WPS School Committee Meeting Nov 18, 2025

001Good evening everyone. With the time being six o'clock p.m. on Tuesday, November 18th, 2025, I will call this meeting of the Webster School Committee to order and ask that we stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance 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. >> As a reminder, this meeting is being recorded, both audio and video, and will be posted on the district website. The first item on the agenda is the discussion and approval of the minutes from the October 28th, 2025 meeting. Is there any discussion around those minutes? >> Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to approve them. >> So move. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Uh Desiree,

002would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. Motion passes. And the next item on the agenda is a superintendent report. Good evening, Mrs. Pangeli. >> Good evening. Thank you. Hope everybody's doing well tonight. Um I'm first going to start with our personnel update. Um we have no retirements at this time. I would like to announce a new hire and welcome to the Webster Public Schools, Mr. Scott Calhoun, who will be a power professional at Bartlett High School. We did have a couple of resignations. Uh we had Leah Dufalt, who was an ABA at Parkav Elementary, and Mr. Scott Williams who is a custodian at Bartlet High School. We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors. And there are no transfers at this time and as you can see with vacancies, we are

003still struggling struggling with the hire um of par profofessionals and ABAs. We are currently actively have posted the um adjustment counselor that we announced last at the last meeting and the custodian position. So, you know, hopefully we'll be filling those shortly. We continue to post our ABAs and update as soon as possible. Whenever we get new candidates, we are interviewing and doing our best to get them in. Um, but it continues to be a struggle to fill those positions. Um, is there any questions about personnel? No. Great. Moving on. Under instructional update, I am very happy to see that we have some guests with us here this weekend. I mean, tonight on Tuesday, not this weekend. My my mind is going to Thanksgiving break is almost here. We're going to get there. Um but um

004I'm thrilled to have uh Mr. Nathan Cole, student at Bartlett High School, and his family here with us this evening. Um I am happy to announce that Mr. Cole will be receiving the academic uh certificate of academic excellence award um along with the superintendent scholar. Um the purpose of distributing this award in the fall is so that um you know typically uh awards are given in the fall I mean in the spring when you're graduating and this way when we do it in the fall MASS um it allows the students to put it in any college applications and add it to your resume as you're looking for your forward to your next step. um as an educational leader in the community and Mass Association of School Superintendent has designated the award for academic excellence. These

005awards will be given to high school students across the state um who have uh in pursuit of their excellence during their high school careers. The three criteria for these awards is uh three-year cumulative average ranking class uh a personal selection by the superintendent and a have leeway within the f uh 5% of the class in the top class. So this year's recipient is Nathan. Nathan Cole is a high achieving senior who currently holds the top rank in his graduating class. He's maintained the number one position throughout his junior year and continues to lead academically as a senior. Nathan is enrolled in the manufacturing pathway and is gaining valuable technical experience through an IT internship with the local middle school. A dedicated scholar, Nathan has consistently earned honoral distinction every quarter of his high school career.

006He challenges himself academ academically, having completed one AP course as a junior and expanding his coursework to three AP courses in his senior year. That's awesome. In addition to his academic excellent, Nath Nathan is an active leader in his school community. He has been a member of the National Honors Society since his junior year and currently serves as the NHS president, exemplifying his commitment to scholarship, leadership, service, and character. In addition, Nathan was a part of the team that helped Bartlett win this year's PLTW award. Nathan's blend of academic achievement, leadership, and hands-on technical experience reflects his strong work ethic and dedication to excellent in all pursuits. As part of this recognition, Nathan is also invited to attend the Wester County Superintendent Association annual scholar um recognition with Miss Miss Neves and myself in the

007spring of 2026. So that's a lunchon we'll attend at the end of March early April where students across the state get recognized from Central Mass. So I'd like to give you this certificate, Nathan, and congratulate you and say thank you very much for being the best of Bartletts. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. There you go. Thank you. Congratulations. There is that is no easy feat. And um it is wonderful to see Nathan around the schools. I was over at the middle school and I seen him firsthand at work working on the Chromebooks and helping out over there. uh he is always so very polite. Um you know just represents the best of what we have here at Bartlett. So I want to thank you for that, Nathan. Um and

008I'll open it up to school committee. >> Congratulations, Nathan. And congratulations to your mom and dad, too. I'm sure that it's a group effort when it comes to raising such a wonderful human being. And um it's nice to hear all the great things that you're doing at Bartlett. Congratulations. Anyone else have anything they'd like to say? All set. Thank you so much, Nathan, and congratulations. Congratulations. And we look forward to our lunch in in the spring. >> You're probably saying, "I get to spend the day with you, Miss N is not a real treat, but it's a treat for us. >> It'll be fun." >> Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Congratulations. >> Such a nice young man. Okay. So on Wednesday, November 5th, moving on in my report,

009we met with our SOS consultants. Those are statewide system um consultants who discussed what kind of support we going to receive in the upcoming year. Um so it looks like they've changing their model once again. So um they have changed over the past couple years. They're going back to their older model. Um the model that they were doing last year was more individualized coaching and they focused on one area, one school and they did um I guess I want to say very targeted work in their approach. Um and they backed off from providing professional development support um and doing some of that. So they are going back to a previous model where they are um allowed to work with us with more than one building. So they can attend all our buildings, walk through with

010us, be a part of our meetings again and give additional support and advice on some of our meetings. Um they are also starting to focus on student voice, which I think is a great thing. um it's always important to have student voice and so that's another area that they're going to add to their focus and work with us on. Um the new commissioner who has come in has expanded the role a little bit as um he believes that's a critical piece that is missing um at the state level of getting student voice. So we look forward and welcome that and we look forward to continue on our work with them. Um and as a treat uh we just received notice notification that we have been chosen to participate um in another um review. The office

011of public school monitoring the PSM conducts a review in the areas of special education and civil rights um through a process called integrated monitoring review. So, I just received this notification. Um, this year they have selected 114 districts across the state. Um, and we were one of the lucky recipients. It feels like we just got over our TFM and we will be starting a new. Um, so for the upcoming school year 26 27 uh we have uh group A of our TFM. Uh we will be focusing on civil rights assessment um 11 12 and 13. So, we have a um webinar that we'll be going attending in January that'll describe what we need to do, what we can expect for the upcoming year. So, as we get closer to that and once we have more

012information, um I will pass that along. But, so that'll be happening already for next year. Um, moving on. Uh, an update that came out today. I added this late on my report. Um, a big thing that was happening across the state from Desi today. They, uh, we spoke previously about staff attendance and we knew that the state was collecting data on staff attendance. Um, they've been doing that for the last couple of years. that data is collected through um our EPILMs and our employee um uh educator management uh information system. So we submit that in annually three times a year like we do with all of our other state reporting. Um part of that reporting is staff attendance. This is the first year that it is going public. So data was released on school profiles

013today with staff attendance. Um they are looking at um I printed out a little report here. Uh staff attendance rates. They're looking at rates and the average number of absences. So at a school level, we received uh reports by individual schools. we can look at total numbers but individuals and um it's broken down more at the district level and at the state level they're just looking at staff and administrative attendance and then looking at average attendance. So in your packet I had put uh you should have this was added later today. Um this is Webster's rates for this year. So, we are pretty in line with the state averages. I can tell you that all staff attendance rate uh for Webster was 91.9%. Um at the state level it was 93.4. So, we're not too

014far off. We're just a little below. For the administrators, our attendance rate was 95.5 and at the state average it was 94.5. So, we were above the average there with attendance. And then looking at our teacher attendance, if we're just looking at teachers, it was at uh 92% in Webster and the state average is 93.5. So we're just a little bit below average there at attendances. Um it also looks at your average number of absences. Uh so um that's in the document for you also. Uh what's included in that? Um there are uh it's your number of days present and then they take out any vacation or personal. So you're not um penalized at all for taking vacation days or personal days. Um any day that is more than a half a day worked is

