001Good afternoon. The uh finance and law subcommittee shall come to order. I'll start with roll call. Mrs. Shaves >> present. >> Mr. Vieiraa >> present. >> Chairman Dlo present. >> First item on the uh agenda. We have use of facility see attached memo. >> What are the wishes of the committee? >> Make a motion to accept it and place it on file. >> Second. Okay. Okay, second on discussion. Uh, just one question, Mrs. Monahan. The very last one, lines and spaces. >> Uh, fee is waved in l of free services to Gallaghan school students. What exactly is line in spaces? >> They are teaching our students to play the violin. >> So, yes. Yes. And they do that for free. And so, we wave them um the fee of renting the the uh rooms at
002Gallagan. >> Wow. Now, uh how about the violins? Do we provide that? >> They provide everything. >> Really? >> Yes. Yes. It's great. It's really great. >> Wow. That's one of the instruments. I love and appreciate. >> Me, too. >> Great. So, a motion was made in second. All in favor? >> I opposed. Eyes have it. >> Next up, we have the uh procurement uh card update. See attached memo. >> Wish of the committee. >> Motion to receive and place on file. >> Seconded. >> Uh on discussion, uh first and foremost, I see a communication services $5,000. What exactly is that related to, Mrs. Monahan? >> Sorry about that. Down in the bottom down the bottom. Um, communication services. It It is a I believe it was a um and I'm not sure. I'll come
003back to you afterwards, but I believe it was um a PD and it was um a a conference all-encompasses with a conference for our communications director coordinator, excuse me. But I will I don't want to be exactly on shore, so let me look into it and get back to you, please. >> Okay. So, uh, yeah, I I think I I I would like an explanation about that because it's a round number and I'm not sure how we arrived at that number. So, I just want to make sure what it is. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. Thank you. And the one other item uh there's a Home Depot and it has uh HS, which I assume is High School Industrial Tech Supplies. Uh, and I know we have two other Home Depot cards floating around. So, I'm
004still confused and I I've asked this before and I need to better understand. We have a PC card. We have two Home Depot cards. Why the three forms of payment? >> So, there's three types. You're right. So, one of them is um the Home Depot credit card. Um and that is only given to our groundskeepers that are needed just for something that might be very quickly that they may need for whatever they are doing out on our school grounds. We do have um Home Depot the pro account and that pro account is when we um will purchase our custodial supplies. That's more of the bulk items. And then the PC card is um and this one here is that was for one of our projects for our students that have been working and with the
005teacher at ths and doing some work at uh one of our buildings. So, they needed supplies very quickly and that's why we would use the PEC card to go over there with the with the um this the teacher. >> Okay. I I understand very quickly, but I mean I just don't know why we have three different forms of payment. I mean, the the PE cards, the Home Depot cards, where do they lie in the possession of the office or the employee? >> The PE card is only in the office. The card, the Home Depot cards, there's only a few of them and they lie with our groundskeepers. So if you're not you need something in a pinch, we will instead of going and asking the um the staff member to purchase it out of their
006own pocket and then having reimbursement, that's why we ask them to get the PE card, which they can come very quickly and get it here at the office. Not going to chase somebody down for the Home Depot credit card from one of our groundskeepers. >> Okay. I I understand. But you know, with all due respect, I mean, you don't have an instant purchase for $4,88.13 without better understanding you're going to go buy $4,000 worth of products. We did know what we needed to buy too, >> right? I I mean I just I I I just want, you know, basically uh you know, set control measures in place because now we have three forms of payment for Home Depot. I thought two was already too many. I mean, I don't know how my colleagues feel, but
007I thought two PE cards was already already too many. Now we're using a third source of payment, and I think we're defeating the purpose of the Home Depot cards itself and now a PC card serving as another form of payment. That's just my >> Well, and again, if I could please, I don't want I don't want to say that it's mismanaging or whatever it is. There are three specific reasons why we use the PE card, the Home Depot credit card, and then the Home Depot pro account. The Home Depot pro account is through a vendor through our vendor person that we buy a bulk items. The Home Depot card is for groundskeepers who need something very quickly. So, there are specific reasons why we have those two different accounts with Home Depot. And then of
008course our PC card for quick needing um things that are needed quickly and to make it efficiently just like we had said always what the PC card is for. So please understand there are reasons for each of the Home Depot accounts and they are two different specifically different reasons. The Home Depot pro which is through a vendor and bulk items and then the Home Depot credit card which lies with our grounds keepers >> and I believe the 4,000 new for work at summer street. >> It was the renovation of summer street. >> Okay. Thank you Mrs. Can you just So the two credit cards, >> it's not really two credit. The only two credit cards is the Home Depot credit card and the PE card. >> Okay. So So the other one is just an
009account. >> It is an account just like we have anything else in in the district. >> So then where is the PE cards? Where's the PE card? >> In a safe in the office >> here in the office. So someone needs to come here together. So >> absolutely. We have a sign out and there is a checklist that is the responsibility when you are taking out the PEC card and you must return it within 24 hours. There are very much specific guidelines for the PE card. >> So the so the um the Home Depot credit card is there a limit on there? um I believe so and I really don't know exactly how much but we don't as you see we don't really have that much on that's really spent and it's usually the groundskeepers
