001[music] Uh, good evening everybody. I want to call the meeting to order. Today is Tuesday, January 13, 2026. This meeting is being video and audio recorded for future cable broadcast. Please silence all cell phones for the duration of the meeting. May I have a motion to open the school meeting? >> So motion second to a roll call. >> Mr. Ellis, >> yes. >> Mrs. Yes. >> Mr. Haloft? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Clero? >> Yes. And Mr. >> Yes. First item is the consent agenda. Everything listed in the consent agenda was distributed in advance of the meeting. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Let me back up. Pledge of Allegiance. I'm United States of America for it stands one nation under God indivisible and justice for all the distributed invasive May I have a motion to approve and
002accept the items listed on the set agenda including the minutes for the December 9th, 2025? So second >> all those in favor. Any opposed motion passes. >> Okay. So we're going to move into old business agreement by Dr. Bailey. you do that would be okay to so at the Akushet school committee's November meeting a concern a concern was brought to our attention regarding an interaction between two audience members. It was reported that one individual may have been aggressive and physically handled another audience member. The school committee takes all reports of inappropriate conduct seriously. Our meetings are connected to our schools and must remain safe, respectful, and welcoming spaces for anyone in attendance. Uh regardless of differing viewpoints, the expectation applies fully to school meetings. Any allegation involving physical contact or assault that causes concern will
003be reviewed carefully and addressed through the appropriate processes. When warranted, matters may be referred to the proper authorities and steps may be taken to prevent further disruptions, including removal from meetings or restrictions to access school property. We remain committed to maintaining a civil and respectful environment for student, staff, families, and members of the community. And we appreciate everyone's cooperation upholding those standards. So, pretty um disappointing to have to make a statement like that, but the statement speaks for itself and we'll move on. >> All right. Um an update on the high school tuition agreements. As you know, uh we've been in negotiations with New Beckford High School and Old Rochester Regional High School. Um and my update is simply that we've met for extensive times um during a few sessions. with both um districts. I
004will say that the negotiation sessions have been very productive and thoughtful. All parties understand the importance of having strong agreements that are mutually beneficial and serve the educational needs of our Christian students. And I'm happy to report tonight that we have reached several verbal uh tenative agreements. We're now at the point where we will be drafting uh those verbal agreements into an agreement and then we hope to meet again as a committee so that we can vote on um these agreements. Um we we hope to have it ready for you as soon as possible. That's all I have. Dr. Bailey, I would just make one comment to that. I think that um if in fact those agreements are brought to a position where they can be reviewed by this committee, I think we should consider
005scheduling the special review and possibly vote on those and not potentially wait till our next regularly scheduled school meeting. It's important that we get those to agreement as soon as possible. Okay. And then just with my report tonight, um the first thing is spotlight on education. Uh Mrs. Sylvia from the middle school principal is going to be presenting on applied learning um which is what we've been talking about with our curriculum and the grants um that we've been working hard at as a district. So with that, I'll turn it over to you, Miss Sylvia. >> I believe Mr. Gary is coming up. Thank you, Dr. Bailey. Chairman, Mr. put school committee members in the audience, my eighth grade families. Thank you. >> Yes. Is it loud enough? >> Oh, >> yeah. >> Is it good?
006>> Is it better? >> Yes. Yes. >> Thank you. So applied learning. I think we eat, breathe, swim, drink it. We love it. Um what was applied learning? We're looking at engaging students in meaningful real world experiences where they collaborate, apply knowledge, solve complex problems, and see relevance beyond their classroom. But it does make a difference once they leave school, what they're learning in the middle school. Connects instruction to real world. Increases student engagement. Builds problem solving, collaboration skills, strengthens confidence, develops lasting, transferable understanding, supports our commitment to meaningful hands-on learning for every student. Eighth graders, you want to come up, too. This is about you. Your slides are off, but come on up now. You can stand for a bit, please. So with high attendance and we've been you know working with our staff
007and our student to pose meaningful real world problems. It requires iteration and persistence. It is going to be a struggle. You may not get the answer correct the first way. Your your science problem experiment may have to be tweaked and retrieded in results. It provides a professional frame. We prioritize collaboration, communication, um, and with soft skills of empathy that to know that everyone may not be in the same spot in the group, but to make sure that everyone in the group is included. You know, with Swary and I, we've been working with the 18 Foundation. They we can read more about 18 here. It has been the catalyst though in helping us reach and refine our vision for applied learning. It's been the catalyst to bring the high quality professional development into our into our
008schools and to join us with other schools across the state. And then our students also are joining with other students across the state. Currently we have the open sedu thinking math classrooms 5 through 8 responsive classroom 5 through 8. The DKP, the Democratic Knowledge Project is a 8th grade curriculum for the civics responsive classroom also is preK to 4. We brought a group of educators to Colorado last year for the applied learning discovery leadership program. In April, we brought in investigating history 5 through 7 this year. And then this year, we brought a group of educators to Philadelphia in October and to our several schools there as well. on that. >> In the future, we are looking uh we submitted a grant for IH3 and4 investigating history. We're looking for approval. Project Lead the Way,
