was going to check in with David Soua, was it David? >> David Gay >> to to to follow up on kind of when that changed or or what have you. And but we did talk about trying to keep it probably to two years just to give people time to adjust to um to that role. Um let me see uh there was some changes to um we have to update the this is BDE this is the subcommittee. So there are no descriptions as far as what each subcommittee did in that file but there is another place that has some. So again, this is just kind of reorganizing some of it, but we do have to add some descriptions to that and we

095do have to add uh the TTAa to the bargaining committees because that is not listed on policies. Um there was some talk about the the school councils which we learned a little bit more about in that meeting as well too. Uh forgive me for all of these notes. This is what happens when I'm not organized. Um there was another thing about notification of committee meetings. So this is file BEBDA. Um there is a a a policy part that says the regular meetings of the board shall be held on the first and third Wednesday of each month, but there's actually exceptions for the month of July and August. That that doesn't necessarily have to be the case and that's actually up to the chair to decide. So we talked about maybe changing days or times or

096being a having a little bit more flexible hours during the summer months. maybe hopefully maybe we can, you know, get some downtime too as well. Um because we know we're all busy. Um the other thing about executive sessions, um there was something about the school committee chair and superintendent will review executive session minutes for possible declassification. So I think superintendent was also going to look into the legal reference of whether that is still valid or not because it says that it's supposed to be done on a quarterly basis. Um the other main thing I think was the at the end um no the videotaping policy. So we did talk about putting a policy as far as the videotaping because obviously you've been making that announcement at the beginning of each meeting. So we want to

097have something more in writing about videotaping policies of school committee meetings. Um and the last I swear it's the last thing two more things. So, for the new school committee orientation, uh, Chairpresident Shavez and I have been very vocal about how we didn't really get most of this orientation when we first started two years ago because there is an entire A through F about things that we should have gotten for as new members. So, hopefully you get that courtesy of that because we didn't. Uh but one thing that we wanted to add was a G where we would assign a mentor for new members as well too rather learning by fire like we did um as well. And the last thing I promise is BJ school committee memberships. One thing that was listed on the

098MASC policy but not ours was a legislative program and my I I really think that that was something that I was I wanted to look into adopting ourselves. So that's something on our radar as well. And the meeting concluded at 5:54 p.m. And that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Miss Santos. So, we have a motion on the table and seconded. So, all in favor? >> What? We did. Yes. No. Oh, we didn't. I'm sorry. Okay. So, a motion to place on file. >> Motion to accept the report. >> Okay. Seconded. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Opposed? The eyes have it. Okay. Next subcommittee report is the high school subcommittee by Mr. Vieira. Thank you, Madam Chair. The high school subcommittee met on Monday, March 23rd, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. to Hamilton Street,

099room 320, Taunt, Mass. Subcommittee members are myself as chair, Dr. Gregory Dlo, and Mrs. Christine Fagan. Also present was Superintendent Cabraw and principal Dr. John Harrison. The meeting was called to order at 11:00 a.m. First item on the agenda was the 2026 graduation update. The subcommittee reviewed the options for the Totten High School class of 2026 uh graduation including indoor and outdoor scenarios discussion focus on capacity safety consideration and logistics to support family participation. Um this is the largest graduating class in high school history at 589 students. So a motion was made to approve Dr. Harrison's recommendation to move forward with the outdoor graduation options uh including a designated rain day. The motion passed 3 nothing and I just want to read uh Dr. John Harrison's communication that he sent out on parent squared to

100families. Dear senior parents and caregivers, I'm writing to you to share an important update regarding this year's Taton High School graduation ceremony for the class of 2026. Graduation will now be held outdoors on the football field on Friday, June 5th at 6 p.m. with a rain date of Saturday, June 6th at 4 p.m. I want to begin by apologizing for the change in both date and time. This decision was not made lightly. The class of 2026 represents the largest graduation class in recent memory with a projection of 589 graduates. If we would hold the ceremony indoors, we would exceed capacity limits and would need to reduce tickets to three per graduate, significantly limiting family participation. Last year, graduates receive four tickets each. By moving the ceremony outdoors, we were able to expand access and ensure

101each graduate will receive six tickets, allowing more family members and loved ones to be part of this special moment. There is a need to change the date from the original advertised day to Sunday, June 7th at 1:30 p.m. In the event inclement weather and to avoid midday summer heat, I am incredibly proud of the class of 26 and look forward to celebrating this milestone together with all of you in just a few short months. Thank you for your understanding, flexibility, and continued support. Sincerely, Dr. John Harrison. Second item discussed on the agenda was Yandepouch update. The subcommittee reviewed an update on the Yandep Pouch implementation including preliminary student outcome data and a proposal to purchase additional pouches at a reduced cost for the 2026 2027 school year. A motion to recommend approval of the onepouch

