001Oh, we wait for Dean to cameraman. Flick that switch. All right. Being 7 o'clock, I'll call the order the regular meeting for the Southern List County Regional Vocational School District School Committee, April 7th. With that, routine matters, pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 1B, fire department regulations, notice of proper exits. So through the chair, we have two exits located right over here. If those are blocked, we can go through this door and follow the exit signs. Thank you. Approval of minutes. Public hearing budget minutes March 3rd, 2025. So move. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Being none, I'll call for the vote. All
002those in favor? Opposed? One two abstension. Three obscension fourens. Good luck. All right. Regular meeting minutes March 3rd, 2025. So moved. Second. Have a motion and second. Any discussion? Being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. Same. Carries. Thank you. Approval of warrants. They are passing around. I did see them over here. Here they come. Make sure you sign those so we can pay our bills. And I'll entertain a motion to approve. So motion second. Any discussion? None. Call for the vote. All those in favor? Opposed? Thank you. Review of budget year-to- date expenditure report through March 2025. Drew the chair. Attached uh is an expenditure report showing expenses incumbrances through March 26th, 2025. The business office has also proposed a series of transfers that will take place later
003in the meeting. Uh if you have any questions, Miss Scoffield is here. Any questions or comments? Okay. Correspondents, I have it as none. Any student advisory committee, Matt, welcome. Thank you. Uh I just wanted to say that third quarter's almost come to an end. We're so close to almost being done with almost 2 months left in the school year. Uh, as I said in my last report, the Skills USA competition was held on March 12th and 38 of our competitors qualified for the state competition. So, congrats to them and good luck on their trip to the States. Uh, boys baseball, volleyball, and lacrosse have begun along with girls lacrosse and softball. Uh, spring break is coming up starting on April 18th going to April 27th, which is even more exciting because it's starting to heat
004up. And I, for one, can't wait to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather spring. And that's all I have for this evening. Thank you. Thank you very much for that. No old business citizen participation. Okay, moving on. 4A recognitions. Sure. Through the chair, we have several recognitions. Um I want to congratulate our sophomore dental assisting students who passed their CBR BLS certification for the healthcare providers. Uh we have senior ice hockey captain Nathan Lasher won the 2025 Nicholas S. Ponucci Memorial Award for dedication, determination, perseverance, and loyalty for boys ice hockey. Nathan is only the second Bayath student athlete to win this award. So, congratulations to Nathan. I want to congratulate our health tech seniors for passing their NH NHA national certification exam. Uh, so congratulations Samos Anna Fantes, Julia Burgos, Carly Donahghue, Brilland
005Dunn, Joseph Mancini, Jenna Lee Russo, Kaye Sheen, and Manali Vita. I want to congratulate and thank our library media science instructor, Valerie Watka, for organizing a wonderful recognition of our very successful women alumni during women's history month. I provided you all with a handout on that fantastic presentation that she did. Valerie worked with each one of our vocational technical programs to identify an outstanding uh female alumni, had graphics, do a presentation board, what year, what program, a quote, and what they're doing now. And we had a gallery in the library for that. And then many of them, all of them were invited. Many showed up to tour the school, visit their old shops, and were treated to a delicious lunch prepared by our culinary. So, it was very wellreceived. Um, and I want to put
006a shout out to Valerie for taking that on and we look forward to continuing that in years to come. I want to call out our spring break camp and a call out to everybody who's particip participating in that. This is a full career vocational technical education exploratory or the camp is full. Uh it's a mini explore camp that will provide three days of hands-on experience in animal science, culinary, both um in the kitchen and baking, plumbing, building property maintenance, and health tech. This goes for our seventh and eighth grade students in our 10 town community. Uh they applied for it. Again, like I said, it's full. And I want to recognize all those that are making this wonderful opportunity possible. Our team is composed of enthusiastic, experienced professionals dedicated to providing a safe and engaging
007learning environment for each child. Our stars are Valerie Vodka. She's an enthusiastic and tireless camp administrator. Instructor Miss Holden, animal science pro with passion for paws and claws. Instructor Chef Blair, master of flavors and kitchen magic. Instructor Chef Armada, Chef A, culinary genius with a dash of creativity. Instructor Miss Rodriguez, cosmetology guru, skilled in the latest beauty trends. Instructor Mr. Vigent, the pipe pro with plumbing powers. Instructor Mr. Dominique, do-it-yourself expert and hands-on project pro. Instructor, uh, we'll call him Mr. W. Wentowski, code master and web design wizard, instructor, nurse, Peele, health hero with first aid skills and cool career tips. I want to also call out our computer AED design and drafting department head, Mike White, for his selection as the AET Labs teacher of the year. And I'll just couldn't say it any