009we submitted a grant. We got the first step approved. We actually visited Sandwich Middle School today and saw two project lead the way classrooms there. Um and we have to submit the second part of the grant. We're looking at piloting ELA and math curriculum and then also looking at bringing the open sen to the elementary school students all we did this on Friday December 12th it was an inschool field trip we had 25 eighth graders 25th graders one group was with Mr. Sonia one group was Mr. um green hall and this was a 4-hour virtual idea thon students applied skills developed through the applied learning they worked alongside professionals [clears throat] it was amazing to see you can see down at the bottom those are the partnerships that 18 brought in we did our project
010with flagship pioneering um and that's this year's problem if you did any of you participate in the Do you want to come read the problem? Erin, you see that? >> Yes. >> This year's problem was that citrus trees with long >> HLB HLB bacterial disease that causes declining citrus production has no cure and it can kill trees within a few years. Not all citrus trees aren't impacted in the same way. Students are provided various information on the phenomenon and are asked to investigate what might explain why some trees are tolerant to HLB when the fruit of so many other trees are ruined. >> Thank you. >> So we can see here at the bottom right hand I have a group of students and they are showing their first driving question to the group of professionals
011getting feedback. the top left, the group of seventh graders showing their feedback and you can actually see the professional in the bottom right speaking to the group of students. This was real time virtual. Seventh graders on the left hand side, the seventh graders teamed up. Eighth graders showing their project. Both of those pictures are eighth grade students who are showing their projects and showing what they thought could be answers. And then they had a second go around. They had to develop their question even further. The industry professionals gave them more advice as to what to do. Then December 19th, we had our civics rights showcase and that's what I have um some of my eighth graders here. It's unit two of the democratic knowledge project ends with a rights project where Miss Bentley, the eighth
012grade civics teacher and students worked in teams to create an educational product to teach others about a specific right or why rights matter. We invited family and community members from 8:30 or 9:30, 9:30 to 10 and had fifth grade students come in and tour. some of the feedback from the visitors. How these rights affect everyday life, why these rights matter today, how students think about civic issues. One thing that stood out to you today from our visitors, there's lots of things that stood out. Students did an amazing job. Their creativity, each person had a part in the project. [clears throat] Second one on the bottom, the surprisingly high quality of the presentations didn't surprise me. They knocked it out of the park. It included, you know, reenactments. Just a general pick of the entire grade.
013This slide though, both slides have fifth graders talking to our eighth graders about their rights project. Really invested asking questions, the eighth graders answering back. Okay. So, which group wants to go first? [laughter] >> Wait. So, Corbin, Jacob, and Andreas, you're going to go first. >> Do you have your poster? >> Come up here to the mic. Make sure we speak to the mic. >> Thank you. [clears throat] Yeah. Sorry. Students are the most important piece. >> Which amendment did you focus on and why did you choose it? Which amendment did you focus on and why did you choose it? >> We did the first amendment and we chose this because we really want to learn more about how it affected our like our lives, not just adults. >> Okay. So you go next. >>
014Yeah. >> What was the main message you wanted your audience to understand? [snorts] >> You wanted to show them how important the first amendment was for our freedom and for the rest of everyone else in the country. >> Jacob, how does this amendment impact your life as a student or a young person? >> This this this right protects us when we talk on social media platforms. How How does it protect you when you talk on social? >> It's an additional question. >> It protects you by letting you say or express whatever you want if it's appropriate in the dance or situation. >> So what might happen if this amendment didn't exist? boundaries. >> We wouldn't be allowed to share our opinions to everyone and laws would be harder to make since people weren't allowed to
015express their opinions to Losers. >> Which part of this project was the most your most proudest moment? >> One part one part we were proud of is the part of why because it was probably the one with the most information about how the right of free expression kind of evolved from a trial to actual law >> 1735. Yeah. Andreas, what was the most challenging? >> I say the most challenging part is tying his case to the first amendment because his case was a long time ago. But the uh easier part about it was we were able to connect it a little more uh easier because this is like the stepping stone of the first amendment. So we love this. >> Thank you. Anything else to share? No. How did you decide to work on it
016this together? How did you decide on the first amendment? >> Was it difficult working in the group? Yeah, it was kind of difficult. We had some hiccups, but overall we we came together and formed a really group once we got our work together. >> Happens with adults too sometimes. Yeah, thank you. Okay, thank you. So, and Tristan was also part of this group. He just couldn't come today. Okay, so thank you to three of you in our second group. So tell me about Louis. Miles was the facilitator. Aaron was the what part? >> The content. Brillin. Yo. What part? >> The questioner. And Devin, you're what part? >> The designer. Thank you. >> What amendment did you focus on and why did you choose it? >> Miles, >> we we focused on the fourth amendment,
