School Committee Meeting: April 2nd, 2026

001Good evening. Today is Thursday, April 2nd, 2026, and this is a meeting of the Milford School Committee. We're going to start tonight with invitation to speak, and there's no one here for that. So, we'll move on to announcements, correspondence, and distribution. >> Nothing. No. >> All right. Well, that brings us to our discussion on eBike policy and we do have uh Chief Dino here to um share some of his information on eBike policy as well. Um while he settles in, I know we had a discussion about this I think a month or so ago and I know that um ebikes have been a kind of a hot topic around town. It's not just a school issue. It's not just related to our students. Obviously, this is a general safety concern, but we control what happens

002on property hopefully. So the idea is to get some feedback obviously from the police department on what they're seeing and what they believe and then um hopefully give some guidance towards the policy subcommittee to draft something if that's the direction we want to go in. So Chief, thanks for coming. >> Yeah. Good evening everybody. I was in this room what a couple days ago we were we were here. Weren't we Greg? >> Yes. For another Yeah. I heard it was a it was a good meeting. I had to leave but it was uh very nice. It was good to see everybody working together. So thank you for that. Um ebikes. Wow. Um I wish there was an easy, you know, lid to put on this, but there's not. Um what we see is beyond the

003individual accidents, we see roving bands of young adults on ebikes. And I know that seems like a big statement, but when I tell you there's 20 or 30 of these young adults on ebikes riding together, and when I say riding together, they're riding the wrong way up Central Street. They're riding the wrong way on Exchange Street. They're going against traffic on Main Street. Somebody's filming them. Uh this has become a big problem. And to give it some context, uh we've had 125 uh incidents accidents uh since January of 2025. Out of that 125 incidents, accidents, 12 serious bodily injury. Now, I've been a paramedic 35 years. Some of you know that, some of you don't. I still work at UMass. I still work on the ambulance. Uh in fact, I'll be there this Saturday. Um

004horrific accidents. Horrific. Because what's happening is these ebikes are getting modified to the point that they're motorcycles and they're motorcycles that you know primarily young people are riding with flip-flops, shorts, and a tank top >> and they're making themselves a projectile missile. Um, it's a big problem and unfortunately there's not an easy solution and and and what is the conundrum? Well, we try to stop and talk to these group of kids, but they don't stop and and we're not going to chase a group of kids and and that just makes it worse. We're not going to do that. Milford police are not going to entertain that. Uh, you know, I was talking before the meeting started the other day. I saw a group of three coming from Stacy. Uh, two young individuals were on an

005ebike. Neither one of them had helmets. One was sitting backwards on the back and the other bike had a juvenile riding by himself with no helmet down the sidewalk, flying, going, crossing intersections and not stopping. So, I drive down past them. This is what I do. Get out of my car and I start walking back, right? So, I don't turn the lights on and cause them to be spooked. I don't want that. So, I walk up and I'm like, "Hey." And they stop. I'm like, "What? What are we doing?" I know. And as I'm talking to him, um, the SRO from one of the schools comes over and, and I'm being vague for a reason. Um, stops and he's talking and he says, "Tell the chief what happened to you last week." Oh, come on.

006Tell the chief what happened to you last week. I got hit by a car on my ebike. And I'm like, and we're doing this today. I know. I know. And you know, the officer said, "When your mother finds out, she's going to lose her mind. She's going to be pretty upset." So, they did a great job following up with the parents and we took the ebike and and and that. So, it it it's not an easy thing to try to reel it in. It's not like people speeding. We just had a very good outcome. We did um the beginning of, you know, I made this name up, school safe passage, where we're going to just continue doing this aggressive enforcement around the schools. You know, we did over 40 infractions in a 4-hour period. That's

007huge. I hate to say that's easy, but it's easy for us. We're in marked police cars. These are vehicles. We conduct motor vehicle stops. Data. Um, but with this ebikes, it it's very hard. Um, and what I've seen is it's coming from the lower schools. These are not high school kids that have given us the vast majority of the issues. They're not the statistics that the SRO's keep is they're coming from the other schools. Why? Because they're allowed to take the bikes to school. And I know we we talked back and forth and you know, uh, Dr. works great with us and we we you know this isn't the first time we've talked about this. You know, we've been trying to hash this out since it started. Um you know, my simple recommendation, and I

008know it's a hard one, is they shouldn't be allowed at the junior high level to take ebikes onto school property. I know that's a big ask. Um and I I defer to the group. Um my theory is it becomes an afterchool ritual. That's what's going on. It's in school. They're talking. Hey, jump on my ebike. We'll go down the Dunkin Donuts. Someone said free coffee. They're going down Dunkin Donuts. They're going down the salt, you know, on Sula Main Street. Sometimes they're driving here. They're driving there. It's a social event. And I understand they can go home, chief, and get the ebike at home. And well, kids thinking like that aren't going to waste the time and and do all that organizing. It's sporadic, you know, and and it's something that you could try on

009for size. And if you really think that it's making an impact and people aren't they aren't coming to school, then don't do it anymore, you know, and and I think the high school kids, I don't want to say this out loud because they're probably listening, they're very responsible compared to the younger group. I mean, we're all there, right? It's part of growing up and and as you evolve. Um, but the biggest recidivists, if you will, are this younger group. And and I don't have a simple enforcement answer for you. I wish I did because trying to get them to stop causes them to go even faster and just that's a recipe for disaster. Um certainly we do the education, we put out the flyers, you know, we have I want to, you know, commend the

010SRO's and the school and the teachers because we have we have uh parents calling us, hey, I want to buy this. Is this bike okay? I said, well, email us over what the you know, the pamphlet says and we'll let you know. But these kids modify the bikes. They're a hundred times smarter than I will ever be when it comes to this. That and my cell phone. If I want to know how to modify an ebike and actually use my cell phone, I'll give it to somebody who goes to, you know, one of the junior highs for sure. Um, so that's where we're at. That's my simple suggestion. I I know it's it's easier said than done. Um, but we will continue to passively enforce this. you know, we're not going to be chasing kids

011on these bikes, you know. Um, and anything that we can do in a collaboration with the school, but I'm telling you, we we we've really rung that out. We've fought hard and constant reinforcement, constant reinforce to be a step because we've had a couple breaks in the nice weather, right, recently. Boom. Everywhere. Um, that's just my two cents. Thank you for having me. >> Thank you. >> Does anybody have any questions? >> I have a few. >> Sure. >> Um, thank you for coming. Of >> course. >> Um, is there an update on I don't know, we talked about this a while ago and there was a talk about the state having coming out with some kind of like registration system. Is there any update from the state on where they're at with that process?