015counted. So if you're out a full day um but you have to work at least a half a day that is a present day. So you're not penalized for that. Um, but any kind of leaves that are in there, maternity leaves or anything that you're out long term is accounted in your attendance. So, it's a good practice, you know, to take a look at um your leaves and really get a handle because that is in those numbers and it skews those numbers. So, if we were looking at this year's numbers, we have multiple maternity leaves. We have probably five or six right now. Um, so you can anticipate bigger numbers or a difference in numbers looking at next year. It's really going to impact your attendance rates. Um, but I think, you know, it's it's

016really looking at the importance of, you know, we monitor attendance for our students, classroom attendance. It's important to be present and and be engaged just like staff. if there is a staff that's out um unfortunately what what learning is going on in that class you know a day here and there um is fine but if you're missing 10 15 days a year that really impacts the time on learning for our kids so it's just you know trying to find that happy balance we know things happen we know people get sick um we know that they're present but it's a data point that we need to track and be and be be aware of um we only have so many days in the classroom So, I just think it's important data. It's out there now. It's

017publicly released. Uh, it went live at 9:00 a.m. today. It's they're going to be, uh, continuing to collect it as we move forward in future reportings. And, um, you know, I think it's a good thing. Any questions about attendance data? >> It's, you know, it's helpful information to have, you know, knowing that the state was going to be releasing this information. And I hadn't seen anything in the news headlines about Webster specifically today. There were some news headlines about some of the outlier districts that had either um I'm going to call it higher um well higher attendance rates or um lower attendance rates and that kind of thing. 95.5% uh attendance rate for administrators is really impressive. That that's um pretty high. Um and going back to what you were saying, Mrs. Angeli about the

018emphasis on attendance. I think that's something that we collectively have um had a strong focus on as it relates to our students >> and it's it goes hand inand right when students and staff are both present that's when the magic happens. So, >> absolutely, absolutely. And I'm happy to share this FAQ. Um, if you're interested, if anybody's interested in it, I can email it out. Um, but it just goes through, you know, how often do we need to update our attendance? What constitutes an absent? Um, does a person have to miss a full workday to be considered absent? Do we report inactive employees? Um, so it goes through a bunch of questions. it's kind of helpful if you want to dig into the data a little further. I'm happy to share it with you. Um,

019but you know, I think, you know, it's it's really it's going to be meaningful. >> Yep. >> The other thing I'll just reiterate is the important piece that you mentioned about staff who are on leave. So, if we have someone who's undergoing medical treatment or has a baby or something like that, that's going to drive up our average number of absences somewhat artificially. >> Yep. because there, you know, typically we have a long-term substitute or somebody that's carrying out the actual lessons as opposed to when it's a day here or there. So, >> correct. >> That's a good point that you brought up as well. >> Absolutely. >> So, >> thank you. >> Um, moving on, if no further questions. No. Okay, I'll move on to other updates. Uh on Friday, November 7th, um Miss

020Ktos and I attended a local legislative breakfast that was held at Samuel Slater. Senator Fatman, Representative McKenna, Representative Paul Frost, and Representative John Marcy um were present there to discuss the local happenings um around our towns and to talk about what's going on at the state level. uh they discussed their priority and unfortunately for anybody who's interested in the chapter 70 priority right now that wasn't their top priority. Um a big priority, a big push at the legislative level is looking at affordable housing across the state of Massachusetts. So that seems to be their number one priority right now. Um, we did have a conversation. We had one-on-one time with them after, um, with local town administrator, town accountant, uh, the finance director I should say, um, Miss Kontos and I, and we were able

021to discuss locally what's happening um, in our community, about the needs of our community, the difficulty um, meeting the needs um, with the limited funding that we get from the state. Um and unfortunately they understand and they hear the problems. Um but they they said the feedback that they're getting at the state level when discussing chapter 70 is that they need to get through the final year of the S SOA yet to see what happens and then they're going to start a committee for chapter 70 after that. So, um, unfortunately for this year, it doesn't look like we may see an extra a lot of extra relief in chapter 70 coming from the state as it's not going to be a top priority or push right now to revamp the formula that we're going to

022be waiting a couple years for that to happen. Um, so that was a little disheartening. Um, but we continue to advocate. Um, yes. >> Yeah. And and what I'll add is we were very transparent about what some of the immediate challenges are, but really looking at this from a long-term standpoint as well. Um and I will share that I just spent the last two hours listening to one of the chapter 70 sessions, the listening sessions. And um every speaker that spoke across the state um whether or not they were from the municipal side, from school district, a resident, um the message was consistent across the state. the challenges that we're facing, every other community is in the same exact situation. So, we can only hope that while what we heard from the legislators and what

023the committees are focused on right now at the state house, that perhaps the voices were loud and clear about the dire um situation that a lot of communities are in and facing and what it's doing within communities um in departments and um the challenges that the difficult decisions that people are making and what those downstream impacts are having um on the delivery of education as well as the morale of the overall staff. So, um it's still going on now and I'm sure it's the same message that we're hearing and it's very reflective of what we've already talked about. >> Absolutely. And in the big picture, it's not just this year, but what's going to happen next year and the year after that because we know it's just going to um increasingly get more difficult and

024harder. Um, so, um, we'll keep advocating. We'll keep talking. We'll keep talking to our legislators. We keep looking for ways to be smarter and better at how we budget and, um, do the best that we can um to make the most out of what we have. Um, any questions about that? Okay. And then on Wednesday through Friday of last week, I attended the MASSE and MASS conference um down the Cape. It was the first time they had I attended this conference. Um I got to spend some valuable time with my mentor, but also attended many valuable sessions. Um I listed some of the sessions that I attended there. Um and then again as we started our Friday LS day at the conference uh the big topic in the morning was the federal fiscal update from

025the federal level. Um and we had speakers uh we had a panel of speakers the way it was run um that I've listed there for you. We had um Jim Broad from Boston Public Radio, um Felton Moss, the National School Board Association, Doug Howgate, the Mass Taxpayers Foundation, um the superintendent from Brockton, the MASC um president and legislative chair. And you know, we look at our state level, but then we look at our federal level. And unfortunately, the news isn't any better from the federal. And there's a real concern, we all know about um the government shutdown, the lack of funding, looking for SNAP benefits um for our families and our community members. Um and you know, the thought that they have is that although it's just passed now, that they're very worried that we're

026going to be right back where we started on January 30th because there's still a lot of things to get through that they don't think they're going to agree. um 12 appropriation articles that they need to get through that they think is um not going to be that easy. So, they're afraid that we're going to be right back here. And some of the future um that they're looking at is a you know, always the title one funding comes up at every session that we're at. um and looking at how it's being allocated from the federal government and you know Massachusetts I think the number they threw out could stand to lose $288 million in federal funding which directly impacts all of our schools as we go through. So you know as we get into budget season

027you know we're trying to weigh you know h how do we budget for that? What do we do? Um you know do we level fund title one? What happens? Should we lose Title One funding? We know there are other grants going away. So, you know, do we roll the dice and just say everything's going to work out and go status quo or do we try and be a little um conservative and roll some additional things into our budget? So, um there's a you know, the climate is very difficult in politics right now for everybody um federal level, state level. Um, so the best we can do is just to keep our keep our heads down and work hard through it and make sure our voices are heard. So was not a great way to start

028a Friday, but it has, you know, it has to be talked about and it has to be discussed and we have to be informed. So um, but I appreciate the time at the conference. So and that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Mrs. Pangeli. >> Sorry, a little depressing. I'm sorry. That's okay. It's news we have to hear. So, >> um, any questions or comments from the committee for Mrs. Prangley? >> It's through the chair. >> Member Millet, >> I have a couple of >> comments. Positive. >> I would love to hear that. >> After all that, we need some positive. >> Yes, we do. >> And I have to say because I kept it. Um, I was very excited about last week's Webster Times. Mhm. >> Um where all three schools had something about

