Taunton School Committee...March 4th, 2026 (LIVE BROADCAST)

001Good evening. The Finance and Law Subcommittee will come to order. I'll start out with roll call. Mr. Shaw? Present. And Chairman D'Amelio, present. Uh the first item on the agenda is the district membership policy, see attached. Uh this arose, I guess, because uh I don't know which committee member, maybe it was me, wanted to better understand how we become members of different organizations throughout the city. And Superintendent Cabral, is that for you or Mrs. Monahan? >> I'll let Mr. Cabral answer. >> It's fine. Yeah, this was uh in response to a question that was raised by by a board member regarding uh what how do how do school committee members or how do members of the administration become members of organizations? So, I researched the policy and it does state how school board members uh

002what memberships you can participate in. And again, there is flexi- flexibility for the committee to support memberships that advance governance, leadership development, and district interests, provided they serve a clear professional and organizational purpose. And currently, Mr. Barreto and I I I'm a member of Kiwanis, which I believe the Kiwanis Club also has an affiliation with the Taunton High School Key Club. And Mr. Barreto is a member of the Rotary Club, and the Rotary Club has an affiliation with the Interact Club of Taunton High School. So, if there is a desire for the committee to participate with other organizations, I think that would be appropriate to put that in the form of a motion, have a vote, and then we can identify a central office employee, or possibly a school board member to serve on that

003committee. Excellent. >> organization. And do do organizations solicit solicit us once in a while, or is it us outreaching to them? Uh since I've been superintendent, I have not been solicited to participate in organizations. >> Wonderful. Good. So, Mrs. Shaw, do you have any questions? No, thank you. I make a motion we accept this report and place on file. I'll second that. All in favor? I. Next item of business is use of facility see attached. Mrs. Monahan, good evening. Thank you, Dr. D'Amelio. Good evening. Um you will see here again this is something similar that we provide each month if there is a an outside organization that would like to use our facilities and we charge rental custodian and if needed police, fire, and a facility manager. Excellent. Wishes of the committee? Accept the report

004and place on file. I'll second that. All in favor? I. I's have it. Uh next item of business is transportation bid award see attached. And Mrs. Monahan, back to you. Thank you, Dr. D'Amelio. So, as you remember on uh February 24th, we had received six bids um that were received before the required deadline. Um It is for a 5-year bus and van transportation contract and um our transportation consultant didn't go ahead and send out the bid to 63 prospective bidders. Upon initial review, the bids submitted by the following vendors were determined to be defective and non-responsive due to material deficiencies in the meeting of the requirements. Nevin's Transportation, Brian Royce Transportation, RG Services, Act child transportation. So, based out of that, so the remaining two bids that were determined to be responsible and re and

005and responsible and responsive bidders would be NRT Bus and H&L Bloom. Again, these are the numbers that were reflected in red at the time of the bid opening. NRT Bus with a 5-year bid amount was $68,539,504.04. >> [snorts] >> H&L Bloom, so that for the 5-year bid amount came in at $67,122,850, which is a difference of 1.4 million dollars being that HNL Bloom would be the recommended awarding for the 5-year bus and van contract. And then you will see there the breakdown of the contract itself what it reflected to be the 67 million. Please understand that where you see the 25 26 current number that's a projected number and that's just a snapshot of where we are currently and that's why it looks a little different than what it looks like it's a negative amount.

006If you're comparing that for the bid amount. The reason being is as you know transportation will go up and down throughout the school year due to the number of special ed students coming in and out of the district. So those numbers fluctuate and that number there was current number was a snapshot in a current period of time. Excellent. Thank you. Mr. Shawbs, anything? Uh I think I make a motion to award the bid of HNL Bloom Inc. in the amount of 67,122,850. I'll second that on discussion. So a couple things. >> [clears throat] >> Are these firm bids? Is there any inflation uh calculators involved on year two, year three, year four, year five due to fuel, due to a multitude of different things? Are these firm numbers? These are firm numbers but always again

007as you remember in our budgets workshops what we usually do is we take the cola transportation cola each year. So this might be a projection to it but then they have to go ahead and do a cola amount. So sometimes it could be a little bit less or so sometimes it could be a little bit more but that is exactly what we usually do. They provide you a forecasted bid and those numbers do fluctuate with the transportation cola that we have to follow. Okay. So, I've been here for 8 years. I don't remember seeing that before. What What is What is that number? I mean, it's got to be part of a contract. You just can't make it up. Right. It is Correct. It is a straight bid, and I apologize. You're correct, uh Mr.

008Mr. Cabral. It is a straight bid, but eventually what happens is we do have to put in a cola as we go through the year after year for transportation. Okay. So, so unlike previous bids where we were going to use the New England or the North American cola adjustment, this was a straight bid. So, you it will not fluctuate up if cola is high, it will not fluctuate down. These were locked The The colas were locked in for the 5 years. What What you don't see in these numbers, you won't see McKenney Vento. You won't see You won't see late buses. Okay. Okay. Right. And that's why you see in the the memo that I sent you later later today why the cost may fluctuate because of the extra bus. I mean, I bring that

009up because just in the last few weeks since we've opened these bids, fuel has increased dramatically. And of course, what's going to happen in 5 years? So, we're not No one's going to come back to us. The Bloom Company, which is now the lowest and responsive bidder, will not come back and say, "Hey, we made a mistake, and we need another 2% on year three or year four." That's it. Great. Excellent. Thank you. And the other thing I have, Superintendent shared with us a text message today. Is this part of this or something different? >> That was the request you wanted to see the discussion about transportation costs. That's later? That's later. Okay. Okay, fine. Okay, Mrs. Shaws. Just one question. When you just talked about additional buses, late buses, and and you know, more

010special ed kids, are they locked into a price that they gave in the Yes. Yes. So, if we end up having to add another bus, it has to be based on the pricing that they gave us? >> Correct. It's just of course that bid amount will increase because of the additional >> then we get to control >> who's coming in or who who who we have to give, you know, transportation to. Absolutely. Okay. And back to McKinney-Vento, we have we get money for that, too, right? Yeah, so it's kind of a Yeah, get some of it. Okay, good. So, the motion was made and seconded to award to H&L Bloom Inc. in the amount of $67,122,850. The motion was made and seconded. All in favor? Aye. And since this is dollars, can we have a

011roll call, Mrs. Shaw? >> Okay. Yes. Uh Chairman DeMello, yes. Motion Motion carries. Thank you so much. Next up, we have the P-card, see attached, or procurement card, I should say. Mrs. Monahan? It is P-card. Procurement is P for the P-card. >> the people at home, though. Absolutely. Um again, this is the monthly charge for January of 2026. As you will see, the charges that are there, they're reflected by color. Blue fun Blue are grant-funded. Green are charging to the department's revolving account. Charges in orange are charged to the school's activity account, student activity account. And red are charged to food services. And black are charged to the school budget. So, in January 2026, 15 15,000, sorry, I have the other bid in my mind. $15,958.46 was charged to the P-card. And then the bottom

012snapshot, you will see how it is divided amongst each of the buckets. Okay. Right. What say the committee? I make a motion that we Do we have to accept accept it or what? >> I guess we have to approve it, yeah. >> Okay, just approve it. That we approve the P-card amount for $15,958.48. $46. >> Oh, $46. Sorry. Uh I'll second that. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Eyes have it. Thank you so much. Next item on the agenda, we have the Taunton Area School to Career, also known as TASK, see attached. Mrs. Monahan, or Superintendent Cabral? Or Mr. Barada? I'll take I'll take it and if we need somebody to tap in, they can tap in. So, over the summer, this was this this final memo and this final amount will close out our affiliation

013with TASK for fiscal 26. So, this is work that was performed over the summer and I believe some of the work carried over into the beginning of the school year and has since ended. So, this will be the last time we'll have to pay TASK for fiscal 26. I make a motion to accept this report and place it on file. I'll second on discussion. So, um when we did school committee budgets back in the spring of 2025, am I correct? I thought that we had in this case paused our relationship with this organization effective July 1st. I believe we carried 125,000 for them. And we carried Thank you. I believe we were carrying 125,000 in the budget for TASK and then we severed the relationship to at the start of the school year. In September.

014>> so we'll have a about a $75,000 uh savings after we pay off this last bill moving forward. Okay, but yet these invoices go all the way through December 5th. So, if we severed it in September That was just That was just miscellaneous work that they continued to wrap up with the students that they were serving at the high school. Okay. Mr. Mr. Barada has met with them and met with Dr. Harrison. You'll notice the report is very thorough and very in-depth because we wanted to make sure that we were not being overcharged for the services knowing that this was going to be our last payment with them. So, if you approve the amount of 52,000, we'll make sure this is on the next warrant and that task is paid and that task is made

015whole and that our relationship with task has officially ended as of this payment. Yeah. And just for the the public at home, I have no personal vendetta against task. It's a great organization. I just think that our dollars can go a lot further with doing it in-house and I think it's proven the fact that presentation that we had from CVT folks, Mr. Reposa and Mrs. Hartung, proved exactly that. So, you know, we take that money, we we redesign it, and we still serve our students with internships that are being paid. I think that's very important. I think that's always been my number one reason for kind of not really going this route. So, thank you for that update. >> I could just add to this committee was very forward-thinking and appropriating $85,000 to hire an

016internship coordinator to do this very work. Exactly. So. Once again, I commend the committee for being forward-thinking. Mrs. Shubs. I just would like to add to based on you're saying about that coordinator, I one of the reasons why I really supported what Dr. Devel was talking about, too, is because now we have an in-house person that's working with our students every single solitary day and I think that's important. And I did go through a lot of the services that they're offering and we are providing those in-house and the few things that I think we need to focus on we've had a few discussions about. One was uh driver's ed. So, trying to look at ways that we could provide or reach out to some driver's ed companies locally to see if we could get some

017help for our students. But other than that, it seemed like everything that they were offering us we could do it within house, which builds a strong relationship with our students with the person that's running it, too. Maybe we should get those driver ed classes for some some because the snowstorm is really proven that they need some revisiting to the driver's ed courses. Motion was made and seconded. All in favor? I. Opposed? Eyes have it. Oh, this I'm sorry. This involved money, correct? So, roll call. Mrs. Shaw's, this is back on the motion on the task. >> Roll call on the task. >> $52,000. Uh yep, please. Okay, yes. Uh Chairman DeMello, yes. All in favor? I. Opposed? Eyes have it. Next up we have the disposal of surplus equipment, Friedman Middle School carpentry equipment. Mrs.