010that do that >> and and so each of them or a few of them have a card so if they were I don't know if they needed to get bug spray or something that they'd be able to run out to Home Depot and quickly get it >> and they always do ask if they can use it so please know that they don't just go to Home Depot and say let me go buy this they always ask um either the facil u Mark Freredus our director of facilities or myself. Okay. >> Requesting, can I go ahead and purchase? Nothing is ever purchased without an approval. >> Okay. >> Mr. Be you actually just answered my question. I was going to ask if they needed prior if they ran it through somebody before they >> Nothing is
011ever purchased. And I I mean it makes sense that logistically if they're working on a piece of equipment or with a piece of equipment, something goes wrong, um rather than waiting to go through another process to make the purchase, they can do it and continue being productive. >> Absolutely. And that's what we are trying to do. But again, please know that nothing is ever purchased without an approval. >> Thank you. >> Again, I just want to reiterate, I am not opposed to making purchases. I'm not opposed to going and buying bug spray on, you know, last minute or whatever we need. I'm just trying to reconcile and making sure that we don't have too many forms of payment because my idea when I really made the suggestion of getting a pecard because I think I'm
012the one that initiated that way back when was to centralize things and make it as a easier reconciliation. So, but since the Home Depot cards already existed, that's why this is throwing me off. And I immediately said, "Whoa, another form of payment for Home Depot. More reconciliation on our end." That's my only point. Okay, let's move on. A motion is made in the motion made and seconded. All in favor? I >> I opposed. Eyes have it. >> Next up, we have surplus the attached memos. >> Mrs. Monahan, back to you. >> There are two items. Um they're both cafeteria tables, but um there are 20 first one are 21 of cafeteria tables from Martin Middle School. They are about $75 valued each. Um the other ones are 30 um cafeteria tables that are located at
013Freriedman Middle School. Um and again $75 each. These um the ones at uh Martin we we purchased new cafeteria tables last year and we are getting new cafeteria tables at Freriedman and that's why we have both of those up on for request of disposal of surplus. We have asked um other school districts around like other districts if they would need something like this. We asked Alia Lords if they would be interested in if declared surplus. Um but these are too big for the elementarymentaries. Okay, >> Mr. Vier. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I uh make a motion to declare the items surplus and dispose of them in accordance with uh Tom Public Schools policy. >> Second that. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. Eyes have it. >> Next up, we have bills payable. will
014start off with FY25 in the amount of 42,883.03. Wish of the committee. >> Motion to approve in the amount of 42,883. >> Seconded. >> Uh all in favor? >> I opposed. Eyes have it. And the last item we have FY26 bills payable in the amount of $716,363.39. Motion to approve the bills payable for FY26 in the amount of $716,363.39 cents. >> Seconded on discussion, >> please. Mrs. Chefs, >> thank you. Um, a couple of questions. So, any of the supplies that say bar, does that come under their grant? >> Correct. Yes. And remember the account number is a little different. That's how you know it's with a grant. >> That's a 28. Yes. So, I just wanted to make sure. >> Thank you. Um on page four um a marriages healthc care for $3,800. >>
015This is um for a contracted service that we needed for nursing in the um during summer school. So these were for three nurses during summer school just a small period of time. >> Okay. Um the one underneath that one for the 86,400 >> that is our um SIS student information systems um school brains that's our yearly renewal with them >> and similarly on page six and seven there are instructional software um is that all yearly on page on the bottom of page five is code combat. That's instructional software. At the top of page six, there's code HS instructional software map. >> So, you'll see all of these. >> Those are all yearly. Yes. Yes. Okay. >> Exactly. >> And so, similarly on page six, there's the $44,000 um for um parent square. Is that for
016the whole district? >> Yes, it is. >> Okay. Okay. And my last No, that was at page 16, the district. Okay, that was my last question. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. VR. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, question on page seven, Ethos Evacuation Strategies LLC in the amount of $2,585. >> That is um those are for our evacuation chairs for um students and staff that may need some assistance if there is an emergency um where they would not go ahead and be able to use the stairs. Okay. >> So, those are evacuation shares. >> All right. Wonderful. Thank you. My next question is on page eight. It's at the bottom. Fun and function LLC. $4,458.74. >> These are OT supplies. So, these are um for our occupational therapist um supplies for them for the
017school year. >> Yeah. Just had the word fun in there. I absolutely pass that one by. Page 14. actually on page 16. Parent Square. I'm obviously I'm familiar with Parent Square. >> That's the one we just you did. Okay. >> That's the one that Mrs. SH's asked for and that's for a district license for parents square and that's our app that we um will blast out to families um about any items that are going on in the schools. >> It's it's the yearly >> Yes, exactly. >> Okay, that was a question I'm familiar. >> Absolutely. >> Very communicated to on parents square extremely. >> Page 17, professional communications. Did you ask about that one too, Mr. Shavs? If you did, I I missed. I apologize. $4,400. >> This is more of cabling. They're cabling for
018the network. Um this is work that is done for specifically for three different schools. Um and again it's all cabling for the um technology network. Right. And then on page 21 $22,51.70 WB Mason is that >> these are um >> general supplies. They are general supplies and multiple supplies of um there. So the biggest one if you see there for the 15,000 those are considered to be tables for classrooms um for Ton High science department that was needed for an extra classroom um and then other stuff that are considered to be either science supplies and classroom supplies for the district. >> Okay, those are all my questions. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Ver. I only had one which has already been answered was regarding the Aptium LLC. Mr. SH's already asked that. So motion's