102purchases as presented was made and seconded and a vote a motion pass with a vote of two nothing with uh Dr. Dlo voting present. The meeting was adjourned at 11:45. That concludes my report. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. The eyes have it. Um, the next subcommittee report is the long range planning and public property subcommittee. And that's back to you, Mr. Vieira. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. The long range planning and public property subcommittee met on Monday, March 23rd, 2026 at 12 p.m. Location was 2 Hamilton Street, room 320, Taunt, Mass. Subcommittee is myself, Dr. Gregory Dlo, and Mr. Louisa. Also present at the subcommittee meeting was Superintendent John Cabraw. Director of Facilities Mach Freighus, BCC Vice President of Administration and Finance Steve Kenyon, BCC President Cedric, Dr. Cedric Harrison, and

103Executive Director of Economic Development Jay Petus. Also in attendance uh was Mrs. Christine Fagan and private citizen Tim Avalino. The meeting was called to order at 12. First item on the agenda was Bristol Community College request. The subcommittee discussed Bristol Community College's request to remain at Hamilton Street location during ongoing renovation work. General considerations included timeline coordination and space utilization motion to extend BCC's lease through was made and uh was approved 3 nothing. Next item on the agenda was to Hamilton Street project update. An update was provided on demolition progress, ongoing construction work in coordination with the Massachusetts School Building Authority. Motion was made to receive and place a report on file. The motion passed three nothing. Item three on the agenda was ths softball restroom updates. The subcommittee reviewed early planning efforts, including an

104updated design and site review. After discussion, motion was made to receive and replace uh the report on file. That passed 3 nothing. The fourth item on the agenda was Cohanet school building third floor discussion. The subcommittee held a general discussion on potential uses and planning consideration for the third floor of the Cohan School building. A motion was made to authorize the administration to submit a funding request for EMR in collaboration with Bristol Community College to renovate the third floor. Additionally, the administration is authorized to formally discuss financing this project by utilizing funds from Taton Public Schools revolving account in partnership with the city of Taton's capital improvement fund. Motion was made and seconded and the vote passed 3 nothing. Fifth item on the agenda was a summer street update. Uh an update was provided regarded

105permitting code requirements and next steps including potential appeals and cost consideration. Motion to receive and place on file was made and seconded. The motion passed three nothing. Sixth item on the agenda was board of health inspection report update. The subcommittee reviewed updates on completed inspections. There are still several schools that have not been fully inspected yet, but the outcome was positive and there were no violations to date. Superintendent Caball, >> very detailed report. Excellent. Just I caught one little mistake. Okay. Mrs. Moyahan was in attendance, too. >> Oh, excuse me. That's that's my error. I apologize. Thank you, Superintendent. >> The seventh item on the agenda was Totten Girl softball league utilities discussion. The subcommittee discussed general considerations related to utilities and coordination with external partners. Motion was made to receive in place uh the

106discussion on file. and it was approved 3 nothing. The meeting adjourned at 12:50 and that concludes my lengthy long range planning and public property subcommittee report. And I have to say it was uh one of the the best well attended subcommittee meetings that I've been to uh my time as a school committee member and I enjoyed the work very much. So, thank you. >> You win the prize for the most agenda items. Motion to receive and adopt the recommendations of the long-range planning and public property subcommittee. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Opposed. The eyes have it. Thank you. Next is the subcommittee um the space utilization subcommittee by Mr. Powski. >> Uh thank you, Madam Chair. Um today, April 1st, 2026, the space utilization subcommittee uh was meeting was held. Um, in attendance

107were the space cadetses, myself as chair, Mrs. Shave, and Mrs. Fagan. Others in attendance was superintendent John Cabraw, Parker Middle School principal Michael Byron, um, Taton High School principal Dr. John Harrison, and Taton High School assistant principal Carol Leno. Uh, meeting was held at Elizabeth Pole uh, elementary school. was called to order at uh 8:02 a.m. Uh this was the subcommittee's inaugural meeting focused on aligning facility use across the district in preparation for the transition to the Hamilton Street building and the resulting impacts on Parker Middle School and Taon High School. To support this work, a Hamilton Street task force has been established and will meet bi-weekly to maintain momentum towards a fall 2027 opening for the new Parker Middle School at the Hamilton Street site. Uh planning for the Hamilton Street facility is well

108underway. The first and second floors have been largely configured to support Parker Middle School's academic teaming model with deliberate attention to classroom grouping, sightelines, and shared instructional spaces. Space utilization is being intentionally planned for core academics, English learner programming, and unified arts, including potential reconfigurations were appropriate. Key operational components such as cafeteria flow, staff collaboration areas, and student support spaces are still being refined to ensure efficient daily operations. The third floor is being held as flexible space to accommodate future district needs. uh site logistics. Site planning includes designated and clearly separated bus and parent dropoff areas to improve traffic flow along with adequate parking for staff and visitors. Previous traffic challenges have been reviewed to in to inform improvements to arrival and dismissal procedures. So big problems we used to have at Coil Cassidy were

