WPS School Committee August 19, 2025

001Good evening everyone. With the time being 6 o'clock p.m. on Tuesday, August 19th, 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. Welcome back everyone. It looks like a full house in here this evening. It's great to see everyone. Um so to recap, most of the committee uh had tours of the buildings earlier this evening. How did those go? Everybody that was there. Things look good. >> Looks good. >> Great. >> Our custodials staff does an excellent job. I'm always impressed with the condition of our buildings. Um, sorry I

002missed the tours tonight, but glad to hear that they're looking just as good as ever. So, uh, the as a reminder actually before we get underway, this meeting is being recorded both video and audio and will be posted on the district website. And the first item on the agenda is the discussion and approval of the minutes from the July 22nd meeting. Is there any discussion around those minutes? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to approve them. >> So moved. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. >> Tracy. >> Yes. Motion passes. And the next item on the agenda is the superintendence report. Good evening, Mrs. Pangley. >> Good evening. Thank you. And I do want to give the custodians a shout out for all

003of their hard work and the building principles for everything that is done over the summer. It's not like our buildings sit empty over the summer. Many of them are utilized. Big parts of our building are utilized. We uh spent the middle school hosted the high school and the middle school this year because of all the construction work going on here. So that kind of sets the guys behind. Um, but when you walk in there tonight, it's still it might not be up to their standards of where they'd like it to be, but it looks wonderful and it looks ready for school. Um, and I know we have a few more days that work will continue, but I wanted to give all of our maintenance crew um, a huge shout out and a huge thank you

004for all their hard work and getting our buildings ready um, for the start of the school year. It's wonderful when you come back and those floors look so shiny and new. So, it's it's like a brand new building, so it it feels fresh and new. So, thank you to all of all of the staff for that. Uh, continuing on under uh personnel update, as you know, it's an active time of year um for personnel um comingings and goings. Hopefully, more comingings than less goingings. Um I'll run through real quick what we have. We have a couple new hires. We have um hired a BCBA at Park Avenue. Her name is Britney Openshaw. Um she was actually in the district once before and is coming back home to Webster. So we welcome her back. Um we

005also hired Jacob Elbert. He is a science teacher at the high school. So welcome Jake Jacob. Um we have a few resignations over the past month. We haven't been here since the end of July I think or middle of July. Um so these are the resignations since then. We have Claudia M Martinez and ABA Parkav Paula Busenowski. Um Elaine Bean. They are both Parkav um Paris. Uh we had the resignation of a gym teacher at Parkav, Brandon Stan. Uh we've had two counselors resign at Webster Middle School, Kelly Porter and Natalyia Martinez. And then I believe we have a pair at the middle school, but I think he changed his mind. So that's not happening. So I'm going to take that one right off the list. Um we have no requests for a transfer at

006time. And down below you see are the active positions. Um, some of them are here. They're in the process of being hired or we have people coming in. Um, we're being a little creative with the uh point4 ABA position. We might be combining that with another position. Um, but we are actively moving through this list and hopefully we'll have uh the majority of them full by the opening of school. Of course, some of the positions, those special ed positions, foreign language positions, those are a little harder to fill. Um, I'm hopeful that we can fill them, but if not, we'll be looking for long-term subs and actively looking to get somebody in those positions. Um, but it is a very busy time of year and um, we are doing the best we can with filling

007everything and getting ready for the opening of school. Any questions about personnel? Okay, continuing on. Um even though we are in the summer months, uh workaround instruction continues to be a top priority for us um here in the district. Summer programs ran through the month of July in the beginning of August. Um Dr. Patty Mai is here and we'll be giving an update on our summer school programs. Um I just before I turn it over to Patty, I just wanted to give um a shout out to all of the staff that come in and work over this uh summer. uh we couldn't have the programs without the people here working and supporting them. So, I just wanted to give them a huge thank you um for investing in our students, for investing in our community.

008Um it means a lot. So, I'll turn it over to um Miss Mai. >> Good evening. Uh we were very fortunate to have um a robust summer program again this year. Um we will start by uh are we doing the um this go ahead and play that? Yeah. And then when I'm done talking we can have Sherry's program go. Okay. So this is a a recap of what we did at summer program at Park Avenue in the uh 21st century program. Um, you will listen to music when the special ed program comes along. We did not add music to this one. So, it's just a little uh does it scroll or does it do you have to click it? Okay, >> go ahead. Uh, it's a sample of what the students uh do for social

009emotional learning. So, the program does uh project- based learning. So they're reinforcing their academic skills through projects, but they also infuse social emotional learning. Um, kindergarten did um, engineering is elementary. It's designing plant packages and they worked in the school garden. And so they looked at what does a plant need? Students learned about worms, what are pollinators, how do animals help plants. The student will build bird feeders and attract pollinators. They designed and built scarecrows. Uh they learned how to plant um pl how plants need space to grow and will transplant their seedlings. And they created and performed a play about uh plants needing to survive. So it's doing and acting and creating and that's one of the things that the kids really enjoy. the next one. And that's just some p these are just

010some images of the kindergarten uh program. I love the way that they can create and build. And in an earlier slide, you saw like day one, day two, day three. And so part of the scientific process or part of the project based learning is having a plan and articulating how you're going to carry out that plan and see the change over time. Um so even at kindergarten they can do that. There's our scarecrow. Look at all the garden. Look at look at the garden and what they what they grew. first grade they did something called playful learning uh which is related to community markets and they learned about what people need or want at local markets and they toured a local supermarket and farmers market. They learned the process of manufacturing, the process of processing

011crops. Uh they learned to create their own school market selling items and offering families produce from the school garden. which was interesting. Incorporate writing. I would I would rather be a producer of chocolate and a consumer of chocolate as well. I'll say as you scroll that we this is the first year that we also had student interns um from the high school that um assisted with the classrooms uh which was a very good experience for the students of all kinds the the high school students and for the the the littles um as well as for the staff to get the extra assistance. Uh in second grade they did a a unit called playful learning which is bicycles everywhere and they learned that bicycles are special machines asked questions like why do people ride on bikes?

012How can people be safe on bicycles? We incorporated the injury prevention program from Boston Children's Hospital where they come out and talk to the kids and give out helmets. Um we talked about um the knowledge that experts uh the knowledge expert brings in the bicycles. They learned about the Webster infrastructure for people using bicycles. Uh they walked to the town beach and then decided if that was a good location for a bike path. And the final project was to create a town bike path model. They're like little engineers. As we scroll through these pictures, I can't I get a little emotional because we all know what was happening with the funding and I'll talk about that in a second, but we know that just a couple of months ago, we were worried about whether the

013funding for this type of program programming would continue. we had received the funding that was actually extra 25 funding which is what they released for us to run the summer program and told us that we could run the first like four weeks of school with that money and then on July 25th the money was released. Um the federal government released the funds so that we can continue and actually elaborate on the 21st century program and write the final uh budget for the remainder of this year. And so at least we're safe for the remainder of this year. But it really makes me um happy to see that we were able to maintain this type of programming for our students. Third grade um did a program called Play the Polar Bear Way where students learned about

014good sportsmanship and why to play why to play um safe during recess. They designed activities that are fun and accessible for all students, created a play rule book for their modified games. They presented the activities to their community, and hosted a summer family field day. These are some of the games that they created. And in fourth grade, um it was a program called Woven Dreams, which is an appreciation of culture and community. Students discussed stories of the past, learning about Webster's textile history. Um they learned about people's hopes and dreams and how it impacts their history. They share their own culture and history. They learned about Webster's history, how Webster's history contributes to our present community. They created a project about the story of Lake Webster. Lindam, you might be able to say it. I

015can't say it. Um, or someone here might be able to say it. Um, and about Webster Lake. And there's their their work, which is this is also where they got to display a little bit of a a little bit of their own cultural history. um and taking pride in that. We were able to service 68 students in uh Park Avenue during the um during the summer program. We expected around 74 but we were had a consistent group of 68. Um these are some other things that they did. They these were their field trips and some exploratory learning and I'll just keep talking with during the pictures. At Webster Middle School, uh we serviced 40 students and uh included a transition to grade nine program for 12 students that focused on ELA and math. We did

016experience some difficulty filling slots and we're in the process of making some decisions for um what changes might need to be made for the programming for summer at Webster Middle next year. Um, and at Bartlett High School, we uh had an overwhelming number of students, way more than what we expected. We had 141 students participate in credit recovery. So, the difference between the other between like the Park A program and the Webster Middle School Bartlett program is that Park Avenue is enrichment, Webster Middle is referral due to academic need, and Bartlett is credit recovery. So, a staggering number of 141 students um means that these are all students that had to complete or redo some courses. And we really focused on the core. There were a lot more than that that could have redone like

017electives. We really focused on the core subjects. Um 116 of the of the 141 completed their course or courses. Students could take up to two courses. Um 25 did not earn credit, which is 18%. We've spoken at length about updating the criteria for next summer for summer school for Bartlett. We would like to have in-person teaching again. Um and as a reminder, we moved to online learning when we couldn't have people like postcoid we people um chose not to work in summer and we had no choice but to go to online. Um, so we would like to go back to in-person teaching and uh revert back to needing a minimum grade of 50 um to be eligible. There were just too many students who needed classes this year. And I think one of the big