012>> No, we just asked about that. Um it was brought up at one of the chief's meetings and you know all I get is that's pro you know okay >> it's in the pipeline. >> Um the next question you know if if we created a policy to restrict or or ban ebikes um would that enable your officers to enforce after hours because obviously we're not going to enforce because we're not there. >> Yeah. >> so yeah not not to cut off. So you know and someone said well they're just going to you know move the ebikes down the street and they'll leave them there. And then after school, they'll walk over there and get the Well, in the interim, we'll confiscate the ebike. >> You know, let's say you instituted this and they're like, "Oh,

013we're going to park over here at Stacy and we're going to chain it to the fence cuz it's not on school property." The the rule is school property. Okay. Well, guess what? We're going to come by, cut the chain, and take the bike and their parents can come in and get it. You know, I I I think it's it's certainly an aggressive step, but we will enforce it. If they're taking it to school, we'll come to the school and collect the bikes. So if we did pass a policy that would help you to enforce >> Yeah. correct. >> So my next question instead of a complete ban, what if we did a policy that says, hey, you know, if you have an ebike, you have to walk it on property, would would that help? >>

014So the the you know, I I don't think the actual infractions per se are happening on property. Listen, they know they know they respect. They love their teachers and they get along great with the SL pros, but the second they get off the school property, IT'S GET ON THE BACK, you know, and and it's just, you know, my opinion and from what I'm seeing, you know, this group of young people, I think it's it's it's just a bad mix letting them take the bikes to school at that level. I think the high school kids, I think they're fine. >> So, you're saying that if we passed a ban >> Mhm. that even if the the student was off property, he would confiscate the the ebike if they were going to and from school. >> No,

015no, no. Well, well, let me back up. Depends what they're doing, >> right? So, >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's it's few and far between that. I see somebody helmet, you know, not going 40 miles an hour, you know, pedal assisted. I didn't even know this, but they have fake pedals now they put on. >> I I didn't even know that. You can walk over and just snap it off. It's like glued on. It's not real. I was like, "Wow, that's pretty creative." It's pretty creative. I got to give it to him. Um, so we would continue to enforce what we have been doing, you know. Um, but again, it and what are the times that we see all this? Soon as school gets up, you know, I can look out the

016the, you know, the window of the police station and here they come. This this group on the opposite side of the street on Main Street driving. And the other thing that we have to think about, right, I mean, I know this is the school committee, but we also have to be cognizant act that, you know, you have some motorists on the street that, God forbid, are going to collide with one of these students. Well, they're going to live with that for the rest of their life. I mean, I have family in town in their 80s. You know, they're going to end up getting into an accident, critically injuring a child to no fault of their own. That's a big cross to carry. Um, and those are things I think we need to take in consideration,

017too. I I I just think that the catalyst is that after school with that junior high group. Um, and and the numbers show it. >> Thank you very much for coming in. Yeah, this is obviously something that we've been, you know, >> started talking about last fall, you know, and and and >> now, as you would say, you know, springtime's coming and and the ebikes are coming out. um you know in here to just you know ask for your guidance on a policy and obviously your guidance is is a in a sense a complete ban which I was hopeful we weren't going to be there but it almost sounds like it we may have to right because we know that >> it has become means for for students to get to school right and we're

018we're trying not to hinder that by any means but there's also that element of safety um of the 125 accidents do you know of any of those accidents has it and any on on school property and I guess >> Stacy's a little bit there's really school properties within there but any of the adjacent streets has there been an accident and more specifically has there been any accidents in the kind of the half hour before school and the half hour after school where obviously that area is more densely packed with traffic. >> Yeah. So out of out of the 125 you know incidents they they are definitely the vast majority I'd say 90% is in that hour after school. >> Okay. >> You know after school is the big and it's not even before school so

019much. Yes we do have a couple before school. Absolutely. Um, but the ones after school are just that we all get together, right? We all gonna we're all going to take off together on our ebikes and you know it it's innocent at face value and you want to encourage that type of outdoor activity, but it's just being misused. Um, these bikes are modified and um I just think that, you know, letting the high school, you know, or even an age cut off, >> you know, like I said, I defer it to the group. you know, if there was an age cut off, you know, um, 15, 16 or something like that, you know, 15, 16, and if you go to Milford High School, you know, then you can can use the ebike. And I I

020think that you're going to see a a huge drop in these incidents. You know, like I said, it's, you know, the 125 again, you know, what's an accident, what's an incident. I mean, in all my years of of policing and being a paramedic, I've shown up at accidents and I've, you know, wanted to say to people, you call the ambulance for this. And then I've shown up at other accidents like, "Oh my god, like this is we got to call the trauma team." Um, but there was 12 serious injuries. 12 life-changing injuries. And I try to talk to the young adults and say, "Do you understand what's going to happen when you get a head strike? Do you understand your whole life is going to change?" Um, and I know that the trauma physicians um

021that have to try to save these these young adults, um, they're just shaking their head at how bad these injuries are because it's a motorcycle without a helmet, without regulation, without, you know, thank you on that. Um, yeah, I think the other part is just if if we do get to a policy of some sort is how the who and how it's enforced, right? and and particularly the WHO because you know we do have the school resource officers but they have many other things going on. We know our administration team has a ton of things going on and I'm sure you know Josh would would can can >> basically speak to that but so we say you have to walk it along school grounds. Who who's the enforcer on that? How do we do that?

022I think that's the >> sounds like the police, >> right? But even on school grounds, >> sounds like the police are going to come pick them up, >> even if they're riding on >> bann if we banned them. >> But if we walked them. So again, any type >> short from or or any type if we say you're still allowed to use them to as a mode to get to school. Um just when you get to school grounds as we designate areas that you have to walk it from this point forward. If they can if they ride it beyond the entrance to the school right into that zone then who's the enforcing is it going to the police and are they >> but the point is they're coming to school >> right >> and then

023they leave schools together in large groups >> so the chief suggesting >> don't even bring them to school so they can't leave large groups that's what >> and I've realized that and >> all along my hope was not to ban them all together Right. But obviously that may be the direction we need to go. I was just hopeful that we wouldn't. So if we choose not to ban them alto together, is there some sort of concession with walking the bikes that we could work with? But again, it's the enforcement of it. That's where I feel like that's the problem. That's I can it's easy to say no more ebikes and that's a it's a very black and white type of rule but is there some way of saying that you can bring them a mode

024to get to school you just can't have them on school grounds riding so which we already say too >> so if I may um >> what you're suggesting right now I we don't have a problem with that right like kids are bringing bikes onto the school grounds and like Chief said, they're respectful with it, right? They're um all the all of what he's talking what Chief's talking about is happening after school >> beyond the school grounds, right? Um >> so I wouldn't I guess I'm not concerned about enforcing the walking of bikes on on school grounds at all. I think it's Are there kids that do that do ride their bikes on school grounds? Yeah, probably. Um, but I haven't heard that it's an issue either. Um, the issues that I hear about on school

025grounds definitely happen after school hours. Um, and they're mainly issues like over here on the fields where they're the kids are riding on the fields or on the um the turf field or on the track. um in their it's not that I think that they're going to hurt the field or hurt the turf. I think that the problem with that is we have people that are trying to walk around the track and they're weaving in and out of out of folks that are um are walking. So they're on areas that they're not supposed to be. Again, it's after school hours. Who would enforce that? we would look to the police because we don't have staff after hours that are >> are here. So, um yeah, I guess what I heard from the chief is if

026we ban them and kids bring them to school, they would come pick them up, >> right? >> Um >> yeah, I'm not saying I'm in favor of that, right? >> Uh that's what I heard. >> So, thanks very much you for this information. Like many people, I saw that video of Main Street with that child. Like, so as a parent, as a licensed driver, it's horrific and terrifying. So, I get that it's a problem. I just wanted to clarify. You're not talking at all about scooters. It's the ebike. Is that right? The scooters. >> I'm talking about No, I'm sorry. I'm talking >> No, I just wanted to make sure that as I was thinking about what we needed to do, it's related to >> I'm talking about I'm talking about the ebikes. And And

027honestly, again, the groups that we encounter are not from the high school. >> Understood. >> Yeah. >> It's just the facts. >> Got it. Thank you, >> Chief. Thank you. Uh, so state law has a has a helmet law, right? And that goes up to age 13. >> What's the age on that? >> So, well, with the ebikes, 16. >> 16. >> Are you supposed to say and we we not to cut you off, we we do that. >> I mean, we go into, you know, we have helmets and, you know, we spend half our time with helmets and car seats. I spend more money of taking it out of sometimes, you know, officers pay themselves to get someone a helmet. And you know, one of the kids the other day I stopped and I'm

