001good evening my name is Rene Viera I am president of the dump educators association and I stand before you as an employee a teacher and a parent a couple of items on your agenda this evening one when you go into executive session I know you'd be discussing negotiations again the DEA appreciates the efforts that the School Committee has put forth in order to support us with the town in the Select board and we know the other item on the agenda this evening is a budget for fiscal year twenty one there are a number of ways that this town can help support its students we know that we're in the thirteen percentile for per pupil spending across the state and that's quite an embarrassment especially for a town that offers so many things well whether it
002business growth or Oceanside's you know and our excellent schools but our low tax rate in this town is appealing when you go to the town website there it is come on in live in Dartmouth however we can't continue and I many of you understand the conundrum that were in that we can't continue to offer quality education and to maintain services with increased costs whether they be technological costs building costs heating costs and we're put in a real tough situation you know it's hard for us to stand here before you knowing that you're doing what you keep and that you've spoken out for us but we're here this evening to let you know that we hope that you continue on our half and that mr. Crowley we understand that you're in a position where you know
003you have a number of people you need to try satisfied with the very small and we appreciate the work that you've all done to do that we're here to support you anything that we can do in order to increase the budget for fiscal 21 please know that we here and we just thank you for thank you cheering none will close public comment next thing on our agenda tonight is approval of a minutes so I will chair would entertain a motion to approve the regular session minutes of February 10th so moved second any discussion okay sure hearing none all in favor I will now entertain a motion to executive session minutes of the same night February 10th 2020 so madam chair with the stipulation they be held until the matter for which they were intended is
004concluded second chair hang none all in favor aye and so next on our agenda we have our student rep and Enrico he's here to update us on what's happening at the high school good evening everybody the DHS deca club did an outstanding job at the state competition recently Colin zoo placed first overall in Restaurant Management qualifying for international competition in Nashville Tennessee Colin also received recognition for placing first in a role play - and second and written marketing test in the Hotel and Lodging management event - various plays seventh overall and received second place in roll play - Sophia weight placed ninth overall in the category the theme of Riley Hanes and Orly Gonzales plays seventh overall in the hospitality services team event and the team of Adam Noseworthy and Alex Mathis placed eighth overall
005in the financial services team event the hockey team lost a close game yesterday in the division three South sectional championship against Hanover the team had an excellent season at a great tournement Ron the DHS Theatre Company recently traveled to Duxbury High School where they participated in the m80 G Theater Festival and a great job - the DHS robotics team for a strong showing at the state championship the 6th and 12th place finishes among 36 of the top teams across the state represented Dartmouth very well the world language department celebrated national foreign language week last week with the theme of with languages you're at home anywhere students and staff answered daily trivia questions and engage other activities aimed at sparking interest around the study of languages and cultures this week the class of 2022 will host
006a spike ball competition on Wednesday starting at 3 p.m. at the DHS music Department will host their annual Pops concert Thursday on Thursday evening the DHS debate team competed in an MSD L Division tournament on Saturday February 29th in Shrewsbury Senior John Gonzales senior Brendan Rico and freshman Morgan Melo all received a bid to compete in the state tournament this April thank you alright so thank you for that next on our agenda is we get to hear from Heidi Brooks and just Heidi or Rick just Heidi she we're lucky to have Heidi Brooks here to put a spotlight on student learning and all of the other fun activities that are happening at hotter school thank you I have sent a larger version to school committee and to keep within the time I've shortened it down
007but Rick says that you should probably get nourishment and there will be a short intermission well on behalf of the students staff of part of school I thank you for giving us this opportunity to show off Potter School currently houses 7 years of learners preschool through grade 5 this is amazing span of learning and more importantly as the foundation for the expanding educational experiences to come middle school high school and beyond a student's future success starts with a strong and broad foundation our goal is to foster productive members of society to that end we must intentionally socialize our students to treat each other with kindness encourage risk-taking foster a variety of academic and non-academic interests all in an effort to inspire them to set and achieve goals continuing in a forward trajectory at Potter school