018things that Bartlett needs to address is the high number of students who needed to repeat those classes and what that indicates and some of the problem solving that we have to do around that. And that's the end of my summer school report. Is this a good time for um Sherry to talk about ESY? I just I just sorry through the chair through the chair members. >> Just a question for Dr. um Makai. Um do you have an I were any of those seniors that were supposed to graduate that needed the recovery? Yes, there were four seniors and we held a graduation at the end of the summer for the students that completed. >> And do you do you have an idea or breakdown of like of those 140 students like what the grades were? Like

019were did you find that they were more juniors or was it sophomores? >> Probably equal. We did have a high number of students in grade nine. >> Really? Okay. >> We had a lot of students in grade nine. So hopefully with the freshman orientation next year with the incoming freshman class, it'll be interesting to see if there's any freshmen next summer or what the numbers are going to look like for them because I I have the same that's a lot of students that needed credit um for their courses. So, we've been we've been considering this all summer um and have been working with guidance and with admin um to think about some things that you'll hear about at a future meeting um when we are we'll put it on the on the agenda to to

020discuss some plans for >> the remedy for some of the some of the situations that came to light this summer. >> All right. Good. Thank you. I look forward to it. >> Good evening. So, thank you. The coordination of our extended school year programming was once again led by Sue Ricard, who has dedicated close to 20 years in this important stipened position. Susan's long-standing commitment to the ESY program is evident in every detail she created this montage that we're about to see see. She consistently goes above and beyond to support our families, students, and staff. And thanks to our efforts, the summer programs run smoothly each year, providing a meaningful and enriching experience for all of our students. We expected 54 students in the program across all grade levels, and we had uh 47 students

021attend. So to give you a glimpse into the impact of her work and the joy experienced by our students, we'd like to share a brief video highlighting the summer's program. See, a lot of work goes into planning and preparing for our summer programs. And I want to thank Patty and Sher. And again, thank everybody puts the time and effort into making those summer programs happy and happen and make them a happy place for our kids to come over the summer. So, thank you. Thank you for that. Any questions? Okay. All right. Moving on. Um, as we prepare for the new uh school year, our work also continues to focus around our instructional priority and our strategic planning. Uh, last week was a busy week um for everyone here in the district. On August 13th, our

022district and school ILT spent the day up at Nichols College working on strategic planning and our instructional priority for the FY26 school year of work um has focused on continuing to narrow down our instructional priority. We talked a lot about this at the end of the school year um as we were getting our instructional priority ready and meeting and working on it. And our goal was to really start to narrow the focus um and becoming even clearer on what we can do to improve instruction and um really clarify the work that needs to happen for this year. So in your packet, I'll read it uh quickly what our instructional priority will be for FY26. Um, all educators will intentionally plan using student data and HQIM to incorporate instructional strategies including questioning, discourse opportunities, and checking

023for understanding into standards aligned lessons. So, English language learners and students with disabilities, access grade level texts, and achieve proficiency with grade level tasks in reading and speaking. So, we've really narrowed it down to really focusing on three instructional strategies um that we will be working on, mastering, we'll be getting professional development on. Um and we're going to implement these slowly. We're not doing it all at once. One is going to build off the other. So, we're going to start with one and do it really well. And we know that's not the only strategy people are going to use. Um but we think these are intentional high um intentional strategies that uh will give us a big bang for our buck that we will focus on across the district and then we will build on

024that. Um we have received feedback on our FY26 instructional pri uh priority from our DESIE team uh who are very pleased that we have narrowed down the focus to those three instructional strategies. Um I don't know if you want to elaborate on the conversations that we had with our sauce partner. >> I think one of the um one of the suggestions was that we um get clearer on how we're going to monitor progress. And so that that's one of the the ways um that we can continue to grow. The instructional priority document that we submit to Desi is a dynamic document that we can um keep updating. Um and in the and they were also very interested in um stakeholder engagement. And so how do we elicit feedback from different stakeholder groups? And so we

025have um I think every school this year has conducted several um school climate surveys both with students and staff. um part of our strategic planning um work involved uh a family survey that went out. Um and then we also are getting ready to to send out our title one family needs assessment surveys. Um so I think that we're okay in that in that realm. They were very pleased that we that we specifically named instructional practices that our staff know that when we come around when we do observations that this is what we're looking for and understanding as um as Monique said, understanding that we we all do we all practice many instructional practices, but we're going to be very intentional about these because they're researchbased, they're high leverage, and We want to see better outcomes

026for our students. >> Yep. And and these strategies were picked after the team, the district instructional leader leadership team. Um after looking at data, after looking at our walkthroughs and narrowing things down, uh as a team, we came to we saw these repetitive themes. So we really narrowed in on them and and worked um to really identify what we thought would help us uh grow as a district. Um so that is going to be our instructional priority for FY26. We're excited to start the work. Um in regards to the strategic planning, uh the team also spent four hours that day looking at the bigger picture. As you know, I think I reported in July that um we are working with Miss Amy uh McKinstry who is the act is superintendent in Northbridge. She is also

027a certified DESIE um strategic planner um and she has been guiding and supporting us in going through the process. So, she was at our um session on the 13th and then again she was here on the 15th um working with the central office team and the leaders across from the district um all of our building admins um assistant principles deans uh I don't know if you want to talk about that a little bit Patty. >> Um so we also want to thank committee member Mlette for engaging in that work with us. Um but the the process is called planning for success through DESIE and uh Miss McKinstry is one of the DESIE trainers um who helped organize the the strategic planning strategies or sessions with us um and facilitated the work with our team. We

028had through this work we completed several analyses of of different types of data um and thinking and decided on the most common themes that emerged and as part of this planning process um you know families were also surveyed so we had to also incorporate that as data. Um and as part of the planning process um we also included uh half of the day of the ILT summit as as just mentioned which elevated the voices of our instructional leaders in each school to get a good representation of um the teacher voice from from each school across the district. Our next step is to create action steps around the themes that emerged and measures of progress around those themes. And once again, a more thorough uh presentation will follow once the strategic plan is more solidified. And

029if in your packet um you have a copy of the instructional priority that was submitted into Desi um in there you can see how we outline the plan. and we talk about roles and what we're going to be doing um across the district to monitor that. Um any questions about that? Okay. And as you know, school is right around the corner. Um I feel like we could have another month of planning. Um but the reality is the door is going to open next week. And I was just talking um with Miss Miss Puluyafico. Once the kids come in, once the staff come in, everything just happens and things fall into place. Um so we're excited. We're ready to get back into it. We're ready to have the kids back. We look forward to having the

030staff back. As you know, um Monday is opening day for staff. Um so we'll have three days of professional development day. Then students will be here on Thursday. And um I'm really excited for that. And you'll see the smiles hopefully across the district. Um no tears yet because we're not at kindergarten yet. That'll happen uh the following week. Um we should be pretty good about that. But uh we're ready to get going. Um in my other updates, uh tomorrow night on Wednesday, August 20th, the Webster Police is holding their summer sendoff down at Webster Lake. Um, I will be there, the district will be there, where our food service will be there, and I know adult education will be there. Um, it's a great opportunity to connect before the start of the school year with

031many of our families. Um, keep an eye out for the weather. Apparently, there may be some bad weather tomorrow. I'm not sure. Um, I got an email from uh, police chief saying if there's bad weather, they'll post and they'll cancel. They don't have a rain out date, so I would keep your eyes open to Facebook and see what the day brings. I did not realize we were going to get some potential bad weather tomorrow. Um, and as you can see just driving around this campus, uh, the project is moving forward. There's been a lot of work done in the summer. I'm not going to go into it. Um, I know, uh, Miss Ktos will be giving an update on the project in her report, so I'm going to quickly go through that. Um, this week

032on August 20th, 21st, and 22nd, we are holding our new teacher orientation. Um, I would like to thank Debbie Rivera and Michelle Budney for their efforts on this. Uh, teachers will be coming in on Wednesday and Thursday. And I'm happy to say that this year we're doing something a little different for our pars. They will be coming in, uh, powers and ABA staff. Uh, we have worked really hard at putting together an onboarding process for our powers and ABAs. um to give them an introduction of what it's like to be a paran ABA. Um so they will be coming in on Friday um to go through that and it's something that we will continue throughout the year. Uh when we hire new staff that they come in, they have a little training. Um I will

033say this was an area that we kind of struggled with and that we didn't do really really well. Um, we'd hire, you know, new staff coming in who really haven't worked in a school district before who haven't had a lot of exposure to what the role is and what it looks like. And, you know, with short staffed and the way things go around district, we come in, we do our best to acclimate them to an environment to have them shadow somebody for a day. Um, but it's not always that easy with short staffed and moving. um with all good intentions there. It didn't always work out the best when a new staff came in. So, our goal is to have staff come here, spend a day here learning about uh we have some modules. They're

034going to get some training about what it is to be a parah, how to build connections, um deescalation, uh the role in general. And then they'll spend some time on the second day um at the school maybe shadowing uh meeting with the teacher or a or a BCBA to learn about the student that they're going to be working with to have that one on time. So they're going in feeling more prepared um to work with the student. So I'm sure they'll be we'll be tweaking this as we go through. Um but it's something new that we're excited to have. we're excited to offer to our staff and I think it's going to be beneficial for the people coming in giving them a sense of you know um I'm ready for this and I can do