028like, "Where's your helmet?" And he's like, "Oh, I got my helmet." He pulls it out of his book bag. I'm like, >> I'm like, "Well, your book bag's going to be safe." >> You know, and he and he just kind of laughed. I'm like, "Put that on your head." >> Right. >> Um, so it's again the mopeds and the it's that's really not not an issue. I'm just wondering if that's a way to have a policy where it's like you show up without a helmet, you can't you're not allowed to bring it anymore. Bring bring us the ebike anymore. Cut it down that way. >> Um like I don't know, I just went to the bike trail the other day and it's like my son wants to go without his helmet for the bike. >>

029Like no, we we don't leave unless we have that helmet. >> Um I wonder if that's something we could think about cuz at 16 and you're saying it's >> younger kids. Yeah. Yeah, >> they have to have it and they don't want it, you know, >> so it's a little bit of a deterrent as well. >> Interesting. >> Um, thanks for coming in, Chief. Um, I actually have more of like a comment kind of question type of thing. Um, I see what you're saying. It's it's the after school problem that, you know, it's the group effect that kids are getting, you know, and you're trying to avoid that. I I see your point. I also feel like we as a community, and this is not a you problem or our problem, this is a community

030problem, should have a better infrastructure for those passive type of modes of transportation, whether it's actual bikes or ebikes. Like I would love to have like a school safety zone basically connecting Congress from Woodland all the way down to uh Stacey Memorial that has a dedicated bike lane that's removed from the road where we can have you know transportation and allow kids to actually go to school these ways. So if you have talks in the future when it comes to like design 10 year 15 year plans >> I would appreciate if you could advocate for something like that too. >> Oh I think I think that's a a great idea. You know, and you know, I think that goes back to I think the ebike is a great idea. >> Yeah. >> But again, >>

031it's the control. >> It's how you're going to use it. You know, it's it's you know, it's like the the handgun argument. I'm not a gun guy. I know that's weird. Say chief police. I'm not, you know, the day I retire, I'm going to have no gun, so I'm not a gun guy. Um, but it's how you use these things, you know, and and you know, they took, you know, um, I have a family member who is is handicapped and, um, who would benefit greatly from an ebike and, uh, go out and go on the bike trail and see things. Well, I know with 100% certainty, knowing this person, that this family member is going to use the ebike with a helmet. They're going to ride responsible. they're going to see people and give them,

032you know, their their passage when they're riding, you know, and they're not going to modify it to do 40 miles an hour. Um, so anything can be taken that way. But I I I like those ideas. I mean, I was a cop in New York City and the bike lanes were great. You know, >> is this a policy subcommittee next stop or just curious? >> Oh, yeah. I was thinking that um >> it's just my thoughts. I tend to be pretty heavy-handed when it comes to safety stuff. I don't think my kids love that I do it to them either, but um Please, >> as you said, we've all been there and now we know the bad decisions we made then. Um, >> probably for the policy group to discuss, but I personally would be

033entirely supportive of a complete ban for the rest of the year just to see how that goes from Stacy down to see if that has any impact. Um, but I think the subcommittee should discuss that because I'm sure there's a lot of moving pieces to that. So, we would need a full thought process. >> Thanks. I just have a quick question. Um, has a town looked at doing any kind of enforcement or or sorry, uh, banning on town property? >> So, again, you know, you ban an ebike on town property, then you have somebody who struggles with uh, emphyma and they they're using the bike on the bike trail. You know what I mean? if the onus is on the person to use it, you know, responsibly. You know, it's it's it's uh kind of

034a conundrum being a a liberal police chief, you know, but but I am um I don't like to do anything restrictive. Um but um the traumatic injuries with this age group, you know, you know, case in point, I don't see the injuries with the older group. >> What What about Woodland and like Brookside? I mean, they're real young. Um, again, there's not a lot of ebikes there. >> So, really just Stacy. >> Yeah, it's it's really just Stacy. Um, and you know, whenever I was talking to that young individual and you know, he said, "Tell the chief what happened to you last week." Oh, I got hit by a car and I went over the hood of the car. And I'm just like, you know, my stomach, you know, did a backflip. Um, in >>

035fairness, that happens to me when I run. So, >> and I'm not going 40 miles per hour, >> right? >> And I'm in a crosswalk. >> Yeah. No, listen. And And sometimes, you know, these incidents of driver's fault, you know, I mean, I I I get it. I've been a paramedic a long time. I' I've seen it all. >> How many times does this happen? >> They run a lot. >> I've been hit by my car three times. The near misses are far too hard to count. >> Go ahead. One more question. I think Meg, you were starting to allude to it a little bit about ebikes versus e scooters. I just wanted to confirm the universe we're talking about obviously like it's ebikes but in the policy >> is it just general electric modes

036of transportation or is it going to be ebikes again that's not something to be decided here but to consider e scooters as something to envelop into this I'm not sure how that will work through but >> I guess to to close it we did ask Craig to be in the hot spot the administration to come up with a draft policy the last time we talked So, um, so I I think maybe by the next policy coming up with something that you think that you would support or at least some ideas. >> He loves that idea. I can tell >> I mean does it have to include banning bikes? >> Whatever you >> Okay. >> I don't know. I mean, >> just have something policy can can um digest. >> Okay. >> And if I may,

037I apologize. Um, if this went into effect, like you said, for the rest of the year, we only have a lot of two months. >> Yeah. >> For the rest of the year, there'd be this period of education, >> it wouldn't be, you know, first of all, we're not that type of police department, but it wouldn't be, hey, there's a bunch of ebikes over here. Let's grab them and impound them. No, no, no, no, no, no. It's going to be, hey, look, look, here you go. Take this home. Give this to your parents. Let them know you can't have the ebike anymore, okay? Cuz in 2 weeks, if you come with the ebike, we're going to take it to the police station. Parents going to have to come and dad, okay? You know, it's going

038to be that type of thing. I just want to be clear. >> Sure. >> Or do we want to go around to each member and ask if what our opinion is for a ban or a policy or just leave it to be >> what would help you? >> Because policy means not for the month of May. >> I'm just kind of like I threw it out there like do you want to get a feel from from the the committee now or do you want to just propose something that you feel a superintendent would work? >> Are you giving to me till May 7th? >> Yeah. Or maybe June 7th. I mean whatever you I mean the squeeze was done. I mean is this like it >> you want this done sooner than later? >> No,

039I defer it to the group. I mean and I and I you know and I applaud you all for taking this proactive approach and trying to trying to mitigate this cuz you know >> we can I can propose a few times. >> I can propose something for May 7th. >> Okay. >> We have another meeting on the 16th, right? >> Two weeks. >> Yeah. So May 7th that's fine, right? >> Policy could be on the 16th if they want. >> At least you guys caught that. Thank you. All right. I did I did say April 16th, right? >> You did, but Frank suggested May 7th and he asked for that. >> All right. Well, we'll stop there. So, >> thank you, Chief. Appreciate your time. >> Appreciate it. Appreciate your time. >> I think we

040learned Brenda is not a hurdler. >> Actually, I did steeple chase. >> See you later. >> We'll pass on that. All right. So, we have a policy on May 7th. I realize that it's just whether or not you just bring it to the full committee at that point in time to vet it >> in a group of seven as opposed to a small group. I'm just suggesting it obviously >> I don't know >> again I think there's going to be I think there's going to be a lot of opinions >> from the group of seven. So, I just don't know is if the three can vet it and then it comes up to the the other four here and it may it may have to circle back. I don't know. So, leave it to the