008for a small number of students that path starts in our preschool but for most it begins in kindergarten and continues until 5th grade a school is never a mere structure made of bricks and stone it's made from memories successes failures first love's heartbreaks and part of everyone's childhood but as hard as our teachers work to plan just the right lesson with just the right amount of breath to capture a span of understanding when our students reflect on their elementary days it is not those lessons they remember with fondness we have a wealth of resources in our region which some of our students and their families would never visit if it would not first goal field trip this could be due to cost to distance to knowing these destinations exist through our process of identifying a
009destination or presentation at a destination that enhance our program of studies we create shared experiences for our students that expand beyond the walls of our classroom arts and enrichment begin brings programs to Potter some programs ban pre-k through Grade five while others are grade specific some programs are sponsored by the district however most of these programs listed here are funded by our PTO our PTO like many PTO s make school memorable while we would have loved the students to remember the are inspiring long division lesson the mind-blowing spelling pattern for the magic of school lunch it is the above and beyond the traditional school experience that becomes the fondest memories of our students long after leaving Potter our PTO funds most of our arts enrichment activities offsets the cost of transportation and admission fees for
010field trips as well as a host of additional expenses that directly benefit our teachers and students plus our PTO has taken on the task of organizing family experiences to create a neighborhood community feel allowing students to interact with school friends while their parents expand their social circles as well we have our annual Halloween party family fun at the Dunkin Donuts Center every Friday in March our PTO sponsors activity nights paint night bingo night puzzle night movie night this year we're adding a dance party our fifth graders run a concession stand at each of these events to help fund their fifth grade party speaking of fifth grade party our fifth graders are sent off with an end-of-the-year tradition a theme inspired party to celebrate with their classmates and our end of the year would not be
011complete without our annual cookout and field day another tradition we combine the typical field day activities with the coolest inflatables for a day of fun this is a rain or shine event Albert Einstein said play is the highest form of research and we're thrilled that the elementary level still has recess our PTO sponsored a playground beautification day where we painted activity at areas created a natural play space with logs and stumps for climbing and building our yoga valley is a popular spot and mrs. meadow our art teacher added her artistic talents to some permanent works of art on our playground our playground is more than just a space for recess it's our outdoor classroom we have purchased an assortment of big toys for organized games and there is truly no better sound than children running
012and laughing at play and teaching kids to count is fine but teaching them what counts is best we are uniquely potter every school has its own unique blend of energy at Potter we try to expand our children's minds by expanding their world our part of traditions combine our love of country family school and each other we have PBIS school-wide celebrations rain or shine we celebrate our Halloween with an annual parade we love our garden a de F grant started us out nearly 10 years ago with four raised planting beds and we've expanded to include a 30 by 30 enclosed garden and a tree farm celebrating our work with UMass Dartmouth Jane Goodall's roots and shoots program our organically grown garlic offered for voluntary contributions at farm and Coast supports our modest budget our Earth Mother
013and Goodman will be recognized in April by the Dartmouth Grange for her efforts she would receive the educator of the Year award since the spelling bees inception since the spelling bees inception Potter school has contributed three award-winning costumed teams each year and we are happy to fill the ranks of the Miss spellers our annual Thanksgiving assembly combines a celebration of veterans and first responders a chorus of holiday songs leading up to the annual arrival of Albuquerque turkey Potter supports Potter our port Potter families a generous to their neighbors in need and we cannot thank the high school bill Kingsland and the music department for this annual gift our staff and students treasure this experience and we love seeing our former students several years ago our PTO gifted us a peace pole this peace pole is
014a daily reminder that we can only control what we can control and may peace be in our schools this year's Super Bowl challenge brought in three thousand two hundred and ninety six non-perishable food items for our largest donation to the council on Aging's food pantry this is one of our favorite assemblies and highlights Potter school's selfless giving we use the energy of our preschoolers through 2nd graders to pump up our students in grades three four and five in advance of MCATs testing we line the halls for our own version of a rolling rally our youngest students create messages of inspiration which they deliver to our older students on test-taking days and mrs. Laurie Murphy has created an EM cast video which incorporates all of our staff as well as messages from professional athletes and celebrities
