BMR School Committee - March 5, 2026

001Good evening and uh welcome to the uh March 5th 2026 school committee meeting. At this time to order and ask everyone to rise for the pledge of 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. >> Introduction of members. I'll start with you, Matt. >> Matt Catalano, Milville. >> Chuck Dun, Blackstone. >> Carrisco, Blackstone. >> Middle keys, Blackstone. >> Carrie Got it, Blackstone. Jane Reio, Milville. Kristen Donado, director of finance and operations. Jill Pilgarani, interim superintendent. And then uh I'll take a motion to uh accept approve the warrants. So move >> a motion made by Tara S. >> Second by Carrie. >> Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >>

002I. I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. and to a motion to accept uh the minutes of February 5th, 2026. So >> um January >> I don't see >> February 5th. I see January 8th. >> Okay. >> January 8th. It is >> I'll uh >> I think you don't have that. You Is that what you have in your packet? I have February. >> January. January. >> You do. >> January 8th. >> I have February 5th. >> You do. >> I have January 8th. >> January 8th. Me too. >> You really? >> No. Because I have January 8th. >> I have January 8th. >> You have January. >> We have two. >> I have January 8th, but it says February 5th on the J. So, what we'll do is we'll uh Everybody has February. Sorry.

003January 8th. >> I'll resend my motion. Okay. Um, so I'll take a motion to Did we uh We're going to approve these anyway, just in case we haven't just So I'll take a motion to approve the minutes of January 8th, 2026. >> So moved. >> Motion by Tara S. L. Tara L. >> Second by Tara S. All right. Thanks for covering me. Any further discussion? All those favor in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. >> I'll abstain since I don't have the right. >> Okay. All right. And one abstension. So, it's uh uh seven seven eyes and one abstension. >> Six. Six eyes. That's right. You're still waiting on Aaron. My good. My math is getting there. >> It's okay. >> All right. Um moving forward. Um

004if there's no objection, um we have Selectman Gil here to give us a water update. maybe one of your final water updates for us as a select woman. >> If you do look in your packet, we did include the um the most recent letter. >> Oh, perfect. The one dated February 20th. >> Uh yes, perfect. So, I was going to just read a few things from that. Um so, one So, thank you for having me. That's probably unless something if you have another meeting and we get more data, this probably will be my last um water update and it's going to be a good one, which is good. So the letter dated February 20th, 2026. It shows activation approval. So you can see that Mass D was there February 17th for a final inspection and

005this allows the start of the um pilot study which is to last one year. And on the second page about halfway down the last sentence I just want to call to your attention. It says if the treatment system fails to meet its objective then system redesign and permitting shall be completed. So although I'm very confident that this will work and I think that the engineers are confident as well, if something should happen, then we redesign and come up with a new system. And thankfully with the $1 million grant, we do have enough money to do that if needed. And then on page three, there's a law on the PAS water quality testing. Um the PAS sample shall be analyzed by a mass D certified laboratory using EPA method 537.1 with 18 comp compounds or EPA

006533 and all contaminants in the scope of the method shall be reported. So I just wanted to call out that one thing since PAS is kind of the more um the chemical that is really what we're trying to address. And along with that there's a lot of other samples in um testing within the schedule as um for the pilot study. So there'll be a lot there's a lot of rigorous testing that goes into this pilot study that needs to happen and ensure it's at the certain benchmarks that mass requires for approval. And then the last page, upon completion of the pilot study, a pilot study report, permit applications will be submitted to Mass D for review and approval. So certainly um I just didn't want to read all four pages. Those are kind of the

007highlights though. Um and then as far as the update, first and foremost, I just want to remind everybody that no matter where we are in the pilot study, we will be providing bottled water for drinking and cooking through the end of the school year. Um, I think I might make a recommendation for our next meeting to have an agenda item that we approve bottled water perhaps through the next school year because the pilot study is going to be a year from now, which is February. So, we want to make sure we have bottled water um through the study. Um, the system started running on February 25th, 2026. The team is on site all day long. They get there at 9:00 and they're there until at least the end of the school day around 3:30 and

008sometimes until 6:00 to make sure that there's enough water for use. Um I should have I was there today and I should have taken a picture. The distilled water it looks like distilled water like it looks amazing. So um there's no testing yet. Um actually next point. The baseline pilot study sample collection for the pilot study was submitted for analysis and we should have some data for you in about two weeks. Um this will be bulk and wellwater combined at that point which means we'll have a much more aggressive baseline. So I think that's good because it's going to hold us to a higher standard. And then in a month or so we will have the first couple weeks of sampling uh that is 100% wellwater. And then lastly, it's a lot of work and

009Mccclure engineering is doing a really good job. There was a lot of back and forth with Mass D to get things this needs to be installed this way. You need to reconfigure this. And they come in an inspection. They're like, "Oh, you need to make these tweaks." And then they come back again. So, there's a lot of communication and following up and providing the data and the tweaks and the updates and the reports and the documentation and the permits that need to be done. And they've done a really good job for us. So, now we just run the system and test it. for a year. So, >> all right. Any follow-up questions or >> Thank you. And I do appreciate you're going to recommend um next year's bottle of water. >> Yeah, I think we

010need to do at least until March 1st based on the pilot study. Um so, I think we should do at least through the pilot. I don't think mass DP will lift it anyway, but we should make sure that we have it in the budget to pay for it and things like that. So we should do that. >> It could be one of your last actions as a >> That's right. >> So >> we do appreciate that all your efforts. >> Yeah. Just need time. These things um I remember someone told me that uh cuz I work I don't know I assume many of you work in the private sector. Maybe some of you don't but like when I get a project I'm like I need to do this. Here's the budget. Here's the ROI. And

011he's like give me two weeks you can have that budget. And this everything takes so much longer. >> And but it's not a Millville thing. It's a municipal thing. and we need to see this permit and this documentation so things just don't go as fast. >> It can be frustrating for someone who's used to things going very fast. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Any questions? >> No. >> Thank you. Thank you for your time and effort. >> Thank you so much. >> And your service to the town of Milville. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, next up we have public forum. um which allows you uh five was what's it five minutes to address the uh committee um >> three minutes >> huh >> three minutes >> three believe it's at the purview of

012the uh >> yeah I I realized I I've never announced the time before and I don't know why I did it now but yeah >> I'm going to call you out on >> I'm thinking of the selectman's timeline but anyhow u if seeing no none we will have a public hearing following that public forum so is there no no one for public forum all So now we have a public hearing um for the FY27 budget presentation. I'll ask for a motion to open the public hearing. >> Motion made by uh Tara Lockin, seconded by Jane. Uh any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. All right. FY27 budget presentation. >> Make that a little larger. Perfect. Thank you. All right, let's jump right

013in. Um, can you go to the next slide? So, you're I'm sure all of you are very familiar with these slides. Um, so I still would like to just review them for you. So, um, every time we start a new project or we're doing a new presentation, we always ground our work back in our our new blueprint from this year. And as I've explained in the past, we have four main goals for our blueprint that talks about curriculum. So, our goal is to improve instruction through data-driven decisions, highquality programs, materials, and effective teaching. We have instruction. We want to make sure that we provide instruction to engage and support all students. We have our whole child. We want to make sure we are having across our schools an inclusive environment where all students have the

014opportunity um to develop um perseverance to succeed and our community. We're constantly working on um improving the partnerships we have in our community to be able to bring additional resources to our students and our family. We're also working on uh that we're going to be rolling out to our staff as part of our blueprint. We're doing it a little bit different this year. We have some one pages in each of these that are going to be focusing on the student teacher actions, the student actions, and then what it looks like in our classrooms for our students. So, those are all being rolled out to the staff as well. Next slide. So, again, just to review our guidance guiding structures for the FY27 budget, as I just explained, our strategic plan or our blueprint 3.0. Um,

015we also have the end of the year data and our MCCAST and accountability results. We'll have a quick review. We have a slide for that. Our district assessment data. And as I've explained in the past, we're we have beginning, middle, and the end of the year assessment data that we're constantly using to assess student progress to determine what type of interventions or quarter turns we need to make. We currently are using I Ready. Remember, we transition from STAR. We use writing rubrics, dibbles, and for preschool, we actually have um my igndies that looks at literacy and numeracy skills. Um we also have an evaluation of the impact of all the instructional strategies and curriculum implementation and that's done through our work with the learning acceleration network we call LAN. Um our walkthroughs, our learning walks