041the chair to figure out and the superintendent whether or not all right think we're good there. We'll uh skip chairperson update. I have nothing to share there. Is there any update on the MSBA project? >> Not since last meeting. >> No, not since last meeting. >> All right, then I guess we can move on to the connections program update with Mr. Jose Costa and Dr. >> Good evening everyone. Thanks for the opportunity to come in and speak to you uh about the connections program. Uh I send regrets on behalf of Amanda Msada, our program coordinator. we had a conflict tonight and couldn't join us. Uh, but I'd love to um share with you a brief update um give Jose as a me as the chair of our advisory board an opportunity to add to that

042and then love to you know answer any questions that you may have about the the program. I think most importantly I want to um I want to lead off by uh affirming that the committee's choice to support the program with a stipen for the adviser has made the difference between the program uh continuing or not. Um it was uh as I know Jose uh shared with you in the past uh we were not able to sustain the program as a 100% volunteer organization any longer and uh I want to express my gratitude to the committee for stepping in and making sure that we can continue this program. Uh while our uh I'm going to talk to you about numbers, um I also want to just start off with a quick anecdote that I hope will

043help you understand um the efficacy that we're seeing in the connections program. So, one of our graduating seniors this year, one of our co-alictorians, Anna Julia Pereira, who you recognized a couple weeks ago here at school committee. I'm sorry I couldn't be here for that celebration. Uh Anna will be attending Wesleyan College. She is a connection student. She's going on a full QuestBridge scholarship. This is the second consecutive year that we have a connection student going to a NEAS school on a QuestBridge scholarship. I don't think that's a coincidence. I think it's evidence of the fact that uh the theory behind the program is really strong. When we take um academically promising students early on in their high school career who are showing great academic potential, but we also know that they're facing significant obstacles

044to post-secary success. We pair them up with um highly motivated uh volunteers in the community who are bringing a lot of expertise and connections to the table and they can really help these kids um uh get to places they would not have otherwise found themselves. Um and it's uh it's been really gratifying for me to see as an educator uh the enormous impact that our volunteers have had on these students. Um, I would also uh just add before I get into the numbers that um uh at the risk of uh sort of overusing superlatives, um I've been involved in a lot of different volunteer organizations for all of my adult life and I've never been part of an organization with such a committed dedicated group of volunteers. We have uh 25 community members serving as

045mentors right now. Uh these people are signing on for a 4year tour, right? they're committing to work with a student for four years. We have multiple mentors who are working with more than one student and we're doing they're they're taking on another student after they finished a four-year tour. >> Uh and uh I'm you know filled with gratitude for our volunteers and how generous they've been with their time and talents for our students. But I also think it speaks to the fact that like our volunteers are doing this because they know that they're having a big impact, right? they can they can see it with their eyes the the uh the effect they're having on these young people and I think that's why they're motivated to put in so much time and to come back

046and to take on a second student and and to and to do a do another tour. So, um I couldn't be more pleased with the way the program is going. I'm so thankful to the committee for providing support to allow us to um sustain the program, you know, so thankful to Amanda for her strong leadership and uh we're moving in a in a great direction. uh you do have the um the numbers in the packet and so I don't want to I don't want to read the slides to you. There are there's a there's a couple things that I want to um highlight both for you and for members of the community that may be watching at home. Um we are um seeing really strong mentor retention. We are not seeing folks walk away from

047the program. Uh every once in a while we're having a mentor who due to life circumstances they're relocated. Um, and at that stage, we're we're having someone come in to replace, but no one's volunteering and saying, "Hey, I this isn't for me. I got to check out, right?" Um, so we're retaining all of our mentors. They're super engaged. We have, in addition to the service they're providing the kids, we have mentor meetings and we have a program committee that has a high level of participation, engagement. So, our volunteers are uh they're really all in, which is uh it's inspiring to see. We're serving 27 students presently. Um, and we are going to graduate 11 this year, and our goal was to bring on 10 in the class of 2029, and we are on track to

048meet that goal. We um invited 17 students in the class of 29, those are our current ninth graders, to apply. uh demand does exceed our capacity to provide mentors right now which on the one hand I'd love not to turn a single student away on the other hand it's healthy to be in a place where we have more applicants than we have spots right now and I think that speaks to the efficacy of the program that the students themselves you even at a young age when introduced to this can say yeah that's that makes sense I think I should apply for that um our what we're I think what we're really sort of focused on as we sort of wrap up this year and head to the next is in addition it first of all

049uh recruiting enough mentors to take on 10 kids a year is a significant lift. Um most of that lift is being done by our mentors themselves who are networking with uh you know friends, neighbors and colleagues and trying to tap them but also Amanda our coordinator but we're really working on um having Amanda work with the mentors to try to bring a more consistent experience to the students. Um, I don't think it would be quite right to say that we're developing a curriculum, right? This isn't like this is not a credited course at the high school. Um, but we do want to have sort of a sequence of activities and we want to have sort of a logical progression of experiences that we're trying to provide the students with. And so Amanda's working really closely

050with our program committee to try to get all of the mentors playing like a team. Um, and we don't, you know, the experience is highly individualized, right? It's it's this relationship between two people. And so you could have 10 different pairs out there and those it could be 10 really unique relationships. But we also want there to be some consistency and we really want to leverage Amanda's expertise as a long- serving guidance counselor so that she can help to train our mentors to lead our students through a sequence of activities that's going to complement what our counselors are doing and and help to really advance um the work that we're doing to help them develop strong post-secondary plans. Um let me sort of stop there. Let me turn it over to Jose as our advisory

051board chair to talk to you uh about the program from from his perspective and then happy to answer any questions. >> Yeah, I I'll be quick on this. First of all, um again, thank you from two years ago. You've received a lot of calls from me. Um and appreciate you listening. Um the as Josh has pointed out the benefits of the program we you know when you saw the numbers you saw there was a year of decline. That was a year we were trying to figure out the direction we were going and it's on a rise again. Um and um again the more mentors we can get the more we students we can put into the program and that's part of the challenge of the advisory committee right now. What we're working on is really

052to how do we get to the community to really get the message out there from the Lions Club to some of the businesses we have in town uh to try to get mentors to come and join us. So that's some of the work that we're trying to do right now as an advisory board. Um, we've gone through the strategic planning process. We know where we want to be at this point. 10 is as Josh pointed out is the right number at this point. Uh, but we would definitely love to grow it because we see the benefits as he's pointed out. So really my message is thank you for the support and uh don't hesitate ever to come and join us and and see what we're doing with uh with the students. >> Jose, thank you.