109parent drop off, buses picking up and dropping off in the street. Um they've come up with a plan to make sure that all of that happens in the parking lot which will be a huge huge positive impact to the to the neighborhood. Uh so Ton High School opportunities. So the obviously the relocation of Parker Middle School to Hamilton Street creates a significant opportunity at Ton High School. The vacated space will allow for more strategic use of facilities to address capacity constraints, enhance academic programming, and improve alignment of student support services. While planning is ongoing, the intent is to better organize grade level programming, expand elective and pathway offerings, and increase access to shared learning spaces. Uh grade 8 transition. So the key focus of the meeting uh uh delivered by principal uh Harrison and assistant

110principal Leno is the grade 8 transition. Um the propos the the proposal is that uh Parker Middle School will now become the grade 8 house so e house for 8th grade. uh they'll use that model at the at the old Parker Middle School which provides developmentally appropriate environment while maintaining access to high school level opportunities. This approach avoids the double transition and strengthens students connection to the high school community. Um stakeholder feedback has been quite positive with approximately 75% of the parents and students supporting the plan and 67% of staff expressing support. Operational considerations to support this model include scheduling, lunch structures, staffing, and targeted professional development were also discussed. The Taon High School is going to be moving from six lunches to three lunches um with this move. So that is going to be

111a tremendous impact to the students. Um so long-term considerations, the subcommittee reviewed uh longerterm facility opportunities including the potential uh renovation of Cohan Schools. uh the Cohen building's third floor to expand class to to expand uh classroom or office space um and possibly a collaboration with Bristol Community College in the future. Um next steps, the work represents a coordinated district-wide effort to maximize facility use in the support of student experience, program quality, and long-term growth. planning will continue and recommendations will be brought forward to the full committee as they're developed. Um, so I just have to say, uh, you know, Principal Byron and his team at Parker Middle School have done an amazing job really being proactive, getting buyin from all the different teachers. Um, really understand the impact on the community because obviously lifting

112a whole school moving across the city is a big deal. Um and then uh principal Harrison and assistant principal uh Bleno have done an amazing job thinking about planning of what how to best use uh the vacated Parker Middle School. Uh a place to really uh bring in the new eighth graders, make them feel safe, give them a way to transition into Ton High School, uh using the teeming model of of of middle school and allowing them to transition to the high school while utilizing all the best things in the high school. So, uh, they've been reaching out to the community, getting feedback. It's not all done in a vacuum and it's not just one person's idea. It's collectively everybody's idea. So, really appreciate the hard work of everybody involved as well as Superintendent Caball

113and his team. So, uh, the meeting was adjourned at 9:13 a.m. And that concludes my report. Thank you. >> Motion to receive and adopt the recommendations of the space utilization subcommittee. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Opposed? The eyes have it. Okay, back to you, Mr. Vieiraa. High School Subcommittee. >> Thank you, uh, Madame Chair. The high school subcommittee met today, April 1st, 2026 at 4:50 p.m. Subcommittee is myself as chair Dr. Gregory Dlo, Miss Christine Fagan. Also in attendance was superintendent Cabraw, assistant superintendent Christopher Bara, and principal Mrs. Elizabeth Rodriguez. Tonight I'm reporting out on Taton Public Virtual Academyy's FY26 school improvement plan. TPVA is a single district virtual school servicing students grades 8 through 12. Many students in enroll have a historic a history of chronic absenteeism, disengagement or social emotional challenges.

114So the plan is to intentionally design uh intentionally designed to support re-engage belonging and measurable growth over time. The plan is organized around three primary focus areas social emotional learning and student belonging. TPVA will continue implementing the wayfinder curriculum and monitoring students sense of belonging using vocals survey data solace screening tools. The school will also establish a student leadership group and expand community building opportunities including connected Thursdays to strengthen relationships and increase student engagement in a virtual environment. Next item is attendance for students engagement. Attendance is a central priority for the plan. Strategies include daily monitoring using school brain and virtual participation data. Uh consistent implementation of attendance follow-up protocol. Increased family outreach through community liaison incentives and advisory based supports given the population success will be measured by individual student improvement in attendance with

115goals of increase overall attendance and reducing chronic absenteeism. Next thing is instructional quality and professional development. The plan also includes targeted professional development to strengthen virtual teaching practices. This includes monthly staff collaboration opportunities and professional learning focused on increase in student participation and engagement in both synchronous and asynchronous settings. Academic progress will continue to be monitored through Ire diagnostics uh course completion data MCCAST performance with a focus on incremental gains and ELA math and science. Overall, Taton Public Virtual Academy school improvement plan reflects a flexible student- centered model designed to meet the needs of our unique population with a strong emphasis on belonging, engagement, and continuous improvement. Motion was made uh to accept the plan and place it on file three to nothing and the meeting adjourned at 5:25. That concludes my report. >> Thank