035that some confidence in their role. Um so we look forward to that. Uh and I did include uh copies of the agendas for you in your packet. Uh also something new this year uh we are doing something a little different with our mandatory training. Uh we are purchased a program called ARXEd last year. Um, and what it is is before you would come to our website. We have mandated trainings for a staff. They might be a PowerPoint training. They might be a PDF document or something. And it's up to the staff to just kind of flip through and read that and then they certify that they read the information. Um, now there is uh it looks like there's going to be an email that's going to be going out. All of these trainings are brought

036into little videos, 10 minute, 15 minute videos that really talk about it so they're more engaging. Um, it's hitting the high points so the information is delivered in a better manner. Hopefully, it'll be more meaningful for the staff as they go through it. Um, it has a tracking mechanism in there. So, um, and it's tailored to what position that you hold. Uh, there's also a module for coaching. So, we can do that for our coaches also when they're hired. So, that's something I'm excited about and we'll be rolling that out this year. Um, and in your packet, I put a copy of the trainings that are offered for our staff. Um, are there any questions? I'm just a comment. I'm really pleased that we're able to get this training lined up for this school year,

037particularly for for our pair of professionals. Um it I'm I'm excited to hear the feedback and and and what folks think of it, but it's a great opportunity to uh set folks up for success, particularly people who are new to the district or even to the profession. >> Absolutely. Thank you. >> And that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Mrs. Pangley. Any questions or comments for Mrs. Pangley? Hearing none, the next item on the agenda is the business manager report. Good evening, Mrs. Ktos. >> Good evening, everyone. We're going to get started with the Bartlett High School renovation project with some updates. I'm going to start first with some phase one activities, even though we're in phase two. So, coming out of phase one, we ended up with a pretty significant punch list of items

038that needed to be completed. Those punch list items included um items of things that may not have been completed but that we accepted to still occupy the space. It also included items that either the architect or us as the owner was not satisfied with and that we wanted remediated or perhaps things that got damaged in the process of the um GC or the subcontractors being in the section. So there was a list of thousands of items that needed to be completed. It was anticipated um with the closing of substantial completion that it would have been done by July 25th. However, we did extend it as owners to August 15th. Um so there are still some items roughly about 44 that are incomplete that we're having conversation about and ranking the priority of what needs to

039be done. Some of those are anticipated to be completed this week. for example, is putting another maintenance coat on the gymnasium floor. Uh that was required because of all the activity that was going on in there and electrical work and lifts being on the floor that they had committed to putting that additional coating on. So those are some of the the items. It um so we're having conversations about how do we get those remaining items. We had a pretty extensive meeting this morning about how do we get there and the prioritization. So we're hoping to see movement on some of those items this week. Um what I will say um is that the general contractor is managing a significant number of subs. Subs commit to come and then subs don't show up when they expect

040them to be here. Um so that is unfortunate but that's the life of trying to be a GC and schedule people to come in that they are also faced with those challenges. So certainly trying to work together to get those things wrapped up. Um the big item which is the auditorium which everyone is waiting for the outcome of that is um I have good news to start with and that is that all the steel connections have been satisfied and completed. So that was the major obstacle holding up the architects signing off and issuing affidavits for that section of the building. So that's really good news. Um so we will have the auditorium ready for this school year. I can't tell you tonight whether or not it'll be available for convocation. We have a follow-up meeting

041tomorrow. Some of the items that we're still addressing is the lift in the auditorium was certified and cleared by the state as being functional and operational. Somehow over the course of it being certified and operational, the the door is not opening properly right now. And so they're looking to have some maintenance done on that from a warranty standpoint. So that's one item that we're trying to get addressed. The other one is uh there was some AV equipment that was uh the subcontractor was finishing up with all the programming that was needed to get it all configured to work properly. Good news is we were able to start some training in there for our teachers. So, we were excited about that. But the commissioning agent um from the MSBA is coming out tomorrow to validate everything.

042So, we'll have a report out on the AV equipment tomorrow. The other issue that um we encountered uh which has affected the auditorium but is not directly in the auditorium. So one of the challenges of a renovation project is obviously we're doing this project in phases and the roof abuts each section. So there is an area of transition on the roof that has caused some water leakage to come into the stairwell by the auditorium and by the control booth. So there has been some remedial work done on that, but we've requested a third party to come in and assess what has been done so far and whether or not it's been adequate and sufficient um for us to actually accept that it's it's complete. They have replaced some drywall and done some other things, but

043we have asked for that additional verification to happen. So those are some other activities. And then the last one is really while it sounds good to say everything's done, there's an administrative component of closing out every section and what it takes to um prepare what substantial completion will look like, that certificate, and getting the building inspector in once the affidavits are released. So, we're hoping to know by tomorrow morning whether or not the key items that we need in order to use the auditorium will be functional so that we hopefully could get it done by convocation. Um but if not uh we don't think it'll be much longer after that. So let me just pause there see if there's any questions. I will say that this is a very fluid process and that's um being

044kind but it's also extremely frustrating. Um we have commitments about things being um completed or when they'll be done and then we learn otherwise that either something else surfaced, right? So when we think we've gotten over one hurdle, we encounter another one. for example, like the lift that was new news the other day for us. So, uh that was extremely shocking and disappointing and um we're trying to be as um demanding in terms of getting things done, but also um continuing to build that relationship and being flexible and understanding the things that are out of their control when it is out of their control. know that door. I know that squeak. Um, so the frustration is that, you know, they're making the calls, they're doing what they can, and then vendors are not showing up.

045So, it's frustrating for all of us involved, including the builder. >> Yeah, it is. And so, moving on to phase two, all the demolition activities have been completed. So, the next phase that we move into is really setting up that foundation in the building, getting all the um footings in, the strip walls. They're erecting steel across the first and second floor, installing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing um in the actual ceiling um from the first floor. so it can support what's needed on the second floor. On the roof, they're erecting steel. They're placing the roof deck down. They're putting roof edge blocking down. They're also installing the air vapor barriers and getting ready to get the um roof deck installed itself. So, lots of activity is underway. We are right now still on schedule for phase

046two. They're also doing a lot of site work. If you've been around the campus, you will see that a significant number of light pole bases, the underground electrical work has been done. And this week, they've been starting to put up those poles, and that will continue. We did confirm that there are some older poles that you'll see across the campus. Those will eventually come down, but for now, we will see a concurrent set of lights until they've actually gotten all the new light pole bases installed and have that electrical functioning up and running. And then the last item related to really phase two, but kind of part of phase one is the remediation that we're doing on the window lentils. I've reported on this in the past and this was the situation that we had

047no end dams um in the original building that was anticipated to be there. So, we're remediating that right now. They will be wrapping up the cleanup this week of that as well as finalizing some of the window testing associated with that. Once section C is done, we have already approved the change order for B section and that will be done within the sequence of already planned work in phase two unlike with phase one where we had to go back and do those activities. Let me pause and see if there's any questions, comments. Right. I'll move on to just regular building maintenance. And I think you guys stole my thunder really well at the beginning. Um, but I would like to just echo what you said. A big shout out to the custodial team. They work

048hard all summer juggling activities, scheduling it around summer school and really um they put their heart and soul in making sure that the environment looks clean, it's welcoming, um, and that we maintain the appearance and the function of the overall building. So, thanks to the whole team. The other thing from a facility standpoint, particularly on this campus that I'll highlight is we are continuing with issuing parking permits this year, but we are actually modifying how we're doing that. Parking is a premium right now because we have one whole lot dedicated to construction parking. The overflow for the construction folks is on George Street. And so we are um we ended up with some challenges this year that affected Webster Middle School. Uh we had some students starting to park over there, taking up space for

049staff. They couldn't get spots. So, we will be issuing parking permits for Bartlett staff district office as well as Webster Middle School. You may have noticed if you were in the tennis court parking lot. You will see that the um spots are all numbered now. So, for Bartlett in the district office, we will be assigning the lot and the spot. And Webster Middle School, they'll just be assigned to that overall parking lot and be able to park where they want to. But we have signs posted up that permit parking is required Monday through Friday from 7 to 3. Um that will allow us in the instance of people consuming spots to be able to tow the construction workers who may be parking there that shouldn't be. Uh so we have a pretty good process in

050place and we'll be rolling that out next week and hopefully I won't be out there patrolling with my staff when the flots are full and trying to give people warnings and tow cars. That's the goal. Any questions about that? All right, we're going to move on to some activities and preparation for the school year. Lots of things. We talked about it. Everyone's working really hard to get ready for the start of the school year. When it comes to transportation, we've been working with AA to get all of the bus assignments completed because the each of the buildings need to get ready because we issue bus passes to all of the students because we do expect them to show those bus passes when they're on the bus. So, that process has begun. We're going through another

051iteration of it to do updates for students that have now registered since we did that. And our bus routes will be posted on the website tomorrow with the exception of the parochial schools because we have not received them yet. But we will be posting up all the other routes tomorrow. The other thing that we get ready for is we will have a kickoff meeting for the school year with our crossing guards. Our school resource officer as well as the police chief will join us. And what we do in that is we review just kind of they're they're seasoned crossing guards, but we do like to review all the protocol to make sure that they're keeping students safe as well as keeping themselves safe and they understand the expectations for how to contact folks if issues