015on occasion Potter gets lucky and has a presenter that leaves an impression mark wood one of the founding fathers of trans-siberian orchestra's spent a morning at part of school and made the violin the most popular instrument this year our fifth graders teamed up with DC TV and the Greater New Bedford Regional Refuge Management District to create public service announcements focused on the band use of plastic bags these PSAs may be seen on DC TV linked to the refuge website and on Facebook several years ago we created a placeholder in our schedule for every classroom to ensure that our students were exposed to stem opportunities working as grade-level teams the teachers created a Bank of stem lessons that incorporated their grade level science and math standards into an engaging learning experience offered initially as an experiment
016this block of time has become one of our students favorites this year we were finally able to create a dedicated space for our instructional technology teacher miss Sandra chica the stem lab is the home to all the cool toys and tools available to our digital natives green screen Osmo coding bots 3d printer our elementary students have it all no manuals are needed in their hands they create and recreate with an energy not seen in any other area of our building this year Rick and I were asked to be the shark tank judges for our AI stem club just like our TV version mr. wonderful and I put our product designers through the test do ya wanna scuba our second grade geography play is an annual highlight to the school year these catchy tunes play in
017our heads long after the curtain closes Potter's polar plunges thanks to former student M Acharya who challenged Rick and I to plunge the Potter school team has made an annual pilgrimage to the water's edge to support a Special Olympics program if walls could talk guards would say thank you mrs. Neto our art teacher has created interactive models that delights our visitors during open house and combines our back-to-school messages what lifts you up be the eye in kind these have become favorite photo op spots our fourth-grade peoples promenade gives purpose and audience to a whole new meaning to our 4th graders as they learn about a famous person then need to dress in character and a paragraph highlighting this person's contributions we cannot wait for zet free to rejoin us for our booster fun run his
018energy sparked all of us our family surpassed our wildest dreams capturing a donation from each of the 50 states having over 70% participation and raising nearly $20,000 for our PTO after seeing the student athletes at Dartmouth high school signing on to college sports teams we thought we'd add the same excitement to signing onto part of school incoming kindergarteners and new dupatta students alike created this unique social media post and finally the North Branch has opened and the Potter school students are excited to get their first official library card and be able to borrow books we are hopeful that the branch will expand their hours in the fall so that our students can make this a weekly visit educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all what you believe behind is not
019what is engraved in stone monuments but what is woven into the lives of others Potter school has benefited from many years of consistent leadership the success of Rick and I gather is the direct result of the administrative teams before us John Fletcher and Carol Cara Fotis John Friday yellow and Jackie Figueredo Jackie feeder Figure Ito and I Jackie Figueredo and Deb Cavanaugh Deb Cavanaugh and I and now Rick and I but administrators can only do so much and ultimately part of success comes from our family like every family we can drive each other crazy but we are better together we believe in each other we believe in our kids they are our why Rick and I have had a good run we've put seed pushed each other to be the better versions of ourselves and
020together we've been able to bring the best in the 4:7 ultimately we've made Potter our happy place I am confident that Potter's legacy is in good hands and Rick and Melissa our kids are depending on it thank you thank you mrs. Brooks in everyone else it bought a school that partook of that wonderful video / slideshow it's obvious that there is a lot more going on and a lot different types of learning and gives the students a reason to be there and congratulations job well done man personally good luck in the future thank you so I had the opportunity to go up to the North Branch Library last weekend and I am so delighted for Potter yeah it is a wonderful resource and I was amazed like I Drive on the road and they look
021far apart but then you get up in the building and they're so close and it's just a beautiful building and I'm so happy that that is there for you I think it's gonna be great for the students and then I also just want to say thank you for your leadership over the years it's always great to hear stories about what's going on on a Potter and we deeply appreciate your leadership there thank you so is this called the the Heidi Brooks farewell tour Potter is a it's a wonderful family both my kids went through there you highlighted a lot of the great programs and a lot of the great aspects of Potter's school the community but something you said that does stick and I think is really true is the the consistency with the leadership
022between you and Ric and you know you give your predecessors that came before you and of course the wonderful staff at Potter but oh there's just it's remarkable the things that have gone on through the years and the kids the the pictures of the students you know that's a testament as well so I wish you the best of luck thank you mrs. Brooks and your future endeavors but um and I'm sure I'm sure we're gonna continue on true moving forward and lots of great things to come so I look forward to the future as well and so thank you thank you yeah I just love where you went with this presentation because a lot of times we kind of stay focused on you know your your school improvement plan or district plan and how it
