001[Music] Good evening and welcome back everyone as we start a new school year here. Today is September 4th, 2025 and this is a meeting of the Milford School Committee. This meeting is being broadcast and recorded by Milford TV and any copies can be obtained at the request of this board or through central office. We have invitation to speak on the list first, but there's no one here. So, we'll move right on to announcements, correspondents, and distributions. Anybody have anything? >> I just like to thank um everyone that got everything ready around town to get the schools off on a good start. Um I know the highway department was super busy getting crosswalks painted, the the new sidewalk all around um West Fountain was really nice, and then obviously all the administrators, staff, and everyone who
002makes the the wheels turn around here. So, thank you to everyone who got us off to a good start. Excellent. All right, on to the chairperson update. I have uh just two very brief things. This is just a reminder that next Wednesday on the 10th at 6:00 uh town hall, there's a finance committee meeting I'll be attending in case there are any additional questions regarding um how we got uh came about looking for a new uh new high school. Information was provided to them. They've had it for a little while. I haven't had any questions come back, so they may be happy with that information already. >> Lucky you. >> Lucky me. Um, is anybody planning on coming? >> It's at six. Craig will be there. I just want to know if we have to
003double post this or not. >> You don't have to double post. >> Anyways, >> if we have too many of us >> according to what? >> Oh, >> John has reached out to Jerry on that and he's saying that we do not need to. >> Wonderful. >> So, if you have nothing to do, come hang. So, um, and then the only other thing I have a very, very brief update with the MSBA project. Um, it's just that I believe we're in the middle of the OPM process of phase two and there's some stuff coming up soon for that. Otherwise, I don't have much information other than they're they're rolling along with that. We'll move on to the report of the superintendent of schools. >> Thank you, sir. Um, I did things a little different this
004year uh with our our principles and directors. I just asked them a series of questions um rather than have them come in and and provide a report for everybody. So I have some quotes that I want to uh talk talk through with everyone. Um but generally we had a very very smooth opening of schools. Um there were a lot of of projects that took place over the summer uh that we're very excited about. Um, I think that when you walk into all the schools this year, you'll notice, um, there was some new floors done and I'll talk through that in a minute. A lot of painting that was done. Um, we tried to make sure that any tiles, well, except for right here, I think, but any tiles that that had stains, we tried to
005replace those. Um, so the custodians worked very hard, our maintenance department worked very hard. Uh and my first update here is from our uh tech director um or and grants and communications. The tech department was definitely very busy. Uh they didn't have any new hires. Um they deployed,00 Chromebooks. They retired 1,400. Um they deployed 200 staff laptops and 20 desktops. They retired 200 laptops. Uh they did some wiring at at the high school for some more access points and they prepped for additional access points and they replace multiple servers. Um Tim says that they had an extremely smooth, organized and efficient summer and start to the year with technology. Hardware and equipment was distributed, collected with accuracy and efficiency. The staff and students have what they need. uh their tech department did it takes great
006pride in their customer service in resolving tech tickets. Uh they have a the number I'm not exactly sure what the number is, but they have the between the three um three or four of them, they make sure that their number never reaches over a certain level. And if it does, they they get on each other. So, it's very competitive. >> Um just making sure that those numbers stay down and they're they're getting uh to the tickets as quickly as possible. Um so looking ahead they they Tim reports that the beginning of the year brings a lot of tickets uh just equipment that's not working right or they have password issues and connectivity problems with um printers and projectors and so a huge focus has been over the last few days and will continue to be
007over the next couple weeks just troubleshooting and make sure things are getting off on the right foot. um some pro uh protocols, procedures and policies that they're working on are device use agreements, acceptable use policies, AI literacy, and issues around AI. So, those are things that they're looking at uh for this year. Um as far as communications goes, we're continuing to try to improve, model, and stress strong communication across our district. Uh we think that le starts with Tim. Um, so we're trying to put things in place uh to get um Tim more involved with uh everybody across the district. Um we're going to start adding I talked this through with Tim um in his weekly bulletins. We're going to start trying to add a picture of the week and then hopefully that sort of
008draws people to that. Um I know it's we've heard in the past there's a lot of information there. Um but I think people like pictures and pictures tell a story. So, we're going to try to add those moving forward. Um, and then on the grants front, he's definitely seen an impact from the federal government on the number of grants available uh and the timing of these grants. So, he's going to he's it's still early, but he's he's aware of the uncertainty revol uh involving some of these grants. So, that's an update from him. Uh let's see, what's this one? Shining Star 147 students this year. We're still looking for um three BAS. Other than that, um we're fully staffed. >> Is that typical enrollment? >> 100. Yeah. For this time of year, we go up
009to almost 200 um usually, but there's slots that are open um in case kids are identified and we have to u provide them with the education. Um her she she uh reports that her playground looks amazing. The maintenance department replaced all their broken swings and put new mulch down. Uh so they're ready to go for Shining Star. Looks amazing. So she was happy about that. Um her staff vocalized excitement and how the vibe was positive within the building and how they're looking forward for the year. Um they're looking forward to classroom placement rubrics and special ed assessments for initial eval. Uh at Woodland there's roughly a thousand students. It hasn't changed. Um it's down a little bit. I think last year we opened with um a,035 or so. Um they hired nine new staff members
010uh between teachers and uh adjustment counselors uh and BA actually there's quite a bit of BAS there's five or six different BAS so um so they're they may have an opening or two with BAS but generally fully staffed we painted every single hallway stairwell at at Woodland Um, amazingly the company that we hired found the the colors that were used, so they matched colors perfectly. Um, it took a little longer than they wanted and and um we were trying to coordinate between Stacy Woodland and the high school for all the painting, but uh so we were still painting during opening day with the staff. I think we were h we might have been still had an area or two when the students came. happened when they were uh when they came in later after the
011the stu uh staff and students left. Uh but generally it's a brand new look over at Woodland. Well, same old look, but it looks fresh, >> brighter. >> Um David reports that Woodland had a great opening uh during their PD days. That was the first two days. They offered a menu of training opportunities for TAs and BAS and included workshops of CPR, deescalation, stop the bleed, literacy, and others. The teaching staff engaged in content PD on literacy, science, special ed, EL, and math. Uh, and then they also talked through the um school improvement plan. Um what they were looking forward to is a revamped schedule to allow for increased faculty collaboration and implementation of EL our new literacy program and then social emotional learning activities at Brookside. Um I don't know the number right now.