052do arise and what to do in the case of 911 situations. Uh, you know, certainly I've been out there doing crossing walk duty and um it really looking out for the students is very challenging at times. they're on their phones, they're not looking up, they have earbuds in, they're not paying attention. Uh so it it can get a bit challenging and stressful at times to make sure that you are keeping them safe and that they're paying attention. So we have that going on um this week as well. Um closing out from last year though, I will say from a financials, I reported about the work that we were doing to get all invoices closed out as well as um incumbring money for anything that was pending to be paid. So that um was ongoing and

053has been completed and in your packet is the result of all the budget line transfers that we did to close out the end of the school year. The one thing that I will highlight for you is we did put on a budget freeze midyear. We were projecting a pretty significant uh number for transportation. It did not come in as high. So therefore we were able to cover it in the LEA budget and again we did not use need to use the town meeting money um that was approved. But in addition to that, because of what we had, we did not have to apply the full amount of money that we had budgeted from circuit breaker, leaving us with a little additional balance in there. So, um, that will help us should we have any unexpected

054situations come up this year that we may need to tap into should someone move into the district with, uh, already an IEP or we have new needs that surface. And then now I'll move on to some technology updates, uh, routine um, activities. And while it sounds routine, it's a lot of work for the team when they're getting ready for it because we do issue new Chromebooks for students in grades 1, five, and nine. So they get all of those prepared and assigned out to students. We also refresh about a quarter of our faculty and staff laptops as well. And so they're getting those prepared so they can start rolling those out. Um, so that's uh an activity as well as repairing, which I didn't mention in your notes, but they also have to repair the

055Chromebooks that we collect back that the students may have broken throughout the year. So, lots of activity goes on there. Um, we did have a significant upgrade um last night that happened to our firewalls. We were able to purchase new firewalls through the -ate program, which means the district is only responsible for 15% of the cost. And so we did those upgrades along with some upgrades to our bandwidth across all three schools from Spectrum and our internet service. Uh the migration took last night uh a full 12 hours. We ended up with a situation in with we had a phone outage today unfortunately due to some configuration challenges. We have Webster Middle School in Park A up and running and our IT manager is still working on getting um Bartlett up, but I think he's

056close to being complete. Um so hopefully we'll be back to business tomorrow. Um and phones will be ringing again. We did update the website though just in case people were calling to let them know that we were aware of the outage. >> I will say it was nice and quiet. >> Heads down. And then the last thing just to make you aware of is we are implementing um multiffactor authentication this year. We've actually already started with a pilot. And so you may be familiar with this. If you use a banking um application, they might send you a code to authenticate. So you enter your password and you get a code. The way in which we're doing it is we are offering people two options in which they can authenticate. One is using an application on

057their phone. They can use an authenticator application to authenticate or they can get a dongle which thank you that you have one that looks like this. It's and they can push a button and get the code to authenticate. Uh this is a real critical security measure that we're taking. Um this will safeguard our data. Uh it'll hopefully reduce fishing attempts because if someone gets your credentials if someone sees that they get a notification to put in their code, they should know I am not logging on. I should not enter it. and that will hopefully reduce the number of fishing attempts we get through the year. Um but it's also being done um as a result of our cyber insurance carrier for us to get increased limits. This is one of the measures that we need

058to put in place to safeguard our infrastructure across the district and we've been piloting it in the district office and we will be rolling it out to teachers starting next week and then we'll be rolling it out to other groups following the teachers and hopefully getting that done um by the end of October. Any questions? Thank you. Mrs. Ktos, does that conclude your report? >> Yes, it does. >> Okay, great. Thank you. And no questions or comments from Mrs. Ktos. >> All right. Well, thank you once again. The next item on the agenda is an update from our principal at Park A Elementary, Miss Amy Pulfico. Good evening. >> Good evening. Happy to be back. Ready to kick this off again. Um, so I'm going to start with some new staff. I'm sure uh, Superintendent

059Pangelie has kind of kept you updated as we are moving through. Uh, but we have hired three new third grade teachers. Um, sounds like a lot. As I was telling my interviewees, people are not running from third grade. That is not what's happening. Um, we had a retirement, we had a shift of a position, and we had a teacher move into a new position within the building. So, um, that gave us three new positions. So, that's Jacob Bond, Sophie Morurell, and Annalise Sherman. We're excited to have them on board. We also hired a new ELELLL teacher, which is a position that was moved from another building to Park A. Uh so I'm happy to have Lori Treyan on staff. We hired a new BCBA as as was mentioned, uh Britney Openshaw, and a new family

060liaison, Nicole Suarez Bracket. So we're happy to have them. and we are in the process of hiring new IAS and ABAs as we speak. Uh today there were some interviews. We also have a couple maternity leaves that we are actively working to fill. We um with the addition of the EL uh teacher space is certainly at a premium at Park A. So, uh, we did need a an additional space for our services for our, um, ELLL students, which required us to move our BCBAS. So, that resulted in some office changes in the main office, allowing us to put our BCBAS together in an office um, and create a new space for our ELLL teachers. And we also had some classroom moves, um, some third grade classroom moves to allow our new staff to be close

061to established staff. We really have to think about how best to support our new staff as they come in. We want to make sure they're not an island on their own. We want to make sure they're with veteran staff who can support them um, instructionally, culturally within the building. So, we had some classroom moves there, too. Uh, we also had I don't know if Miss Ktos talked about our increasing cameras um at a last meeting, but we um over doubled our cameras within the building, which is going to give us great coverage both inside the building and outside the building. um which is huge for safety um both from anything outside the building coming in as well as making sure our students are creating safe environments within the within the building. Um next up is

062some summer professional development. We were able to offer staff to come work on our Eureka program this year. We had 10 staff take advantage of that. A big piece of that is organizing materials so that when um it comes time to work within the program, they have those materials organized and ready to go. Things like baggies of a hundred items for counting. So that takes a lot of time to organize that for um 25 students per classroom in seven classrooms across one grade. So um we were lucky to have 10 staff willing to come in and do that. And they don't just do it for themselves and their grade, they they share the work across the grades which is fantastic. Uh we also had safety care happening today with a big focus on deescala deescalation

063techniques. That work on deescalation will also be shared with the whole staff as we move into the beginning of the year to make sure that they are well prepared. But the additional piece of this training is um restraint to make sure that our our staff are well prepared in case the need arises to um keep everybody physically safe as well as emotionally safe. And my assistant principal Jessky offered optional PD to staff over the summer, a three-day workshop on a start strong PD. So they learned about the traumainformed reasons, culturally relevant reasons to have strong procedures, strong routines, strong expectations in the classroom. Um the research behind that, how important it is for kids to have that. And then they were able to spend time planning lessons that actually teach those routines and expectations to

064staff uh to students. So that was an optional PD. Um she did have 12 staff members come and take advantage of that workshop which is fantastic. Um and that bleeds right into our strong start which is the focus of the beginning of the year. We really put a strong two-eek focus on building those expectations, those routines, the classroom culture um to provide those kids the safety of knowing what to expect when they come into a classroom. It's really an effort to go slow so you can go fast. It It sounds like a long time to spend on that, but it's so important, especially for our younger learners, to learn those expectations and practice them. Learn how to do the different instructional routines that are included in the math program. Learn how to leave the room

065to go use the bathroom. Learn how to walk in the hall. You know, I think these are all things that we take for granted um that kids really need to learn over and over again. So, we do take a good chunk of time at the beginning of the year to do that, establish our PBIS expectations. Um and then we will have our first community meeting on September 12th with the whole um building together in our in our gym with our new bleachers to be able to really kick the year off on a positive note and and set a tone for the school year. And then I also listed just some important upcoming dates here for you. Uh, kids in one through four will be back with us. Actually, 1 through 12 will be back with

066us on the 28th. Um during that time up until September 5th, our uh preschool and our kindergarten are doing screenings uh where the kids come in with their families um and go through so the teachers can kind of see where they are, see what they need, any concerns for additional screenings for special education, speech, etc. And September 5th, which is a Friday, our kindergarten families are invited in for a meet and greet. I don't have the preschool date yet, but that will also happen. By then, they will know their teachers. They will be assigned to a classroom, so kindergarteners will be able to parents will be able to meet their teachers as well. And then our prek and kindergarten students start on September 8th. September 17th and 18th, we have our book fair. PTO will

067be hosting our book fair and we always correlate that along with our open house which is on the 18th in the evening. September 19th is a half day for the whole district and on September 30th we'll be having Boston Children's Hospital uh doing a presentation for our fourth grade on helmet safety. I think um you know we all have seen um kids on their bikes without their helmets the rise of ebikes uh coming about and what we see happening with that. So, we want to start to get um bit more proactive with our students and if we can get them young, wearing their helmets. Any um you know, parents watching of very young children, start as soon as you can to teach them that no helmet, no bike, no helmet, no scooter. Uh it really