008better, so I'll just read out his shout out. We're proud to present the fifth annual teacher of the year award at this year's summit for New England engineering design and robotics teachers. It was an honor that recognizes a teacher who goes above and beyond to prepare students for careers in technical fields. This year's recipient, Mike White, is a drafting instructor at Apath Freedman Vocational Technical High School in Massachusetts. He was selected for his outstanding contributions to both his students and the broader education community. Mike's impact extends far beyond his technical expertise in drafting software or classroom pedigogy. What truly sets him apart is his positive, forwardthinking approach and unwavering belief in his students. He consistently fosters an environment of curiosity and problem solving, always looking for ways to support and uplift those around him. One
009standout example of his dedication came during the remote learning days of co. Rather than settling for boring Zoom lectures, Mike personally delivered model making materials to students across the many towns Bay Path serves. Spending hours on the road to ensure their learning remained hands-on and engaging. At the same time, he taught himself On Shape, a cloud-based computerated design software, and incorporated it into his virtual lessons so students could continue building their skills through interactive tutorials. Mike's willingness to go the extra mile has left a lasting impression not only on his students, but also on his colleagues. Congratulations to Mike and thanks for all he does. Excellent. Thank you for that. Um, any questions or comments on the recognitions while they're fresh in our minds? No. All right, moving on to presentations. I mean, yes, presentations.
0102024 2025 house project update. So, through the chair first, I want to say that Mr. Trip sends his regrets he couldn't be here tonight. Co took him down. um he musled through the day, got through that, but uh yeah, came in, sent me a text saying send my apologies. He just couldn't make it. So hopefully he's at home. He got a directive to get some rest. Um so I'll provide the update on the house project. The following is a list regarding the 2425 house project prepared for the school committee uh electrical. The electrical shop is on track to complete the rough wiring stage by the end of this week, pending inspection early next week, April 7th through the 11th. The overall electrical completion timeline will depend on National Grid and the site contractor completing the
011trench for the service connection. We're monitoring this closely with the homeowner and national grid contacts. Carpentry. The carpentry shop is working on siding and are awaiting inspections. The installation contractor is on standby and the board and plasterer have a tentative timeline. All finished work is dependent on the completion of this phase. Mr. Kohus is working closely with the building inspector to ensure all steps are taken to ensure work continues smoothly. Plumbing. A rough plumbing inspection is expected this week. However, for the finished plumbing inspection to occur, the site contractor must complete both the septic system and the water water line installation. We're on track at this point. Cabinet making. The cabinet making shop continues to work on cabinets and manities. Mr. Stany and Mr. Massie are directly coordinating with the homeowner to ensure alignment with
012your needs. Thank you. Any questions regarding the host project? Okay, moving on. Surplus equipment C1 metal fabrication through the chair. Um recommendations. The superintendent director, the vocational director, and the school business manager recommend the school committee vote to place one slip roll machine in working condition valued at $100 and one pedestal grinder valued at $50 on the surplus equipment listed to be disposed of according to the surplus equipment policy using the most appropriate method available. So move second. Have a motion, a second. Any discussion? Being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? opposed. Motion carries. D. Approval to attend Skills USA state leadership and skills conference through the chair. Superintendent Director, the Vocational Director, and the School Business Manager recommend the school committee vote to approve participation in the Skills USA state
013leadership and skills conference to be held at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Malbor, Mass from May 1st through May 3rd for two advisers, eight chaperones, four high school students, 54 high school students, sorry, and four postsecary practical nursing students for a cost of approximately $34,040 for high school students to be paid out of account 53, Skills USA, and approximately 2,280 for the practical nurse program to be paid out of account 12334 PN student skills expense. So move second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. E. Approval of bid for morbid deli machine captain. through the chair. The superintendent director of the school business manager recommend the school committee vote to award the purchase and delivery of
014a new Moadelli machine through Atkins machinery in the amount of $148,100. So move the bid was just open this morning. Second have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Can you describe that machine in detail or a little detail as to what it is? Um I think I know but It's a CNC uh wood machine or mill work. So, custom trim, custom doors and panels and things like that. It's replacing an outdated uh past the juice for life. Seems any other questions? Being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Sounds terrible. F. Approval of balance transfer transfers through the chair. Superintendent, director, and the business manager recommend the school committee vote to authorize the proposed transfers to balance the accounts for the date ending March 26, 2025. So move