016as well as our instructional leadership teams. Um and then we also have our school community surveys that are sent out at the end of the year. For our next slide, our student enrollment and demographics. Um, they're pretty similar. I'm not going to read through all of them for you, but I just want to bring um your attention to three different areas that we've had a slight change in. And based on our population, even a small change um can be pretty significant. Our English language learner population is up a bit. Last year we were at 3.2%. This year we're at 4.5. our students with special needs. Last year we were at 17.7, we're up a little at 18.6. And our high need student population currently is at 48.4. Last year at 40 46. I will say

017these trends are pretty typical across the state. Next slide. So, as I mentioned before, one of the measures that we use when we're planning this budget is our um state determined measures. So, as we've talked about before, I presented earlier in the year, as a district, we're continuing to make moderate progress toward our goals. None of the schools in our district require any state intervention or assistance. Our four-year graduation rates actually went from, I think it was 92 to 94.4. Our dropout rate um has decreased um to 1.1. Our attendance rate is staying steady. And if you look at the bottom, I know again we've reviewed this with all of our principles and our um teacher leaders. When you look at our grade three through six, we know the majority of their performance when it's

018meeting and exceeding is at or above the state. And we know that we have identified areas of focus for 7, 8, and 10 to ensure that they're continuing to improve both their achievement and their growth. So, what is driving the FY27 budget? Um, actually, I apologize. That's you. >> Oh, okay. I can go. That's fine. The wrong one. That's no problem. Um, so as a district, we're again serving just over 1,400 students. And that's important to note because when we go through this budget, we talked about some of the um, recommendations that were made was to rightsize our district. Uh, approximately, as I mentioned before, 50% of our students are classified as high needs. Um, you'll notice here the special ed population is a little different because it's changing every day. So the time we

019ran this report, it was at 19.4. And again, increase in students for our English language learners. our out of district placements. There haven't been more, but some of the placements have changed. Um, again, our blueprint, as mentioned, we're continuing to refine our core literacy program. We're in year two with that, and we definitely have some technology needs as we move forward. Again, technology is always changing. We're trying to keep up. Now, I'm going to hand the next slide. So, some of the driving factors that we have um in building the FY27 budget. Um the first thing is our health insurance increase is anticipated just under 15%. This is the second year of double-digit increases for our health insurance. We also have collaborative and private tuition increases of 5 to 10%. Um and this is an

020annual cost increase and increase in use due to placement changes that Joe was just speaking about. Facilities needs um cost of supplies and services, costs of everything are increasing. um and not at small um percentages. They're they're all increasing at a at a large rate. Um we have aging buildings and systems that need maintenance, regular maintenance. Um that that is driving some of these costs. Um faculty and staff contractual obligations. 52% of the budget is for our contractual salaries. Um and another 14% of our budget is actually for employee benefits. Um and that's a big driver of this budget. Um the minimum lo minimum local contribution in state revenue and transportation costs are are factors that we're looking at. Our materials and resources again part of our strategic priorities as I mentioned we're in the

021second year of our literacy curriculum curriculum. Um, we are it's our ongoing we have ongoing professional development and use of our new I Ready program transitioning from STAR. We're continuing to build across all of our our grades and all of our classrooms, all of our schools. Our multi-tered systems of support um implementation of our capital plan. There are a few projects that we have been holding back on. Um, but we know we always have some improvements that need to be made. We continue to work on building our afterchool and summer programming. um always addressing as is in our blueprint the whole child for the support our social, emotional and behavioral needs and again technology continues to be um a need when it comes to materials and resources. We did want to show you and again

022we've gone over this before just to give you a sense of um classroom teachers and numbers. So again I don't need to read read these to you but you can see our numbers are pretty similar when it comes around the elementary school. um you know, we're in the low 20 and low 20s across the board um for our K through three. Next slide. For our middle school staffing, again, you can see the numbers kind of, you know, uh went up. Um but we are still looking at some similar numbers for next year. In our high school staffing, you won't see I know we had a question the other evening, but you won't see specific course numbers because at the high school level, it it's very difficult to determine that. Um, but you know, our average

023class sizes, it could range anywhere from 156 up through 25 depending on the interest and the class size for that year. But these are the current we have the numbers up there for this current school year as well as what the proposed um staffing for the 2627 school year. So going into our budget worksheet in our capital budget if you can go back one slide if you can click into that budget worksheet for me please. So, and we have the handout. This is our expense summary. So, what we've done is we've looked at last year's budget line by line. And we've worked with our principles, with our directors, um with all the stakeholders within the school and had several meetings to see what did we budget for last year, what have we been spending, where

024are we um projecting this year, and what do we need for next year. Um and on this summary, it will go like I said by our function in what the new request is. Um if you go through here, our total expense request that we are um budgeting is $32,784,477. Um and this this sheet here just gives you the line items of that. If you click out of this one for me and if you go into the other one, we go into our capital budget. If you head back one slide, you can click on the capital. There's another um >> Oh, that's okay. We're on slide tw. Yeah, there you go. >> Thank you. Perfect. So, this here is our the debt that we have. Um let me come back in here. So this is the

025debt service to the towns that we have. So we have bonds um for the roof projects that we had as well as we have some um bands which are bond anticipation notes for the boilers, the windows and our feasibility study. So this is the breakout by school as well as by the town and what the town would be responsible for. So the the way it works is that the um debt is divided by the project, not necessarily by the population um that we have a lot of our other budgets separated by. So in here you'll see on the bottom left the capital expense for Blackstone which is $322,898 and on the right hand side Millville's capital which is $153,42. Um and we'll get to that a little bit later. just when we look at the

026full assessment to the towns. But this gives um just the details behind that capital assessment. All right. So now we go into our budget comparison. So you'll see on the left the FY26 um budget and then the FY27. This represents the total proposed budget for the upcoming school year. There's the three prongs of expenses that we have. The first being school choice. Um, and that's the expense that we have this year. The the school choice cost is going to be just under a million dollars. Um, that number, we've we've taken a a deep dive into that to make sure that that number is accurate. um and that is kids that are living in Blackstone and deciding to go to other not private schools but other public schools in surrounding towns. So that that number is

027it's there's a cost of $5,000 per student. However, there's also special education transportation and incremental costs that that involves as well. Um so we have the school choice sending we have charter school sending and we have the operate operating budget and that operating budget is the budget that we have internally of what what we talked about earlier of the you know the books the teachers all of those pieces. So that brings our total budget to the 32,784,477. That is a total increase of 879,758, which is a 2.76% increase over last year for our expense of what we have for our budget. And if you notice the operating budget from last year to this year, it was a $453,83 increase from last year. >> A breakdown on the school choice. I know it was asked at

028the last workshop >> a breakdown of the students who are going. We we do we do >> so now if you look at these are the total budget revenues that we have. So the total FY27 budget is on top and then if you look there's the total revenues of $16,646,074. If you click on that total revenues and you have the sheet in your packets that's just on the back. It's the four slides just in case you wanted to refer to that as well. So you'll see where we where these revenues sources came from. So, the first one that we have listed, let's see. I think that's slide four. Scroll up a little bit. >> No, you're in the right section. We just need the first slide on this section. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Thank

029you. Here we go. So our first the first revenue source is our state revenues. So that's the chapter 70 money that we have of 12,197. That is a 97 increase. It's not a very large increase that we received this year. Um there's also regional transportation of $81,578. School choice receipts. Those are for students that are from other towns that are coming into Blackstone Millville. So that's the money we'll receive. And these are estimated numbers. Um and charter reimbursement as well of 279271. That gives us a total state receipts of 13,578,82 not 82 cents $82. So the next um batch of revenue is grants that we we anticipate receiving. These are entitlement grants. So we have our IDA grants, our title one, title two, title four grants, and our circuit breaker grants that we get. >>

030And as I've mentioned before for circuit breaker, um that number is less than last year. It's actually because what we do is we have students who go out of district or even in district and if the amount to educate that child goes over a certain threshold we get a certain amount percentage back of those monies and last year we actually had were able to reduce our out of district population. So it ends up reducing some of the funding that we get back. So, so the third section of revenues is actually revenues from or other revenues. That's money that we've collected. So, you have money in the Air Force, preschool tuition, we have athletic user fees, we have classroom rentals, there's Medicaid receipts, um, and some miscellaneous other revenues. All of those totaling to $1,130,000 that

031we are going to offset this budget with. So, in total, you'll see the the state receipts that we talked about, our grants, and our other revenues. We're also anticip anticipating using END of $500,000. That'll bring the total revenue to the $16,646,074. So that's going to be our offset to our expenses to bring down our assessment to the towns. If you want to click out of this and bring it back to the original presentation for us, please. So again, this brought us into where our capital is because this is going to be part of that capital assessment to the towns. So the total principle in cap in interest capital is 474,941. You'll see that the um split between Blackstone and Milville. Blackstone's was a decrease of 5.03% and Milville had a decrease of 6.67% um on