068helps when they get older. And then on October 4th, which is a Saturday, we have our PTO fall festival, which is always a fun event. And October 10th, I went into October. I'm not back in front of you until October 14th. So, I wanted to make sure I filled all the dates in um leading up to the next time I come. Any questions that's I have? Thank you for the updates. Lots going on. >> Yeah, >> Parkab for sure. >> Um I also just wanted to note we saw the gardens a lot in our in our um videos and pictures there and I just want to recognize a teacher of ours uh Beth Waybetts. She's a special education teacher who um really spear, you know, it was already established the garden, but she really took

069it on and has really grown it. She has um Literally. Yes. Literally. Um in the spring if you're in, you can see the um she has grow lights outside of her room. She's starting the plants early. The kids love to stop and look at it. Um she has a she hosts a garden club um with kids that can come work in the gardens. She uh has really blossomed that I know. I It's like I just can't help it. um uh that garden into an amazing thing and clearly the community is enjoying it. I went today to look for a snack and I couldn't find any vegetables to eat. So um I'm glad that the community is coming in and um enjoying the things that are growing on it because that's that's the point of it

070as well. >> That's great. Great to see. Any other questions or comments from the committee? Well, we wish you a very successful and uneventful start to the school year. Thank you for your updates. >> Best day of the year, day one. >> Yes, it's true. >> All right. Well, uh, the next item on our agenda under old business is a monthly report on fundraising applications. As a reminder, the role of the school committee is to review fundraising applications, but we don't approve them. Those are done at the building or district level. >> Anything about fundraising? >> I just supports all of our He's going to open the door. I didn't have my button on. Sorry, Lee. Um for all of the fail trips that happen um during the school year, uh there is things for

071PBIS. There's student council. uh this senior class, more senior class stuff, um football, uh all kinds uh for the fall. So, we just want to thank everybody for all of their efforts in raising money and bringing things um in for our students. So, we appreciate that. >> Agree. Couldn't have said it better myself. Any questions or comments from the committee about that? No. Okay. Okay. Well, the next item on our agenda under new business is the review and approval of several handbooks. The first one being the employee handbook. Mrs. Pringuli. >> Oh, thank you. Um, you should have cheat sheets in your um packet of all the changes that were made um for the employee handbook. Um, you have pages and the updates. We updated names and titles on page five. I don't know if

072you want us to read. uh pave six updated school committee names. Uh we eliminated the pre-employment physical. Uh we no longer do that here at the district. Um one of the things that came about in our negotiation is we added language regarding the union right to access. So that is in there now. Um we've updated uh the health insurance coordinator. We recently had a change in that. Um somebody different is handling the health insurance now uh at the town hall. That is going to be Miss Tina Landry. Um on page 10 we had an updated name and then we added the uh amendment policy of JCFB on page 23. So those are the changes to the employee handbook for this year. >> Thank you. Mrs. Franley. Any questions or comments from the committee about the

073uh employee handbook updates? >> Hearing none. I'll entertain a motion to approve this handbook as presented. So move >> second. >> There's a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. Motion passes. >> Okay. The next item I have is the substitute handbook. Um the only changes in the substitute handbook were updates to names and titles in the handbook. Other than that, everything stayed the same. >> Great. Any questions or comments from the committee about the substitute handbook? >> Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to approve it as presented. >> So move. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. >> Miller. >> Yes. Motion passes. Okay. And then we are moving on to the schools. And before we start

074with the schools, uh just a quick update for you. Uh we have done some work on our handbooks this year as far as district policies. Um we have worked in two of our schools. The policies were integrated in in the handbook and in one of our school they were in a a section together at the back of the policy. And as we were going through our review, um, our sped audit that we did, the CAP review, uh, we decided that and they at their recommendation to put all the district policies in one section. So that way when we're updating a policy, we're updating it once. We're not trying to find it in three different handbooks and three different spots and updating it. So we make a change to the district policy that's always going to

075be there and that's going to go at the end of the handbook. So, we've consolidated the district policies, put them in in one section, and so the schools went through the exercise of pulling them out of the integrated, and that way it'll be easier to maintain and monitor um moving forward. Um, but I can turn it over to I'm not sure on the agenda who's first. Um, >> okay, we'll turn it over to Parkav. >> Okay. So, all of our changes are at the end in red. They're also highlighted in the in red throughout the throughout the document. Um, as you scroll through all the pages, it's a lot. Um, there are not any substantial changes other than removing the policies and replacing them. So, um, really on the first few pages, five and six,

076we updated staff names there. Um, page seven updated the calendar. Page eight again updated our staff listing. Um, we have only listed our unit A staff. We have just found that our our other um IAS and ABAs change very frequently. So to keep that continually updated, we've maintained our unit A staff here. um page 14 that is where we took out our bullying policy to move it towards to the end. So that's several several pages of deletion there. Um page 17 we added some information about um how we celebrate student behavior and achievement. We removed kid of character as we have um we do have our student of the month monthly but we are now recognizing students on more individual basis sees as they happen through things like pot coins and whatnot. So we removed

077that. Um pages 18 and 19 were some updates to special education information that was in there. Uh we deleted some information about uh dress code things like spaghetti straps and halters and and whatnot. We don't have issues with that. And um just in an attempt to be a little bit more um responsive to students and their needs, we we have deleted those. and page down to page 28. Changes in dates, changed PTO times, they are now meeting earlier. Changed our grading trimester dates. We're still in trimesters, but just updated the dates for those. And starting on 37 to that should say 79, not 99. We added all of the Webster public schools policies. >> There's a lot of policies in here. >> Yes. There. Yes. Yeah. Those are just all the and I believe we

078may still have more to update or is that all of them? >> We could be last year coming. Sorry, Lee. Third time's a charm. I promise I won't forget again. Um, we'll be updating that during the year. Uh, we really need to and I I said it I think I said it last year, but make concerted effort um as a committee to look at a full policy review um and put a team. I have started to inquire. I inquired last year about it. I would have liked to do it last year, but really it's a year-long process. You know, having somebody come in, have it facilitated by MASC. We'd have to put a team together and really go through our book. Um, it hasn't been done in many years. Um, so many things have changed

079and, you know, we keep up here and there, but we need to be better at that and doing that. So, there are things that we will be coming forward with, you know, that were in the works, our acceptable use policy and things like that that we'll be updating and um we'll continue that through this year, update what we can and then when we start to budget for next year, we'll get better pricing on what it would cost and maybe that's something that we can budget for to plan for for the next year um to put a team together to look at our policies as we go through. >> Great. Yeah, it's great to hear and certainly something that needs to be done on a regular basis and it's one of those things that you know

080there's never time for, >> right? >> Um and apologies because I think you already said this is but why are we putting them into all of the school handbooks? That was a recommendation. >> Yeah. Uh no, we always had the policies in there but they were embedded in the handbooks in different sections. Yeah. >> And so now what we've done is we've consolidated them. So you'll have uh you'll have uh reference to maybe a district policy in in the procedure see district policy whatever and then it's listed in the back. So all the district policies are in the back. So that way when a policy does update or something's changed we're changing it in one spot. You're not trying to embed it is it in multiple spots in a handbook or something. It's listed where

081it needs to be. And that was a recommendation from our CAP when we did our reviews. They were looking at policies and procedures um in our handbooks >> through the chair. >> Yeah, member Claros. >> Hi. Um I just want to say that I reviewed all the handbooks and I thought it was really helpful to have that district policy sections in all the handbooks like at the back and kind of made it much easier to review. And I was just looking and I think what you said about going through the year and doing that. I think that's going to be really important because you can see other spots too where those can be uniform across every handbook and right now you're kind of still looking but I did see that and I thought it made

082it much easier to read and I could see it doing like the nurses section things like that all those things could really um be beneficial if a lot of those are district of course they're still school specific but I thought it looked really nice. I thought that was a nice addition the way it was. >> Good. Thank you for that feedback. I appreciate that. >> It's definitely nice to have them all in one place for sure. Yeah. Um I noticed just a little bit of wonky formatting um at the beginning of the policies uh for park a page 42 the bullets >> if we can >> Oh yes that's that's because I copied them over like >> sometimes it's yeah when you PDF it or whatever. So >> to remove some extra bullets I did

083catch one okay instance but I didn't catch all of them. >> Okay. Yeah. So, and sometimes when you convert something from, you know, a Google doc to a PDF, the formatting gets wonky, but just wanted to flag that so that we can fix that before it goes to the masses. Uh, any other comments or questions from the committee regarding the Parkav Elementary School uh student handbook >> uh through the chair? >> Members Gregia, >> I just have a quick question um for the student support. Are um Mrs. here. You're listed as the 504 coordinator for one school and your assistant is listed as the 504 coordinator I think for a different school. Are are you sharing that role or is she is your assistant the 504 >> ultimately the 504 coordination is my responsibility so

084I should be listed on on >> I'm not okay which one you Okay. So somebody just has your assistant listed as the 504. So >> do you remember what school Okay. Thank you. >> Good catch. >> Yep. That was a good fix. >> Yeah. No, I know some schools they're like, "Hey, you're going to do this school and I'll do this school." But it's good that everybody's the same. >> All right. And I like the change to the um dress code to have it more genderneutral. I think that's kind of what you were getting at, Mrs. Miss Polyfico, of just eliminating some things that are more gender specific. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Great. All right. Any other questions or comments with regard to the student handbook for Park Avenue Elementary? >> Hearing none, I'll entertain

