001once at a time. So boring just for sake. Uh being a little after step 702, I'm going to call to order the Southern West County November 3rd school committee meeting. With that, we're going to start with the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Fire department regulations notice of proper exits. >> Through the chair we have two exits located over here in case of emergency. If those are blocked we have an exit located over there. just go out in the hall and follow the emergency exit signs. Thank you. Approval of minutes, regular meeting minutes, October 6th, 2025. Second motion and a second. Any discussion? Being I'll call
002for the vote. All those in favor? I >> oppose. Motion carries. >> One extension. Approval of warrants. They are going around. Please do a good job to get those signed so we can pay our bills. And I will entertain a motion to approve. >> Some move. >> Second. >> The motion is second. >> All those in favor? >> Opposed? Carries. E. Budget review year-to- date expenditure report through October 2025. >> Through the chair, you've received a line item budget year to date. Um, and our business manager, Miss Scoffield, is here to answer any questions. >> Any questions for Miss Scoffield? >> Okay. As always, it'll be on every month's agenda. If you do have anything that comes up midmon, please reach out to Cindy Scoffield in the business office and she can answer any of
003your questions. Correspondence, I have none. Emory? None. Thank you. Student advisory committee. Again, we have David Becker here with us tonight. Welcome again. >> Thank you. >> Um, as always, your feedback is appreciated. Do you have anything you'd like to >> Yes, I do, Mr. Chair. Absolutely. >> Okay. So, good evening members and guests. I once again would like to thank you all for your warm welcome since previous session last month. So, this last month has been quite a whirlwind whirl worldwind for our students, our seniors, and more more importantly for our school. So, firstly, the Bayath homecoming homecoming in Hollywood hosted on Saturday, October 11th, was a resounding success. Around 750 students in total were able to attend. I would like to just thank the efforts of our student council and the national honor
004society. Uh the setup and event went incredibly smoothly for them and our DJ Justin as always making the event unforgettable. Uh secondly, I'd also like to remark and recognize as well as congratulate many of our seniors including myself for just having done the impossible which was to survive several sleepless nights in order to complete our early actions for college. Okay, so deadlines were due November 1st and we were we'll be very anxious and very eager to be hearing from these colleges in the months of January and February as well as you. Um moving forward to more pressing matters on both this committee and our school especially for these next few sessions are regarding teacher contracts and claims that these contracts have been violated. Personally, I have spoken with both our members of our faculty and
005administration to hear opinions from both sides of the discussion. So, I from the perspective of a student strongly urge all authorities involved to continue to work toward an understanding that upholds fairness for for everyone while maintaining stability for our students. It is through these conflicts and discussions that we refine and and improve ourselves. Remember at the end of the day we the students the teachers and the administration all share the same goal to make Bayath the best environment it can be for teaching for learning and growth of our students. The strong turnout through this process is a testament to the power of community voice and local engagement. This is what true healthy public discourse looks like. We shouldn't forget it. Thank you everybody. [applause] Thank you very much, David. With that, we're going to move
006on to old business, which there is none tonight. And then we're going to move on to citizen participation. So, typically, I know there's been members here who have seen citizen participation, and there are some members in the audience who have not. So, I've got on both of these projectors and available at the door when some people were coming in. I don't know if there are any left or if they all went out, but that is our public comment at school meetings uh meetings policy. I'm going to take a minute to read through it just so that everyone in this room, whether they're on the committee or out in the audience, understands that this is the policy of this board. This is what we've had that has been uh amended since 66 2022. So, it's a
007policy that has some time already in our manual. So with that, it's filed BEDH found on our website, and it states, "All regular and special meetings of the school committee shall be open to the public. Executive sessions will be held only as prescribed by the statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." The school committee desires individuals to attend its meetings so they may become better acquainted with the operations and programs of our local public schools. In addition, the committee would like to like the opportunity to hear public comment. Public comment is not a discussion, debate, or dialogue between individuals and the school committee. It is an individual's opportunity to express an opinion on issues within the school committee's authority. To ensure the ability of the school committee to conduct the district's business in an orderly manner,
008the following rules and procedures are adopted. One, at the start of each regularly scheduled school committee meeting, individuals will sign in for an opportunity to speak during public comment. The public comment se shall not exceed 15 minutes. All speakers are encouraged to present their remarks in a respectful manner. Two, the chair may remove public comment from the agenda upon providing sufficient notice. Three speakers will be allowed up to three minutes to present their material and must begin their comments by stating their name and city town. The [clears throat] presiding chair may permit extension of this time limit in extenduating circumstances. Four topics for discussion should be limited to those items within the school committee scope of authority. The authority of the school committee primarily concerns the review and approval of the budget of the district's
009public schools. the performance of the superintendent and the educational goals and policies of the district's public schools. Comments and complaints regarding school personnel apart from the superintendent or students are generally prohibited unless those comments and complaints concern matters within the scope of school committee authority. Five, the chair of the meeting after a warning reserves the right to terminate speech which is not constitutionally protected because it constitutes true threats that are likely to provoke a violent reaction and cause a breach of the peace or incitement to imminent lawless conduct or contains obscenities. Six, written comments longer than three minutes may be presented to the presiding chair before or after the meeting. All remarks will be addressed through the chair of the meeting. Comments made during the public comment portion of the meeting do not necessarily reflect
010the views or positions of the Southern Wester County Regional Vocational School Committee. Seven, signup instructions will be provided for those who wish to participate in public comment. So with that being said, again I will open us up for public comment through citizen participation. Is there anyone willing or wanting to speak? Okay, Eileen, I'll start with you. I close this. I'm not neglecting you. She's just right here, so I saw her first. >> All right. Good evening. My name is Eileen McNamera. I am the president of the BPTA representing both unit A and unit C of our bargaining units. I first want to thank all of the community members who have shown up tonight in support of Bay Path teachers and staff to show solidarity and support for our call to action. The BPTA firmly believes
011the public should be aware of the problems facing educators at our school. Our public actions across the last five years and ramping up these last couple months are not to embarrass the district, but to alert [clears throat] the parents, guardians, and taxpayers of our comm community of our communities to the serious breach not only of our contract, but of the district district's fiduciary responsibility, the school committee's oversight function, and the public trust. To evidence the seriousness of the union's claims, last Thursday, the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations found probable cause that Superintendent Brener broke the law when he wrote up three union leaders in wake of their public comments. This retaliatory action was not only ev not only evidence the leadership through intimidation that so many staff at Bayath have experienced, but has now cost
