001All right, good evening everyone. Today is Thursday, March 19th, 2026 and this is a meeting of the Milford School Committee. We're starting our evening tonight with recognition of class of 2026 superintendent award recipients. >> Okay, we have um several recipients on hand today. Uh we have three different awards that we are going to be presenting. Um the first one is the Worester County Superintendence Association Scholars Award. Um that one is an award presented to seniors recognized for their high academic achievement and commitment to academic excellence. Students will attend the annual scholars lunchon next week. Uh that's Wednesday at Holy Cross uh with myself and principal Otland. The students who were awarded that are Anna Julia Pereira and Luke Stacowski. I don't know how do we want to do this an award at a time or
002do you want me to bring them up all together? >> Uh do one at a time. There's quite a few. >> Okay. So Anna and Luke where is Luke here? see right over there. Uh I'm I have a little to say about um both of them. Uh this is this is an excerpt that came from a recommendation letter from their uh guidance counselors. So first is Anna. Anna's success is not the result of circumstance but of resilience, discipline, and an unwavering commitment to her goals. Anna is an exceptional scholar, earning a 4.6 GPA in the title of co- validictorian of the class of 2026. Beyond academics, Anna is a thoughtful, principled, and deeply responsible young woman. She approaches her responsibilities with humility and care, earning the respect of both peers and faculty. Anna Pereira exemplifies
003what it means to overcome adversity while maintaining integrity, academic excellence, and a strong sense of purpose. That's Anna. This is Luke. Luke's academic record reflects both intellectual curiosity and perseverance. He consistently challenges himself with the most rigorous coursework available. Music, however, is where Luke's passion and purpose truly shine. A gifted vocalist and dedicated performer, he has been a four-year member of the school's concert and chamber choirs, earning the Milford High School choir director award and representing our school at Central Districts and the Massachusetts Allstate Choir. This distinction reflected his exceptional talent and discipline. Luke's character is defined by his blend of artistry, intellect, and heart. So that's Luke. Um we have it's the red awards, right? I believe we have these awards that we want to give uh both of them. Um I'll just read
004what it says. Um, basically it says the person uh Anna's name or Luke's name having duly qualified under the standards prescribed by the Wista County Superintendent Association is hereby awarded this scholar award. Uh, so both of them get that and then we're we're going to lunch together. >> Question. >> So I don't know if anybody has questions. You want to hand those down? >> Of course. >> Questions or comments? >> Go ahead. >> You want to wait? >> This is the best at Legion Hall. >> Thank you. So congratulations to you both. He summarized it, but obviously that's years and years and years of hard work and dedication. So I hope I'm like tearing up hearing about you both. So I hope you feel very proud. I'd love to hear what's next, where you're headed,
005and I'm sure that's just the first of many accolades coming your way. >> Yeah. >> Um next year I am attending New York University and I'm majoring in music business. Um I'm hoping to get into the live music setting. >> Amazing future. >> We can't wait to come watch it. >> Thank you. Uh, I'm attending Wesleyan University in Connecticut and I'm double majoring in biology and neuroscience on a pre-med track. >> Wow, that's incredible. We spend a lot of hours in this room and sort of like the highlight of our existence is like hearing just how well our students succeed. So, thank you for being here and congrats on all your hard work. >> Thank you guys. >> Yeah, just congratulations. Um, if you feel like you have a story that you want to share
006about a good memory from your time here, then you can do that now. or if you don't have something that comes to mind, it's totally fine, too. >> Um, I think personally my best memories are always with like choir related stuff and um doing the musicals every year is always so awesome, too. It's just like a really great community that we've built over the years. >> Uh, I think my best memory has definitely been meeting new people. Um, I founded the activated faith club and it's so fun to see like the diversity and the amount of people that like to come and share their experiences in the school. Awesome. Congratulations. >> Great representation of Milford timeline. It's been a long journey here, but I I'm excited for the future for you and I'm just proud
007to call you guys in the 40ians. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you for coming tonight and you know, thank you for for the four years you you've been here and all your accomplishments. >> Thank you so much. >> Congratulations. Best of luck. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations, guys. Thanks for coming. >> Thank you. >> Hope it's a good lunch. >> Lunch with Craig's always a treat. >> Thanks. We need to take a picture with you. >> All right. >> You're all welcome to take a picture of us if you want. >> You tell me how you're the artist. I'm super obviously watch the cords but >> all right Good >> All right. Next. Next. Next we have the National School Development Council Academic Growth in Student Leadership in Learning Award. Um,
008this award is a prestigious a prestigious recognition for high school seniors who demonstrate consistent academic improvement, dedicated effort, and positive leadership, character, integrity uh within their school community. Um, we had two winners of of this award. Uh, the first uh Natalie Seratoss and second is Lucas Gomes. So come on up. I think Lucas is not able to come. Uh I'll talk about Lucas real quick. Um Lucas was unable to make it tonight. Uh but Lucas has demonstrated remarkable determination with his academics and school community. His ability to balance his coursework is a testament to his strength and character. Beyond academics, Lucas is a bright, personable young man whose positive attitude is truly contagious. He approaches challenges head-on, never allowing setbacks to define him. Uh the second is Natalie. Um, Natalie is a sincere, compassionate, and
009dependable young woman who has demonstrated remarkable resilience throughout high school, navigating uh significant um challenges that tested her strength and perseverance. Despite facing uh added responsibilities outside of school, from a young age, she has continued to balance work, extracurricular involvement, and her academics with dedication and maturity. Natalie considers uh making it through high school her greatest accomplishment, an achievement she takes great pride in given the obstacles she has overcome along the way. Uh Natalie will be the first in her family to attend college with aspirations spanning computer engineering, healthcare, and cosmetology. So Natalie's with us today. Uh Natalie gets this award uh from the National School Development Council. So hand that down to Natalie. And this is Natalie. Congratulations, Natalie. >> Thank you. >> I don't know if anybody has any comments, questions. want me
010to start? >> Yeah, please. >> Congratulations, Natalie. Um, like I asked before, do you have like any memories that you want to share or if nothing comes to mind, it's totally okay, too. >> Uh, nothing comes to mind. >> Okay. Well, congratulations. We're very proud of you. >> Thank you very much. >> Well, we need more people who have compassion and have integrity and are driven, and it seems like you exemplify that. So, I just really thank you for being here and and um I'm happy that you got received this award. Thank you. >> Congratulations, Natalie. As a parent, there's so many things that you want to teach your children, and I think the hardest to teach them is grit, and it sounds like that's something that you have in spades. So, congratulations to you
011for everything that you've made it to. Congrats on heading to graduation. Do you know where you're headed next year? >> Um, I plan to attend Firmingham State University and majoring in computer science. >> Congratulations. My mom went there. It's a great school. Good luck. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. Good luck at Firmingham State. >> Thanks for coming. Congratulations. >> Are you ready? >> I want a picture of Craig. Cheers. >> Good. Okay. >> Okay. Our final award tonight is the um MASS Certificate of Academic Excellence. Um, this is an award, an annual award presented to high achieving high school seniors who demonstrate distinguished academic performance, leadership, and significant contributions to their school communities. Uh, first we have uh Jovana Winer. Jovanna embodies the best of what we hope in for
012in all of our students. She's collaborative, creative, hardworking, courageous, and industrious. Her intellectual curiosity and self-discipline have driven her success across a rigorous schedule of AP and honors coursework. She has earned the honor of being named co-validictorian of the class of 2026. Yet what distinguishes her most is her relentless pursuit of meaning. She seeks understanding, not just grades, as well as impact, not just achievement. So Jovana's up here and then our old pal Anna Julia Pereira. Come on back. We already know all about Anna. So they they both um get this certificate. Um this is from the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendent. uh and it just hereby awarded the certificate of academic excellence. So both of them get this. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations ladies. >> Thank you. >> Get off from last time. Congratulations.
