001Bring to order the school committee meeting for Monday, May 4th, 2026. So entertain a motion to approve the bills. >> So move second. >> Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? >> Thank you. We also entertain a motion for the approval of minutes from the March 23rd meeting. >> I make a motion. I'll second. >> Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? Thank you. Dr. Mar celebrations. >> All right. So, I think we had some discussion, but I think we're going to start with Mr. Sarmach in the high school. >> He lost rock, paper, scissors. >> Good evening, everyone. Um, we have a student and a staff member of the month. Let me start with staff member of the month. Um, Mr. David Hilton. He couldn't be here tonight, but I want to read what
002was written about him when he's nominated by a student. Mr. Hilton is a true champion for students. He consistently inspires those around him to reach their fullest potential and makes himself available well beyond the demand of the school day. He is deeply committed to preserving our school's memories, rallying a dedicated team of staff and students to support that effort. Mr. Hilton is also one of the coaches of the first robotics program where he and two fellow staff members dedicate countless hours of work alongside students fabricating parts, building the robot, and guiding them through the entire process. Together, they create an environment where students are encouraged to discover their unique talents and abilities. He has a remarkable ability to get things done while bringing others along with him, fostering a spirit of collaboration and possibility in
003everything he does. Mr. Hilton is not just a teacher, he's a leader who opens doors and empowers students to see what they are truly capable of. So Dave could be here tonight with us, but I'll show you this. Our student of the month is Andrew Desi. ANDREW Andrew was nominated by a staff member. Several months ago, Mrs. Dilva connected me with a student who was seeking volunteer hours and expressed interest in helping with our food pantry. Since then, he has volunteered with me on multiple occasions, diligently organizing donations and maintaining the food pantry inventory. His contributions have made a tremendous difference. The pantry is more organized than ever thanks to the time and care he has dedicated to it. What makes I'm sorry. What stands out most, however, is his attitude. He approaches every visit
004with genuine enthusiasm and gratitude, always thanking me for the opportunity to help. Even as he is the one providing the an invaluable service to our school community, he is truly one of the kindest, most humble students in the building and I'm grateful to have him as a volunteer. really make it hard on him. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. I'm supposed to put it in the bag. Congratulations. >> All right. Now for our middle school staff and student of the month. Principal stuffy. Thank you very much. I am very excited to celebrate a very talented, very hardworking, and just remarkable 8th grade special education teacher. >> So, Mason, COME ON UP HERE. ALL RIGHT. IF YOU FEEL NERVOUS, JUST LOOK EMBELLISH. All right. Um, this is a this is a all the the quotes from her colleagues, many
005of whom are here tonight describing Miss Dixon and her work at CMS. Emily is an incredible student centered, dedicated, hard-working educator who goes not only the extra mile for her students, she goes the distance with their families as well, earning deep respect from colleagues across CMS, many of whom are here tonight. She brings a consistently positive attitude to work each day, creating an environment filled with energy, joy, and laughter, and often goes above and beyond, staying hours after school to help ensure that every child is getting the support that they need. She is a remarkable educator who consistently puts her students needs ahead of her own, acting as a mentor, supporter, and role model while maintaining high expectations to help them grow and succeed and meanwhile making the workplace not only more productive but a
006happier place to be. >> Congratulations. CONGRATULATIONS for putting up with them. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. Bella up here. Come on up. >> I've been looking forward to this all day long. All day long. >> All right. Come on over here, Bella. >> Bella, this is long, so get comfortable. Bella has and again these are all quotes from her many educators like endless emails of teachers wanting to describe their relationship with Bella and how awesome she is as a sixth grader at CMS. Isabelle has been absolute absolutely shining I'm going to start over. I'm going to start over Bella. Okay. Isabella has been absolutely shining on the life lab cart, bringing professionalism, confidence, and her signature sparkle to everything she does. She is described as an extremely sweet and caring girl, the first to make
007you a card if you are sick or genuinely ask if you need help. And she makes CMS a happier place through her kindness and positivity. Teachers note that she has shown such meaningful growth in navigating social dynamics and has demonstrated outstanding growth both both academically and personally this year, becoming an active and engaged participant in class who consistently contributes thoughtful ideas and shows increased flexibility in their thinking and responses. I'm like a third of the way through. Bella's creativity and talent shine both in and out of the classroom. She rocked the school play and will shine again this year in the talent show >> which she sort of won last year. And uh and she enthusiastically participates in school plays, talent shows, PBIS initiatives, and the coffee cart showing her commitment to being involved and
008supporting others. in the coffee cart she serves with the hugest smile and the best customer service and her teachers are beyond proud to celebrate her as student of the month. They highlight that working with her has been a joy, that she brings a positive energy to the classroom and truly makes learning fun and that even when it's challenging, a Bella joke can always lighten the mood. That is true. Her teachers also emphasize Bella's character and resilience. She tackles hard things with a quiet grace and has shown a commendable level of resilience, particularly over the last few months. she has taken seriously to many lessons on good sportsmanship and how to be a positive peer and made thoughtful, intentional choices throughout each school day to apply those lessons in real time. One teacher shares, quote, I