116you. Motion to accept the report and place an offer. >> Second. All in favor? >> Opposed? The eyes have it. Um the last subcommittee report is finance and law. Dr. Dlo, please. >> Thank you, Chair Shuffs. Uh the finance and law subcommittee met earlier this evening uh consisting of uh Mr. Vieira, Mrs. Shaves, and myself as chair. Uh the first item on the agenda was the Taton High School uh student activity request. Uh basically it's just a uh process of replenishing the student activity fund. Everything was in order that voted uh was passed unanimously 3 nothing. Uh the next item was a coaching for change uh warrant. Uh the amount that was provided to us in the amount of $6,7716 is still well well within the $51,000 budget allocated. We still have a remaining balance

117of $13,41420 for coaching for change. Uh supporting documentation was included. There were no questions and that vote passed unanimously. 3 nothing. Uh the next item on the agenda was a penny policy. Uh this is not just uh for the Tom Public Schools. It's going to be citywide. Uh just yesterday at TMLP meeting, we had the same policy uh to be voted on by the U. Commissioners. And of course, it's going to be adopted citywide. There's going to be much education going forward of if it's the the rounding off below 5 cents, above 5 cents. So, of course, stay tuned for that in the future as a citizen. And of course, for our students and parents and families uh regarding the payments of meals and other items that they pay for uh at the stores and

118so forth. Uh that was just received in place on file, voting unanimously, 3 nil. Uh the next item was a special education expense service warrant. Uh this one did g garner a little bit of discussion. Uh the reason is is that we finally got three past invoices uh provided to us. The December 25th invoice in the amount of $8,745.50, the January 26th invoice for the amount of $7,38840. and the February 26 invoice in the amount of $7,81510. As the committee knows, we budgeted $50,000 for this line item. Uh if we incorporate the past expense through November of 2025, that was $39,427.84. Adding these three invoices put us at $63,376.84. And uh as I proceed with the uh continuation finance and law report, I will address this uh during the warrant portion. So that was basically

119the uh memorandum provided to us from the Lions group uh Lions Law Group for services rendered. The next item was a Stonem Chandler Miller LLP rate change. Uh the rate change was minor. It's going from $240 an hour to $250 an hour, which I think is a bargain for the representation we're getting with this law firm. Uh that was received in place on file uh unanimously 3 nil. And the last item was the bill's payable amount in the amount of $983,74.75. And this is where we had to split out some uh warrants. Uh one was due to a conflict of interest with one of the committee members. So, uh, the vote was taken as following. Uh, the first warrant was in the amount of 966,132.25. Uh, that excluded, uh, an item on page 20 for

120voucher number 27020 in the amount of $1,740. And the two bills payable for uh, January and February for the Lions Law Group of $15,23.50. That was voted on and passed uh, by the committee. Uh the next item that we voted on was uh on page 20, voucher number 27020 in the amount of $1,740. The vote was two yays, one present. So that motion passed. And the last item could be found on page 17. Uh the warrant once again for the month of February, I'm sorry, January and February in the amount of $15,23.50 and that vote did not pass. It was one yay, two nays. So that was uh the items that took place this evening and that concludes my report. >> Motion to accept the report and adopt the recommendations of the finance and law

121subcommittee. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. The eyes have it. Thank you everybody with your subcommittee reports. Now we're moving on to I which is new business. Um number one is to Hamilton Street Building Committee update. So, we've already discussed this somewhat, so I won't go into too much detail, but if you go to the middle of the memo, uh, I've established a district-wide Hamilton Street relocation task force. We're going to focus on seven priorities, instruction and academic continuity, operations and facilities, transportation, logistics, staffing and labor considerations, technology and infrastructure, family and community engagement, and students experience in school culture. As we prepare for the arrival of John F. PA middle school students and staff in the fall of 2027. I also wanted to share with the committee that we had our

122f our first official MSBA kickoff meeting which was also held on March 23rd and I apologize if I miss anyone so please let me know if I do. I believe Mrs. Fagan was there to represent the school committee. Dr. Dlo was there to represent the school committee as was Mr. Be. So, thank you for taking the time to be with us. As we kicked off the meeting with the owners, project manager and the architect that'll be overseeing the project. City council president Barry Sanders was also there with principal Byron Mayor O Connell and her administrative team as well as a leadership team. So, we are super excited to have this project underway and the owner's project manager anticipates having this project completed uh summer of 2027 which lines up really well with our timeline to

123relocate the building. So again, new doors, new windows, 80 cents on the dollar. It's just that that building is going to truly go through uh an amazing renovation. And did I miss anybody in attendance? >> Okay, that that includes that that report >> wishes of the committee. >> Motion to receive and place on file. >> Second. >> Did you want a discussion? No, >> something to say after we >> Okay. Um um so second it all in favor. >> Opposed eyes have it. Mr. V. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to make uh the committee aware that the long range plan and public property subcommittee will be meeting in the near future to discuss uh the parking lots and roadways going into Taton High School and uh other property uh school properties in

124the city. So, uh, if you're on the subcommittee, please be on the lookout for communication from myself and the superintendent. Thank you. >> Very good. >> Thank you. Any other new business? M >> M Madam Chair, if I may, um, I had reached out to the athletic subcommittee chair and the superintendent regarding an athletic subcommittee uh meeting. I don't know if that's uh being in the planning stages. If the chair could let us know if if that's being scheduled. >> Say that again. >> The athletic subcommittee. I reached out to the athletic subcommittee chair and the superintendent regarding a uh an athletic subcommittee meeting. We haven't had one in a long time and I just wanted to um get the brains together and find out if that's going to happen or not. >> Okay. Thank