018Monahan, please. As you may be aware, we haven't I haven't been using this carpentry equipment in many years. So, we're trying to go ahead and repurpose those classrooms and then deeming these machines um surplus. So, you will see various machines um estimated value at 1,200. The next one could be 100. And these are all uh band saws, sanders, and again, if you want me to go through them very quickly, um a saw for $100, the value of it, a um a 15-in planner, that's $300 value, uh a band saw for $150 value, a chisel, they are $450, and a drill press for $150, and then a wood jointer that is $200. And if the committee approves, what we do is deem these surplus, and we put them on GovDeals, and then hopefully we do um

019sell them, which we have done in the past, and goes and puts into a revolving account. Excellent. Wish of the committee, Mrs. Shaw's? Uh regardless, when they put that up on that Gov is it a um is it a bidding? Yes, so yep, and you have a certain amount of time, and then when the bid is over, the highest bidder wins. Oh, excellent. Yeah, that's what I was I'm to ask. So, excellent. So, I make a motion that we accept this disposal of surplus materials under I estimate a value under $5,000. And in compliance with city procurement and school department laws or policies. Okay. Absolutely. All in favor? I. Opposed? Eyes have it. And the last item on the agenda is bills payable for FY26. It seems like a very small number here. $272,209.41. I

020think it's the smallest Well, it was because of course the blizzard time and there was some times off so that is why it is small so don't worry the next one will be a lot bigger. >> [laughter] >> Uh so open up for questions well, maybe >> a motion to pay this for $272,209.41 on discussion. [snorts] >> second that. Yes, on discussion Mrs. Shaw. Uh page four Um Dougmore and Duncan it says um maintenance of building what building was that? That's the alternative high school. So, Dougmore and Duncan is our vendor for keys and locks. So, that's who you'll see throughout the district and this is for the vestibule that we just created and built in the alternative high school. Excellent. Next one I have is on page five. My question was it was East

021Coast Truck and Trailer for vehicle maintenance. I was I hadn't paid attention so much about how many vehicles do we have? So, this one is for the lights for our plow. So, we have four trucks. One is not working right now and so we've had the blizzard did bump us a little bit. So, but we do have four trucks right now. >> Okay. And the last one I had was Lowe's Yacht Services on page six for $1,400 maintenance of ground where was that? >> at Galligan. That is the the removal of a contract that we have with them. That would be the item we discussed at the last meeting. Oh, the removal of that item. Okay, thank you. Yeah, so Thank you, Dr. Smalls. For for the public at home, that's because we use their

022parking slot and and our agreement is to wipe the snow, clean the snow, whatever you want to call it. But we are coming up in the next season, I think we're going to go out for bid on that. Is that correct, superintendent? >> the parish to solicit quotes. Okay, great. Okay. Since we're putting the bill, I think that's only fair. Good. I only have one Well, I did have that item on page six, Mrs. Shaves. Great minds think alike. Next item I have that I just have a question on is on page nine. Site one landscaping supply for $1,684.80. It says maintenance of grounds system-wide. So, of course we were getting some shortage of salt and sand, so we had to go from an outside vendor that we they didn't have at our local vendor.

023So, this was bags of salt for the grounds for all of our schools. Okay. Okay, good. That's all I have. So, motion's been made and seconded. All in favor on a roll call vote. Mrs. Shaves. Um I and yes. And I also say yes. Motion carries. No opposition. And motion All in favor, second, all in favor. I. I. We are adjourned. Thank you. >> Mhm. >> Perfect. Good evening. The first meeting of the March 4th, 2026 will come to order. Um I'm going to read the recording statement that says pursuant to the Massachusetts open meeting law, this meeting is being recorded and live streamed via YouTube. The recording will be made available to the public on YouTube via a link on the district website as soon as it is practical. I also ask that if

024anyone else is present is recording this meeting to please notify the chair. I'm informing all attendees that we have notified the chair that one person will be recording as allowed by Massachusetts state law. Can we please rise for the pledge allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early [singing] light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's >> [singing] >> gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous [singing] fight, or the ramparts we watched were so gallantly [singing] streaming? And the rockets' [singing] red glare, the bombs bursting in air, >> [singing] >> gave proof through the night that our flag

025was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled [singing] banner yet yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Please remain standing while Secretary Fagan does the invocation and the roll call. And the prayer. And the prayer. Lord, as we begin this session, let us acknowledge your goodness and mercy and ask your deliberation 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 we have three people we would like to honor this evening. Uh the first one is Dr. Clifford W. Silvia. Uh he was born in he was born in April 8th, 1944 in Taunton. Uh these are where his roots were. He shared 42 years of marriage with his wife,

026Lori. And he was proud and devoted to his three daughters, Cindy Silvia, Yvette, Beth Silvia, and Amy Caslouskis. Amy is the um I'm sorry, Mr. Cabral. Thank you. Dick, director of human resources for the city of Taunton. Uh his daughters were were his joy and pride and nothing lit up his heart more than two grandsons and also a granddaughter. Education was not just his profession, it was his calling. He earned his bachelor's degree from the College of Emporia, Kansas and he made music tickling the ivories as a member of the band The Moon Riders here in two master's degree and a PhD in education from Johnson & Wales University. A 60-year old a 60-year educator, he devoted more than 50 years to serving the Wareham community. He was a teacher, coach, department head, decor advisor,

027and he chaired the the Wareham School Committee. He shaped thousands of lives with strength, fairness, and high expectations rooted in the belief that all students deserved the same opportunity to learn. He also served as assistant principal and later principal of Sandwich High School. Outside of his professional life, he loved to cruise and spend long days fishing on his boat, riding his bike, and skiing the slopes. He was deeply proud of of his Portuguese heritage. He leaves behind a family who adored him, a community forever shaped by him, and generations of students who carry forward the lessons he taught. The next one. Um oops, hang on. Alice Bowen Alice Bowen her maiden name was Donley passed away peacefully on February 20, 20 26 after a long illness. She was the loving wife of the late J.

028Francis Bowen, a 1952 graduate of Taunton High. She earned a BS and MEd degree from the former Bridgewater State Teachers College and taught in the Norton public schools. She was the recipient of the Marian Medal from the Fall River Diocese uh in recognition to service to both her former Immaculate Conception and St. Jude parishes. She was a Eucharistic Minister and at parishes in Morton Hospital. She was the president of the former St. Jude's Women's Guild and not surprisingly with that Irish name, she was also the president of both the greater Taunton Gaelic Society and Catholic Financial Council Life. She cared for Council Life Council 53. She cared for many foster babies as they awaited their adopted homes. She leaves behind her children, her daughter Michelle and her husband Stephen, and her son Brian Bowen and

029his husband Patrick. She also had um was also the aunt of Trisha Quinn Mata who is a the head of the science department at Taunton High School and she's also the mother she's also the aunt of Jean Quinn was a former city councilor and her her her funeral stuff was this past week. We also have we got people everywhere here. What should I do here we go. A lot of them Patricia Patty Hudson Kent aged at 72 died and passed away peacefully in her home on February 17th while surrounded by her loving family. She was preceded in death by her former husband. They had two children Christopher and Greg Kent. She was born in Taunton. She attended Taunton School to her a bachelor of arts and education from Bridgewater State College. She was a dedicated

030educator in the Taunton public schools for 35 years before retiring and she said to serve that time at Mulcahey. She was in preceded by death with her in her with by her brother Michael and leaves behind her sister-in-law Cindy Hudson and two loving sisters Sheila Gunderson and her husband Keith and Lisa Lira and her husband Jose all of Taunton. And there's one other person here. We don't have any information on him other than it was it was Karen Mata wife of food services director Glenn Mata. She passed away. We don't have an obituary with her but like all our others please keep these people in their your thoughts and in their prayers and one other thing Mr. Cabral and I thought it would be appropriate if we just said a prayer for our servicemen overseas.

031We've lost a few American lives and we pray for the safety of all of those that are over there now and are fighting the war in Iraq. So a moment of silence please for everybody and keep them in your thoughts and prayers. >> Thank you very much. Thank you. [clears throat] And the roll call cuz I'm not done. Almost done. Mr. Polansky Present. Dr. DeMello Present. Ms. Santos Present. Mrs. Fagan is present. Mr. Laura Present. Mrs. uh Mullen Present. Uh Steven Viera is absent. And Chairman um Donna Schows Present. Okay, approval of the minutes of February 4th, 2026. Motion to accept as read by title and dates. All in favor? Is there a second on that? >> Oh, I'm sorry. A second. Second. All in favor? >> I. Opposed? Okay, the eyes have it. The

032approval of the minutes of February 18th, 2026. Motion to approve. Second on that. All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? The eyes have it. Um student advisory committee report, no one is here tonight. Um public input in accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 30, Section 20G, we kindly request the individuals wishing to provide public input to sign up in advance. A copy of the regulations and guidelines will be provided upon sign up and individuals will be asked to state their name and address for the record. The amount of time each registered individual have to speak will be determined by the number of people who sign the red register and who will announce prior to the start of the public input portion of the meeting. Do we have any public input? There's no public input. No

033um public input. Thank you. Okay, so we move on to the performing arts update. Corey Beltram and the performing arts coordinator K through 12 will be presenting. Thank you, Mrs. Schows. Yeah. So this is one of my favorite presentations during this during the course of the school year. I'm very proud of the fact that Taunton Public Schools is a comprehensive pre-K through 22 school system. We have robust athletics, robust academic, and we also have a very robust performing arts program, thanks to the diligent work of Mr. Corey Beltran and his staff. So, this evening, uh you're going to be in for a special treat. I believe this is going to be somewhat interactive, Mr. Beltran? Uh a little bit, yeah. >> A little bit. So, I'll stop talking and I'll turn things over to you