015second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. G. Approval of outofstate field trip one culinary arts Newport Harbor Brick Alley Pub through the chair. The superintendent director vocational director and principal recommend the school committee vote to allow 18 senior students in three chaperones to attend to attend an out ofstate field trip to Newport Harbor and Brick Alley Pub in Newport, Rhode Island on May 12th, 2025. Expenses will be paid using the culinary arts student activity account. What is what are they I'm voting for it, but what are they doing? So, they're meeting with uh let me get the greater detail. They're meeting with the owner. They're getting a um a tour of Newport and looking at all the establishments
016down there and then the owner of Brick Alley Pub is going to have them in for lunch. [Music] So, uh, the experience will allow them to see where and how their food, which they cook every day, comes from. They'll experience local cuisine and service from one of the most successful restaurants in Newport, Rhode Island. The visit will give the students a guided tour around Newport Harbor, learning the history of the fishing industry. They will they will then enjoy a 2-hour lunch with the owner of Brick Ali Pub, who will speak to them about the restaurant business, give a tour of the restaurant, and answer any other questions they have. tell you is pretty well known down here. Yeah. Motion. So move second. Have a motion and a second. Any other discussion? Being none, I'll call
017for the vote. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. H. Approval of 2025 2026 school calendar. Through the chair, superintendent director, and the principal recommend the school committee vote to approve the 2025 2026 school calendar as submitted. [Music] Motion second. Have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. I approval of student handbook revisions. The chair, superintendent, director, assistant principal, and principal as well as the policy subcommittee recommend the school committee vote to approve the proposed student handbook changes for the 2526 school year as presented. So move second. Have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. J. Ratify BP unit MOA July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2027.
018through the chair negotiation subcommittee and the superintendent director recommend the school committee vote to ratify the Bayath unit MOA dated July 1st 2024 through June 30 2027 as written so move second have a motion and a second any discussion being none I will call for the vote all those in favor opposed motion carries signing this now so I don't forget Anybody else [Music] think? There you go. Did you get both signature pages? Nope. I'll get on that one next. All right. Moving on. Information proposals report from the superintendent director through the chair. I've submitted a written superintendent director report. I can answer any questions. I will call out just a few key items here. Um we finished our fincom tour of the finance committees. We'll be starting very shortly on the town meetings for our
019budget. Uh on Friday, March 28th, admissions notifications went out to all our applicants for the class of 2029. We sent out 330 acceptance letters and have scheduled a virtual town hall meeting for all accepted students and families to take place uh this week, April 9th at 6 p.m. And placement testing for those students who choose to accept will take place on Saturday, May 3rd. Um so you may be getting calls from a lot of constituents asking, you know, what's the process? How do they get in? How do they go on it? Um so we implemented the process in alignment with the new the latest approved acceptances uh policy that you did. Uh there was a lottery component to that and it was a a qualified lottery. The students who were accepted and on a wait
020list uh they went into a lottery system. If the cutoff was at 99 and there were only four more four more spaces available but there were 20 students with the 99 they were randomly selected and that's how the lottery worked on that. Um so we unfortunately and I say unfortunate because we would take as many students that want our education uh I think disappointed way more students than we elated them. So 330 acceptances with you know over 400 500 uh weight list students on that. Um uh we tal we had a great another thing I'll call out is we had a great advisory meeting. It was well attended and we did a presentation on the proposed changes from Desi to Bessie on chapter 74. Um if anybody needs information on that the end of public
021comment is April 18th. So if you're thinking about reaching out definitely do it before April 18th. If you're looking for any templates from for business and industry, from students, from teachers, from school committee, let me know. Amaba has put together a whole library of, you know, where to start and then you can customize it, you know, as you see fit and send those in. Um, and I'll be sending letters before the end of this week to our legislators asking them to advocate for uh legislation from Frank Moran, which is looking to take um changes to those regulations out of the hands of Desi and put it in legislation because it is legislation where it belongs. Uh, and it's a very well-ritten bill that he sent out and again I can send that all to you.