012the district thousands of dollars in legal fees. When all is said and done, the union won both an arbitration to remove the letter of misconduct from my own personal file and have now won a DLR hearing on the basis of this finding of probable cause. This all could have been avoided if the school committee had granted a level three grievance hearing last year. Instead, more resources and taxpayer money were wasted to defend what should not be defended. The union's call to action remains the same from our last appearance before this committee. The science teachers are now eight weeks into working extra classes without the pay promised in section 1253 of the contract. Jeff H and Lisa Peters are going to arbitration next week for the pay they were denied while covering both sides of their
013shop and their own UP with the Department of Labor is in progress. Being handed out to you now is the DRL finding which will be emailed to you as well as a chart that highlights just how much more money pays in legal fees than our sending counts. We don't want these fights. We want the superintendent to follow the contract. We want the district to stop wasting $240 an hour on legal fees, money that could be kept here for students and staff. We want to thank those of you in the community who came to stand with us tonight. We are proud to represent the educators and staff who make a path. yourself. Yep. Just state your name, please. And >> yes, >> thank you. >> And Mcder. Good evening. I'm a proud retired Bayath English teacher
014of 2014, former Bayath teachers union representative and former students against destructive decisions advisor. In the divisive and polarized world we currently exist, I stand with all tonight and ask those of you with power to do the right thing. Unite by choosing our future, the Bayath students, the future community artisans, our nurses, electricians, soldiers, chefs, police officers, administrative assistants, machinists, plumbers, firefighters, IT staff, cosmetologists, carpenters, mechanics, and future parents. Unite by moving egos aside and rise together as the Bayath community, committing to educating the best artisans for our future. unite by fairly compensating and reimbursing those hired and entrusted to educate the future artisans. The current dedicated, competent, creative, motivated, responsible, and compassionate Bayath faculty deserve to earn my tax dollars. Teachers raise the future. Make Bayath artisans proud. compensate their teachers and mentors fairly and
015provide them the respect that they deserve. Unite. Choose to settle the Bayath contract without further divisiveness and polarization. Our future odysseies are counting on you. Thank you for listening. And just an aside, the last negotiating team I was part of at Bay, we settled on a 10% contract over three-year period. Unite. The light of education points forward. Do the right thing. BY [applause] my name is Pauline Muse. I'm a resident of Spencer. Um, I'm here to speak on behalf of the Bayath Teachers Association. As a proud alumni of the graduating class of 2016, I am concerned for teachers and the students at this school. I once walked these halls under the pride administration and got nothing but support and admiration for the teachers and administration in this building. They put their students education and well-being
016first. I personally would not be the woman I am today without their support and lessons. Some of who are still teaching in the school today. What is happening to these teachers currently is an utter disgrace and threatens the proud reputation and culture of health. Students and parents choose this high school because of the quality of educators. The current conditions are making it impossible for these educators to fulfill the educational goals and responsibility for their students. I urge you to take a step back and reconsider current actions. These educators need to be put first. They are the ones molding the future of this community today. This is more important than ever. Teacher uh treat these teachers right. Meet their needs so they can meet their students needs. Pay these teachers fairly and properly to educate students
017properly. Not the lawyers to push push agendas and budgets. Thank you for the time. >> I can just barely see you guys in that corner over that. Yeah, for my education, not my height. So, you gota you [laughter] have to look down and catch me down here. So, my name is Olivia McElroy. I'm a 2016 Bayath graduate. Um, I attended Bay Path because I lived in Charleston. I am now a resident, but still very much very strong with my ties here in Bayath. So, as a proud Bayath alumni, hearing about what's going on with our teachers right now truly broke my heart. Bayath was once a place filled with teachers and guidance counselors who helped me through some of the hardest times of my adolescence. People who generally cared and went above and beyond for
018their students. Ask McGowan. I'm sure he bought plenty of excitement dealing with my years. [laughter] Teachers dedicate their time, energy, and hearts to shaping the next generation, guiding, nurturing, and educating young minds every single day. But to tr truly support our students, we must also support the people we trust to teach them. It is the school's responsibility to ensure educators are compensated fairly and provide them with resources they need to succeed, not punish them for asking to be adequately compensated. How can we expect teachers to give their best to our youth if we're constantly stripping away adequate pay, support, and respect from the very hands we're placing our children in? Any school who truly values their youth in education as a whole would not allow these injustices to continue. Pay the teachers for their extra
019workload and honor the contracts that protect them. Because when teachers thrive, students thrive. And that's the day path I remember and believe in. Moving forward, I think we should treat them with that same respect that we all grew up on. By stripping them of that, we're stripping the use of fair education. My name is Elizabeth Raymond. I live in Thank you for letting me speak tonight. I taught at Bay House for six years, but left because of a lack of support for teachers. It was a hard decision to leave co-workers and students that I adored. But given how difficult it was working at this school with my mental health, I had to make a change. I currently teach at Monty Tech where I feel heard and supported by my administration. I never feel like I
020have to question the choices that I make in the classroom and always feel like they will support me. It's important for staff to feel heard. uh and is it is when you do don't start to see that you see high staff turnover. I'm here to support my former colleagues and to ensure that you don't lose any more dedicated teachers. [applause] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Mark Wood. I live [clears throat] in Worcester, although not one of your towns. What I bring to the table is 45 plus years in education. You know, over my career, I've served as a instructional assistant. I've been a teacher at the junior high and high school level. I have been an assistant principal at the junior high level, principal at the high school level, a curriculum director at
021the district level, and a principal assistant superintendent at the building level. I think what we we need to look at as educators, all of us, and I know a whole bunch of people over there and I know people here. And I think one of the things we need to look at sometimes is is common sense and reasoning. There are two things that are wicked important. And before I even go there, thank you for your comments. I I retired earlier this year after 45 years uh 16 years in my last school. And the one thing I miss on my list is my kids. So I you were incredibly articulate and thoughtful and sincere and I appreciate that. So kids are where it's at, but beyond that there are two things you need to look at in
022school. One is culture and one is climate. You need a healthy culture within a building. You need a culture where teachers and administrators work respectfully with each other to a common goal, to an understanding to what has to happen. Why? Because of you and your friends. Because that's what it's all about. The other is a climate. The climate needs to be a positive climate. Honest to God and anybody who knows me, if you ask me every day, how are you doing? My answer was always the same. Marvelous. Never have been better. Not always true. But positivity is where you need to go. You need to understand what we do is a gift. What we do as education is a calling. And it's not about us. And it's not about your ego. It's not about hubris.