023kind of relates and that's all very valid and well and good but what I loved so much about this presentation is is knowing you is know is knowing how authentic and true every single piece of what you've shared that you probably don't take credit for that your team has built it's just wonderful to know what incredibly empathetic and contributing young little humans you are educating and our future is so bright and so when you talk about our town and the pride that we need to have it comes from the classroom and that drive to really create these well-rounded amazing little humans who will one day be well no I wish them well sitting in this seat you know contributing to our town the town of Dartmouth and how how likely it is that they'll stay
024here and contribute here because of how you made them feel so thank you for this this was a wonderful presentation thank you we do call Potter a legacy school we have a lot of repeat families you know we sadly I can say that Rick and I do walk you know they walk through the door and we realized that they were off on the students and they back and enough time has passed it's not like they're very young family parents but it really is it's great and they enjoy it and they come in and they want to show their their kiddos or their spouse the halls that they walked and the bench they sat on and yeah the gym which now seems so much smaller to them and always does right but it's a great place
025okay now we're going to turn it to some old business and the beginning of that list is mr. Kiley if you'd be so kind as to give us any update that you can on the fiscal year 21 budget so our work with the town side of government which is pivotal to the overall but you know I think that that is an important aspect that we still need to figure out and I don't still don't have answers but I think that from our perspective at this point we wouldn't recommend any any changes to what we've proposed previously and it certainly you know like to have discourse on that if you have any questions about the budget we'd be happy to entertain them but at this point it's presented the way it is and we don't we
026don't have any further changes dr. Gifford and I have been you know actively engaged with the town side of government on this and continue to be and especially as it relates to collective bargaining which we'll be discussing later in executive session but at this point we are standing with what we've previously okay mister Thank You mr. Fayyad dr. Gifford any change in the town numbers from Friday afternoon I mean I guess I'm being facetious here but have they changed any no no okay you know where I'm going to still the same yes okay Wow so we're two weeks away from the public budget hearing are we gonna get look I'm trying to be honest and be real here mr. kyliyah we is there any expectation that you think those numbers gonna change drastically in the
027next two weeks the town's numbers the town's numbers cuz right now where we're about four what about four hundred thousand apart yeah I I do think that that there is potentially some or some opportunity for that to change between now and then dr. Gifford and I have had a very recent conversation with the town side of government we're hope we're somewhat hopeful that could be a positive change in the next two months away from actually needing to vote on this so and we really will need to vote at that time in some way so the pressure is on for sure but but yeah it's an ongoing process for sure do you want to I because you know as you know we had the budget subcommittee meeting my colleague Carol's not here dr. Kara photos isn't
028here do we want to talk about any of the changes any of the proposals I think that at this point we're not recommending any change so we're leaving this budget the way it is and then we can have that conversation in the coming weeks as to what we're gonna do it's possible that it could change on the 23rd it's possible because I think this committee is gonna look for an answer from central office I understand - what what are we gonna do how are we gonna vote this budget and as it is and take it - you know let them either try to find the money or tell us to reduce it put it on them put it on the town to reduce it but at some point we don't have a recommendation when we're
029not recommending that you looking to reduce this budget right now at this point yeah okay so I mean I'm inclined if we can't come to an agreement to put this forward as it is this is not we're not asking for more this is a level services budget despite some assertions that we are asking for quote unquote the best we are not I wouldn't be ashamed if we were asking for the best right I mean why shouldn't we be asking for the best for our children I'm so angry about that right now that is an insult to the children of our town to tell them that they do not deserve the best I would put this budget forward as it is and not recommend cutting that's me personally because we're not even asking for the best
030we're not even at average right we're not even close right so we have been asking for quite some time for more resources from the town and we've been told it's not forthcoming I don't I don't know what we can do right without erasing the gains that we've been able to make over the past several years so I am not inclined personally to support any cuts to this budget we as presented it because we're not asking for anything more the additions we've added are offset by things that we're taking out so that's just my personal maybe the town will get closer to where we are but if not and when we have to vote I'm inclined to vote for what we have yeah I mean as my colleague said you know this this is like we're