022I think I've sent it previously, but just let me know if you need any of that. Uh, two other things real quick. I know. Bear with me. Uh, on Thursday, March 27th, Miss Barrett, assistant principal, I escorted out two superintendent scholars, Savannah Steiner from Healthtech, a student from Oxford, and Caitlin Anderson, electronic students from Charlton to the Wista County Superintendent Association Scholar Lunch where they were recognized for their outstanding achievements. Um, I did provide a write up for both uh Savannah and Kayn and um some pictures from the event. So, um we're awfully proud of them. Uh the best pictures though are of the pie throwing contest um Mr. Packard and our a whole host of our administrators uh including um Mr. McGawan, Miss Barrett, Rick Carrerero, Mr. trip. Uh Nancy Alpine and Dean Packard
023put themselves front and center in in the cafeteria and were bombarded with whipped cream pies to raise funds for the senior class. Uh so a good time was had by all of them. Uh and uh this week on um Thursday night, we look to recognize our most outstanding vocational student of the year at the 39th annual MAVA uh most outstanding vocational student award night at the beautiful uh Mechanics Hall in downtown Worford. This year we'll recognize and celebrate Manali Va a 12th grade health tech student from South Ridge as perhaps most other vocational students. Manali exemplifies academic excellence, leadership, and compassion. With a GPA of 4.3, she has earned certification as a nursing assistant and currently works at Arrington Hospital as a patient care assistant. Her clinical experiences span long-term care, care, and child daycare
024settings, showcasing her dedication to healthcare. As president of both the National Honor Society and the Leo Club, vice president of the class steering committee and treasurer of the student council, Manali is a respected leader. She's also an active member of the varsity basketball team, yearbook committee, and mental health support club. Her extensive community service includes volunteering for Special Olympics, tutoring students, and supporting a local animal shelter. Manali's ambition to become a physician drives her commitment to pursuing a premed undergraduate degree in nutrition or biology. As a finalist for a full ride scholarship at UMass Dartmouth, Manali stands as a shining example of dedication and excellence. Thank you. Oh, one last shout out. Uh, also coming up is a it was a site, sorry, is a career fair. And, uh, we currently have 40 businesses showing
025up to, uh, interview and talk to our students about careers uh, from all over our 10 district. And that is, I lost the date, uh, career fair, April 14th. April 14th. April 14th from noon till uh, 2, right? on that. 2:30 2:30. Excellent. You done now? Great job. Yes. Um, moving on to subcommittee reports. Audit subcommittee. I know Joe's not here. Uh, we accepted the audit last month, just to give a quick summary for those who weren't here. Um, moving on to budget subcommittee, I'm sure. Yeah. Just a u a shout out to all those involved in this year's budget went very smoothly. We once again were uh at minimum on our assessments to the towns. um which sounds very grateful. The proposed operating budget for assessment is 30,298,721. And as the superintendent uh told
026us, we're all through with our finance selectman meetings. Yes. And now we have our vote on the on the uh town floor. So we have a schedule on each one of our towns. Absolutely. Thank you. Building and ground subcommittee hasn't met yet. Negotiation subcommittee. Dave, thank you. Um well, we met previously tonight to um to recommend the approval of the MOA for the unit M. Um and thank you all for for voting on that. Also, um I to publicly thank, as I did in our subcommittee meeting this evening, um the members of the subcommittee. They've been putting in a lot of time, showing up to their meetings, uh which has been a lot of meetings in the last year and a half. Um so, I want to thank them for their support and their input.
027Uh the next uh the next agenda item for the uh subcommittee is the par profofessional negotiations and we'll be meeting again uh on April 30th at 5:30 here at day for that for the par professionals. So, I'm going. Thank you. Warrant subcommittee. Again, warrants are available for signatures by all school members at tonight's meeting and every month and during the day at school. Just call before you come in to make sure someone's there. Remember, it's important to sign those so we can pay our bills. Future business, meeting date, public hearing on school choice, and a regular school committee meeting will be held at 700 p.m. on Monday, May 5th in this room. topics for future agenda. See if the superintendent Leah or myself and we'll do our best to get it on the agenda. I
028should skip over E remarks from the superintendent director because I think he used his aotted time but anything further you could No, just thank you. Perfect comments from the committee. I uh before Mr. Chairman y policy subcommittee can I skip policy? Yes. Really? You're not doing a lot right now. Come on Pete, you can do it. I checked it off as I jump. Uh the policy subcommittee had met earlier uh for the 25 26 student handbook revisions and passing for for the school committee to approve which they have. Uh the policy subcommittee also met on March 25th. Uh we're continuing to uh look over all the policies with Tracy Novak and our next schedule meeting is next week, April 14th at 5:30. So we continue moving forward uh to revise the policies. Thank you. That's