019been made and seconded. All in favor? I oppose. Eyes have it. Motion to adjurnn. Be >> motion to adjourn. >> Seconded. >> All in favor? I. >> We are returned. Thank >> you. >> Thank you everybody. >> All right. Uh good evening everyone and welcome if we'll start with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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 early light what so proudly we held at the twilight last gleaming who brought stripes and bright stars through the perils last fight or the ramparts we watched were so gallently streaming and the rockets red glare. The bombs bursting in air gave proof through the
020night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled then yet wave or the land of the free and the home of the brave. >> Mrs. would lead the invocation please. Lord, as we begin this session, let us acknowledge your goodness and mercy and ask your blessings on all our deliberations. We thank you for this opportunity to be of service to our community and to the young people entrusted to our care. And if everyone remains standing, we're going to have a moment of silence for um someone who just recently passed away. With deep sadness, the family of Dvita Fox Meansen, 79, of Wesley, Mass, announced her passing at home on Monday, September 8th. She is lovingly remembered by her devoted husband, Leo Meansen, her daughter and son-in-law, Melissa and Andrew Sinclair, her
021son and daughter-in-law, Matthew and Amy Peace. Fox, and her three cherished grandchildren, Bailey and Camden Fox, and Lily Sinclair. And before I go on with this, um, for those of you who don't know, Mr. Manson uh was the principal over at Bennett School and I had the pleasure of having several of my children be there while he was the principal. Wonderful, thoughtful man. And he also ended up in main office as was it >> assistant superintendent for transportation services transportation. >> Yep, that's right. And that's how he finished out his career. But you couldn't find a nicer man than him. And he did he just did a wonderful job at Bennett School. Dvita was born on February 6, 1946. Uh alongside her siblings, they grew up in Medford, Mass. Her was her sister Edith, her
022brother Arthur, and her brother Javi. She attended Clark University in Worcester, Mass, earned a degree in social sociology. And while at Clark, she forged many enduring ends friendships and was part of the first class of women to take courses at Holy Cross. She later earned a master's degree in education from Boston University. She was a passionate advocate for advocation, for education, pardon me. It's probably why she and Leo got along so well. He was just as passionate. She dedicated her life to ensuring the best outcomes for all children. Over her career, she was a teacher, director of title one programs, principal of the Oak Street School in Franklin, Mass, and superintendent of Carlilele Public Schools. From 1992 to 2004, it's a 12-year rung. That's pretty good for a superintendent. She was always known for putting
023kids first and even after her retirement, she continued to mentor aspiring educational leaders and served on the board of Discovery Museum in Actton, a place she loved to visit with her grandchildren. She also spent a lot of time volunteering in the Wesley School Council, serving on the board of creative learning exchange and working at the polls on election days. Participating in her beloved book club is also one of her activities. and she found joy in trips to Maine, Canada with Leo, always appreciating the beauty she saw there. Um, above all her all her greatest joy was her family, especially her grandchildren whom she adored. She loves spoiling them, celebrating their m milestones and going on trips to Disney and New Hampshire. She was especially proud to see them all graduate from high school and enter
024college and even one following her footsteps at Clark University. Um, a celebration of her life will be held at the Fallen Church of Lexington uh on September 26 at 12 with a reception to follow. Um, I just want us to please keep uh her family in our thoughts and in her prayers in a moment of silence, please. >> Thank you, Mrs. Fagan. and roll call. Right. >> Yes, please. >> Okay. >> Mr. Enus, >> present. >> Mrs. Shav, >> present. >> Mr. Powski, >> present. >> Mrs. Fagan is present. >> Miss Santos, >> present. >> Mr. Vieira, >> present. >> Mr. Laura, >> present. >> Dr. uh Dlo and Mayor Okonnell, >> present. Thank you. Approval of the minutes of September 3rd. >> Motion to approve the minutes. >> Second. Motion and second. Seeing no
025discussion. All those in favor? I >> opposed none opposed. So voted. And we are uh pleased to welcome back Isaiah Wendle for the student advisory committee report. >> Thank you, Mayor Okonnell. As Maril Connell said, my name is Isaiah Wendle and I am part of the Taton High School student advisory committee. First, I'd like to start by welcoming everyone back to school and I hope you had a restful summer. With the school year now underway, there's definitely that vibe you always feel at the beginning of the year. Eighth graders are experiencing high school for the first time. Seniors are focused on their last year and what comes next. And all of us in between are starting to settle into routines. Sports have kicked off. Clubs are getting started. And the classrooms are beginning to find
026to find their stride. Secondly, as you know, one of the biggest changes this year has been the roll out of yonder pouches. The first few days did come with challenges, especially with morning entry. I think it's fair to say not every student was thrilled about this change, myself included, but administration did act quickly to adjust this process and the mornings have been moving more smoothly since then. Students opinions on the yonder pouches are mixed. A lot of students share my viewpoint that losing access to their phones during the day isn't ideal. At the same time, there are students who say the policy has actually helped them focus and get work done without distraction. I think it is important to share both perspectives that exist in the building. What stands out most though is the effort
