001and thanks for your patience. Special announcement. This evening is John Anderson's birthday. Let's wish Mr. Anderson a happy birthday. John, where are you? You have The Charo team has a special gift for you so that you can not that we ever let you forget us because we talk to you every day. But um on behalf of the entire admin team, thank you because you're part of our family and always giving us great advice. So happy birthday and thank you for sharing it with us. Superintendent Bard, closing and sealing of executive session minutes. I recommend that the minutes of tonight's executive session as they relate to the NEA certified collective bargaining contract remain sealed until such time as they are made public. So moved. Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Okay,
002I think Tyler was first. Uh, all in favor? Diane, did you have your hand raised? Okay, unanimous. Thank you. No. No, I'm excused. Okay, so we have a uh a recusal from Mr. Luzon. Any no abstensions? Okay. Next. I recommend that the minutes of tonight's executive session as they relate to the privacy of students and their records remain sealed. So move. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Okay. Polly. All in favor. Unanimous. Thank you. I recommend that the minutes of tonight's executive session as they relate to investigative proceedings regarding allegations of civil or criminal misconduct, investigation of complaints of harassment and hazing remain sealed. So move a motion and a second. All in favor? Unanimous. Thank you. Okay. Disclosure of executive session votes. That would be our vice chair, Miss Chadman.
003Good evening everybody. There were four votes taken in executive session this evening. The first vote was for the approval of the March 11th exe executive sec session minutes. 11 in favor with one abstension from Mrs. Chambers. The second vote that was taken was a vote for the approval of the hall school requests. That vote was unanimous. The third vote that was taken was a motion to approve a singular NEA ESPOU authorizing a PTO payout for a member who passed prior to their retirement date and it will allow the school committee chair to sign said motion on behalf of the committee. That vote was also unanimous. The fourth vote that was taken was to return to open session. Also unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, Laura. Next, we have recognitions. So, we have some Madam Chair. Yes,
004Donna. Before we get into these many recognitions, I just want to um thank the incredibly talented students that participated in Odyssey this weekend. Um, I spent a a wonderful time looking over their beautiful work and the incredible teachers that bring out that talent and the administration for show showcasing it. I was I am extremely proud of the work that was done. Thank you, Donna. And to the staff, faculty, everyone who participates the three 3,000 works of art that was that was that were displayed. I don't know how you are able to rally everybody to get all of that together. That was enormously impressive. So, thank you so much for your leadership on that and thank you to the students. Thanks, Donna. Recognitions. So, we have various members of the school committee that that are going
005to participate in our recognitions this evening. So I will start um Cheroo Regional High School Future Business Leaders of America. There will be certificates given to the awardees. So I would ask that when your names are called um please come forward and the superintendent would be happy to give you your certificates and congratulations to everyone. So first Johnson and Wales FBLA competition winners for March of 2025. Hold on. My cheaters here. Who's who of CHO FBLA? Ethan [Applause] Tarsian. First place public speaking. Speaking Morgan Allen. Congratulations. [Applause] First place scrapbook that is Rose Chapunian. First place coding and programming, Jackson Davis. First place public service announcement, Charlie Edmonds and Ethan Taragian. I think they were grouped together. First place, business ethics, Quinn Goodman. [Applause] Congratulations. Second place, website design, Isaac Graham and Carara Linky. [Applause]
006Great job. Third place, financial statement analysis, Connor Gormley and Nick Willis. Good job. Fourth place, chapter newsletter, Lydia Taber. [Applause] Okay, next up, the Johnson and Wales FBLA competitive testing placements for March 2025. Third place, Intro to Business Procedures, Ezri Actton. Ezri, are you here? I guess not. Uh, fourth place journalism, McKenzie Andre. First place intro to FBLA and third place intro to business, Rose Chapkunian. First place UX design, Avery Clark. First place intro to financial math, Luke Defodelli. Second place, journalism and third place, healthcare administration. Lillian [Applause] Grand, second place business law and second place public policy, Isaac [Applause] Graham. Fifth place, UX design, Llaya Jennings. First place communications and first place healthcare administration. Ephe Effie, excuse me. Effie Kasago. That was a hard one. Effie, I'm sorry if you're here. First place accounting
007and second place organizational leadership, Nicholas Willlets. First place, journalism, Allison Wood. And fifth place, personal finance, Ethan Tarsian. Congratulations, everyone. Great job representing the district. [Applause] No, I don't. Very nice. Linda, good evening everyone. I have the pleasure of announcing the next um uh nominee. Life change of of the year nominee is Danielle Champlain. Chartwell's lead cafeter at Charleston Elementary School has been nominated by school nurse Carolyn Koulson for the life changer of the year award. Nurse Koulson stated that she proactively finds food that is Danielle finds food alternatives for students and works closely with me to ensure their safety. Danielle knows each student's needs and provides extra care when necessary. Her compassion and diligence make her an invaluable part of our school. The nominee must take must make a positive impact on the lives
008of students. Enhance their school or district's atmosphere, culture, and pride. Demonstrate exemplary leadership at the school and/or district level. Possess a proven record of professional excellence. Show commitment to building a nurturing environment that supports learning. adhere to the highest moral and ethical standards. Winners are chosen by a selection committee which is composed of former winners and education professionals and will be announced soon. Congratulations, Danielle. Recognition is to Andre Drake and Jane uh sorry Jeene Bradini for their presentation at the NASK educator showcase on redesigning advisory for a meaningful student experience. This evening we are proud to recognize Andrea Drake, principal of Chero High School and Gene Bradini, assistant principal for their outstanding leadership and professional contribution at the NEASK Educator Showcase held in New Hampshire last Thursday, April 3rd. Mrs. Drake and Mrs. Bradini presented
009a session titled redesigning advisory for a be a meaningful student experience. Their presentation highlighted the transformative work at Cherho High School where the advisory block has been reimagined to ensure every student in grades 9 through 12 receives consistent, equitable and meaningful support in academic, college and career and social social emotional readiness. from launching a redesign team, auditing past practices, and curating impactful resources to embedding one-on-one student conferences and providing professional support development for staff. Their process has served as a model for innovation and student centered design. The advisory redesign directly supports the high school's vision vision of a graduate, ensuring students leave Cheroo not only prepared for the demands of high school, but also equipped with the essential skills needed for success beyond graduation. Please join us in congratulating Andrea Drake and Jane Jean Bradini
010for representing Cherho with excellence and for leading work that directly impacts student success in meaningful and lasting ways. Thank you so much. Congratulations. Next, Tyler this thing on um some sports highlights. girls lacrosse. I believe this was from the Westerly Sun. Um Cher did move up to division one this year. Um returning to varsity seniors Kaia Parin, Cadence Fusco Fusco, juniors Kaden Gillette. Gillette, Aubrey Courier, Maya Brundage, Lola De Santos, and Evelyn Campbell. Sophomores Rosie Spazado. New to Varsity this year, juniors Lillian Grandi, Alexis Choros, and Michaela Hill. Sophomores Ava Leairard, Alexis Camila, and Eileene Simmons. The coach's take for this year. The season's goals are a little different than years past. The last several years in division 2, our goal was to make it to the championship game. And last season, our goal was