032their capital. Okay. So now to tally it all up. So on this slide here, what you're going to see is we did want to compare last year to this year just to give you an idea of where we were. So um before we get into that, I just want to know mentioned that there was a number on a previous slide um because you're going to see there is quite a big difference between Blackstone and Milville. Um there are three factors that are going into this year. The first factor is the number of students enrollment who live in the town of Blackstone actually increased over 1%. It doesn't sound like a lot, but in a, you know, a smaller town, smaller population, smaller budget, it does mean more. So, this year, um, last year, the town

033of Blackstone, it was 75.35% of enrollment, and this year it's up to 76.52. Um, and like Milville with last year was 24.6, this year at 23.48. The other thing to mention in this is the numbers when it comes to the minimum local contribution. Uh Blackstones went up from I think it was 5 something to it's at 6.18% which their overall MLC was 554,955 and for Millville their local minimum minimum local contribution is at 4.24%. So the numbers are a little bit different. So if you look at the breakdowns at the top, you'll see on the left side you have the Blackstone assessments and we did again compare last year to this year and then you look at the Millville assessments on the right. And if you scroll all the way down to the bottom, if

034you look, you'll notice the Blackstone assessment for this year is 12,641,466, which is an increase of $359,996, which currently is a 2.93% increase. And Milville's assessment for next year is going to be 3 million potentially, again this is a working document, 3,972,877 which is actually a decrease of $5,070 which is a negative.13% from last year. I know there's a lot of numbers there. Are there any questions on this page? So the last slide. So just to summarize and and for our next steps, um we know we're having our school committee public hearing today. Um once if you know if and when finalized, we'll begin our production of our budget book um to get those out and ready. Um we will be attending I'll be reaching out to both the board of selectment and the finance

035committee meetings for us to attend if they have any follow-up questions. And we have the Millville annual town meeting of May 11th and the Blackstone annual town meeting of May 26, questions, comments. It's not really a question as much as >> um >> so back to page 15. >> Sure. >> The where you pointed out the capital decreases. Correct. >> Um I think and and I know there's a lot of other math on there in the breakout sheet you had, but I think it's important for us to highlight that this is a result of paying off this building last year. So, um, as we're preparing for a a new project, I just think it's important to point out, um, that the savings is here now for >> however long we don't have a building project

036or or bonds towards it. So, >> it's a great point. >> Yeah, it is. Yeah, that was last year was our last >> and that some of our other bonds all will be paid off in FY30. Yes. >> Which would coincide nicely with >> Yeah. And I know we've talked about this, you know, at workshops, but we've worked really hard with our our um directors and our principles to ensure that what we're doing here, even though we're looking at trying to we did have to make some decreases in our budget, but we wanted to make sure that there minimal, if at all, impact to our students. Um, and like I said, with our population as it is right now, um, in our our offerings at all levels, um, this, you know, was the information that,

037um, we kind of all came together to be able to present to you that works for our district and is also fiscally responsible to be able to present to both counts. >> Anyone from the public like to chime in or Sarah Peters. I'm a parent of a child in Blackstone. Um, first off, I just wanted to say finding any budget information was kind of a challenge as a person of the like a resident or somebody who can't necessarily attend every meeting like the budget workshops and stuff. Um on the main website there's an icon budget planning materials but it links to I think the most recent one was FY25. So just from a parent perspective trying to get information having that right there on the main web page would be really helpful. Um second while

038looking for information I was able to find the special education presentation. Um, I just want to say that my son is having the best year he's ever had in this D district. It's amazing. And a lot of that has to do with how the subsparate classroom of the middle school is currently set up. Um, there's two teachers, I believe, three or four paras. Um, but it's split. So, grades four and five are in one classroom and six and seven are in the other classroom. and it's working. It's awesome. They still comb have combined times for um thinking challenges and stuff like that, special projects. They do a cooking class every Wednesday. Um but the kids are thriving. Um I understand that there's some there's a population that's moving up to the high school. Um so

039in the presentation it said there's going to be one of the teachers transferred. I totally understand the need to have a subsparate teacher in the high school for these kids. The downfall is, and I understand the numbers are going down, but the model changes now here at the middle school. And I'm sure you're all aware, before I even had some apprehension of coming to the middle school based on what I had heard, CPAC emails that had been sent um even anonymously just trying to keep us in the loop. but a lot of concern with it and these two teachers have changed it. They've rebranded it. It's called the unified learning classroom and it's working. Um, so I do have concern as a parent and as the chair of the CPAC that while it's needed number-wise,

040it might not be what fits that model and what is successful because it will change it. Now you have grades four through seven together. Um, and that extra staff is needed because you also have to keep in mind not all these kids are doing 100% time and subsparate. They're different grade levels. They're doing different inclusion times. So those pairs need to travel with those students but still keeping what's going on in the other classroom for the other kids or maybe one goes to math, one goes to art. So there's a lot of moving pieces. Um, and not to mention the amount of IP work that's now going to get put on this soul teacher. So, just something to keep in mind as you move forward with the budget. I fully support it. I understand the

041reasonings behind it. It's just something to consider if something's working, you know. So, that's all I wanted to say. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you for letting me speak. >> And it's nice to hear I'm glad to hear that your child has had a great deal of success this year. No, it's been an amazing experience. So, just want to keep it that way. >> We don't always hear that feedback, especially on social media. Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, anyone else uh from the public? You're the Sarah, you're the only one here from the public, so I guess there'll be no one else from the public. >> Glad to represent. >> Yes. Thank you for Thank you for attending. Um, okay. Well, hearing uh uh

042no one else from the public. I'll take a motion to close the public hearing. >> So move. >> Motion made by Jane, seconded by Tara L. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any oppose? The eyes have it. And now school committee can move on to uh a vote to certify or any further discussion regarding the budget from the from the committee before we vote to >> any further comments. >> Can we just go back >> have a question? >> Absolutely. I'm sorry I didn't get started. >> And it is on the motion but motion number one and it seems to happen every year. So, I know there's probably a reason for it, but I'm old and so I get to ask. But motion number one says a budget

043in the amount of 30 million. >> We're laughing because we asked that exact same question and we have >> we asked that exact same question >> and the answer is >> so the answer is that the first line is the operating and then if you look down on the second motion, it talks about the entire budget. We actually had that exact same question >> and I hear what it says. It says gross operating budget. Um, we had that exact same question. >> Yes. Okay. >> Gross operating budget is different than total operating budget. >> So if you look at this slide, school choice and sending tuition and charter school sending tuition. >> Yeah. >> Um, that's so this first motion is without that. >> Yes. >> And then the second motion adds what's going we're

044budgeting but it's going out of district. >> Okay. >> But this was a uh discussion over there and it is every year every year and I know there's an answer wrong the whole actually changed it to match and then we're like no we can't do it that way >> cuz I was telling them that we had an issue with this >> it's age no excuse but for me it's age >> and can before we adopt this can I just ask concern what what was the final decision on the movement I know we were moving We do have a program that's moving to the high school. >> And what will that leave? >> It will leave a teacher with a classroom that is staffed as required. Um, all services be met and it will not exceed

045the amount of students that need to be in that classroom. Those things are all well researched, >> but it will be changing >> the current setup. >> Correct. It will. We don't have students for that class, the second class. So just one point of order I guess is you started your presentation with pointing out to us that special ed population is up. So why would we >> you can have special education population up it could mean your small group class goes from four to six. >> No I'm talking you're talking about number of students though. >> Yes. >> So number benefit us to add a teacher instead of move a teacher. Well, >> if the population is higher, you >> it is getting higher, but the ratio it might not be in that classroom. >>

046Correct. So, we have a population of students who might be the majority of our students um who are coming into special education are students who might need a partial inclusion program. Um if any of our classrooms are self-contained classrooms, because we've worked really hard to build classrooms in our district, but we also need to make sure that we have classrooms in a district that we have students to be in that classroom. Of course, but do we have with the population being higher, which you did point out? >> Yeah. Rather than moving, would we >> are there are we adding any special ed in this $32 million budget? >> No, we're not. >> There's no >> That was not a proposal to add based on our current based on our current staffing of special education teachers

047and instructional assistants, RBTs. There was no recommendation to increase for this current year. So that request would have come from this building's principal when they >> that was a part yes >> if they want even though it's special ed but that principal should have requested I want to keep this program in place and >> correct absolutely >> or would the high school have been asking >> for the teacher >> it's an ongoing it's not just one we meet regularly as a leadership team so when we meet with principles we meet all I meet all together with them Kristen meets all together so these are ongoing conversations because sometimes a decision in one building can impact another building. So, those are ongoing conversations that we make decisions together. >> Was there an ask from any of