027from our staff, administrative assistants, and associate principles and even Dr. Harrison and Mrs. know themselves standing at entrances each morning. Everyone has stepped up to make the process run as smoothly as possible. While I don't like the pouches, I respect the effort and dedication of our staff have shown in carrying out something they believe will benefit the school. So overall, this year is off to a steady start. Students are adjusting. Activities are underway. Although the pouches remain a big topic of conversation in the building, the school year itself is settling into a rhythm. And with that, that concludes my first student advisory report for the 2025 2026 school year. Thank you all. >> Thank you, Isaiah. And it's good to hear both viewpoints and such delivered so professionally. So, thank you for that. Uh, is
028there any public input this evening? There's no public input. Mayor, if I may. So, just for the committee, uh we did have a public uh a parent come in a few weeks ago uh that came before public input uh referred to administration. I got a call thanking us for all our support. I believe she will be coming on October 1st meeting, but we don't usually get those wonderful calls to say that we as a committee referring to administration had a wonderful outcome. So, hopefully the parent will be here on October 1st. >> Good to hear. You're welcome. And this evening we have the athletics presentation. Superintendent Cabrell. >> Thank you, Madame Mayor. So, I I'll preface this by saying that today we had a high school visitation at Taton High School to see some of
029the innovative work that's being done at the high school. And while we were talking about what makes Totten High School unique, uh the fact that we have over almost 1,900 students involved in chapter 74 programs, 450 students involved in early college, we have about 17% of our student body involved in performing arts. And this next presentation is one of my favorites because we have about 14% of the high school student body involved in athletics. And it's not often that you as an athletic director step into a new role and win one state championship, let alone two state championships. So, I'm very proud to introduce athletic director Raphael Dow. He's here with his hype man, uh, principal, Dr. John Harrison. But, Dr. Harrison's going to save the hype for the next presentation. And so, Raf Raph,
030the floor is yours and welcome. And I'm very eager to hear your presentation. Now it is. Thank you so much, Mr. Cabra, for an introduction. Um, thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, thank you, school committee. Really appreciate it. Um, and thank you for that speech. I love that speech that you just made. Thank you so much. Um, so we're going to talk about Taton athletics. U, this was my going into my second year. Um, you're going to hear the words exciting, um, fantastic, amazing. um because I can't celebrate our students enough. Um we're going to go through the year and review of last year and kind of give you some highlights what's coming up this year. Um last year our softball team was division one state champions. Um they're also the hockey Kelly Rex champion. What's
031not up there have enough space or room to put it in there was they finished the season ranked in the top 10 in the country in two publications that Sports Illustrated and also ESPN magazine. Um that's an accomplishment that we never had here before. Um the girls did a good job. Mich uh coach reposo did exceptional job with the young ladies. Our baseball team was the Hakima Kelly Rex champions. Um they also made it to the state tournament. They were knocked out in the first round, but that's okay. Um we'll be back next year. Boys volleyball, which is the nicest bunch of misfits you're ever going to meet. Um they did a good job this year. Um they were the Kelly Rex champ that this was the first year for the Hakamak to have boys
032volleyball and have a program for boys volleyball and have a champion. We were the first year champion for that. Uh but also the boys made it to the elite eight which is their they were the top eight teams in Massachusetts in division one. So did a really good job. If you never saw them perform, you missed the show. It was an exceptional show. um our wrestling team. Um numerous members were part of the sought sectional tournament championships, but Elijah Profett was our state champion backto back. He won it last year in the uh the weight class of 205 pounds. This year he won it in the uh 190 pound weight class. So he went down in weight and won the state championship. Um we were also awarded something very special that I was actually very
033happy about. It's probably the most um proud award I um we had this year in athletics. We were awarded the MIA sportsmanship award um to show that how much our students, athletes, and also our student body um demonstrates sportsmanship throughout the year. So, we're very proud of that. I took that award and I was smiling in the picture as you can see. I don't smile as much with that one. I smiled really for that one. Um we also had other teams qualifying for the MIA state tournament. We have baseball, softball, wrestling, boys and girls basketball, ice hockey. Um, ice hockey actually made it to the Sweet 16 this year. Um, which is a really good accomplishment for them. Um, they're going to be back next year to bring back the whole group. Um, so I'm
034excited about that group as well, too. They're going to do amazing job. And our boys volleyball team at the state tournament. Uh, track and field, we had numerous members individually do some amazing things in track and field. Uh we had several um individuals participate nationally and regionally. We also had um two school records broken this year in the 200 meters and the 400 meters. Um and that's a testament to our coaches but also to our strength conditioning program as well too. Um so I'm going to go through the year review of athletics and taught high school also the middle school. So, we're going to talk about fall participation numbers, middle school sports and clinics, unified sports, the hall of fame, um officiating class, which has taken off. Um it's also branded off into different schools
035in our urban district. Um I want to say it's now in about 15 schools within Massachusetts. Um addressing hate and sports um facility updates. Sorry about that. facilities updates, strength and conditioning, fall participation comparison numbers. Last year was my first year. Our numbers are right around 400. I went back and checked the numbers for previous years. Our fall season is really around 400. Um, which is about close to 14% of our student body. Um, this year we're at 422. We had a drastic jump in boys soccer. I'm really proud of that because we were able to get more of our ELLL students involved in playing soccer this year uh because we got notifications out early. We're able to communicate to the families earlier. We also um sent out communication in multi- languages as well too.