011to win it all. Now that we've accomplished that goal and moved up to division one, our goal this year is to build off our success and to be competitive and grow as individuals as well as a team. We're excited for the 2025 season and ready to take on any challenges thrown our way. We look forward to competing at the division one level. Tyler, do you want to recognize the coaches on the top? Um, yeah, I did. I missed the coaches. The head coach, uh, head coach Godbau and assistant coach Lebell. My apologies to the coaches. Uh, boys lacrosse, uh, Chris Nickela. Four saves stopped a pair of potential game-tying shots in the closing minutes of Cheroo's opening its boys lacrosse season on Friday with a 76 victory over North Smithfield. Our defense did a great
012job in the fourth quarter denying several man-up attempts. Co uh Cheroo coach Ryan Me said Cooper Wtherspoon finished with three goals and an assist for the Chargers who rallied from a 4-2 halftime deficit. The key was the third quarter when Cher picked up its offense, scoring five goals for a 75 lead. Max Marshall two assists and John Depot each had two goals and Hunter Northup added an assist in the [Applause] win. Uh, girls softball sophomore Adriana Jennot threw a perfect game with 10 strikeouts in leading Cheroo in its 13- nothing victory over Tollgate in its season softball season opener. Jenna also had a big day at the plate with three hits including a pair of doubles in the first and third innings. She also drove in two. Briana Dejakamo Dejakamo had two hits with an
013RBI triple in a six-run bottom of the first inning and scored three runs while Aaron Olirri drove in two runs. Anna Trenton also scored two runs start. Thanks Tyler. Other Charo highlights. Justin Cahoun, Cherho athletic director, would like to acknowledge and thank our CTC welding teacher, Zachary Falsam, and his class for putting together and installing new bleachers at the high school football fields, sorry, softball fields. And congratulations to Chartwells and specifically Tony Lucier. They and their staff show the greatest care and concern for all Cheraho students. So our students receive nutritious breakfasts and lunches every day. Also during the state health inspections, all Charo schools received a score of 96 or better. There were three schools who received a score of 100 out of 100. They are Charles Town Elementary School, Charo Middle School, and
014Kala. Well [Applause] done. Okay, that concludes our recognition session of our agenda. We are going to move on to public forum. There are a few people signed up for public forum. It looks like just three. So, I just want to read um our public forum policy. Um we are going to give everyone a chance to speak for up to four minutes. I'm going to ask everyone who comes up to speak for you to be accurate. Present facts, not gossip or rumors, present information based on personal knowledge, not hearsay. Be considerate and allow others to speak without interruption. I'll have the discretion to limit each person to between two and four minutes. Considering there's only three people that signed up, I am happy to give you four minutes. If additional time is sought, it may be
015granted by a majority vote of the school committee. Public forum may not exceed 30 minutes, and I don't think that we will come anywhere near exceeding 30 minutes. So, with that being said, the first person on the list is um Justin Bentley, please. Justin, are you here? How are you? Good. Thank you. Thank you for So, Justin, your name and your town, where you reside, please? Justin Bentley, Ashway, Rhode Island. Thank you. Um, thank you to actually I guess first off all of Cheraho schools for starting off with recognizing students. That's a great way to start. Makes me feel good to be a be a Charger. So, thank you and thank you to students. Um, I'm I'm going to try to be really brief. Um, I had a long speech written. Um, not going to
016read it, but I I'm here to just ultimately ask a small favor. Um, I I've spoken at at previous meetings. Um, I've reached out and I'd like to thank several of the committee members who have um, contacted me back, engaged in dialogue. That was very helpful. Um, so I thank you. Um, but that's actually what I'm here to speak about again. Um, I just I I'm I'm here to to basically plead, I guess, for open and honest dialogue with school committee members. Um, I I've reached out, as have many other people in the room. Um, and sometimes I I receive no responses. When we do receive responses, they're very veiled. Um, and not very open and honest, I guess, for lack of a better term. Um, I I um I many of us are familiar
017with the I'm sure in the room of the annotated agenda. Um, I'm not going to go through and read quotes. Uh, but I I had reached out and was told by school committee members that I they didn't know what was going on with policy reviews. And then it turns out there was a very very detailed annotated agenda that explicitly stated and described the information that I was inquiring about, which is deeply troubling to me. Um, we were promised transparency. We were promised accountability. and and I'm reaching out as as again a lifelong as a taxpayer, lifelong student of Cheroo, a resident still with children in the school um and an educator myself. I I I really want to work to to help the school be the best that it can be and and to be
018told that uh to not be engaged in conversation is deeply deeply troubling. Um we shouldn't have to come and beg and plead for honesty and transparency. we shouldn't have to come and beg and uh excuse me, we shouldn't have to come and uh people shouldn't have to file freedom of information requests to get that information. That's it's it's just very very troubling. So, I'm just going to abbreviate everything I was going to say and just please please please could we have honest and open communication? Um we we were promised transparency and accountability. Um I don't think that's too much to ask going forward. So, thank you. Thank you. So, John Hi, how are you? Um, so I just I want to just respond to Mr. Bentley for a moment and if I am, you know,
019sticking my foot in it, um, you will let me know. Of course. Thank you. So to Mr. Bentley, thank you for coming up and talking to us about this. Um, there is something called an annotated agenda and, um, there are some, you know, sometimes notes on an annotated agenda. So, I consider what I have in front of me an annotated agenda. It has the correct way to pronounce somebody's last name. Uh, it has remarks that the superintendent is going to say on it. So, this is an annotated agenda. You know, I I I personally feel, and I'm just going to be very honest with you, that I have to watch every single word that I say because I it could be um fodder for an open meetings complaint. And that's never my intent to hide
020anything from the public. So, I just need you to know that. I don't recall if I responded to you. I had a slew of emails today on various topics on the agenda tonight. So, I try my best as a professional, as a mother that's juggling a lot of things with my personal family to respond to everybody that I could. Sometimes I'm going to agree with what you say and sometimes I'm not. So, I am doing my best to try to be as transparent as possible. And I do think that the item that was brought to my attention regarding the annotated agenda about last month's committee meeting regarding perhaps some policy issues um you know the superintendent and I meet and we talk about what um agenda items are coming forward and were requested by members
021of our committee. So, the superintendent asked me to ask member Hopkins for specificity around some of the items that she wanted to discuss and that was put on the annotated agenda um you know uh at length. I mean there was you know information on the annotated agenda. if that didn't get to the public, that wasn't, in my opinion, um meant to hide or uh you know, um you not disclose, you know, material. So, and there is an open meetings, you know, I think complaint. There was a letter to the editor that was submitted a couple of weeks ago about the annotated agenda with my name in it and saying that I was trying to hide things from the public. That's not my intention. So, I just I I need to tell you that. Okay. Thank
022you very much, John. I hope I didn't step in it. If you did, I would have stopped you. Thank you. Thank you, Justin. Okay, Thea Brennan. Hi, Thea. Good evening. My name is Thea Brennan. I am a Richmond resident, parent, and the Richmond Elementary School PTO president. I'm here speaking on behalf of myself tonight. Um, by now you've all been made aware of the condemned playground at Richmond Elementary School. While Charles was lucky enough to have their town council support and fund their playground after it was condemned, Richmond's is Richmond's is now condemned. Our kindergarten is in need of at least $6,000 in repairs before it is unsafe. And Ashways is undoubtedly not too far away. Our children deserve better than this. I'd like to start by saying that I wholeheartedly believe the playground should