023It's not about any of that. It's about you and your friends. And at a certain level, we need to understand when disrespect and animosity is the driving force within a school. Sure, teachers will be ticked off, administrators will be ticked off, and you can all be ticked off. Who cares? You're adults, and you're all getting paid. But at the end of the day, that animosity, that disrespect carries from this side to that side. And the fact that you even had to talk to teachers, you know, this is going on and this should never impact kids. This should never ever impact a student in their classroom, whether it's their English classroom or their manufacturing classroom. They shouldn't know any of the politics. What they should know is they have an administration who loves and supports them.
024And their job is to give the teachers what they need to do their job. And they need to understand, the teachers need to understand your job is first of all, you have the greatest job in the world. Like I said, 45 years, I've never ever ever >> questioned what I did. >> You got about 30 seconds left. >> Okay? Never question what I did. At the bottom line, you all need to think about the kids and hopefully we can all come together as a group, respect, and work together. Thank you. [applause] and >> Hi, my name is DM Duffy. I'm a resident and taxpayer in Oxford. Um, I grew up in this community. I went to Shepher Hill and I've lived here for my entire life. I've seen the changes that Bayath has made over
025the last 20, 30 years. The programs have gotten better. The building is shinier. That's added shops and programs that are amazing. But the programs are made by people and people are programs. If you lose good teachers or you cannot recruit good teachers because word gets out that they're not being paid for the extra work that they are doing, the school will decline. It is all about the students. It should be every time. The schools are here to educate the kids. And it is the teachers that do that day in and day out. They work extra hours. They write recommendation letters. They grade. They counsel. They parent. They do all of the things. And common sense should come in. Fair pay for fair work. Extra work. Extra pay seems reasonable to me. And as a taxpayer,
026I am disturbed by the accusations that the amount of money that we are spending on the lawyers to fight teachers who are doing the work every single day. Um, I urge the school committee to enforce the contract to pay the teachers. You've got some good ones. Um, one of your science teachers was once one of my science teachers and I am a teacher in a local school district today because of her. Um, she has inspired literally thousands of children. And I don't know the rest of these teachers, but I imagine that they have too because teachers are dedicated and they care. Please do the right thing. Honor the contract. Pay the teachers. And while you're at it, you might convene a search committee for a new superintendent who understands the importance of the teachers in
027their buildings. Thank you. [applause] >> 7:25. That's 15 minutes towards public comment. I'm sorry. >> Did we hit the 50? >> We hit 4 seconds. So, we're at 7:25 right now. We started at 710. So, what we're going to do is we're going to move on. I thank you all for falling within the parameters of the policy. Um, [clears throat] with that said, we're going to move on to new business. And 4 A would be recognitions. Sure. school chair. It is my distinct honor to recognize our athletic director, Mr. Greg White. Um, so athletic trainer, Mr. Greg White. Sorry. [laughter] Uh, so at homecoming game Friday evening, October 10th, um, I'm sure most of you heard that we had a student go down. Um, it was the quick actions of our athletic trainer that we
028are thankful that that student athlete is still with us today. And thinking about how do I how do I address the truly heroic actions um of Mr. white. Uh, I deliberated long and hard and I was fortunate that principal packet poured an email he received from 25 year veteran uh, lieutenant firefighter and paramedic and I couldn't put it any better. So, I'm just going to read uh, what Mr. Chris Cav Cavan sent. U, Dean, I hope this finds you well. I wait wait wait wait wait waited until I was sure of the outcome of the incident that occurred during the homecoming football warm-up. I'm thrilled to learn the students back in school has measures implemented to prevent a reoccurrence and there's no permanent deficit. Amazing. Truly, I've been a paramedic for almost 25 years. I've
029done all sorts of things that a non-emergency service civilian would be surprised or even possible. And that's the expectation of my chosen field. Greg White as an athletic trainer was not only exactly where he needed to be with an AED, he also responded fast enough to make it better. It takes tearity to do what he did. awareness to know what he needed to do, what needed to be done, and some real oldfashioned luck that the rhythm converted to a normal sinus and not a cy. Greg saved the child's life. [clears throat] And he did it fast enough that there was no permanent damage. And that is a huge deal, almost incomparable to anything. [laughter] Greg is a credit to your organization and as a parent we are thrilled he is there. I normally stay away
030from other people's business but the outcome on that night is absolutely not the norm during a situation that is incredibly rare and most usually tragic. Greg should be recognized and so should all the admin that brought Greg to the school and put the AED in his hands. We respectfully submitted Chris Kevin, Lieutenant Retired. It is truly amazing that we have that young man still with us today. Um, and again with no deficit, what you did is nothing short of heroic and incredible. Um, and [clears throat] with that we have just a small token of our appreciation. The Bay Path Life-Saving Award presented to Greg White for extraordinary hero heroism and life-saving action taken on October 10th, 2025. Your rapid skill response ensures the preservation of a student athletes life. presented by the Southern Worester County
031Regional Vocational School District. Thank you so much. [applause] I was just doing my job. [laughter] In [clears throat] all the times that we've added recognitions onto our agenda, and I mean this, I hope we never get anything greater than this. This was an unbelievable feat. I know as soon as it happened, um, Dean Packard did give me a call to make me aware of the situation and how trained and everything went almost like clockwork between the wall that was formed around the student, you getting right to work. I mean, it is that dedication and that training that everyone in this room gets that is employed here. I mean, that's what we do these trainings for. And because of that, we have the outcome we had that night. And I know it's amazing for the the
032teachers who do know that and have the student and the school committee members who may or may not know that student's already back in school, already back to a normal uh coursework. Hardly any real uh oh jeez >> issues. Issues. Thank you. And he's able to get on with his senior year. You know, that could have had a unbelievably opposite outcome. And for that we are so indebted to you. So thank you again. >> I will say if I never have to do that again it'll be too soon. >> One and done. >> Absolutely. And again it's hard to get past this. So I I can't imagine you have >> two more. Uh and again in line with that student athlete I want to send a huge thank you and recognition to our beam program
033and its leaders Miss Peters, Miss Ford and Miss Feminina. They swiftly organized a powerful display of community support for our student athlete and his family. Their efforts resulted in an overwhelming collection of gift cards and heartfelt messages delivering comfort and compassion during a truly difficult time. So to all our teachers who contributed to that other recognitions, I'd like to recognize our new assistant principal, Chris K. Chris. [applause] This is a dedicated educator and administrator with over 18 years of experience at Leister High School and the Lemonster Center for Technical Education and Innovation. Uh he accepted this new leadership role as assistant principal at Bayath. Chris's extensive background in education administration and vocational program development positions him to make an immediate impact in his new role. Chris began his career in education in 2008 teaching in