012They have roughly have 500 plus. Uh they hired a couple of EL teachers, a nurse, and three, four, 10 BAS and TAs and a STEM teacher. Um there there wasn't a lot of maintenance going on at at Brookside. Um we did identify a couple leaks in the roof that um we were working on with um TMCO. So it's still under warranty. Um so whenever there is a leak identified they come out and they fix it. So that's something that we have to keep on the radar and think about um think about the um warranty uh moving forward. Um generally the students were very eager to return. The energy was high in the building. They're excited to roll out the EL curriculum, strengthen the MTSS process, and then continue with team efficiencies, uh, including CL CLR
013practices and more PD for TAs and BAS. Um, they had a late, uh, resignation of their assistant principal. So, they're right now working through that. Um, I believe they had finalist interviews yesterday. Um, so they're they're getting down to the wire and hopefully are going to offer somebody a position. Um, in the meantime, Dr. McIntyre has been serving as assistant principal over there um while also leading the um school building process. >> Uh, at the high school, >> I um >> Yes, sir. >> The Brookside sign got powerwashed. >> It did get powerwashed. >> Thank you. It's great. Have you seen it? Um, let's see. We had we there's,272 students at uh the high school. It's down a little bit. Um, but it's still still very high. Uh, our lowest class is 303, highest at
014325. So, all roughly about the same. Um, a number of new hires, uh, looks like 15 or so. um they had some late resignations. So, we're we're still working through uh we have to hire a couple of special ed teachers because of uh late resignations. Um we just had another resignation last night for a a different position, not student facing. So, um those are things that we're going to have to hire. Um we did some painting here. So, some of the areas that leaked last year, like over here and uh front in the front stairwell, those were all freshly painted. Um, we did notice that whatever was on the walls bleeding through a little bit, so we might have to touch it up. Um, but freshly painted. And Josh was excited that we had AC
015in the auditorium, which we hadn't had in in a couple years. So, um, Carlos and his team got that working. It was it was actually cold in the in the auditorium. Um he says that uh they enjoyed a great start at Milford High School. The environment was both positive and focus and early reports from teachers indicate that our revised electronics policy is already making a very positive impact on classroom culture. Um I think that I I believe I was walking with Carrie and maybe Melissa maybe when also I can't remember the first day of school walking down the hall with um just kids actually engaging in conversation with you as you walk down the hall. Nobody's looking like this. They're talking to you which was fantastic. Um so that was great. uh and and he
016also says that we continue to make excellent progress with the building project and very excited to hire an OPM and really start the feasibility study. So that's exciting. And then let's see what else I have. Oh, family resource center. An update from the family resource center is we enrolled 198 students uh over the summer, which is it's not the highest, but it's on the high side. Um so coming into this year in June we were down but we enrolled 200 kids. Um and also there's an additional currently or this is as of last week so it might be actually more. There's 51 students on the F FRC log. So I believe as of today our current enrollment in schools is um 43.99. So that's down a little bit. Generally, we're between 4,300 and 4600 in
017the last however many years. Been between those numbers. Um, so we're roughly where we we are every year. Um, come October 1st though, we're going to really know what the numbers are. That's when our our SIMS data is in. Um, by then we know who's still on vacation, who's actually showing up, um, and who just hasn't shown up, isn't isn't going to show up. Um, yeah. So, that's that's what we have going on at F FRC right now. Uh, the people over there worked very hard. Um, and then at Stacy, there was a number of hires over there. Uh the opening days have been full of energy, excitement, positivity as students and staff settled in the routines and reconnected. Um we we painted a number of classrooms over there. I think two floors of classrooms
018were painted. Um the stairwells, some of the stairwells were painted, I think over near the auditorium. Uh we also recapped the stairs. So, if you've ever been up those that big metal that big set of stairs in the hallway, um the one that goes around right up the middle, all those stairs are capped um because a lot of the the tiles were just chipped and dangerous. So, those were capped. We're also going to put plexiglass on the um the railings. Um I just it makes me nervous. So, we're going to do that. And one of the um one of the vacations um the the elevator has been inoperable throughout the summer. So the the custodians had a heck of a time trying to clean the place. They had to move stuff up and down stairs
019instead of elevators. Um last week we finally the elevator was finally fixed. It was finally we couldn't use it because it had to get inspected. So, it took us a couple day days to get an inspection. So, on Friday, the inspector finally came in. We got it inspected. Then on Monday, we came in, it didn't work. And then what had happened was um there was some kind of connection that um was not part of this job, but something failed and now we had to wait for that part. So, yeah, that's where we're at with that. That's right. >> Um, we tried to rush it in, but it's just we we're at the mercy of all these other people in in mail and so on and so forth. Otherwise though, Stacy's been great. Um, and then
020finally at at Memorial School, um, Carrie and I were over there. We spent some time over there with our with the kindergarten students yesterday. Uh and then the dual language program that started um that's been that's gone really well. Um one thing that we're still trying to work out is our the coordination of buses because we have some kids that are slated to go to Brookside. So they get on a Brookside bus, drive over to Brookside, and then they have to go to Memorial. And it's been a little bit of a problem area. We're working on it. Um otherwise, Memorial has been a great vibe. There's there was a number of floors that were redone. The carpet was taken out and um tile was put down. Um there was some movement done and I think