013Do you have a favorite memory that you'd want to share? >> Um, I think working with my video production class to put on the liftub. That's something that we work really, really hard on all year and watching it come to fruition. That was like last week was so rewarding. It was a lot of fun. >> Is the video ready? >> No, that'll come out in May. Okay. >> We're still uh, you know, >> polishing the edges and stuff, you know. >> Understood. Video production was one of my favorite classes, too, in high school. Um, yeah. different story, different time. Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Admiration for for both of you. Um, thank you for everything. Also, I just want to side note, >> not to take away from you, parents. Thank you for everything you've
014done. I know how hard it is, the the the driving kids around just the just the just the dedication that you have to have for your kids to also succeed. Thank you for that. Um, uh, just congratulations for making the journey, getting to the finish line. Thank you. >> Yeah, congrats on so much hard work. Giovana, do you know where you're headed next year? Would you be willing to share? >> I don't know yet. I did a lot of regular decisions, so I have to hear back this week and next week. So, I'm really practicing my patience, but it'll be great. >> It'll be worth the wait. Do you know what you want to study? >> I want to do film and media studies. Very cool. Excellent. I'm looking forward to seeing your product. Thank
015you. >> Congratulations and good luck in the future. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. Good luck in the future. And uh anybody know what the countdown to the last day of school is? >> Um it's it's 74 days. >> And for us it's 38, I think. >> Okay. >> For school days. >> Yeah. >> Counting weekends and grades. >> Great. >> Thanks for coming. Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> All right. You ready? Last one. >> Yes. >> Oh my gosh. >> Embarrassing. All right, we need everybody back. >> We also have these fine notebooks for you. It comes with a pen. So when you have just thought write it down >> maybe they knew you practice your move. >> Do we look centered or do we need to move around a little >> go that way
016a little bit and then move in a little bit? Yeah. Perfect. Where that is the other way. >> Good. >> It's me. >> Beautiful moment. >> Thank you. CONGRATULATIONS. Thank you. >> Folks, you're welcome to stay. >> Great. >> Thank you so much. Have a wonderful night. >> I really need it. Okay, >> we good. >> Very good. >> All right, that'll bring us next to our good night. >> Congratulations. We'll go next to the student representative update with Emily Jansen's. >> Okay. So, to start off, I just want to give um a quick update on the leaky roof situation. So, um a couple weeks ago, we installed what is essentially a gutter system. We have panels, funnels the water down to a trash can. And I'm happy to report that on Monday when it
017was particularly rainy, um I had no issues. There was no water. There was no trash cans in the hallway. So, seems like a functional Yeah, seems like a functional solution for now. >> Good night, >> and then moving on to some more general updates. We have a couple dances coming up. Sophomore semi is tomorrow night. Juniors have prom in less than a month. Um, that's on April 10th. And then Best Buddies has their last dance of the year on March 26th. Our student leadership is currently running a lucky duck fundraiser. So, there's a bunch of small rubber duckies hidden around the school, and if you find one, you win and an entry into a raffle. Um, unfortunately, I have not been a lucky duck yet. >> I haven't found one. Um, but you know, if
018you see one on your way out, >> you know where to find me. >> I've seen all kinds. >> Okay, now I know. >> Um, and then we're also working on a decorate a hallway fundraiser. So each grade gets assigned a different hallway in the building and a different season of the year and their um objective is to decorate their hallway for their season and then a judge a panel of judges or teachers I guess will vote on the best hallway and that class wins a pri cash prize for their class council. >> Nice. >> Testing wise, it's MCCAST season. So 10th graders have their English MCCAST next week I believe. And then they'll have math and freshmen have MCCAST, too. Um, for sports, we officially kicked off spring season, which is kind of hard
019to believe and it's still really cold out, so it's not very fun. Um, games and meets will start next week or the week after that. And then for music, we had two concerts this week. Um, band had their vertical concert on Tuesday and then orchestra had theirs on Wednesdays and both were very successful. Now the music department is getting ready for their trip in April. And that's pretty much all I have tonight. But what about your uh uh being part of the vision in >> Oh, for the building project. Yeah, we have a um big meeting next week. I got to tour some other schools a couple weeks ago. All very interesting. Um I'm starting to see like the vision of like, wow, this is really happening. Even though I'm not going to be here
020when it happens, but very exciting. Yep. A lot going on. So, >> any comments or questions? So I panicked the other night I mean when someone said there was a vertical string concert because my fourth grader plays strings and I was like but they they the third and fourth grade couldn't do it because there's so many which I just thought was an awesome problem to have. So I love that. >> I'm also curious is there any different vibe in MCCAST season given the graduation requirement has been removed. Just curious. >> I definitely feel like maybe some students aren't taking it as seriously now that they know like they don't actually have to pass to graduate. But it still seems like students want to do well because you're sitting for a test for three hours. You
021might as well try. So yeah, but >> thanks. Just curious. >> Yeah. Thanks. Now, >> thanks for the updates. Uh hopefully you find a doctor. >> I hope so. >> What trip is the music department going on? >> Um they are going to Hershey Park. So they'll spend a couple days in the park and then one day will be like a competition performing. So >> Okay. Unfortunately, I'm not going. But >> so, as always, thank you very much for coming in to give the updates. You know, you gave the update of the the the preventative maintenance that we've done on the roof. How else how like is the general feel around school, you know, that was something that we we as school committee always kind of want to hear about. You know, you you you
022talk about >> the different events that are going on. like just from a day-to-day standpoint, do you feel like is it a good vibe going on around school or do you feel like, you know, if certain things were to improve, it could help betterment the vibe? >> Yeah, I think from my experience, I definitely have a good vibe going on when I go to school. There are definitely some things, especially after going on those um tours of other schools that I'm a little envious of. Um, I kind of wish we had more spaces to work on projects outside of classrooms, more like little meeting spaces where we could kind of pull out from classes and have that area to work or even after school. >> Um, but as it is right now is it works.