053I want to I want you to know how appreciative I am um of the work that you do. Can you describe um the type of commitment that that a mentor would need to commit to doing with a a student? >> Yeah. So, we're talking about four years. Yeah. >> And uh that's the one big part right there, a four-year commitment if if you can do it. But then on top of that, it just re it's going to really depend on the student as well. Uh it might not be anything that requires them to to be even on a a week basis communication. Uh but it could be that like every other week, but also as things are occurring here at the high school, uh it could be a phone call. Um um so but it

054it for some of the mentors here, they also want to see the program even beyond high school of how the student is done. But I I would say from a standpoint of a mentor, they communications with Amanda, >> then communications with a student, >> you know, it could be maybe a um on a monthly basis. It could be maybe a four to eight hour type of time frame they put into it, >> but it it could vary. I don't know if you you think >> Yeah. So we we when when we're onboarding new mentors, we ask them to uh meet with students at least one hour a month. Most of our mentors are meeting with their students more than one hour a month. >> Um there's got to be there's got to be a reciprocal

055quality of this, right? You know, the student needs to uh needs to want to meet with the with the mentor as well. >> I think what what I've seen over the the course of the program's history is that the number of hours of service that mentors provide grows as students get older. Right? So they they match with students in the spring of their ninth grade year. It's a pretty light touch, right? They might see them, >> you know, four or five times in the spring of their ninth grade year before we go on summer vacation. >> You know, grade 10, it might be, you know, once a month for the, you know, first semester, maybe as we get into the second semester, if that relationship is hopefully starting to click, that rapport is building, the

056trust is there, frequency is starting to increase. I think a lot of our mentors, uh, I think first semester, senior year, they're spending a lot of time with their students. There's a big push, um, helping them get those applications out the door, um, finalizing the college search, getting them helping kids get out on campus. Um, so I think, uh, I think the the frequency of ours grows uh, for most of our volunteers as the students progress through high school. >> What kind of background are you looking for in a mentor? Like a somebody who's been through college? So, so we our ideal volunteer is someone who has direct experience with the system of higher education in the United States. Um, and so, uh, we have had mentors who are very young adults in their mid20s,

057uh, who are, uh, young working professionals, >> very successful, >> um, very, some of our most successful mentors have been in their, uh, mid to late 20s. I'd say the bulk of our mentors are folks that are retired and semiretired um who themselves have university degrees and many of whom have shephered their own children um through the college process and so they you know uh they really know the system from they have an insiders perspective in the system. They know both having been a student themselves and having shephered young people um through the system. We are um we are eager to bring in um volunteers who speak Portuguese and Spanish. Uh the majority of students in the connections program, their uh parents uh require interpreters uh to work with the mentors and that's a really

058high bar for our volunteers to clear. And so what that means is that many of our mentors are they're working with the students, but they're really not able to develop a rapport and a working relationship with parents. So, you know, our ideal candidate is someone who knows the American university system from the inside, either having been a college student themselves or shepherd their own children through the college process. Um, and uh the ideal candidate would speak uh Portuguese or Spanish. However, the vast majority of our uh mentors are monilingual English speakers. It's by no means a prerequisite. Um and I I think uh I think that all of our uh volunteers have been successful professionals. Uh lots of you know different uh different industries and and vocations, but uh it's a it's a very high

059achieving group um that that we've that we've attracted. I I think you know the if what happens with the if they don't speak uh Portuguese or or Spanish which is a majority of the students is the fact is the communication with the parents is really that's where the breakdown is >> um with the student student speaks English not an issue it's how do you communicate with the parents more that don't really know the language >> so that would be the value on it so >> and to that it you know we've we we speak to our mentors our mentors are not substitutes for counselors, right? They are compliments to counselors, nor are they substitutes for parents and guardians, right? They're complimenting the work the parents and guardians are doing. They're complimenting the work the counselors

060are doing. Our counselors are working with parents and guardians in their native language. So, you know, if the mentors are not able to form that relationship with the uh parents and guardians, it doesn't mean they're out in the cold, right? Our counselors are working with parents and guardians. So, um, great to have, not necessary. >> But that that was the the value of like when Josh was working with us originally before we had Amanda in place. It's that now they were able to talk to Amander as a guidance counselor at the mentors and actually get information that can assist them with them as they're dealing with the student versus before you basically had mentors trying to get to Josh who were like, "No, you can't do that." But that's where the the value comes in

061of having someone like Amander in place right now to the program. >> It's also if there's any anyone watching on TV who's you know considering uh giving this a go. It's also I think noteworthy that Amanda Msada our coordinator is triilingual. She's fluent in both Portuguese and Spanish. So she can serve as a wonderful bridge uh between our mentors and parents and guardians when there is a need for there to be uh direct communication between our mentors and parents and guardians. And we're going through right now a my last point is we're going through a that's one of the things we try to do as well. We've done survey assessments of how we're doing from a mentor standpoint even the parent and the student. We're actually turning this time to try to go a little

062more in depth. We're going to be doing focus groups this year. Um so we're going to try to get more detail of what's working, what can we improve. So, we're continuing to do that effort to really evaluate the program and modify it to improve it. So, >> great. Thank you. >> Go ahead. >> Thank you both for coming in to talk about the program. Really appreciate it. Uh for those that don't know Jose, he sat in this these very seats >> a long time ago. >> Not that many not that long ago. So, but obviously he continues to give back to our community, which is a great thing. So, from the school committee side and continuing on from the connection side. So really appreciate it. A few years ago, you had me come in to

063speak to potential collegebound students about from from an engineering perspective. Was that part of the connections program? It was. Okay. So >> other you know speaking on behalf of technology and accounting and and other business development side of things. I certainly reach out to Jose I'm not sure if you're still doing those types of talks. doing it. >> Um I really enjoyed it uh coming in and just you know talking about the industry that I work in and um basically fielding fielding questions from potential collegebound students. So really appreciated that. Um I know that was during the school day obviously. When else do you typically do a does a mentor meet with a student? Is it always within the time frame of the school or could be outside of the school hours? >> Yeah, I

064mean it it really varies. I think for most of our I think for most of our mentors >> in the initial stages of the relationship, they've probably seen their students exclusively in school during flex blocks on Monday and Wednesday afternoon. And I think the typical trajectory is that as time goes on and they build rapport and they build trust, there starts to be more activity that takes place after school after school hours. Um we have um not all but many of our mentors um have accompanied students on college visits um oftentimes starting as early as grade 10. Um so sometimes on a Saturday or Sunday or like right after school like grabbing them and you know heading over to a local college campus. We have many of our mentors who participate in different community service

065activities with students in the community you know um nights and and weekends. uh but that we really that's left up to the mentor and the student to sort of figure out what's going to be the right the the right fit for them. Uh but I'd say in general it starts off exclusively in school >> and as the relationship builds and strengthens it starts to expand outside of outside of the building and outside of school hours. >> Yeah. I mean if if the mentor is working for example >> it's I mean they prefer more at night type thing. So that's what it depends on >> is zoom cap possibilities at least to start that that that relationship like you said in that trust factor. >> Yeah. I I like Josh said, I mean the first years,

066the freshman and um sophomore year, the the really the intent there is to build that relationship, >> right? >> Is for the two of them to be able to really communicate effectively. So the student really has a trust >> of it when they get to the years that are really critical uh as the students looking for where what where they're going to go, what's their future. >> Awesome. Well, again, thank you very much. Really appreciate everything you guys are doing. It's a great program. Thank you for coming to talk about it. I know you shared, you know, one specific success story, Jos, but then multiply that by 10 or 30. I think it's remarkable. Certainly, thank you to all the mentors who are serving. I was just curious the sort of non-curriculum that Amanda's building

067out. Is that also to help the mentors so when they come in, they kind of have a guide to use? I think that's also maybe reassuring. If you're new to this, there's also a tool that's sort of going to be handed to you. So, I feel like that's also a great benefit. >> Absolutely. Yeah. We're we're we're not uh we're not looking for our mentors to uh make it up as they go. Yeah, >> uh we want to give them plenty of space to um use their play to their strengths and and sort of follow the students lead in a lot of ways. But yeah, there's there's a there's a great deal of guidance with suggested activities and resources that our that our mentors can can sort of pick and choose from and use their

068judgment to determine what's going to be the best fit and the best time. >> Awesome. Thank you. We we have um as part of our advisory board, two of the members are actually the co-chairs of the program committee >> and that's what the role of the program committee is really to develop the program with Amanda. >> That's great. >> Excellent. >> All right. Thank you guys for your time. I appreciate the update. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Thank you for your support. Very grateful. >> Appreciate it. >> Have a good night. >> Good night. >> Let's move forward to the vote on the 202627 school calendar. Um, all right. Uh, the long awaited calendar is here. Um, so it has a there's a few different things I want to point out. First of all,