021that uh just generally over at all the schools, um it's been really positive and great. So that's what I have for opening day. I don't know if anybody has questions. I don't know if anybody um was able to to see any of the schools open as parents have comments. I don't know. >> Woodland looks fantastic. I'm walking through as a parent. So, um >> good. >> I can attest uh Kristen's first day of school. She got the email from Josh saying, "Bring your sweatshirt. The auditorium is finally cold." >> So, that was a big deal. Um, and you know, just being around the district and whatnot, it there seems to be a re a um a sense of ownership of the buildings again, just little things like the Brookside sign. I know everybody laughed, but
022like that sign has been moldy and gross for years, and the fact it got power washed this year is I thought, you know, it's the little details that I think um mean a lot. >> Um I would just add I would agree Woodland looks fantastic. Brookside looks the same way. Um, similar to kind of the tone from your wife, I I ran into a teacher from the high school and he reacted like big fancy uh trophy was won. The only thing he yelled across the parking lot was, "I have AC." And he was very excited. So, um, the team did a great job and they've obviously made a pretty big impact on everybody, which I think obviously also helps the morale and how everybody's starting this year. >> Anything else? >> Craig, just curious, how
023have the high school teachers navigated the cell phone? like is there something in each room or kind of how are we just managing that logistically? >> Um, you know what? I haven't actually seen where the phones go. >> Honestly, >> I know teachers they have like a a >> Yeah, that they slide something in. >> I didn't know if was doing that. >> I didn't even look honestly. I've been in a classroom. I just haven't looked. Okay. >> Um, >> teachers have what they need is kind of where I was going with it. So, I think the answer Okay, great. >> The kids that I've talked to just said, "We're not allowed to have the phone." I'm like, "Simple. Wonderful. >> They hung >> Did everyone do that? >> Yeah. So, they um I guess
024over the summer pouches were hung on the back of the doors. >> So, I >> Perfect. >> I haven't seen them in action though, honestly. >> That's right. Glad it's working. >> But >> apparently they hung them and some of the doors wouldn't close. So, but they figured it out. >> But as of right now, push back has been minimal with kids. >> Excellent. >> All right. You want to move on to the next? Yeah. Is that enough break for you before you talk more? >> Yeah. Um >> please. >> Uh so first, um I I guess I'd like to say that I when I thought about goals for the upcoming year, I thought about what's going to lead to basically setting a foundation for, you know, a multi-year tenure as superintendent. um it could
025go in a million different directions. Um but I also have realized that you know even I've been around for 27 going on 28 years in December I think I might be 29 I don't know lost track. Um, there's tons that I I need to learn still in areas that I know that I I just need to to get involved with and and dig deeper. Um, so I thought about those as I I I thought about these these different goals for the upcoming year. Um, I've also realized that we identified three district priorities. um which I I look at as these are district priorities that um we've kind of talked about and saying they're they're things that we want our district to move or directions we want our district to really focus on, but I don't
026look at those as my goals. I I want to be held accountable to those district priorities, but I also have other goals, personal goals. So the document that I shared with you is more about what I want to do personally to get us towards um to keep us moving in the direction of those uh district priorities. That makes sense. So goal number one, develop and implement uh systematic leadership structure to foster a cohesive, unified, and effective administrative team. I've listed a number of key actions there. Um I'm not going to read them all to you but but basically establish a couple of different cabinets that right currently right now don't exist. one being um a teaching and learning cabinet directed basically as it makes sense I hope teaching and learning um so curriculum instruction assessment
027uh and all all the folks that are involved in that all the leadership folks that are involved in that but then also an operations cabinet that focuses on the business facilities transportation and administrative functions of of what goes on in our district. Um it's on a it's been on a rare occasion that we've pulled all of those folks together. Um so I'm hoping that they'll feel less like they're on their own island and more like they're part of this team. Um so we have our first meeting of that cabinet coming up. Um, but then also key actions within that that goal are one-on-one meetings with principles and directors and folks that I evaluate, but then also um talking through how I'm doing learning walks with them and um that sort of thing. And then standardizing
028meeting protocols for everybody. Um, and I do want to say before I move on, like trying to figure out benchmarks and evidence of success, I just I guess I had a hard time with like coming up with numbers. Um, like I don't know that any of these goals are are to say that if we do this then you're going to see x amount of improvement on a standardized score. I just don't think they're going to lead to that. So the kind of benchmarks or evidence that I hope that you'll see are um more task related I guess. Um so maybe I I could show you leadership meeting agendas and you can kind of read through and see the kind of things we're meeting about. Um I talked about like creating an organizational chart and job
029descriptions. Uh and then maybe we can look at MCIA data that survey data that kids and staff would take. um and just evidence of collaboration, that sort of thing. Uh do you want to want me to go through all of them or you want to stop at one? >> Why don't we pause at each one and see if anybody has any thoughts? Um I'll I'll just jump in quickly and also say the the idea here is an update on where the goals stand. If everyone is happy with what we have, we can obviously vote the for these to be the the final goals for the year. So if you have input, feedback, far away. If not, we can keep going. Um, I gave my feedback already, so I'm good with Okay. How the presents it.