048our administrators for special ed teacher? >> No. >> Okay. >> None or instructional assistance. Any other questions? So, I just pulled up the presentation. There's currently four special ed teachers and now there'll be three >> at middle school. >> We that's not self essentials. >> Correct. So there's yes. So you'll see that there there are some students who are more of our partial inclusion teachers and then we have the additional subsparate two teachers. It will be one. So that will not affect the other um student uh teacher population. But I'm sorry, >> but it's going to change the dynamic of it's going to change the consistency and the dynamic of how the that group is learning. >> Run. >> Well, it potentially is, but it's potentially a very different group. So, you have to take

049the seventh graders out and move them over to now eighth grade where they will need support where there isn't a support classroom there. So, there needs to be a support classroom created there. And then whatever fourth graders come into it, what I'm understanding is it's not the same numbers. >> We have a very one student who as a it could be one or two who are joining the class next year. Our classroom is is small to begin with and we have a a little pod that is in the older group that will be moving moving on. I I I I really don't want it to get like student specific since it's not for students, but um we always will recommend adding and we've done it over the years. If we need to build and develop

050programs, we would absolutely let you know that. But if I don't have a group of students who should be in that classroom, um we we wouldn't continue to have that classroom there. Um, so I had one other question away from that topic. The use of $500,000 in END is much higher than what we I know our balance is much higher. >> Um, and I know I wasn't at the workshop where this was discussed. Um, so maybe just as a point of order, I I just want to call attention to that that it's a very large number to contribute as a one-time. It's not a reoccurring revenue for us. Um, so using that this year could really put um a lot of strain on our budget next year and or make it look like we're asking

051more for the towns next year because we don't we won't have that in the pot to split next year. Um, but I also want to point out that once we certify a budget, we can go down in our lines. We can never go up. We can't come back and say actually we're going to do 33 million. So, this is still a working document and I foresee some further discussion with it. >> So, so the END we used 448,000 last year. >> Last year. >> Mhm. And >> what we discussed a couple meetings ago was up to 750,000. >> Yeah, we did. >> So, we reduced that to 500,000. >> Yeah. >> Um and with the five with the So, we're at a we're at a point where if we don't use it, >> we're at

052the tipping point. Correct. >> Um I think it was with the 750,000 we was still 4.7% >> less. So the way we were projecting this year when I was looking at this year's budget I'm project even though we had certified that we would use END there's a chance that we will not use it that that'll help us for next year. >> Does anyone have the year before number by any chance? I I don't know. >> The year before we used 500,000 for feasibility study business right I think it was >> not not towards the working budget. Um the 448 was a working number from us >> still in the budget. >> 248,000 of it was money we were getting back for technology. So I I feel like we knew we knew we were putting in

053because it was coming back as a payback to our END and which is why our END was so much higher this year. Um, so I feel like that could be a little misleading that it's not a number that we typically the 448 was higher, but 248,000 of it was earmarked from something else. I I'm just I don't want to misspeak without it in front of me. >> I think also to remember last year um and we did talk about this earlier on in workshops, there were a lot of revolving funds and accounts that we wiped out. >> Mhm. So last year. Yes. >> Yeah. Like the JFK JFK curtain fund. >> That is one of them. >> Yeah. >> From 1969. >> Yeah. So with the END I did ask like it was like are

054these consistent like um revenues like conservative number on guaranteed revenues year-over-year with and with the amount I mean so you're in a so like the 750 was concerning to me because I definitely know we wouldn't probably be able to do that next year. >> No, never. >> But um it's we either contribute it this way or we have too much and we have to cut a check. >> Mhm. or correct or >> or but we did have we have a strong pre-purchase >> if I'm saying that the right way. Right. Um >> with this year's >> pre-order. Yeah. 800 what was it? 800,000. >> Um so what will our balance be on END once we take out the 500,000? See if I I believe it brought us down to a 3.5%. If I I can

055get you the exact number. Let me see if I have it in here. It's in this document. I know we had But if I remember that brings us down to 3.5 without adding whatever we might be putting in. >> Well, so that was my next question is what are we expecting in returns next year if any? I >> don't recall any anything. >> Yeah, that was in two meetings ago. >> Yeah, I thought the number was with the 500 was 4.72% which would be at with what we're anticipating. >> Correct. >> Yeah. But are we is there money are we waiting for anything coming back to us? >> No, I believe any money that we had coming in was part of our offsets that we were using. So I know part we were talking about

056all the you know revolving funds and everything. So >> So this will be the year that END is what it is. Is that >> saying there's no money coming back from >> are you saying savings on the on what we >> we'll have savings of what? No, no. I'm asking like that 248,000. We knew it was coming back to the district from we had to prepay technology um and we were getting the money back from the state that goes into >> So our balance after 500,000 or what? So what is our balance certified at? >> I saw it come across a few weeks ago. >> Yeah, now I have it. They >> I I did ask the same question like I was trying to think of remember earlier on I asked is this a prepayment

057of the insurance Joe had that we were getting 700,000 back like we had to use and so that was last that was two years ago. >> Yeah. I'm sitting here trying to recall if there's anything >> there was nothing >> for next year that and I'm drawing a blank. So >> we will have >> I'll pull it up. We'll have >> Does anyone remember what our cert It just came through in our email a few weeks ago. The certified Oh, sorry. A few months ago. >> We got certified very early this year. >> Yes. >> I can tell you here. >> Find it. >> So, the END certification at the beginning of FY26 was $1,435,069. So that's what we started with in FY26. >> Okay. And that stays the same all year. >> So that

058stays the same all year unless we unless we, you know, use it. Um we had um in the budget that we were going to use that 400 and that amount that was certified in last year's budget, but right now I'm projecting that we will not have to use that. Um, so I'm projecting at the end of this year that we're going to end at 4.42% at a projected year end of 1,49,439 is where we'd end our END for this year is the projection at this point >> without using the 400. >> But if we did, >> we'd be using almost a million dollars. >> We'd end with a million dollars. Yeah. No, if we have to use the 400 and we use >> 409 you're saying so for FY26 or FY27 >> if we pay

059out what we've approved this year it's >> it'll bring us to to 1 million at the end of the year >> right >> and the next year we'd have to use we'd end we'd start FY27 with a million and it would if we use 500 then we'd be down to 500 correct >> okay so years ago we used to have a a committee number that we're like we're never going >> below 500,000 >> never below 500,000. So that could be a future conversation, but just we're in a very good spot. I just wanted to >> Mhm. >> I appreciate your looking that up. >> You're welcome. >> Anything else we can answer for you? >> Uh this and this may move again. Talking to Representative uh Soder and Fatman today. um they're expecting um some

060positive changes to come towards the district's budgets throughout the state. So, of course, we'll find out. We'll see. >> We'll see. >> Yeah. >> But this is uh this is good. >> So, we're here reading by the way in Noville Elementary today, the senator and the state rep. Okay. So with that um again like Aaron said this is this can be we can we can adjust this >> decrease adjust it in a favorable manner to us oh decrease that's right >> we can only decrease we can't increase >> yes um >> not to certify this >> yes >> so typically and we would have our public hearing today certify two weeks from now but are we certifying a a little early. >> Well, this will have to be certif uh this is what we did

061last year, but it has to be certified within 45 days before Milville's town meeting because that's the first town meeting. >> So, so yes, what we did last year was certified. >> So, unless we have concerns and want to work on the budget more, is that what >> Well, so the the history of that is a public it's a public hearing. you >> I think in the last seven years we started the joint meetings so but years ago you would have all your towns people here the selectmen and the finance committees and um kind of the first time they're hearing hearing the budget but that was obviously last Monday so they're not here maybe that's when we started moving when we started that process with the joint meetings beforehand >> um it was kind of

062a public presentation to be this is what we're working with and then you got feedback from them or questions from them and it was still a working document until usually our next meeting this the second meeting in May or sometimes this one would fall the last week of February I don't see any harm in it and we can it can still be a working document if we need to. >> But again, in years past when we were looking at 5% to one town or three, you know, and the numbers were >> numbers that we knew weren't possible. It was just more time. >> Well, I will say that the meeting we had was very well attended. I >> you have >> and they're not here tonight, so they didn't have any other questions. >> No,

063they they actually stuck around a while and and andked the uh school committee and even Peter Caruso great numbers here. >> Yeah. Uh so so yeah so it it's uh >> well and we have an issue of perhaps not having our meeting on the 19th. So I think we do need to move forward now to meet the 45 days. >> We're not having our meet is >> we may not we don't have a quorum. I would like to in future years though to see if we can have it where we have the public hearing so that concerns from the public can be brought to us before we're at the certification point >> because I really wish we had more time to look into the concern brought to us before >> being up against the >>