009have watched Bella grow and mature so much since the beginning of the school year, adding that they look forward to seeing her smile every day and maybe even a joke to make them laugh. With her dedication, resilience, and uplifting spirit, Bella is celebrated as a wonderful role model for her peers and a wonderful choice for student of the month. Bella, CONGRATULATIONS. YAY! >> CONGRATULATIONS. >> Good job. >> Congratulations. >> What do you call a nosy pepper? >> What? Jalapeno business. All right. And now for our uh elementary school awards, uh Principal Fresh. >> All right. This evening, um our staff of the month wasn't able to make it, but I'm still going to read her nomination. Our staff of the month is Mary Montila. She's an instructional assistant within our bridges program. She was nominated
010in recognition of her exceptional dedication, compassion, and professionalism in supporting her students. These are some of the things her colleagues said about her. Mary is deeply committed to helping every child succeed both academically and socially. Through her ability to build strong, trusting relationships, she is supporting me meaningful growth in her students communication, behavior, and independence. She actively supports them and encourages them to participate with peers. In the classroom, Mary works closely with teachers to effectively implement individualized education plans, always ensuring that each students needs are met. She's a tireless advocate who encourages her students to participate fully and confidently in all activities, empowering them to reach their highest potential. Not only does she ensure the success of her students, but she offers support to the teachers to take initiative to ensure lessons and materials are
011accessible to students and her teachers appreciate it very much. Beyond her direct work with students, Mary is a valued member of the entire school community. Among her colleagues, she is known for being caring, supportive, and always bringing a smile. She is dependable, collaborative, and consistently willing to lend a helping hand. Her calm demeanor and positive attitude help foster a positive and inclusive environment for everyone. Mary truly embodies the qualities we value most, kindness, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to student success. She does what it takes no matter what. And she is an integral part of our school and role model to all. And next, I have the pleasure of introducing Clinton's elementary student of the month, JAMES. And I think James has one of the biggest villages here tonight as I look around the room.
012You have a big fan club, would you say? That's cool. Big fan club. >> Yeah. >> These people aren't here for me. >> No. Sorry, Dr. James was nominated by several teachers including Mr. Brussler, Mrs. Warmer, Mrs. Whitley, and Mrs. Terrew. all of whom recognized him as a student who truly embodies personal growth. Over the course of this year, James has demonstrated remarkable progress both academically and personally. These are the things that they said about you. He approaches each day with a strong commitment to doing his best, even when faced with challenges. He has worked so hard to develop and use effective coping strategies, showing increasing independence and the ability to advocate for himself when needed. James is a natural leader in the classroom. He consistently shows kindness, responsibility, and a genuine enthusiasm for learning.
013He is respectful to both his peers and teachers and is always willing to lend a helping hand. What truly sets James apart is his empathy and compassion. He is deeply aware of others feelings and often goes out of his way to make sure his classmates are included. He'll offer support when something is difficult for them and he celebrates their successes. His thoughtful actions and positive attitude contribute to a classroom environment where everyone is feeling respected. James has learned to trust the team behind him and therefore is learning how to be a great team player. As the principal, I had to support this nomination because as educators, most would assume that we do all the teaching. But in James' two years at Clinton Elementary School, he has taught me a couple of times how to be
014a better listener, making me ultimately a better principal. And I'm grateful to James for having that kind of impact on me. We are incredibly proud of you, James, and all you've accomplished this year. Your growth makes you truly deserving of this recognition. Congratulations, JAMES. LET'S make sure you get the Okay. >> Oh, we going to come the other way. All right. Come on. Different. >> Shorten the distance. Congratulations, Bal. >> I love the bow tie. Very nice. Congratulations to all of our award winners. Um we're going to continue with our agenda. We would love for you to stay if you want to. Most folks don't take us up on it, but if you'd like to take pictures in the hallway, um please feel free to do that as well. Uh congratulations and we hope you
015have a great rest of your evening. Yeah. Do we have any public comment this evening? >> Oh, I always want to say public comment. >> Hearing none, we will close public comment. Do we have a student representative? I do not see Mr. Bates. >> No. >> Okay, good. CTA, >> nothing. Thank you. >> You're welcome. And thank you PTA. >> This is like the third round of the NFL draft. You've got about a minute 50 >> to figure out. >> Thank you for your time. >> Doesn't go dark. >> It's a puppy. >> There you go. >> We got a picture. >> Do we have a name for said puppy? >> Um, no. But if you would like naming rights, I'm sure we could work out a >> a deal. >> We don't know if
016it's a boy or a girl. >> Okay. >> But it's cute. >> And I've seen it move in a video and it's it's definitely um snuggly. It's very cute. >> Bailey doesn't like puppies. Okay. >> I just took my dog for a walk for like >> No thanks. I'm not going to be the handler. Um so just quick updates today. Currently we have 107 members. Um we have our CES spring book fair going on right now. We still have some volunteer slots available for the week and for the evening of May 7th. Um we did kick off the book fair on April 30th last week and had an evening event where we worked in conjunction with the fourth grade extravaganza and we had lots of families who even were not part of the fourth grade