030Megan, >> I just want to say I love for sort of the benchmark there. I agree with you. It's not going to necessarily translate into MCCAST or I Ready scores. Um, but I love the idea of sharing sort of the action items and how we're taking action because that to me is kind of the most important thing about this. I think the goals as written generally I was really comfortable with just that we could add alignment with sort of the desi standards and indicators so that we're all clear when we're going to do the assessment that that's baked in and we're not starting that later. >> Absolutely. So I'll just make that comment now. Um once the goals are agreed upon I'm going to work with Craig to line them up and actually create the
031tool now so that we all have a copy of what we'll be doing in the spring. >> Excellent. Any other thoughts on these? >> Yeah, just quickly on on goal one, I had the opportunity to uh sit with Craig a week ago. So, yeah, goal one, certainly the the cabinet and focusing on the uh you know, in particular facilities side of things. We know the facilities uh subcommittee has has met with Craig, so he understands what we're looking for and the direction there. Um, and also I think it's great to see, you know, just looking at um, sorry I lost my spot on it. Um, the organization chart I think that's something that few of us have continually asked for. Uh, so to see this as as part of a key action I think is
032going to be important and just, you know, that or chart and just the the reporting structures and the responsibilities. So within goal one, uh, those two thing those two items were kind of primary of of my focus that I'd like to see. So glad to see it in there. All right, >> go >> on to goal two. >> All right. Um, one thing we're going to I'm going to talk about actually next uh next meeting uh is the new super induction new superintendent induction program. And part of that program is developing an entry plan. Um, as you can imagine, there are in this program, there's a number of of there's a number of superintendents. I don't remember what it is, 20 something. Um, but some of them are in a some of them are brand
033new to districts. Some of them have been, you know, maybe a year or two in a district. Um, and then some people are like me that have been in the district for a long time and have kind of moved up. Either way, in any any role, um, everybody is is required to develop this entry plan. Um, and again, like I said, we'll talk more about it uh, next week, but I next meeting, it's part of what I said at the beginning, right? This the entry plan is is about listening and learning to a bunch of different stakeholders uh and then trying to understand where our strengths are uh where we need some work and what's missing in our district. Um and then creating an improvement plan around that. So that's basically what this goal is
034about. um assessing strengths, challenges, and then um understanding what what stakeholders might have as priorities and how we can help meet those priorities. Um it may be that I find out that the three priorities that we're working on now are the right priorities. It might be that I'm missing something and we have to add a priority. Um I don't know. So I want to go into this process um without bias. It's going to be difficult. Uh so I need to think it through. Uh one thing that I have thought about is do I need to hire somebody uh with no ties to the district to kind of lead this process for me? Um I don't know. So that's one thing I'm I'm kind of thinking about. But in any event, next at the next meeting,
035I'll have sort of this for you. Um, I'm also bringing my uh my coach with me and she's going to talk to you guys for a few minutes anyways and explain the program. So, she'll be here at next meeting to talk through this too. I don't know if anybody has questions about that. All right. Um third is about uh just identifying and fostering optimal learning in working environments that enable students and staff to achieve their highest potential. Um and I think one thing that's that is going to require a lot of time um and energy is the leadership of the school building committee to advance the the Milford High School building project. Um, I'm fortunate to have the experience at Woodland to to draw upon. Uh, so I and I also know how much time
036it was at Woodland and I can only imagine that the high school is going to be more time than that. Um, but I'm I'm ready for it and excited for it because the the what happened at Woodland was um it was I one of the greatest experience of of my education career being a part of that. So I'm looking forward to this also. Um, and then also like I'm I'm really focused on um thinking about literacy and what we're doing with professional development. Um, I want to think about our staff wellness and professional growth programs. Uh, and how can we identif uh develop better programming for our staff? um figuring out ways to regularly assess our climate and culture just beyond the uh MCIA survey that we do, but how can we do it more
037regularly uh and strategically? Um and then I guess finally, how do we how do we get uh more student voice into some of the decisions that we're making? because I I really feel that's a it's a missing piece to to what we're doing. Um I think at times we've we've gotten feedback from parents and caretakers, but I would say on a rare occasion do we get the the student input and I think um I think we need to do a better job at that. Um so that was that's basically what that goal is about. Uh I don't know questions about that one, >> Chris. >> Yeah, just quickly. Yeah, obviously the school building process as we look at this high school project is a it's its its own very large task in itself. So certainly,
038you know, uh that could be a a goal all on its own, but I appreciate that being part of it. It's just more in a sense, it's more expected. Um I think and going back to what Meg was saying just about you know putting numbers on things and and what you had said of putting numbers on on items when you start talking about the regular assessment establishing systems like is I feel like yeah everybody's looking for those numbers but if we see what is we considered as expected improvement in areas right we've got a new math program we've seen improvements already we're rolling out a new um English language or ELA a sorry uh program right so it's >> we're expecting to see gains so I think that from my side as long as we
039see those gains we don't need a specific number >> if we see it drop then then we can reassess and figure out there but again from my side of it yeah a specific number is really irrelevant as long as we're seeing >> comprehensive gains from collectively >> okay thank you Um the only thing I'll add, I'm looking at the the benchmarks for literacy specifically and just talking about um providing measurable student outcomes, showing improvements, and then the second piece, you actually have comments on these that talks about demonstrating progress towards delivery signals. Um, the only thing I'm I'm curious about is whether or not that's perhaps a little I don't want to call it unfair, but I feel like knowing that this is year one of something new, I almost think that we we shouldn't
040really be expecting to see any big measurable changes. >> For me, I think it would be more important to hear from staff to find out like what's your gut on the first year? How did it feel like it worked? Did the students take to it? Is this something that you guys got better at and more efficient at over the course of the year? Does it feel like it's getting easier to provide the lessons as you guys settle in? I know with math we took a couple years before you even asked you for anything, right? So I don't think we should really be looking at them saying are we better readers now like and in the first year it might be hard. So um perhaps there's a different way. I know we have to give this