036So we got more of them involved in that program. but also our soccer program now um has three subv two subvarsity levels and a varsity level where a lot of teams in a hawk are dropping freshman soccer and some are dropping um JV soccer as well too. So, we're fortunate enough to have those numbers so we can field three teams. Middle school sports right now. Middle school, we're super excited about this venture that we have with Playball Foundation. Um, we were able to secure a competitive grant of $50,000. Um, couldn't be accomplished without the help of um Tim Clark. Tim was instrumental in helping us get this this grant. Um, this grant is going to help us expand our middle school sports. Not only that, it's going to help us to create some feeder programs
037for some of our sport teams that we don't normally have in the the community. For example, field hockey. Um lacrosse is a big one. So, if we can get that going in the middle school, which we are because this fall, we're going to introduce our traditional cross country. We're going to have that. We're going to uh introduce um lacrosse this year too as well. Um, so we're trying to create a feeder program, but also we want to expand our middle school programs so we can have more kids playing, more kids being active, more kids being out there, being part of something, belonging to a culture, belonging to something that they can take hold of and they can brag about, but also getting them doing something, basic hold them accountable. Um, so we're hoping to do
038that this year. Um, in the spring we'll introduce as well field hockey and flag football. We currently do have flag football, but it's more of a community program that we have on Sundays through NFL Play 60. Um, but this one we're going to add into the school system, and we're going to have multiple teams at the multiple middle schools as well, too. Um, we're also going to have our high school coaches. um um they're going to mentor um the coaches at the middle school and kind of give them a background of what programs and what structure and what routines that we have at the high school, but also um what to expect when they come to the high school. Because one of the issues that we have a lot of our kids coming from the
039middle school, especially in the non-traditional sports like lacrosse and field hockey, they're lacking the developmental piece of the beginning part of fundamentals, right? So, they don't know how to catch, throw a ball, they don't know how to hit the ball by creating more opportunities in middle school. They'll have a chance to do that this year. And I'm super excited about that for them. Um, we're going to create a mentorship program with this group. We're going to use the high school kids um and also our high school coaches to work with the middle school kids and middle school um staff as well too. Unified sports and just like all sports in Taton um it aligns with the district strategic plan. Um, this is a group of students that's very dear to my heart. When I first
040came to Taton, um, I was the life skills coach at Martin Middle School and a lot of kids who participated in this were um, part of my first student group that I had. So, I'm very proud of that. Um, our unified program is growing each year. We partner with the Hakamach league. Um, we have in the fall we do basketball. In the winter we do botchi, in the spring which track and field. Um the reason why I like this program because they establish a strong and inclusive student culture. It help our unified students feel like they're part of the school. Okay. Um but most importantly our students make them feel like they're part of the school. Um what we do is we integrate our students with our unified sports athletes. So they're working together. Um
041it's a great thing to see when you walk through the hallway and the unified student athletes can look up to a kid and say, "Hey, I know you get a high five in a hallway." So we're building that relationship with them. I think it's a great opportunity for them. Um, I'm looking forward to it. We're going to kick off the fall season with basketball. That's going to start in October 6. That's our first home game. Um, we're gonna span we're going to plan something very special for them. So, I hope you guys can all make it. Um, it's something we never done here before. So, I'm trying to shake the wheel a little bit and try to give them something different they never had before. Okay. Totten High School Hall of Fame. Um, last year
042was our first inaugural induction ceremony. We inducted 10 um inductees. Uh we're in the process of inducting 10 more. We're going to meet on Monday um to kind of go through the process of who we're going to select. Um so we we're going to move forward with that. Uh we hope we have some kind of know and who's in in the next two weeks or so. Uh we've already planned the next um Hall of Fame ceremony which is going to be January 24th on Saturday. Makeup day is going to be on Sunday. Um, if you were there last year, it was a great time for our first year. Um, Michael Fox did a really good job. Matt Bourke did an exceptional job with the plaques, the pamphlet, and everything. So, everything was really came out
043well. I was super excited. I was nervous, but I was super excited when I saw the outcome. Uh, and it was a good time to have. Even my wife was proud. So, that's a good thing when she's when she's happy. Uh, sports efficient pathway. I mentioned a little bit about this earlier. Um, this program has taken off leaps and bounds. I know it was brought into the district maybe two or three years ago. Um, it's to the point where now we have over 70 students who can referee games. Um, it's to the point as well where the MIA and the ref reps have partnered with us to where the MIA offers um, our students an actual license to be a referee. So, they can use that license so when they graduate they can actually go
044out and referee after they graduate high school. So they're learning a life skill. They're learning ability to make money when they graduate from high school. But most importantly, we use our high school officials to referee our all of our middle school sports. So middle school basketball, middle school inter murals, middle school soccer, not middle school lacrosse because we do offer that as an elective at the high school. Um so we use them to do that for us because at some point we got to pay referees. Why not pay our own students? Okay. Over the past two years, our students have made over over $100,000. Okay. Um because they're working the middle school sports, AAU basketball, AAU functions on the weekends. Um they're working different activities, but also we have other Hakamach schools who don't where
045their games they cannot find referees. So they call us to use our students, right, for subvarsity like freshman, JV. Uh what we do is we have them with a senior official and they're the other official to complement them on the side too as well. So they do a good job with that. Um so we can't get them ready enough. Uh just today I got three emails. There's a soccer referee shortage. So they need need our kids. So we have two kids refing tomorrow for our game here versus Stoton. And we're sending two more off to um Stoen to ref the girls game as well too. Okay. Addressing hate in sports. Mr. Brawl, would you like to give a little comment on this one? >> No, this is just something that's really near and dear to
046me. Um, no, I I believe playing a sport at any level, whether it's high school or college, is a privilege, not a right. And as you as you stated earlier, the fact that our student body and our student athletes were recognized for the sportsmanship, you know, goes a long way in stating that we have great kids here in Taton who really recognize the privilege and the honor it is to represent our community. >> Thank you. Um so this year what we did last I'm sorry last year what we did last year we had two workshops with our coaches through that workshop our coaches were able to get certified as um sports and society hate sports directors. So now they can teach the other staff members and other coaches how to work in this work and
047how to make sure we address different scenarios in sports where it's you know someone in the stands is talking something saying something derogatory towards an athlete or making comments about an athlete. we can now talk our athletes through it, talk our adults, our coaches, our staff through it, and how to overcome those obstacles. Um, to be part of that PD is probably one of the best PD that I've been a part of, and I've been in the district for eight years now as an assistant principal, um, as a life school coach and also now as an AD. It's probably one of the best PDs I've been a part of because it was more on hand. Um, you did a lot of case studies. You have to walk through the case studies in small groups. Um,
048it was quick, it was decisive, everything they talked about was modern day stuff, real life skills things, stuff that our students can relate to. But most importantly, um, in the in October of this year, we're now going to put our students through the same process as well, too. So, we're going to select 50 student leaders um that we have, mainly juniors or sophomores, and they're going to go through the same process um and how to become um certified in um in this work because it'd be great if they can actually teach and work with fellow students to teach them how to be um productive student athletes as well too. Uh facility updates and long range planning. Um jack trip softball field is completed. we were able to um go through that process and complete the
049field. It's probably the best field in the state. Um I would say it's probably rivalry um some of the university except for Boston College is pretty nice, but we come in a distance second. Um it's a great facility. Um we're able to um do the naming ceremony of the scoreboard. Um so that facility is awesome. Our next step is to restore the uh the basketball gene floor uh because that's overdue. It's about maybe 17 to 20 years old. Um, so that's the next step, the next process. Um, Jack Trip softball field, as you can see, it's playable. Um, the girls had a great time playing this year. Um, it's beautiful. It's one of the, again, one of the best softball fields I've seen in the state. U, we have num number of compliments so far.