029the great things that our students and teachers are doing. >> It was so wonderful to see >> and the community sees it now. And my second thing was, and I've already spoken to these students, is that um I'm glad Principal N is here because um I always go to the veterans parade because I just had a lot of family that was in the military and it was nice to see we had members of um Bartlett National Honor Society march in that parade. Mhm. >> They did a was so nice to see them and they respectfully stayed on a be brutally cold day, windy day that day. Um and they respectfully stayed and listened to the speeches and the awards. It was great to see them there. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Great. >> It

030was nice to see such wonderful news and I do appreciate what the principles are doing. They're really working hard at getting information out there. It takes a lot of time to write your own articles, gather pictures, send them out. Um, but they're doing it on a regular basis. So, I'm I was happy to see >> page too. Yes. I heard multiples. So, I've heard from multiple people what how nice it was. Um, and it's not for a lack of effort. We we said multiple things over. Um, but it was very nice for them to recognize. >> I turn the page and it'd be something else. It was just wonderful to see. >> Thank you. the chair member. Yeah, I just want to echo that and to thank the Stonebridge Press for taking our articles that

031we submitted and publishing them because I know we've been talking about it for a better part of a year now. And I just equally took it out of the mailbox and I'm like, "Yes, finally." You know, seeing these programs highlighted and the work that the students are doing and the staff are doing is just because we are do you guys are doing such great work and it's just another avenue to reach people to let them know the positives that we're doing. Um, so it was so so awesome to see and same thing with the National Honor Society at the at the parade. Um, you know, pointing kids out and seeing the kids is awesome, too. >> Thank you for those comments. Any other questions or comments from the committee? >> Well, nice to end things

032on a little bit of a brighter note. So, I agree. I mean, the headlines have been great, and it's nice to be able to shine a light on some of the great things that are happening in our schools. >> Exactly. Yes. Yep. Great work. All right. Well, if there's no other questions or comments for Mrs. Panguli, thank you for your updates. And the next item on the agenda is our business manager report. Good evening, Mrs. Ktos. >> Good evening, everyone. Um, we're going to start with the Bartlett High School renovation updates. Um, so from uh furniture, fixtures and equipment, FFNE, all of our bids were received on November 10th. At the end of this week, we will be reviewing those bids that have been received, making decisions about awarding those bids, and then moving forward

033with the actual procurement. Um, as I mentioned before, the plan for this is that um all of that um furniture would be received for phases one and two or sections C and B over the summer. and uh put in place over the summer. So, they're in place when students and staff return to school for the next uh school year. So, we're really excited about seeing what came in. From what I understand, there's a few items that maybe we didn't receive some bids on, so we'll have to go out independently on those items, but all in all, I think they were very happy with what we received. when we move on to the renovation. Um, while I have some written updates in your packet, I actually want to just speak from a little experience because today

034we had our first walkthrough um, of section B. Um, and what was really nice, of course, you know, we've been seeing all of the demo work going on and all of the foundational work, but today all the framing is up, all that rough uh, plumbing and electrical work is up. So, we're able to walk through the whole first floor. really kind of neat to see the main office and where it's going to connect into the cafeteria. So, it's really taking shape. Um, we weren't able to go up on the second floor mainly because this the staircase wasn't steady yet and the scaffolding that they had. I wasn't feeling so secure with the type of shoes I had on. So, um, we didn't uh venture up there. But, uh, the second floor is further along than

035the first floor. They are beginning the drywall um, uh, application up on the second floor. Um and so it's really starting to take shape. So we're going to start looking at when we can do another tour of that um for both the school building committee as well as the school committee. So we'll work with the uh OPM to find out when we can do a walkthrough so you can start seeing it taking shape. But I think what's really exciting is really what this brings for February. And I'm sure um anyone who's working in the building or in the building will be very excited because we'll have two sections connected. Um if you have to go to the modulars it's just easy out. So, I think February is um there's a light at the end of

036the tunnel and it's looking really nice. So, it's it's extremely exciting. Um from an infrastructure standpoint, we did have a another milestone on Veterans Day. Um there was a major connection to the C-section for the electrical work. Uh what's remaining is turning on those breakers. So, we're going to have two additional outages over winter break. So, they can continue with connecting all of those panels and those wires in there for the breaker. So, that is remaining over winter break. U site work continues. I don't know if you've seen all of the walkways, but we have a lot of sidewalks now. >> Um a lot more to maintain. So, um but they are wrapping that up and wrapping up the uh full envelope and the roof on the building. So, progress continues. We are remaining on

037schedule. um with the target to move in over February break. Um and what's not in your report but is ongoing is move planning activities are just continuing to to take place. And you know right now what uh is underway is a full inventory of everything that's moving so that we have clarity on what's moving, where it's going to, what may have to go into storage temporarily, and then what items may be surplused as a result of that. So that's going on as well as what are the needs that are um going to have to happen during that time frame. So um we expect that that'll take up a lot of time over December and January and encouraging people if they haven't started already um to start using this as an opportunity to um purge those

038things that can be purged that you may have held on to just because you've been here for a period of time. So I think it's a good opportunity to clean things out and start fresh. So, all exciting news on the renovation front. Um, in other updates, um, you may recall, um, earlier in the school year, uh, the superintendent had announced that we launched a new platform for our employees, for all of the, um, compliant related training that we need to do at the start of the school year. We're actually launching that same online platform. It's called ARXEd, and we're launching it for our athletic coaches um, for the winter season. So, it's a really nice package. It's self-paced. You can start and stop it. Um, it does all of the affidavit work and collects all

039the information for you. So, that is launching. I think the launch is scheduled to go out and if it hasn't already gone out this week, it'll be out next week. Um, and so, uh, we're excited about that because again, it's a little bit more streamlined. We have everything centralized and can keep track of who's completed what and when. So, really excited about that launching. And then the other thing I just want to make you aware of as we talk about budgeting in one of the areas where certainly costs have been rising over the last several years and that's around transportation. And so um there was an aotment of money $250,000 that was allotted for the um inspector general to actually do an assessment across the state of procurement practices around bus contracts. So, they're doing

040a deep dive into those practices to see if they can um really get a glimpse of areas that could either be improved for cost savings, right? Things that we can challenge, things that we can do for safety or for efficiency. And so, they've begun reaching out to districts. We haven't been contacted yet, but I know several districts have been and they are starting to supply um a lot of information to them so that they can do that evaluation. So, I don't know ex specifically what we can um expect, but I'm sure that there's going to be recommendations at the end of this that when you go out to bid on these contracts, here's some of the things that we've learned and that you should include or you should plan for. Um, and hopefully one of

041the other things that it'll bring is maybe some level of competitiveness into the transportation phase because as you know, um, certainly I wasn't here, but you may know this is that when we do go to bid, we only get one bid um, when we go out. So we are very limited in our options when it comes to uh transportation. So hopefully that'll maybe change that um face for us in the future. So and that's all I had for this evening. >> Thank you, Miss Condos. One thing I will say about the transportation piece for us here in Webster is although we get the one bid and it would be nice to have competition, we've been really fortunate with AA transportation. uh many districts over the last several years in particular have had shortages and you

042know buses not available for students and we we have really been really fortunate to not have to deal with that kind of thing. So I agree a has been a wonderful vendor um and we were their first client when they started business years ago. So they have a you know we have a special place um for them but they are very professional and we can always count on them. So, um it's been a pleasure working with them, but again, um Miss Kontos is right. Typically around the state, you know, there's areas where you only get one vendor depending on uh where you are. And you know, prices are not always um competitive, >> right? >> So, yep, good point. Any questions or comments for Miss Navis? >> I just have one. Um the auditorium, are