085a motion to approve it as uh presented with some minor edits if as needed for formatting and making sure we have the correct 504 coordinator. >> So move. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. public. >> Yes. Motion passes and thank you for all the work that undoubtedly went into the updates to those that handbook. And the next item on the agenda, Mrs. Fanguli, do you want to take it away or hand it over to Miss Peterson? >> Miss Peterson. >> Okay. So, um pretty similar to Miss Pyafico, the um changes are um noted on the change the cover sheet. Uh most of them are, uh the first couple ones are updates, updated letters, updated calendars. Once this is approved, I'll update the table

086of con um contents. Um as things are removed, it moves things around. um did some reordering of some um communication uh chain. And so then you'll see some deletions in bold. Those are all the things that get moved to the back with policies. And just to point out, not every district policy is in the handbook. It's policies that relate to students such as bullying, hazing, um the title one compact and those those kinds of things that relate to families. Um I do have to update page 11 again um because of our recent resignation. So I will have to um put to be determined in those counselor positions and 504 positions. um and the updates with the Desi recommended language in regards to disciplinary procedures. Um so again, very similar to Miss Polyafico, our changes are

087in red, deletions are um lined out, and that's what I have. >> Thank you, Miss Peterson. questions or comments from the committee? >> Just a small one. >> Okay. There's only one T in my last name. >> Okay. I think that might have been an issue last year. I'm not sure it's why why it's the same because it's the same thing. >> A lot of people do it. >> The other chair, >> member. >> Yes. Um and I just wanted to notice that I love the matrices in there and I love that I saw them when I went through the school um showing where how the kids should behave everywhere. I just thought that was a nice touch and I love to see it in the handbook. Um, and just one small thing and it

088could be there correctly on 39 and 41 the font was different and that could be on purpose but I just wanted to note it. Yes, all of those um charts are our PBIS models. So 39 and 41. So the handbook that I'm looking at, it shows pages 34 through 111 as crossed out. Am I looking at the wrong version? >> I have that. >> Yeah, I think that's because it was the district policies that were >> right. Those are all move will be moved. So 34 to 42 are being moved to the end. It looks like the numbers got changed as we added things in here. I feedback >> but um yeah almost of the entire policy is is handbook rather is is crossed out >> to the end. Um Miss Claros, can you I

089don't know that I have the same page as you. What is the title of the area that um >> sorry let me look and see. It's going to take me a minute to get there. >> I'll double check it too as we cross things out. My secretary will take care of all. >> Yeah, it's almost the whole >> I think it just crossed everything out. >> Yeah. >> So, it's not supposed to be crossed. >> It is supposed to be crossed out because it's being moved to the end. That stuff was in our hand embedded in our handbook and now it's all at the end. So, it's crossed out because it no longer exists in the section where it had lived previously. >> Where does it exist? pages 74 to 111. >> Those are crossed

090out. >> They're all crossed out on the version that we're looking at. >> Yeah, >> I'm not sure. I I just printed this an hour ago, so I'm not sure what >> Maybe we have an old version in our packet. >> We have a lot of cross. >> Yeah, it's just crossed out. I think it just struck through everything, but I don't think it should be. >> It shouldn't be. So, I apologize for you not having the right one. This That's why I do things myself. So, starting on 74, that's the new. It shouldn't be struck out. So, that 74 on should be >> That's a lot of pages. >> I know. The earlier stuff. Yes. After that, no. >> Look like a lot of it got >> We'll make sure we update it and

091put it in the package. >> Goes even into the forms. They're all crossed out. The bullying forms, they're all crossed out. >> Yeah, I think I think it was just an accidental over overcrossing out. >> Um, also with regard to the discipline piece, uh, the procedures on page 30, is that um is that supposed to have been removed also, Miss Peterson? >> Yes, as that's district, it's now at the end. start should be starting on page 30 74. I can give you I know I only have one copy but I can give you the correct. So with that section after valuables like I'm on page I know that the numbers on the um electronic version are a little different but the the page number within the document is page 30 after valuables. There's a heading

092that says disciplinary procedures and then the paragraphs are crossed out and it goes into possible reasons for disciplinary action with a bulleted list. Is that how it's supposed to read? >> You on page 31. >> Well, look at page 31. Uh I think you're looking at the same one I have. >> Um when I the the document itself has a page number of 30 on it but that's because of the table of contents and my screen is showing me page >> I don't know why that is showing that so here is the actual >> sorry to grill you but >> I apologize I >> never mind I'm going to leave it at [Music] I don't want to be the only one reviewing this, but so the font was for the suspension procedures for suspension students

093with disabilities. So that was the heading and there was just kind of a font issue on like the second page of that. What is the desire >> I just I just want to make sure everything's right. So it's I don't care about the grilling. >> Oh yeah. I think we have a little bit of work to do before we approve this to be honest with you. I I'll defer to the rest of the committee. Um I don't know if we're if we're looking at a final dock here. I don't know >> through the chair >> members Craigley. >> Yeah, because it's just so the disciplinary disciplinary procedures part of it is crossed out but the possible reasons for disciplinary procedures is not none of that is looks like it's going to be moved on the

094on the draft and then it goes back into possibilary possible dictionary uh disciplinary actions is crossed out again. So it's like this whole section should have been crossed out. >> There should be I I I mean I'm no expert at school handbooks, but I would I would expect that there would be some orientation to to discipline within the handbook and then the policy if if it's moved would then really be dug into later on in the document. this handbook. >> It would be the old one. wouldn't be the new one because we don't have an updated handbook >> unless we uh post a virtual meeting and the handbook gets revised and we meet we meet via Zoom before the start of school >> that just for the one handbook >> I think. >> Yeah. >>

095Okay. >> It's close. I think it's just a matter of us understanding what's what stays and what moves. Um it's such a busy time of year to try to get everything done that it's >> I apologize. I didn't look before tonight coming here. >> So we'll table we'll table that item for now and we can reconvene and and talk about that. We can certainly post a meeting be held via Zoom. Uh let's see here. Um any other feedback can just be directed to Miss Peterson I think via email or something like that. Um >> we're going to >> Yeah, >> through the chair just just the fonts too like um was stated before they're just throughout. It's not it's not the same from this version that we're the hard copy that I'm looking at too.

096I mean format just for the eye but >> yeah I think >> it needs to be crossed >> point taken right a little bit of work and uh we'll reconvene you know within the next few days and um I'm sure it'll be the most up-to-date version at that point so no worries. So, with that being said, any other feedback, we can just email it. Um, and then we can move along here to the Bartlett High School student handbook. Um, is that Mrs. Prinsley or Miss NeA? >> Miss Neas. >> Nope, it's on. Hi. Hello. All right. So, we did a lot of the same changes as far as the editing, the updating pieces. And the page that came with my handbook in purple, and I won't read it all, are the actual changes that were

097made and updated to the sections. Um, so as I go through, um, one of our bigger changes was our tardy policy. We didn't really have a strong policy in the past. So, we have attached numbers of how many absence, how many tardies to school as well as tardies to class and what that means, what's the reaction from our staff, to our parents, and to our students. Um, so we tightened that up. Um, we saw towards the end of the school year a big difference when we started doing Saturday schools and with the accountability. So, we built in some steps prior to that. Um for moving forward, we updated our driving to and from school as we discussed earlier um with the parking lot conduct and regulations and the assigned parking numbers and how to go

098about getting a parking pass. Um, on page 24, we updated our cell phone policy from the we would like you to turn it in at the beginning of class to is the expectation that they will turn in turn off and turn in their cell phones into the the wall um mounted holders um as well as the progression of reactions from the staff to the kids and the parents. Another minor change was the when students forget or don't charge their Chromebooks, everyone left them at home and just expected to be given a new one. So they will be the expectation will be that they will be given paper and pencil task for that day. If they do leave it at home, we don't have enough extra Chromebooks to give one out to everyone that has, you

099know, just forgotten it or didn't charge it. Yes, there are going to be exceptions. Yes, there are testings. Um but so we tightened up that policy. um dues I updated um just like it was in the program of studies that I talked about the last time. So I updated that in this book. We spoke about AI and the relationship to cheating and plagiarism a little bit more um since we saw a lot of that this year and how to use it appropriately. So we built that into the handbook. Um, we're going to try an academic support center after school. So, instead of stu teachers being in their rooms with the kids, trying to man our cafeteria with a subject area, specific staff from each area every day in one area. So, if students can kind

100of go from different areas if need be. I added the Saturday school since that was new this past year. I'm going to save a couple of these next pieces till I get to this the sports handbook because it's a duplicate. So, we did update what's updated in the coaches and the student handbook into this book as well, but that's related to the kids. Um, on page 47 and 48 and 49, our nurses across the district did update these three sections. So the ad the guidelines for staying home, the administration of medication and how to refer a student to the nurs's office if something happens. Um so we put that in there. Um we were given that from them. We added a lot to our PBIS section. We did a lot this past year with PBIS

101and the expectations. So we included that in this handbook. We also added in um like the other two schools, community meetings this year and it definitely made a difference and a reminder constantly about what's going on and how to behave within the building. We didn't have a discipline matrix before, but um we did list our behaviors and the possible consequences that could happen um for those behaviors that as we go through ed handbook that may be updated um and the title's changed as we update that. And like everyone else, um, we moved the district policies. Um, I think there's some talk of a couple things that need to be moved back up. Um, so I we do have a part that talks about the discipline up top and then the the policies and procedures after.