017um come in and we had over $2,000 in sales in 2 hours which was surprising and fantastic and we sold all of the chachki stuff. So, we allowed parents the opportunity to see what it was like to say no. Um, and not many did. So, that was a nice little experience for us. Um, we've had an amazing turnout for volunteers to sign up for those hours after school so that we could have those opportunities for families. Um, we've offered them all a $10 certificate to shop the fair um for each of their shifts. We also give out $20 in certificates to each of the staff at CES. Um, we work very hard to make sure that all the students that do come to the book fair get a book. So, we have a special table
018with bargain books that they are able to pick a book from as well. Um, we'd like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the teachers and staff at all three schools in the district for their hard work throughout the year. Um, the impact that you have on CES families, CMS families, and CHS families is unmeasurable, and your dedication is truly inspiring to all of us. Um, and as a thank you, this year the PTA provided cookies customized at the fountain and lemonade gift cards um, donated by Raising Canes of Malboro. It's been a great supporter of teacher appreciation week for us. Um, our next meeting is Thursday, May 14th, which is a week after our typical only because there's a lot of stuff going on in the month of May, although it already feels like
019it's August. Um, and I think that's probably about it. I don't know. It doesn't scroll any more than that. So, >> thank you. >> Just cute puppies. And the Scholastic Bookf Fair is what is helping to pay for the $3,000 that is requested for funding for the puppy. Um, which is amazing because we can do half Scholastic dollars, which is to shop at Scholastic, and then half cash. Um, and CES does an amazing job with their book fair to be able to raise that kind of money. So, >> thanks for the work. >> That's about it. >> Appreciate it. Thanks for the update. >> Thank you. Anybody from CPAC? >> Hi. >> How are you? >> Good. Thank you. >> So just to report that multicultural was said even with fire alarm we have a
020huge uh people representing from South America, Caribbean, Greece and Japan. Um family are loving the event. They're asking more for next year. They're asking me if we can have a bigger place. I don't think so, but uh we're trying. And many business and services agencies are asking to be present in the multicultural. They're donating things they want to be present. Um I somebody went to a meeting in Lemonster School and they were talking about the multicultural there in Clinton public school. >> That's great. >> So I think it's getting better. family are getting very very excited. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> All right. Talk tomorrow. Over to you. >> Uh all right. So uh staffing updates. We did have one uh resignation. Christina Christie, special ed teacher at CES will be resigning at the
021end of the year. She's leaving to take on a leadership position in another school. So we wish her well. Um we'll be posting that. Um the CHS final exam schedule. Um you don't have to make sense of the schedule, but all we really need to know is that um they're looking to dismiss at 11:39 on Friday the 12th, Monday the 15th, Tuesday 16th, and Wednesday the 17th. So, since this is a slight change to the public schedule, we always vote to approve the early dismissal for the high school final exams. >> Pleasure to the board. >> I'll make the motion we approve the early dismissal. I'll second. >> Any discussion, questions? Hearing none. All in favor? Okay. Um, all right. Uh, next we have our budget update. We have our FY26 quarter 3 report. Annette,
022did you want to come talk about it or do you want me to go through it? What do you want to do? >> We can go together. >> Okay, come on up. It's been a while since I've uh digested it. you've been you've been away. Uh so in here is our quarter 3 uh FY26 quarter 3 budget report. Um so you can just kind of see where we're tracking on on different line items. Uh and that's been working hard to try to work with the town to kind of get things recoded in the right areas. A lot of times throughout the year things might just get initially charged to the grant to the general fund line that makes the most sense and then we have to go back and kind of clean it up and
023recode it to like a grant or something especially for split invoices. Um so I don't know Annette if there's anything you want to highlight from this report. Uh well basically um the big driver for the deficit is the tuition for special ed and transportation which we kind of anticipated a few months ago. Um the good part is that we are also anticipating a revision from Desi on circle breaker fiscal year R25 and that will probably give us another $116,000 which will wipe out our deficit and probably will help us uh move things around um if we need to. Uh there we also getting extra funding for homeless and vocational transportation but those funds usually come in during the summer and I have worked out a schedule with I am the accountant and we use that
024to offset the previous you know the fiscal year 26. So even if it comes in July on August, we will have the opportunity to transfer that money and uh use it for to balance 26. Uh so we are anticipating between 45 and $50,000. Last year we got 51,000 between both homeless and vocational transportation, which was a huge help. Um, and right now we have we've been working on the grants because we typically charge everything into the general fund and as we go through the months, we clean up the grants and make the final adjustments in May and June. So, right now we have about $415,000 that we're going to be transferring into the different grants to close them out too because we have uh deadlines for those. Some are due are ending June 30th and
025the other ones u September 30th. Uh we have like three dates. We have June 30th, uh August 30th and then uh September 30th. depending of where they fall then we have to move fast and make sure that those expenses are already done. Uh but other than that um so I I'd say uh what you're seeing here is that you know if you look at the special education uh tuition line item and stuff we're $533,000 over what was budgeted. That's what we keep that's what we've realized this year. We keep talking about this increase for next year that we have to budget for. Right. So, what we're doing this year, what Annette has been doing, um, working hard with the town is to basically make sure that we are finding every grant dollar, every reimbursement dollar,