023I think students are happy. Students are fine as it is right now. Um, people's moods are getting a little bit better now that it's spring or getting warmer. So, >> great. >> And I'm assuming, yeah, based on that feedback of seeing other schools that you are, excuse me, that you are providing that feedback to the group like, "Hey, I I see these great breakout spaces that would be great for our new school." >> Yes, definitely. >> Great. >> Thank you. One more thing, you went to Spain, right? >> I did go to Spain. How was that? >> I had the best time. >> Awesome. >> It was a great group. We had so much fun. like the group of Americans that went like we all became like best friends and then we also became best
024friends with everyone in Spain. So it was yeah it was so much fun and I learned so much. >> Yeah. >> Was this a school trip? >> Yes, it was the exchange program for two weeks. So we stayed in Malaga with host families. >> Um the only thing I'll add is I was at that concert last night, the strings concert. There are that's just so many kids with violins and sticks inside of you. Um, when they said that they couldn't include third and fourth because there was over a hundred strings players in each grade, plus the 70s something fifth graders that were there, it was it was wild. But it's really cool. My daughter's in fifth grade, and to watch them while you guys were playing, >> just kind of sit there with their mouths
025open like, >> how are they doing that? It's amazing to see them looking up to you guys and as you went around the room, watch the the skills progress. And um, it's just really cool to watch them look up to you guys. You guys did a fantastic job. So, >> thank you. Yeah, that one's always one of my favorites because when you're younger, you kind of look into the future like, >> whoa, that's going to be me a couple years. And then for me now, it's like, whoa, that was me a couple years ago. Yeah. >> Awesome. >> Anything else? >> Um, I had a suggestion. Do you mind staying for the MSBA update and explain? Um, it's it'll be it's pretty short, but >> we'll be there quick. >> Yeah. I want to talk
026about the the visioning. It'd be nice to hear your feedback and what why you're involved and etc. >> Okay. Yeah, of course. Yeah, we won't be long. >> All right. Oh, there's nothing for invitation to speak. So, we can skip that. Does anybody have announcements, correspondence, or distribution? So, the only thing I'm going to toss out in the announcements space, I looked at the calendar. We have one more meeting before reorg of the school committee, and this is something I meant to bring up last year, the year before, and I continue to fail. But, um, >> quick, >> it did come quick. Um just asking people to think about what their schedule looks like and allows for the following year and if you're interested in >> taking over anything certainly um think about it. We'll
027just bring it up next meeting just so that everybody can be aware of uh kind of where we're going because I believe there's no opposition, right? So it's this is the group, my understanding. So >> as long as Brennon and I make it to uh >> that would that would be ideal. Um, so just just keep that in mind. All right, >> we we'll move on from that one now. >> Fair enough. >> Um, I do not I do not have any update um the chairperson update so we can go to the MSBA project update which Chris and Michael said they would. >> Yeah, >> take over. >> Why don't you do yours first? >> Okay, great. Catch me off guard. Uh, so as you know, the architect's on board now. So the basically the
028architect is now going through really what you would call the feasibility study. They're looking at the current school. They're mapping out our current school. Um they're looking at the entire site. Um so where what is buildable, what is not buildable. They will eventually come to us and present our different grade configur configurations that we ask for 7 through 12, 8 through 12, 9 through 12 with comprehensive, without comprehensive. So and and within each one of those multiple options of renovation of this current facility, renovation build or all new build. So as you can imagine each one has its own set of of kind of hurdles to get through. Um so right now not a lot of involvement from the committee side from the structural aspects of it or the decision- making but come around end
029of May to beginning of June that's when you'll start seeing the building committee being presented u with options and and with those options kind of which pathway the building committee would like to see the architect focus on. Uh so pay attention move to kind of those meetings. uh they are televised so you will be able to see kind of what's going on what the architect is presenting and that's all based on going to be other input from the visioning committee that these guys can speak to >> can I ask a question two questions on that can you remind me how is the pricing structure for the feasibility done like is it a up to is it a maximum >> basically yeah we had set aside you know certain amount of funds so negotiating with the
030uh architectural firm basically had to stay within the funds available >> so it's a maximum of up Um and they have a target ETA for delivering said >> far as far as these options. So yeah, they're in we have our next MSBA meeting uh I believe in mid June time frame or late June. Yes, June 18th. >> June 18th we have some for submissions of >> great >> what pathways we're going to be looking at. >> Thank you. So, and they say the one critical thing that we need to be aware of, and I don't know exactly how this is going to work, um, the 7 through 12, 8 through 12 options, right? This the the 8 through 12 was on the statement of interest. The 7 through 12 was basically we we presented that
031because, hey, we're building a facility, just say, right? We know that Stacy Middle School is kind of the next in the list. Is there any going to be economical advantage of of building a 7 through 12 and and what are those cascading pros and cons there? Ultimately, it may come down to us as school committee members being or not being a part of that decision process and and working with our administration and kind of guiding the building committee on what our thoughts are regarding a potentially moving from a 7 through 12 facility. and again what that would entail. So just wanted everybody to be aware of that. So if they do hear that that you know they're not surprised like well wait a minute I wasn't I didn't know I was going to be part
032of that decision. So again still trying to work through exactly how that will will be but that was mentioned uh at last night's uh building committee meeting. So >> cool. >> Any more questions on that? Just to clarify >> is prek still >> sorry. and always. Yes, P is always in there. So, I apologize for not saying that. >> Let me just add one thing. I think um >> I think I this is the way I understood it. So, if either of you understood a different way, it's basically going to be 18 options, right? You have 9 through 12, uh 8 through 12, 7 through 12. Um then you have renovation of all the like this place then you have um ad rena then you have all new build and all those combinations of of
033all the different ones. Uh and then it gets whittleled down from there and eventually it's down to three then down to two down to one. So that's sort of the process. But it but to Chris's point, the way I understood it is you all have um a very important part in the way that this uh our district is going to move forward with grade configurations. So 7 to 12, 8 to 12, or 9 to 12. Um so I think that's and that's coming up soon, right? that it sounded like that that decision is going to have to be made within the next >> month, month and a half, even before that. >> We're going to have to take a vote in probably May. >> Yeah. So, >> formal well informal before. >> So, that's something
034that maybe we should um I think start talking about in in future meetings. Uh >> sorry, Greg. You're making that decision before you have the study report or No, >> no, it it's we're going to have the options, I think. Okay. Um >> it's get the guidance. Do you mind >> go? Yeah, it needs to give. So the the architect needs some guidance to start to build things out, right? And so one of the um >> since in the SY we put seventh grade in there and the MSB is like sure but you have to pay for it. >> Um we have to tell the architects what we as school committee or and the building committee uh to focus in on and one of the big decisions it's not committal is >> the seventh grade.