050The MIA has asked me, hey, can we host games there? And I said, nope, we can't, not right now. Maybe in the future sometime. Uh bec again we have some of the best facilities in the state. All right. And our student athletes are very appreciative of that. Um I think Sandy Alman shed a tear when she saw the actual stadium completed. So it was a great thing to see. Um so it was a great atmosphere and it was a great um the girls really enjoyed it. Um Totten High School strength conditioning coordinator Cababrini Gonzalez. um all the and the fir the second slide that we showed all the accomplishments that we have as a school and as a district um no matter what sport it is he has a key component in that. Okay. U
051myself and Cabrini we meet every two weeks we sit down and we at we talk about okay where are the athletes at right now? What do we need by sport? What are some functional movements we need to put in to make sure our kids are more explosive, faster, and stronger? and we dissect everything and we sit down for about 45 minutes and we go through the whole process and I kind of tell him this is what I want from our athletes and he runs with it. He puts his own hands on everything. Um, if you walk through any given day through the weight room, you're going to see about 45 to 50 student athletes in there. It's to the point now where we have to structure what team is in there at what time and
052when. Um, and it's a tight fit. It's a good thing to have where in the past maybe seven, eight years ago when you walk through there, you might have seen three kids in there. Now you're seeing 50 at a time because that's all we can hold inside. Um he has multiple things going on. So we have 50 in the weight room. We'll have another 10 or 15 warming up on the track or the basketball court. Um he does a really good job with that. Um one of the things I'm proud of that he has a good job of is the kids respect him. the kids acknowledge what he's doing for their benefit and they appreciate him. That's a really good thing to have. Finally, just want to say thank you um for your continued support
053of our student athletes and Taton High School athletic program because without you guys um without school committee, Mr. Cabraw, u Madame Mayor, we don't have the facilities that we have and we have some of the best facilities in the state. Um and that was evident when one of our kids left and went to a college visit. Um I think it was um New Haven and they came back and said D I was not I was not impressed with their facilities. I said why? It was because ours was much better. So that's a testament to you guys. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you for your time. >> All right. Well, thank thank you for the presentation. I we we know we have excellent athletes here in Taton. We win championships. We're always celebrating.
054And I think it's really good for everyone to understand uh everything that goes on behind the scenes and the the collaboration it takes and all the different people that are so dedicated uh to our student athletes uh including all the staff, the coaches, the athletes themselves, the parents, the school committee. Uh so that was an excellent presentation. Thank you. I don't know if the committee members have any comments or questions. I will uh go to Mrs. Shavs >> ladies first. Okay. >> Is that okay? Thank you, Raph, for that fabulous presentation. Um, one thing that I want to say that sort of was missing from the presentation, but I think is really important is how supportive um that your staff is to the teachers at the high school for the students because I don't know
055if people understand the fact that many times these students need extra help after school or they may they may miss a class for something and so they need to um meet with a teacher or a guidance counselor or whatever and the the your coaches and and your staff that you have are outstanding at allowing that to happen. And I will tell you this as a as a teacher in a class, I was always so excited when if I knew a kid was struggling or I knew a kid was causing a little problem in class and they were an athlete, I knew that there would be someone that would support myself or would support the teacher. So there is a lot of support that goes on outside of the actual athletics that goes on. And so
056from that perspective, I I thank you and your staff because I think that's equally important because these students are doing well academically because you also have that support there. So outstanding job. >> Thank you. Okay. >> Thank you, Mr. Laura. >> Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh a job well done as usual, but I want to congratulate you and commend you on your positive attitude that you convey when you talk to people. I've watched you speak to coaches, to athletes, to students and so forth, and it's wonderful. You convey that positive image that promotes our system in the fashion that we are. Um, two things. When you the adjectives that you use, by the way, in many cases I like because it brought out the best in us. But the fact that you utilize
057our students in the high school level to go and work with the middle school students, uh, that's a positive thing because students see each other. Working together, it makes them belong and that's what we need to continue doing. And I think that works in every system. And then the other important thing is the fact that you uh utilize the the officiating factor of using students to give them credit and income, financial benefit to promise them that continue doing well, you will succeed later on and you can if you continue this officiating. So thank you for that and a job well done. >> Thank Thank you, Miss Laura. Mrs. Fagan, >> Mr. Dowy, I just want to thank the athletic department for the positive feelings that you give to all of these students over the years,
058my kids included. you know, the scholarships that came out for these kids to go to other schools because they had that talent and you know, it keeps them it helps them be a good student, too, because they're so focused on they want to do well there and they and they want to they want to go on to college afterwards and the opportunities that we can give them because of these programs and um I it's just beyond what people understand what's happening with these and all the coaches are so interested in trying to connect the kids. Mr. Vieira and I went last year to a couple of kids that were getting scholarships from college, even one that was going to bass fishing. Was it? >> It It was kayak bass fishing. Yes. Kayak. Yes. First ever
059in our ths history. Correct. >> But you know, all these kids that get picked to go to colleges and they're so expensive right now to get this kind of uh you know, financial benefit from that is also a wonderful thing. And I know that one of the girls that went is going to Providence College and her sister went to Providence College. So they kind of I think you got one at Providence College, too. See? So it's like it's it's really a nice thing. And we're getting quite the reputation out there because of the athletic program. So I thank you for that. >> And I want to add all of the coaches I've found have just been really great with the students. And um as far as your trainer there, Cababrini, he does such a nice