102Um, and we'll talk to see which ones have to be moved back up. Um, and then we made the changes per the corrective action plan in the book as well. Miss Millet, I saw the spelling in there, too. So, I'm going to fix it on your name in there. And I'm the one with the 504 under the wrong name, so we'll fix that as well. >> One. >> Yep. Any questions through the chair? >> Member Skigglia. >> So, just I just want to clarify because I don't know I don't know if it's me that's not quite 100% understanding. So there are district policies on um bullying and such under this one clearly states district policy but then above like directly so that's on page 69 it says district policy it lists them. >> Yes. But

103above that on page um 67 or 66 it starts there is a part about bullying. So is that what you're talking about? What's being moved or like are we so we include so we're including some things about bullying in your school specific handbook but then there's an additional section on just the district stuff. So it could be again the same. So it's not in as in detail. So the bottom part where we move the pol the the word for word policy that we were all given the same through other schools is in the back on you know after that page 69. Okay >> on if you go to the page um and this could be changed a little bit too. We were given this and I think we're all working on like the what to

104pull out and where to put it right >> but in here it's what is that what is how does it pertain to Bartlett specifically who to go to um what offices to go to specifics. So even though there could be a district change to the bullying pol like so the bullying I get I understand the process of okay like we're just going to copy and cut it you know all three schools have the same wording for that specific policy and so would you necessarily if the district policy changed you would still have to go into your specific handbook section potentially and change the wording there too. >> Yeah sure. So I think that the distinction between which is actually what um the state asked us to do uh was to make sure that the policies

105are in one place and they are the same across the three schools because the district policies have been approved by the school committee and they don't change. This is policy. It's not school specific procedures. So there might be some redundancy in titles as long as the title as long as the district policies are intact because again those are that there's a distinction between what makes something a policy versus a protocol or a procedure. So there might be some redundancies in the procedural school-based handbook that is further elaborated on or supported by a district policy that's been approved. Bullying is one of those examples. If Bartlett does anything different, if there are things that that different in the sense as long as it's following the policy, but there might be some procedural nuances that are specific

106to the developmental age of their schools, then that might be articulated differently within the handbook within the school-based section of the handbook. The one thing that uh Miss Neves just said before, one of those examples was the special um the special education procedures around discipline for students with IEPs. So, I think that I think that in the in the moving things around, one of the things that I noticed in the Bartlett handbook is that that was included in the policy section, but the procedure, even though it's the same, and Desi wanted those procedures the same across the three schools, have not been it's not a policy and it should not live in the school policy section. Do you know what do you understand what I'm saying? They might be consistent. If Desi wants the language

107to be the same across the three schools, but it has not come before school committee for approval. It should not live in the district approved policy section of the handbook. >> That's right. >> Does that make sense? That might be one of the changes and I'm not sure. I haven't seen the other two. Um there is a there is a it's confusing because there is a district policy around student discipline but what DESIE >> pretty much ordered us to do was to have a uniform uh section of the procedural things and if that has not come before school committee for approval to be included in our district policy then it can't yet live in the district policy section. Does that make sense? >> Okay. I think a good goal moving forward would be to have

108all of our district-wide policies live on the website and eliminate them from handbooks altogether, refer parents and students to the website to be able to view them. They can then be updated once and and not have to be updated again. Certainly, I think that procedures that are not approved by a school committee or that may be unique to an individual school building should be number one under the authority of the building principle to set them and adjust them as as necessary in collaboration with the superintendent, >> but may be unique. There are certain things, you know, um whether it be harassment, for example, those should be district-wide policies and not a Bartlett High School policy. Uh so I think we're definitely moving in the right direction. Certainly more work to be done and probably a

109learning of you know we want to start this process before the school year ends in order to uh have ourselves in better position for the opening of school. You know, >> I think one of the things we need to consider is when there is a a a TFM, a tiered focus monitoring review or any kind of special ed review. If it's Desi's expectation that the policies live within the handbooks, then I think we need to do that because we would get cited for things not living in the handbooks. There are some exceptions to what Desi accepts as like electronic things like what can be considered a student record for instance that lives in an electronic platform versus what used to be in the folders. I'm not I'm not sure what the expectation is around um

110around like an audit of some kind where they they pretty much say under this element we need your handbook so that we can check your policies and if they live only on the website and not in the handbooks then that would be problematic for us. So we just have to vet that through through Desi first. >> That makes sense. >> And in all fairness to the schools this was something that was done in my office pulling out the district policies. We had to sit and go through the policy manual because we don't have everything all in one spot for years. We have some on the website, some in a handbook, some on computers. So, it's so searching for a policy and getting the most up-to-date policy. We had to go through and look and that

111took time and then we weren't ready for the July. We started working on this and then life happened and that happened and so um you know principles have been waiting for this for some time. Um so this is this is my office. This is a lapse in my office. Um which is the reason why they're scrambling tonight to get it into the handbook. So I just want to make sure you understand that this is something that I own and um certainly it's an area we know we need to work on. It's an area that we will continue to work on to make sure, but uh you know just going through this alone in July and August um like we need some work um on our policies to make sure that there's no even an easy

112way to find. You know, you're looking through computers from other people that were here two or three times ago to say where's the most updated, when was the last time it was updated, making sure we're consistent. So, I get the confusion. That's understandable and clearly work is being done on them. So, >> you know, uh nowhere to go but up, I suppose, right? >> Um and certainly want to recognize the amount of time and effort that's gone into updating these policies and the handbooks and things like that. And you know, I can't speak for the whole committee, but I would say that my belief is that any questions or recommendations and things like that are coming from a place of wanting you all to have put your best foot forward in these handbooks when we

113give them to our students. So, um, yeah, Miss Sarah, >> so I just want to add on a positive note that all of the changes that DESIE had made through the corrective action plan have been incorporated in all of the handbooks and Patty did an Dr. Mcai did an excellent job explaining the the difference between policy and procedures. And what makes this a monumental task is having both in a handbook because the policies are are approved by the school committee. We've already v visited that. But the procedures lend themselves to the policy and they are they're elaboration and more descriptive of the policy which makes it really complicated. So we try to balance our school committee approved policies with our procedures that include the corrective action and that's what makes it very complicated >> for

114sure. I just through the chair, >> members, >> just one more thing just um just for the future too because I think we know that Massachusetts pass the cell phone um policy legislation and it doesn't it when I read it, it didn't necessarily seem to specify at what point in the day is like no phones acceptable. I know we have once it's in the CL when we're in the classroom, it goes away. We don't see it, it's gone. But maybe in the future for next year because I think it needs to be somewhere next year potentially the 26th school year. Um like even during like common spaces or common time no cell phones. Um and I know I I don't know how that will suit well with our student community but I mean that we

115all know that cell phones are very you know truly harmful. Um so just in the future maybe you know self in the classroom and we can vote on it but maybe um in common spaces lunchtime you know free time also no cell phones. Thank you. >> Be that person. >> Right. >> Good. >> And just so you know, Ma Masc came out and they're receiving a lot of questions about model policies and stuff like that. And um they have no plans to issue a single model policy right now. So, they're recommending that districts have local conversations and include students, families, and staff when drafting a policy and putting it in the handbook. So, um it's not going to be one set policy that comes out. They understand that it's going to be by district um

116>> for the cell phones. >> Yeah. >> So, we get those updates regularly from MASC to follow policies, which is another area that we follow um when updating. >> Thank you. Uh, Miss Davis, I have some minutia here to address. Uh, formatting page 19. I think there was some I I don't recall exactly what the specifics were, but maybe it was a bulleted list. The bullets were not our friend. I think when we converted these to PDF, so it may be something that is a non-issue in your original document. Okay. >> But wanted to raise that up for you. >> Um, >> because you guys have the PDF, >> right? Right. So, it may look perfectly fine to you. And if that's the case, then great. As long as you're not sending out PDFs to

117all the students and families. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So, I will look at the PDF. >> Okay. All right. Great. Uh I love the behavioral matrices as well. Um one and the clarity around tardies. >> Yeah. >> And throwing away the coffee if somebody shows up late but they had time to get their coffee. >> They get angry with that one. >> I know. Nice touch. Um, question about the Chromebook piece. Is there any consequence for students who frequently come in without a Chromebook and need to use paper and pencil >> besides them having to do that paper and pencil? Not right now. No. >> Okay. We'll see. Maybe we won't need it once they have to pick up a pencil. And >> I hope not. >> Right. Okay. Fair enough. All right. Uh do

118we we may have already talked about this, but with regard to the parking, are we we're anticipating a shortage of parking? Um any thoughts on how we're going to handle is it how are we going to determine who gets a parking pass and who doesn't? We've talked about that. >> We have already sent out forms to our Did they go out to the students already, too? Not yet. Um so that's going to be going out. It's already gone out to our staff. So, I I was able to move all of our staff to one parking lot and completely eliminate them from the other parking lot where I was split between two. >> Um, >> so the students will be more of a first come first serve based on how many spots we have. Okay. >>

119Once that document goes out. >> I think we also talked a little bit about um some of the other criteria that will be used is if students are in internships and they need a car to get to the internship that that would take a priority over first come first serve. Um, and then we also talked about seniors get priority over juniors. So I think there are some prioritization that while they'll have the opportunity to get their application in then there'll be some application of those types of criteria that should be applied to it. >> We might consider documenting that >> so that we can be transparent with how how parking is um provided. >> Yes. >> Or how those decisions are made. >> Okay. Anything else from the committee? >> All right. So, uh what

120are the thoughts around the the parking piece? Is that handbook material or or >> Yes, we can actually update that in the next day or two. >> Okay. >> Um the order and I can put it right in here and then we can send it. >> Okay. So is perhaps we will review both the middle school and the high school handbook on a a Zoom meeting before the start of school. Is that >> I'm going to have to because we need handbooks for the start of school. So it's not something I'll probably be able to do until next week. Um and we need two days to post. So maybe we could do We could post it at least and then work back from there. >> Yeah, we could do maybe Monday evening or Tuesday evening.