023be funded and supported through the school budget. And I'm disappointed to say that this is something that has been cut from the budget repeatedly as a result of a continued push to annually level fund the budget. We cannot drink from an empty well. Continual cuts to the budget, especially capital planning, directly impacts our children. Actions have consequences and currently, as a result, our children are experiencing them. As the PTO president, I was actively looking at fundraising ideas that would help raise money for the playground, but I was advised on Friday that the PTO would not be able to do so because of the current fundraising policy. I'm here to ask the school committee to consider a revision to the current fundraising policy as it stands. Currently, part of the policy reads as such. The Cher
024Regional School District makes every effort to provide sufficient funding for its programs and activities. However, it is recognized that additional funds may be needed for purposes that extend beyond the budget. As such, fundraising activities should not be used for the purpose of funding items that should be included in the school budget. As previously mentioned, I believe that the that this should be funded by the district. My first ask is for the school committee to to find funding to support replacing the structure immediately. Additionally, I'm asking for the school committee to revise the policy as written. It is contradictory to me that a policy will acknowledge that additional funds may be needed to that go beyond the budget, but then also state that fundraising cannot occur for things that should be in the budget. These two
025statements cannot coexist together. Our PTO is ready to fund raise in support of the playground, but we would require a revision to the policy or a waiver to the policy. If you're unwilling to do so, then as a parent, I'm expecting the school committee to foot the entire bill for the new playground immediately using the fund balance. Precedence for a waiver was previously set through a request from the athletic director Justin Cahoun several years ago for a fundraiser that he required. We are the wellness school. Movement is imperative to the well-being of our children. Safe equipment is at school is a basic necessity. Richmond is school is receiving nearly 100 additional students in the fall. Our children deserve the best schools. They deserve new schools and safe playground equipment. Please note, I've already reached out
026to the Richmond Town Council for support. And I also plan to reach out to the Hopington Town Council for support as well. I've watched several community members come together to plan. We need the school committee to be a part of the conversation and most certainly a part of the solution. While I recognize this is during public forum and not an official agenda item, so therefore, you don't legally have to respond to me, I implore that you do. This is not a conversation that should wait or could wait until next month or f future meetings. Our children need you now. And so rather than focusing on what was or wasn't done in the past, let's focus on the future, our children. What are you going to do for our children now, today, and in this very
027moment. Thank you. Thank you, Thea. And I appreciate your leadership as the PTO president. I know how passionate you are and how dedicated you are, and I recognize that. Um this came to a head very recently with the um condemning of one of the playgrounds at Richmond Elementary School. So I have spoken with um Mr. Zenyan uh the superintendent and Gina, do you want to respond to any of the context of Thea's comments um and just give us a little bit of background on this if you if you would if you would mind wouldn't mind. So, um, the playgrounds as the elementary facilities remain a top priority. And I know sometimes it feels like a broken record because we've been, uh, playing that tune and for a while, but I I I agree. I mean,
028when when the budgets get cut, things like playgrounds, I I went back to the FY21 budget where the Charles Town, you know, swing set was removed. And then, um, when we got level funded, it was the Ashway and the playgrounds, and we did it one at a time. And you're correct, they continue to be removed. Um, even at the last meeting I mentioned rather than cutting the entire piece of the whole valley, we may want to save some because we recently heard of the Richmond playground. But I mean, I know we're all between a rock and a hard place. It's the priorities are um definitely important, especially around our health and wellness. I have been in conversations with Ride because I do believe we showed good faith effort by resubmitting our stage one, which we
029got approval for on Thursday. So the hope is that we're we have a stage two approval. Um right now the focus is on the the main campus and the bond. But I did ask because there's a commentary period that if um you know we can think through and unfortunately with it being April, there's a lot of things we don't know yet. We don't even know if the general assembly is going to give us the state aid allocation that they said based on all the changes in the federal government. So once we come closer to that in June, we'll have a better idea. But I know that we're all actively not and it not just for the Richmond playground but for the Ashway playground and um because the while we appreciate everything the Charles Town Council
030has done um to in order to use their impact fees to fund that playground, we recognize that not every town has those those abilities, but I can promise you on my end we're all going to be working continuously with Mrs. Martin and your team um to think through opportunities whether that be finding money right now, starting off finding that money right now and moving it into the fall. Um it's a sore subject, but we have playground equipment at Hope Valley that we will be, you know, um moving once we get the the go-ahhead from the safety at the end of the close. So, that will help as well. So, we're going to be thinking through and um I have a call tomorrow with Ry to talk through um some ideas to make sure I have
031a good understanding between because we can't use bond dollars. I want to be clear just the bond money cannot be utilized for anything at the elementary but the capital plan within that we may be able to make a comment based on the request. So, if they don't consider an emergency based on the level of our need of our facilities and the fact that playgrounds aren't playground structures aren't required. So um but there are other opportunities for us to think about getting reimbursed like a 61 to six 61% um if we can say based on like the health and wellness school and other factors that we ask for the regional bonus um we can get it up to 65 reimbured so that the cost is um as not at like the output would be initial but
032then get reimbursed. So it's on our list of priorities and I promise you it's not going off. Um Sharon would never let that happen. Mrs. Martin will call me every day and then we and every night we've been sending each other ideas but please know from our end um and I know in the school committee it's not an this is not an easy job balancing the and these competing interests but please know and I won't speak on behalf of the committee but I do think many of us feel that you know we will make this a priority along with all of the other schools needs um to the best of our ability. And I just have a point of clarification. So, you had mentioned in your comments that there was parts that needed to be
033replaced that would cost approximately $6,000. Is that correct? For the kindergarten one, she's talking about this different section. Yes, smaller kindergarten playground on the other side that needs Okay. a little over $6,000. So, there's been someone that has approached me about possibly donating uh a private funer, potentially donating the money for in the a range of $6,000. So, um I will talk to the superintendent about that and um I don't I'm not making any promises. I understand. But there um there was somebody that approached me about it. Thank you. Okay. And like I said, I just I know that it can't be done today, but if you guys can consider putting on the agenda looking at um modifying the policy so that the PTO can be a part of that fundraising process. Sure. Thank you.