041you know that three four years before we start seeing something concrete. So, um, well, we did math, we did student and staff surveys, right? >> We did. I'm also wondering like for some of our literacy inputs and outputs at the district level. Carol has some really specific like >> as we're doing learning walks, we want to see, you know, 95% of the time that we go into K5 classrooms, they're using grade level appropriate text. >> Um, which is a measure that is is about implementation and not necessarily about the student growth across the board. So, I'm wondering if you can use some of those that we have in our district and put output data. >> Good point. Um, yeah, and then that's the whole point, right? We're going to put we're going to put grade
042level text in kids hands. Um, and make sure that all teachers are doing that. Um, and that's what we hope that's the intended expected outcome is that kids will be better readers for it. Right. >> Absolutely. So good. That's a good measure. >> There's three other measures. Um I don't remember exactly what they are, but they're from the learning walk tool that Carol has been using across the board. So we have data on where we were at the K5 level prior to implementing expedentiary learning and so where we want to go by the after year one as well. >> Excellent. Yeah, that sounds like that'll be a good stuff to see at some point. >> Okay, >> cool. That's all I got. Okay. So, the the final one um but this last goal is is
043going to be a lot. Um but it's all things that we have to do though. >> You don't say. >> Right. >> So, it's it's lead successful negotiation and contract management for critical district operations. The first one is around uh the transportation services. Um that contract is is expiring this year. Um the custodial cleaning services that contract's expiring this year. And then also our collective bargaining between our our teachers union. Um that contract is up at the end of this year. So leading and being a part of the team on all three of those things. Um it it's we have to do it. Um but hopefully um hopefully we we successfully negotiate these contracts um within our budget, I guess. Uh and with the no hard feelings with any of these different groups. >> Any
044questions on that one? That was pretty self-explanatory. So big things coming. >> This is this is just more of a general comment and it might even be more for the committee, Craig, than for you. It it dawns on me that additional and better alignment in advance of kicking all these off with the finance director would be very valuable to us as a committee going into all this. So I just want to like put that as a plug. Future agenda item TBD Matt. Um but just that planning in advance of us entering all these critical processes I think is going to be really important. >> I have notes. I'm thinking similar things on that. alignment would be a good idea. Try to make this to our conversation here. I got that from my side, too. So,
045>> Thanks for that. >> But no, I and I agree. Right. You're you're as we enter these negotiations, we as a committee are aware of what we're looking to do and and work with, right? Like what are >> our parameters, >> right? What are our parameters? Where what are our talking points? Correct. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. That's >> I think there's barriers that we may not be aware of persons or just understanding kind of where we have >> correct especially and and that was my conversation with Craig where I have a better expectation this time going in some of our new members is this will be their first time going through the negotiation process and it's so it's um to have a understanding >> before you get there so yeah [Music] >> just taking some
046notes Meg, did you have more? I'm sorry. >> No, sorry. That was just >> Yeah. And I guess yeah, going back to the whole rubric. So, the idea will is to just at least get these goals, then you'll come back. You'll tie these goals with with a rubric. And I guess us as a committee, we're we're still going to use this rubric in that that kind of that standard form that we've always done. Is that the intention for those that may have gone through those that have gone through the process? We're not going to try to change anything. We'll we'll continue to to utilize that same format. >> Is that the plan? >> I hope so. >> Yeah. Okay. Good. >> Sorry, I was taking notes. Can you summarize that quick? >> Just are we
047going to use the same format and like all the rubric? So, you know, the the the four standards and then the 20 substandards that are within there, subcategories that are in there. >> We're going to do I think this is will be part of what I will present I guess when I put this together. It's going to be something very similar. >> Yeah, >> I'm going to strip it down because everybody knows how I feel about the desi form, >> right? That's why >> we'll strip it down to the Google form again, but we're going to keep the standards and and Craig and I already looked at this >> on a comprehensive level. Um I should say an initial level and they all fit into something. >> And some of those actually all four of
048those standards are reporting requirements I believe you said, right? That has to be submitted to Desi. So >> we don't have to use their paperwork, but we do have to align with that stuff still. So, right. Okay. >> Well, do our best. >> Um, yeah, just a general comment. Um, I think these goals are are are great. Um, you know, one through three have like a true theme. Um, and again, kind of reate what's already been said. Uh, just the fact that, you know, we want to, you know, from my perspective, I want to make sure that we're supporting you in your first not only year, but first couple years um, as you get a lay of the land and really take shape and how you want things to go. So I think this is
049a really great track to do that to kind of establish the next few years after this. So um super supportive of all all four goals and then yeah happy to assist her again. >> Thank you. >> Anything else on goals? Are we comfortable taking a vote to approve these as our goals for this year? As Superintendent Consley's goals for this year? Seems like >> a motion to uh accept the goals as presented. >> Second. >> Motion by Chris, second by Michael. I need more discussion. >> I think we just talked about some modifications. So I just want to make sure I think some of the edit with the modification sort of conceptually as discussed. I'm comfortable with that. >> So as opposed to as presented as as discussed. >> Exactly. >> Okay. >> Any more
050discussion? >> No. All right. Motion by Chris, second by Michael. All in favor? Unanimous. Thank you. All right. Once you get those uh sorted out, we'll work on the next piece. >> Okay. Good luck, Craig. >> Thank you. >> Excellent. Excellent. All right. So, we do have uh a line item here for the special town meeting warrant articles to discuss. I don't have anything on paper that's necessary. Do you have anything in mind? What what usually comes up this time of year? I don't we were talking about potentially needing something for the roof on the facility side. I don't know that that's come up >> in terms of any any >> All right. So, um we are currently awaiting hopefully the end hopefully tomorrow um two reports. One report is the the roof here, right?