064well I mean this is we can also discuss any of those concern like any of those concerns if we wanted to add >> we can do that after we certify we can say we're using this money instead of that money and that can happen. That's 100% right possible. >> Right. That's what I would and and to one members of the public's concerns this evening like we have flexibility in this current budget. Um I'm asking you the superintendent if we needed to make those adjustments say you know as as we do typically in the school year. >> So there's always flexibility in the budget but you would have to >> do something else. >> You would what? You would have to something else would have to give >> something back in. Correct. >> So >> all

065I can say is I will tell you that this has gone over and over and over with our principles, with our leaders, with with everyone. >> And you had individual meetings with the town as well. >> Correct. >> In addition to the joint meeting. >> Yes. Yeah. Um, we had a shift in our meeting schedule a few years ago also where we because we did always have two meetings a month and we did try to move it around to accommodate other things. Um, we always were meeting heavier in January and February. I know we added some budget workshops in, but um, maybe that's something we need to look at. is our next school committee calendar. We should maybe go backwards to the amount of meetings we used to have, which I do believe would have

066pushed I changed our February dates when we did that. It would have we would have been meeting last week. >> We approved calendar >> for the public hearing and then our fe our March meeting would have been a week earlier because it was truly every other week. >> Would we have full web? >> I know we approved the calendar. So, do we need a motion to amend it? I'm just right. I'm not sure we did. >> Yeah, we had like four workshops. >> Yeah. Yeah, >> we did. >> Yeah, it wasn't the workshop. It was the spacing of the school committee meetings. We did adjust those maybe about two years ago or three to accommodate other maybe after co >> but it was >> I believe our this hearing would have been a week ago

067and our >> our certification would have been next week. So maybe that's where this got a little >> Well, we have till March 31st to certify the budget, >> right? >> Uh under the law, but I don't know when's >> for the 45 days, >> May, but that would that would be before the end of March. >> Yeah, it has to be whatever that date Milville is would have to be >> May 11th. >> We did our best and we maintained actually the timeline that you used last year. I I it wasn't You're right, Erin. It wasn't the year >> years prior. It was aligned with last year's. >> Yeah. >> Moving on. >> So, oh, >> go ahead. Go ahead, Tara. >> So, do we need a motion for next year that we change

068the public hearing to an agenda prior to the >> No. No. That would that would that would not take place tonight. I think what we would do, not in the middle of the public hearing, but what you could do is ask the chair to bring the calendar back and we can >> we're going to do a calendar tonight. Is that what you do that? >> No, no, no, no. To revise. >> No. And and you can always you don't have to do that at You can do it in January of next year and say >> that's kind of how we made these, didn't we? >> We need more I mean that's what we did. We just called them workshops. So we can call the meetings and >> change the public >> and you don't have

069to do anything to go back to the calendar to do that. >> Okay. >> I move to adopt a gross operating budget for the 2026 2027 school year in the amount of 30,325,614. >> A motion by Jane. Second. >> Second by Matt. Uh any further discussion here? Um hearing none. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Uh the eyes have it. You want to just go around the world? >> Yeah. >> Yep. >> Move to apply the following reimbursements to reduce said gross operating budget for the 2627 year. Chapter 7 12,197,233. Regional transportation 801,578. School choice tuition 300,000. Charter school reimbursement $279,271 above reimbursements total 13,578,082. The total operating budget for the 2026 2027 is 32,784,477. >> Second. >> Motion by uh Carrie, seconded by Jane. Any further discussion?

070>> Hearing none. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. I move to assess the amount of $12,318,568 to the town of Blackstone to be applied to the operating budget for the 2026 2027 year which includes $9,535,478 for the minimum contribution $1,259,500 in exclusionary costs and $1,523,590 in supplemental investments. Second >> motion made by Aaron and seconded by Carrie. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> The eyes have it. Unanimous. >> Choose to assess. >> Oh, >> that first number is going to end with a five. There was a rounding error. So, it's $835, not 84. >> Sorry about that. >> On the next >> on this Millville motion that Tara's going to read. >> Okay. I move to assess

071the amount of 3,819835 to the town of Milville to be applied to the operating budget for the 2026 2027 year, which includes $2,965,826 for the minimum contribution, $386,486 in exclusionary costs, and $467,523 in supplemental investments. Second >> motion made by Tara L, seconded by Tara S. Do that. >> Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. >> I move to apply the following amounts to the gross operating budget for the year 2026 2027. Excess and deficiency 500,000. Medicaid 180,000 revenue user fees 80,000 revenue classroom rental 100,000 revenue prek tuition 250,000 >> second >> motion made by Tara S seconded by Tara L. >> Any further discussion all those in favor signify by saying I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. Make a

072motion to move to adopt the capital and interest budget in the amount of $322,898 to be assessed solely to the town of Blackstone, which includes $88,96 for the JFK boiler/windows project, $147,614 for the roof projects, and $87,188 for BMR high feasibility study. >> Second >> motion made by Chuck, seconded by Tara S. >> Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. It's unanimous. Move to adopt a capital and interest budget in the amount of $15343 to be assessed solely to the town of Millville which includes $62,53 for the Millville boiler project. $64,236 for the roof projects and $26,754 for BMR High School feasibility study. >> Second. >> What is that? >> Me. >> Is that you, Eric? >> Motion made by Matt, seconded

073by Erin. >> All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. And I'll move to certify the alternate presentation of the total budget representing only monies moving into and out of general fund. This presentation will be used by the department of revenue to in the calculation of excess and deficiency and second. >> A motion made by myself and sec seconded by Jane and Tara. >> Any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. See if I can find >> now. Um, we have a couple of warrant articles, right? >> We do. And it looks like the Blackstone was supposed to be on the back of your Mil. No, Kristine's looking it up right now. And we can

074hand that over to >> So the Millville uh So the the Milville >> and Blackstone School Committee stipens will read the same. >> Correct. That's correct. Yep. >> So if someone wants to read the Millville >> Sure. >> stipen and >> Good lord. need the glasses. Okay. Uh to see if the town will vote to authorize the members of the Blackstone Millville Regional School District to be compensated for their services as such members and to set the amount of said compensation at $1,500 per member and $1,800 for the chairman. Such compensation is to be paid in three equal installments in the months of November, July, November, and March. provided, however, that no such installment shall be paid a to a member who is not in attendance at at least 60% of the meetings of the

075district school committee, excluding, however, any meetings not attended by such members due to the provisions of mass general law 268A in the 12 months period prior to July 1, November 1, and March 1, as the case may if such a member has been a member for 12 months or more months prior to each of said dates or B to a member who has not attended at least 60% of the meetings of the district school committee excluding however any meetings not attended by such member due to the provisions of mass general law chapter 268A in the period prior to each of the said dates or take Any other action in relation there too? >> Motion made by Jane. Second. Seconded by Matt. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Any

076opposed? The eyes have it. And so if someone wants to read this as a Blackstone motion. Is there any uh >> have it here somewhere? >> It doesn't even matter. >> I think it was generic. >> This was generic, right? >> This one's generic. So both. Yeah. This is good for the both. That's good for both. >> So if you read the if someone wants to read the oped is the black is the Blackstone number 76,520. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> So we can read the >> said separately. >> Yes. These are separate because they're going to have separate amounts. >> Does it matter which town we do first? >> It doesn't matter. >> The oped for >> Okay. to see if the town of Milville will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from

077available funds the sum of $23,480 into the other post-employment benefits liability trust fund op fund of the Blackstone Mobile Regional School District established under Mass General Laws chapter 32B section 20 said funds to be used only to pay some portion of health benefits for retirees of the Blackstone Mobile Regional School District. >> Second motion made by Carrie seconded by Tara Scobby. Uh, any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose. The eyes have it. Now, if we could read the same motion for Blackstone with the number of $76,520. >> Can we do it again? >> Sure. to see if the town of Blackstone will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $76,520 into the other post-employment benefits liability trust fund OPE fund

078of the Blackstone Mobile Regional School District established under Mass General Laws Chapter 32B section 20 said funds to be used only to pay some portion of health benefits for retirees of the Blackstone Regional School District. Second >> motion by by Carrie, seconded by Tara Scobby and Jane. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. Now we have a motion for the um 50,000 for option. It's not the motion. >> Okay. So when we >> we use um we contribute 50,000 from E and D. >> Correct. >> Um for the district's portion of the OEM. So, >> do we have that motion tonight? >> We So, question on that. >> Sure. >> Um 50,000. Jane, you might remember this because you were part of