125you, Miss Santos, you had some new business. >> Yes. Thank you, chairperson. Um uh Shabs, I I wanted to hopefully um get a motion to put something on the agenda for next week. Uh this is regarding um it just seems maybe some confusion and miscommunication about um how agendas are posted um on the top public website. Um I we had gone through this with one of the rules subcommittee that had to be cancelled because it wasn't posted within 48 hours. Uh but then my understanding was that they are posted but they're only posted at city hall and then as it just seems inconsistent because a lot of them even today's uh agenda was not posted on top public schools website before I came. >> Just for the record there was no violation. >> No, I'm

126not saying there was. I think >> just for the record. >> Yeah, >> there was no violation. The meetings were posted. Jen Ledger provided provided us with the receipts acknowledging that the meetings were posted and that the meetings could have been held just for clarity for the public. Yes, but not for that rules subcommittee. >> It met the timeline. >> That's why we had to postpone it was because it didn't not the school not the curriculum and instruction one. >> There was one that was there was one that was cancelled >> because of illness. Correct. >> That was last week. >> Yeah. >> The one before that was canceled because it wasn't >> Miss Johnson incidentally did not post it. >> Okay. Well, either way, I think I I would like uh to be able

127to have a broader conversation about it to uh to clarify where these agendas are posted and and really just recommend that they should be posted within 48 hours on the Tom Public website as well too. So, if anybody would provide me with a motion for that. >> I just I have a question. >> Do you have a question? >> I just No, I just have a qu is like I don't know if this is a a a policy change. I'm just trying to figure out what I'm voting on cuz the superintendent said that we're following state law with our postings. So, is are we voting on something that supersedes state law? I'm just trying to would that be a policy change? >> So, two things. So, Miss Santos is correct. One posting was not filed

128within 48 hours. So, it did have to get cancelled. That error was clerical and was addressed in the office. The second item that I'm discussing is that we're not required to post our agendas online as long as we share with Miss Ledger. you met the requirement. It's a meeting held in the public, not for the public. So, the public has the opportunity to attend the meeting. You receive the materials 48 hours in advance and Miss Johnson then post the agenda on the websites afterwards. But once the city receives the the packet or the the posting, it's an official meeting. It can be held. >> Anything else? >> That's all for now. I just again want to be clear what I'm voting on. >> Okay. Dr. Dlo. >> Madam Chair. Thank you, Superintendent. I I understand

129that it's it's it's legally posted and we file all requirements. It's a convenience for the public. We have a wonderful website. We've invested thousands and thousands of dollars. Uh when we send it to city hall, uh whoever does it could put it on our website. It >> right. But you're you're you're saying that you're saying that you're legal. It's a convenience to the public. That's all we're saying. Nothing else. >> Right. But meeting the legal requirements is fine, but we need to be transparent. and and and I get calls and I also get calls >> convenience and legal two separate matters. >> Okay, but do we we're legal fine but do we want to be convenient to our families? >> Super. I'm not here to dis argue. I'm here I'm here as a school committee

130member also replying to my constituents that call me and ask me why it's not posted on this on the school committee website. That's all. Nothing else. I was clarifying superintendent was a clerical error. >> I I would probably expect from you to say yes, we'll work on it and correct it basically and not defend >> that it was a clerical error that's been addressed. >> Superintendent, it's not the first time. With all due respect, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> We don't in a world of perfection. >> Thank you. >> Uh if I could Sorry, what did he say? We don't operate in a world of perfection. They're going to be >> superintendent. With all due respect, we're not saying that anybody's incompetent at doing their job. We're asking for something that is duly

131right to our citizens of Taton and our parents >> saying is because it wasn't posted on our website. It doesn't mean we couldn't hold the meeting. >> Right. But that's not the that's not the subject matter. >> Thank you, Chair. >> Let's let's go back to Miss Santos. >> Yes, please. >> I am asking if we can have a conversation about the possibility of changing a policy to where we post them within 48 hours on the top >> public. We don't have to change the policy. We'll be posting within 48 hours. this that conversation's been had, Miss Johnson. >> Okay. I'm So I'm just curious why they're not on there now. >> I will ask her why it's not there. Okay. When I see her. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> so then there's

132no need for any kind of discussion or >> I was going to say we can circle back on the new business next week, next meeting. And >> if you can give me an update after talking to Miss Johnson. >> Johnson. >> Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Um >> Miss Santos, I mean Miss Mullen, sorry. Um I through you, Madam Chair. Um I would just like to bring a clarification point on the iPads. Um like Dr. Dlo said, I've been getting calls from our constituents thinking that we voted on getting iPads personally to us rather than through the schools. Um these iPads are paid for. They are school property. We are using them like the other administrators are for school committee um work. Our emails, our um agendas, our minutes will