034I'm definitely open that open to that. Thank you. Of course. make sure we get to put agenda items. So, we'll make sure it's on the next meeting. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you, Thea. Jeremy Jeremy Palmer from Hopkin. Are you Hi, Jeremy. Jeremy Palmer, Hopkin, Rhode Island. Uh, I'm here today to speak about uh the weapon that was found at the school dance. Uh, I picked my son up from the dance. Uh, he had notified me that there was a weapon found as well as some other rumors that were circulating throughout the children's uh throughout the dance. It had escalated to uh more rumors. I'm not going to elaborate on that because they've been established that they are rumors. Um, the disappointment that I had was is that I had to hear this from my child.
035And the thoughts that were going through his head as well as potentially other kids that were in the room at the dance and going back to school on Monday. I didn't hear anything from the school. So, I put a post up on Facebook. I put the post up and by the end of the day, we were given a response in regards to what actually happened. I think that there should be a policy in place that would not allow discretion for the school to determine who and what is a threat. If there is a zero tolerance policy for weapons in school, there should be a policy in place that parents are notified immediately. This would stop the rumors dead in their tracks. I feel as though there was an overwhelming response from the public because there
036was a lot of unknown. I wore this shirt today in correlation to what happened to me when I was arrested in a meeting because I was deemed a threat. And that decision was made by the school that I was a threat. But yet somehow this the same people that were in the room, Craig here, as well as the other woman that's on the shirt, I forgot what her name is, Kathleen or something that to that effect. Um, and I and I feel like that should be uh something that the school is aware of and residents in the area that if you have a policy in place that there should be actions and protocol in place. You should not be able to say, "Okay, we're going to protect our reputation." Because I teach my kids at
037a young age the difference between what your reputation is and what your character is. And your character is who you are and your repres your reputation is what precedes you. So with that in mind, I don't think that it's that it's fair that the school would choose to protect their reputation rather than the character because what happened was it is it spiraled out of control and in the same manner how I was uh seen as a threat while members of the board are not wearing their mask which is what this shirt represents and Craig himself took it upon himself as well as the other woman on the shirt to approach me. I would assume because of their own ego and confront me about the shirt. She had said that she would like to purchase a
038shirt from me and at that time I asked her if she was proud of that and she said yes I am. Maybe 5 minutes later Craig approached me with a $20 bill in hand and asked me if he could purchase a shirt. Then put his hands on me and said, "Yeah, okay, buddy." So in that that's a fact that happened. So, with that being said, the character of some of the people on this board, the school and the community should be involved and aware of who they're dealing with so they're not protecting their reputation. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Okay. So, there is there are no other names. Sorry. Should we clarify what happened for people that didn't get your email? Gina, did you want did you want to respond to that
039at all? That's up to you guys. It's It's up to you if you would like to respond to that. I I'll give you So, if this is your meeting, I'll give you the floor if you would like to respond. Gina, um there was uh a message sent out and I actually received zero emails. I um I got a call from Minsore. So, that was the only um connection that I had when I spoke to Mr. G. Um he also did not receive anything. Um, but there were was um I think somebody did send him a message that Facebook was um sharing information. I don't go and and review Facebook because I I find that if you have time on the weekend to do that um that's up to you, but it's just not helpful and
040it doesn't usually um breed goodwill and as an Otarian one of the things that we ask ourselves is does it bring friendships and does does it create goodwill? So I try to avoid things like that. But in the end, there was a student's purse on the bleacher. The um in the purse, there was a cell phone and a couple of items. One being a pocketk knife that was below the uh the limits that the police would get involved. Police and fire were available. When the purse fell over, the the object was picked up. It was immediately notified, handed to the adults, and at the end of the dance. Um because we at the we didn't know whose it was. Um but my understanding is, and I know middle school, you're there. If I need to,
041they uh the child admitted right away. apologize but there's like you said I can't get into anything further than that but in the end we typically um we have all kinds of protocols we're all FEMA and incident trained and handle these situations um kids make mistakes um I understand that people want communication so we will ask the school I mean we can do it but there was no parent outcry and I and I I wasn't made um aware I I'm sorry I was ask if you could let me um what I mean was that I received no communication so when Mr. G and I found out from Miss Dinsmo that there was um a lot of rumors and gossip on Facebook. We uh shared communication. Well, I shared it with the school committee and Mr.