043we in business at the auditorium? >> We are in business. Mhm. >> We're actually going to use it for our uh winter concert, which is the first big thing in our auditorium. >> Oh, great. Okay, good. I don't want to steal your thunder. That's probably in your update. So, >> it's not actually. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Should have been >> winter concert coming. >> Okay, great. Well, thank you for your updates. Well, the next item on the agenda is the principal report. And joining us from Bartlett High School is principal Gina Neas. Good evening. >> Good evening. Um, I'll start with a couple of our engagement opportunities that we've had and those that are coming up. Um, this past week we had our sportsman our sportsmanship summit at Gillette Stadium. Mr. Pronto took

044a group to um, Gillette. We also had our student council fall workshop where the students attended. We had our Nicholls leadership academy field trip. We had grade level community meetings and um, our choir also had auditions at Medway High School. And there are some awards being given. I haven't been given the final list yet, so the next time we'll have those. Coming up um this week for our students, we have grade level PBIS bingo um that the students were able to buy into at their Bartlett Bucks. We have our next Big Brother Big Sister um event at Park A. There's a mock DECA competition on the 20th. We have a Thanksgiving pep rally um this upcoming a week from tomorrow and that's going to start at 8:30 on that Wednesday morning. Um and then in

045December, oh I did have the concert on there. Um Bartlett High School and Webster Middle School have a production of Wing in It and that's going to take place at the middle school. Um we have a chemical health night coming up for our winter sports. There's the student solves competition for PLTW courses. We have breakfast with Santa and the Grinch. We have our holiday craft fair. And we have the winter concert which will be the first event in the auditorium. We had a couple family events. Well, we had one on November 6. We had our parent conferences. We moved it all to the gym this year. Everyone seemed to like that being in one place and able to go from table to table instead of building to building. Um and then our other family event

046is actually this upcoming Saturday. We have our first meat raffle. we're going to try at the Webster fishing game. Um, in sports, Thanksgiving game is Bartlett versus Southbridge at home this year. Um, start time I believe is 10:15 and going to jump into a couple other things. So Abigail Adams scholarship this year we had 18 students um that re can receive this award and they the students need to score in the a advanced category on one of the three tests score in the proficient or advanced category on the remaining two tests and have a combined MCCAST score in these assessments that rank in the top 25% in their district. >> Um so we had 18 students this year. >> Um we spoke a little bit about attendance. Um, I checked these last week. I didn't

047check them. I checked them at the time of this report. So, at this time last year, we were at 90.4%. The year before, we're at 88.9% for our attendance rate. And this year, up a little bit, we're at 92.1%. Our chronic absentee rate, this year, 27.3%. Last year, 31.6% and the year before that was 42%. And I know this number is going to seem big. It's actually really small when you hear the other one. Um tardies to date 2,42. Last year we're at 8,58. So that we're getting better. Um lots of things put in place. We have weekly attendance meetings with targeted interventions with our families. Um our grading policy with the opportunity to earn back those points. and then um implemented the schoolwide system for our tardies this year with very specific targeted interventions

048as well as building in social probation which is seems to be a hook for our kids. They they know they can't do this if they're not here on time. So those things all paired together have we have seen differences in our attendance and we have Saturday school. Um, one of the things I brought up at my last meeting was our taking a peek at our freshman class and the things that we are going to put in place throughout this school year. And there's already been a change um that we've seen as a result of, you know, having those monthly community meetings, a freshman seminar course, the biology, algebra, and ELA courses for the freshman to run every day all year, daily attendance calls for absences and tardies, the our academic support center in the cafeteria

049in Saturday schools. Our students again not where we wanted to be but last year that have received one or our freshman students that have received one or more failing grades was 63.5% and for quarter one we were down to 43.9. So it's it's less not where we wanted to be but we're going in the right direction. Um and then I'm going to turn it over to two of the teachers that have come tonight. We have Art Duke who's going to talk a little bit about the AI pilot program that he's running in his courses. And then Michelle Bigalow who's going to speak about some of the PLTW accomplishments. Mics for them. The top. There should be a button on the top. And pull it nice and close. Don't be shy. >> STEM week hat-trick happened.

050Um, and it's really, really exciting for us. On Monday the 20th, we were surprised to win the project lead the way student cup award, which is an annual traveling trophy recognizing districts that celebrate and share student work. Uh both Barlet and Webster Middle School participated in all three 18 applied learning student events last year and along with hosting our own spring showcase. So that was like the catalyst for us to win this award. Um and then on Tuesday the 21st um we traveled to the mashup at Gillette Stadium and our innovation career pathways advanced manufacturing students competed with 13 other schools and they won the thousand grand prize. Um they had uh had to adapt a true robotics pilot robot to solve a warehouse challenge. They had to present their solution to a panel of

051industry professionals and our students were recognized for being inclusive, supportive, organized, and very well spoken. Um, and then on Wednesday, we received notification of a $75,000 skills capital grant, which was part of the $13.5 million um million awarded by the Healey Driscoll administration to expand hands-on learning and access uh cutting edge technology to Massachusetts schools. This will support um our students in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and chapter 74 marketing. We are targeting to purchase uh some high-powered desktop workstations for the labs, laptops for the labs, a uh POS system for our school store, color printers, and a new heat press. That's an upgrade from the ones that they they started out with a a very basic model and so we we found a nice one to upgrade to. Um >> Shell, could you talk a

052little bit about the pictures? What are we looking at here? >> Oh, I forgot the pictures. Yes, I'm sorry. Um so this is the mashup. These are our students at the mashup and um in the very in the top left that is just kind of a view. There were so many students at the school at this uh event. It was really cool. Um we have a team of students in the middle at top middle working on their um solving their warehouse problem trying to figure out the best way to come up with a solution. And what they had to do was uh modify the robot and then they went over to the warehouse setup which is you can see the bottom three pictures are the the bottom two pictures on the right are the um

053the warehouse. They had to actually have people drive the robot to a station. Someone had to pick the order. They had to drive it back to the um the warehouse landing pad and they had to pack it exactly the way it was diagrammed in um you know in their on their sheets on their pick sheets. So it was really kind of interesting and there was a time limit and so and it it seems really easy but it wasn't because the robots are catching on the carpet and the students just had to overcome all these challenges on the fly and they really did a great job uh working on it. Um, and then in the top right we have our students um with their elevator pitch and I watched this particular one and these guys really

054nailed it. Um, they were being hammered with questions about their design. They wanted to make sure why they thought it was balanced the way it was balanced and they spoke so well and they they just really kept with their their theme and their ideas and it was it was really cool to watch them. Um here we have um on the left we have just some samples of our advanced manufacturing classroom activities. In the center we have um I believe that was the DECA states last year. Our team that went and represented us at the states last year and then on the right we have some healthcare and social assistance activities going on. This is our um the middle schools. Um these are the teams that went to the Boston showcase. Um they um we have

055both the uh medical in the red and we have the engineering in the blue and they all had their little projects and they did a great job. They all these teams also were at our student showcase in the spring. So, our student showcase we designed to be a practice for the applied learning showcase. So, they get like a good um they work with us and then when they go and there's they they have um an incredible amount of um industry professionals judging all of these. I want to say it was 700 uh industry professionals judging all of the students in their projects. It's it's amazing. It's huge. Um and then this activity is new. Um what we're trying to do is we are working in advanced manufacturing. We're going over and working with Kate Birdie's

056eighth grade class um with some students and they are mentoring. They're actually one student is assigned to a table of um eighth graders and they are helping them halfway through their project and then they go and they give them final feedback at the end of their project. So we're trying to do some cross collaboration with that. Um I they also came up and I'll let Art talk about it. They also the eighth graders came up and gave him feedback for his class. So that was we're trying to just keep working this partnership with the eighth grades and I this is Art. Uh evening everybody. Um, back in the at the end of last school year, there was an email that went out soliciting a professional development opportunity uh put on by the state that just