034and your amazing students and staff. Thank you. Uh uh thank you, Mr. Corrao, for that introduction. Um So, um we'll start with here. Um There it goes. Um just kind of a review of of our K-12 program. Um we have our general music classes in the elementaries um and into the middle schools uh in January. So, I wanted to highlight different um from last time I presented. In January, we had Lily Firestone join us as a PD presenter, a professional development presenter. Um she is the wife of the author that has written a lot of the books that we're using. Um so, it it was invaluable to have her present to our entire uh staff and work with us for a full PD day. So, that was that was a great experience for all our

035K-12 uh music teachers. Um just kind of going over our our ensembles, our choir sequence. We start in fourth grade. We have middle school choirs, which is 5th, 6th, and 7th grade. We have mixed choir at the high school, concert choir, and select choir. So, you can see um some pictures of of both the the full choir and select choir. Select choir um performed at the PTP meeting uh a couple months ago. Um our band sequence, uh we start band in middle school in fifth grade. Um we have a high school beginner class, a beginner band class, eighth grade band, concert band, symphonic band, and wind symphony. So, we've added extra um bands over the last couple years. so now we have both Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony as our top tier bands. Um our

036additional electives that we have going on at the high school, some of these are after school. So music eight is an additional class that we have that's more recent. Uh music eight is an extension of the the general music classes that we have in the middle schools. We have harmony and theory class, we have guitar. After school we have jazz band. Um that actually happens right now and jazz band's over there at the high school currently. I know some people are anxious to get back over there. Um so I'll keep moving. Um marching band uh is our combined 9 through 12, so that's what you see out on the football field and on at our parades. Uh we also have um a treble choir after school, a tenor bass choir after school, and then we

037have some ensemble small ensembles, flute choir, clarinet choir, saxophone ensemble, brass choir, sophomore symphony. So I think they're going to have to change their name next year. Cuz they're not going to be sophomores next year. Um anyway, so these a lot of them are student run after school. Um there's a couple of teachers that do um help out with those after school like um Ms. Martin from uh Freeman Middle School, she's the general music teacher, she comes over and does flute choir after school at the high school. So we have some of that going on. Um our enrollment, um we've made steady gains in the last couple years. Um and you can see this is our middle school enrollment. It does taper off towards the upper level, so this is uh 5th, 6th, and 7th

038grade at the three middle schools. Um it does taper off towards 7th grade. Middle school kids tend to like try it out and then change their mind as they keep going. So but this is tracking like where we've been um pre-COVID, this is post-COVID numbers. So this is this is um definitely encouraging to see that our numbers in 7th grade. Um this is our chorus enrollment numbers. Um they've definitely increased in the last couple of So that's to the thank thanks to the work of Emily Moreira, our middle school choral director. She actually goes around to all three schools and she does every single grade 5 6 and 7 at all three middle schools. So, she's busy. Um our high school enrollment, these are uh both the chorus and band numbers. So, and again, we've

039added a couple bands, so you can see the difference uh as we've separated the the groups a little bit. And then our electives, um music eight, um there's four sections of music eight, so those numbers are going to stay steady. Uh 27 kids per section. And then our you can see our uh theory and guitar classes there. And then I pulled some Oh, before that. Um this equates to uh 19% of Tantasqua is taking a music class. So. Well, that's awesome. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Um and then the reason that's important is this next slide. I pulled some data from Open Architect. And these are students that are in a music class at the high school. And this is uh 9th through 12th grade. And it's the percent of grades that So, not just

040music grades. This is all of their grades. Percent of grades that are A's and B's. So, music students are getting 79% A's and B's. Compared to the rest of the building, which is uh 62%. Again, this is 9th through 9th through 12th grade. Um so, students that are enrolled in a music program, you can see their grade average grade point average uh ranges in the 3.0 to 3.3. So. So, having 19% of the school involved in a music class, that's that's why that matters, cuz it definitely helps them be a better student. Um and that these are our kids from this current school year. So. Um our drama program, um we've had some change of people, so Justin O'Brien is our new uh drama director this year. Um, and they put on Little Mermaid in

041the fall, and they just participated in the um festival this pa- uh was it pa- Yeah, this past weekend. So, um these are all the people that are involved. It it takes quite a lot of work from from everybody to put it this all together. But, as you can see, Little Mermaid was If you didn't get a chance to go, it was pretty fun. It was great. Um And speaking of festival, so it's the METG festival that uh the drama program participated in. Um, additionally with festivals, we have the SEMMEA. So, that's our junior and senior district festival. Um, we had seven students uh that were accepted into the junior festival, 10 students into the senior festival. Um, Adam Pereira was also recommended for All-State and made All-State. Um So, and then uh the Wind

042Symphony select course and concert choir, they're going to participate in the MICCA festival. So, MICCA is the entire group our our ensembles, they will go and get judged and get feedback, and they'll participate in a a clinic afterwards. So, they'll get feedback from three different judges, and they'll work with one of those judges in the clinic. So, that's definitely an an awesome experience for them to hear feedback other than taught in teachers. Other than us. Um, and then look we're looking at for travel, looking at Disney for 2027, hoping to bring chorus and band uh going forward for Disney 2027. Um So, whoop. Okay. So, some of our instrumental equipment, so we've got a uh an inventory of instruments available for 5 through 12th graders to borrow from school. So, we're up to a uh

043508 instruments available through uh from 5 through 12. Most of those instruments are out. Obviously, some of them are specialized instruments. You can see the sousaphones over on the 30-yard line, but those aren't being used daily. Those are used during marching, um, parades, that kind of thing. But, that includes all of them. So, 508 instruments across our our system for students to borrow from the school, um, which definitely helps with, um, access for students. And, up here is marching band. And, our student drum major is conducting. Um, so, also, um, band council and chorus council. So, we have a student-run band council and chorus council. Um, they participate with stuff, uh, such as social media. They do graphic design, video, mentoring, uh, panels, social events. So, right here, you can see a picture, uh, of

044one of the band's social events. They they had a a movie night. Um, our parent boosters are definitely a huge support. Um, recently, we took a trip with jazz band, the high school jazz band students to Symphony Hall to see Wynton Marsalis. So, that was pretty cool to get to see, uh, one of the great jazz musicians. Uh, our mentoring program, uh, that I mentioned, uh, this is with our middle school students. So, middle school students can sign up for mentoring, and through Google Meet, they'll be able to, uh, get a lesson and support from a high school student. So, we do this, um, twice a week on Google Meet, and then they are put into breakout rooms, so they can work with a mentor. Um, and then, we have a performance by chorus today.

045So, um but before I jump to that, you can see our upcoming um events for the rest of the school year. So, that's some of the the stuff we have coming up. Um but I would like to switch and let let the chorus perform. So, our select chorus. >> [applause] >> Hi, everyone. Sorry, I want to make sure you can hear us. So, we overhead things up forward. Thank you. I know. >> No, no bis domine [singing] et tu o the gloria in excelsis deo. No, no bis domine et tu o the gloria in excelsis deo. No, no bis domine et tu o the gloria [singing] in excelsis deo. No, no bis domine et tu o the gloria in excelsis deo. No, no bis domine et tu o the gloria No, no bis domine et

046tu o o the gloria [singing] in excelsis o the o the [singing] gloria >> [singing] >> o the >> [singing] >> o the >> [singing] [singing] >> o [singing] the gloria in excelsis >> [singing] [singing] >> Gloria, Gloria. >> [singing] [singing] >> Gloria. >> [singing and chanting] [singing] >> Gloria. >> [singing] [singing] >> Gloria. >> [applause] [applause] >> Um if if you want to stay there for a second. Certificates to acknowledge both the junior and senior district students. Um so I'd like to just uh present them with the certificate uh from both the school committee and the superintendent. So um we have Jada Andrews. >> [applause] [applause] >> Okay, yeah. Come on over. We would like to shake hands. Jada, yeah. Jada, come on. Come on over this way, Jada. Thank you. >> [applause] >>

047Jaylen. Okay. Alyssa. Alia Suraiya Amy Erica Finn Adam Ben Noah >> [applause] >> I'll open the floor if anyone has any comments to Mr. Beltran. Madam Chair, I do. Dr. Mel. First and foremost, thank you so much for this creative performance. Really appreciate it. Very well done. And just a a quick note. I really really appreciate the slide where you represent the students that are involved in music and how their grades are really above and beyond some of their peers. And I I've been hoping that we could do the same thing with athletics. Cuz I really think that extracurricular activities like what we saw here today, athletics, band, and all that other stuff really makes a difference in students' lives and the connectivity of the appears make them want to study together and work together

048and I see a lot of head shaking in the audience, so I I think that's true. So hopefully we can get that when the athletic subcommittee meets, Mrs. Fagan, we can get that from the athletic department to see what kind of influence the sports has on our students, too. So that's all I have. Thank you so much for the wonderful performance. I wish you could have this every school committee meeting. So please come back. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Dr. Dimick. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Anyone else? Anyone else? I'd like to make a just a comment. I thought of you today because I was reading an article and it said the recent studies indicate that playing a musical instrument, especially when starting young, is a strong link to higher

049academic achievement, with instrumentalists often performing nearly a year ahead of their peers in math, science, and English. So I liked the fact that you had brought that slide in to how they were doing because this directly correlates to it. And so I think you're doing an outstanding job and thank you. >> You guys were outstanding. I agree with Dr. Dimick. We'd love to have you come back and perform in more school committee meetings, so thank you. Um we're going to take a quick Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Sorry, I I swear to I'll be quick so you guys can get home and study. So I just I was really impressed with the 508 loan of instruments and I know this this committee has attributed I think $150,000 to help provide access and equity to ensure that

050all students who want to participate in band have the opportunity to participate in band. And I need to commend the student body. The student body, the students in the band program have really developed an outstanding culture. You hold each other accountable. You adhere to support each other and you police yourselves. And I think that's why this band program is such a in the chorus program is such an outstanding program cuz it's student driven, it's student led. And then I'll just go on record for saying and I haven't shared this with Mr. Beltran yet, but one of my passion projects is to turn one of our elementary schools into a performing arts academy. So I'm just going to hang that out there right now. All right. Okay. Hopefully that's Hopefully [laughter] that's something we can work