034the history department at Lster High. During his tenure, he taught a variety of courses including US history 1, two, street and practical law, civics, AP US history. In 2021, he transitioned to the role of assistant principal and co-op coordinator at the Center for Technical Education and Innovation, where he played a key role overseeing the co-op program, coordinating MCCAST testing, evaluating both academic and vocational staff, managing the district fleet, coordinating teacher mentorship programs, and writing the Perkins Grant. Notably, he led the initiative to establish the CTI's 14th vocational program um at the school. Prior to his career in education, Chris earned a bachelor's degree in communication science from the University of Connecticut in 2003. Worked in communications field for four years and later earned both a masters in history and a masters in educational leadership from
035Fitsburg State. Outside his professional life, Chris is actively involved in ice hockey, has served as an assistant coach at Fittburg State University since 2006, and is a do devoted father to two daughters, a 13-year-old goalie and a 10-year-old defense woman and resides with his family in Sterling. Welcome aboard, Chris. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Would you like to say anything or Sure. Yeah. No, I just want to um thank you for those kind words. Um really happy to be here. Really happy to to transition into this new role here at Bay Path. I was able to spend the day today. It's my first day. Met a bunch of kids, met bunch of staff, really felt a warm welcome and I'm looking forward to making Bay Path a better place. So just thank you for having
036me. >> Thank you. >> Want to honor our own Dr. Samantha Mlan selected as a national leadership fellow. So Bayath is happy to announce that Dr. Magcuan has been selected to serve as the national leadership fellow for the association for career and technical education. This prestigious yearlong fellowship is designed for experience, career and technical education professionals and aims to strengthen the future of the CTE field through advanced leadership development, policy understanding, and professional growth. As part of the program, Dr. Guan will gain firsthand experience in policymaking process at the state and local state, local, and federal levels, expanding her ability to influence legislation and initiatives that shape the future of CTE education. Her participation will further enhance Bay Path's ongoing commitment to preparing students for success in a dynamic and evolving workplace. Notably, in the
03715-year history of the ACT National Leadership Fellowship, Dr. Guan is only the second individual from Massachusetts selected to represent division one. A tremendous honor reflecting her exceptional leadership and dedication to the advancement of career and technical education. Congratulations Dr. Now, it's my honor to recognize that um our Lemllinsson MIT invent team. We have our faculty adviser, Miss Wade, and three of our students. Emily Cordi um a webdev senior from Auburn, uh Olivia Gavin, a vet science sophomore from Spencer, and Brian Buyan Buie, a sophomore from advanced manufacturing um in Webster. So, you want to tell us a little bit about the amazing work you're doing on the event team? And before k [clears throat] off, let me say only eight teams from across the nation were selected and we are the only team from Massachusetts.
038>> All right. Good evening everyone. My name is Olivia Govin and I'm one of the administrative leads for our VAT event team which is made up of members from our STEM club. On behalf of our team, I would like to share some very exciting news. Since around April, our STEM club has been working to apply for a grant through the Lemlson MIT program. Recently, we have been officially selected as one of eight teams nationwide to receive this grant. This will provide us with $7,500 along with the year-long support of Limlson MIT teaching fellows and many other resources that they'll provide us with. We aim to bring our invention to Skills USA and then present it at a convention called Eureka Fest which is through Lemlson MIT's program where all the invent teams will present their
039inventions and one team will be selected and provided with proono legal service aimed at helping that team obtain a provisional patent for their invention. So very exciting. Um to discuss our invention more, I'd like to hand things over to our technical. My name is Brian and I'm the technical lead for the big team. And the problem our team is seeking to address is the inefficiency and lack of comfort in current beaches. And after discussing this issue with disabled family members and others in the community, our team realized the struggle that many face when going to the beach. Through our event convention, we hope to improve the beachgo experience, making it both more accessible and enjoyable for people of various backgrounds and abilities. >> So, I'm Emily um also an administrative lead and invent teams. And
040like Ryan said, this um is a problem that came to our eyes when we discussed with members in the community, specifically our beneficiary, Mr. Parheric. We've been working uh with his wife and him, and their goal is to be able to walk on the beach with each other. Currently with the technology that is out there right now, it's incredibly difficult and they need not only just themselves but multiple other people to help him get around on the beach because there really is nothing good out there. There is a lack of uh comfortable technology to help him move around on the beach. And so we're hoping to make his life and his wife's life easier so that they can walk on the beach together. And we appreciate your support and their support and any feedback and
041comments. So thank you. I'M Christine Wade. I'm the leader of the STEM funded event team. Um in February we will have an open forum where you'll come in and um give feedback for their design. So please be on the lookout for that. Thank you. Excellent. Any comments or questions for these great students in this invent team? Because this is >> Congratulations. That's awesome. >> Thank you. >> Well done, Mark. >> All right. I'd like to see if we can get you guys back here in March when you know because February is your open house for comments. Maybe get you back here in March to show us close to the finished product or [clears throat] >> Sure. They also have an Instagram that they >> [laughter] >> be you can follow them there. Um I think
042they're going to do Facebook. >> Will there be a link for that on the school website? >> Sure. I'll work directly with the team to everybody. Okay. Looking forward to excellent. >> And lastly, it's my honor to recognize Dr. Grelin Bolandrina for 12 years of helping or ordinary people become nurses. As you know, Dr. Bow and Dreamer is the former director of our former practical nursing program. [clears throat] We honored her last day last week with a nice lunchon. Um, and she shared out I just want to share she couldn't be here with us this evening. So, she just uh shared this out. Hello everyone. There are moments in my nursing journey when the urge to respond to every unfair comment, every misunderstanding, or every act of judgment feels overwhelming. Whether it's a student questioning
043your intent, a colleague misreading your purpose, or the weight of the board's expectations pressing heavily, even the most grounded heart can feel shaken. But then I pause. I remind myself that everyone carries battles unseen. The students frustration may come from fear of failure. The colleague's harsh words may spring from exhaustion. The board's scrutiny comes from its duty to protect the public. When I look deeper, I see that the world has already been unkind enough to many. Not every battle in nursing is meant to be fought with words. Some are won through silence, grace, and steadfast professionalism. Everyone gives what they carry inside. I choose not to re return hurt for hurt, but to move forward with compassion as my compass. Because in the end, nursing is not just about clinical skill or knowledge. It's about