069um, the first day for um, faculty and staff is August 24th. Uh, we have two professional days, August 24th and 25th. Then the 26th will be the first day for students in grades 1 to 12. Um and then our kindergarten first day ends up being the 31st of August which is the following Monday. Um the thing the next year or actually sorry this fall this coming fall Labor Day falls um later than I guess usual. So, there's going to be two two full weeks for staff anyways before Labor Day this year, which is usually it's a just a week before. But, um I think that's that's good for us. It allows us to um get get into the swing of things with kids and then uh we have a 4-day weekend over that uh Labor

070Day weekend. Um I think I talked about this last week. Uh we have no half a days on our calendar other than the last day of school. We do have five different um early dismissal days. They're on various Tuesdays throughout the school year. Um on in early dismissal days, we'll be dismissing students um around 12:50 for the high school and the middle school, around 1:20 at Woodland, and then around 1:30 at um Memorial and Brookside. Um we'll also couple that with uh professional development time for our teachers. So, our teachers will have 3 hours of professional development time in the afternoon. All of our students will have lunch um and then they'll go home for the day uh an hour or two earlier than they normally would. Um it allows us to have a similar

071amount of professional development time throughout the day, but it makes the day um it doesn't cut as much out of our instructional time than a half a day would. Um let's see the other the other thing that's important here is in June um our last day for seniors is ends up being sorry this is in May 25th our high school graduation is June 6th the last day for students and teachers if there are no snow days is June 11th so we start a little early we're going to get out a little earlier I hope um and then if you'll this is something that we brought back in uh if a if five snow days are used, uh June 21st would be the the last day of school. So, you'll see that in the calendar this

072time this time around. I don't know if anybody has any questions. This does require a vote. >> I see none. Motion to approve the 202627 school calendar. >> So, moved. >> Motion by Michael, second by Derek. All in favor? >> Unanimous. Thank you. All right, we'll get this out. Great. >> And then that also brings us to the last day of school for this school year, which we have noted here as Tuesday, June 23rd. Is that a half day? >> That'll be a half a day. >> Any questions on that? Motion to approve. >> Motion by Chris, second by Megan. All in favor? >> Yes. Thank you. On to the MPS policy review. >> We were productive >> as usual. Yeah, as usual >> as always. >> U so we have four policies for consideration

073this evening. >> Um actually Craig, do you want to talk briefly about the emergency closings? >> Uh sure. >> Actually, you you can skip through all if you want. >> Okay. I'm just going to pull them up. Hold on. >> Yeah. Yeah. Um >> so the >> so for the emergency closings um the only difference here is uh in the in the first paragraph the last sentence. Um we added that at the superintendent's discretion if there are after school activities or evening events um those can be those can happen in the event of a snow day. So for example this this this year we had backtoback snow days um >> by the afternoon that it was fine and we were able to have practice or whatever. This this allows us to have that kind of

074discretion. We're going to talk about each one first and then we'll vote on each one separately. So, are there any questions on the emergency closings? >> So, no no changes >> other than that >> than what was proposed in front of us other than say that again then. Sorry. >> The la Sorry, >> I thought >> it's the the last sentence I believe in the first paragraph >> is new versus the current version. Correct. The superintendent may at his own discretion determine whether after school and or even activities will be cancelceled proposed or held as scheduled based on training conditions and safety of school student staff. >> So that's how >> Yeah, that's how it reads here. >> Yep. >> Okay. So there's no changes based on what was proposed. >> This is the proposed

075provision >> earlier. That's that's I just want to make sure that obviously we got this >> the earlier >> the old one doesn't have that >> right. I'm saying what what I'm saying is what was given to us in our packet. There's no changes based on what your input. Thank you. >> Had to get that dots in there, huh, Craig? >> What's that? >> Had to get that dots in there. >> Yeah, that's right. >> The second one was uh security cameras. Um we didn't go deep into this one. Um the we added the word van >> twice. Thank you, Brandon. And then the other piece uh that we added was that recordings will be saved for no more than 60 days. After 60 days, if they're not being used for like u an investigation

076or insurance, they'll be deleted um and destroyed. So those are the only two changes that we made for this. And again, no changes from what we have >> correct in front of us to what was being proposed tonight. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Great. The third one was professional staff and contracts. Um the third paragraph was a change at the discretion of superintendent administrator may serve in a coaching or extracurricular role provided that and there's three bullet points. Actually, Craig, why don't you talk about your intent here? And >> um so in the old policy, it was ex um there was a language in there that said that specifically administrators couldn't coach uh teams or athletic teams or something uh something to that effect. I don't remember what it said. This is uh just

077to allow at my discretion or superintendent's discretion um an administrator to serve in a coaching or extracurricular role provided that it doesn't uh disrupt their primary responsibilities um or that and also that it happens outside of their contracted work working hours. um and then it can be revoked at any time if it's determined to interfere with um responsibilities. So for example um I don't I the o if we use the example of an athletic director applies to be uh say a baseball coach um in my opinion I wouldn't allow that because it would interfere with their role as athletic director right the the role of the athletic directors to oversee all of the sports program. If they're coaching one of the sports teams, it's impossible for them to oversee what's going on in all of

078the programs. However, if a um curriculum supervvisor of math um wanted to coach a soccer team, there there is a way for the person to do that without it interfering in the work that they're doing uh in the math curriculum world. Um, so that might be an that might be a position that I would say, okay, yeah, that's fine. Um but obviously I think that in any of these scenarios um we would have to be in in sort of dire straits that we don't have a coach um or we don't have a qualified coach to take on the role um that we're going to our administrators to coach one of these teams. we would primarily look to our our teaching and our faculty and staff um to take on these coaching roles. Um but if

079we didn't have somebody for whatever reason, there could be a situation where we would need an administrator to take on that role. >> I have a question. >> Yeah, go ahead. >> So maybe Craig to speak to sort of I'm just trying to envision this I guess like the working hours, right? So I would envision most administrators their day would extend beyond 2:30 generally and so just like in my gut I feel like then offering them a stipen to go on the field at 3 doesn't feel like in alignment with the compensation. So like just maybe how you're thinking through that and I guess it's in dire situations. >> Yeah, it is in dire but but maybe also the practice doesn't start till 4:30 either. Okay, right. >> Got it. So >> okay, >> I

080think that there are ways for an administrator to work around it um >> by pushing practice later or whatever the case may be. >> Yeah. Okay. >> So that will be contemplated in the decision-m process for the role. >> Of course. Y Chris >> um I'm strongly strongly against this. Uh this has been tried and it failed. Once again it was with the athletic director. Um, I think that when you hit the administration role that you you take yourself out of the running for these types of things and I know that this could be in very special cases, but I think that we open up the door to to that potentially happening. I think that not keeping the policy like it was is is in the best interest not only of basically the work hours

081but also the student athletes because yes you can tailor your practice times but games meets they're always right after school. They're not later on in the day. Buses leave school early. Buses are or right at the end of the school day. So, there are so many reasons why I feel like this is just not a good idea. I could not support this whatsoever. Um, you could try to sway me and again, you will not be able to on this. I I've seen it. I experienced it with my own student athlete and it did a disservice to not just to her, but her entire team. So again, I tried >> because it was the athletic director, >> but even still, yes, it was the athletic director, but I could see it happening with any administrator. What