017the freedom from unfair search and seizure and we chose it to get a background look on how um like police workings happen. >> Do you want to share more any of you about why you chose it and police workings? >> Thank you. So, what was the main message you wanted your audience to understand? Brillin, you have this one. >> There's one to be specific and thorough. >> How does the amendment impact your life as a student or a young person? Devin, >> it protects us from the government committing unfair searches. >> You have an example? Do you want Miles? You want to share? >> No. Okay. [laughter] So, Aaron, what might happen if this amendment didn't exist? >> Let go. >> The government will be able to search and take your things without you consenting
018to it. >> So, what part of the project are you most proud of? What do you think resonated with the community members who viewed it? >> Miles, >> I added [laughter] We're most proud of how fast we completed it and how much we learned about the behind the behind scenes of warrants and things like that and >> why do you think the the community enjoyed it? Um, the community enjoyed it probably because it pro it goes along with the world outside of the lawyers and things like that. >> And what was the most challenging part really? >> Um, the research because we had to site it and find the evidence. >> Hard to find. >> Why? You don't know yet. [laughter] Okay. So I appreciate Does anyone else want to share anything about this project
019and the process you went through it and what kind of support you received? >> It's not I know. [laughter] >> Did anything surprise you while researching this amendment? I'll go back to the other room after. Did [clears throat] anything surprise you while researching this act? Um, yes, actually because I didn't expect something like a GPS to have such a strong magnet so it could stick stick to a car. >> For my second my first freak, did anything surprise you while researching the amendment? >> Uh, were you surprised by the fact that well, we knew that there was uh limits to how much you could say and express yourself, but we didn't know that if you lied about someone and a really good reputation that it's actually legal. Sen Miles and Aaron and Devons, has your
020opinion about this right changed after completing the project? Why or why not? >> Um, we discussed that our opinions haven't changed about this um amendment because we think that it's as important as it was before we went through and search all the evidence. of your opinion changed. >> Yes, >> it it it did change because we found out that if the school has like a school newspaper run by students, the students can really say anything they want because it's the school's thing that really owns it. >> Thank you. One more question for both groups. Which amendment do you think is most important today and why? Um, we take all of them because you need all of them to to make Americ [laughter] without all the amendments, you know, this country wouldn't be how it is
021today. But I believe that the most important amendment is the first amendment because that's how people express themselves in the country. Uh how people say who they going to vote for and how they can persuade others to choose who they want. >> Thank you. Thank you my friends. Questions for the students? Do you have questions for the students at this point? >> Thank you. >> No. Thank you my friends. Thank you. [applause] I want to thank the students for sharing your brilliance with us tonight. This is actually the best part for me in sharing my report and having students present. Um, if you think of it, stop by my office. I have something for you tomorrow. So, stop by. Um, but I thank you because it's always it's not always easy to come up and
022speak in front of the camera, in front of the audience. So, thank you all so much. I think you did a nice job. >> Thank you. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea to come up here. So, I appreci I do appreciate you all and all the parents. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] We are almost through with our update for our five learning, but we have some few more good things I want to share. So, last year we had, if you remember, we I think we recognized another group of students and Mr. saw me because they had submitted projects to the student industry connects and this is where we submit the work and receive feedback. So it's not instant feedback. The professionals come back to us. The last bullet though I want
023you to see who is being used as an example on the 18 website. So you can see middle school open seda bear hibernation and that's our student work. [clears throat] Scroll down from last year. This is being used as the example for other eighth grade educators with open sed. It's on the 18 platform. That's the feedback from the professional in the industry of biomedical engineer. And there we have the top opens science award. Mr. Solomon or Chris Smir did receive that. So he is his work is up there for a model for other eighth grade classrooms uh because that work is being submitted. So we are submitting other work within the next couple of weeks. We're going to submit I think the the rights projects will be submitted. Fifth grade IH a dialogue between a
024British official and a colonist. Seventh grade IH source credibility. Open sad seventh grade thermal energy. Eighth grade metabolic reactions. >> Good evening. Um and just a little more on the expansion. So we're currently at a point right now um where we have a lot of educators who are interested in trying to so our so so our teachers of like ELA and math. They're they're seeing and hearing all of these great things that are happening in social studies and science and civics. Um and they're actually looking for expansion and having more applied learning happening within their classrooms. Um, and so we're kind of letting this just be an organic process where [clears throat] we're currently in a curriculum contract for math. Um, and ELA, one more year for ELA. Um, and we plan to renew the