044the heart. We are not defined by how others treat us, but how we continue to care, especially when it's hardest. Choose empathy. Choose growth. keep moving forward. I've been deeply blessed to spend the 12 past 12 years at Bay Path Practical Nursing Academy, a place where ordinary people became nurses and where I witnessed perseverance bloom into purpose every single day. Thank you for the laughter, the late nights, the lessons, and the shared belief that nursing changes lives. I begin a new chapter as KO grandmother in Aba. To my grandson, my heart is full. I miss our team dearly. I will miss the Bayath community, but I look forward to new adventures, continued writing, and perhaps the occasional ramen tasting at my son Jeff Gino's Chef Gino's restaurant, Kuro Curo Ramen and Wister. You're [clears throat]
045always welcome to visit. Just say you know Dr. Mama. It's how Chef Gino lovingly calls me. And if you ever need an indoor plant, let me know. A story told or just a reminder of why we do what we do. I'm only a message away. Writing will always be my first love and nursing will always be my calling. With gratitude and affection, gratit Thank you for all those wonderful recognitions tonight. Um, we're going to move on to 4B1 presentations, which is house project updates. >> Uh, to the chair, I did send out a two-page memo. I won't read the whole thing, but in summary, last year's house project, we're just doing the final touches on that. Crew is doing a great job there. This year's house project in Selfbridgeidge, um pretty much fully enclosed, putting
046the windows in this week. Once the windows are in um and we'll fully wrap up the house is weathertight, we can start working on the interior rough electrical and the plumbing. Then FY 27th of next year's house project, the advertisements are going out this week and start opening that up and then the applications are due first Monday in January. Good progress. Thank you. Any questions or comments for Mr. Trip? Excellent. Thank you again for the update. Moving on. C approval of surplus equipment C1 automotive technology. Sure. To the chair, the superintendent, director, the vocational director, and the school business manager recommend the school committee vote to place one 2006 Honda Ridgeline of scrap value only on the surplus equipment list to be disposed of according to the school committee surplus equipment policy using the most
047appropriate method available. So move second. >> So motion and second. Any discussion? Being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. C2 vet science >> through the chair. The superintendent director, the vocational director, and the school business manager recommend the school committee vote to place one 2022 centrifuge for second chance animal shelter of scrap value only in the surplus equipment list to to be disposed of according to the school committee surplus equipment policy using the most appropriate method available. >> So move to have a motion in a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. D. Approval of Skills USA leadership conference. And please note when he said the dates were a typo. So it's 11:23 and 11:24,
048right? Which is it? Yeah. >> 11:23. >> Yep. through the chair, the superintendent director and the vocational director recommend the school committee vote to allow 12 student adviserss to attend the Skills USA fall leadership conference for workplace readiness to be held November 23rd and 24th, 2025 for a cost of $5,660 to to be paid out of account number 53, Skills USA. >> So move second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Where is it being held this year? >> In Marorrow. >> Marbor. Again. >> Any other comments, questions? >> Being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. E. Approval of policies for outofstate field trips and SC employment. To the chair of the policy subcommittee and the superintendent director recommend the school committee vote to adopt
049the policies for out ofstate field trips and school committee employment that were held until this meeting for further clarification. >> Have a motion >> and a second. Any discussion? Done. Um okay. So the first one um it it follows the u the policy follows the u what am I think the MSSE policy second one though for field trips could we talk a little bit about that in that the MS MASC says that they don't require school committee's approval for out of state field trip but we do and as uh Mr. Brener had pointed out in one of his um his email to us uh he wasn't sure when that policy was developed by the school committee to require an out ofstate field trip to be approved by the school committee. I think we all have
050seen several times when we've run on um an additional item on our agenda requiring our approval to send kids to maybe Connecticut or something because a last minute decision or whatever the reason is. Um I just don't understand why we would need to approve a trip to Connecticut when we like I said last month we can drive two hours north and still be in Massachusetts. So, um I guess what what I'd like to see is that that be changed. I'm not sure how we can change that if we do a separate vote on that or we going to accept the whole thing. >> Right now, the motion is to accept both. >> Okay. >> As as it was just made. Um do you want to respond to that on the other state? Is there [laughter]
051information? >> No, just what I I found I did the investigation. That's what is completely right. uh mass doesn't require that. Um you know something that this committee put in place the reason why I wasn't here. So I'm not sure uh we are located close to the border with you know a couple couple states. So um and again not being here and not having the history not sure what the influence behind that was. Okay Don might just be an issue of insurance >> for the chair. I just I did reach out to our our rep at um cab insurance and he said that um there's no rationale for that but that instead of procedure that any any school who travels out of state does have school committee um vote on it because it is outside
052of state guidelines. It can be that it's five minutes away or that's an hour and a half away. It's just a school committee vote for kids to go out of state this year. Hold on one second, Jeff. And then I was [clears throat] say it sounds like the administration doesn't have a a strong opinion on this either way. >> Well, in in lie of the new information on the insurance, I would say that school committee vote to approve any out of state that covers us for our >> insurance, right? Property and life insurance. If I just one thing I just want to clarify because my question was kind of before the insurance company said that it was standard practice to do that. >> Correct. >> Okay. Thank you Mike. Um just as the um was
053mentioned about the insurance this goes back uh to my early years on the school committee which is just about 20 years ago. uh that that was adapted uh because of regulatory changes uh through the carrier and uh that's part of the uh history on that and that's how we implemented and rolled it into the policy at that time. >> Thank you Dave. Did you have your hand up? [snorts] >> Uh I did I [clears throat] was Thank you. I was just going to add that um over the years it was and I I don't I get where you're going, Don. Um, but historically, uh, when I had a report to school committees, it was because school committees wanted to know when we were going out of state. Um, it's I hate to say it, but
054it's it's always been like that in a lot of school districts. Um, and as a school community member, I know whether it's five minutes Connecticut's five minutes down the road or an hour and a half, when you cross state lines, for some reason a trigger goes off in my head. Um, it's just something that I think we would want to know um than not know. But I get your point. You drive three hours, still be in Massachusetts. >> Yeah. Okay. Any other comments? It seemed to have worked for an additional agenda something else on the agenda, you know, even if it's last minute that the committee has always been open to add that to the meeting and pass it >> in light of the insurance information. I mean, I think it's it's wise that we