026everything so that we can try to minimize the impact of that. So, um, you know, some of that comes with, um, you know, one of the things, one example I'll give is just I know like the early college grant we got last year was for about $100,000. maybe 125 >> 125 >> and that came after the budget was approved because we got that designation >> and that is a grant that was not a supplement supplant like grant right so it didn't have that restriction that a lot of the federal grants have so we were able to do is actually take some existing costs from our approved budget and allocate them into that grant as long as they were associated to the early college program and approved in the in the grant So by doing that
027that sort of like you know it's like how do you just find $400,000 in grants? Well a lot of it's the early college the innovation pathways those types of things which when we got those grants we were able to take things we had already budgeted as a district but they were eligible expenses so we when we got the grants we could move them in the grants and then those are the things like we said a lot of those are partial where it might not pay for all of a teacher salary but it pays for like these two classes that they teach that are part of the pathway or something like that. So we just kind of pay the person and then when it gets towards the end of the year now you recode over that
028portion. So, um, you know, overall, I mean, we we got hit with a lot of tuition this this year, obviously, that we know we're going to that's we've been talking about budgeting out for next year, but I think, um, like I said, I think Annette's been on really on top of it, trying to make sure that we were maximizing every eligible expense that we could. >> Um, and I think we'll we'll finish. We looks like we should finish okay. And she's showing now a a little uh a negative of 85,000, but that she said that might even go away if we get a little more of a uh a circuit breaker adjustment from the uh supplemental budget or whatever they were doing that from. So, >> all right. Any any questions on this year's quarter
029three? >> All right. And this is all like they do try to every time we do this, it's all encumbered out. So, we're hoping that it's a pretty accurate projection as we we're rapidly approaching the end of the year. >> All right. Any other questions for Annette or anything? >> Thanks, Annette. >> Thank you, Annette. >> Sorry, I'm trying to take little notes for Kelly. She's going to watch the video to do a good job, but I'm trying to make some money. >> Um, all right. So, in the same vein as the uh, you know, in budget here for FY27, uh, we have cherry sheet estimates. So, the, uh, they came out with the house budget. Um, as we could have predicted, there really was no change to the chapter 70. Uh that's been the
030the MO ever since the Student Opportunity Act was kind of being funded is once they decided to commit to funding the the S SOA, we got our number and that's pretty much what it was. So if you hear like, oh, they might increase education aid, like they don't mean us cuz we already got the student opportunity act increase. Um the there's some other little changes. A lot of them kind of seem to offset a little bit. Um I think, you know, our school choice receiving went down. Um, but I think like the school choice sending went down, the school choice reimbursement uh charter school reimbursement went down, but on the next page for the uh the charter school tuition uh amount went down. So, it seemed like a lot of those uh just kind of
031got got shrunk. Um, a lot of other things pretty much stayed the same. A little decrease for the town and the unrestricted aid. Um, but so no real surprises on that as far as uh for us, but I just always want to get in the habit. That's one of those things we pay attention to to make sure there's no changes. Uh federal grants. Um well, I will say this because I don't really have it anywhere else, but I did uh talk to when I was I talked to uh Mr. Ward the other day uh when I was up at the town hall and he said that it looks like as of right now um that they are trying to uh fully fund our budget request. So, it doesn't look like they're going to come back
032to us to ask to to cut from more because they know that we've kind of cut already to get to this point. Um, so, um, not quite sure how that's going to be broken up of like what's in general fund, what might be warrant articles, but it seems like that they don't, at least his update on the situation was at this point they don't plan on coming back to us to ask for any major changes. So, that's good news for us. Uh, we can keep kind of moving forward. Um, the federal grant update. Uh so there was a federal grant meeting on Wednesday. Uh title one, this is kind of the projection they now came up with for us. So when they updated like this, so remember if if you remember title one, they had
033the doomsday like people were going to plan on 85%. Then it was maybe it's not as bad. Maybe it's more like seven. So now uh that's where we're at right now was the uh 356 716 was our projected amount when they ran the projections. still not finalized yet, but that's what they're projecting. Um, if that's the case, kind of the major committed expenses we have, which are three reading specialists plus the MTRS that you have to do, uh, would leave us a balance of about $5,000 in that. So, we would be okay in title one. Uh, title two, they still they didn't come out with a new number that they did say about a 7% reduction. So, I just calculated a 7% with kind of what we have to have in there. That would leave
034us a balance in that grant that we might be able to address a couple other areas. Um, title three, same idea. Uh, that's, uh, this was a projection. So, the 54885 was a projection that they set out based on our enrollment numbers. So, that should be more of an actual grant. Um, which I think will give us a little bit of, uh, room in there. Uh, not a lot, but a little. And then title four, uh they they're project they actually the federal government increased f federal uh chapter title 4, excuse me, by 6%. Um so I think that that uh so I tried to build something in for that. But the so overall for those entitlement grants, those are the ones that are supplement uh supplement not supplant, right? So we can't use that