051So, we had an assessment done over the summer on the roof here. The other report was an assessment or the other assessment was an assessment done of the Stacy HVAC. Um we already the company that did the HVAC finished up towards the end of August. Um and they gave us they said that they'd have it to us in a month so the end of September which doesn't fit our timeline. Um so I asked them I asked Carlos to talk to the company and say listen just we don't need the full report right now. We need it. We're going to need it. But give us an idea of of some of the things that we may have to think about purchasing in order to get this thing um right. So that's what I'm awaiting for. If
052it doesn't, I'm going to have Carlos call these companies again tomorrow. Um so hopefully tomorrow or the uh beginning of next week, we'll have some report, maybe some idea. >> Maybe we have to have some an article. When are articles due? >> They are due one week from tomorrow. So the process that I would expect that will work out is if something comes up that you think may be necessary, we can submit an empty dollar value article to make sure it gets in there and then we will figure it out and polish it up so we can vote on it and formalize it at the next meeting. >> That's what we've done before, right? >> Mhm. >> So on the 11th we're having a um budget subcommittee and this is will be on the Jet
053agenda. >> Awesome. And um last round if you remember we moved forward the elevator but we still have the technology updates um not being moved forward in the last meeting and some furniturees we were able to cover. So I think um technology could be a big article to discuss and um also uh we have the security system um yeah >> we can discuss about that too. Yes. You just got those quotes, >> right? >> What? >> 50,000. >> Upgrade our security um burglar alarms. Really >> at all schools. >> At all? Uh yes. >> Okay. I guess >> anything else on >> how does how is this going to work timing wise if they're due to town hall by next week? It sounds like >> so in the past due meant they start putting the
054packet together and they will slide them in. We can obviously just say we don't need it and they can pull it if it's >> correct >> soon enough. Otherwise, we would just pass over it at the meeting. >> What do we vote tonight on >> article to to submit one? >> That's what I mean. Like we have nothing >> we have nothing. >> We as a committee need to fully vote to move forward, not just the budget subcommittee. >> We do. We do. We what what I mean is um we can we can put the articles in >> and have them not have all the information and then formalize it, vote on it and have it updated, >> right? >> If we don't end up voting on it, then we just tell town hall that's
055got to come out. We can't use it. >> What articles are we putting in? >> Yeah, that's >> that's why I mean like >> as of right now, we don't know. The point is if if he what I'm trying to say is if if Craig and facilities find out next Wednesday that they need >> six figures for something, >> we can draft the article and let town hall know this is going to be needed and then formalize it at the next meeting. >> Okay. Yeah. We don't have to make sense. >> We don't right now we don't have to do anything because we don't know if anything's needed. I just want to make sure that everybody knows like we may tell them >> these are coming here is like >> the title of what it's
056going to be and we'll get you the details >> by the end of the following week. >> Okay. We did this with um in the spring with um the potential need for the roof leak. >> Correct. >> We basically put something blank >> and then we had a dollar value to provide as we got closer, >> but we still voted on a language and then we changed it later. So, we know as a place, right? But like right now we have we have nothing to vote on. >> I'll double check I'll double check with with town council to make sure that that process is okay. I know we have some time. >> They they have the information. >> They're due so that they can start building everything out. >> Correct. But the actual final information
057based on the spring wasn't really due until like two weeks before. >> Correct. Yes, I understand. I'm just talking about the placeholder like >> Yeah, >> generic right now we have >> as long as school committee votes on before town meeting >> which I understand. I get that. But what we have two placeholders or >> worst case scenario, we can always turn on an emergency meeting remote to knock these out in five minutes if we have to. >> I'm not sure if we could find time. Nobody's busy. Um, and then quick to when we've had that Excel spreadsheet that we've used for years and years. Um, >> there wasn't I don't have it in front of me, but >> was there any indicators on that? Usually, I know we've been doing almost like a van
058a year. Um, do we expect that to come up any van purchases or anything like that? So again, that we we we've had a a number of items that keep moving over towards the, you know, this coming fall where more of the capital expenditures are are asked for. So I just, like I said, are any of those on the docket besides roof and HVAC systems? >> Um, so far for October 20 25, we don't have any vehicle purchase. >> Okay. >> On that um column. Um but we are um with our new transportation director, we are going to look at all the vehicles and see how many we can >> on Monday. We're doing that on Monday. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> And uh if there's a need, we can put forward too. >> Okay.
059Yep. I will add to that one piece before we go back to Fincom with any more requests for any vans. We definitely need to give them some additional data on the value of this service that we all >> just that was more of a general comment. I know I told you general comment for the committee. They asked in the spring we were working on it. Then we had the transportation change. So, I pushed them back, but they are expecting us eventually to give them some sort of presentation on the difference of outsourcing this and what it really brings and the cost and all that stuff. So, they've asked for quite a few years now. >> So, we're working on it. >> Yep. >> Anything else on articles besides those things that you can think of?