057talked about artificial intelligence. This is an area that I've had a little bit of experience with in my grad school years. This is an area of interest anyway, uh, some tech work. So, I attended and the two-day event was talking a little bit about how AI is uh brought it is is here with us now in in schools, how uh kids are using it, how teachers use it, and more importantly, how we can harness it and use it for quoteunquote for good. Uh what came out of that uh by the state was a collaboration with uh project lead the way. Um our governor decide uh asked PLTW to help create a curriculum that would be aimed at middle school but applied to both middle and high school students. um but originally at the middle school

058level to create a curriculum to show or to help introduce and teach kids how to or you know how to use AI um in different ways to learn a little bit about what goes into it along with how to use it for school uh use um how to use it safely and properly um and kind of like good ways that it could be beneficial uh for them and I was chosen as one of 19, one of 24 uh pilot schools uh to go through the program. And how it works is every few weeks they roll out some uh class uh some sample curriculum for the teachers to work on. I introduce it to my classes. And so I'm using uh my two um POE my uh principles of engineering classes are are test subjects. they're

059working with me to to go through the curriculum that's uh the LCW has presented and I provide feedback to the organization and there's some conversations that go on between myself and the other pilot teachers some of the heads up uh the curriculum organizers at PLTW and we talk about what we've uh just went through what we thought was good not so good um showcase a little bit of the the student sampling And so what we're starting to talk about at least up until this point we've gone over topics such as is a friend which is a newsworthy item um particularly around the mental health issues that folks uh students young folks as well as older folks have faced uh thinking that uh artificial intelligence and these chat bots are your friend and some of the

060the complexities that that brings up. We're showing uh kids have delved into how to use AI to generate summaries of long passages. Um bringing into account the idea that you have to fact check uh whatever AI happens to spit out depending on what uh chatbot and learning model you use. Not everything is to be believed at 100%. and how and where to start looking and also tie into that some responsible use as a student as a citizen of the internet. Um and now going forward we are starting to look at some of the ways that uh AI can be used to generate real time information, real-time events. We are starting to look at how um AI can be used to uh you can use prompt engineering to create source material to create pictures and video

061and some of the legal issues and the ethical issues surrounding those. >> And now back to Michelle. Will this will that this pilot be all year long? This pilot is year uh is for the full year >> and at the end of the year uh their PLT is slated to go into the next level of uh my current understanding is that this may be rolled out as an actual program for the fall that you can sign on to to purchase uh with our the advanced manufacturing classes healthare. But if not within this fall plan to P. So I just wanted to give you guys a heads up with uh our coming events. So on December 12th, the high school and the middle school, we have two teams of uh 24 students, one with the healthcare

062and one with the engineering u project leadway students. and we'll be competing at the middle school this year because we have no other place to compete. Um, and they've graciously allowed us to go there. And, um, what's really exciting is we found out today we were invited to be part of their a AI uh, play lab uh, competition or, you know, challenge for that day. So, our engineering students are going to be working on developing an AI um some kind of an AI app using the Playab um software and they're going to be working with the Play Lab engineer specifically and they only picked a few schools to do this. So, this is this is really kind of exciting. Um then um January 15th through February 4th we have student industry connects where we have

063uh projects that we are supposed to be doing in project lead the way and we have the students submit them for um evaluation by industry professionals and they receive written feedback on that. Um then we in the spring we will have our Bartlett showcase that will highlight our project lead the way chap and chapter 74 projects and our internships. And finally the applied learning showcase is going to be May 8th in Boston again. But uh we would like to invite you guys to come and see student solves and the Bartlett student showcase and we will get that date out um as soon as we can figure out when it's going to be but probably the first week in May we're thinking. Um and then I just wanted to share the chapter 74 um events. Um

064this Thursday we have the mock competition at Nicholls and then we have January 8th at Nicholls uh again which is really nice because it's actually lowered the registration cost um is the DECA D9 competition and then following that is March 12th through 14th our state competition and again these interns will be at the Barllet student showcase. Thank you. Oh I forgot even the best part. Um, so unofficially, um, I would like to tell you guys about the class of 25 gift to Bartlett High School. They, uh, purchased, uh, two rectangular ADA accessible, uh, picnic tables and two round picnic tables to put into the area right outside the cafeteria. And they, we should be receiving them in a few weeks, but they wanted to um, present it to the school at the pep rally. So,

065that's our plan. So, if you guys are going to come into the pep rally, they're going to be uh presenting these to the school. >> And I know there's a procedure as as how to do this, but >> we'll put them on a future meeting to be accepted as a donation, but she figured while she was here, she wanted the opportunity to share. >> Thank you. I forgot about that. >> Yeah. >> So, there's a lot going on at the high school. >> Can I add something? >> Yes, please. So, speaking of good news and the word getting out, um on October 27th, um the every week the commissioner puts out a weekly email and on October 27th, um Bartlett High School was acknowledged. Um I don't know if you presented this in the past,

066>> it was shared with but please share um for everyone listening. >> Yeah. So um the it's the fir number one message from the commissioner um and he said uh last week was the first time that he experienced STEM week and the week showcased innovation, curiosity and collaboration. Here are a few highlights. Um, I visited Framingham State University with members of the Healey Driscoll administration to announce the 13.5 million in skills capital grants to upgrade and expand career technical education and training programs aligned with regional workforce priorities. And we presented Bartlett High School, part of Webster Public Schools, with the Massachusetts Manufacturing Mashup Competitions $1,000 grand prize. So, yay. Yay. Way to go. >> Nice work. Yep. Excellent. The chair. >> Yep. Member Scariguia. >> Yeah. On that and I shared with Mrs. um Panguli

067like some small IT or tech um like social media sites are also publishing or posting about Bartlett and you guys as well. Um it was a true robotics inc um posted about your accomplishments. So it's not only you know the commissioner local news but it's kind of reaching a little bit. that was posted on LinkedIn um a little bit nationally about you guys and your accomplishments. So, it was awesome to see people were sending me stuff and I'm like, what's up with this? >> Well, and also related to that and actually Dr. Mai, what I thought you were about to share was the the press that you got um with regard and this may be in line with what you were sharing, member Scrigglia, with regard to um the Desi press release that came out

068about the AI curriculum that is being implemented in Webster. And we're one of only a handful of districts in the state that are embracing that. So, great work on that as well. And you know, AI is here to stay for sure. So the more we can teach our students how to use it, uh the better tool it can be and and not a a deterrent from learning and more so something that can be used to augment learning for students. So kudos to to you all for embracing it in a way that makes it a useful tool for our students. So great stuff. >> Any other questions? member ClariS, >> I just wanted to thank you so much because the amount of work I know that you guys put in outside of your school hours is

069really above and beyond to put these kind of things on and it's really nice to see our students shine in this way and clearly it's something that they're really gravitating towards and they're really good at and it's giving them something to look forward to and I think that it's really great and I know it comes with a lot of staff hard work to put those on. So, thank you for all the hard work you're putting into that. Yeah, seconded. >> Yeah. >> Well, looks like it's unanimous. Um, well, once again, thank you all for all of the countless hours. And and I know that there's two of you all here, but there's other folks as well that are on this team that are bringing this work to life, not only at our high school, but

070also at our middle school. So, a big shout out to all of you and the administrators and um central office, everyone who's supporting this work. It is it is really great work that's being done and and like member Calleros pointed out, something that our kids are really gravitating towards. So definitely a unique way to prepare them for the future >> and it is preparing them in so many different ways because it's not just about the mechanicals or the robotics, but they're presenting, they're speaking, they're talking, they're, you know, when you walk into those classrooms, that's what you see is the engagement and the communication, which is so important because, you know, we know we live in a phone, right, many times. So, this is being, you know, teaching them outside the box a little bit