121>> Okay. >> All right. Uh and the next item in the agenda is the uh coaching handbook. Couple changes or additions I should say. Um Mr. Pronto is not here, so I'm going to do my best. Um, one of the So, that book serves for coaches slash students, but it's really geared towards coaches, but anything that is student related that we've updated is in that book as well as my handbook. Um, so the first one is the regarding the equipment and the uniforms. Um we just spoke about the um not when to wear and when not to wear uniforms, how to return them um that they're responsible for the uniforms and the equipment that they are provided. Um we spoke about locker room um keeping it clean, not leaving everything out. We just we tightened

122it up. We looked at different policies and we didn't have that before. So, we've added that in um and emptying out the lockers after. The other big piece that we did was the travel. Um it was asked about the students, you know, riding in their own transportation. Um so, Mr. Panto and the team added in that players must ride to and from out of town games on school-owned or chartered buses. Players may not travel to an away athletic contest in private transportation and participate in a game without the express permission of the athletic director. um and that all athletes are reminded that when visiting other schools, Bartlett's the guest. So, we spoke about the way they should behave. Um being reasonable and courteous, respecting the other school's facilities and dressing for the for the occasion,

123dressing in appropriate, wearing the appropriate attire. The there weren't other major changes in that book. Um that's all I have for the coach's handbook. Any questions or comments from the committee >> through the chair? >> Member Scrigglia. >> Just quickly because it makes me chuckle. It makes me laugh. Um, for the concussion policy, I I'm sure it's still very very relevant. Um, but who looking at the developers? I don't I don't I mean Mr. Hackinson, Mr. Peon, Mr. Langan. So, they're all I don't know where they are right now, but they don't work here. Um, >> great guys. >> I'll have them look at it just make sure that it's >> great guys. Yeah. No. Yeah. So, but if you can just I don't know. It'd be good nice to have your name on it.

124And Mr. Prontos, Coach Prontos. Thank you. One one comment that I have, it's probably a question more so for Mr. Panto. So, uh, coach's evaluation, there's something in here that that just basically says if the coach's performance is deemed to not be meeting the required standards, uh, there's nothing in here about how coaches are evaluated. It's something I don't think it should necessarily hold back the handbook, but certainly something that should be fleshed out. >> Okay? You know, if coaches are being evaluated, whether it be by athletes or by the athletic director or or what that looks like, how how someone would be determined to not be meeting the standards. >> Any other comments or questions about this handbook? >> Member Adamopus >> is participation form part of this. >> Say that again. Sorry. >>

125Participation form. >> Oh, I didn't see that actually. >> Number six3. >> This does not live in the handbook. This is given to the students. >> Um, is it is it something? >> Do you have this? >> We look that. >> Yeah, it's six. >> Yeah. Okay. >> It's not part of the handbook. >> Okay. >> Right. >> Is it something that we need to be approving? I think >> No, I think it was just an FYI. It was something that was put in last year >> to send just a notice. >> Okay. >> All right. Any other uh questions or comments with regard to the coach's handbook? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to approve this handbook as presented. >> To the chair though, are you expecting this um coach evaluation in here first?

126I think that it's it's up to the committee on what the desire is. >> There is an evaluation form for coaches, >> but it's not in here, right? >> So, I know they get evaluated, I'm pretty sure, by the um athletic director, right? >> I thought there really was. >> Yeah, there is a form. >> So, it's accepted with the inclusion of >> the coach evaluation. We certainly I mean that's certainly an option on the table. Um do you want to make a motion member millet? >> Well, where else would it be? >> Has it always been included in the handbook? >> The form? No. And in fact, the handbook hasn't been there was no language about evaluation removed from the handbook to my knowledge. It's more so an observation on my part that it

127would be helpful to spell out just like the parking piece like how how are we evaluating coaches? Um, so if if it's the desire of the committee to hold back the handbook until that's spelled out this year, you know, that's certainly an option. Um, I made that recommendation as sort of a future direction, but I'm only one. So if that's your desire, you're welcome to make a motion for that. >> It does talk bring up culture valuation very briefly >> in here. So if you bring it up, maybe the form should be in there. >> Okay. The form maybe. >> I don't know. Is there an evaluation? >> It wasn't. It hasn't been in the past. No, >> there hasn't historically been any evaluation forms included. There's no, you know, teacher evaluation forms included in

128the the staff employee handbook and that sort of thing. Um, and certainly, you know, I don't want to shut down the suggestion. My my thought was more so around just stating that coaches would be evaluated and by whom. >> Okay. >> Um, and that kind of thing, but >> okay. >> Through the chair, >> members Griggley, >> I think we need to do it now because I think we'll probably maybe it we don't want to miss it next year either because I can't imagine we'll probably have the same conversation out on trying to approve it like, oh, weren't we supposed to put this in? Do you know what I mean? >> Sure. >> So, doing it now, I think, would probably be the best route while it's fresh in our brains. >> Is it the

129desire of the committee to table the coach's handbook? >> I think give Mr. Panto, Coach Panto, the chance to put define that language in there and we can approve it when we approve the others. >> You just want who who is evaluating? >> Yeah. And and and I think being clear that it's >> we're not going to put the evaluation in the handbook. No, but say there is an evaluation tool or will be evaluated. >> Is it at the end of the season? Is it you know what interval are coaches being evaluated? And I don't believe any of us are suggesting at this juncture that we have the tool in there but saying that they will be evaluated >> coaches meeting each coach scheduled at the end of the conference with the athletic director as

130soon as all duties are completed and receive a non-binding evaluation. So, it's received by the athletic director, >> but that's not in here. >> Yes, it's it's here under coach's meeting. >> There's there's very little I think there should be more explanation >> more about it. My recommendation was solely indicating who was completing the evaluation for the coach. >> And it says that here the athletic director and completed and receive a non-binding evaluation. So they meet with the athletic director and receive a non-binding evaluation. And then it goes on to say if it's not meeting the standards, the athletic director has the option of instituting goals and then non-renewing the contract for the following year. You want more than that? >> I'm not >> I'm at page three. >> So my recommendation was simply to

131state I understand Mrs. Pangley what you're saying that it above coach's evaluation. The sentence reads each coach shall schedule an endofear conference with the athletic director as soon as all duties are completed and receive a non-binding evaluation. Uh perhaps we could either in that section say um who who's doing the evaluation? Is it is it something that is the athletic director evaluating the coach or is somebody else doing the evaluation? I understand the athletic director is issuing it. That was just my my observation and because the next section just says if it's deemed to not be meeting what the options are. Okay. I take that as the athletic director is doing the evaluation. >> Okay. >> Does that work? >> Okay. Perfect. >> Are we okay with having a motion um to approve this? Any

132other comments or concerns about this handbook? >> Are we through the chair? membership. >> Are we cool to change the names under the concussion or we is that I I don't Is that >> Yeah, we're we're good with that. >> Okay. >> I love those men. Those men are great, >> aren't they? >> Like I said, >> flashback. >> Yeah, that right. I read the names, I had to laugh. I'm like, Mr. Langan. Okay. >> All right. >> It's an old handbook. >> Yeah. Right. So, yeah, just update those after everybody reviews the concussion protocol. Make sure it's to date with all the whatever a concussed kid looks like. >> So, I will entertain a motion to approve the coach's handbook with the necessary updates to the people who are referenced in the handbook. There's

133a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. Motion passes. The next item on on the agenda is the approval of a fundraising organization, the Park A Elementary PTO. >> Is the form in there? >> I have a form here. I think it's in the packet. So, I can I can begin. Um, >> Alicia Smith has submitted an application to have the Park A P uh PTO be recognized. Um, it's the purpose of the group is to pay for field trips and other fun things for students and staff. Uh the president would be Alicia Smith and we have a vice president of Jennifer Gardner and secretary would be Lindsay Jodri. Is that how I pronounce that? Um and they they provide they're 501c3 organization with a tax ID number. Are

134there any questions or comments related to the Parkav PTO? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to approve this application to renew the Parkav PTO uh fundraising organization. >> So moved. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. Motion passes. Uh the next item on the agenda is the review transfer signing of Warren's bills, payroll, and vouchers. >> Sorry for the hard work. I'll entertain a a motion to adjurnn. >> So move. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Desire, would you please pull the committee? >> Yes. Meeting adjourned. Good night, everyone.