079creating this. >> If we wanted to give a h 100,000 one year out of we would just change our motion. Just just a point of order on where END money can go for all the years that that you know we've been asked to fund our OPED. We could Jane the process to up that number if they ever if we ever needed to or wanted to motion. >> Y >> thank you. >> Yeah. >> I I just made a note here to ask. I didn't I didn't even see the motion in here for this meeting. So >> So yes, we can >> we can >> just a clarity question for the future. That's >> Yeah. >> And we also collect it from they pay theirs. Mhm. >> Correct. >> It's been typically about 50 from the

080committee from END about 20,000 >> uh so from the staff the contracts and then >> 100,000 from the towns. >> And I'm just actually pointing this out because of the conversation we just had where you said we're at the point of re returning money. We there are other things that can be done pre-purchasing. >> Sure. >> Funding OPE from the district capital. So >> we could create a special ed account. We could do a lot of that. >> Well, we've tried that. Well, no, we tried a capital account. We were told we're supposed to have a special >> correct. God, >> I'm just glad for all the times Mr. Watson asked us about OP, we now have >> We're doing >> That's right. >> I will say that the school district >> is the second

081highest contributor if you if you look at the three towns, you know, based. So, it's it's and it's operated in a fair in a fair manner like it's >> so we're definitely holding our own. >> Yep. You know, all things considered, the the the requirement to fund this is by the towns. There's no requirement from the from the admin st the the the staff or the or the um or the school district. The full requirement to fund this is through the taxpayer. So, we are doing a lot to offset it. >> I don't have a copy of that motion. Does anyone else >> I think it's just a full it's a school committee on our agenda. >> Yeah. And I mean we it is >> I'll make a motion to fund the OPED by $50,000

082out of our END for the 20 or for right now for this school year. Is this this year is next year? >> Well, it's it would be for I would imagine that's for next it's FY27. >> 27, right? >> FY2. How about that? >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, a motion to uh fund $50,000 to OPED for for from END for our FY27 budget. >> Second. Motion. So motioned by Aaron, seconded by Carrie, third by Jane. >> Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. It's unanimous. And that concludes our budget um discussions for this evening. And with that, like I said earlier, we will have updated funding sources potentially from our state representative and state senators. Okay. Next on the agenda to declassify executive session

083minutes October 9th, 2025 and December 12th, 2025. >> Question on that. The minutes themselves say December 11th. >> Oh boy. >> The agenda says December 12th. I believe it was the 11th. >> Can we blame Tara S on it? >> No. Tara S. >> Tara L to those minutes the right date and I actually picked up on that too. Thank you for remembering Carrie. >> So just when we make the motion to declassify them just make sure we say the 11th. >> Okay. So there was no motion made but you just No, I just wanted to catch that before. So >> So the the date is December 12 11th. >> Y the October 9th is right. Right. We got the right. Okay. So, with that, I'll take a motion to you uh to classify October

0849th and December 11th, 2025 executive session minutes. >> So, moved. >> Motion made by Carrie. >> Seconded by Matt. >> All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. It's unanimous. Water update elementary. We already received field trip to Spain. >> So, we have a couple of field trips in here. Um, I did get some more information be able to share. So, this I know last year they went to Spain. They are looking to go again. They do not know the number of students yet. Um, but this is the information. I knew you had a chance to look at that. So, they are looking to go. They did say that they do have if they have they have one payon for every six students. They don't know.

085They probably will be depending on the size of population they bring hooked up with another town like they were in the past. Um we're waiting for that information but um the high school is looking for approval to start the process of getting interest from students um and being able to um visit go to their trip to Spain again this year. >> I will happily make a motion for this. I had a student who attended the last trip and the things that that group saw and talked about and I've never been so jealous of my child. >> Second. >> I'll second. >> Motion made by Carrie duel seconded by Tara L and Jane. I want to say I think there was a lot of um photos of that trip right social media. >> Do you remember

086how many? >> Okay, so a motion >> large five. four >> second on the field trip to Spain. >> All those in favor signify by saying I. >> Any discussion by >> I'm sorry. Discussion. >> Did I not stop for discussion? Was I just thinking of it in my own head and not think? Okay. Go ahead. Discussion. >> I have no discussion. >> Oh. Oh, I thought you said you had discussion. >> Uh, no, I'm just joking. Um, just it says depends on number of students. >> Hearing none. Move on to a vote. I'm the I'm the stickler for that one. Um, can we just get an update when >> Absolutely. >> when we know how many students just so we can understand how many chaperones. It looks like they have three going this year.

087>> No, they this what this is is they want to let you know who the chaperones would be. Okay. >> Based on the number of chaperons that acquired. So they want to know they have a backup if they need to add more chaperones >> but with a minimum of two. So that was that was the thing last year was that having I had an issue with sending one teacher with the students. >> So I guess that's a discussion you would all have. So right now for this trip what is funded is up to six students and they send one chaperon and they usually hooked up with another school so there are other adults there. Um if they go up to she she sent me a message earlier up to 11 students they would pay for

088two chaperones. That's how it it normally works. But she said the smaller group and I know last year they were hooked up with other with other schools, >> but they had two chaperoons last year. >> We we chose to pay for the second one. >> Yeah. I just you know that's another discussion that we should continue to have um just for the safety of our students with our same same argument as last year if you guys don't remember. I mean, we tech we really don't know who they're going with with the other groups or students. We don't know where they're, you know, what these folks are about. We know our people. So, um, I'll just bring that up again. >> So, what I can do is once I find out the number of students going

089>> um, and what's going to be funded for chaperones, I can bring back to you and then you can make a decision of how you would like to fund >> the other chaperon. I I don't think I don't think funding wasn't we school. >> No, I I don't think that's a >> So I just want to just remind last year when it was discussed um it it was the school that um funded that chaperone. Yeah. >> So just when we come to that um we will definitely bring to you the number of students. If you need any more information, I'll ask both Jean, who's doing this, and Jill, to come and have that conversation with you all. So, when you do make a decision, which is absolutely your decision. >> Do you think by then

090they'll know what districts they may be grouped with? >> I'm hoping so. Well, they they found out last year before you had that discussion, they knew who they were grouped with. I think they mentioned who it was. So, I can find that out and let you know so for our next meeting, we can have as much information as we possibly can. But just so everyone understand like I don't I don't think it says on here what company. Oh yes the sheets here. So ACIS >> the the reason it is written this way is one paid chap room per six students is that's what ACIS requires. >> Correct. >> So >> and they're co that's built into the price of six every six students is paying for one chap room. Correct. So, um, all I'm going

091to say is keep that in mind when band field trips come up because we've never paid those chaperones to go >> ever on our band trips. >> No, understood. Understood. But we've had more than one >> than one adult >> more than one. >> It's usually one for every 12 unbanned on on our our last big Disney trip. >> Right. Is that Is that a I don't think that's a policy or anything like that. I think that's just a >> That's you, Matt. And they're not those are BMA parents. >> Actually, it's us. >> What's that? >> BMMA parents pay to go correct >> and be a chaperone own. >> Correct. >> But we have a requirement of one per 12. >> No, we don't have a requirement. >> Right. >> So what you're saying

092is if a parent wants to go, why wouldn't why would >> why wouldn't we let a parent pay for their way and their respon like that's BMA chaprons are BMA our parents. I'm just saying we had this I'm not talking about I'm had to go. >> It might be the way it's my own. >> Let me help Let me help you out there. What's the legality of the school actually paying for a shop? Can we actually even do that? >> I don't think we'd have to. >> What's the cost of say it was around like 5,000? >> It was around it was about 4,800 last year is what it was. >> I can tell you Disney was not that much. >> Yeah. But >> yeah, >> let you can let us know next week. But

093in the Yeah, in the meanwhile, >> we will get all the information we possibly can. >> As presented, >> I'm not opposed to the And this is an awesome opport It was an awesome opportunity last year, too. And it was four students that went. I saw the pictures, too. It looks great. Like, I hope that, you know, more students get to go. It is pricey. Um, but again, it's the one teacher with, >> you know, x amount with up with six students. Who requested the extra chaperone last year? Was it a teacher or a parent? It was Matt. >> Okay. >> It was you. >> It was me for Yeah. For >> I remember the conversation >> for safety. Yeah. >> Right. Well, and like I'm comfortable with what is being recommended because it's recommended

094by this tour company which all they do are school events and trips and >> yeah I I do think there should be two staff people at a at a minimum regardless of the number. But maybe there should be a minimum number that the trip doesn't happen if you don't you know if only two people go >> doesn't doesn't even pay for the one chaperone. But um and I do think going overseas is very different than going to Disney. And there's also staff people who travel with the band in addition to parents. There are some legal issues of sending parents as chaperones though. So we need to be careful about that. um because you have no regulations over parents and what they do in the evenings and stuff like that. So you can't always count them