035school committee, we could vote be like, "We're definitely not doing it." Uh, but study it or, you know, we we're we want to do it. It doesn't mean we're going to. So, it's just kind of a >> okay, >> you know, so we're not there yet, but yeah, there'll be some information from the architects before we vote on it. And it's not a commit. It's just a it's just it goes into the the natur the the education plan. It's like a huge document where the architects where it all compiles, but this is um it's the start of the process if that makes sense. >> I'm good on my side. >> Yeah. So, um speaking of all this, the fun stuff is the architects came in and they they formed a a vision committee through through,
036you know, Craig and the group and um Emily's on it, which is kind of cool. So, I'd like her to talk about her experience. I kind of invited myself and said, "Hey, Craig, can I hop on a school bus and visit some schools um because I haven't seen seen some of these new schools and um this group was going it's a mixture of administrators, teachers, and students and some parents and um I got to be uh you know a third wheel and kind of observe and um I have to say it was it was pretty awesome because you got to see different designs. So like we went to Adel Bro which was designed by a different uh group um and function you know functional. If you've ever been to Attelro, it's massive. Um, super functional.
037Um, but it feels very industrial. Um, and then we got to go see like there was a middle school and I can't remember where, um, >> Wayth. We Yeah. Yeah. where HMFH designed and you go into that school. Super functional, but like it felt warm and comforting and like, you know, um, and then we we got to go see a u a vocational school um, Bristol Plymouth. It was being built, not finished. And it was really interesting to talk to the designers and be like, "Okay, so we we went to Adela, which is very industrial, but super functional, like really cool stuff." But then we went to this middle school, which was just as functional, but it felt like an education facility. And the the the lead designer, I can't remember her name. Anyways, she
038was telling me that they really focus in on materials. Like their their big theme for their architecture firm is materials that feel like education. And when you went into this um uh elementary school, you felt it like kind of like when you walk in Woodland, you feel it. So it was really it was really neat kind of seeing the the different fields and and you know and also their iterations. So this middle school is built after Woodland. So to see how their firm has even have has gotten better and iterated. Um so it was really neat. It was great experience for me. And um and then we we had students who I'd love to give what your what is your purpose of this vision committee? Yeah. So, I think my purpose in this vision committee
039is to give my input as a student because I think there are definitely some things that I notice about the school or other schools, things that I like for from a student standpoint that some adults or teachers just don't think about. Um, I know one thing that I brought up to some of my teachers that went on the trip with me, um, was how I have a hard time studying at home because I just get distracted. I can procrastinate really easily. And so like having a nice study space at school is something that I think a lot of students would really benefit from. And like they had never thought about that because I don't know. Um, so also I think what really suck stuck out to me stood out to me um on the trips
040was the vocational side because obviously we don't have that here. I've never been to a school with all like where you step into a classroom and it feels like you're not in a classroom anymore. It feels like you're out in the real world like in a hospital or in some sort of lab. Um, so it was really interesting to see that side of education and I think that's going to be really beneficial to our school where there is a lot of kids who aren't going to pursue a higher level of education. Um, one thing that I that really stuck out to me was they were showing me all of these vocational aspects and all these things. Like you go and there's an ambulance in the school >> and then they're talking about how now we're
041going to sit at this meeting and talk about all the things that we want for our our school. But I had a hard time like coming up with things that we want for our vocational programs because we don't have them here. So, I think that's kind of going to be like >> I don't know. That's just one of my thoughts that I had. But >> um can I add on? >> So, um Emmy was part of half of the group that you went on. The other half of us were back here shadowing students. Um and that's what the rest of the half of the group, your half of the group did today. We didn't have students shadow students though. Kind of weird. So >> that would have been fun. >> Um we actually visited Dery
042which is in um Fall River. We also went to Bristol Plymouth and we also went to Weimoth. Um Bristol Plymouth is also an HMFH design. Um, and I think going through Bristol Plymouth brought back a lot of memories for me of like the build over here at Woodland. In fact, the the one of the people that was well, many of the people that were on that job were on this Bristol Plymouth job. So, it was like meeting up with old friends a decade later, which was kind of cool. Um but I think the most important role that that students are going to have is in the the actual when we bring both groups together which is the first meeting of that's going to be next week. It's an all day um event. Uh all 40
043people are going to be in the same room but the students are going to lead a table of teachers and parents. So I think we have six uh 10 students. So we'll have 10 different groups that the students will lead through and you'll just basically talk about your experiences in this school, but all the students also went through all those different schools. So trying to bring those ideas um to light, I think are that's going to be the critical part of of what your job is. uh and then bringing it out of out of the adults because I heard a lot of uh good comments from adults too who you know our experience in school was very different than when you walk through these these new high schools. Um so I think just hearing from
044everybody and then working with Josh and trying to put this plan together, the ed plan really drives what the building is going to look like. So trying to capture everybody's ideas in a way that you can put down on paper and then the architects can use and build a building that encapsulates everybody's ideas is is the critical piece of this this whole process. Um, the reason why Woodland looks the way it does is because of the ED plan, because of all the things that we put in there, about breakout spaces, about having small spaces outside of of classroom spaces, all those different things were in the ED plan. So, um, as uh, Michael said, it's a very large document. Uh, so that's that's the work that's going to take place over the next, I don't
045know, six to 10 weeks u with Josh and I. So Josh is going to take the lead on it and I'll support when I can, but um it's a lot of work. Um and it's important work though. It's it's the foundational work that that will drive what the building looks like. So you do play an important role. I hope you I hope you believe it. Um I know that the kids that we were with today um had a lot of great questions and a lot of great comments. So I can only imagine that your group is the same way. One last thing and it's for a future agenda item. So last night at the building committee, so I I've talked to um our OPM James and uh we talked about the reimbursement rate which is