133all be housed on the iPads. Um I got a pretty upsetting message from somebody who's like, "Oh, so now you guys are getting um personal iPads." And I said, "They're not personal. It's just like your corporate device." Um, so I just wanted clarification that we did not vote to get personal iPads. Um, they are property of Taton Public Schools. It is so we can go into any school and be on the network. Um, and have our emails in case there is an open meeting violation and our devices have to be whatever happens. Um, and I would like to say that this was suggested by our legal counsel too. So just for clarification, >> thank you Dr. Dlo. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Through you, are we not getting the paper versions anymore if we don't

134have an iPad because I don't want an iPad. I don't want to spend $500 to get an iPad. I get very well paid as a school committee member and I can afford an iPad. So we not getting any more paper forms. >> You are still getting the paper forms. >> I just want to clear clear that. >> But the clarification what these are not our own personal devices. I mean, we can all buy our own personal devices. If we wanted these are devices that are owned by the city of the school department when we're no longer on the school committee, they would go back to the school department. But it allows us to house all of our documents because honestly, I have to access something on my personal device at home. And if there was

135a violation and they had to come take my computer, not only would they take my computer, but they would take the computer that my husband happens to run his business on also. So, you know, everybody who has a personal computer, they may have children and are using it or they may be using it for business or personal reasons and now you get an open um violation where they have to pull your personal device and now I would lose the device that our entire family uses. So, the um we did clear this up with our with our lawyers that they highly recommended that we had a email through the district which many of you have already changed. I know I didn't have one, so I've changed it to have a district email. And this device will

136also be able to house the the um protection because on our own personal devices, they couldn't necessarily put the protections that they have in the district. So all of the security will be put on there and and Miss Mullen is right, when we go into schools now, we will have access to the internet, which is something that we have a hard time with when we're having meetings. So, it was just a clarification because it appeared out in the public that somehow we were getting personal devices and we just wanted to clear that up. >> Thank you for clarifying the point of the paper still coming along. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> There also is a savings. >> Yes, >> Mr. Mr. We pay people to drive throughout the city. >> We pay

137people to drive throughout the city. Miss Johnson spent about three hours putting the packet together. when you use when you think about the amount of time carbon footprint. But again, if somebody wants to go paperless, we're we're actually going to be saving money, reducing the amount of time Nick Dosta and the other groundskeepers spend driving the packet throughout the city. So that is the point and that was the point 15 years ago when Dr. Hackett attempted this with the school committee then. So again, I think it's a good thing and it's it does provide a level of protection and um and a level of protection to all the board members in the district. Thank you, Madam Chair, if I may. Uh, we we do have access to the online version through our personal phones, our

138personal laptops, our personal iPads. So, there is still access, superintendent, for us if we don't have an iPad issued through the school department, right? Because the way you just interpreted the about the paper seems like, you know, we don't have access to the online version, which we do. I do at least. I don't know if anybody else does. It's a safe emergency. >> As long as you know as long as it's posted online, we'll have access to it. If it's posted on Friday, we'll have access to it. >> So, as long as we correct that problem, we would be great. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Dr. Dlo. Okay. On to Jay. Unfinished business. We've got one letter from the city auditor on two Hamilton Street funds. I believe this provides clarification from Ian

139Foris who is a city auditor who addressed this letter uh to chairperson Shaves and myself regarding the fund transition of two Hamilton Street. So Mr. Foris provides us with a timeline dating back to December 19, 2023 where he establishes the establishment of the city municipal property revolving account. Uh he provides the account number for two Hamilton Street less receipts and ex and expenditures. On October 29, 2024, the city council voted to transfer to Hamilton Street to the school department. Through February of 25, all revenues and expenses continued to be recorded in the city revolving fund. It was in March of 2025 that the first lease lease payment posted to the TPS revolving fund and then all subsequent payments have been made. recorded to this account in May of 2025. First expenses recorded by the Ton

140Public Schools revolving fund were charged and then June of 25 to the end of fiscal 25. Certain expenses continue to be charged to the charged to the city revolving fund including trash collection and there was somebody who was c was on payroll through park and rec being paid through this account. So due to the continuation of expenditures in the city's revolving fund and revenues being shifted to the Tom public schools fund, there was an outstanding deficit in the city's fund as of June 30, 2025. To correct this, two general entries were executed to transfer funds for the top public schools fund to the city's fund. I notified the TPS business office of these general entries and the resulting balances on August third August 1st, 2025. After posting the said entries, the following were the balances

141as of the close of fiscal 25. Municipal light municipal property rental revolving fund was zeroed out and then the two Hamilton revolving fund which the school department overseas was came in at $31,412.86. The decision not to perform a balance transfer in March of 25 was intentional according for Mr. afford us as doing so would have required a large reversal once outstanding expenses posted. It was best to let the dust settle in his opinion and see what the balances laid at the end of fiscal 25. And if there's other additional information or detailed reports requested by the committee, Mr. Foris would be happy to provide it. So I believe this answers the question that was raised by the board. >> Question Dr. Dell. >> Thank you chair. Uh superintendent. Unfortunately, it does not. My original request