025math again for next year because these are not quick decisions. Um, there's a lot of thought and it's a complex, it's very complex just switching over a curriculum. Um and so what we've kind of asked is that they for now at least try to pilot some highly rated green rated curriculum one that is in alignment with uh the 18 kind of supports these and they're also either free or low cost um because curriculum can be very expensive. And so what we're trying to do is find ways to um save money but also continue to deliver really high quality um curriculum to our students. So this year um EL education is an ELA and we have parent letters going home soon for the grade seven and 8 units coming up. Um but fifth grade will be
026learning about athlete leaders of social change. Grade seven will be studying the Harlem Renaissance. In grade eight, we'll be uh studying the voices of the Holocaust. And then they'll likely pilot another unit next year as well. And um if if this isn't the curriculum that that we're finding meets our needs and we can have the conversation about either sticking what we with what we have or maybe trying something else out, but we're hopeful because this is a free or lowcost option that maybe it will work. Um likewise with math, illustrative math is one that we have received feedback from any foundation that they are in support of and we both of these are not necessarily offering grants or professional development for implementation. Um but we have in our trips to different schools around the state
027and the country we've seen both of these programs in action and we're seeing that evidence of student engagement um in deeper just that deeper learning happening. So uh one of our third grade teachers is uh she she recently piloted an area and multiplication with illustrative math and she's also her students gave her such positive feedback. their feedback forms were just so interesting to read. Uh, but they really loved that engaging and collaborating with her classmates and learning from each other. So, she's actually going to be piloting an additional unit this year. And then the middle school, each grade level will pilot an illustrative math program this this year as well. Okay. And just we always kind of include this in our presentations, but everything that was presented tonight was well aligned to our strategic plan
028and that is kind of the list of how and that's it >> questions. >> So So what one question I think what I just heard I want to say back to you it's if this lowcost curriculum meets our needs meets quality expectations that is great and we accept that. If it doesn't, we are not going to sacrifice the quality of the curriculum just because it's low cost. >> Correct. And even these free curriculum that are available online, [clears throat] there are companies that then pick up that curriculum and offer the resources that districts can pay, say, for like student consumable books or they'll take a lot of the the pieces that a teacher might present on the screen and put it into to an online site that makes it just easier and more accessible for
029teachers and students. So, you know, that could come with an expense that then somewhat mirrors what we're already looking at anyhow. So, is it worth the change? So, what we're trying to do is pilot these programs in the free version. Um, and this is where the coaching comes in. They're helping. They're researching these programs. They're co-planning. Um they're doing a lot of the printing. They're trying to with certain things maybe laminate them so that they could be reused in the future. Um and then yeah, so there'll be a lot of co co-eing because there's a lot of professional development that needs to come along with just it's hard for a teacher just to open up a curriculum and start teaching it. And then we are trying to gauge um the usability. So, is it easy
030for a teacher to to utilize the free version? What's the reality of that? Because right now, a lot of our curriculum programs, what we have are student consumable books. So, like the ELA and math through K through 8, they have these books that they write in. So, of course, you have to buy those every year. It's expensive. And then, you know, they may not write in every page. So, then we're just kind of looking at that. Does it make sense to reuse those? Do we photo copy? It's just it's very complex and we're working with teachers. We're having conversations. We just had our instructional leadership team here tonight. We were having those conversations tonight. It's um a quagmire. But ultimately, what we really want to see is the student engagement um and and results for
031our students. And we really just find that these those tenants of applied learning that when they're embedded in the curriculum that that's where we're really getting like the magic is happening in those classrooms. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> I just want to thank both Mrs. Sylvia and Mr. Gary for this presentation, but also for really uh being the leaders in this applied learning initiative that we have across the district and also the teachers. We've had a lot of buy in and a lot of success as you can see from the students who presented tonight. Um I whenever we have an opportunity for a showcase, I would ask um to be invited. It's something to see. I had somebody there from the DKP organization and she basically said that we are a model school and
032that's why we we continue to have visitors from other schools visit because of the great work that our uh teachers and staff are doing and led by these two ladies. So I just want to thank them again for all of their hard work. >> So moving on in my report we're going to go from the curriculum and applied learning to fresh foods and vegetable program. I'm gonna call Michelle Melo up to the Modium. Um she's got a very short presentation um to review with us right now. Is that good? >> Good. >> Yeah. >> Thank you for having me, Dr. Bailey. Chair Wilson Hood Kit School Committee. Um the fresh fruit and vegetable program is a program that I heard of a couple years ago and just got it started last year when the application