055continue to do it, but again, that's just one member's opinion. John just one last question then I don't understand why MC doesn't have the same policy. If if that's if that's the case with the insurance then >> you know >> it would make sense that MC would have the same policy of requiring it >> could be an oversight >> right >> to the chair. >> Okay. Any other comments or questions? your chair and not to be disagreeable, [snorts] but I I highly I highly doubt that there's an oversight by MSC. They um they tend to do it right across the board. We follow their lead on on everything. Um I'd like to take another look at this. Um I don't think I don't think the evidence that's been presented tonight is really enough to to
056make a decision. I mean, for for one, insurance companies, we pay them. So, if this insurance company doesn't support our mission and what we and what we're trying to accomplish, then we find another insurance company. That's the way that works. I'm tired of insurance companies pushing us in the direction that they want to push us. We see that in cooperative education all the time. It's a huge battle to get some of the bigger companies to support our students. So, insurance companies aren't always right. And I just think this is, you know, more rational. I would like to see if there is something specific from our insurance company, I'd like to see that in writing as well. >> The only thing I would add to that and unless Miss Scoffield could counter is I don't think
057there's an added cost through the insurance company to this. They just want to see us as a board vote on it. So, it's not a matter of us telling the insurance company, hey, we're going to go find someone who makes us not vote once a month when we do meet as opposed to just have a vote of formality. So that way the board is aware that you've left state lines and you are communicating that through a motion and a and a vote. So I I see where you're going with that because there are a lot of times when insurance companies are definitely trying to mislead you, misguide you, and cost you more money. But in this one, I think it's just a matter of formality uh to protect you to know that the board of
058directors basically said yes, it's okay to go. And again, that's just the way I view that as opposed to and and in all the field trips that I've voted on in the 20 plus years I've been here, I can't think of any reason why they were denied or not passed at the board level. I I I'd be aiss if I I could think of one. So, I was just going to say, I mean, what's the real benefit of removing it? I mean it's it's not like we're being held up or trips to my knowledge are being held up by removing this requirement. I especially if there is an insurance component I I just I don't see a lot of benefit to change it. >> Any other comments or questions? Being none I have a motion
059on the floor right now to approve both of these policies out of state field trips and SC employment. Being no more questions or comments. All those in favor? >> Opposed? All right. One of one um against motion carries. Moving on. F acceptance of superintendent director's FY26 goals. To the chair, the superintendent director recommends the school committee vote to accept his FY26 goals as presented. So move. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Done. Uh, first of all, I want to thank you, Mr. Brown, for re sending them. Okay. I like the format. It's much easier um than trying to match this up to the final uh sheet. It's at the end of the year, the final evaluation. Um, my only concern about this is that um just to give everyone a
060heads up, we do evaluations in May and report in June. there's a lot of things um time bound um that says at the conclusion of the school year. So, we're not really having that evidence in May and June, I don't think, if it says that, you know, at the conclusion of the school year. And so I understand that when we do our goals, you know, we can say, you know, um that significant progress has not met, but but those do come into play when we do our final evaluation, the final comment because um those goals and the performance indicators are what drives our decision, our final decision, how we evaluate the superintendent. So, I just want to caution all of us to u to look at that where it says by the end of the
061school year because we might not have that evidence and data to make that decision in May. >> Thank you. Any other comments? Dave, >> are you recommending that we >> no push it? >> No. No, I don't want to change the goals. Okay. No, let's get it done. >> Um but it's something that we have to look at at the end of the year. I agree. >> Or maybe change the timeline of when evaluations are done >> could be that could be a possibility as well. >> That's where I was going. >> So whether or not we're doing that now. This is just accepting the goal. So that has zero to do with the timeline in regards to >> I think what I what I'd like to do though to to Don's point is probably
062make that an agenda item uh because I think you got a valid you know valid reason to do that. next month. >> Yeah, we'll aim for next month at this point. >> Good. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Excellent. Thank you. Any other comments in regards to the superintendent goals? [clears throat] Being none, I'll call for a vote for acceptance. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. I do have one walk-on item, which is a prior year invoice. [laughter] >> No, we have a and I have a motion and a second to walk on. So all those in favor walking on this agenda item >> I [clears throat] opposed good. Now the new agenda item which is thank you a trial approver year invoice for O'Neal Consulting chair superintendent director the IT director and
063the school business manager recommend the school committee vote to approve a prior year invoice in the amount of $6,647.97 owed to a consulting fore consulting services rendered during FY23. >> So move second motion [clears throat] and second. Any discussion? Kim Wisley. Uh just an oversight from the prior business. >> Okay. Any other comments or questions? Being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. >> Moving on. C1 report from the superintendent director. >> To the chair. has submitted a written report and if anybody has any questions I'm happy to answer those. >> Thank you. Subcommittee reports, audit subcommittee, they haven't met yet. Budget [clears throat] subcommittee, I'm sure it's in process but haven't met yet. Building and ground subcommittee, same nothing. Negotiation subcommittee, Mr. Anyway, >> uh [clears throat]
064I'm happy to report that the negotiations are back on track with the par professionals and we'll be meeting in November and uh December. >> Thank you. policy subcommittee. Peter Sher, >> um with the completion of what was brought up in last month, um on the policy question about out of state travel, I believe we have completed the update of all the policies which uh had been going on for about a year as far as updating and reviewing all of them. So, they should be completed now. >> Excellent. Again, we said it last month, but thank you again for all the work the whole policy subcommittee did in getting together. It was a monumentous task, and I'm I'm glad it's behind you. Yep. >> Not as much as you guys are, I'm sure. [laughter] Um, warrant
065subcommittee. The warrants are available for signatures by all school committee members at monthly meetings tonight and during the day at school. If you do come up, please be sure to call the business office, make sure someone's in so you can get in and sign those warrants. Um, the future business meeting date, there'll be a regular school committee meeting here, 700 p.m. Monday, December 1st in this room. Topics for future agenda. Please reach out to Leah, myself, or Mr. Brener, and we'll do our best to accommodate getting them on. Um, with that, remarks from the superintendent director >> through the chair. Just a couple remarks. I'd like to congratulate the varsity cheerleaders for their second place finish at Blackstone Millville regional um in the first CMAC League tournament. The girls will move on to the division