071and how to communicate and look at somebody and be able to articulate the work that you're doing and to support um students at the middle school and help them and ask them questions. It's fun to hear some of the engagement between um the high school kids and the student at the middle school talking about the projects and the excitement about it. So, um very well-rounded um for our kids. So, it's it's great to see and it's very much appreciated. >> Agree. Yeah. And going off of that, I actually was fortunate enough to be a chaperon for the showcase in Boston. And you're it was literally hundreds of industry professionals that were walking through the showcase uh interacting with our students. and they were our our school was was very very well represented at at that

072level and it was clear that many of the industry professionals that were evaluating the student work were were really blown away by some of the work that was put out by our students. So, uh it was really nice to be able to see that and to see the look on the students faces when they got off the bus in the city and walked into the New Balance building to showcase their work. just the excitement and the pride um that undoubtedly you know was was present that day was great. So, all good things. >> Again, >> well, let me know the date. I'd be glad to >> answer. >> Thank you for being here. You know, speaking of time outside of your normal work hours, you're here this evening, too, to share all this with us.

073So, thank you. Uh, let's see here. Principal Nevas, is this part of your report still? Are we coming back to you to to move on with with more information for us? >> Thank you again. >> That's all I have to >> That's all you have for your report. Any questions or comments u for principal neas? >> No. All right. Well, great. Thanks. I can't believe the change in the attendance data. uh whether it be the attendance state of the CR chronic absenteeism I think for me is the the figure that really has been uh not quite hald but it's been significantly cut down so um and the tardies too I mean the tardies that is a big number but not compared to the previous number >> so um >> you know it it takes a

074while to turn these types of things around but um from two years ago to today there's a significant change already. So, and that's I'm sure not without a significant amount of work on everyone's part, too. >> Um, do we have any updates, student rep updates? I know Aiden couldn't be here this evening, but did you have anything you wanted to share there? >> So, what I read at the beginning with the student and family engagement, the family events was his. >> Yes. Okay, great. Well, thanks and we wish him well. Um the next item on the agenda under old business is a monthly report on fundraising applications. As a reminder, it is the role of school committee to review fundraising activities, but we don't approve them. Those are approved at the building level. And lots

075of fundraising activities going on with the 18 to22 program, which is great. Some plants for sale and some um cocoa bombs. >> And they start those plants from seedlings. So you have to start them. So >> I I'll need to catch up with you. I'd like to purchase some um and and also some gobble grams and some other fun things happening around the holidays as well. So, great stuff there. Any questions or comments from the committee with regard to the fundraising activities. All right, hearing none and moving right along. The next item on the agenda under new business is the update regarding adult education. Good evening, Ava. I'm using this mic because it's easier. Um, hello everyone. Um, I just want to say first and foremost, I am so proud to be a part of

076this district. Like listening to everything. First of all, Nathan, give it up for Nathan again. But the improvements that you're making in the high school, you're not where you want to be, but you're getting there, right? and then the AI and then I felt like just an immense sense of pride sitting here. So there's a lot of good work. I hope I can add to that today. Um so I'll start. So my name is Ava Landry. I am the director of the adult education department. I do want to start by providing a brief overview of the program and what our program looks like now. So, we offer valuable high educ uh highquality educational services to the adults of Webster, but also southern Worcester County. And we do that by offering nocost high school equivalency classes

077and English classes for adult English learners. We teach digital literacy, civics education, career readiness, and we also provide wraparound services through our advisor as well as through referrals to local area agencies such as Mass Hire, Massability, Department of Transitional Assistance. Um, what I think sets our program apart is that we have so we really make it a goal to try to meet our students where they are. I mean, I try to go to the gym after work. I don't always get there. Okay. So, going to class after working an 8 10 hour shift is really, really hard. So, we try to meet them where they're at. So, right now we provide two daytime classes at Glattus E. Kelly Library Monday through Thursday. One is a high school equivalency class and one is a beginning ESOL

078class. And at night, actually right now we have classes. Um, we offer high flex classes, in-person classes, and remote classes at the beginner, intermediate, and the advanced levels. And we also have a self-paced class, which again, I think kind of sets us apart. So, that is a do it at your own pace for students who have child care issues, transportation issues, health, mobility, things like that. Um, I do like to say that K12 helps the babies and we help the parents and that together we can kind of collaborate to promote family literacy, hopefully break some generational curses in the process. Curses are strong, but I think y'all know what I mean, right? Um, so I think I probably shouldn't say this, but one of my favorite shows is Monk with Tony Shaloo. And the theme

079song for that show is it's a jungle out here. And I think now more than ever it's been a jungle for our students. So our primary goal is to not add to the jungle but help them clear it out. Right. So that's what guides everything that we do in our program. Um as for updates, we do have two new hires. Heather Dennis who is the assistant director and Christina Carpenter Zveesca who is the lead teacher. They started in August and September respectively. And funding um we are officially level funded um in November, but we are officially level funded. We just got news of it around three weeks ago. So the last time that I spoke at school committee, I told you that we only had 80% funding. And so in July, July, August, we got

08096% of our funding and we finally got the last 4% of our funding um at the end of October. So we will be adding a new class with that funding um actually two new classes. One is going to be a transition class for ESOL students who want to get their high school equivalency and then another one is going to be a beginning ESOL class. Um excuse me. Right now we are overenrolled for ESOL. We have a very very long wait list which is why we're adding those two new classes. Um the demand is very high. Um and at AB we're holding steady around 84%. We're trying to bump up our outreach by calling individual businesses like hey do you have staff members who may want to get their equivalency things like that. Um but AB

081has historically been a struggle with enrollment. Um, so we're just still plugging away at that. Um, as for measurable skill gains and our student progress, we have already gotten six GEDs and high sets for the school year. So, it's November. I'm very proud of that. Very proud of that. Um, and we also have seven partial high school equivalencies. So, those are students who have obtained one of their subject tests out of their GED or high set. So, they're on their way. And we also um we get measurable skill gain with that as well. One of our students who got their GED, they have enrolled in QCC. So we have one postsecary in education training placement. Their major is going to be business. So we're very proud of her. Um and we have successfully helped three

082students gain employment. One student is had a multitude of part-time jobs was able to find a full-time job. So now he doesn't have to work 70 hours. he can only work 40 and he still gets paid more. So that's great. Um we do have a site visit scheduled for Thursday, December 4th. That is going to be for our daytime programming. And then that's also going to focus on our program design. And then we also have a multicultural and student recognition night that is scheduled for Tuesday, December 16th. And so that is essentially all of the updates for adult ed. Um, times are hard, but we persist, you know. So, >> right. >> Thank you, Ava, for your updates. Any questions or comments from the committee to the chair? >> Member Collaris, >> I was just

083going to say thank you. It looks like you're doing an amazing work and I think what you touched upon which was the most important was that it's a f like family literacy because it is a family affair. What you're doing strengthens the community. When the community is strong, the schools are strong. So, you're playing a big role in that and um you should be proud of the work you're doing over there. It sounds like people are really um taking hold of it and doing great things with it. So, that's amazing. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. >> And one of the things I appreciate most is the creativity in the classes because it's not a one-sizefitit all. Not every, you know, two nights a week just doesn't work for everybody. So you've been very creative

084in how you can meet the needs of your students to help them succeed because it is difficult you know working maintaining families sometimes single you know single homes um it's very hard so you've been very creative in outreaching and um supporting the family so I appreciate that >> thank you Ava >> I too want to thank you Ava uh your positivity and student centeredness is really what reates for me meeting people where they're at, acknowledging that it can be challenging to make it sometimes to class even though it's only by being present that the results will come. And um I couldn't agree with more with member Calleros with regard to strengthening the whole community. You said K through 12 helps the babies and and you help the grown-ups, but by helping the grown-ups, you're also