142was year-to- date. So, this takes us through the end of FY25, which according to me ended uh June 30th of 2025, right? So, we're in FY26. So, basically, we're 9 months into FY26, and the numbers you're giving us was for the close of FY25. So, my original request, and I make it in the form of a motion, I'd like to get a yearto date. We have 25 now. FY26. I I I believe last time I asked for it was through February because of course we're now in April. We couldn't have March numbers. So my motion is to get a year to date, a fiscal year to date from July 1 of 2025 through in this case March 31 of 2026. And and then going forward maybe a quarterly update on the building because now we

143have a lot of moving parts. Uh and that's in a form of a motion. Any second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> oppose. >> Yes. >> Do we have Do I have to do a >> I would do a roll call. >> Do a roll call vote. >> That wasn't clear. Yeah. >> Who's asking for a roll call vote? >> I said, do I have to do a roll call vote? >> The mot was clear was seven uh 8 to one. I mean 7 to one, but that's okay. >> Someone asked for a roll call. >> Question I have. So all the NIC is that the auditor give us an update current update. That's all we're asking. >> That's that's my understanding. >> Yeah. But the May I madam chair was a

144motion >> back to you Dr. Dela find out what >> my original request from the superintendent was to get a yearto date whatever it was either a fiscal year whatever through the end of February the report that's provided to us that the superintendent says satisfied the request does not satisfy the request because this report ends FY25 so we're now 9 months into FY26. Now, in the form of a motion, I'm asking for a fiscal year to date through the end of March 31st and then moving forward a quarterly update. So, the next report would come out January, February, March, April, May, June, and then three months after. So, quarterly updates on the building. >> Can I just get a clarification if I may, Madam Chair? So, I I thought the point, and correct me if

145I'm wrong, if I misunderstood because I'm human, that was to identify why there was a $25,000 discrepancy. >> Mr. for us in this memo explains why there was a $25,000 discrepancy because there were still charges that the city was incurring that they had to charge against the city's revolving account to balance out the city's charges that continued through fiscal 25. So starting on fiscal 26, you had a balance of 31,000 plus the receipts that were collected that I provided you in February as you stated. So that's the point of hit this report was to explain the discrepancy that you identified when you went back and did all the deposits. Well, I yeah that's what that I mean again again our duties and responsibilities is is budget right superend he explained >> right but that's not

146my original request he >> I understood that to be the >> no you can go back and check the tape >> my original request was a year to date I mean again now this is not >> was not an issue >> I'm sorry >> the $25,000 >> absolutely absolutely is a discrepancy but but this this is this doesn't address what you gave us that was at the time here today it wasn't FY25 You couldn't even answer when we took over the building. Superintendent couldn't >> and I had to reach out to to the city clerk to get all the documents of course that he explains here which is absolutely accurate. Superintendent I I don't want to be I don't want to be argumentative. Superintendent, I'm just asking for a a >> what I'm clear is

147we've addressed the deficit. You're satisfied with the deficit. >> No, I'm not. >> We're not. So this his memo does not satisfy the deficit. >> This memo satisfies FY25 superintendent >> the deficit. He explains that in this memo. >> Superintendent, please please don't don't mix words. Okay. The motion is on the floor. Is that correct, Madam Chair? >> Can you clarify your motion? >> The motion is to get a yearto date, a fiscal year to date which started July 1st of 2025 through the end of March. So now we're in April. So through through March 31st. >> Exactly what's explained here. Income and expense. Simple. It's income and expense. Nothing nothing crazy. How about we bring How about we make >> Superintendent, please? With all due respect, >> you're being childish. >> Dr. Demell, >>

148you're being I have the floor and you're interrupting me, superintendent. >> With all due respect, >> last person who called me childish was my mother. >> Superintendent, you're disrespectful. Okay. >> I think maybe you should bring Mr. >> Madam motion. Let's >> point of the motion, if I may. >> Yes. I I made a second to the motion only to first of all clarify the the $25,000 discrepancy. >> Does this meet that criteria to this point? >> Madam Chair, the vote was already taken. Am I correct? >> No. No. No vote was taken. >> Yes, it was. >> Yeah, it was. >> It was taken. >> Debating whether to It passed seven to one. >> I mean, >> it was a roll call. We asked for a roll call. >> I didn't hear anybody ask

149for a roll call. That's where That's where we're at. >> Right. Exactly. Well, can can we Okay. Well, as far as this communication, if this answers the question to the $25,000 discrepancy, can we accept this as a motion to accept and place on file and then make a motion that we need to have it more current? >> Madam Chair, the only way to take the motion off the table, so I take the motion. I'm not taking the motion off the table. It's been seconded. It's been voted on. So, I think we have to act, Madam Chair. >> Okay. So, so can you clarify the motion again? >> The motion was >> to get an update from the start of FY26, which started July 1st of 2025, through the end of March 31st of 2026, which