042G shared it with his community to make sure um my understanding is Facebook still, you know, was um a Twitter, if you will, but in the end, our goal is to keep our kids safe and if people wanted us to add communication, um we'll be happy to do that. Thank you. Thank you for for bringing that to my attention. And I I only want to say that the the day after the dance, my phone was I got calls, emails, text messages about an incident, potential incident at the middle school. So, I spoke with the superintendent about it immediately and you know, I asked her if it was possible to send out some sort of a written statement um because I thought that that was the prudent thing to do at that point because there were
043things going around social media and I I felt like the community needed to be notified about the facts. So, thank you. Okay, we're going to move on to policy school improvement team sit policy. So, I am recommending approval of the updated school improvement team policy as these changes will allow our schools more flexibility to ensure a new staff or parents can participate in the selection process. Our current policy would not allow our Hope Valley families and our staff who are leaving Hope Valley or other schools to be eligible for these teams. Hence the reason for the request. If the committee has other things they want to look at moving forward, we can do that. But for now, I would like permission to at least change this piece so that we can ensure that a Hope
044B Hope Valley families and new families have access to this opportunity. Motion to approve. So, we have a motion to approve and a second. Um, discussion. I think this was brought forward. I believe this was brought forward by by me. Was it by you or Yes, by me. Okay. Um, and just for clarification for Mr. Bentley, everything that Gina just read is on the annotated agenda, just so you know. Okay. There are things on the annotated agenda. Um, so discussion by the committee. So, uh, Laura, so, um, I'm looking at the some of the other stuff in here. I understand the membership process and why that should be adjusted and I think it should be because um just being on the middle school sit team there's a lot of times if you have a child
045who's in fourth grade sometimes it can be really difficult for the fourth grade parents to you know be involved in that process. Um, the part that I I wasn't that I that didn't really make sense to me though was there is there a reason that the school committee was removed from the I'm sorry, not the school committee, the um it's the like the membership committee which I believe the process for that is when the school when the schools are developing their membership teams names. There's an application process that goes forward and then that application process goes to is is essentially determined by the school committee or the subcommittee I believe is what it's called right Gina? So actually some of what you said isn't fact accurate. So if I could just clear. So the selection
046committee review I my understanding and those of you that were here because this predates me was this is was exactly aligned to when the when the 2019 change in the school committee structure and powers and duties changed. So school governance received more power. So when that happened the policy actually if if you've been on a selection committee you really don't have anything to do because the policy tells you what to do. So, it's a meeting that people sometimes can't attend to just review what's going in front of the school committee and the school committee technically doesn't vote on it. You're just supposed to review it to make sure it has balance. So, because it says you're supposed to be selected by your peer group. So, the purpose of the selection committee, the selection committee actually
047it's a it's double duty. there's no need for it because the policy tells you how to select and then the school committee at any time can pull back the membership if they believe it's not representative of the committee. So it's just a step that is unnecessary and it you do it. So basically you're telling the administrators how to do it and then uh the selection committee is the same people on the committee and one member of the school committee who already has to see it. So, the only new person on the selection is a member of the school committee, but they can't give any input because they're not a peer group. Does that make sense? We're the only one in the in the state that has this, but I I had to get some context
048from my my admin friends to sort of figure out how it came to be. So, I have a question about the information that was crossed out in the last paragraph. And um go ahead. So in the last paragraph it says it did say in the sort of the third line down the superintendent shall review and approve the plan in compliance with the law and then what struck out after that is after consultation with the school committee. Yep. The law changed in 2022. So that's why this is being removed. Correct. So the school improvement plans we now all follow the same template and protocol. So the law in the school improvement plan says that the superintendent approves school improvement plans, the school committee approves the strategic plan. So this is just we just cleaned up the
049law because it was there to do because I know I think when when member Kalisante was on one of the things she had requested is that we when we look at policy that we add the laws. So we've made that a practice. So that's why the first paragraph was added the beginning part so that you have the direct link to the law and then the second half was just it was it no longer matched what the law says. So it was just to to clean that up. So why did we wait until now to do it? Just be so it changed in 2022 but we're changing it now. I just wanted to because of the Hope Valley closure. That's what prompted the laws always supersede policy. Correct. That's what prompted this review. Okay. And then
050for the the lead on there, how come the um that part was crossed out as well where it says um each sit shall be composed of the principal, director, or other lead, but that's crossed out and just says school administrator. Is there and that I saw that consistently throughout this that that language specifically because you you don't always for example director Tatro is not not labeled a principal. He's a director. So ju it's just to school administrator is what the law uses and what the ride uses. So it's just to clean up language. Is it to give more flexibility though as well to the No, it's to match the um just the the current structure of the district. Okay. Karen, I think Jess was first. Okay, Jess. Um so I think just to explain Laura
051what I why I think these changes were made. because we're making the changes so that we can extend change the time period that applications can be taken. So we can go back and continue. You just also made these changes. Correct. Yes. Okay. And so my question was about you know this year's process the school improvement team's application was just open closed March 31st but does this extend it this year? Correct. If we change it then it allows us to give us till October one to have final and it applies for this year into next year. Okay. That's my question. Thank you. Thank you, Karen. So, my comments more this is to make sure that um Hope Valley parents and students are represented on and that um as well as incoming kindergarten, correct? And new families
052and also staff. So we we recognized that with the Hope Valley closure, there were other other individuals that may not have this opportunity like Miss Chapman said, like fourth grade parents coming into middle school and you know eighth grade parents coming into high school. So it broadens up the schedule and um it just allows us the flexibility to ensure so it would extend the timeline because you see the date is for tomorrow. So that we've asked everyone to continue with the policy as it stands and then moving forward we could just extend in any positions that we wanted to reach out back out for because as long as we have balance we can we can add members. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else any input from the public on this discussion item? Okay. So we have
053we do have a motion in a second, right, Angela? Yeah. Yes. Okay. Um, so all those in favor of these changes to the school improvement team policy. Okay. Uh, that looks like it's unanimous. Yes. No. No. No abstensions, no recusals, no opposed. Okay. Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Business vision 2026 strategic plan update. Cena. So, this is the moment we've all been waiting for. My my presenters are all ready and um actually it it's great timing. Sometimes the universal lines if you believe believe in signs, one of the things our our new chair uh Miss Inmo said is that she really wants to make sure we're highlighting our teaching and learning initiatives. So, really calling those out when when we do them to make sure that both the public and the school committee
054are are clear that this helps highlight um all the great work that happens in the district. So, I'm here tonight along with some of our students, teachers, administrators to provide an update on our current progress on the district strategic plan approved by the school committee in 2023. While I'm proud to share that CHRO has made statistically significant gains across every single goal in the plan, we believe it's just as important to bring the data to life. You were you got to see our arty musical performances, visual art presentations over this weekend, and now we're sharing the strategic plan as a whole. So tonight you'll hear directly from our students and educators about this work, how it looks in action, and from their perspective and their experiences. I would now like to introduce our director of