085helping the babies, you know, so so thank you for that. Yeah. >> Like wheels of a bicycle, right? K12 adult educ. >> Well, thank you for your updates. >> Thank you, Ava. >> The next item on the agenda under new business also is policy ADDA, background checks. >> Okay. So, I will go through just a little bit. Um, you want me to run right down as I go through? We'll start the first one. Uh, >> I think that would be okay. It's a first reading on all of these policies. So, um, yeah, if you wouldn't mind, that'd be great. >> Sure. Thanks. >> So, on ADDA, this is a policy that we did have. Um, you can see the original copy is in there. Um the last time it was looked at was 2014 and

086it just had um the initial um couple of paragraphs on background checks. Um since then um there has been updates about fingerprinting and stories in here. So you can see there's a lot more data. The the first three paragraphs are here. Those haven't changed. That is consistent with the policy. But everything after that has changed. Um these are directly from MASC. Um, this is our practice. We have been doing all of this. It just was not in writing. Um, so it's it's good to um make sure our policy is up to date and we're actually have something written in formal. Um, so that's add. Are there any questions about that? No. Okay. Moving on to ADC. This is our first reading. again as you um what did I do here? I think we added Yes,

087this was updated a little bit um to add um some additional tobacco products in here. So, the last time it was over a year ago and we updated this um policy on ADC tobacco use in school by staff that was not updated since 2003. um it hasn't changed that much. Um and and just so you understand what I'm trying to do as I come forward with policies. Um so as you know, you know, this is something that I've taken on this year. I have a master sheet now that I'm keeping um with all of our policies listed on one sheet. My hope is that once we start getting through that, I will share it with you. It'll be online. and we'll have a running list of all of our policies, when they were reviewed, when

088they were updated, the year they were updated. Um, and that is something that we'll be able to maintain and see all at one point. And how I'm approaching this is then when I go to a policy that I see that needs to be done, it also references a couple other policies. So, I'll take this and I'll say, does this need to be updated? Look at that, make any adjustments necessary, and then I go look at the policies that it references. I pull those to say, do those need to be updated? And I do that. So that way when I'm looking at this, it hopefully completes the package as I'm doing that. So we're looking at everything at once. So that's the approach that I'm taking. Um if it if it ever does um affect something

089that some of these policies that we go through might require um a working group or somebody to look at that and just it might not be as quick and easy to come. I might hold off on that one policy, but I'm making those notes as I go through now so we know what's being done then. Um, so this was updated to include, as you can see, it's changed. Um, none of our policies included the ecigarettes and things like that. So all of it's been updated to include that. Um, the next one was also teaching about al alcohol and drugs. Um, so that again was not done since 2003. It was updated um off of MASC's policy to include eat cigarettes in the teaching that we do in our schools. Uh, the next one, IHBA, um,

090we had a very old policy on that. Again, that was 2003. And as you know, our um policy for ELLL education has definitely changed since then. So that was updated to reflect current times. As you can see, the language is very outdated. The it was just not even close to what we do anymore. So that's been changed. Um we also have our homeschooling policy, IHBG, in here. uh this policy we had um it was actually hasn't changed much back to 2003 but what did change is down the bottom there is one section and this has come this has come up for us before which is why I brought it here um for homeschool students they have a right uh to participate with the superintendent's um permission and activities in the school department that we have

091um so there's a paragraph here now that says the district reserves the right to allow enrolled students to have precedent or priority over homeschooled students with regards to placement on sports teams activities that have limited enrollment. So, there have been a couple situations that have come up where it's been very limited enrollment in the activity and um you know and we did not want to bump somebody that is present attending our schools every day um with the homeschool student. So, that this gives us the right to do that. other than, you know, other than that, we welcome um our homeschool students in. And then the exhibit is just a copy of what our exhibit is um what our form is that parents need to fill out um for our homeschooling. And you can see that

092differs from the procedures and stuff that was there before. Um, the next two that we have, the one that I don't see in here is Did I miss it? Okay. Um, IHB is a brand new policy. The next three that we have are brand new to us in Webster. Um, the first one is the middle school pathway exploration policy. Um this is how we are allowing kids to look at uh um CTE schools like Bay Path. Um so this is a process and procedure that we are required to have a policy submitted in to the state. Um that is what I presented to you. I believe it was at our last meeting. I had asked for a waiver. So we have until the end of December to do that. So we'll meet that deadline. This

093is our first reading on that. So this is brand new to Webster and basically we had the procedure in place. This is a lot of what we were doing. It's just writing it down and putting into practice. So we've been doing a lot of these things. It's just having it written down as a policy. Uh the next two that we have um and I don't know if Gina you want to go through do you have them with you? No. Um, so we also need to have a competency determination policy and a graduation requirement policy. Um, basically we were here with our was it in the spring. When were we here? In the spring, right? Um, looking at our competency determination and graduation requirements. Um, I don't think a lot has changed in here. Um, if

094anything, the appeal procedure, right? So, we added an appeals process in here. um that was something that changed. So, you can see that added in here. And then we've updated our graduation requirements um to meet our new courses and scheduling. Are there any questions about those? >> I have one through the chair. Members Craig there. >> So, the graduation requirements, is that driven by what's required by the state though or is that like in um unique to us as a school? >> It's unique to us. Yes, >> but we go by the guidelines of Massore, >> Right. So, like because I I didn't step foot in an art room when I was in high school. Um, it wasn't required to my knowledge to have art credits. It was just an elective. But now it's required

095to have art credits or is that unique to us. >> Um, it's recommended by Massore to have >> because I would I would fail because I'm not creative. You know what I mean? >> Exposure to all of you, >> right? And that's what like irked me a little bit about college cuz like I want to I wanted to go to college for one thing but then I had to take like a language or I had to take I'm like I don't want to take a language. I don't want to do anything with with French or Polish or Spanish. Um so I was like can I not be more specific to what I want? But I I understand the well-roundedness in high school. But um yeah, no I that's that's new to me when I was

096looking at it. I'm like why why are we making kids take art if they want to do business? >> It's any of the art. So it's your music, your arts. So it doesn't have to be an art a drawing or a painting course, right? Also count. >> Okay. Oh, that makes more sense. >> Yeah, a drama course. Any >> that makes more sense. >> Although unified >> arts. Gotcha. And does language does it have to be a foreign? It it has to be like a Spanish or French. It can't be like a It could be >> We only have Well, we could author through Ingenuity, but we only have Spanish now. >> Oh, Spanish now. But we've had students take the courses on egeneuity with different language. >> Got you. >> Okay, cool. All right.