031not asking for a lot and the quote was we want the best but we want everyone else to pay for it I'm unashamed to ask for the best version yeah wheats an insult so be it yeah we're not asking we're not asking for the best you know but sadly we're asking for very little you know I'm not inclined to ask for any you know typical for a reduction I how can we really yeah you know and and you talked about you know I don't know just I was very disappointed at the last Select board meeting and to hear some of the things that were that were said we have miss Heidi Brooks up here building these empathetic future contributing members of our society yet you know another quote was that we lack the empathy for
032fellow town people because we're supporting or or asking for something that isn't the best that's far from the best in looking at all the parents that are contributing that are volunteering that are raising twenty thirty thousand dollars for our kids to participate in these extracurricular activities filing for grants and the Dartmouth Education Foundation contributing just in just great amounts to really just maintain what some of the progress that we've made it's really difficult I mean there's not a lot of money going around but another thing that was mentioned that everyone needs to set priorities and I think it's really about time that we set a priority that supports the future education of our students and that includes every staff member I mean every everything that's in there and then some so that's all I have
033to say no but thank you for yeah since we're gonna go down this road I'm I'm quite honestly really frustrated and disappointed in some of our select board members and in some of the comments that came out of their mouths during that meeting where they took up the override that without they knew about this we push this for that forward to them a while ago and it wasn't until it was the last minute right before the deadline to put it on the ballot that now we're gonna now we're gonna start a whole new committee and we're gonna explore it for the next several months I mean just say it's just really disheartening that that it's just a couple of the members in the tone the tone they took during that meeting but I do agree
034that you know if if that's the the pleasure of this committee and moving forward we really should be asking for more than what we're asking for yes mr. Nunes sorry that's okay my turn to pontificate this is a mural and I had a brief discussion where we got here tonight and I was let her know that I was not happy after last Monday night's meeting I caught the tail I walked in late so I have not heard the comments I've heard of them so I'm not going to pass judgment per se but I'm not happy that they decided they wanted to throw us under the bus okay it's as simple as this this is a town override for town employees and retirees not the school not just the school teachers with all due respect and
035I appreciate them here where are the rest of the town employees with this process that's gone on they haven't showed up they haven't been you know I've they've been knocking on the doors at selectmen I don't know I haven't seen them there but you know there's nothing you know the selectmen of drag their feet we had this discussion back before the holidays they got in the January you know give it a cursory glance you know had a brief discussion in February and said all right we'll be back in March and at the eleventh hour it's like we can't do anything because we don't have enough time to properly fund it well you know shame on them because they've had time to work on it they knew where we were where everybody was I mean when
036you look at this budget I mean there's oh there's over seven hundred eighty thousand dollars of items not wish lists things that we needed textbooks teachers you know supplies things of that nature okay therapists it's what we needed last year we were nice people a nice committee and we gave him back seventy five thousand dollars because they needed at the balance the budget well it'll be a cold day when this this person votes for a reduction as far as I'm concerned our budget going forward is the budget we have I never had all services never is every time I turn to just couldn't catch that part of the meeting so with all difference I didn't see it so I can't comment about it much as I would like to throw somebody under the bus I
037can't because I don't have all the facts [Laughter] so thank you for that so let's move on now next on on our agenda we have the second reading in the vote correct Michelle Roy will review the revisions to three School Committee policies JB equal educational opportunities jf a B F educational opportunities for children in foster care pre-k through Grade 12 and jf abd homelessness students enrollment rights and services so the only adjustment we made from the first read was in the spelling of pens jocular all the others are put forth in the same manner that they were the first reading okay anybody have any questions if not could we take them all together and in the vote if it's the pleasure so I will entertain a motion to vote to accept the revisions to J
038be equal education opportunities jf a BF educational opportunities for children in foster care pre-k to grade 12 and jf8 B D homeless students enrollment rates and services so moved second okay any discussion cheering hearing none all in favor okay thank you for that and so we move to superintendents update sure so a couple of things we have moved along with the school choice application process having received approximately 65 to 70 applications so um with with Kate's help we are sending out those acceptances people are returning them from the choices that we've made with the lottery I just wanted to recognize a few people that the DSM a sends a letter about I think you've received in your packet but I'd like to publicly recognize ed Egan Kahlo and Jose Freitas custodians on duty the day