033came in. Um it's funded by the USDA. The schools apply for for the um participate in the program and this year we got funding approximately $28,000. I think we got a little bit more than $28,000. So this is above and beyond our reimbursements that we get for meals. This is strictly just in this program. It's based on they only do it for the elementary school and it's based on the amount of students. So it's between $45 and $55 per student depending on how many people apply and what funds they have. So the application was available last February. I submitted that on May 29th and the award was granted on July 2025. Last July you heard about it. So what how it works is the students receive the fresh fruit and vegetable for snack time. Did
034they get it? We put it out in the hallways in the on the campos bags with coolers in the bags and the individual for each classroom. So there's one fruit or vegetable for each student. so they can try different things. It's fruit and vegetables outside of what they get in the um lunchrooms and it's normally a different varieties because the point of the whole program is to try to get them to try things that they they don't normally try. We have mangoes, we have they had hiccup one day, last week. So, so it's a lot of different things that they won't try and it it really works. It gets them to try things that they wouldn't try because they're in the classrooms and not in the the um lunchroom atmosphere. So, we do it on
035Wednesdays and Fridays. We also have slides going Sean, [clears throat] >> it's me. Sorry. I think I um so we put the slides on and there's a couple fun facts [clears throat] about about the fruit that they going to get that day and there slides about what the nutritional value is for for each one play So the benefits of the student and the student goes from the program is the access to the fresh fruit, vegetables and healthy snacks. They get again they get them delivered to the classroom and they have them at snack time. It gives them the opportunity to try new snacks and uh fruits and vegetables that they don't normally have at lunchtime to get them to try new things. Of course, healthier food supports more focus and learning in the in the
036schools. It encourages healthy eating habits. So, I have a funny story about that. Last January, we bought snap peas to try to get them to try something different. We couldn't the whole case went we put it out for a week. We had them in this school. We had them in the elementary school. Nobody would eat them. They were on the fresh fruit and vegetable program. So, they got them in the classrooms and the next day they were coming through the cafeteria and asking us why we never have them on the lunch line. So, [laughter] so they really are when they get to try these things in a different atmosphere where there's not so many choices out in front of them, it really is helping them try new things and and like new things. They've asked
037us for some of the things that go to the classroom to now have on the serving line and we do. So, the program is working. Um, and it promotes nutritional education. We interviewed the student ambassadors to ask them, you know, how they like the program. If they asked the other students how they like the programs, um, they ate all the food in that tray before they left. [laughter] Um, they did like it. They said that it was nice to have a healthy snack. They thought it would teach some of the the fourth graders thought it would teach some of the younger kids how to eat healthier. So, they were they were happy with that idea and and they wanted to see it keep going. So, That's kind of the fresh fruit and vegetable program that
038we just started and I'm sure that's something we'll continue to do. I'll I'll apply for that again next year. >> Does anybody have any questions? >> No. Fantastic. >> Watch the program first. >> Oh, sorry. I was just going to ask if there's communication at home about if the student has tried it and they like it, if there's some kind of way of letting the families know because sometimes I know as a parent I don't know that my child has tried something that at home they wouldn't have eaten but may because their peers are eating it try it then >> right but we don't have communication with the parents um I could communicate to you what they're what they had that week >> and maybe it's something they could find out you know if they
039liked it and >> we could do something like that if you thought that would be helpful to maybe send something home or or email each week to let you know >> what they had. >> Is that something that you could add to the menu? Like this week we're trying these fruits or >> I don't find out what we're what's going to be on till Tuesday because we want it to be fresh and it's all prepackaged. >> Okay. >> But I could always send something out on a Tuesday. Is there is there a cap to the uh reimbursement? So, I know we're getting 28,000, but do they the captors are purely based on number of students times whatever the the reimbursement? >> They they give you the amount the award was for when you get the
040award and it's based on approximately 45 to 55. But I what I did was made a budget in the beginning so I know how much to spend each month to not go over that 28,000 by the end of the year. The equipment was purchased also in the beginning of the year and that came from the frontier. >> Well, thank thanks for powering through technical. >> Thank you and thank you for always being a great advocate for our kids in terms of their nutrition and trying new food. So, thank you. Um, next is a strategic plan update. Um this process started last year where I um met with student groups. I met with individual staff members. Every single member of the staff I met with for at least 15 minutes um to get their input on
041this next strategic plan that we're planning out for the next 5 years. Um we're conducting currently multiple stakeholder focus groups and you are all a part of one tonight with some other representatives from the town. um just to get broader input into what's going well, what are the challenges and what are the opportunities. We're collecting a lot of data um and surveys will be going out. Um and then what we're going to do is we're identifying recurring themes and priority areas across the stakeholder [clears throat] groups and we will be aligning those findings with the district goals, the student outcomes as well as any operational needs. Um, and then we'll be synthesizing everything into a new strategic plan. Um, and we'll get it to the school committee obviously for feedback and and for a vote.