046moving around, right? So the state reimbures us a percentage and people have been talking about like 72%. And it's actually way more complicated than that. >> And so I asked James to the building committee to give kind of a tutorial. Um and I think he should come to the school committee as well too just to give a little um uh like a tip or u um is that the reimbursement rate is up to what's what's a cap of what the MSBA will will will approve. So they might say for every every thousand square feet or square foot they'll you know they'll pay for $600. So that 72% is of that $600, not of the the full build that. So if we spend a thousand, they're only going to reimburse up to 600. And 72% of
047the 600. So the re the effective reimbursement rate they call it is the term is actually somewhere south of 72%. Right? And so I think we need to have James come in and talk about it. And then what is reimburseable because not every square foot is reimburseable by the state. >> Um and so it's actually pretty complicated. I'm glad we have this whole team of uh people to help us figure this out because there's a lot of uh tricks, you know, and ways to make sure that you're you're complying. And the MSBA really wants an efficient building. So, they don't want giant hallways, right? And so, they there there's a percentage of that. And James can talk through it and whatnot, but I think it'd be great to have him come in and let us
048know because I I keep hearing people in the community talk about, oh, it's being reimbursed at 77%. And I'm like, ooh, we need to start getting the word out. It's actually not that. You know, it's still great though. It's still huge. So, when the architects asked us what the reimbursement rate that that we got, they're their mouths dropped. They're like, we have never heard of a community getting 70 something%. Um, so they're like, so even if you know the effective rate is a little bit lower, it's still a massive, you know, positive for us. So, that's it. >> Great. Any questions for Michael? >> Thank you both, all three of you for that update. Actually, that was great. um probably the most informative I think MSB update we've had yet. But it seems like these
049are going to start rolling in now. >> It just turned on like literally it just turned I think we're having what two meeting three meetings with the building committee in pretty quick succession now. >> Yeah, pretty much. There's I think we scheduled about >> 8 to 10 meetings from now till till mid June. >> Mid June. Yeah. So it'll be >> we went from like one every three months to >> You guys are busy. >> You know what I mean? >> Just turned on. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> Awesome. >> Yes. All right. Thank you. Thanks for sticking around. >> Did you just live here now? >> Well, those are at town hall. >> Oh, even better. I guess a little little writing. >> Yeah. >> All right. You good there? We can go on
050to the 26 27 school calendar update. There will be no >> Yeah, of course. >> Thank you. >> No vote on this, just so you know, it's an update only. >> Um, okay. So, I just want to give a brief update um before we finalize it. I just want to get everyone's feedback on this. Um, so in my um I guess preliminary calendar, draft calendar, um we're doing something a little different next year. um or I'm hoping to do something a little different next year where I'm moving away from the half the traition traditional half days on the 4 day week or three-day weekends um because frankly our attendance uh staff and student wise is uh not what it usually is. So having a regular day on those days I hope will make improvements there.
051Uh instead what I'm planning to do is um put in five on five different Tuesdays. Um Tuesday is traditionally our contractual day for our teachers. They stay an hour later on Tuesdays for professional development. But on those five on five different Tuesdays. So what I have what we have here in our our draft calendars in October, December, February, March and May. Uh we'll have early dismissals. So we'll take the kids through lunch and at um Milford High School in Stacy, we'll dismiss around 12:50. Um, that gives us that gives us the ability to have uh a good three hours of professional development time with our staff, but it also gives us the ability to provide lunch for our students um and get them through most of the day. It's basically a little more than a
052period um before their actual uh dismissal. Uh at Woodland it'd be around 1:20 and then um at Memorial and Brookside it would be 1:30. Uh and then on those days because of busing we never and we never had prek on half a days. We don't think that we're going to be able to to do prek on these days either. Um just because of the way the busing is it'll turn out that the tears won't line up. So, we were trying to make it work, but um we would it would add an additional cost if we tried to run um profess um prek on those days. So, we probably will not have prek on that. Um but we're hopeful that it's on a Tuesday. It's not backed up to any holidays. Um kids get lunch. It
053feels more like a a full day. Um, and hopefully the the attendance stays about where it's at, uh, on usual days. So, uh, and it also actually, believe it or not, provides us with more professional development time than we would have if we had the half a days. >> Um, because during the half a days, we still have to work in the prep. We still have to work in lunchtime. So, we actually lose time anyways. where we're going to try to create schedules where preps, lunch, all those things happen before kids are dismissed and then on dismissal it's all professional development time. So the only true half a day uh would be the last day of school. Um so that's something that we're going to try this year. I don't know if anybody has any
054thoughts before we actually finalize uh what we're thinking. >> I like the thought. I like the idea of it. Um I guess thinking about like stakeholders in this, parents who are gonna be working now about child care after school. It's a little bit more atypical for midweek. >> And then community use and the youth center not notifying them about y those times that way they can maybe have extended hours those days to >> keep kids busy and in a safe environment. >> Sure. >> That's my only feedback. >> Yep. Sure. >> I had a question. not should be about what you I'm fine with everything you you just presented. Um maybe uh I just remember I think back in the day when I was in high school we would we would advertise or you would
055know like the last day of school say June 20th right and we had the five snow days were built in >> and then at some point you if you use the five snow days you would get out earlier. I don't know if >> right and and it seems like we've moved away from that and I was thinking about this because you when you sign up for summer camps you know um you sign up you know that you know here's a date you sign up but now if if we don't advertise the last day and then snow happens it it really kind of it disrupts that those plannings. I'm not sure is there a reason why we stopped doing that I'm not saying you did but at some point along the way we did. Um, the