066one regionals next week. Uh also the boys varsity soccer team earned the playoff spot as the 34th seed in the MIA Division 4 state tournament and took on uh Northeast Metro last night and it was tonight 3 victory. a three-0 victory which brings them on to Bramfield next. So, it's the second [snorts] round of the MA division uh four stage tournament. So, congratulations to the boys soccer team. Varsity football team defeated Oxbridge 2721 on senior night in a great double overtime game. Uh it was only the second loss by Oxbridge in the past three years. Our team locked in another trip to the vocational playoffs with the win looking to defend their championship and become the first school in history to win four vocational state championships in a row. >> Wow. >> Yeah. So with
067the win, they also kept their MIA Division 6 playoff hopes alive. So great job to the football team, our cross country team. I'd like to congratulate the following students for setting a new 5K school record. Wesley Lawless, who finished with a time of 17 minutes and 44 seconds on the girls side, also setting a new school record. McKenzie Kao Resto, who ran an amazing 21 minutes 54 seconds. So, great job to them. And just an update on our uh unfortunately the battle for Buffam is no longer. Oxford wanted to go in a different direction, but our athletic director uh Mr. Guerrero did a wonderful job lining up a new rivalry and it's not so new. Um we'll be playing facing off against Asphet Valley for the 53rd time this Thanksgiving in a series that began
068in 1975. It's a close one with the Aztecs holding a 2625 to1 edge. The Minute Man have outscored the Aztecs overall 982 to 95 points. The results have gone in waves. The Aztecs won 12 of the first 13 games and held a sevengame winning streak heading into 2023 matchup, but Bay Path has won the last two games. So, we look forward to a really good rivalry this Thanksgiving. It will be at Asipet um on Thanksgiving Day at 10:00. So, >> excellent. Thank you very much. Moving on, we're going to go comments from the committee. I think last month this way. So this one that way. >> Yeah, I did skip you. I can't see you over there. >> So I realize that I didn't mention it in my speech, but I'll try to get some
069coordination going on polling amongst our students with Mr. Packard and Superintendent Brener. Try to get that out and see if we can get results back maybe by next committee or two committee meetings from now. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> Welcome, David. I wasn't here last and um thank you. >> Congratulations to all those who have been recognized. >> Thank you, Mr. Couple things. Um Mr. Ber, you had sent an email about the official accountability report being amended and um were approved. Can you um expand on that a little bit? >> Sure. Um you know my oversight and the rec recognition of that. So uh the new state data puts us at a 50 which is substantial progress towards goals. So we're very excited about that. Uh Dr. Muan is here to answer any questions on
070that. But I believe it was uh an adjustment to the ELA MCAST scores that elevated us up to that. >> I don't know what prompted it. Um but we [clears throat] did we were awarded last time uh since last time I spoke to you all um we were awarded an extra point which pushed us up and put us um so we're fifth in the state for vocational schools in terms of accountability rating and it did push us up a category of substantial progress even though it's one percentage point it made a difference and the last thing u I want to acknowledge all the staff and students from last week for the open house. I had a chance to be in here uh walking through and it's amazing what the what the staff did and the
071students. Um it was great. It's no wonder you have 700 kids trying to get in. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Thank [clears throat] you. Just want to uh congratulate all the recognitions that we have. Thank everyone for coming for the uh public comment. And David, thanks again for another stately address. They could they could use you in Washington right now. the open man thing that's closed by [clears throat] >> Mr. Sure. >> Um we're going to be competing Thanksgiving with um the Aztecs. Okay. Who is uh Oxford? Uh do you know >> I'm not sure who >> who they backed out, right? >> They did. Yep. >> Yeah. >> Well, we'll uh wish the football team good luck for their Thanksgiving game. Excellent, Mr. Beum. >> Well, as today approaching Veterans Day on November
07211, I'd like to offer my personal opinions and feelings, uh, I have deep respect for all of the teachers and instructors who are very much teacher veterans. And with that, uh, I had an military honor funeral today, burying one of our past school committee members, Jim Avery, an electric and electrical company, and has trained many, many path student electric to go on to a future success in their own business. It has been with great pleasure that I can also say that I serve here on military day for May in May. Uh I have the deep respect for anybody and everybody who contributes to someone else's life and that is something that is wanted, needed, and as veterans are passing on we're becoming fewer and fewer. So I have deep respect for everything that you teachers
073do training our students to be able to become very successful in their own life and I personally thank all of you. >> Yes. Thank you Mr. Cwell. >> Well I'd like to thank the teachers for coming tonight and speaking up. Um, again, conversation is the way things get done. And, uh, so [clears throat] it helps us to know a little bit more about both sides of the the fence and and the old saying, grass is always greener on the other side. Well, that the horse doesn't find that once he gets over there. So, um, you know, it helps us to learn. Um, um, and it's becoming personal now because my granddaughter has applied forship. [laughter] So, um, we'll tell you how that goes. Good luck to him. >> Mr. Scobby, um, first off, um, amazing
074feed by the athletic trainer, uh, Mr. White. That was just phenomenal. Actually brought brought a tear to my eye and I'm sure those parents are forever grateful as we are, um, as a district, this community. Um, David, fantastic as usual. I can't believe it's so early on in your career here with us, and you're already blown us away. um some some brave commentary and some well thoughtout comments. Um congratulations to our sports teams, our cheerleaders. It's exciting that we're going to be heading up to as actually [clears throat] exciting to be playing as I'd rather have them come here, but I'm sure we'll see that next year. Um on a more negative note, um this is just really continuing to be disheartening. It's not the it's not the Bay Path that I started at 25
075years ago. Um, it's just sad. The the the desperate and sad part about it is that nobody has an answer. The school committee does not have an answer. The superintendent cannot fix it. We we cannot seem to fix this issue. So, I just don't know how long this is going to go on, but it's disheartening. It makes me sad. Um, I still go to the Thanksgiving games. I still love this whole community. I love this school. I just I just need to see some change here and and I actually pray for it. So, that's all. Thank you, Katie. >> Um, just kind of second what George said. You know, congratulates to all the great things that are always happening here. This it's a great school. There's so many great things happening day in and day
076out. Um, also thank you to all the staff for showing up. But please know that um your words do not go unheard. I hear them. I hear what you're saying. I I've witnessed it. And um we do need to find a solution to it because it took many many many years for Babath when I was growing up. Babe Path is kind of where the kids that didn't want to go to college go whatever. Now kids are literally fighting for a spot to be here. They want to be here. They're put they're working hard junior high and whatnot so they can get here. And you know it could crumble so much faster than it took to get it to where it is. And I would hate to see that. I would absolutely hate to see that.