051with the [applause] school committee to make happen. Thank you. Thank you all. Um I also just wanted to mention um that there is a a gift card for the Tiger Shack in here. So for the students that received that, so just wanted to let you know. Excellent. Excellent. Thank you. Thank [applause] you. Motion to take a 5-minute recess, please. >> All in favor? Aye. Any nays? The ayes have it. 5 minutes, please. >> Mhm. >> Regular order of business. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. So, the next thing we'll move on to is the superintendent's report. Uh thank you, Madam Chair. So, in the superintendent's report, I'm just providing you with a quick update. Uh really just a sign of appreciation to everyone who who endured a record blizzard, the

052blizzard of 2026, which dropped 29 in on our region, surpassing the blizzard of 1978. Uh I think some of us here were not around for the blizzard of '78. I was 4 years old, and I remember the blizzard of '78, but this this was definitely worse than '78. So, again, I I want to thank the committee, uh the parents, the students, the community for their patience uh as we went day-to-day then eventually made the tough decision to cancel the rest of the week. I I really want to extend my gratitude to the leadership team, the mayor and her staff, the commit and the committee for your ongoing support. And most importantly, I want to recognize the tireless efforts of the director of facilities, Mark Credits, and assistant superintendent, Brenda Moynihan, in coordinating and overseeing the

053storm cleanup to ensure that our grounds were safe for the return of 8,500 plus students and over 1,000 employees. So, the question that's being asked is what will the Taunton Public Schools or world communities that were impacted by the blizzard have to make up the days? So, there was a Zoom meeting today with the Commissioner of Education, and the Commissioner of Education and DESE say they will be providing relief as long as certain criteria is met by the district. And I do have the criteria here that was made public today. So, the DESE will consider waivers to the 180-day requirement if districts demonstrate that they have met the following criteria. That districts have used all five of their snow days, which Taunton has. That Taunton has met or districts have met the instructional hour requirement,

054which is 900 at the elementary school level, and 990 at the secondary level. And that they are scheduled through June 26, 2026 with no school school days rescheduled. All the school days rescheduled must be full days. So, it was advantageous for us to make sure that today was a full day, not an early release day, cuz those hours will help us in meeting the hourly requirement. Uh one thing that we'll have to to communicate with our unions and communicate with our caregivers is that DESE is asking that in order to meet this requirement that we have to uh we have to cancel any upcoming full day professional days, which we don't have any, and that we'll have to have school on Good Friday. That is one of the stipulations to all the schools that are

055impacted in order to meet the 180-day requirement and be done by June 26. So, again, I will do a better job of summarizing this and providing the school committee with a more thorough update at our next meeting, but that is the guidance that DESE put out today, and obviously we'll communicate and discuss this with our unions. So, okay, to committee update. Uh uh Superintendent, that will not affect the April vacation. This will not impact the April vacation. Thank you. Uh Madam Chair, through you, please. Superintendent, you mentioned something about Friday. What what Friday are we talking We we would have to have school on Good Friday. On Good Friday. And and are we giving any religious exemptions if necessary? >> that does that does exist in the current in the our collective bargaining agreements, and

056any parent that wishes for the religious exemption would be honored. Great. Thank you so much. Next on the agenda is administrative business. Number one is the Superintendent's evaluation report, Secretary Mrs. Fagan. Yes. So, I I looked over all the things that we had, and I want to thank people that uh contributed something uh task of school committee secretary. Karen, I want to thank you. It was nice having the things that you had cuz I could kind of put everything all together. So, thank you. Mr. Cabral, you you saved some of the stuff for me. You called me when I panicked, but then I found out I have a smart TV. And guess what my smart TV says? When I ask it to bring up a Taunton School Committee meeting, it did. So, I could watch

057all of you live and in color. And at some point some of you were frozen on the screen. At one point you were frozen on the screen cuz I stopped it for a phone call. My husband goes, "Who's that?" I said, "Well, that's Nick Palowski." Greg was frozen on the screen. So, I I got to see it, but it was nice to look at it as being an observer cuz I could see all your faces cuz you know, sometimes we're leaning back and forth. So, I found that nice. I didn't know I could do that. Talk right into the little thing. It gets better all the time, right? So, this is my evaluation summary and I incorporated some of what happens cuz I still think people are slightly confused. I agree with you what you

058did before that meeting to talk about what we what we were doing. That makes a big difference because I don't think a lot of times people understand the scope of what it is that we're doing. So, this is Here it goes. Mr. John Cabral is the educational leader of the Taunton Public Schools. The thrust of the evaluation process is to validate that he promotes the learning and growth of all students and the success of all staff by cultivating a shared vision that makes powerful teaching and learning the central focus on schooling. On the night of December 17th, 2025, the School Committee embarked on this evaluation. It was a difficult task, but not as difficult as the job of being a superintendent. With all the issues of the past year, there were a lot of tennis

059balls being juggled in the air. Mr. Cabral had to be a juggler along with being a teacher, a negotiator, a mentor, a spokesman, an advocate, an advocator, a linguist, someone versed in state and federal laws, a financier, along with maintaining a positive attitude and being a kind and compassionate human being who cares deeply about the city he calls home with his wife and two daughters. The committee was informed that this evaluation was for the 2024-25 school year fiscal year, which ended June 30th, 2025. The evaluation process is a state mandate and we followed DESE guidelines, which was to evaluate using four standards. Instructional leadership having six expectations, management and operations five expectations, family and community engagement four expectations, and professional culture six expectations. The ratings are exemplary, proficient, needs improvement, and unsatisfactory. Mr. Cabral was

060also responsible to provide a self-evaluation and self-reflection, which we were given given. The results, instructional leadership, uh management and operations, family community engagement, professional culture. So, instructional leaders leadership we had two uh Wait, uh excuse me. So much stuff on my mind here. Two exemplarys, 53 proficients, and six needs improvements. We had on management and operations 12 for the uh This word's going to stumble me tonight. Uh exemplary, two uh exemplary uh 12 exemplary, 39 proficient, three needs improvements. Family and community engagements, three um Calm down here. Exemplary, 38 proficient, and four needs improvements. And professional cultures with eight exemplary, 51 proficient, four needs improvement improvement. So, what we typically do is we add the top two numbers together. There were 181 proficient and 25 exemplary, leading to a number of 20 206 and the

061um with the proficient and those exemplary together and 17 needs improvements. And there were also two blanks on one of them. So, here's my comment on that. Mr. Cabral received many compliments from the committee, which is reflected in the combined score of 206 from exemplary and proficient. The needs improvement number is 17. It's reflective of safety and health issues that presented themselves, as well as of issues with diversity, equity, and inclusion. Parent Square was considered a success in ameliorating these issues. Mr. Cabral fared extremely well in fiscal management, one committee member calling him a leadership cornerstone. Members mentioned budget stability, a house in order as sound fiscal management, and a clear compliance with fiscal management, and net school spending. Mr. Cabral was also complimented for strong multilingual engagement, his calm nature, and his commitment to

062high standards. His human resource department was applauded in its efforts to hire teachers, as well as retaining them. There were suggestions on ways to improve learning and success by reviewing the success of programs like Rise and TLC, special needs, and ELL. There was a call for more teacher diversity and about Mr. Cabral getting out in the community more to enhance family engagement. Several members urged the need to update the school website and that it was difficult to navigate. There was also a call for the return of your newsletter and giving the committee an agenda of events so we would not miss anything. At the conclusion of the evaluation, Mr. Cabral, ever gracious, thanked the committee for our work. He remarked that he had had high expectations for everyone. He planned to address all the issues.

063He said he didn't count ease and peas. He paid attention to the NIs. But pay attention to this, Mr. Cabral. When you convert your scores to a numerical value, and I know Miss Mrs. Shavlo appreciate this, you received an A. Mr. Cabral wants to do a better job on educating the committee on what it is behind the curtain in the school department. He said, "You have my word." He has already implemented changes. The newsletter is back and the new website I saw today is outstanding. And I know one thing that is behind the curtain, a tennis ball because he kept his word. I hope I did you justice in this evaluation. I hope there is a realization of the magnitude of your job. I want to thank you for all your hard work that you

064have done in the city. Respectfully yours, Christine A. Fagan, Secretary. Excellent. Excellent. Thank you, Mrs. Fagan. Let me just note that she did that without AI. It's all handwritten and no computer helping with that. So, is there a motion? Motion to accept the report proudly and place on file. All in favor? >> Aye. Aye. Opposed? The eyes have it. Thank you, Mrs. [clears throat] Fagan. Next up is the staffing report. Mr. Cabral. Uh this is just the monthly staffing report that the committee receives, uh making note of any new professional hires, any coaching hires, as well as any substitute nurses, custodians, and resignations and retirements. And anyone who announces their retirement, they receive a personal note from from me along with their retirement uh uh acknowledgement letter. Same procedure. Second. All in favor? >> Aye.