056way I always remember it is we've always had the 180th day and then we've always identified um the five days beyond that. >> This would be the last day of five days are used. You're suggesting that we just identify the 185th day and then come back and say, well, the actual day is >> if we don't use the five days, it's says June 20th, maybe June 15th. June 18th or whatever. Um I don't know. We could do it either way, >> but it was just a thought. I I mean >> either way, we're making an announcement about the last day of school. >> Yeah. And not for this year. I like >> Well, we do it anyways in April or May or I don't remember exactly when, but when the when we think the snow
057is clear and with no more threat of snow, >> um we make an announcement of when the last day would be. >> Yeah. To follow what you're saying, it's just more of 180 days plus or 185 minus. Right. >> Exactly. >> So, um I guess on the schedule I know we do a lot of different coding of it like color coding and or so I guess maybe it's showing on that schedule more visual of here's day 185 180 here's day >> could be kind of in that zone >> but it it needs to be really clear for parents. Yeah. >> Because like you signed up for camps in February, right? Right. So, >> for example, or daycare or whatever your or family trips, >> right? Yeah. June June 10th is is day 180. June 15th
058is day 185. >> So, you know that you're clearly on just a thought for going into not this year, but more of the next planning for for next year. Um >> I think it could be designated just yeah through kind some type of descriptions on there, right? >> Yeah. Okay. I think it's an interesting idea. Um, obviously though 185 could be 187 or 189. >> I mean, maybe there's a way we could show it as >> sliding scale. >> Snow day one, snow day two, snow day three, snow day four, snow day five, >> something like that. >> A little footnote if planning vacations, right? Or I don't know, but make it really clear like, you know, here's the last day of school, >> you know, the potential last day. >> Huh? >> Could go
059past that, too. >> That's super. There are many districts in in actually in the around the state that have used more than five >> um this year. >> Some are cancelling April vacation or at least Rhode Island. I heard that. >> Yeah. >> Um the only other thing I was going to add to your point, Brendan, is um what I like about the structure you're proposing is I actually think as a parent this is better. Um we just had a half day. >> I dropped my last kid off. I had a dentist appointment. I was back at the school. >> I did nothing. It was awful. So, uh, even getting more more into the one 130 range, I think, gives you a little bit more time. I know mid finding child care midweek can be
060a little tricky, but, uh, for the most part, I think what I've experienced with other parents is finding coverage any day of the week, starting at 10:50 when some people are getting to work at 9 is brutal. So, um, trying something different, I think, is a good idea. And I I love that it it's going to get more focused PD time. I know that the hours are probably a little shorter in the PD space, but when you have that focused time where >> the staff can just sit down and do that and not have to worry about all these other pieces. >> Um, and it kind of just ties into a day they're already there anyway, it's going to feel like a normal routine >> compared to the chaos that I think a traditional half
061day has been giving everybody. Brendan, to your point, does the youth center staff up and and open in a sense open early on those half like what was these half days to offer the programs to >> I think it depends. Um I think it's something that we can discuss the next meeting to make sure that they can staff up for. Yep. Curious. And to that point, I was >> depending on the answer, is is that something that again, let's work with our community use director and be like, hey, >> you know, these are the designated days. What can he open up, you know, and can he staff up? >> We do, >> you know, and add extra programs and and make it >> allowable that kids can come in. They don't have to sign up
062for for the entire year, entire semester. like these specific early release days, we have special programs again to help out families. >> The the one tricky part about um we do do community use, but the one tricky part about community use is while we use students, there are adults that um >> help supervise those programs. And those adults are teachers and teaching assistants, behavioral assistants. So, um, it's hard to for us to release. We really can't release them from their contractual duties to go work over here. Um, so that's the one tricky part. Um, I'm not sure how they work around it right now, honestly. >> Just one question, Craig. You wouldn't plan, would you potentially plan on stacking the half the Tuesday half day against a Monday long weekend? That would be my only
063request not to do that. I know it's okay. Great. Thanks. >> No. >> Great. Sounds good. Thank you. >> Perfect. >> Nearly touched what 700 on Friday for the half day. >> What's that? >> For absences. >> Yeah, it was not good. >> Any other questions on the calendar for now? >> All right. Thank you. >> Oh, okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um I'm sorry. >> No, you're up next. Um report of the superintendent of schools is number eight. So, >> thank you. I I wanted you to announce it. >> There it is. >> All right. I have three. Um hopefully they're quick, but I don't know if they will be. Um so I have an entry open up here. Uh I just have um real quickly uh as I'm starting to kind
064of go through all the information I have for my entry plan, I'm starting to develop um four themes. So I just wanted to go over those themes real quick. uh with you before a presentation which you could probably expect um in a month or so uh just I guess um with more detail than what I'm going to provide you today. So uh four themes that seem to be rising to the top are um around academic excellence and equity, people and culture, operations and sustainability, communications and trust. So when I talk about academic excellence and equity, um these are the kinds of things that that uh are are coming up over and over again. So, uh, mentioned more than one time, I would say. Um, and then I I I kind of put them all into
065these these buckets, if you will. Uh, so the idea of students having access to HQIM and qualified teacher. Um, the need for district leadership positions to support HQIM and professional development. Um the idea of evaluating the programs that we're bringing in um that's come up a number of times. Um our exceptional EL programming uh meaning English learner programming um the gap between halves and have nots widening uh across the district. um that we're supporting students in a myriad of ways beyond just academics um mental health um with things like clothing, food, those sorts of things. Um our MTSS process still needs more refinement. Uh attendance is still a top of mind of a lot of people whether it's um student attendance. Um but not only student attendance but um when you think of all of
066our our different subgroups and what attendance looks like across subgroups. Um the idea that all kids need to secure basic literacy and math skills and what are we doing for all students to make sure that that we're secure with uh basic literacy and math skills not just in elementary school but all the way across our district. Um and then interventions and what sort of interventions we're putting in place. So those are some of the bigger buckets underneath that that big category or the big theme of academic excellence and equity. And like I said, I'm going to when I present for real, I'll I'll bring you quotes and and just sort of what people are thinking about that and maybe some data that goes with that. Um theme two is around people and culture. um support