060job with the students. I met him I think for the first time last year and every time I see him there's a smile on his face. He just radiates kindness and happiness and I think the kids trust him and I think it's great. So I you've really done a great job and you've become a really wonderful athletic director and I really appreciate that. >> It's an excellent team. >> Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Fagen, Dr. Dlo. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh, Ad Dowy, uh, you had some big shoes to fill and you certainly filled them. Of course, we all know the legacy that Mr. Auto Viennelli left for you to fill and, uh, it's, uh, you you've done a lot in two years and I I thank you for that. Uh, I I think Mrs. Shaz
061was alluding to what I want to stress is that these are still student athletes and without the classroom support, they can't be athletes. So, we all know that. So a thank a big thank you to our teachers, our guidance counselors, the support mechanisms we have in place to make sure they succeed in the classroom so that they can succeed outside the classroom and represent us very very well. The one observation I want to make was referring to the clinic on flag football. I think I found out yesterday flag football is going to be Olympic sport coming up and that Tom Brady's coming out of retirement to be the USA football uh quarterback. Did you all know that? Well, you heard it here first. Okay. So, flag football flag football is is is coming in waves
062and I think we're uh we're ahead of the curve. So, thank you for supporting that and thank you for your work. >> Okay. All right. Excellent. Well, thank you so much for joining us. It's Oh, excuse me. I apologize. >> No, that's fine. >> Mrs. Miss Santos, >> I just wanted to add Thank you. I just wanted to add to um your talk about Cababrini because I had a student last semester from Taton High and they had to do um an essay about uh what they want to do for their careers and he actually interviewed Cababrini because he was saying how important and influential he was in his life. So I thought that was it was really nice and that's when we were like oh I'm from Taton too and you were like yeah I
063know you know. So, I thought that was a real nice testament that even beyond it, that influence carries with them even into college as well, too. And I just want to add funnally, but uh my pitch was really bad and I'd like to have another chance at that cuz that does not fully represent >> what I'm capable of. >> So, was I have not been able to forget it to be honest with you. >> So, I just wanted it was really, really good. >> Next season. [Laughter] Mr. Vieira. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, thank you, Mr. Dodie. I just really want to commend you for your work, uh, hard work and dedication. I know you have to wear a lot of hats, uh, in your position, MIAA, uh, meetings, you have transportation, you have
064schedules, and it's it's really not a nine-to-five job, and it's a job that you have to really eat, breathe, and sleep. And it's long hours and long days. And from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you uh for how dedicated you are and have been to the position. I very much uh look forward to your continued work. So, thanks again. >> All right. Are we good? >> Well, thank you. >> Goes without saying. Okay. Well, thank you so much for your presentation and for for joining us this evening. >> We go to F superintendent report. Uh just one item in my superintendent's report. Uh very proud. Uh last Monday, September 8th, we welcomed about 900 kindergarten students and pre-K students. Uh for and many of these students, it was their first time
065ever stepping foot into school. So there were a lot of tears uh shed that morning, but they it wasn't the kids, it was the parents. Uh the kids were excellent, super excited to be in school and our our staff do a great job at welcoming the pre-K and the kindergarteners into all our elementary schools. And as you're aware, we have six full day prek programs at five of our elementary schools. Super excited to state that Bennett uh has its first prek classroom ever or at least during my tenure here in the town public schools. Uh so as I mentioned, we have 100 prek students. Uh we have 550 kindergarten students and we have 200 students at Letyi preschool. That 200 number at Lety will fluctuate throughout the course of the year as students age into
066the program when they turn three. So even though we're around 900 now, kindergarten, preK, that number will probably gradually increase over the course of the year. Uh probably one of the meetings in October, I will be coming before the committee and I'll make sure you are aware that I'm going to make a recommendation that we make our full day four-year-old program free. Now that we have now that we have the a lottery system in place and it worked really well, I think the recommendation would make sense for us to move to a full day four-year-old prek. Uh make that free to the community again maintaining the lottery system. And I think that would only benefit us in many ways and also uh allow us to receive additional chapter 70 money through the state. And then
067lastly, um I just want to thank you all again for your vision and your support in expanding this program. It really is making a difference in the kindergarten classrooms that I visit throughout the district on opening day. The kids just settle in a lot smoother because they know how to be in school. So again, thank you. And I would be remiss if I didn't thank my leadership team for all their hard work, the principles and the staff to make sure that our littlest learners are welcomed into their new learning communities. And that concludes my report. >> Okay. >> Accept the superintendent report. >> Second. >> Motion and second. All those in favor? Opposed? None opposed. So voted. Next we have administrative business which is the staffing report, Tottenham public school staffing update and the reads
068collaborative quarterly report. Superintendent Caball, do you wish to comment on any of those? >> Yeah, I'll just go through them real quickly. So the first staffing report uh provides you with all the staffing updates uh throughout the district. It's pretty lengthy. I think we're looking at five or six pages. And then the second staffing report that shows you that we are 98% staffed. We have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight buildings that have that are have all our classrooms fully staffed and we have seven remaining positions in the district. I believe culinary should be filled soon as well as uh one as a special educators at the high school should also be filled soon and I believe Martin school has a lead on the candidate. So we are very close to being 100%