035to um replace something in the budget. It's for like new programs and those types of things. So, usually that little bit of money is what we're going to try to stretch to kind of like if there's a new training we need to do or something like that. Like that's how we're going to sneak it in. Um, when we do those applications, IDA looks like it says negative 25,000 on there. I don't know what that's going to be. All I know is I just level funded that, right? So, I said I haven't we haven't heard anything about what they're doing for IDEIDA yet. So I said if it was level funded, what would it look like if we kept the 20 uh approximately 20 instructional assistants that are funded by the 240 and 262? It would
036with their current salary schedule for next year that would be a difference of 25,000. We'd be short 25,932. Now I don't know, you know, we'll figure that out because we'll figure out what is the what's that actual projected amount uh once we go to the actual allocated amount. Uh we also have some openings for IAS that we're going to have to refill. So some of them are just kind of placeholder salaries. So we'll be able to see how that goes. Sometimes what we can do is we can sort of uh it's the same position but we can sort of like shift which person is in that position on paper so that it can kind of get the grant amount down if we need to or it just pays a portion. I mean either way if
037we can't afford it all it just gets moved to the general fund if we need to. So but I think that amount we'll probably be able to absorb in that I in the IIA line by the time it's all done. Uh and then the Perkins is very specific. It has to go for the career impro improvement. Uh the only thing we have kind of earmarked for that right now is some computer upgrades that we uh weren't able to fund in the budget that we know we need for the um engineering pathway. So all right, any questions on any of that? >> Sure. >> All right. FY26, FY27. And these are just some anticipated changes that we just like to review with everyone just so that a lot of these things we've talked about in either
038various committees or in these meetings, but just kind of puts it all in one place as we keep trying to get the 2627 school year to shape up. Uh, one that you might not have heard much about is Harper's time and attendance module. Uh, the town is moving to using that. Um, and that's one of the ones that we're getting we're moving to use. Uh what it what it would allow us to do is you know currently um you know currently on payubs right now like there's no your time off isn't visible on your payub right so if we start integrating the Harper's time and attendance module it would allow to get that um approval in the computer based on the the collective parking unit contracts as well as sort of an approval form so
039that actually would verify if time's available when someone tried to put in for time off. So, we're working on that. Hopefully, that'll help. It's another It's another goal of sort of like streamlining the payroll process as well. Um, navigate 360, uh, we already use that for Alice training. Um, however, the the Alice training has been updated. They now actually have student lessons and tabletop exercises, which are some things that we kind of started dealing with this year. So, it was good to know that they now have some we can probably continue with that. Also, we'll be using the Alice training to do the comprehensive school threat assessment team training. Uh, so those are kind of an example of like that uh threat assessment team training, those types of things. Those are things that I might
040try to put in like a title four grant under safe schools because that's kind of like a new initiative. Um, Clinton High School, we're looking at probably having a new split rotation schedule. Uh, basically it'd be the same core of the schedule they have right now. Seven periods, drop one, 50 minutes, a double. Um but you would have main change would be the rotation. They would have periods one through four would kind of rotate amongst themselves in the morning and periods five through six would rotate in the afternoon. Uh what that does is it kind of gives you some more flexibility in terms of like uh especially for like early college or career pathways. Like the vision is that you could in theory have like a senior or a junior who's in one of those
041programs who might maybe only come to school for the first four periods of the day and then they're able to leave in the afternoon to either go to work or go to the college campus to take classes which is part of what they want you to do with the early college um thing. Um we're also it's kind of skipping to the middle school one a little bit, but we're looking at doing a similar um rotation at the middle school for next year to try to better align so we can coordinate some of those things. So for example, our plan next year is that Mr. Francois, the high school music teacher, will also be the band teacher for the middle school. So he'll have four classes in the high school in the morning and then his
042prep duty and fifth class will be in the afternoon so he can go over to the middle school. So, the schedules don't necessarily have to be the same, but they have that kind of split that they can switch. Uh there's some course changes in here for the high school. Those were all approved with the program of studies earlier this year. Just kind of reminding you some of those new ones. Uh those are all advanced course offerings. Project Lead the Way um and AP. Uh we got two new dees innovation pathways and since I act since this thing came out or maybe it was the day of cuz I did change the word there to approved. uh we found out that the two new pathways business and information technology were approved. So that those ones we