039of the February 22nd nespa indoor percussion show and like I said the DSM a was very happy with the help and the friendliness and all of the support that they give them for that event and sent a nice letter and which I have since also sent them thank-you note which will okay yeah and also Brittany Medeiros cafeteria worker who really supported that event that day so it's always nice to have other groups recognize some of our employees that step up to the plate and go above and beyond as you probably remember we have starting a strategic planning process tomorrow so we will have about thirty folks in the Quinn community room starting that work on that and I wanted to recognize mr. Tebow and Gen Thomas our instructional tool having presented at the mass Q
040Leadership Conference last week and both of them did a fabulous job and both of their sessions were well attended gen presented on various applications for teachers use in the classroom and really has a great way of presenting folks really really appreciated that and mr. Tebow presented on the schedule how they implemented developed a schedule here at the high school with the pace period visor II and the various opportunities that it offers students and once again we had a few folks come up that were very interested in that being on committees I guess at their own schools that are looking to do something similar and then last but not least obviously we are staying on top of the coronavirus issue as I mentioned last week we we've met with local board of health a couple of
041times and keeping each other abreast of what's happening we're putting out resources as we find them on our Facebook page and website and keeping in close contact with various school districts and how they're addressing what they have an issue with a particular person student whatever it might be we did postpone the two international trips that were set for April due to the guidance from various health organizations and we are in the process now we chatted about that today of we're going to be increasing cleaning process throughout the schools enhancing what we're already doing to try to do what we can do at this point mm-hmm so we'll continue to keep the public abreast of any changes through our email blasts etc so thank you can I say related to just one comment and one question
042one please don't come to school you're sick please stay home if you're sick but also our campus is sort of deep into planning for potential school closures I wonder what sort of guidance dusty is giving and what sort of we're doing I hope it doesn't come to that but I'm sure you are sort of thinking about what happens if that's the case and could you maybe talk a little bit about what's being done on that front because it will affect a lot of families if you know kiddos have to stay home one thing right now the only thing we have again deci hasn't been much help at all in that respect I don't think anyone knows what to do we in consultation with Kristy she with the Board of Health the one thing if we
043see something happening here where we get some positive results of whatever I think will really take off on deciding from there he would want to be in the know they will consult with state health officials as well on those kinds of big big decisions but deci isn't you know we were actually my last week at the executive board from asked the mass executive board and we've put forth questions that certain folks will be taking to the Commissioner about make up days or even M casts those kinds of things so we did put together a number of questions that people are just unsure but they will be meeting with the commissioner at least from the deci point of view how does how do we handle those pieces but it's ongoing okay I'm going consults and staying
044on top of it at this point thank you it's a tough one thank you so I actually don't have anything else other than what's been mentioned here anybody have anything to share yes yeah just two quick things to the I know spring sports deciding next week and good luck to all of those teams and winter sport teams that had an unbelievable season that was great girls and the boys and the track team and everything so that's fantastic but and I know Brendan mentioned it a little bit but this Thursday night as I ran Yule Pops concert that the Music Association puts on in the music department doors will open at six o'clock it's five dollars for adults three dollars for seniors and students the concert starts at 7:00 and every year there's an honoree and
045this year's honoree is going to be mr. Kingsland who's retiring so he's our honoree so which is well-deserved and you know looking forward to it so that's what's going on okay I guess I just gonna say just on that know do we have any updates with interviews and how how that process is moving so the committee met and reviewed the applicants and selected five to interview and we developed the questions and we'll be interviewing on Wednesday from 2:30 to 5:30 and the hopes of putting three forward to the superintendent okay all right so our next meeting is scheduled for March 23rd 6:30 it is our public hearing it will be posted in advance that will be our public hearing for a budget the budget will that be here in this room yes okay so right
046here where you sit and so we'll see you there with that I will entertain a motion to adjourn into executive session to provide an update with respect to collective bargaining with union personnel not to return into open session so Kathleen emerald yeah yes Chris Oliver yes Shana Jenkins yes Jon news yes [Laughter]