097>> And you know, sort of going off of that, I think, and maybe even the other side of that coin is, you know, requiring students to do some of these things that does push them out of their comfort zone and and may open them up to possibilities that they never considered before. Um, the personal finance piece is is a great addition, I think, for for anybody coming out into the world to be able to have some literacy with regard to personal finances. So, um, it looks good to me. Um, and I realized with MCCAST going away as a competency determination, it was left to individual districts largely to create competency determinations, which is no small undertaking. So, um, yep. So, lots here. Um, one thing that I'll say with with regard to the um, these

098are first readings of these policies. So when we come, this is our first opportunity to look at these policies and deliberate about them and that type of thing and then at our our next meeting will be our second reading. >> Yes, we'll do second and vote at the next because as you know um, we looked into not having to do this three requirements we need to meet but we don't have to do it over three separate meetings. So we can vote them in at the next meeting. So that'll be our process moving forward. Um we can have the fi first reading discussion exposure to it. We can discuss again at next meeting and then vote >> right if there's no edits or feedback or anything like that. So um now is a good opportunity for

099us to offer any feedback and obviously we can consider it leading up next meeting. >> Member member >> I just have a question about the community service. Um how are you supporting that kids you know are getting community or what kind of things they can do or just according to the that idea. >> So we offer a lot throughout the year ourselves. Um and we have different people and places and businesses that come to us or events that come to us and we offer them to the students um throughout the school year in addition to all of our events that we hold. We offer that. Um we just say it has to be done outside of the school hours. >> There's also engagement with the other schools which is nice too to help some of

100the cross you know that relationship between the schools. So we often have students who will go down there and work events or maybe PTO events or certain things and get credit for community. >> And who keeps track of that data? >> Um our counselors and the guidance counselors. Perfect. >> Um as well as our senior adviserss. >> Great. Thank you. >> Sheets you have to sign off on. >> Yes. >> All right. >> Great. Are there any questions or comments from the committee regarding the first reading of these policies? I was just confused on the um graduation one why it still had MCCAST competency on it. >> Was it the equivalent of the >> IKF? >> That's the uh graduation requirements. >> That's a good point. It does have um >> it still had MCCAST

101>> as a graduation requirement. Good catch. >> No. that that means they have to have the competency. They have to either have passed the MCCAST or have proven competency for the test. It says um must pass the MCCAST competency determination. And so it's not the it's not saying pass the MCCAST test. >> Is is it me with the language or is it confusing language? >> Because it sounds like you have to take MCCAST. So, or like perhaps if I'm understanding you correctly, it would be must pass the MCCAST or or demonstrate competency in whatever areas because the competency determination is that next policy, right? The way that it reads is that that it's the equivalent of what was the MCCAST. Um that students have to pass the classes >> that would have t that teach

102the standards that traditionally were tested in MCCAST. >> So for still saying on there that they have to pass the MCAST competency, >> right? Competency determination. I agree that the language might be a little bit confusing. Um, you're correct. But I think also the way that this Yeah. So that this is >> Yeah, we'll look at the wording for that one, >> right? >> Yeah, maybe we can look at rewarding that. And that's >> I think it's just the way it's worded. >> Policy IKF, the graduation requirements. >> I I think >> because it sounds like they have to take the test. It does, but it also includes these kids that are graduating in 26 took the MCCAST and so and they had to take the MCCAST then. So I think it probably I think

103we can work with the wording, but for a little while we're going to have a student body, a student population that two years ago when they were taking the MCCAST, it was required. And so, so without dismissing the fact that they took the MCCAST and passed it um to pass and or its equivalent, I think we we should definitely take a look at the wording, but we're in that kind of transition phase with the language. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I read it as what you're describing. Maybe even saying something like all students must meet the competency the criteria for competency determination as outlined in >> policy I KFE >> that works through the chair member >> will the MCAST code at all like if the kids are taking it and they get proficiency does that

104help them with like the >> that says they've met the the competency >> that that says they met their competency so it's either or so that's how okay just to make sure that's how it's worded It's like >> it's still valid for all the scholarships that they it's still counted. >> So they have to say they have to take the test once while they're with us, but they can take it more if they want to. >> So it's like either they pass the MCAST or they pass the competency. Okay. So yeah, I think if it's just worded different so it says it like that. That would make sense to me. >> That's another good point. >> Okay. >> We'll fix that for next time. >> Great. >> Thank you. >> Great feedback. Any other uh

105questions or comments with regard to this or any of the other policies that we've gone through? >> All right then. Thank you. Lots of work being done. And by the way, uh Mrs. Pangeli, the process that you're undertaking to review and update these policies is amazing. And it's no small feat to >> you have to >> any school district has >> dozens is an understatement of policies that need to be adhered to and the fact that some of these haven't been touched for for many many years and um they're being organized and um updated with it's it's it's a lot of work. So thank you for that. it is and I whined a lot um and really didn't want to do it but now that I'm doing it it's a mission and it's actually a

106really good practice for me honestly I'm learning a lot as I'm reading through the policies I know you know they live in a book and that book sits on the shelf and and it's not until something comes up then you say oh maybe I need to go look at the policy and you grab it and then you're going down that rabbit hole so this is really an actual great practice to start going through and look at these things and say and just a refresher and to say, "Oh, I didn't realize, you know, am I following that policy? Am I following it?" Making sure we're doing what we say we're going to do. Um so it's actually very good. Um it's a very good process and um it is a lot of work but I don't

107think I'll completely get through the book this year but um we'll be in a much better state and at least we are going to have a full book at least with everything organized in one place um not only there but on the website. So at least when things do need to update we know exactly what needs to be updated and we know exactly what needs to be replaced and we can do that. Um, so there'll be a process from now on, which is great. So, thank you. >> Yeah, thank you. >> So, the next item on our agenda is to enter into executive session according to Mass General Law 3A section. >> Oh, yeah. Excuse me. I'm ready to go into executive session, but we better finish our new business before we do that. The

108next item on the agenda under new business is the acceptance of donations. And these are hats from a knitting group. >> Yes. Um, so I'm happy to say that our former um, one of our former school committee chairs, Mr. Michael McCabara, reached out to me. Um, he has a group uh, that really wanted to do something for the school and um, after some conversation back and forth. We talked about, you know, at Park A there could be need for maybe hats or gloves for kids who are going out for recess in the wintertime. Um so um the knitting group, this is a donation from the knitting group at the library. The knitting group consisted of um Jeannie Mara, Karen Mosley, Patty Funier, Pat Zojac, Regina Fish, Barbara Hackett, Nancy Powers, Betty O' Conor, and Kathy

109Der. And they meet down the library and they knitted the most adorable hats for our students over at the elementary school. So I will just show you um a few of what they have for our students. Um, >> different hats, uh, scarf. >> Those are >> these are all handmade um by this wonderful group of ladies and it I just I can't thank them enough. It's going to make some young kids very happy and I hope I mean just look. >> Oh, those are adorable. just really nice. >> So, it's pretty awesome and pretty amazing and I just wanted to bring them to you to show them off and to say thank you publicly for all their work and effort um to support our students and our schools. And I know they'll be probably doing

110more. Um but we appreciate it so much. So, I just wanted to say thank you and um hoping that we can accept the donation of hats and scarfves for our students at the elementary school. Um and we appreciate it. Well, a special thank you to Mr. McCera for joining us with this group and for the group for for making those beautiful hats and donating them. Any questions or comments from the committee? >> Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to accept the donations as presented. >> So move second. >> There's a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. Motion passes. And now next on the agenda is uh I will entertain a motion to enter into executive session according to Mass General Law Chapter 3A section 21A to discuss strategy

111for negotiations with personnel. In this case, it's our instructional assistance group. And uh we will reconvene in open session. >> So move. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. Motion passes. >> All right. Thank you everyone. We are back from our executive session and uh we are in the process of we've just reviewed the um instructional assistance contract and uh we'll entertain any questions or comments about that contract if there are any. No, I would just like to say that this the process of reviewing the existing contract and negotiating a new contract with our para educators was eye opening for me as a school committee member and as a parent and I really appreciated the dialogue that we had as a

112group. I was able to learn a lot more about uh the day-to-day life of someone working as a PAR educator in our district and always had a a very strong appreciation for the work that they do with some of our most vulnerable students and really appreciate some of the information that they share with us throughout this process. So, want to thank them for uh not only the group that came to the table with us to negotiate this contract, but also all of the members of of that unit and the work that they do um to support all of our students and staff. So, with that being said, I will entertain a motion to approve the instructional assistance contract for the period of July 1st, 2025 to June 30th, 2028. >> So, move. >> Second. >>

113There's a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. Motion passes. And the next item is the review, transfer signing of warrants, bills, payroll, and vouchers. I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So move. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. Motion passes. Meeting adjourned. Good night, everyone.