029it. Sorry for skipping you because you are that's okay. You are working your tails off. Comments from the committee. Matt, anything? I'll move this way. Uh, I'm all set right now, but everybody have a a good spring break, I guess. Yeah. Thank you. All set. All set. Go ahead, Pete. Al, well, I'd like to know the time is passing fast and May 22nd is coming up for our memorial and I would really appreciate if the school committee members would show up because we're going to honor our deceased school member Al Ree and do our normal veterans uh memoriam going through the whole procedure of that. It would be uh I'm sure very comforting to the family if we could sit surrounded by school committee members that serve with so I appreciate that. Excellent. Thank you,
030Jim. No, George. M I like how you called it spring break, but do these guys look like spring breakers? But no, thank you for that report and um um lots of recognitions, but too many to list. Um some great athletic accomplishments, but see our teams underway. Skills USA um again, welcome back to teachers, administrators, and what all of us do on the committee. It's a it's a team effort. So, just congratulations to all moving forward and have a wonderful spring break. Don't let you do it, guys. Thanks, Katie. Um, I'm super excited to be going to the MA thing on Thursday, uh, to see somebody from South coming out doing so great. I had actually reached out to her attending school and they couldn't, they were like over there. They said we're not surprised. She's
031always been that kind of driven student the entire time that she was here. Um, so I'm really excited to experience that. Um, also say thank you to the vocations that have been coming down, not coming down, but helping out at the senior center in Southbridge as well. They just did a lunch in a couple weeks ago. Corn beef and cabbage coming to do manicures in a couple weeks and then we're having a big health and wellness fair. So, healthc will be there doing blood pressure screening. So, I love being able to get youth helping out co-mingling the ages. Um, it's awesome and I super appreciate everything that you guys all do. Your turn. Question. How much was raised in this pie throwing contest? Any idea? $350, I think. Can we have a few more? I
032mean, we should have this once a week. And the suggestion is Matt, you can bring this back to your class. How about how about suspend the principal? And what you do is you literally um have the principal three feet off the floor and just take the gorilla tape or whatever and and just tape them. Just take them a few pounds. Have you been through this before? I ask you just asking and and there are but it it is a lot of fun and I and I do thank administrators for involving themselves and um the kids get a kick out of it and it's uh it's kind of a day to get even. I'll bring it up. I'll bring it up to the steering committee because they're the ones that evolve since you retired, too. I
033believe they got better duct tape now. Absolutely. Gorilla. Yeah. And Marie, I just want to say congratulations to everybody that um superintendent um mentioned. It's really um exciting. Great things happening. Excellent. Don, uh, just want to say that, uh, the display for the women alumni of Bayath was they had ended up in the in the cafeteria last week and, uh, it was it was pretty cool. I mean, you know, the the library director really spent a fair amount of time and effort. It was a classy looking display. Sharp sharp looking and uh, really really at home. She does a great job here. very I just wanted to say along with Katie and looking forward to the Malam uh dinner Thursday night and um celebrating our Southbridge gal looking forward to it very much. Very proud
034of her. Excellent Dave. Yeah, echo what Don just mentioned. Uh the dinner I thought was well attended. Uh great coordination, food was outstanding. Um, and I do love also the the displays I thought were were really good. Um, do we take those displays and display them during a day and a half for the kids to see? We can look. They were um they were put up in the library media center. Okay. And kids going by. That's all. That's it. All right. Cool. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Good. All right. So, a few things. uh the student from Southbridge, that young lady, I just read a application she made for a scholarship to um the education foundation. I must say, what a remarkable woman. Just the story um you can't say enough good things about her.
035It's just incredible that that's a student in our halls with a vocation and a purpose to take that vocation and go even further. I mean, we're just setting the baseline and these kids are just going to reach for the moon. It's it's unbelievable. So kudos to the town of Salbury to have someone to go see this week. That's going to be just outstanding. You can tell. Um had our second working group meeting. Just a update for the committee with Nicole and and Dan who are both here tonight. Uh very productive. We're actually trying to get a third one on the agenda for May. Um we touch base on a lot of new things, circle back on some old things. Just fostering that communication and doing what we said we'd try and do. Um, still got
036high hopes that this won't go on forever, but if it does, at least we're fostering that communication to show that we are listening and hearing uh all the way around. Um, with that being said, I I don't think I have anything else other than I mean those recognitions, I'm glad to put them on the agenda because it's amazing what our staff and students are are accomplishing. Um, so with that, we will move into executive session for contract negotiations. that I'll entertain a vote to move into executive session for the purpose of MGL chapter 30A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body union DVPA level three agreements and to reconvene an open
037session only for so a motion a second so this will be a roll call vote Katie Yes means yes. Yes means yes. Yes. Is absent. Al Bean. Yes. Jim Caldwell. Yes. Justin Goer. Absent. Don Jet. Yes. Dave Grer. Yes. Mary Johnson. Yes. Myself is a yes. Helen. Yes. Don Montville. Yes. And Marie. Yes. Peter Sher. Yes. Tim Sher. Yes. George Scobby. Yes. Mike Tberry. Yes. Paul Trembley. Yes. Absent. Paul Dukawski. Yes.