042Um, and that will be, you know, later on in the year. But, um, does anybody have any questions about it? Uh, next on as part of my report is the public schools bullying prevention and intervention plan. And I will call um Mr. Neighbor up too because we do need a vote um on that. Good evening. Um so the the bullying prevention and intervention plan is something that we completely revamped back in 2021 and um it is something that needs to be voted on by annually by the school committee. So, what we do, the process that we've been following is to present it to the safety and wellness committee, have them review and make any suggestions for edits, changes, um, additions. We post this on our website and it's also available um, linked in the student
043and family handbooks and it kind of just describes the the plan that we follow for preventing bullying. um and then you know for investigating and then intervening if necessary. And so all of that is spelled out in here. There have been no recommendations for changes from the safety and wellness committee. So what you would be doing tonight is voting to approve this plan for another 2 years. Um and it has not had any edits or changes made to it. So a motion. Yeah. Um one question before I motion. So uh it's good for two years. Obviously if something came up that required us to make a change, look at it prior to two years, we would do so. >> Yes, we can do that. >> Okay. Could I have a motion to approve the APS
044bull and prevention of mention that's presented? >> So on that second I'll second. Is this a roll call? No. All those in favor? Seeing none, motion passes. >> Uh the next couple of agenda items are donations that I would need the school committee to vote on separately. The first one um for instruments donated by Sandra Maderas. I believe it's uh drum supplies, a music stand, a recorder, and a book. Um, so I would just ask the school committee to vote so we can accept that donation from Mr. Can >> I have a motion to accept the donation of drug supplies, music, stand recorder, and vote from Sanders. >> So motion second. >> All those in favor? >> Any opposed? Seeing none, motion passes unanimously. Thank you to uh Sandra for that. >> Thank you. Also,
045the next one is a $100 donation um to the Ford Middle School holiday singalong at the town tree lighting from the Acushnet Fire and Police Departments. Um just made a motion to accept that. We really appreciate the donation and they've done this in past. Motion to accept the donation of $100 from Fire Boys. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Any opposed? See that motion passes unanimously. Thank you to Christina employees. >> And the last thing um will be done and handled in executive session, but it's the union contracts. We finally have finished um with all of our negotiations um including the CAP and the Paris. We'll take care of that both during the executive session. That's all I have for you. Other administrative reports to director of technology. Good evening, school committee members.
046Dr. Bailey, happy new year. We're back. Um, I've got a ton of updates, so I kind of try to keep it short. System systems update. Um, I put together my programming background and we've been doing a lot of scripting here. Uh, give you some fun. Google has changed their licensing terms now. So if you archive a user and you don't actually put them in a certain location, you got to pay for that user come the end of the term. So what we did is and and think of that because we have to keep everybody's data for however many years, students and teachers, it can get a little bit dicey on how you manage that. So what I did is we just put together a system that does it automatically for us now. It'll be in
047this district moving forward for as long as Google is here. Um so it's make sure that we save our money. District wireless upgrade. Um over the past year, we've completed a districtwide wireless refresh. Along with this upgrade, we took the opportunity to clean, standardize, um, uh, do better strengthen our security, etc. U, we improved coverage by running new cable. Uh, we relocated old access points and, um, most importantly, this work was completed entirely in-house by our tech team. We do not outsource the implementation, configuration, or cabling infrastructure. The district has now updated all major foundational technology infrastructure except the firewall, which includes network switches, point phones, wireless access points, and more. during the time uh we've updated procedures security our security approach for the entire district because when I first came here we failed 24
048out of 24 um and address configuration issues uh so with routine maintenance and updates uh these systems are positioned to serve the district for the next 10 plus years uh to be to be blunt 15 shouldn't be a problem um all this work was also completed inhouse everything from us final core infrastructure um update so the firewall so uh this final major foundational piece is our um firework, excuse me, we have submitted our -ate form 470 to solicit quotes. The last piece uh this year the district has category 2-ray eligibility again. So this allows to pursue discounted prices for certain internal connection equipment. Um this is different than C cat one and in the past when I did my uh checking of the district, we only utilize CAT 1 in this district and that's generally
049for about 15,000. That's just your ISP, your internet. We get cap 2. Every district gets it. You can fully utilize it like we did two years ago, which was at the tune of over 110,000 that we got. Um, we now get it back. So once that gets refunded and replenished, we get the eligibility again to go after that month. We're back in that. Um, so with that availability and discounts are tied to federal funding and our district demographics. Uh, but long story short, we don't know the exact funding yet. Um, but we're in that process. uh we will maximize all our opportunities and with this final piece it will complete the district's foundational infrastructure. So this work represents a major step forward in a short period of time and reflects the district's commitment to reliable
050accessible and secure technology. And again I just want to reiterate this is all done in house. We do not outsource anymore. Um our technology uh department runs everything. We train them and it's been fantastic. Um now I'm going to make sure that any extra money is going to go into these systems. We'll make it perfect. Uh, but is there any questions, concerns, comments, wishes? >> Well, I would just uh make one comment and I would like to uh thank you and your small team who uh made all of these upgrades and enhancements in the house, not require us to go externally to do that. So, that's a credit to you and and so I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Good evening. I appreciate also that they do it in house.