077My nephew graduated here in 2019, something like that. He is doing amazing things. I love seeing what he's doing. He kind of went off in a different direction than what he did here, but he's now a teacher. You know, something never in a million years did I think that he would actually do it and he loves it. And you know, I'm sure I see a lot of familiar faces here that would tell me funny stories about what, you know, he was a good kid here and whatnot, but you know, it's people like you that impact that. It's not something I thought he would do it and he is absolutely loving it and to see him thriving off of it, you know, but to see you guys hurting off of it, it's it's I'm hard of
078finding appropriate words, but so, you know, it's just heartbreaking. It really is heartbreaking and I really want to see change and it needs to happen sooner than later because it's just going to fall apart, unfortunately. >> Thank you. Hey, Marie. >> Congratulations to everybody that was um recognized tonight and welcome to our new assistant principal. Um >> thank you. Um nice presentation everybody. U [laughter] you got a life ahead of you but nice nice job. Um thank you for the teachers for coming in presenting you know your views. Like I said, it's good to have information from both both sides. More we know, the more we can do. And congratulations on your new position. Thank you. Looking forward to working with you. >> Good. >> Um yeah, I just want to say thank you to
079the athletic director. Uh that certainly brought a tear to my eyes. The student was a second grade student of mine many, many years ago. Um, I also want to say thank you to the teachers for um, coming and having some real conversations and I hear you. I know there [clears throat] is huge morale concerns and um, we really have to address these thoughtfully and proactively and start rebuilding the trust between all the stakeholders at the school. Um because the [clears throat] only ones who are going to hurt in the end are the are the students because they're the ones who are staying with us. The teachers can leave, the school community can leave, but those those kids are really where it's at. And um second, kind of off the beaten path. I talked to Dean
080about this a little bit earlier. Um with the freeze and snap benefits, I'm just wondering if the school is doing anything proactively for students who maybe have some food insecurity in Bay and in our local communities. Um, could that be something that the seniors do as like a student learning student service learning project to kind of raise some food for the local food pantries? Um, just a thought of >> again congratulations to all those who were recognized this evening and uh I think what [clears throat] I've noticed here is that a lot of people care and if we start with that I think that's at least the starting point at places of the foundation if you will. People care. People want to be involved. People want things to be better. And uh hopefully we can
081find a way to make all of that happen. And David, I guess we're going to start a a fund to move you down to Washington in some capacity at some point. So I'll throw a buck into that one and we get things going. >> Thank you, Mike. Um congratulations to all u that were recognized tonight. Uh amazing uh piece. Uh we life saved. Uh David comments and uh even if you don't allow ghost as far as Washington Boston has openings too. Um didn't definitely need it. Um to our new vice principal, welcome. uh look forward to your years of success here and uh appreciate all your efforts going forward and uh hopefully as a uh community we can come together and have a resolution uh that uh will uh move forward and resolve the conflict
082with the contract. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who came and spoke today and also thank you David for your comments. Well said. cute. >> You've been there, done that. >> I know, right? >> You know, [laughter] it's really a territory. >> There you go. Um, yes. Uh, it was so nice to hear all the uh awards, recognitions this evening, and I can't wait to see your presentations in in uh March uh and keep up. I got to get on Instagram [clears throat] black. Uh so, best of luck with that. Congratulations on that and uh welcome to our uh our new assistant principal and Dr. Sam. Congrat again. Congratulations. Great job. That's it's a huge recognition. So good stuff. >> Thank you. It's finally my turn
083and I don't have much more to say. Just to follow up on a few things that happened over the month. Um Mr. Gr and I had met with what we call our working group here with that is what we put together last year. So I meet with the unit A, unit M, and Dean and Kyle. Dean couldn't make it this year, but this month rather we try to do them quarterly just to try to match with the terms of the school. It seemed to be a very good meeting. Seemed to be some good communication had. Um I I see you know Mr. McGallan shaking his head. Yes. I I mean as well. So again, I'm going to try and continue that. See if that does help. I mean again any communication in the positive direction
084is communication. So again, thank you all. Dr. You were there this month, too. So, thank you again. Um, we have to move on now to executive session. I'm going to actually entertain a motion that the school committee vote to move into executive session for the purpose of MGL chapter 30A section 21A3 [clears throat] to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and to reconvene in open session only for adjournment. So movement >> all right have a motion second. So it'll be a roll call vote. Yes. >> Hey, means >> say yes. >> Jim Caldwell Clark. >> Kirsten. Donat. >> Yes. >> Dave. Mary Johnson. >> Myself. Yes. Montel. >> Yes. Thank you. Amarie >>
085Michael. >> Yes. >> Peter Sher. Yes.