150is 9 months into the fiscal year. Okay? We have no All I'm looking for is an income expense from that period forward. And then moving forward, a quarterly update on the two Hamilton Street property. Again, income and expense, very simple, nothing crazy. We don't need a city auditor. We don't need a CPA. >> Okay, >> that's all. Thank you, Dr. So, we've had a motion and we've had second it and it is passed. >> So, the motion will be to have an income and expense report for fiscal um FY26, but to Hamilton Street and then therefore afterwards you would like quarterly reports and that's what we voted. >> That's correct. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Moving forward, the next thing we're going to do for unfinished business is discuss the

151Tauntton abroad London Paris field trip update. >> So, we reached out to legal counsel and this is the explanation that they provided regarding the options. So, the op the options are there for you to review and Mr. Barado did some work with the high school staff. There are four 15 students who are planning who had signed up to attend on the trip. Uh they were surveyed recently to see if they had changed their mind regarding recent circumstances in the area they were planning to visit. So of the 15 students, 11 said yes that they would like to continue or plan to attend. Our four students said no that they're no longer planning to attend. Uh and I believe they understand the ramifications if they cancel. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Marada. So, with 11 students

152uh still and families still on board of attending, uh it it's now it falls on the school committee and whether or not the school committee wants to uh approve the trip knowing that 11 families are fine with traveling. Perhaps the school committee may want to put some other ramifications in place to protect the committee after speaking to legal counsel. But this is the recommendations of the attorney after doing their due diligence and reviewing the contract and then we surveyed the families of the 15 11 still plan to attend four no longer wish to attend and they understand the ramifications >> wishes of the committee or discussion questions. >> So of the four that are reneggging on going on the trip do they get what percentage they get on their refund? half. >> No, 50%. >>

15350%. >> of what they paid. >> And so would the company 11 be inactive still to want to go? >> They would still go. >> That's correct. And and the refund would be based upon whatever plan they bought into. I just don't have that document here. >> And would the company because the four withdrew, would the company ask for additional funds for those that are going? >> No, they're not. They wouldn't have to make up the difference of the four not going. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Who else had a question? >> Miss Mullen. >> Um, so the four families that aren't going, is there reasoning for what's going on in Iran? Is that >> and around the world or is >> Yeah. One uh one family did not provide did no answer. One family

154just wrote the dates June 22nd to June 29th. I'm not sure what that means. >> They're still in school, right? >> Well, one of the questions was if you want to go later in the year, would you do that? That one family said June 22 29 and actually suggested Niagara Falls. Um, you had the supervisors, the chaperones unable to go later in the season along with other families, the seniors and such who already planned out I guess the remainder of their son based upon this time frame. >> Thank you, Mr. >> Further questions. >> Question. So the legal council is recommending that we do a cancel for any reason policy. >> No, they're not recommending it. They just provided they analyzed the contract and laid provided the committee with the potential options and the ramifications.

155Should you take action? >> That's what Yeah, that's so what do we need whether we approve it? >> So my recommendation again just one recommendation the committee can decide differently. If 11 families feel safe in sending their students on this trip, then I would say that the committee approved the trip. If the 11 families feel comfortable going, knowing the ramifications and knowing that it's a level two all over the country and knowing that it that something did happen and the committee canceled, they're going to if the committee decides to cancel, then we got to figure out how to make them whole if the committee makes that decision. >> Mr. Vieira, >> thank you, Madam Chair. I agree with the superintendent. I think it's a a family decision. And I think if the families are comfortable

156going, then I'm comfortable approving it. But I'm just I'm one member of a body that makes decisions together collectively. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Dr. Dell. >> Madam Chair, I believe this trip is already approved. We've already approved it as a school committee. >> We have not the final approval. >> Not the final approval. >> No. >> Okay. >> If I can say something. Thank you for the clarity. Would I think I would be more comfortable if we um talked to legal about maybe having some kind of waiver that the parents of the 11 um are going saying that they understand that what is going on right now may not be to the the best that we believe in. But if the parents are willing to take on the trip for their students,

157then you know we would we would allow it. whatever legal jargon that our lawyers tell us to do, but sort of have them sign off on some kind of waiver. I don't know. It's just something. >> Has that discussion been had with the families? >> Not that particular. No. >> Okay. So, good idea. >> Maybe something like that. >> I would move the motion to approve subject to discussion with the legal person to have some kind of a sign off with the parents. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. I'm voting I'm voting present, Madam Chair. And the reason I'm voting present is that we're going to get screwed no matter what because last time we got screwed $80,000 by a situation that was COVID. So, I'm voting present for that reason. Thank you.

158>> Well, thank you. Okay, so the eyes have it. Thank you. >> Anything on the action item update? I spoke with Peter Buffington and he is awaiting delivery of the AED devices and I believe the committee will be getting an invitation to attend opening day at the Ton girls softball league. So, uh we hopefully should have that item removed shortly. >> Thank you. Any >> motion to adjourn?