055career and technology, Jerry O. [Applause] Good evening, everyone. So thank you for allowing me this time to kick off this exciting part of the agenda. I have a couple notes written to introduce myself, but I'm going to try to go off the cuff and talk about who I am. So, my name is Jerry Oth. I'm the director of the career and tech center here uh at Shero. It's my 20th year in education uh 14th as a career and tech director and I'm proud to say that I've been here uh leading the career and tech center at Shero for eight years. I you've heard me say it before, I'll say it again. I truly believe that I have the best job in Cher and I think that's why Gina picked me to go first tonight. Um
056I enjoy coming to school every single day. I love what I do. I love career in tech. I'm stuck in this weird world that has a tremendous impact on kids and I see it every day uh that I come to work. Um I love seeing what our programs and the high school can do for students that are going to two and fouryear schools. And I especially love to see the impact that our programs can have for kids that are going directly into the workforce. Uh Gina asked us to talk about a student that we should introduce to the committee and to the public here tonight. Um it was, I'm proud to say, very easy for me to choose that student. Uh we have here Penelope Nicholas. Let's hear it for Penelopey who uh gave us
057a nice soothing warm welcome as we entered the library today. Uh I'm proud to say uh and I will read some of this because I I I want to get it right for Penelope. Uh it is my pleasure to introduce an outstanding student here at Cher High School. Penelope comes to us uh from Westerly, Rhode Island. Hold your applause, everyone. I think that's just me and Penelopey in the room right now. Uh, okay. We got Donna, we got a couple. Uh, and she came from Westerly. She took a chance at Cherokee Tech. And I know that's not easy to do for kids coming out of 8th grade because I have two children at Westerly High School and I was unable to recruit them to come to Chero myself. So, it is not that easy. Uh,
058she took a risk. uh she took a chance on Chero to pursue her passion for the performing arts theater program and what a decision that turned out to be. Uh Penelopey has a remarkable 4.8 GPA. Uh she ranks number three in the senior class and plans to attend college next year to pursue a bachelor's in theater and a psychology degree. She has starred in numerous productions here. Uh you can see her on May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th as Donna and Mama Mia. So we're all excited about that. Uh [Applause] Penelope Penelope brings energy, talent, and dedication to the stage. She's the perfect example of a student who embraced opportunity and thrived making the most of her high school experience. and we could not be prouder of her accomplishments here at Cher Cherokee. So ladies and
059gentlemen, let's give a nice warm round of applause for Penelopey Nicholas. [Applause] He had one job. Jeffrey, you had one job. Always happens. Okay. Uh good evening everyone. My name is Penelopey Nicholas and it is an honor to be able to speak in favor of Cheroo High School and the district as a whole. As an out of district student, I was drawn to Cherho for many reasons. The most notable being the way that one can find community within diversity here. This district covers such a broad territory and brings in all sorts of students with different backgrounds, talents, and perspectives. I am also so grateful to be given countless resources to pursue my love for and dedication to theater and music. It is such a privilege to have stable and continuous access to not only rigorous
060academic programs, but also artistic opportunities here. I have grown to love the community here and I hope that all of you continue to act with the intent to encourage the ambitions and individuality of the children that are coming into adulthood under this district as they are our future. Thank you. Penelopey, before you do your next part, Yes. would you grace the school committee with a little bit of your music because they they were a little late so they didn't and I want everyone to hear I know you're not shy. If you want to see a performance, you've got to see Penelopey in her dream role of Donna and Mama Mia. So that's May 2nd, but if you could just share. Sure. Thank you, Penelopey. She loves She's a talent. Someday when I grow up, I
061want to be Penelopey. She had a look of terror when she's fine. She's got this. She's ready. She knows. See, I'm not looking. I'll make it penal. Don't worry. I'll make it up to you. I promise. If it doesn't work, I'll I'll I'll give you the reprieve. It's beautiful. [Music] [Applause] Thank you. So all of you just experienced what my piano teacher would like crucify me for. So thank you very much. Um now I would like to introduce the high school principal, Mrs. Andrew Drake, who will be speaking about Chero's high expectations. [Applause] Andrew, you don't have to play the piano. I promise. Oh, thank God. But Penelopey, this is how convincing she is. She had me convinced me to do karaoke in front of a room full of people during arty. So, and you
062didn't have a chance yet to hear her amazing voice. So, you heard how wonderful she was on piano. Wait until you hear her voice uh for Mama Mia in early May. So, please come out and support our performing arts students. So, yes, I am Andrea Drake. I'm the principal at Char High School. This is my 20th year here at Charo and I could not be more proud to work for this district. It is truly an honor to work for this district and I give it my heart. I really do. Um I couldn't be more proud of my high school and when it comes to Cher High School, we are known for our academic excellence. We've been rated a top 10 high school in the state year after year. And this is due to the high
063expectations that we hold ourselves to as well as having some of the most rigorous graduation expectations in the state. Our students, they rise to these expectations and they show us their very best. Equally important is that we hire the very best. Our faculty hold our students to these expectations. They create engaging and meaningful learning experiences. We pride ourselves on what it means to earn a high school diploma from Cheraho. We love hearing from those within and outside of our district about the pride that comes with sending their children to Charo Regional High School. And they know the education their students will receive. Tonight, you're going to hear from some of our incredible students. They're going to be talking to you about topics like academic excellence, school connectedness, charger pride, and student voice. I couldn't be
064more proud of the students that I'm going to be introducing to you this evening. First, I'd like to introduce Brandon Thorp. Brandon has been a member of our school improvement team throughout his four years at the high school. He has also been a member of our student advisory board since he was a freshman and now he is our vice chair of our SAB leadership team. Brandon is going to be attending the University of Rhode Island next year. He's going to be speaking to you tonight about academic excellence at CHS. Please welcome Brandon. Good evening. As members of the student advisory board and the school improvement team at Cherro High School, we are dedicated to creating an environment of excellence by setting high expectations. Our main goal is to empower students to reach their full potential
065both academically and personally. The student advisory board focuses on helping students achieve excellence by providing leadership opportunities, organizing events that promote community engagement within the school and helping students transition from middle school or at a district in the Cher high school. Similarly, the student the school improvement team supports this mission by acting as an extension of the various groups at Shero, ensuring that each voice is heard and that we work together to improve our school fairly and equally. Both students and teachers at Cherho are imperative to achieving academic excellence by providing a supportive environment for students. Teachers at Cherho aid students in achieving their academic goals. Students who show dedication to excellence allow these teachers to help each student to their full potential. Now I would like to introduce Miss Gene Bradini who will be
066speaking about the vision of a graduate work and how to lead to stronger outcomes for all students. Please welcome Miss Bradini, our assistant principal for teaching and learning. Good evening. I'm Gene Braden Nini. I'm the assistant principal at Teraho High School. This is my fourth year here at Teraho. Um, and it's really been a great adventure for me so far. So, as we picture our Cher students crossing the stage in June, our goal is to have graduates not only academically proficient, but also equipped with critical thinking, creativity, and emotional intelligence. To make all of this a reality, we have worked with industry and post-secondary community members to determine the skill set they would most like to see in students when they leave high school. Our vision of the graduate is a combination of learner qualities
067designed to shape students into well-rounded individuals who can thrive in various environments. A collaborative worker and respectful citizen are key to building positive relationships and contributing meaningful meaningfully to society. Sorry. The growth mindset and self-directed learning qualities ensure that these individuals continue to improve themselves, adapting to new situations and learning from their experiences. Meanwhile, the emphasis on being a quality producer ensures that they approach their work with diligence and pride, striving to create value for the world around them. These learner qualities have been the foundation of our work at Cher High School and have transitioned to all grades K through 12 as part of the district strategic plan. By the time they graduate, students are not just academically prepared, but also socially aware, resilient, and equipped with the skills necessary for lifelong learning and success.