082happens if the administrator has an important meeting right after school, right, and has to be there? >> Again, there's it tried, failed. We need to scratch this from the uh from a policy that and and make it that administrators are not allowed to do the extracurricular coaching um or advising and and for me like I said move on from it. >> Doesn't sound like there'll be an athletic director though like still superintendent approval discretion I should say. Mhm. >> But you're saying beyond ad if it was someone another administrator >> administrator, right? Just again just the >> mean schedule when the schedule come out like be obviously beforehand. So you'd have to line up those practices, line up those meets or whatever it is the case may be to your schedule. And you think that

083would be a problem? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> I've seen it. Um during the discussion of the policy meeting, there was a specific position that you uh mentioned as an administrator position, but it wasn't like a assistant principal. Well, I forget what it was. Do you >> math supervisor? >> Yeah, math supervisor. >> Um so like to that point, Chris, like a math supervisor considered administrator >> but maybe not to the level of like a building principle. Is that a difference that you would find acceptable in the policy potentially? >> No, it would not. Again, I think it I think Yeah, I get it. I see where I understand where you're going. I just feel like we're going to get into a gray area of it, and that's why I'm I feel like this is

084something that we can't get into a gray area with it. Uh, you know, do I trust the superintendent in in the decision of that? Yes. But I still feel like, again, it's a gray area that I just don't want to go down. I think to Meg's point of of hours and what the expected hours are, What are the expected hours of that? And again, so we don't know. >> So to me, administrator administrator has a um their work hours are are are different >> and and more expansive than than the uh a the a teacher. So therefore, that's why again, I can't support this. >> I have a thought. Um I don't feel super strong one one way or the other. Um, I generally am against something so black and white. So, one of the

085scenarios I came up with today is, you know, say, uh, I'm I'm coaching soccer and I I'm just I was sick for three weeks and somebody has to fill in and the only person that can fill in is an administrator, the AD or a principal or somebody. The the policy today completely limits that. >> So, that means that practices would have to be shut down, which is a disservice to to the students. And then and then I thought also like you do we have a large bench of people who want to be coaches and the answer is no. So we're we're now making that pool a lot smaller. Um and then just going to like a a personnel management. I guess my you know overall thought you know this is crafted where it's it's it's

086narrowish meaning it gives the superintendent the authority to make the decision if needed. Um, and if we don't like that as school committee, then we can tell the superintendent or or tell them, hey, um, I just, um, I'm, uh, I'm nervous that we're we're shutting down a a some flexibility. >> So, that's that's my I don't know. I'm still I'm very on the fence still because of like it's the old policy is black and white. like right when your daughter was or the AD was coaching according our policy they shouldn't have been >> which is I don't know why but it it happened um >> uh so I guess my concern if that AD was not supposed to do it and didn't do it what would have happened to you to that team there's nobody

087else >> well yes >> and so that's where I >> there were other assistance yeah I think that >> but that's >> we can talk back and forth on that and I and I get that. But again, I just feel like we it's we got to make sure we're protecting the student athletes at the end of the day. Um, that's where I'm at. >> How would this >> and I think to your point by saying it's too restrictive, we have lots of policies that are very restrictive for that very reason to protect what the policies in is written for. Right? So to keep a policy this policy loose to me or or just to say that policy is too tight and too restrictive. Well, yeah, that's what I'm looking for. >> Yeah, that's fair. But

088this is a personnel management, right? And that's what Craig's job is is to manage personnel and we're now getting involved in like how Craig would manage this and and making it narrow saying, "Hey, you know what? You now can't pull from a pool of administrators at all to be coaches." >> Correct. um which is the existing policy which again might be fine. I >> right >> I I haven't been given a reason to say yes or say no personally. I I'm still struggling >> again. Yeah. I I agree with the formal policy just based on my own life experience >> off of one experience >> off Yes. Right. Off of one experience. But I don't want it to happen again to anybody here that may have kids coming through. Right. because it it >> you

089only get one usually in a sense, one shot, one season and all that. So, we don't I don't want to muddy those waters up. >> What if if a coach is out just for like a week and the AD has to fill in? >> I mean, >> this policy as of today would be like, you can't do that, >> right? Exactly. I'm fine with that. >> We could find somebody have to. Again, the AD wouldn't be able to fill in because he's it's going to take him from his other sports duties. If there's an away game in Canton, 45 minutes to an hour away >> and the AD has to go to that softball game because he's coaching softball and there's a home baseball game and the umpires don't show up to the home baseball

090game. Well, then now we don't have an administrator there on site to to mitigate the issues. So again, I we can throw scenarios out all day long with this. I I've I guess I'm very clear on my stance on this and and because I feel like you can go through all these scenarios. I'd rather not. I'd rather just I've I've stated where where I am and I'll move on from it and I'll let you guys make your own decisions. >> Point of interest. How >> none yet. >> All right. Um, how like what percentage of the time were was the was the AD present? Like was they missed like a lot of >> a lot of the practice? >> A lot. Significant. >> Yeah. >> Significant amount. >> Yeah. I think away meets were non-existent.

091>> But an AD is different than like >> a math, you know, >> administrator. And so I think for me to not focus on the AD and just focus on we're we're we're going to ban general administration. >> Yeah. I think that's kind of what I was what I was getting at. the ads there's a lot of after school activities that's that's the point so yeah another administrator wouldn't have as many afternoon evening things to do >> so again in your scenario a week >> can't someone cover for that week whether it be an ad or an administrator kind of like if it's just a week or three weeks it's not that big a deal because if you don't have that person maybe you don't have a team for that person >> you usually have

092an assistant coach Right. So that assistant coach, >> some teams, some don't. >> Pretty much I think almost every team has has JV. >> Well, JV. Yeah, but again, you're talking JV. >> So, >> okay. >> What do you feel, Craig? Well, I guess you're presenting it, so you want flexibility. I guess >> it honestly doesn't matter to me either way. >> Wow. >> Okay. >> So, why are we talking about it? Yep. Sounds like no change. >> That's a committee member brought it up. >> Got it. >> Okay. >> Um so to move on to there's one more, right? >> We'll move on to to public gifts of the schools. So finally >> this has been talked about a lot. >> Um we actually thought we voted this in months ago and we didn't.

093So we brought it back. We made some some minor. So basically this is uh something that um was near and dear to my heart personally is uh the school committee should have have the authority to accept gifts right so gifts should come to us however we didn't want to impede the operations of the school so we we did put a a clause in there that says hey the superintendent designate may accept donations up to $1500 on behalf of the school committee without a vote right um now that number might change so Craig might come back to us in three months be like oh that that number needs to be 2500 or might might need to be 500, right? But we wanted to start somewhere. And so that's what the intent and then everything else is

094um well as written. Basically, the idea is uh if a cameras donated to the sports field that that cost 25 grand from a booster that needs to come to school committee before it's installed, you know, so we can actually ask questions like is it equitable? You know, who's who's going to pay for the maintenance costs? What's happening? And so that's the intent of this policy. Um, there you go. >> I'm not sure I missed this earlier today, but there's a typo in the last sentence with the word create, but otherwise >> I just fixed it. >> There you go. Thank you. >> It look >> Sorry, just a clarifying question, Matt. So, Michael, you're saying this is essentially the MASC policy minus the second to last sentence. >> Yep. >> Um, it's it's based off

095MASC policy. I I don't remember exactly how much, but it's pretty darn close. >> They have an exception also. Thank you. And then Craig, do we have said policies or those are to be implemented? >> Uh procedures, I'm sorry, >> we do not have said procedures now. >> Okay. Thank you. >> We had a nice vigorous talk about that. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Any other discussions on that policy? Okay, we can vote them one at a time. >> Yes, sir. >> That would be the easiest way to do this. So, uh, look for a motion to approve file EB CD, emergency closings. Motion by Megan, second by Brendan. All in favor? Thank you. Um, next motion is for file ECA-2, security camera system policy. Motion to approve. Motion by Megan, second by