043just applied for this year. So now we'll have three innovation pathways. We'll have the advanced manufacturing, the business, and the information technology. Um accelerating achievement, that's uh I talked a little about that. That's a DESI initiative focusing on building a community of best practice. Um the high school is participating in that. We'll have our first meeting with Desi on May 15th. We have a team doing that. Uh and then there were changes that we had talked about an EL teaching position and a guidance counselor position uh being eliminated. Uh the middle school uh I already talked about that a little bit about the seventh period. We're going to go to seven periods with the split rotation. Um so we're hoping that that gives us a little more flexibility in the day uh for services and
044music ensembles. So, uh, it might look more like kind of the windb block type thing at the younger grades where a lot of them might have that same extra time where that's but that would be aligned with the music ensembles. Um, but the older you get, the more flexibility there'll be in that schedule so we can kind of schedule you in. So, uh, we're working on that now. I was actually in a big conversation with, uh, Mr. Stephy and, uh, Miss Murphy today. Um, we'll talk about how that might work with our like uh TLC program at the middle school and what that looks like and how we can add that more structured class support for them without uh pulling them from another class. Uh, as far as course changes, uh, sixth grade math is
045going to be switching to the Eureka Squared curriculum. It's the same curriculum used up through grade 5. um they're wanting to keep that go to that in sixth grade um now that they've gone to the new Eureka Squared and that's a so we're going to let them do that next next year. Uh sixth and seventh grade will be doing the investigating history curriculum. Uh we got a grant from the 18 Foundation for that. They'll be providing our teachers with training. Uh we do have the language lab model we'll be doing next year that'll be a special for eighth graders that'll be using Rosetta Stone. Um, we did have we did eliminate the Spanish teacher for FY27. That's one of those positions that we're hoping that we can kind of bring back some of the more
046foreign language if we uh in not next year, but the year after when we kind of get the new building open and we kind of figure out the collaboration between the two schools to get more access to fullyear language courses for eighth graders so they can actually get on more of a track to get to like a fifth year or an AP year of a of a language. So, that's the long-term goal for that. The short-term goal for next year is using the Rosetta Stone as like a language lab, so it'll be kind of a computer-based course. One of the advantages to that is students will be able to take basically whatever language they want. They won't be restricted to just Spanish. Um, and even one of Rosetta Stone's most popular languages and most developed
047curriculums is English. So students who are learning English as a second language could use that time for that as well. I already mentioned the band uh staffing changes. Uh they reduce there's a reduction in grade five sections. I already talked about the Spanish teacher up there and then there is a a guidance counselor support at CES. Um so one of the guidance counselors at C at CMS will be going to CES um each day. So be kind of like a split position to help support third and fourth grade down there. We thought that was a good um it helped address the fact that they have the maternity leave and guidance down at the elementary school help provide support for them in guidance area. It also helps one of our counselors getting to know both the
048fourth graders and the third graders because both those grades will be moving up the following year. So hopefully it starts building that kind of friendly face. Um we are we have a meeting tomorrow looking at a rally cohort that's sponsored by the 18 Foundation. It's replicating applied learning instruction everywhere and one of the things that they talk about is discourse mapping. So basically a way to kind of do uh peer observations and and really looking at the level of like student conversation versus teacher talk in classrooms which is one of the things I like to see for the deeper learning or uh applied learning. Um so we have an initial meeting on that tomorrow to see we're not accepted to that yet but we were uh approached by them to to consider. Uh at the
049elementary school uh we did uh Miss uh Fr wrote a grant. I think she submitted it today um for the prism which is the early literacy grant as we are looking at trying to migrate from wit and wisdom to arts and letters. So same idea just like we went from Eureka to Eureka squared. It's like the same curriculum but it's their it's their updated version. Arts and letters is kind of the updated version of wit and wisdom. She's been working on um sharing that information with the uh teachers. Well, our plan, initial plan was to pilot it uh in pilot one module for next year. We think we're going to be able to do that with our existing budget whether we get grants help or not is to pilot it and make sure that they
050like it. Um but the response to what uh we have so far um has been positive. So, we did apply for the grant. If we get the grant uh we will um hopefully try to to migrate to a full migration. Uh, one of the things that's nice about it is they kind of repackaged the Witten Wisdom a little bit to make it a little more um friendly in the schedule. So like arts uh wit and wisdom was more of like a a longer maybe like 90-minute lesson where arts and letters is really trying to package that more in like a 60-minute lesson which is something that we were looking for because we've talked about trying to get more of the actual history and science instruction back at the elementary school level because there's been such
051a focus on just the reading and math for so long. So this would be a nice step to help transition that as like it's the same stuff packaged a little better. our teachers should be familiar with it and it might provide that little wiggle room in the day to start building in some of those other subjects. Um just some minor schedule changes will be at the elementary school mostly to adjust the wind block for third and fourth grade to allow the guidance counselor to come down and help out as you saw the picture of the facility dog. So we know that that's in progress. Um staffing changes obviously we did eliminate the assistant principal position and we did eliminate one section. Um and the desi they have been working at the dyslexia institute uh this