065Opposed? The eyes have it. Next up is the Taunton Public School staffing update. Again, just just providing you with some insight. As you'll notice, um most of our schools, except for Taunton High School, all of our schools, except for Taunton High School, have two remaining positions. Parker Middle School has two positions pending, so once those positions uh are filled, uh we'll have just the high school and two vacant TA positions in our district. So, I want to commend the outstanding work by our hiring managers and the Human Resources Department. Motion to place on file. Second on that. All in favor? >> Aye. Any opposed? The eyes have it. Thank you. The next is the the enrollment update. Yeah, just providing you with a monthly enrollment report. Uh you'll notice that we are down 10 students

066from the previous month, and I provided you with a summary of where those students uh why we're down 10 students in the cover memo. Same procedure to follow. Second. All in favor? >> Aye. Opposed? The eyes have it. And thank you, um Mr. Cabral, for giving us where they go. I think that makes a big difference. And that was something I had asked for in the past, so I do appreciate it. It gives us a better picture of where they go, and just that they didn't just drop out of sight. So. And I appreciate the direction to make sure that to ensure that you get the information that you need. >> Yeah, thank you. Okay, next up is the school calendar for 2026-2027. So, as the committee has in their packet, there were four options

067that we shared with the unions and solicited their feedback. And as has been the practice, usually several unions typically don't respond. They're typically satisfied with whatever the teachers union and the administration come to agreement on. So, for fiscal 27, the Taunton Public Schools will be following calendar two, which is option two, which is the second calendar in your packet. This calendar will start with convocation day or convocation week and professional development on August 24th. The first day for students in grades 1 through 12 will be August 27th. And then Labor Day weekend will be September 4th through September 7th. This this calendar option also includes two full weeks off for the for the holiday break. And it does provide us with eight potential snow days with the fifth snow day being June 25th and the

068last day of school being June 17th. The early release days, professional development days have also been calculated. So, the recommendation would be for the School Committee to adopt option two as the preferred calendar for fiscal 27. Move adoption. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Was there any discussion? No. Okay, then the eyes have it. Thank you. We'll get this out to the public tomorrow. Next on the agenda is the school choice update. John, Mr. Cabral. I feel like this is how we discuss net school spending. It doesn't get clear, it just gets a little clearer. So, this is our attempt, Dr. DeMello, to try to really explain net school spending cuz I think the question that always gets raised is who's paying for it? So, under the net school spending formula, if you go

069to the three bullets in the middle, it really does a nice job of kind of summarizing how this works. So, the sending district, which is um the district that is set that a parent chooses school choice to send their student to another school system. The sending district will continue to receive uh Chapter 70 funding. So, if a parent chooses school choice and wants to send their child to a neighboring district, we are the sending district. We will continue to receive the full allocation of Chapter 70, even if they enroll in another district through school choice. The Chapter 70 calculation is done based on resident enrollment, not on where the student physically attends school. The school choice tuition assessment is a separate financial transaction laid on top of state aid. So, in practical terms, Taunton continues

070to receive the Chapter 70 aid tied to the student who lives in Taunton. Taunton then is assessed $5,000 plus any special education increments for that student if they attend a school out of Taunton in a neighboring community. That amount is deducted from the local aid that it that Taunton receives for the student from the state. So, I provided you a little methodology. So, with the fiscal 26, the fiscal year that we're in right now, under the foundation budget formula, we receive $18,150 per student. So, any student that leaves Taunton to attend a neighboring school system under school choice, $5,000 is deducted from that 18,000, which leaves Taunton with retaining the balance of $13,150. And that $5,000 equates to about the city's contribution because it's about a 70/30 split when you look at the when you

071look at the way Chapter 70 formula is is distributed. Then I also provided you with the sources and the references on the DESE website. This is all public information if you wish to drill deeper. Question, Madam Chairman. Yes, Mr. Laura. Uh in the event that the student comes back to the system, let's say they go to another school but decide to come back here, is that 5,000 prorated? >> It then becomes prorated. >> Prorated. Thank you. Madam Chair, if I may. Dr. DeMello. Thank you. So, um, it would be very advantageous if we sent 8,000 students out. Hold on. And we'd be making 13,000 per each student that went out of district. And we didn't need teachers, we didn't need buildings, we didn't need anything. But we would still have to educate the students that

072that stay behind. Well, I'm just saying if every student went out, right? We'd be making money and close buildings and don't need teachers. So, my problem is this. How many students are we sending out and how many students are we receiving in? Is that here? Again, this is all public information. And this is only up to 2024. I can we can check the website and see if they released 25 and 26. So, these numbers have changed. You know, I can get you updated >> through 24. >> Right. I can get you updated numbers. >> Okay. That that's my question cuz I'm concerned with 26. I want to say we're we're I think we're around 280 students that are that were that are going out, but I'll confirm those numbers with you. And we're a little

073higher on the students that we're receiving. But I'll I'll get you the real-time numbers. >> So, we're definitely at a loss. We are sending more students out than we are having students come in. But as I as I explained to Mr. Shaw's, and I think we've demonstrated in the presentations, um, some of our neighboring communities, I won't reference names, but some of our towns, they're only receiving, I think, $75 per student. So, if you have a if you're getting $75 per student, and you can and you have open seats in your district, and you can get 5,000 plus by being a choice district, so, you'll notice over the last 10 years, when we showed you that slide, that a lot of the neighboring towns around us, in particular one north of us, uh really marketed

074school choice cuz I think they make more on choice. I think it was like $600,000 that they generated in choice, where on chapter 70 they barely breaking 100,000 say. So, it is advantageous for some of the smaller communities if they have the space, but they're also places a huge burden on the families cuz the families are then responsible for transportation. >> Right. So, so uh this is a voluntary uh we we are voluntarily involved in school choice, right? So, why why are we involved? If we're if we're sending 280 out, we're getting 110 in, we're at a net loss, correct? So, why are we participating in school choice? Because either way we would be at a net loss. At least cuz we cannot deny a parent leaving the town public schools for via school choice.

075We can only deny parents from sending their kids here from another community. If you take the vote in May, which is usually the time, to opt out of being a school choice district, then the net loss would be No, right now the net loss is 1.3 million. But if we didn't if we weren't receiving those funds, those school choice funds, the total the net loss would be 1.8. Mhm. So, it helps offset some of the loss. >> Right. Yeah. Okay. So, we have to accept we have to send out students if the parents or caregivers decide to send them out, but if we're not a school choice participant, then we cannot receive students. Correct. Thank you so much. Thank you. Any other questions? Motion to accept report, please. Second. All in favor? May I uh

076on discussion? So, with the with an update with 25 and 26, please, cuz this is only goes to 24. Yeah, I'll see what they have on DESE. It might not be audited, it might not be the final numbers, but I'll give you what they have posted on their website. >> we can make make that part of the motion, I'd appreciate it. Thank you so much. So, can we make that part of the motion? So moved on that part of the motion. Okay. Next thing we're going to is transportation bid budget impact. Uh you should have received uh an updated copy and I thought I left it on the table. So, if it's not on the table, I apologize. Yeah, that's the old >> updated right here, yeah. Oh, it's on the table? No. No, no,

077it wasn't. No. >> No, I thought I Is it a Should have been clipped on the table? Right. So, >> It's not on here. So, may I'll just walk I'll walk you through the numbers. So, I believe this was a question uh that Dr. DeMello raised want to know Well, we just want to get a snapshot of what our transportation costs have been over a over a period of time. So, uh we went back looking at the end of the year report, which is what is what is uh submitted to the state when we get audited, and then we also added a projection for fiscal '26 where we plan to close the year, and then a projection for fiscal '27 based on the the new transportation bid. So, you'll notice on fiscal '19 uh for

078for a total cost, our trans to take transportation bill was $8.1 million. For fiscal '20 and fiscal '21, those were outliers. So, as those of you who were here will remember that we stopped or we ended school on March 13th. So, we had April, May, and June where we weren't transporting kids. It's not on the table? No, I thought I put it on the table. Okay. Uh where we weren't transporting students in fiscal '20, so we recouped about 2 and 1/2 months of transportation costs. And then for fiscal '21, uh we that was our hybrid year where we were not transporting students on Wednesdays. We were only transporting students 4 days out of the 5 days. So, that's why you see those numbers really were an anomaly. For fiscal '22, that's what I call the

079correction year where we went from 8.1 in fiscal '19 to a 9.4, and that that accounted for two fiscal years of COLAs or COLA increases. And then fiscal '23, 10.1. Fiscal '24, 10.9. Uh fiscal '25, 12.9. So, on average, it was about a $600,000 to $700,000 increase except for the COVID year, which again, that was the correction year. Uh the correction would be on fiscal 26. For fiscal 26, special education, we're projecting special education to come in at $7.8 million. And that'll be a total cost of around $13.6 million, or 700 That's an increase of 702,000, about 5.4%. And for fiscal 27, after the bid transportation, and without any additional extra cost of late buses, accounting for additional vans in district for special transporting special needs students, or additional vans to transport students out of

080district, we're expecting that that cost to be about $12.7 million. So, So, it looks like it's going lower, but again, we haven't built in any of the unanticipated costs that tend to happen throughout the course of the school year. We cover a lot of the field trips now for our schools. We're really trying to take the burden off of parents and off of caregivers by trying to offset as many costs to the buildings as possible. So, that's a snapshot of what our costs look like, and I'll make sure you get the updated version, a hard copy before you leave this evening. Oh, the other thing I forgot to mention too is I think it was mentioned during finance and law. During finance and law, we do receive some funds from the state to offset McKinney-Vento.

081McKinney-Vento, for those of you who are new to the committee, McKinney-Vento is a statute that we're required to transport homeless students. So, homeless students who are living in another town, maybe another state, we've had students living in Tiverton. If they choose to come back to the neighborhood school in Taunton, we have to transport them. Uh they have the option to remain in the district that they're residing in or sleeping in, but they still have the option to come back to Taunton, and that number fluctuates. I think some years it's 500,000, some years it's 900,000. We have no way of controlling that cost, but the state does reimburse us, but they don't reimburse us the full amount. And under under the circuit breaker law now, we do get reimbursed for additional transportation. And I believe I

082put those those costs on the back of the memo on the second to last paragraph. I provided you with the reimbursement that we receive from Mckenna Mckenna Vento uh going back to fiscal 21 as well as circuit breaker reimbursement going back to fiscal 22. Uh circuit breaker really helps offset our transportation costs because you're talking uh the low end of 1.4 million dollars to almost 2 million dollars in reimbursement. So, even though we have a 12 million dollar or 13 million dollar forecast, we're only really using 11 million out of our appropriation and using the circuit breaker to supplement or offset those costs. I hope that provides you with a kind of a snapshot on what transportation costs look like on a yearly basis. And I apologize for not having the updated memo on the

083table for you as I promised. We'll have it tonight. You will have it. Dr. Zimolo I'm sorry. Thank you for your graciousness. Uh Mrs. Fagan, yes. Yeah, I just have a question. What whenever I go by Mckay School in the morning, there's such a line of people dropping off their their their children. It wraps around down to to Shore Street both ways, up and up all the way down the end of Lippincott Street. How How full are those buses? Because that that bothers me cuz we're spending all these money for buses and most of the people are bringing them in themselves. >> That's that's a great question. I think this came up with Mr. Palaski when we were talking about uh Hamilton Street. So, um we whatever tier we have three tiers. Yeah. Right? And