095as chefs. I don't think that I want to go to Spain but in that vein I don't think much >> teacher >> well you >> I mean to to say that a teacher has any sort of higher standard than a parent. I mean I disagree with that because I just said it's a it's there's still adults that are traveling with >> it's just a legal thing. We looked it up one time. We got >> is there a legal >> there's legal precedent for the difference between sending a parent versus sending because the employee works for the district. So there are regulations and guidelines you can set on an employee that you can't say to a parent. You can't say to a parent, you can't go out to dinner and have a glass of wine. You

096can say that to an employee, >> right? I I'm not advocating for Let me be clear. I'm not advocating for a parent to go. I'm saying that last year my argument was two there should be more than one >> agreed >> BMRSD staff member to travel with students >> agreed >> for safety if this if it's you know one of these people go fall ill disappear who knows I mean they're going into a very dangerous area right now that whole anywhere outside of here is a very dangerous area let's be honest because I have one >> and Spain politically right now is not a friend of the United States. So, I mean, you can smirk, but it's the truth. >> We just know some people that are there. So, it's >> right now. >> It's

097scary. It should be. I'm making the point that if we should at least >> consider sending more adults with our students. Well, we also could say we're not comfortable approving it because of the way of the world, but that's still a whole year away. So, >> Sure. Yeah. Don't know. >> Let's see the interest. She wants it approved to see what interest there is. >> It's like next month. >> No, it's >> it's a cost on here. >> Yeah. Uh, no. >> No cost depends. >> Can we make a motion to approve this the way it's written up with a future discussion once we know the numbers? >> I think it just needs to be brought back. Yeah. >> What's that? I agree. It would have to be brought back like it I'm sure it

098would. Right. So this >> So you want to take that motion? >> But we have to approve something to let them move forward, right? I'll make a motion to approve approve this as written with the understanding that um final approval >> needs to be >> make a motion approve it contingent on final numbers and >> do we have to resend we already made a motion >> I I don't think we finished it did we make a motion to oh session >> there's three right I was stopped and >> okay so we have a motion and a second on the floor to approve it. >> I can amend the motion >> as >> it's a field trip request. >> We're we're approving the request, >> right? >> And so approved based on >> at least >>

099the cost and the number of interested students, I guess. >> Can we approve this motion just like they already did? >> Mhm. And then it would just be another motion, another day if we wanted to add a chaperon. Am I right? >> Could we also find out how like I know Bellingham just had a group of students that got stuck >> away like just find out what the policy or procedure is in neighboring districts. >> Yep. >> They got stuck and their tour company put them >> up in hotels because their flights were interrupted. >> You said that was Bellingham. I know Bellingham was just there. Yeah, >> that's on February vacation. >> Mhm. >> I think two nights. >> So, this will give them an opportunity to at least start exploring what students would

100be interested. We can get you some more information and you can always they can come and present. This is our number. This is what we're thinking. >> But we always need the cost of course missing from here. >> Okay. So, we're back on the first motion. >> Yes. >> All right. And the understanding we're going to revisit this as we get more information. Is that good with everyone? >> Yep. Okay. Motion made by was Carrie, seconded by Aaron and Jane. >> All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. It's unanimous. >> Okay. So, the next field trip, another Spanish class. I think this will be a little bit easier of a discussion. So, they are looking to go and I'm not even going to pronounce where

101they're going. Um, but they're looking to go to um >> I'll get it for you. >> I am spring is what it is in English. >> Soy manurva, right? >> Yes. Did >> I say that right? I think I said that right. >> Sounds good to me. >> We're working on it. >> So, it looks like the number of students they're looking to take about 51. All three um foreign language teachers will be going with them. >> I'll make a motion to approve. They're also, I don't know if this matters, not to interrupt you, but they're also um going out for lunch while they're >> Who's paying for this? >> The students did. >> There's no cost to the district out of pocket. >> Okay. So, I'll make a motion to approve the field trip

102to or it says event in location. Central Falls Manurva play. There we go. Right. Good. Yep. >> Motion made by Teras. >> Seconded by Chuck Dutton. >> Manurva. >> Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Any oppose? >> You guys have report of the superintendent. >> I only have one item tonight. Um, so which is a very exciting night actually. So Carrie, Tara, and I sat on a meeting um with the MSBA on February 25th. Um I got to actually say a few words to the MSBA, which was really nice. And they voted unanimously to approve and move us our PSR and our design and to move us on to um schematic design. So I'm not going to read the whole letter, but just says u from

103the MSBA. I am pleased to report that the board of the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the MSBA, has voted to approve, and I will say unanimously, the Blackstone Millville Regional School District as part of its uh invitation to feasibility to proceed into schematic design to replace the existing Blackstone Mill Regional High School with a new facility serving grades 7 through 12 on the site of the existing school. Yep. Um and we also had our um second community building presentation. Um we had more participants. It was we had some great questions. Um so those who came, we thank you for coming. And those who participated online, it is up. The link is on the site. So if you want to watch that and if some of the questions that were answered, I think they were all

104great questions, you can get more information there. Um and we have a lot we have more coming up. Um we have some more community engagement. Um, we're trying to get out as much information we can so everyone has all the information um they need. Terra Carrie, anything else. >> That's where we're at. And our next MSB, actually our next building meeting is next the 11 next week on the 11th. >> So, it's only one piece of news, but it's very exciting news. >> All right. And the business office. >> All right. So, we have >> before we get started, I just like to report that because I don't read my emails. I did attend the meeting yesterday that I was the only one on. I was canceled for the line has come in. >> Like,

105how come no one's texting me yet? Where are you? >> And I had no issues getting online. >> Were you on a roof? >> The only one there. >> I It was a very productive meeting with myself staring at. So for the personnel report we have both um February and March um during that time we had four um five new appointments. We had three resignations and one retirement. So that's for personnel. Then our expenditure report um so this is um this was as of the end of February. we are currently in a favorable position. So FY26 is, you know, we're we're doing all right. We have some savings in salaries and some benefits in tuitions at this point. Um again, it's always fluid. Um but right now, like I said, we are we are trending

106in a favorable position to end the year. Any questions on our forecast? And then just journal entries. So we have some journal entries here. Budget journal entries. Again, we're trying to just align um the the budget to the proper desi codes for year-end reporting um and properly align just the budget to actual spending. So as as things are shifting and moving around um it's helpful for budgeting the following year to make sure that what we you know we we budget now we we say what we're going to spend in the following year but then the year comes and some things change. Um so just trying to properly align so that when we look back we know where the money was spent and why things may have changed. So that's what some of these journal entries

107are. Um, and that is that is all I have to report. If anyone has any questions on any of these or need more clarification or questions answered, >> do need a we need a vote to approve. >> Yes, we do need to vote on the um budget journal entries. >> Did you make a motion? >> Motion to approve the journal entries. >> Motion made by Jane. >> Second by Carrie and Tara. Um any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? The eyes have it. >> Facilities. Uh update. Scott. It's a little long. So update on the fire panel in the uh high school. If you remember, it was shorting out. Um sending an alarm in the box. Um, they came out and found a wire up in

108the A-wing. Every time the heating unit would kick on, it cause a vibration and cause this wire to short out. Repairs have been made and we haven't had an issue since. Uh, classroom B 206, we had a bad transformer in the heating unit um that had to be replaced. It was a one-day process. However, at that same time, I went and checked the one in the classroom next door. found a slight puddle on the floor. Turned out it was a frozen heating coil. So, we're in the process of getting a quote to have that replaced. That was classroom 207. Uh, it's been like that since I don't know, February, and the heat in the room has been sufficient. Teacher hasn't been complaining. Uh, kitchen exterior door while shoveling it. They must have hit it just

109right. uh shovel in the snow and it knocked out a large chunk of rot in the door. This hole was big enough where a squirrel could have fit through it. >> So, what we ended up doing was sealing it with with expander foam. In the meantime, I had UEC come out, do a test of the tiles around it and the grout and all that, and there was no asbesus in it. So, we're getting a quote to have that door frame and the door replaced. Um, circulator pump number one, which is the brand new one, was found shut off over the weekend on a building check. Circulator pump was turned on. Electrician found some burnt wires inside caused by a bad connection when they put the unit in. Um, nothing serious. It was repaired and the

110motor is up and running again. Fire alarm system was tested by Energy Electric over the February vacation. And the kitchen suppression system was also tested at the same time. And last week we had the six-month Ahira inspection and there was no cause for alarm or anything has changed. So that passed with flying colors. That also happened at the JFK building. It's in this report as well. Everything was good. Uh simplex was out to reprogram the bell system. That ended up being a simple fix. Um slight cost to it but not as bad as we had anticipated. Heater motor in 206 was overheated. Motor hoist and control is rebuilding that system and that was already reinstalled. Uh heating unit outside the custodian's office. This is our Modin hung from the ceiling. Uh that motor went bad.