052year they're going to continue working on that on implementing tier 2 and two three resources with the MTSS. That's a continuation of that. So that's sort of what we you know we're just trying to get all our thoughts of like all the stuff we've been talking about in pockets this year and try to put it all on sort of one page of things we can expect for next year. Anyone have any questions on that or Okay, >> no questions. But I just thought just thematically, you know, this week in the news they talked about we do have some students that are over at Lester High School and they're taking up trades, which is awesome cuz we wanted to have that commitment to supporting our students that have interest in alternative education such as trades. And
053they were awarded a $3 million grant to establish HBAC and plumbing career technical pathing. So, I mean, if that continues to give us an opportunity to put programs in front of kids that will increase our enrollment there, um, that's an exciting opportunity that sort of fits with the theme of talking about curriculum for next year and upcoming uh, opportunities. So, >> yeah, they're doing a great job. You know, I think you went with us when we looked at the campus and the whole college campus there. So, uh, last I talked to their, uh, superintendent that they're allow MSBA is allowing them to do a lot of that, working with them for a lot of the renovations they need to do, and they're allowing to do that campus, multiple buildings on campus as sort of one
054big project, which is nice. >> That's great. >> Um, so now they got this award. So, I think the state recognizes that there's a demand and a shortage of vocational opportunities. Um, I think they look at Lester as a way because of the existing college structures that are there, they look at it as, I think, a a good way to get a return on investment by kind of retrofitting those buildings, not building from scratch. So, it's great I think that we were able to get in that partnership at the ground floor and um and hopefully that'll see continue to build. All right. Uh, policy. So, there are two policies in here. uh policy JLCD is just a revision. It's just got some the nurses reviewed it, the wellness committee reviewed it. Um but basically it
055was they just made a couple changes to this. Um so it was just sort of updating the language u to the some of the re the uh legal revisions. Um but it didn't nothing in here seemed to be a substantial change. Um and then so that would be an amendment. So, I think you could uh a revision you could you could approve that. And then J NDA is artificial intelligence. That's the second reading. I don't know if we've had any other anyone's got any feedback or comments on it, but we could approve that if you uh if you wanted to. So, you could probably approve both of those in in one vote if you wanted to or separate ones if you >> Sure. Pleasure of the board. Policies JLCD and JNDA. >> Make a motion
056of approval. This would approve them now. That would be it, right? There would be another meeting. >> No, that' be done now. Yep. >> Perfect. >> I'll second. >> Any discussion? Questions? Okay. All in favor? >> Thank you. All right. Uh, middle school building project is starting a cruise. Um, you know, they're built. It's neat. They they got a mockup. Uh so there's a wall. It's almost like a shame it's going to get torn down because I swear it could be like half of an office. But they build a what they call a mockup. Um so if you if you've walked around been on the site, it's kind of on the back where the on the geothermal wells and what they do there is they practice, right? So like someone won the bid for sheathing.
057So they put the sheathing up there and then the insulation and brick guys go and put theirs up over it so that they make sure that everything actually fits the way it's supposed to fit before you go start running it down a side of a building. Um so that's getting that was uh last time I was out there we were inspecting the uh brick work. Um which is amazing cuz you think like that's almost like finishes, right? You know that's a that's a final you're going to see. So, uh there's a lot of sheathing up the purple sheathing you'd see on the outside uh on uh that back version of the seventh and eighth grade hall. Um so they are uh yeah, they're moving right along and um so far so good and I think
058on the this Friday on the half day uh we've talked to them sort of like we did I think we might have done we did it in the late fall maybe or something with the staff. Um, but what we're going to try to do is another round of staff tours. So, we'll do one at like 12 o'clock, I think, one at 2:35 or 2:45, and then one at like uh 3:15. And we sent a thing out so staff could sign up. And our goal, we probably won't go upstairs cuz there's only one stairwell that that we can go up and down right now, but our goal is to at least cut through like the main walkway and go through the building as long as they're not doing anything crazy. Um, and uh try to let
059people come. So, we'll be doing that on Friday. If you have any if any of you have any interest in joining, I think it's 12:05, 2:45, and 3:15 were the three tour times. So, if any of those can work. Um, and I know Tina, I know it seems like you always have your work schedule's tough. We can always pick a uh Saturday or something if you want to try to go through. We can figure something out. Um, all right. So, other than that, the building part's going good. uh Culvert project traffic impact. So just one of the things I just want to share. I was in a meeting last week um basically the last week of school. So June 15th, that week they're going to start the Culvert project on Main Street. Now, it might
060have minor impacts supposed to only have minor impacts to traffic that week because they're going to start doing things like some cing samples or dra getting dewatering it. I think they were doing something. Um but then really basically June 19th, the day after school's out, they're shutting down Main Street um from Union to um church. So, right in front of Dunkin Donuts and Omali is there and it's literally going to be closed um while they do the culvert work. It's supposed to be like that for a couple weeks and then sometime sort of in the middle of June, July, sorry, they're going to switch and they'll be Main Street will be opened up again and they're going to shut down Church Street. So, Church Street will be closed from Main Street to Nelson Street there.