069staffed in all our classrooms and that's a huge commit commit u huge commitment and uh the HR department and all our hiring managers need to be commended for their hard work and then reads collaborative quarterly is just u for your information to receive and place on file. >> Okay. All right. Thank you superintendent >> motion and second on discussion Dr. Dilla. >> Thank you mayor. So, uh, just, uh, for the committee members, I don't have much to do on some nights, so I'd like to watch other school committee meetings. And there was a district that on the 8th of September reported 50 teaching open positions. I won't mention the school district, Fall River, but it was high needs areas such as special ed and ESL. 50 open positions on September 8th. It's on public TV,
070Fall River Public Access, if you don't believe me. So, thank you so much to this committee and the investments we made on HR and supporting HR to fill our our teaching positions. >> Just want to share that. Thank you. >> Thank you for sharing that. Certainly a testament to all of their hard work. >> Now, we have subcommittee reports, finance and law. Dr. DLO. >> Great. Thank you, Mayor. Absolutely. So, tonight the uh subcommittee uh finance and law subcommittee met consisting of Mrs. Shave, Mr. Vier and myself. First item on the agenda was use of facilities. There was an attached memo and there was one comment regarding a fee waiver for a uh organization called lines and spaces. I had no idea what that was, but uh Mrs. Monahan told us it was violin classes
071for our students at Gallagghan with the free use of violins. So in lie of that, we're giving them uh of course waving the fee rentals which is most appropriate. But that was very interesting to find out. That was voted unanimously in favor to accept. The next one was the uh procurement card update. Uh there was a list of many charges throughout the month of July and August. Uh just a few questions from the committee. Uh nothing major that was uh received in place on file. Uh the next item was surplus items. Uh there were two uh different designations of surplus materials. uh cafeteria tables uh both at the Martin Middle School and Freiedman Middle School and the vote was to uh uh Mr. Vieira to make them surplus items to >> declare them surplus and
072dispose of them uh in accordance with TPS policy. >> Exactly. And that was also voted in favor unanimously. And the fourth item was bills payable. The first one was FY25 in the amount of 42,883.03. Uh there was actually no discussion on that and that was voted and approved to pay unanimously by the committee. And the last item was the FY26 bills payable in the amount of 716,363.39. There was a lot of questions and uh um the answers were uh this case forthcoming by assistant superintendent Monahan except for one item that she's going to get back to us on. I forget what it was, but she will get back to us on. And once again, that was voted in favor unanimously to pay the warrant. And that concludes my report. >> Thank you. Do we have
073a >> motion to accept the report and adopt the recommendations of the finance and law subcommittee? >> Second. >> Motion and second. All those in favor? I >> opposed. None opposed. So voted. >> New business. We do have an unanticipated item under new business. Yes, ma'am. >> Which is a request for a field trip. >> Absolutely. Uh folks, we have um colleagues, I should say, we have a request from the uh Air Force Junior ROC from uh Master Sergeant Llant regarding a field trip to the Joint Base at Cape Cod. So, the Tata High School Air Force JOTC is requesting approval from the school committee in order to participate in cadet leadership activities being conducted at Joint Base Cape Cod. This is an annual exercise that our student cadetses experience. uh because we don't meet
074until October 1st, uh this they're leaving on September 25th, be most appropriate if we could uh you know grant this uh this field trip request. >> Move approval. >> Okay. Thank you. Motion and second to move approval. I'll on discussion. Mrs. Shuffs, >> um are the students paying or is this something that's coming out of um the ROC? >> There is a small fee. >> It's $100 a student. So I wanted to know. >> Looks like it says both. offices self and district po. >> Okay, thank you. >> Okay, so there's a motion and a second. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Not opposed. So voted. Thank you. I'm sure they will be thrilled. >> Thank you everyone. >> Oh, sure. >> Um just as the the chair of the sub uh the curriculum and
075sub uh in Jesus subcommittee uh the subcommittee of curriculum and instruction subcommittee. My god, it's been a long day for me. Um, I just wanted to give a heads up that I will be reaching out to Mrs. Shaz and Mrs. Fagen about setting up a couple of meetings coming forth. Thank you. >> Okay. Excellent. There is no uh we have an action item update. Uh, any action on that? >> The only thing I would add is uh you're going to be getting uh you're going to be receiving information regarding proposed schedule dates uh for a tour of Parker in Hamilton Street in the very near future. >> Okay. Mayor, if I may add, I know there's been some previous discussion about subcommittees and adding additional subcommittees. I've been closely watching uh city council deliberations on
076the many subcommittees they have. So, I think uh we should at some point uh take up that discussion of subcommittees, for example, a space subcommittee. I know it may fit under long range planning and school properties, but it's kind of more specific. So, that's one uh type of subcommittee. So maybe uh we'll put it on the agenda for future deliberation. >> Okay, >> Mr. Powski, you >> Well, we're not really going to have a lengthy discussion just because it wasn't on the agenda. Um do you have a comment that you need to make? >> I was just going to say I know kids are advanced, but I don't know if we're ready to go to space. >> Well, we're out there already. >> All right. I'm glad we indulged that one. >> We have a
077fifth branch in the services. We're going to volunteer you to be chairman. How's that? >> Okay. Thank you, Mayor. >> There is no press here. >> Are we on this one yet? That's the one we're >> uh We're just on action items. Yep. >> Okay. So, how are you Nothing yet on the AEDs, Mr. Um, >> actually, I have a I I'm planning a phone conversation uh with a representative from the league. >> So, I'll get back to the I'll get back to the committee with the followup on that conversation. >> Okay. All right. All right. >> Question, if I may. Yes. >> Action item. You were talking about setup date to see the facilities. Correct. That was it. >> Thank you. >> Okay. All right. Thank you, Miss Laura. Okay. Anyone else? All right.
078>> Okay. Then we'll >> motion to adjurnn. Second. >> Motion and second to adjurnn. All those in favor? Opposed? None opposed. So voted.