068I would now like to introduce Miss Carrie Ptorii, who will be speaking about the work with MTSS and an overview of its purpose. Please welcome Miss Carries Pestori, our academic [Applause] fellow. Good evening everyone. Um I'm Carrie Pastori and I am proud to say that this is my 26th year as a teacher here in Jerome and I'm here to talk a little bit about MTSS. So over the past year, we have made excellent progress in strengthening our multi-tered systems of support or what we call MTSS. At the heart of our effort is an MTSS handbook. But it's so much more than a guide. It's a living breathing resource that was created by educators for educators. Um you may have noticed on the previous slide that was up here um there was a quote and it
069said we all grow and develop at our own pace and that timing is different for everyone. That is the spirit of MTSS and what drives our work every day. But also every day, our educators are planned planning for a myriad of student needs in their planning of lessons in math, reading, writing, social studies, and science. Um, now I'd like to introduce Mrs. Sharon Martin, the principal of Richmond Elementary School, who will be speaking about the work our educators are doing on their tier one teams. Hi everyone. I'm Sharon Martin, principal of Richmond Elementary School. This is my 31st year in public education and my 13th year as being principal of Richmond School. I always say I'm a senior principal because my kindergarten class is graduating, two of whom are here with us tonight. So um
070I am very happy to talk to you a little bit about what we've been doing in the district around MTSS and our focus this year has been on tier one. Tier one is looking at highlevel data that helps us as each building focus on proficiency. We're looking at proficiency for our buildings in terms of academics. So in the areas of reading, math, attendance, and behavior. Each of our schools have developed an MTSS team and on that team we have representation from a number of different people across the building. We meet three times a year at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year and we will meet again at the end of the year to look closely at our progress and we monitor our progress using something called a smart goal. A goal
071that's very easily set and measured. So at Richmond School for example, we are measuring a smart goal around reading specifically in grades K to2 and we are also looking at a smart goal that we set at the middle of the year around school attendance. In addition to the MTSS meeting, we're also as building administrators and as MTSS team supporting the district-wide focus on differentiation. Differentiation means that we're providing instruction for students based on their levels of readiness and we're providing that instruction in a way that all learning is attainable to students. We're supporting students through their learning in a differentiated setting in the academic areas as well as helping teachers promote an environment where students are supported for their behavioral needs as well. We are very proud of the work that we've done. We've just
072begun, but um I can honestly say our experience um has been remarkable and we've been extremely supported through the district by the MTSS team. Our schoolwide academic and behavioral strategies are addressing the needs of our student body and it continues to ensure that we are planning for each and every child. Thank you. So, at this time, I would like to introduce another Richmond Elementary School graduate, uh Charlie Edmonds. Charlie is an alumni is an elementary alumni as I said and a graduate in the class of 25. She is a um student who will share with us about some of the educators who have impacted her educational experience through her time here at Richmond School and Charo. Oh, I'm sorry. It actually says Charo, Mrs. Martin impacted her educational experience throughout her time. Sorry, I bleed
073Richmond blue, but I am a charger as well. Um, through her time in Charo. So, without further ado, may I please introduce Miss Charlie? Mrs. M. And she's all grown up. Hi, I'm Charlie. Um, good evening. And when I think about the teachers that had the biggest impact on me, it was very difficult to select just one. To me, the teachers who stood out most are the ones that made connections with me. There are many teachers throughout my Cherho experience from my time at Richmond Elementary School with Mrs. L. Clerk and Mr. Kapllet to Cherho Middle School with Mrs. Wescott and Mrs. Crowley and high school with Mrs. Canamela and Miss Turkot. But in particular, I wanted to mention Mrs. Scoffield. Mrs. Scullfield has completely reshaped the early childhood CTC program and has created great
074opportunities such as going on field trips, focusing on work experiences, allowing guest speakers in the classroom, and creating a fun, safe, and learning environment. She has created great relationships with all of her students and has inspired me to become a teacher myself. I truly want to thank Miss Scoffield and all the teachers for everything that they do. I also wanted to thank Mrs. Martin for allowing me to do my internship at Richmond Elementary. And then lastly, I want to say thank you to Mrs. Bquard. Mrs. Bquard has provided me with a ton of opportunities this year, such as speaking tonight at the convocation and selecting me to participate in Rhode Island Youth Leaders, which focusing on the funding formula for our schools and budgeting. Um, now I would like to introduce Miss Dana Thomas Hall,
075our district community specialist. She has been a Cheroo educator for more than 21 years. Miss Hall will be sharing how our community and family connections contribute to the success for Cherho students. Thank you, Charlie. Good evening. At Cheroo, learning sta learning extends far beyond the classroom through a variety of extracurricular activities like the Cheroo Interact Club, Cheroo Theater Club, Chero Vocal Select Groups, and Art Club, just to name a few. Our students gain valuable opportunities to explore their passions, develop leadership skills, and connect with their peers. These programs are just part of the vibrant arts and humanities experiences across the district. From artisty's district-wide gallery exhibitions and band and chorus concerts to state level music festivals and writing contests, creativity and critical thinking are always center stage here. New this year, we proudly debut the
076Cheraho Civic Engagement Summit, an initiative that brings our students and local and state leaders together to explore real world issues, strengthen civic voice, and inspire action. Whether they're performing a sensory friendly version of their spring musical for their neurodeiverse peers, volunteering at the food pantries locally, or preparing a for a state level poetry recitation contest. These experiences build confidence, create lasting friendships, and set our students up for future success. These connections within our schools and throughout our community truly allow all of our students to thrive. Now, I would like to introduce Mrs. Susie Scannipo, our district STEM specialist. Mrs. Skinnipe will be sharing how our community and family enhance the experiences available to Cheraho [Applause] students. STEM education goes beyond learning the topics of science, technology, engineering, and math in the classroom setting. We must
077offer our students real life experiences that embed these subjects throughout competitions like Future Business Leaders of America that you got to see tonight and all of their great awards and first tech challenge. Cherhob business and robotics students compete against like-minded peers to test their knowledge and skill, always hoping to make it to that national stage. We are proud to say that the high school robotics team received the innovation award this year. creating a robot that was clearly different than everything else they had seen that during the competition. The FBLA students did make it to the national stage and they will have the opportunity to compete in California this year. We are also proud of the middle school science olympiad which has grown to 14 members from 6th to 8th grade who have had the opportunity