060>> Okay. >> The only other thing I'll put on my notes is this is probably a discussion that should start in July next year. >> Yeah. We'll put that kind of on the longterm agenda so that we don't uh always run into the last two weeks before. >> Thank you. >> Just a quick question. Is that a a hard date next week for town hall? >> We should find out. >> I don't know. >> We should find out. Um they they they did obviously communicate to central office saying this is when they're due. >> But again that's I don't know if it's hard or if it's just them trying to get all of us to get our stuff together. >> Understandable. >> I will check in with the with Jerry. I think he's still running
061this. >> Okay. Um anything else on that? Are we done here with this piece? Okay. That brings us to the report of the interimm assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. Great. >> Um so I have two updates for you today tonight. One is around our new teacher orientation and mentoring program. Um and the other is around our expeditary learning K5 launch. Um about a week before school started for the teachers and staff, we had two days of mentoring and induction where we had 25 of our new hires um come to two days um before the full staff reported. On day one, we kicked it off by Dr. Dr. Conigley welcoming everyone to Milford and sharing a little bit about himself and his expectations um for working in our district. We discussed who our students are
062in Milford public schools so that they really understood um their responsibility of educating and supporting our kids here and that it's all about our students. Um we discussed our beliefs and our expectations. They then had a chance to meet a ton of different district leaders which included the athletic director, the SEAL director, the director of special education, the director of multilingual learners and dual language programming, and our director of nursing. And they spent time um with those five different district leaders kind of learning about those different departments that will impact um how they work in our schools. Um they then heard some more information around the expectations of communications. They had a chance to get their laptops from our director of grants, technologies, and communication. Um we then took a break after all that information
063and they had lunch um in the cafeteria with their mentors and some of our administrative team and really kind of built some relationships there. Um they then came back and heard from benefits payroll human resources um which was both from the central office staff and from the town of Milford. Um they finally met with Milford teachers association. Um, basically day one was a ton of information, um, a ton of talking, um, about what Milford is, who Milford is, um, and kind of setting the stage and the expectations of how we operate together in Milford. Day two was really for them to spend time in their buildings. They got to know their principal um and then they worked directly for um the rest of the day with their mentor um to really go through the different
064nuts and bolts of how their buildings operate, spend time in their classrooms setting up um for their students to come in um getting their materials, getting their hands on emails and Aspen um and really learning kind of the day-to-day stuff. Um their mentors do a great job of kind of working individually and answering individual needs. Um, all of our mentors are trained by our mentor coordinators and so there is a handbook that the mentors kind of work through to make sure that we're kind of hitting everything on an individual basis. Um, this year these 25 new staff hires will be part of our year one um, mentoring program. They'll meet weekly with their mentors um, and kind of talk about different things throughout the course of the year. Um, they will have three meetings with
065their grades span mentor coordinators which will really be focused on the pre-K2 level, the 35 level, the 68 level, or the 912 level. What's happening in their buildings or kind of a problem of practice that they're experiencing? Um, and to really build relationships with those different grades span new hires. Um, I'll then pull them together three times in a pre-K5 group and a 612 group. Um, what exactly we'll do in those three meetings will kind of depend on what's happening in Milford Public Schools. um but some type of learning together, some type of problem solving, some type of case studies um and giving them time to really connect with each other. Um at the same time, we have our year two and our year three mentor program. Um I'm taking over the partnership with Mend
066Upton and Ashland um that Craig had established in the past where we will um spend some days doing learning walks across the three different districts. um they'll spend some time in the morning with professional development sessions and then get into classrooms and kind of see students both in our district um and in the other districts that we partner with. So, we've kicked off our new teacher orientation and mentoring. Um there's it's a smaller class size of only 25 new hires this year. Um which was both nice um and I think a little overwhelming for some people that didn't realize that 25 new staff members was was a small group um for us here in Milford. So, any questions about new teacher orientation or mentoring? >> K, just confirming they're new to Milford, not necessarily new
067teachers. We include everyone in the program regardless of grade. >> Correct. And it's not necessarily just teachers. We had some nurses just counselors. Um, and so they're really new hires to our district as a whole. >> Yeah, that's great. >> All right. So, literacy is our district priority. So, I'm going to try to give you all an update um on where we are on our expeditary learning K5 launch um every meeting. Um so, we've officially kicked off the implementation. Um all materials were delivered. Um there's a ton of books, a ton of resources. So, Carol spent a lot of time kind of making sure that teachers were going to have their hands on what they physically needed. She's still working through sometimes we got duplicates or we didn't get something and so she's still working
068through some of those replacements but teachers have all material for the first modular that they need in their hands um as of right now. So that's that's a good news and a a big momentum um movement for them. Um she also held initial professional development sessions at each of the elementary schools on the second day that teachers were here in August. um she really provided the teachers with an overview of the structure of the program and some of the expectations for implementation and what exactly she wanted to see teachers and students doing in the classroom. Um Dr. King Sigley and I actually attended a part of the session at Brookside. Um and I would say it was a really positive um experience that the teachers were engaged. They were talking with each other. They were
069really diving into the materials um and seemed excited about the program. Um since then she's actually also held two contractual meetings. Um one at Memorial, one at Brookside. Um this is where she really gave them the hard copies and they literally flipped through the materials to make sure that they understood where the um things that they needed were and what the um expectations were for the first modular that they were going to dive into. Um Woodland's up will have a similar session. Um their contractual time was just not this week. it will be either next week or the following week um for her to kind of dive into those pieces. Um overall what we're hearing um is that the adoption is being very wellreceived. Um teachers are generally excited about the change um in the
0702025 version which is the new most up-to-date version that we've adopted. It's not the same version that they piloted in the fall or the spring last year. And so they're excited about it. They feel as though it's more user friendly. Um, it has more support for our various population of students, including English language learners and special education students. They feel as though the texts that students are are reading are more exciting and engaging. Um, you know, they're in this like positive mindset right now as a whole. You know, I I will say we know that once they get into it, like we might see a little bit of a dip of morale around implementation. That's typical, but right now we're in a high um overall, which I think is is a good sign for the