084our largest tier is tier one. Right. High school, I believe 36 buses. And I believe Friedman has 16 buses. I I think we're running 52 47 buses. 47 buses. So, between the high school 15 buses at Friedman and 32 buses at the high school. So, we're going to get billed for 32 buses no matter what tier. Okay. All right. So, that's why tier two and tier three when we get the phone calls that buses are half full going to Chamberlain, buses are half full going to Galligan, it's those it's the tier one that we get billed on. If tier two had 55 buses, we're going to get billed for 55 buses. Okay. Does that make sense? Yes. So, that's how Bloom bills the contract. They have to assume the largest liability and then we have

085those extra buses just to pick up students. So, we're a little more flexible with the elementary and the middle schools we're picking up extra students cuz we have the extra seats in the buses. And the other thing to keep in mind is I do believe I don't have the research to back it up, but I believe ever since COVID we've seen an uptick in the number of parents who transport their students to and from school. I think I think that's I think that's also part of it. >> Well, I I actually had a traffic guy say to me the other day when I was going somewhere around here that he was upset he felt bad that the buses weren't stop stopping to pick up some of the kids that were walking because the roads were

086so narrow. He said, "Why can't they just pick them up?" We do direct them to do that. So, when we have inclement weather we do have them do that. >> And we we do do that. We do ask Bloom especially the first storm that we had with the 12 to 14 in that was something that we directed Bloom to pick up students if they saw them walking and they had room. And Bloom is is always been a they've been very gracious in trying to pick up as many kids as possible and also being safe about it too cuz with the littles you can fit three to a seat with middle school and high school kids it's usually two three if you squeeze in. Okay. Thank you. Dr. D'Amelio. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, just so

087I better understand the um the bid impact sheet that's in front of us, okay? The one that you said was going to get a revised copy that's about 7 or 800,000 dollars short in special education. Which fiscal year is that? This This current fiscal year, the one that So, FY26. >> FY26. Okay. Now, on the Finance and Law Subcommittee earlier tonight, we we accepted unanimously to award the bid to HNL Bloom, but now that I'm seeing this, the fiscal years are not really noted here because it's saying 25-26 current, 26-27 year one. But, the the title says fiscal year. So, um I'm really confused. I I I guess I guess my number one concern is the projected FY26, we really need to have an updated sheet because we're really just I'm just scribbling numbers here,

088and at the end of the day, I've no idea where we're at anymore. And we're presently in FY26, which is going to end on June 30th. And the chart that we voted on earlier, and I apologize for not picking this up, is that the fiscal year is not listed even though it says fiscal year on the title. So, I I understand year starts July 1st, 2025, and ends June 30th of 2026, and that's FY26. But, you see what I'm saying? Yep. So, on on the transit department, so I'm looking just to make sure we're going apples to apples. Yep. >> I'm looking at the bid award, Yep. >> transportation by your contract. Mhm. Right? So, So, the the bottom paragraph, the very last paragraph, >> in your memo that I should have that I was

089supposed to replace at the table, uh you should have total of 12,983 for total cost, correct? For which which year? FY >> projected. Okay, so you presented us with 12 12,983,721, yet it matches this it says 25-26 current, doesn't say fiscal year 26, but it does match. But, that's not going to match because we're short $800,000. We So, when we put when we pulled the numbers as I tried to explain, when we pulled the numbers to get to the total for this memo on Friday, we pulled the special education transportation total from the previous fiscal year, not this current fiscal year. That's the difference of $700,000 that you'll see in the memo. It's a calculation error. That has since been rectified. All right, but but Superintendent, apologies, but if if you add in 7 or

090800,000 dollars to this memo that's in front of us, it's not going to add up to 12 12 million 983, it's going to be 13 million 800 and something thousand. >> be 13 13 million 640 983 dollars. Yeah, but but Okay. >> 2016. But and then we're voting on something that doesn't even show up here. It's like there's a difference. I I understand that that's I mean, we can't do that, Superintendent. I'm sorry. This is we're talking about 67 million dollars and we don't have the right information. We cannot continue to do this, Superintendent. >> agree with you and that issue has been rectified today. I agree, Dr. Dr. I that's why I that's why I wanted to make sure that you had the accurate numbers at the meeting today knowing And with all due

091respect, Superintendent, you sent us a text this afternoon that you're going to have this information for us and yet we don't have it. I mean, that that's not >> It's on the table and you should have had it. Well, it's not on the table, Superintendent. I'm sorry. >> That is something that I own and that is something that I will correct. I apologize to the committee for not giving you the accurate May I ask a question on that topic? On the finance subcommittee, was the correct amount noted? Mr. Laura, I have no idea to be honest with you because I am I am totally confused now >> But I mean, tonight's when I need fiscal years I mentioned and we're talking about calendar years or or or or years, so it's not lining up. I

092I mean, this this chart says fiscal year, it shows you fiscal year. This chart says fiscal year, but it doesn't show the fiscal years. It's telling you the date range, right? So, I mean, for for the accountants in the room, I I you know, you need to have everything aligned. I mean, I'm sorry, it just doesn't work that way, especially with $800,000 superintendent. That's why I wanted to make sure that you had the accurate numbers today, and not the numbers that were inaccurate. So, I own that for not making sure that the proper information went out in a timely manner. Question, can we have that report? Could we have it right now? >> So, it was emailed to you earlier, and it should have been on the tables. Not on the table? Let me go

093take >> have a copy? I'll get it to the committee after. Okay, well Here, if I may. What What is the action tonight on this, by the way? What do we What are we trying to do? Accept it as It was just information. Information to accept and uh uh Well, I'm I'm not going to support it. Motion to accept. Mr. Laura. I wouldn't until you get the until you get the accurate report. Right. So, we can table this, if you want. Yeah. That would be the That's fine. That's it. So, a motion to table this issue. All in favor? >> Aye. Oppose? Okay. Thank you. Next thing on the agenda is G8, which is um TH TAHS and TBVPA VA enrollment. So, those are all Both are alternatives um high schools. Correct. So, this was

094to provide the committee with information regarding enrollment at the alternative high school, and enrollment at the Taunton Public Virtual Academy, and also the costs associated with running both those programs at the Cohannet facility. So, I provided you with a with a breakdown that as of now, we have 109 students attending the Taunton Public Virtual School, and I'm sorry, 109 students attending the Taunton Alternative High School, 83 students attending the Taunton Public Virtual Academy, for a combined total of 192 students. The per pupil foundation budget for fiscal '26 is $8,150 per student. That means for every student who attends the Taunton Public Virtual School, uh and the Taunton Alternative High School that we receive for TAHS 1.9 million, for TPVA we receive 1.5 million, which is an approximate total of 3 and 1/2 million dollars. Of

095this total, the city receives 2.3 or 2.4 million dollars in aid. And I provided you with a little chart to see the breakdown. Now, when it comes to staffing costs at the Taunton Alternative High School, we have 12 full-time staff members. Their salaries account for 1.1 million dollars. At the Taunton Public Virtual Academy, there are seven full-time employees, just under $600,000. So, combined, our staffing costs are 1.7 million dollars. In addition to the staffing costs, there are utility costs, which are approximately $95,000. So, combined, staffing and utilities cost the district approximately 1.8 million dollars, which leaves the district with an estimated uh surplus of $543,751 in Chapter 70 funding. And then again, I provided you with a breakdown of the totals. So, now, I think there was also a question about a space analysis. So,

096I provided you with two floor plans of the ground floor or the basement floor and the main level and how that that space is currently being utilized by the Taunton Alternative High School and the Taunton Public Virtual Academy. And we also have the ECDC program, which is our Early Childhood Diagnostic Center. They use that space to test our three- and four-year-olds uh to see if they qualify for special education services. They are also housed there. And the nurse manager Oh, I'm sorry. And the nurse manager is also there with her administrative assistant. May I ask a question, Madam Chair? >> On the excess monies from the um Chapter 70, does that go into Do we keep that for the following year or does it have to be >> That becomes part of our appropriation, part

097of our budget. Okay. Good. Thank you. So, we're not losing money running the programs. >> Good. Dr. DeMello. Madam Chair, so um are we having any discussion regarding the alternative Well, let's call it the Cohannet School, right? The alternative high school, the building itself. Are we having any conversations concerning the third floor? What are our plans for third floor? Because all these numbers are fine and dandy. I want I want I you know, we have buildings that are sitting empty, 2 Hamilton Street to be one of them. We have a third floor space that we've had some grand grand visions for the last 8 years. And you've been part of that, Superintendent. And are we are we having that conversation regarding Cohannet? That would be an appropriate conversation to either bring to long-range planning or

098to bring to the space utilization committee. Okay. I think I chair the space, do I? Do I Oh, Mrs. Mon, do you chair space? >> Nathan does. Nathan, you chair the space, don't you? Okay. Yeah. But the only thing I would I would state is um as we've This This committee's been very again, forward-thinking and very wise when our revolving funds get to a certain threshold, we usually complete a large substantial capital project. That might be one of those projects we want to complete once we get to that certain threshold, which is usually We usually try to maintain a certain balance. So, I think once we get to around $3 million above our balance, then we should look into doing a capital project because our SOA funds are going to dry up and our SO

099dollars have dried up. So, we don't have that surplus cash as we once have. Sure. And and I I think folks need to know that, you know, with the the amount of funding we're getting, whether you're an alternative high school student or a Taunton Virtual Academy student, is the same. We're not getting any more for having students housed at Cohannet. So, I I I am you know, I understand the outlet that it provides, okay? I understand that it's it's it's it's customized to students that cannot be in a traditional learning space for whatever reason it may be. But what I don't like or what I don't appreciate is we're taking these resources and dedicating it to a small population because there are We just saw tonight a beautiful presentation of how many hundreds of students

100involved in band. 508 instrument 508 eight instruments. Grades excelling above the appears because they're involved. I don't want to take away from those kids. That's my concern. So, the funding mechanism, Mr. Laura, I think you mentioned that, has nothing to do with being an alternative high school student or The amount of funding is the same. We're dedicating space. I want to maximize the space. I know that we've had some conversations with BCC. It's public knowledge, okay? And we know we've had a been a great opportunity to bring BCC into that beautiful building and have them in downtown Taunton. So, you know, again, I'm to blame because I've been a school committee member for eight years and I've been talking about this, but we never went to the next level. So, I really really would appreciate