067staff. So, one of the things that that keeps coming up is um the idea that our support staff need training to be able to support uh the students that they're working with. Um I think that maybe that that's one of the ways that that we can keep folks in our district too is providing better training for them. um to build the idea to build a culture of improvement and make sure that we're always thinking about how do we help kids grow? How do we um do what we need to do for each individual student? Um the exceptional music and performing arts program that we have across our district. Um our transitions from school to school. Uh we need a little work with that. making sure that information is being passed along from one school to
068the other. Uh but then goals and and skills that kids are working on in one school. Uh it doesn't just stop at that at that school, it continues at the next school. So how do we get that information from school to school? I uh keeping an eye on technology, cell phones, and building classrooms for discourse. um making sure that that kids aren't just locked in on computers all day and we're um talking and and communicating around uh all things learning. Um behavior management and building classrooms that support student learning uh especially at our elementary level. Um we have been working on that uh this year but we will continue to work on that. um transparent decision-m um we have made improvements around that and it's been coming out in some of the um discussions that
069I've had with different folks um whether it's in focus groups or onetoone um but still ways to go there and then making students making sure that we're making student we're making decisions with students in mind not just what's um what's the new fat of of the day or uh new curriculum of the day about what can I what do we need to provide our kids? Uh there's the third theme was around operations and sustainability. Um there's we've already talked about this key positions missing in our district I think that um we see every day which causes us to be more reactive um than we like to be. Um, our policies and procedures need to be clear and accessible. We need to identify, keep working at identifying areas where we're missing the mark and be accountable
070to the improvement uh for those areas. Um, our district response team does a good job addressing security concerns uh and then talking through different scenarios. Um, our maintenance and building repairs are improving, but communication both I think to the maintenance department and then from the maintenance department back down to wherever the the um issue is coming from. That needs to be improved still. Um, I think Chris and I heard it yesterday of um just some issues that that teachers are having and then bringing them to me still and not necessarily using our ticket system. So, I think that's still something that we got to keep uh making sure that our our teachers and staff members are doing. Um the idea of balancing college and career programming, we're doing that through our build, but how can
071we do that um before our new our new building comes online? Um our tech department does a good job addressing issues. Uh and I was, you know, I was thinking about I was thinking about this the other day and talking to W and Carrie. Um, our tech department is um often highlighted as a um as a group that is very uh quick to solve issues. Um but it's department of five, right? Uh maybe six versus our maintenance department which has three people in it, right? And there's there are a number of different um tech issues sure around um but you know a building we have six build or five different buildings um at any moment something could happen. So um just to realize that our our tech department does a great job but our maintenance
072department I think is stretched really thin. Um the idea of a district PTO we've already met twice. Um we're going to keep working through that and try to figure out uh the best way forward there. Um and then intentional planning with curriculum aligned operations. actually when kind of talked to me about that yesterday and you know when there are certain themes that we're in our elementary curriculum for example in our literacy curriculum why can't what we're serving at lunch be aligned to the theme that um of whatever the e program is um so I thought that was a good idea um then fourth theme four was communication and trust hiring people that support our staff members And I I I put it as like versus looking for gacha moments, right? So people that we we
073bring people on board um to support all the great staff members that we have um and we're looking to to help them and and help them grow. Um data data data and just using data to support all the decisions that we're making. Um, I've heard this over and over again about communication from administration and how critical it is to ensuring that the culture of the building u is a positive one. Um, we need improvement around a lot of our uh evening events with parents. Um there's a lot of low attendance at at those but but things like the music program on the other hand is you know there's a lot of people at that um AI protocols for use in schools. Um and then supporting families in all of our new programming. So when we
074bring on different uh programs and curriculums, how are we supporting not only our students and staff members, but how are we supporting our families as we're bringing those on? Um so re that was a real high level, I think, um overview of what the the entry plan is going to highlight, uh good and bad. Um so that's where we're at so far. Uh I don't know if anybody has any questions on that. It's >> a lot of information. Yeah, >> it's a lot. >> Nothing particular, but appreciate all the information. >> Likewise. >> Okay. Um K2 the K2 safety uh classroom safety task force update. Um so this is we've had our third meeting as a K2 group. Um we are have been going through the the the protocols at each school when safety teams
075are called or when there's a crisis or um um those sorts of things. This the feedback I got from this last meeting was it was the best meeting that they've had. And basically we got kind of through in the first two meetings what the real issue was because we had to keep digging and digging digging trying to figure out um you know what exactly are we talking about. So we got there and now we're starting to work on um different uh actual events. So they're they're naming different things that that could happen in the classroom and then they're working together with the building administration and then there's other staff members in the room including BAS and TAS um a couple teachers and then um other support staff. They're working together to to come up with
076a protocol so that all teachers will have this protocol um and know exactly what to do. Um, I think that we're making uh good headway uh with this group and this is something that I think that you're going to see when they come when both K2 schools come with their school improvement plans. So, it's something that they're looking to to continue through the through next year uh and probably beyond next year. Uh just keeping a task force together between the two schools so that everybody's aligned and knows exactly what to do. Uh so that's that. I don't know if anybody has a question about the safety task force. Nope. >> All right. And then the final updates around the Stacy HVAC project. Um, we had a meeting this week. We picked out a a designer.