061But that's also going to include the driveway down into the back parking lot by the fire station. So that'll be closed from July like 15th and then when that part's done, it's kind of like the end of the project. So it's supposed to be like August 15th or something like that. So they know basically like that can't that needs to be done by the beginning of school. >> Steve, is that whole parking lot going to get paved? >> I don't know. I don't think so right now cuz I don't think they're going I know. That's what I asked. though they've um but at least for this phase of the project I don't know how far down they're going and I don't know but I know they're not going all the way cuz they said we
062could still use the fields like they won't be down that far but when they like repave that driveway I don't know how far they're going yet. I haven't uh haven't asked that. Um the so it will have an impact on our summer programs there. Um the uh we're we had a meeting today to talk about it. We'll probably have another follow-up meeting to talk about it. Um and it doesn't seem like you know you think like oh it's a summer it's like we're still probably going to have like 200 kids in that building almost every day at the elementary school between extended school year and summer enrichment programs. So and a lot of it is parent drop off. So there's still a lot of traffic that way. Um so we just got to kind of
063look at how we want to do that. In the past, what we have been doing is having more of like a summer enrichment in the back as a drop off with more of the educational programming in the front. Um, so we'll see. One of the ideas that was kicked around in the meeting that we didn't jump on right away was potentially doing almost like a a loop down Ash Street to kind of make it almost two-way uh for a little while, but um if we needed to do that. So, we'll probably have another follow-up meeting with the police and talk about that so we can work out all of the logistics for that. But it is going to be a mess. Um, you know, I know it's going to be a mess over the summer,
064but I'm just thankful that >> they're waiting till school's out and they're plan to get it done before school starts. Yeah. So, >> uh, you got to take take a little win. I mean, it's got to get >> of a challenging situation. >> Yep. >> Um, oh, go ahead. So, advisory, you want to take it. Do we have any updates on any of the advisory committees from anything recent? I can see there's a May 6th meeting coming up, school committee, uh, I'm sorry, um, scholarship. >> I was just going to say, Tina, I think you were on the email. You don't have to go to that meeting on the sixth, but that was just I wanted to make sure I reminded myself to make sure you knew the selection date, but you you guys are
065all set with that. You talked to Scott. Okay. >> Yeah, I think we're uh than that. Yeah. >> Anything under old business? Breny, I don't think you have to go to the wellness meeting. >> No, I'm not looking good either. Do we do the uh the national societ? Do we go as well? >> We can. >> No, do we we usually go? >> Do we sit down? >> Sit down. >> Do you guys process in normally in the >> No, we usually they usually have us sit in the front left wherever >> Mr. Zurich puts us. We'll sit. We're happy to sit wherever he wants. >> I don't get invited to autoc societies very often. So, >> so yeah. So we we can uh if you guys are coming just kind of find us when
066you're we'll find a place you guys want to sit together. >> Um that's all we have in the immediate future for for events. Yeah. >> I think the next one will be I think the next major end of year event I think might be the adult ed graduation >> 20th and then I think the step up graduation dinner is the 21st. You guys are probably invited to that and uh but we'll have our next meeting on the 18th. Oh, you're reading the list. I'm trying to go off my head but it's all right here. Huh? All right. Anything under new business? >> Um, yeah. The one thing and I talked before, I won't be on the school committee come Thanksgiving, but I like the board's permission to stay on and work with Bri Farrier and
067and the two athletic directors and keep pushing forward the Thanksgiving game. I know Bri and general probably brief as it's going, but um I like to see it through. I don't want to step on any toes. If you guys are have a problem with it, if you do, let me know and I won't do it. Just I prefer to do any good with that. Sure. So granted, sir, thank you very much. >> That's all I ask. I don't ask much. >> That's all. >> That's it. >> I don't know. >> The Oh, go ahead. You have something for us. >> We talk about the Memorial Day parade. >> We always end up coming with that cuz Memorial Day is uh it's like crazy. It's like a weird It's >> like 3 weeks from today. >>
06825th. >> Monday the 25th, right? >> I'll be around. So, yeah. be people want to >> I'll be there. >> People want to walk. Happy to do it. >> What did we do? Did we walk with the >> No, I walked with the Rotary. >> Yeah, you build on us. I'm being honest. >> Yeah, you cuz >> Did you feel guilty about that? You >> this rotary went up front giving out flags. There's like 14 people in Rotary right now. I'll show you how they balance it out. >> I'm teasing. >> Well, we usually just get have to get a couple kiddos to hold our >> Yeah. >> Yep. >> Banner. Yeah. >> All right. So, you guys want your plan is to you want to do that again? >> Sure. >> Do you guys
069have any line on kids or you want me to try to see if I can wrestle something up? >> Take the lead on that. Let us know how you make up. >> Get something out there. We'll see. >> And something to um >> give away or something. >> Yeah. >> I don't know what I have. >> You did erasers last year or pencils? >> Pencils or erasers? >> Erasers. >> I see if we got something. I'm sure we have a box of something. I don't know if we'll have enough to last, but we'll clean it out. >> I mean, you could always talk to the BTM and they'll hook you up with some glass. It also has pencils or erasers. >> There you go. >> Um, all right. >> Permission granted. We'll take you up
070on that. >> The last thing I just wanted to make sure or one of the things I wanted to make sure to say was just that um, uh, it is teacher appreciation week. Um, I think tomorrow is the actual teacher appreciation day. Uh so the um so we tried to you know send something out to teachers today. I know the PTA's been doing stuff. I know they mentioned that uh we also ordered a little gift. It's very little gift but it's something that we'll give to the teachers on uh Friday during the uh right before the half day on the Friday as a as a token from the district for our way of saying just a little thank you gift. So, >> um, certainly it's a I think it's a the job that gets harder
071and harder and I appreciate everything I think that our our staff does. I appreciate the relationship that I think we have with our staff, with the community to help support our staff and uh, so it's one of those weeks where you just want to take some time to say thanks to everybody. So, >> absolutely. >> I'll entertain a motion for adjournment. So, moved. >> Second. >> Great. Thank you very much.