051[laughter] I don't like seeing $128 an hour switch. Um so here have my uh my finance report. Uh my finance report is for periods 1 through six. One being July, six all the way in December. Although it's half a year, the report really isn't half a year because we're on a school year. So it's really um probably towards the end of February that we reach around the 91st 92nd uh day of school. So um we're on budget and things are very tight. We're watching every dollar carefully. We're not um um making any purchases that are not absolutely necessary. Uh you'll see, you know, figures that seem low on here or maybe negative. Those are going to be charged off the grants, especially the special ed. Just haven't charged them back yet to the grants. I'm
052setting up those adjustments to make and send them over to town hall. They'll make those. We have circuit breaker. We have, you know, um all the title grants. We have the IPA grants. So, those will all be charging back. So, I don't have any concerns um with any of those accounts, but like I said, it's very tight. It's going to be very tight next year. Also, we're watching it closely. um facility department um has been doing everything necessary to try and keep the temperature in our building in the the low70s as far as they read. We've had some spikes where classrooms have run up into the 80s and they immediately um react. Um we have it's all web based. They can see what classroom where it's happening. They go in Jake's parttime. They go in
053and fix that best they can. We've been replacing a lot of the motors and the drivers and the controls in classroom by classroom units. Um getting a better control of that. If you see the the actual guey that we have on it's on an iPad. You see the layout of the school every room is pretty pretty good. Shows you thermostat temperature. So we do our best to help maintain the temperature across the the district. The water infiltration project at the elementary school is complete. Um, you'll see all the equipment's gone and removed. The uh architects, uh, Gale Associates are heading out to take final. They've got pictures, but they're going under report. They'll take their own pictures. Once they do, they'll approve the final bills to be paid for that. It came in on budget,
054which was great. Um, no disruption. So, the gym closet's now back to where it should be, being used, and I think they're exciting to put it back into that closet. Meanwhile, our team, um, has been monitoring literally any any um water filtration they see any leaks in roofs, they go up right away and they try to identify it because we had the roofs sealed back in October and every now and then something new pops up. So close eye on that. We don't want any more water getting in our buildings and they're up there today. As a matter of fact, they're doing a great job. Food services, the [clears throat] USDA's approved the school lunch funding for the remainder of the school year. So at the end of the school year, there was that concern when
055staff was uh was frozen or being held and we were going to get out of reimbursements. They now announced that no matter what, even if they freeze staff again, we'll continue to get reimbursements for the appropriated the funds and we'll get out reimbursements from our top, which is great. Disruptions and food services is working bread. Um on our ground breakfast program, we want to try and uh increase that. um as the students come in, they they get basically get a breakfast and they can take it in their backpack, carry it with them, have it later on the day, whatever they want. So, we're looking at different options and whatnot and increase that. Plus, it helps with our internal funding um each reimburse federal government. So, the more we end up the better we do also
056allows us to buy new equipment or upgrade and replace equipment that we have. transportation. We continue um with Bonnie in my department um department. She she handles calls every day, emails every day, tries to accommodate every parent. There's always changes that happen and people move and uh you know whether it's from parents who want them dropped off at their own. She works diligently at that and it's been going very well. Um it is a lot of work but it's going very well. She does a great job at it. is solar panels over the parking lot. We've been progressing with that. The um representative from Select Energy presented a couple weeks ago to the board of selection and they basically said at this point the recruiter so far they want to see the contract at hand.