111That was also repaired. the expansion tanks uh down in the boiler room. There's two of them. Um if we tap on them and they're solid, they're full of water. Uh this happened a few years ago, too. I was able to drain the water out, reressurize the tanks, and it's holding as it should. We'll monitor that as well. Uh the heating water tank over February break. um one of the walk-in coolers. I got a notification on my phone that it was down. Came in. It was the walk-in cooler that fortunately there was no milk or anything in it because it was February vacation as well. So, there was no loss of any food. It was just uh oranges and apples in there. Uh Joe Warren came out, they found a faulty contact switch and that was

112repaired. Repairs to the sprinkler system were completed over the break as well. Um, if you remember, they came out during Christmas break or the holiday break and didn't have the correct pot to repair. So, they had to come back out and that was done over February vacation. And that kitchen system was also tested uh by Encore and no issues. Milville Elementary School, as you know, the generator is an issue. We ended up having a rental generator installed. Um, and we're in the process with Milville to figure out what we're going to do uh in the future with that generator, whether they're going to repair it or replace it. That's a discussion that is going on. During the break, we also had sprinkler pipes that were leaking, so we scheduled them to be repaired over the

113break. They had to drain the sprinkler system out to make these repairs. Um, those were completed, no problem. They did find another leak, however, when they went to go recharge the system that's in the boiler room. We just received a quote to have that fixed as well. So, we'll be scheduling that. Uh, Precision Alarm came out and they tested all the fire alarm systems, smoke detectors in the high school. No, sorry. They didn't do the high school electric. That's the high school. They do middle school, two elementary schools, and no issues there. Uh, he coil in the JFK cafeteria. This froze. Um they found it one early evening. Uh large puddle of water on the floor that caused damage to the asbestous floor tiles. Fortunately, that cafeteria is not being used as you know. Um

114so we did have ERS come out and remove those tiles over February break as well. And air quality tests were done and there was no need for concern whatsoever. Uh we just need to replace the tiles in the floor and we'll have the staff do that at some point. And over February break, Joe Warren and his sons came out and they also repaired the walk-in cooler in that kitchen as well. This cooler is not being used, but it's good to have as an emergency backup in case one does go down at the high school or something, we can transfer the food over. kitchen may also use it for uh if they get large orders and they need to store food somewhere, they'll put it in there. And fire alarm systems were tested. All good. And

115JFK also had the six month of hero inspection and no concerns found there. >> Thank you. >> Questions? Yes. >> What was the gas delay at MEES? >> Yes. So, they came out after this. We found that um there was a small leak in the propane tank on the outside. Actually, was that on my >> Where's that tank? Is it I thought we put our >> There was also a hot water tank in the boiler room where they found a gasket was leaking. Um that tank was isolated and I'm waiting for industrial burner to come out and make the repairs to that. I thought that was on my report. Okay. So, yeah, no need for concern. The the leak was outside. Um, >> what where is that tank? >> Under the ground, outside the cafeteria.

116>> Yeah, we buried the propane. >> There's access hatches to it. >> Okay. And what was the >> So, while the head custodian was out there shoveling it in the morning, he smelt propane leak, contacted me. I went over there and as soon as I got there, I called >> to come out and check it detect for any leaks and they recommend I called the fire department. So, I called the fire department as well. Fire department came out. They did a walk through the whole building with the gas leak detection monitors and they did not find anything. Okay. >> They also called Black Blackstone to come up and check it as well with their monitors just to double check and get a second opinion. And a huge shout out to both Blackstone and Milville fire

117departments. Yeah. >> They responded very quickly. >> Mhm. >> Um 2-hour delay was precautionary just in case we had to shut the heat off to make the repairs. We didn't want the children in the building with no heat. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Worked out. We got the kids in the building in time for a 2-hour delay and there are no issues. We had heat, hot water. >> Another one over there. I don't have that. >> No leak. small leak. They were able to tighten the connection on the outside of tank. There was a fitting. They tightened that stopped the leak. The hot water tank has a gasket that's leaking. Very minor leak. Couldn't even smell it to be honest with you. They picked it up with their detector. Um so we isolated that hot

118water tank. We have a backup hot water tank. um industrial burner will be coming out to make the repairs on that. >> All right. >> Any other questions? >> All right. We have one. Just one. >> You have two. There was another one there. So, there was one in your packet that was a dance, a PT dance, and the second was um it it was put in today. It was an Easter egg hunt. So, um, because of the timing, we wanted to get it in and we found out some more information about that. We can share with you how they do it cuz I wasn't sure. Um, but we do have two in here. So, the first one again is the PTO family dance. That is going to be um Friday, May 1st from 3:30

119p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the gym in the cafeteria at the high school. Um, and there is no charge on that. You want me to go to the second one or >> Yes. >> Whatever. If you're ready to make a motion, go ahead. >> Motion made by second by Tara >> dance. >> Any further discussion on the PTO dance? >> Hearing none. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Any opposed? You guys have it. >> So the second application is for from Blackstone Parks and Recreation for an Easter egg hunt. So, they are asking for use of the gymnasium. I believe they're the plan really is to be outside, but they wanted to to have this set aside in case there is rain. So, it's Saturday, March 20 um 28th from 11:30

120to 2:00 p.m. And we do have that there's a fee for that. and as a group three fee amount of $85 and then additional fee for a custodian for a total charge of $24824. So that's only if it rains and they use the gym. Otherwise, it would be a no charge outdoor event. >> AFM, right? Yeah. AFM. >> Well, we would have a custodian there. >> Okay. So, we just still need the custodian. >> Where is this? >> AFM. AFM. >> They wanted AFM. That's what they asked. So I think >> well if it's outside there wouldn't be a custodian. >> So last year >> it's well first of all it's parks and reck outside. So >> it would only be on the inside. Yeah. >> So this is just I think if it rains

121>> last year it did rain. I don't remember you were there Dan. Um and they had it in the gymnasium in the two corridors outside the gymnasium. Yeah. >> And I volunteered my time at >> Okay. >> for that. >> Yes. So, Scott, are you volunteering your time if it's >> I would be willing to. >> Okay. Then it looks like we'd be looking to wave >> the fees for the Easter egg. >> If you can't, we have Chuck monitoring. >> I was just thinking that the derby. >> Well, I think you show up at Jim, right, Chuck? >> I was thinking about that. >> Thank you, Scott. Thank you. >> Motion to approve the request for the egg hunt by Parks and Right. Motion by by Tara Lockin. Second by >> without fees. >>

122Motion made by wave fees. >> If it rains and they're inside, no fee. >> Okay. >> And if there's still snow in the fields. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Oh my god. Or Yeah. It might not even be a rain thing. It's aud >> Oh, yeah. They're totally having it indoors. >> Motion by Tara Rockin, seconded by Tara. >> Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any oppose? You guys have it. Okay. Um, before we get to school committee forum, when's a good time to set up the next school committee meeting? Because I think we have obligations. >> What's the matter with March 19th? >> Well, I think we have >> three Blackstone people who have another event. Oh, >> just telling Charles where he needs to be. >> You're

123one of the conflicts. >> Um, >> their banquet. >> Oh, >> so March 19th is the 26th. Is it want to keep it on a Thursday? >> What did he say? Yeah. Yeah. The following Thursday. Is that good for everybody for now? >> Yeah. Okay. And it's awards night, right? Correct. For the 19th is awards night for Is that what it is? >> Banquet. >> Is banquet. >> Yeah. Okay. >> I mean, we can have a meeting there at the banquet. >> We can. >> Why not? Okay. >> So, I made a note March 26. >> March 26th >> at 6 March 26. >> Jackie will update our invites. >> Yes, she's watching right now. So, Jackie, please update their >> And does anyone have anything for school committee forum? >> No. >> All right.

124So, all right. Our upcoming meeting is March 26 to 6 p.m. go into executive session uh strategy session in preparation of negotiations non personnel to adjourn um and not to come back after a journey motion made by Tara Dr. Scobby was seconded by Chuck Dutton. And so I'll do a roll call vote. Um Zane, >> yes. >> Uh Erin, >> yes. >> Matt, yes. >> Yes. >> Tara, Tara, >> yes. >> And on the Yes.