101if the chair of the space committee, the chair of long-range planning, Mr. Vieira, would come together and maybe have some conversations. I'd really really appreciate that. >> need a motion? I was going to ask him, do you want to make a motion? So, I would make a motion that that item be referred to the What was the committee? Space and utilization committee. for and long-range planning and school properties. >> Yes. Both. Second on that. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you. Thank you. The next on the agenda is G9, which is Hamilton Street expenses. Mr. Goral? >> Yeah, I think the last memo you received only had the construction costs for the commercial for the kitchen renovation at the at the two Hamilton Street. So, we provided you with the

102utility costs since we took over the building back in January of '25 to date. So, January '25 to date the total utility costs just over $92,000. And those costs are being offset by the rent that's being collected from BCC, which gets deposited into the revolving account that is maintained by the by the school department. And I believe the revolving account currently has a balance of 29 or 23,000 dollars. I'm sorry. And the commercial in the kitchen is being covered by the revolving fund, so appropriated No appropriated funds have been used on this to maintain this facility year to date. Madam Chair, I'm sorry to take up so much time of my colleagues, but I brought these issues up, of course. >> Knell. Thank you so much. What is the income on 2 Hamilton Street? The

103monthly The monthly rent? >> Yes. I can I can get that to the next meeting. Okay, cuz the motion when it was made is the income and expense, and we only have expenses. We don't have income on this. So, I really appreciate an updated income statement also, please. I'll have that for the next meeting. Thank you. Any other comments or discussion? A motion would be in order. All in favor? I'm I'm saying Excuse me, Madam Chair. I'm voting no, cuz I'm not approving the I mean, I want a complete report, so I'm voting no. Okay. >> I'll be recorded as no. Thank you. Okay, next up is subcommittee reports. Um H1 rules, Ms. Santos. Oh, administrative business, the field trip. Oh, we wanted to do that. Yeah, I think it would be appropriate. One second.

104We're going to We're going to just switch for a minute. We have a field trip. >> I apologize. This you should have at your table. And I think I communicated with the committee. Uh Mr. McPhail and Molly Sullivan will oversee the DECA program. Uh they have a competition with our students, 42 of our students and five chaperones that are This will be the the all-state competition for DECA in Boston. Uh that field trip is scheduled to depart on the 12th of March at 7:30 from the Taunton High School flagpole and it's an overnight trip and they're scheduled to return on 3:14 and again the parents or the students will drive home once they arrive. So, I know arrive from the competition. So, I know it doesn't meet the time frame that we typically are request

105of our chaperones, but it is a competition and I hate to see the students miss out because of an error by an adult. Motion to approve. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The eyes have it. >> Thank you, everyone. Okay. So, next we'll move on to the sub-committee reports H1 rules, Ms. Santos, please. Okay, thank you. Um so, on Tuesday, uh February 10th, 2026, uh we met as a rules um committee. In attendance were Superintendent Cabral, Mrs. Hoy, Mr. Barata, Mrs. Chaves, and myself. The meeting was called to order at 5:01. Essentially, the beginning of the meeting was really just um a review of the last time the the policies um have been reviewed, which was back in 2017. I believe Mrs. Fagan was part of that with um Carol Doherty and Jody Almeida.

106Uh so, there was just some, you know, some just historical uh context there as far as when uh it was last updated. Um a lot of the um when that happened, a lot of it was cross-referenced with uh MASC MASC um policies, but we also um they debated to Tauntonize. I think that was the word that was used uh to Tauntonize a few of the policies um and MASC came in to assist. I think it was James Hardy uh who has since retired. Uh they provided models and whether or not we wanted to adopt them or not. Fast forward, here we are. We're doing it again. Um so, this first meeting was the way that I had um just did the schedule is just to start with A's and just go forward from there. Um

107at this point, there was a conversation about the difference between policy and procedure. And I mean, policy and protocols and procedure. Procedure are protocols. I think that's what it was. And policies, so we want some flexibilities as far as procedures versus policies because procedures and protocols is basically how those policies are adopted across the Taunton Public Schools. There was a motion made to reach out to Glenn Koocher, MASC, I believe. He's coming to our retreat. I'm not sure. Next week. So, so the rest of the meeting was really just to focus on kind of um the A's of the policy. So, there was just some language changes that Mrs. Shaw has had mentioned something about the code finder index. Which is really it was try to how to find a follow policy like doing the

108search bar and things like that. So, there was just some discussion about maybe changing the language on that. There was AAA was called. That was missing. The Taunton Virtual High School was missing from that. Mrs. Shaw has pointed that out. Needing to add Taunton in front of the Alternative High School as well. I brought up there was a couple of policies that were actually missing that are part of the MASC but were not part of the Taunton policies. One of those was ACR, which is a non-discrimination including harassment and the tally retaliation. And there was also the ADF, which was the school district district wellness program. I believe it was Mrs. Hoy who said it might be included in another policy. So, there's a plan to follow up with that. The other one that was

109missing was AE, which is a commitment to accomplishment. So, we're waiting for a follow-up as far as that goes. There needs to be an update on all these letters. ACAB, ACAE, and title nine. There needed to be update on mission and core values in A and D. And there were some clarifying questions on AB. And then I think the only other thing was Mrs. Shaw brought up the the CHRI acronym under background checks just to make sure that that is spelled out so people know what CHRI means. And then there was another reference to specific fees revised to be less specific what fees will be charged. And then the meeting was adjourned at 5:52. That concludes my report. Motion to accept the report of rules sub committee. Second. All in favor? I. Opposed? The eyes

110have it. Next sub committee report is H2 which is curriculum and instruction. It's back to you Ms. Santos. >> Yes. All right. So this meeting took place yesterday March 3rd, 2026. In attendance was myself, Mrs. Mullen, Mrs. Shaw, Mr. Barada, Superintendent Superintendent Dr. Harrison and Ms. Bleno. The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. Um So Um basically this meeting was called to order for just to talk as Mrs. Mullen is is new to the curriculum and instruction sub committee to identify goals going forward. Um so the beginning of that meeting was basically you know asking for input about specific goals that we would all like to meet as part of the sub committee. Um Mrs. Shaw had mentioned meeting with different curriculum supervisors to get input and update on art curriculum as possible

111as updates from Mrs. Coy and Mrs. Palowski to say where we are as far as that goes. Um I included my own goals, which were basically that I had been in communication with the TEA president, Ms. McWork, because I had really wanted to start inviting teachers to subcommittee meetings because I feel it's really important for teachers to have a say, especially when it comes to curriculum and instruction since it's a vital part of what they do on an everyday basis. I had also um brought up an idea of possibly doing a survey to get some input from teachers for possible topics that we might discuss. As you know, someone who is not in the classroom in town public schools, it's really difficult for me to know what issues should be brought up. So I really

112think that input would have been really important. This led to a very colorful discussion. Not all in agreement. So I'll leave all of that out, but there was perhaps some mention of Mrs. Shaw and I think Mrs. Mullen agreed to kind of do this top down where we would focus more on starting with curriculum supervisors and then maybe academic coaches. And then if we don't get enough information that then we could start asking teachers for input. Mr. Barada did update us on you know, the kind of the six-year cycles of curriculum revision so on and so forth where there had been some teacher input historically there. And then there was just conversations about whether or not past practice allowed teachers to attend subcommittee meetings and me and Mr. Cabral disagreed on whether past practice should

113determine future practice. Those issues actually just were not resolved, but part of what we're planning to do is what we tried to do is all right, we all have kind of different goals. So how can we use the time to meet all of those goals for everybody that's involved on the subcommittee even though we might not agree on the way that we implement that. So, that is, you know, continued work, but the way we basically ended it is, because Mrs. Mullen also wanted, because she is new, learn more about the curriculum, the overall scope of that as well, too. So, basically we ended with, all right, how can we manage the schedule? And I'm just saying this because I had a And I did this for the rules subcommittee, too, but I had provided the

114the subcommittee members with a timeline up until June of meeting dates. And most of the people had approved whether they could do those dates. They're all on Tuesdays at this point, but the goal going forward is really to have monthly subcommittee meetings for both, which I know is more than we've had in the past. So, there's But there's a lot of things that I want us to be able to cover. So, basically the way that the takeaway was essentially, differences aside, we're going to come together and I'm going to revise the the Google Doc as far as the tentative schedule, and I am going to resubmit that to the subcommittee, and then we can, you know, kind of take it from there. But our next meeting will will be in March 28th, I believe, and

115that is to discuss equitable grading and an extension of a conversation we had for our last subcommittee meeting, which was about postsecondary um, success of Taunton Public Schools, because we didn't really have a chance to get through that at our last subcommittee meeting. So, that's where we're going to go. We're going to kind of, hopefully, work as a team to clear out any differences, and hopefully we all kind of work best, cuz all is really important is is making sure that Taunton Public Schools is successful for students and for teachers, as well. And we adjourned at 5:47, and that concludes my report. Thank you, Ms. Santos. Um next on the uh agenda is >> Motion to accept the recommendations of the committee. Or the report. If I If I may uh recommendations, I don't Were

116there recommendations in that report or is just receiving place on file? Just I think the proper motion. >> the report. That's good. Then I'll second that, Mr. Lara. Thank you. >> All right. Opposed? The eyes have it. Okay, now moving on to H3 Elementary School Subcommittee. That would be Mr. Lara. Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Elementary Subcommittee met this afternoon. Members present were myself as chair, Mrs. Fagan, and Mrs. Mullen, Superintendent Cabral, Mr. Barada, and Principal Lisa Pereira. The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. Principal Pereira presented the Edward F. Ledy Preschool School Improvement Program, highlighting the following categories. She spoke of the staff of 45 full-time employees, eight part-time staff members, with a classroom structure of 10 classrooms and with 27 sessions. She also spoke of the programs, which are as follows:

117the ELA enrichment activities, which include uh entertainment from the Big Ryan Tall Tales, the You Hanley Circle of Songs, and the Read Across America Program. She spoke about the science enrichment activities, which are for math science, the Ledy Pumpkin Patch, Blazing Saddles, and Joe's Crazy Critters. In addition to this, she spoke about the social studies enrichment activities, including fire safety day, Brazilian beads, Bamadeli West African dancing and drumming, and safety day. The composition, which you spoke of the school community was enriching, collective, and always working together within the school promoting a very positive positive school environment. In her presentation, Principal Pereira focused on three main goals and areas of focus for improvements. One, to foster a welcoming and inclusive preschool environment where all children, including multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and general education students develop

118a strong sense of belonging within the school community by engaging collaborative play-based and language-rich experiences. Through inclusive and enrichment programs and culturally responsive activities, students will build their capacity to communicate, connect, and participate meaningfully with peers and adults promoting holistic growth and active engagements in the school community. In the area focus number two was to continue the ongoing implementation and enhancement of the We Engineer Science curriculum within our preschool program. By continuing to implement this hands-on inquiry-based science curriculum, we aim to foster curiosity, critical thinking, and foundational STEM skills in our younger learners. Improvement efforts will center on ensuring consistent delivery, engaging materials, and teacher training to maximize the student engagement and understanding. And finally, in area three, all staff members, including teachers, educational assistants, related service providers, specialists, and support staff will participate in

119a student progress monitoring team that meets four times per year to collaboratively review each child's developmental progress, learning goals, and supports. These meetings will focus on each child's strengths and areas of growth with clear roles defined for every staff member in supporting that child's success. In her accountability goals, Principal Perrault focused on continuous improvement for student attendance and chronic absenteeism. She presented her SIP in a very positive fashion with great enthusiasm, dedication, and full commitment to her position detailing the plan, utilizing a number of resources and techniques to meet the goals and objectives. The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m. This concludes my report. Motion to receive and place on file. All in favor? I. Opposed? The eyes have it. Do you want to second? Thank you. The next um subcommittee report is finance and law.

120Dr. DeMello, please. Thank you, Madam Chair. Earlier this evening, the finance and law subcommittee met uh consisting of uh Mr. Chaves and myself as chair. Also present was Superintendent Cabral and Assistant Superintendent Monahan. The first item on the agenda was district membership policy. Uh we had an attachment that was presented to us and um it basically summarized how we as Taunton school Taunton public schools uh uh staff or uh leadership are involved in different organizations that we pay membership fees to. Uh it was noted that the Superintendent of Schools is a is a member of the Kiwanis Club and the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction holds a membership in the Rotary Club of Taunton. Both clubs affiliated with Taunton Public Schools. Kiwanis Club with the Key Club and the Rotary Club with Superintendent, refresh

121my memory. The Rotary Club? Interactive. So, aligning with the strategic goals and mission of the Taunton Public Schools. I asked if if we're recruited or if we participate on our own and it can work both ways as long as it fits within the School Committee membership's policy that is maintained in our system. The next item on the agenda was use of facilities. There were various organizations that use our facilities. Some we waive fees and only charge custodian. Others we rent we charge a rental fee, custodian, police, fire, and facility manager. That was presented to us by Mrs. Monahan and that was received and placed on file unanimously. The next item is the transportation bid award. As probably heard earlier this evening, the award was awarded unanimously by myself and Mrs. Chaves to H&L Bloom Inc.

122at the amount of $67,122,850 for a period of five fiscal years. And they were the the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. There is going to be some clarification needed on fiscal year presentations and some issues that we discovered a little bit later in the evening, but the vote was unanimous that evening this evening. The next item on the agenda was the procurement card, also known as the P-Card for the month of January. The total charges amounted to $15,958.46. Basically, every everything seemed in order, nothing outstanding. This was also received and and authorized to pay unanimously by Mrs. Chaves and myself. The next item was the Taunton Area School to Career Task. We were presented with a an invoice that uh started back on July 1st of 2025 and concluded on December 5th of 2025 for

123the amount of $52,000. Initially, in the FY26 budget, we had allocated $125,000 to this organization. Uh we had throughout the uh fiscal year and school year, we had some concerns with uh the actual service delivered by this organization. Uh so, we kind of uh regrouped and uh starting over. So, the amount to pay $52,000 was fair and acceptable, and that was voted unanimously to pay the amount of $52,000 by uh by Mrs. Shaws and myself. Uh the next item was disposal of surplus equipment. Uh specifically, the Friedman Middle School carpentry equipment. Uh various items uh that have no more further use to us uh that are old as far as 2001 uh uh jigsaws and scroll saws and a bunch of other equipment. Uh and that was voted unanimously to place on the uh GovDeals

124in compliance with Taunton uh City of Taunton procurement and uh Taunton Public Schools procurement procedures to dispose of these through the e- eGovDeals, is that GovDeals bids. Okay, thank you, Mrs. Monahan. And again, that was voted unanimously to do that by Mrs. Shaws and myself. And the last item was bills payable for FY26 in the amount of $272,209.41. I made an observation that seemed awfully low, but Mrs. Monahan assures us that the next one will be quite higher. So, of course, uh due to a a major snowstorm that impacted us uh on the February 23rd weekend, right? That's still living with us. And there were couple of questions asked by Mrs. Shaws and myself. Mrs. Shaws had the same question I had on one item. They were answered, and we approved to pay the warrant

125uh unanimously by Mr. Shaw and myself in the amount of $272,209.41. And that concludes my report. Motion to accept the report, moving the recommendations set forth by the committee to the full committee. Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next on the agenda is I new business, multilingual learner community input team. Thank you. So, in our in our quest to continue improving programs uh providing equitable access to our multilingual program students and program, uh Delilah Mendoza, who's the multilingual program director for the Town Public Schools, she's going to be organizing a community input team. I won't go into details cuz you'll you'll see the information in the charge of the program, but we are seeking school committee participation. Uh in the past, school committee members have either

126volunteered or school committee members have nominated a colleague to participate. Uh we're more than welcome to take two or three uh committee members if they wish to participate. If you want to check your calendars first and then get back to me, you're more than welcome to do that. If you want to nominate a member, you are more than welcome to do that now. But again, we I would we are soliciting uh school committee participation as we have in the past with our community input teams. Parents, educators, administrators, stakeholders, partners and organizations, Confianza, will be supporting us in this work. Mis- Miss Santos? There's no times on the dates. We can get So, confirm the days available and I'll get you the times as well. I'll update this. >> Okay. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Good

127question. Any other questions? Okay, before we go into executive session, um I just wanted to give everybody a heads-up that we have our retreat on March 11th, which is next Wednesday. Yes, next Wednesday. And the executive director >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry, go ahead. Okay. The executive director from MASC, Glenn Kutscher, will be coming and facilitating the retreat with us. So, that's having somebody from MASC will be really good. So, question, Dr. DeMello? Yes, Madam Chair. Because you said you had something to say before going into executive session. I I want to better understand why we're going into executive session. I know you're going to read it publicly, but are we conducting a contract negotiation with the superintendent? No. Okay. So, the statement reads, "And to conduct contract negotiations with the superintendent." So, We're going

128to The plan is tonight is to get materials to you so that we can plan a future meeting for contract negotiation. So, prior to going into it, we're going to give you the materials. >> ask to table this executive session because the agenda does not reflect that. I'm sorry. Does not reflect that. >> Doesn't it say that TAA? And it also says, "And to conduct contract negotiations with the superintendent." And we have one member missing, so I respectfully ask that we reconvene this executive session when we have a full membership. I know sometimes that's impossible, but the entire motion is not what is going to happen. So, as we all know, we've had some issues with open meeting law inquiries. We've had a ton of those, and I don't want to get into that situation

129with this right here. So, I I carefully read it, highlighted it, and just want to be clear that I kindly request we table this to a future meeting. Do we have that as a motion? Just so I'm clear, table both parts of >> entire The entire executive session, yes. >> That's the in the form of a motion, yes. I'll second. All in favor? I. >> Can we I think I'm >> Want to do a roll call? Yeah, please. >> Okay. Roll call, Mrs. Bacon. Mr. Yes. >> I vote. So, the the the material that's in here is not how you was advertised, is that That's that's the whole I don't want to speak on this unless I'm asked to. What the Would Would anybody like a clarification Would Would anybody >> Would Would anybody be

130interested in if you don't want to talk about the superintendent that we just keep the TAA in there? >> Madam Chair, unfortunately, it's an advertised meeting. Uh we we the the Even though we don't have to report out unless we take a vote in executive session, the motion is not clear. The motion is definitely I mean, you said it yourself, we're not going to talk about contract negotiations with the superintendent, so it can't be part of the motion to go into executive session. I got a roll call. Okay, so we have a motion on the table and second and roll call. And the motion would be filed to the next meeting? Table it to a future meeting. That's what I said, yeah. If you guys table it, it can't come off the table unless the

131person who made the motion to table it takes it off. Superintendent, uh with all due respect, you asked you were going to speak if you were invited to speak. I mean, >> I don't know if members are aware a tabled motion stays tabled until the person who made the motion takes it off the table. Okay. Superintendent, I have no reason not to bring back this motion. I just don't want to get into a situation with open meeting violations, open meeting law violations. As you know, we had an attorney here from our law firm going over a multitude of requests that were, I don't know, from I don't know how many years, and I don't want to get in that situation again. So, that's why I respectfully asked to table this to a future meeting. Mr.

132Plouski. Oh, the uh I was just going to say I was going to ask for somebody to explain the rules of tabling. So, thank you, Mr. Garol. Any other comments before we do the roll call? Mr. Plouski. Yes. And the yes is to what? Table it, right? To table it, yes. Yes. No. The uh the eyes have it. Eyes have it to table >> Yeah, to table it. Got you. Thank you. Okay, then unfinished business, action item update, K1. Not at this time. Okay, any press? Okay, really really quickly. So, what did you decide about uh how you're going to make up the absences for the for the snow day? We haven't decided yet, Emma. Uh so, I'm going to review the guidance and then put together a recommendation to the school committee for the

133next meeting. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Motion to adjourn. Second. Second. All in favor? >> Aye. Opposed? The eyes have it. Thank you, everybody. Good night.