057They want to read the contracts. The contract is is for us to buy power. We're not contracting the builders. We're not contracting to buy power. was a it's an energy lease for 20 years. So the contract I just got an email 1 hour ago I think that the contract finally has come back from our lawyers their lawyers have it now but it's pretty much done. So hopefully I'll get them to the board of selectment tomorrow to the uh town administrator. Hopefully get on the agenda for the 20th. Um and hopefully they'll have time to review it and they'll approve it. If so, I assume everything will start this summer. Start this summer. Um it'll be great because then give us opportunity to buy electricity cheaper than we are. This year we've had a break in
058our budget because we've had credits on our electric electricity bills and um some rebates from Eversource. Those are going to run out probably the next 3 or 4 months. Probably by the end of this year they'll run out. So that means next year we no longer have that. It'll be basically good money. But the sooner we can get under the um the energy contract, we'll hopefully pay a lot less pay on the market there. So that's it. Any questions? One question. So budget is built basically any other year and we make assumptions and we try to forecast things to the best of our ability and we didn't do that. Well, it's still not perfect obviously. So has anything changed uh in terms of any of the assumptions we may have used or things that you
059are keeping in particular on relative to the budget this year? The big the biggest pieces of the budget are personnel. I think Dr. Bailey's done a great job managing that well some leaves someone comes in with losing someone low salary and bring them in a high salary. So that's going great. The other biggest piece of the budget is energy and so far the winter hasn't been too bad. We had some some cold days. Summer was cold, but the temperature stays like it is now. We all right with that. Um Jake has really done a great job managing our boilers. The better he manages them, the better fuel efficiency we have when they run. We starting actually I think tomorrow we're going to be doing a co-op with a couple of students from greater than Bedford
060Regional Technical Vocational High School. um students program [clears throat] the students there um learn um I think they call it steam engineering or steam boiler. So we have a couple of those students going to come in who are going to learn but also work with us. So Jay's going to teach them how to monitor our boilers every morning and in the [snorts] same respect how to repair around the building. Um, a lot of these unitets that we have a problem with, if if there's too much heat, it's too little heat, they're going to work with them and repair them. And one other building maintenance issues, but we'll do that for now the [snorts] year. And if we can fit in next year's budget, next year's budget also to do that. So, I think that's great.
061Um, so you mentioned, I know the boards are pretty old and probably due for a replacement. you're going to have any issues today. >> We have issues all the time now because then Jake and Josh are constantly in there uh working preparing pieces go. So the process has been the oldest 3 or 4 years of life out of them. Um hoping you know we can do better than that. But so we we'll see as that go. I've asked a couple of companies that have been in general some written statements on that. No one's given us any yet, but there's always a concern there. From 1971, I think we were built. So, um, and like I said, we're replacing a lot of parts on them. Um, some of the tubes that go through the boilers, the
062water flows through. Some have been brought out to you. This year, back in August, we had a company come in and if they press those those uh tubes out, they put new ones in. But I saw when the boil was open up there rust and side. So we're doing a lot more maintenance. >> Okay. So So do you have this is what we're right now. Do we have are we tracking in terms of the amount that we are spending on the think that some of these boilers and we have a way to compare it to what I'm getting at is at some point we need to evaluate whether I think we need to evaluate replacing the boilers regardless but at some point it also becomes how much money from a maintenance perspective so we should
063track that yes Jake I told Jake to keep a list of everything that we do not only the all the other areas Yes. So, um, again, we're doing a lot of the repairs in house, but some of them we do hire contractors to come in with us and specialize. One one little valve a few weeks ago in one of the control rooms. Looks like a little valve kind of like your shower knob. $560 our cost at the supply house. So, that's something to add a quick the the motors that pump the water through. We replaced one back in in September. That was almost $1,800 and there's I made two of each one. So >> yeah. So I think it's time that we talked earlier with the strategic planning about thinking about a fiveyear capital. Thank
064you. Do any school committee member have report? Okay. Uh, also in the packet is a number of communication and information pieces. I won't go through the entire list here, but does anyone have any questions, thoughts? Okay, so we're going to adjourn into uh executive session. So, can I have a motion to adjourn a meeting to enter into executive session pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 3A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining and litigation? If an open meeting law may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body without reason to return to open session and the chair so declares MOA for cafeteria contract, MOA for power professional union contract [cough] and resend open violation of >> second. >> Mr. Ellis, >> yes. >> Mrs. Wood,
065>> yes. >> Mr. Along, >> yes. Yes. >> Yes. >> So, can we have a motion to adjourn school? >> It's all motion. >> Second, >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. [music] >> [music] [music]