096>> Second >> Chris. All in favor? I will ask for a motion to approve file GCB, professional staff contracts and compensation. Is there a motion to approve that >> As a new policy. >> I see no motion to approve. So we will pass on that one. And last one is file KCD public gifts to the schools. Is there a motion to approve this policy? Motion by Derek, second by Brendan. All in favor? That one is unanimous. Thank you. >> And big thanks to Craig and crew for getting all this done. This is a lot of work. >> Thank you. >> Certainly. Thank you. And that'll bring us to the report of the superintendent of schools next. >> Uh just quickly, um about procedures. Um in all the years that I've been through handbooks and school

097improvement plans, it's going on 20 years now. Um, it makes zero sense to me that we do this in the spring except for the Let me back up for a second. Except for handbooks. Handbooks, I understand we do it in the spring. Um, it sets us sets us up for the fall and having all of our rules and regulations in place. School improvement plans on the other hand, uh we do a lot of work on school improvement planning from I would say May all the way through the summer uh in preparation for the next year. Um it makes more sense to me that all of our principles come to us or come to you all in the spring uh in the fall right at the beginning of the year to present their school improvement plans

098um for approval. Um I think that in my opinion um it sets the tone for the year. It gives them more time to um craft some ideas and um make the the plans that they have um I guess more realistic um because they've been able to spend a lot more time during the summer to do some of the work um with the whole leadership team. So what I would like to propose is that we have handbooks done in the spring this year. Uh principles can come and present them if you want. Um or we can have them I could present whatever changes there were. There's usually minimal changes uh to handbooks. >> So these are the the the school handbooks, right? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um so they would come in the f in this

099upcoming weeks to talk about those and then in the first one or two meetings in the s uh in the fall principles would come obviously we don't want them all in one day um we'd break it up some way uh that makes sense and they would present their school improvement plans to you all um in the fall >> that's what I would like propose ahead. >> Thank you. Uh thank you for presenting. Um you know I like that timeline. I think that the only issue I have with this is the fact that is is the focus on on the school improvement plans supposed to be part of the uh the school improvement committee, right? Which is supposed to involve parents. So, I think that focusing on doing it during the summertime puts out takes away

100the parent guidance within that part of it. Right. So, again, this was supposed to be more parent driven and kind of facilitated by the principles and I think we've lost that. We've lost our way on that what I've seen since since co and I know it's very difficult to get parent involvement. That would be my only issue with it. I like presenting it in the in the fall uh as the school year goes. Um but I think that the focusing on late spring and into the summertime again loses the the premise where where the fact that parents are supposed to be part of the process. I >> agree. I mean and I'm not suggesting that parents are taken out of the equation either. Right. >> Right. Um, you know, we do run school councils. I

101would say that, um, back when you were on my school council. >> Exactly. See, there we had 18 parents. >> Right. >> Now, when they do school councils, we're lucky to have one to two, maybe a handful in some schools. There's the the the time commitment. um is challenging for families. Um >> I also think that why does the why does the school council need to run on the school schedule either, right? Like if we could just because we do some work in the summer doesn't mean that we can't get feedback from school councils either. >> I agree. Right. So, um, by suggesting this, I'm not suggesting that we're cutting parents out of the loop either. So, I I would expect that if we are going to do it in the in the fall that

102it has been through a a school improvement council of some sort. Um yeah, and and again throughout the year, principles are getting feedback from from parents um that could be incorporated into this plan, but at the end of the day, it should be voted on by the school council. 100% agree. >> Yeah. Yeah. I'm not even sure. I know the school councils are Mass General are, and I don't know if the school improvement plans also follow that. Have to we should look that up. But >> well, that's one of the um functions of the school council, >> right? So, >> that's why it's just important for them to be involved and somehow and I and I get it there. It is a struggle to get people involved, right? Compared to what it was like 10

103years ago. So, >> I thought it was me. >> Yeah, >> maybe it was. >> Maybe. Yeah, sounds like >> I don't know based on who ran the school committee this year. I'm not sure. Right. Craig, I appreciate the thought. >> I've been I've always been in a fight, so it was my time to >> I appreciate the thought. There's so much going on that you're even thinking like how can we do this one piece more strategically. So, thanks for that. My only ask would be that we not wait a year and a half to hear about this year's plans. So, if we could just get some sort of update in terms of how those have been going and then talk about next year's plans in the fall. >> Okay. So, >> they don't need

104to come in, but could do you think >> some kind of >> one page update so we can kind of know where some kind of update. >> That'd be great. Thanks. Yeah, Megan, I think that's a great point because um >> I don't want to let a year go by. >> There's that transition, right, where you're just you have to pick up the new cycle. Um so I think that's an update is a good idea. And then um just logistically um shifting when they come to present would allow this committee to get back to doing what probably should have been done and hasn't since I started which is the superintendent's evaluation can happen within this fiscal year and be done by the end of June >> instead of in August or September. So um a

105little bit of a flop there. I think with the usage of time would be a good thing. >> I had a request Craig. I think we brought this up before. Um >> the the the student handbooks or the family handbooks, >> it'd be really nice if they followed a consistent template. >> Um and I'll tell you why is that they're actually policies of the school committee. And sometimes when you go through them, they're hard to read and find out the for the information. So it'd be really really great if the principles worked together and came up with a standardized template because at the end of the day, they are school committee policies and that took me a couple years to actually realize. Um, but they do come for us for vote and they then they

106become actually school committee policy. So it'd be nice to have a some kind of templatized whatever >> for this year or next. >> I mean this year would be great or start. >> Okay. Anything else? >> Thank you for that update. We can move on to the report of the school business administrator next. >> Okay. Um first a quick update on the um this year's budget report. Um overall the the balance uh I don't have concern about the the balance the total balance and um it basically follow the same pattern of where the deficits are. Um nothing jump out right now. And um I just sent out the memo to closing the fiscal year. So um next report this the number will change probably significantly and I will have better idea of where um the

107the money can be moved to to cover the deficit and I think updated uh the transportation and um out of district after the offset we still have a positive balance so there's no concern there. questions on budget. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> No question. >> Just a quick um personnel update um attached for your information. >> Quick question on personnel. >> Sure. >> Is there any way to obviously c certain ones of the are are grant funded um and others are are general fund. Is there any way to just to either separate them out or or put another column in that signifies um general fund general fund funded or grant funded. >> Yeah. >> For the future be great. >> Yeah. >> Great. Thank you. >> Okay. No problem. >> Okay. Thanks for the

108update. We'll go to the consent agenda next. Is there any item that needs to be pulled for discussion? All right. I see none. So tonight the consent agenda is going to include the following. The approval of 10 warrants in the amount of $933,92043. The approval of minutes from the March 19th, 2026 meeting and professional development in the amount of $8,826. Motion to approve. Motion by Megan, second by Brandon. All in favor? Unanimous. Thank you. Subcommittee updates. >> Productive policy. >> Seems like we just got one from policy. Anybody else? Nothing. >> All right. Future agenda items. Um on the list currently, um obviously will be an HVAC project update from Stacy as that moves along. Um we're still looking to schedule a reimbursement rate discussion related to the MSBA project with Next Level and uh

109the evaluation prep for superintendent is still outstanding. Is there anything else to add to the list? I see none. All right, with that we are uh at the end of our meeting tonight. We do not have anything further. So we will end this open session and meeting with a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion by Chris, second by Megan. All in favor? Right. Thank you very much.