071fifth day of school. >> Um I do want to call out the fact that there are family support letters that will be sent home to all families around the topics and the texts that students will be reading and engaging in prior to each modular of study so that the families are aware of what the content is going to be and what different texts kids are going to be reading and engaging with. Um and we are also bringing in a trainer from illustrative mathematic I mean expedentiary learning on the half day in September um to give the teachers some more unit specific planning time um and lesson planning time on that half day. Um so there's actually multiple trainers coming in because there's three different elementaryaries that are running it. Um so it's a really strong
072launch. Um it Carol is, you know, in it with the professional development, but um it feels as though it's it's going really well right now. >> Excellent. >> Awesome. >> Questions, comments. >> Thank you for the update. >> Change isn't easy. >> It's nice that people are receiving it. Well, >> there is there any online component to e >> for students like versus amplify? No, it is not the same as Amplify. I'm not sure how much there is >> an online component. >> Okay. >> There's physical books that will be in the hands like each teacher got a pack of books for each modular that are colorful and exciting and will be used as readalouds and things like that. >> So, awesome. I like to hear that. I'm glad that there's not a lot of
073computers time for them at this age. >> Okay. Thank you. move on to the report of the school business administrator. >> Um just a quick quick report update from um since the last meeting. Um so on the finan financial side, we um closed the year and the start of the year relatively smoothly and we kept the procedure really transparent to the town. So um we didn't hear any particular questions about anything. So, no news is good news, guess. And um and then the school budget closed at $12. >> So, there awesome gifts. >> Yeah. And and um for the um HR suite, uh it was a pretty busy summer. Um summer is usually busy for um the HR side of uh the office. So um uh in the spreadsheet you're you're looking at uh we
074hired one administrator and uh 107 stipen positions and 28 uh support staff and seven teaching positions. So since last the meeting and um so going forward um hopefully the the turnover will be slowed down a little bit and we can like geared towards um improving the procedures and make it more efficiently. >> Any questions or comments there? >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you very much. On to the approval of outofstate field trips. There are two. Uh, we can take them both together. Sure, why not? >> I think it's actually >> I think it's the same one. >> Is it one? >> It's information on one mount that just come. >> Thank you. >> I guess I'll take that. >> Okay. Sure. >> Um, so this is this is a request from the um
075French teachers at Stacy to run a trip to Montreal. I don't know over the past several years anyways um they've been taking students uh to Canada um for a trip um this has all the information that you need um but we it's been successful every year so um I I think that uh there's a good opportunity for kids uh and the Mr. Schuman and Miss Davvern run a really tight ship and and doing uh it's a really well-run um trip for our kids. So I guess we're just looking for a vote because it's it's obviously out of state. Um so you would need to vote on that. >> I'll motion to approve. >> Motion by Brandon, second by Derek. Any discussion? All in favor? Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, onto the consent agenda.
076There was only a few warrants here. Um, before I start, anybody have anything on the meeting minutes from last meeting? Excellent. All right. So, the consent agenda tonight is going to include the following. The approval of 43 warrants. The amount is 2,75,426.61. The approval of minutes from July 24th, 2025 regular meeting. and the approval of grants which is seven from July uh June, July and August. And the total amount is $696,249. There's also the professional development update listed in there. So, I'll just add that. Uh motion to approve. Motion by Megan, second by Chris. All in favor? >> I see four five in favor. You're good. >> It's totally fine. You don't have to, but you can if you want to. >> All right. >> What's your choice? >> Abstain. >> All right. We got
077four in favor and two abstain. >> Thank you. >> If John was here, he would tell you you can vote on minutes even if you weren't here. >> Oh, okay. >> Yeah, we can. >> Subcommittee updates. >> I heard facilities met a couple times. >> You did? >> Yeah, a month ago. Um, yeah, a lot of what Craig had just uh reported on as far as, you know, elevators, roofs, HVAC systems. Um, I mean, that was the the most of the topics. Uh, and Brendan had uh sent out a text message about uh everybody checking out the parking lots at the high school and the the great painting that had gone on there. So we had just discussed that and making sure that everything was going to kind of move through. Okay. Uh we did
078a little bit of capital planning discussion and uh of course as always we just uh continue to discuss the facilities maintenance log and and just how we can utilize that as a tool to to look at the facilities department and see where uh their needs are and how we can support them in the budget wise. So >> awesome >> policy. Yeah, we met today. >> Um, we went through what? Four 14 to 15 policies. >> We went through 18. >> Well, we approved. >> Oh, yeah. >> Thanks. Um, yeah. So, we had a list of 18. Uh, and then we approved I think what 14, right? >> Yeah. Um, so >> we got rid of a few. >> H >> We got rid of a few. >> Yeah. So, we got we're moving looking forward
079to seeing those. and budget. Did budget meet at some point between uh >> not since >> July and now? >> We have another one coming next week actually. >> Okay. >> We we had a summer meeting. >> We haven't met since then. This group. No, >> July 24thish was our last meeting. >> Maybe not. >> Well, >> no. Our next meeting is September 11th, but we had a summer meeting. We just met to sort of regroup for the year, talk about kind of planning for the upcoming budget cycle um and things that the committee wants to take on this year and really kind of refocus the work of the committee. >> Awesome. >> Cool. >> So, we will regroup again next week and discuss potential warrants, right? >> Thank you. >> Anything for future agenda
080items? >> We have the um call last year the the budgeting guidance. Yes, >> that was discussed at the budget subcommittee meeting and we bring that back. >> Yeah. Yeah. I'll make sure it's on agenda. >> Do you think that may be ready for the next meeting? Not yet. Okay. >> I'll put it in my notes for to October. Don't worry. Want to add um review of our professional development kind of our you know general district topics. what are our school topics? So, just having a a good idea of what what goes on during those PD days and what what is our kind of the message that we're we're working towards and and improving upon >> the next meeting. We can maybe talk about the 17th. Wait, when's that we have a half a day
081on 17th? >> We are uh here on the 18th next. >> Yeah. So, we can give you a review of what happened on the 17th. >> Sounds great. And I guess also just looking ahead of what some of those other topics are as we uh move through the year. Again, high level just trying to to understand it. >> Okay, >> I'll take that silence. There's no more. >> That's it. >> No more. That's it. There's no more from you. All right. Excellent. So, we have nothing else listed tonight and we do not have executive session. So, that will bring us to the end of this meeting and I will look for a vote to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn. Motion by Brendan, second by Chris. All in favor? Unanimous. Thank you. And good night.