077We had I think we had three different designers, three architects. Um, one of the architects didn't meet the um the deadline, so we was whittleled down to two. Uh we went with I forget the name of the group now. Uh Helen Carl Architects HQ uh sorry HKA. Um so our OPM which is James Restall, he's working with them to um they're going to have an engineer back on site at Stacy next week to go through the next steps. Uh so that's where we are with that. It's um I don't know how far we're going to be able to get through the summer. This really this next phase is going to be able to tell us that. Um we're a little late in getting everything together, but um I'm confident we're going to be able to
078get some things done. It just I'm not sure how much of it during the summer we're going to get done. So uh we're kind of a wait and see on that that piece of it. And that's that. That's the update. >> Okay. >> No questions. All right. Thank you for the update. We'll move on to the report of the interimm assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. >> Sure. So, um I believe it was last meeting. Um there was a question I presented on I Ready and there was a question about um the correlation between attendance data and I Ready growth and performance that we were seeing. So I did some analysis um and tried to find a whether or not there was any correlation um that we could say between both performance which I'm measuring
079by national rank or national norm rankings um and growth for kids and and basically in both reading and in math um there's very limited connection to student performance um of attendance right and so we we see if you look at the um PowerPoint that's attached um when we start talking about mathematics, we do see a very small um correlation or increase um in both the attendance relationship and national norm percentages. So um the data showed us that for every 1% more that a kid is in school, we can expect to see a 1% increase in national norms. It's not statistically significant. It's not even something that we can really say there's a correlation there. when we look at attendance and typical growth progress. Um, so think about typical growth as the kids sit in front
080of you for one year. You would expect one year's worth of output in the one year. We're halfway through the school year. And so this is in relationship to they should be about 50% of the way towards their typical growth at this point. Um, for every 1% increase on attendance, we're seeing a 0.38 increase in the typical growth. The the good news is that it's positive. there's a positive correlation there but it's not we can't draw a conclusion that like if kids come to school more I ready will increase it's not just about attendance it's about something more um that's happening and so we need to look at other factors we need to see what else is kind of going on here which is something that we will kind of continue to unpack um reading
081is basically the same um basically when you compare attendance and national norm percentages for reading which is on On the second slide there, um we're saying every 1% increase for attendance, you can predict a 0.87 increase in national norms. Again, nothing crazy. Um it is really interesting when you look at attendance and typical growth. We actually see a very slight decrease. Um but when we look at um the R squar value which is what tells us if it's a strong correlation or not a strong correlation um we can say that there's a 0.05% variation that's explained by attendance. Again not statistically significant not something that we would like ever draw a conclusion to say when kids are in school their eye ready reading or math goes up um there. So, I think we have to
082continue to look at like what is it about students that are performing well on this one assessment that is potentially a predictor. Um, right now we don't have a strong one factor to kind of point at >> questions or comments on that additional information. >> Thanks for providing it. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Definitely. Thank you for uh coming back with that information. >> Okay, we have a report of the school business administrator up next. >> Yeah, I just have the uh personnel update um shared in the link and um mostly it's a spring coaches hiring and um some replacement. Um it looks uh slower at this time of the year and um but HR doesn't slow down. they have other things to like leave leave uh requests to process and um we're working
083still working on the digitalizing um all the forms um from the principles and also um we're like starting our handbook writing uh HR handbook so the the the goal is to we have some some drafted document by the end of this this year after the negotiation um to include all the proced procedures in um and also um the we uh we converted from our uh accounting system from the desktop version to the cloud >> and um that's yeah a lot of technology advance advancement >> um it's I just it's a lot of work and going so far uh so good and um Zach and the town hall is very supportive at this point we We went through several um troubleshooting and trainings and um there's some glitches and they're just going to keep developing it
084in the next few releases. Um just one of the things that's behind the scenes nobody sees and I just want to highlight it. >> Great. Thank you. The cool part about cloud stuff is the glitches will just disappear one day. >> They say log off and log on. Some of the glitches will just disappear. >> Some days you'll just log in one day, some will be different, but it'll be good. >> All right. Any any questions there? I won't explain the bad parts about >> All right. So, we'll move on to the consent agenda. Does everybody have anything that needs to pull out? >> Oh, I'm not sorry. I'm not >> I see not. Okay. So, the consent agenda tonight will include the following. There are 18 warrants in the amount of 1,139,280.118. The approval
085of minutes from the regular meeting on February 26, 2026 and the March 5th, 2026 budget meeting. Professional development in the amount of $4,754.78. And we also have three gifts in the amount of $14,250. Motion to accept the consent agenda. Motion by Megan, second by Derek. All in favor. Unanimous. Thank you. I just wanted to quickly uh call out these donors of the gifts. Um Mass Cultural Council gave money to Memorial and Brookside um for it's noted in here as a musical journey through the Caribbean. That's the name of the gift. And the there's one also here for MHS creative experiences. And then JS Limb Foundation gave um a sizable gift as well to the MHS math and science uh prizes. So thank you to those organizations for for helping us out. >> Uh subcommittee updates.
086Are there any subcommittee updates? >> Yes. Uh so labor management met yesterday um as Craig had mentioned. Yeah. Just really pushing the ticketing system. uh kind of the overview of some of the concerns. You know, we had a significant amount of snow and then recently some melting, so snow and ice and just just trying to h how to better communicate to the building principles and and get, you know, kind of that snow and ice removal salt down on it. But obviously, things like that take time to uh to be activated to to uh prevent any of the slippery spots. you know, brought up. I feel like the uh administration team will will talk to Carlos and his team and talk to building principles and and do the best they can. But obviously this time of
087year, it's just a a tough time with especially the amount of snow we have. Uh from there, you know, some room temperature, some of our older facilities, um buildings, just trying to get Carlos and his team chasing those and just put in the tickets and so that way we know what's going on and can respond there. And then the only other one from the high school and Carrie, you may have heard already from from Craig, but math testing and just their the concern. So the the new math program has now hit the high school ranks and this is you know they're they're seeing that dip and the dip that that Carrie has told us that that we saw happen with literacy program >> valley despair. >> Yeah. And and and now they're so the high
088school is now seeing. So if anybody were to hear that, I was as I'm listening, I because Carrie had mentioned that before and knowing that's a new program, I understood it. I wasn't like, "Oh my god, this is this is a new program. What did we do?" Yeah. As Mike said, it was that valley of despair. We did hear that, but I felt like again that we it's kind of expected and we'll see that as as teachers and staff and and students get to understand and better work with that program, we'll see that improvement. So, >> awesome. That's what I get. Thank you. >> Any other subcommittees meet recently? >> All right, we go to future agenda items next. um what we have on there currently, obviously the ongoing uh HVAC project with Stacy. There
089is still the ebike policy discussion that um we need to get to as it gets warmer. We will see the calendar again for next school year. Um I still owe the committee the evaluation tool for the superintendent. And I also put on here through tonight's meeting, we'll discuss uh grade configuration for the high school at some point in the near future. And then also thank you to Michael for sending out a uh a note to next level for a reimbursement rate presentation at some point as well. So does anybody have anything else to add to that list? All right, silence is uh it's good. It's a nice list so far. All right, so we can adjourn at this point. We have nothing left. I just need a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. Motion by
090Michael, second by Brendan. All in favor? Unanimous. Thank you very much. Good night.