078to compete against students in many different science content areas. These competitions, some held at Brown University and Harvard, have given these young students an experience that they won't soon forget. Using a district-wide lens, this year, we included nearly 20 student interns in the development of Charo's farm-to-school initiative. From connecting to um local farmers to implementing the first district-wide waste separation program in the state, we are proud of what's already been done in seven short months. Now I would like to introduce Mr. Jeff Bowen, a math specialist at Chaho Middle School. He will be sharing how the district is working to improve the attendance to ensure our students and families understand the importance of attending school every day and how it impacts their academic performance. Hello and thank you. Jeff Bowen, math specialist at Cherome Middle
079School. At Cherome Middle School, our school improvement team takes a strategic approach to improving student attendance. We keep families informed by posting the importance of attendance on school signs and in weekly communications. Using the ride attendance dashboard, we've been able to analyze trends to identify students who may need extra support. We also review survey works data on school culture and climate, ensuring that our decisions are informed by data along with student and family feedback. To make school more engaging, we organize fun whole school activities on key attendance days, especially around vacations. Additionally, our guidance department closely monitors attendance records and reaches out to families to offer support and resources. We have also initiated an attendance team which will focus on providing tiered support to our students based on need. By combining these data driven strategies,
080family engagement, and schoolwide initiatives, we are fostering a culture where students can feel connected, supported, and motivated to attend school every day. I welcome back Mrs. Drake. Mrs. Drake will now introduce our next student presenter. me again. As we know, school connectedness and meaningful learning experiences are integral for student engagement and attendance. I am proud to introduce you to two students who will be speaking with you tonight on these topics. First, I'd like to introduce Kira Pierce. She is a valadictorian for the class of 2025. [Applause] She is also the 12th grade representative for our student advisory board. She was also one of the very first CHS students to complete and present her graduation project. Kira will be attending Wheaten College in Massachusetts next year. She's going to be speaking to you tonight about the
081value of a rigorous graduation project and unique learning opportunities. Kira's experience shows how important it is to allow students to pursue their interests while gaining hands-on applied learning opportunities. Please welcome Kira Pierce. Hi, I'm Kira Pierce. Um, and as Miss Drake said, I was one of the first two students to pilot the graduation project that's um upcoming for the new junior class coming into being seniors. Uh, sorry, I don't do this a lot. Um, for my graduation project, I shouted a pediatric cardiologist at the pediatric heart center outside of Hasbro Children's Hospital. And before completing this project, I was a little lost, like a lot of high school students, with what I wanted to do with my future. But this project helped me to open my eyes to more opportunities. I would say my like
082aha moment was when I was able to watch an echo cardiogram of a three-month-old baby with a genetic heart condition that requires surgery a couple months after birth. I realized that by becoming a doctor, I could help children like these and help families that are in need and help people that might be in similar situations to this. Without this project, I wouldn't have known that this was what I wanted to pursue. I also learned so much about myself and this helped motivate me to find other opportunities to shadow other doctors. Right now I'm looking to shadow an anesthesiologist at Miriam Hospital as well as trying to get some involvement in South County Hospital a little more local. Um honestly this project was the best experience of my life and I've never been so proud of
083something that I've completed and this car can ask you a quick question. So, which doctors did you shadow at the pediatric heart center at Hasbro? Um, I shadowed uh Dr. Jim Ziggler. He's in a band with my dad, Dr. Z. Yeah. Um, and then so I kind of got I kind of shadowed everyone that day. I w I basically followed around a med student all day. Got to talk with a lot of patients. Um, got to watch the echo cardiogram and performed a stress test myself. Even though I'm healthy, I got to see what it's like. And that was hard. I just I asked that question because my husband and I founded um a nonprofit organization in memory of my daughter who had a heart defect, the Gabrielle Dinsmore Heart and Hope Fund. We don't
084we don't operate it anymore, but we raised a lot of money and we have a fund that benefits the pediatric heart center at Hasbro Children's Hospital. Yeah, it's a great great place to shadow. Great people there. Everyone was so nice. Dr. Z is great. Yes, definitely. Thank you. Thanks for your good work. She's pretty incredible as you can hear. Equally incredible, I am thrilled to introduce you to Morgan Allen. Most would consider Morgan the face of our school. He is known for his incredible school spirit and we call him the leader of the herd. Morgan is the student life representative for our student advisory board and he's also an intern with our athletic director and an athlete on our soccer and golf teams. Morgan will be attending Bryant University next year. Morgan's going to be
085speaking with you tonight about school connectedness and community and about what it means to be a Charger. Please welcome Morgan. [Applause] All right. Good afternoon or good evening. All right, so for me to be a Charger is all about community and togetherness. And I could not think of a better example than our unified basketball game during the day on Friday. It was the perfect example of our community. The gym was packed, everyone was involved, and we as a community and student body were all in support of the same cause, cheering on our team, including all of our students. This game and togetherness are why students come to school. To add on, inclusivity is something Cherrow thrives at. Wherever you look, you can find a smiling face. Whether it's when you first step in the door
086in the morning, in the classroom, or in the halls, at CHO, everyone is truly wonderful, and I'm happy to be a part of this community and contribute to school spirit. Nice job, Mom. And now I'd like to introduce a fellow Hope Valley Elementary alumni and class of 2021 graduate, my classmate, senior Ethan Tarcision. Ethan is sharing some of our educational experiences that helped make an impact on the academic excellence of Cherokee. Thank you, Morgan. Good evening everyone. Reflecting at my time at Cherho, I'm incredibly grateful for the diverse opportunities that have shaped my high school journey. Serving as the president of Future Business Leaders of America Club has allowed me to develop the leadership in business skills, securing a spot in the national competition last year and again this year. My internship with the farm
087to school initiative with Miss Scan Diego and Dr. K provided me hands-on experience in sustainable agriculture, contributing to increasing local options, creating new opportunities in the community, and a significant reduce in waste lunch at waste. Additionally, the opportunity to learn and write and present grants for approval has honed my communication and strategic planning abilities. These experiences have not only enriched my education, but also prepared me for my future endeavors. Now, I'd like to welcome back Miss Bard. Now, it is time to welcome to the microphone someone who has worn many hats in our Cherokee community. Some of you may call recall her days as an FBLA chaperon, ensuring we were on time and didn't get too lost at the conferences. And some of you have taught her how to make Dutch braid or I've invited
088her to sing with the high school chorus during past November benefit concerts. She is also the captain of our educational ship as a chair host superintendent. Please join me in welcoming back Miss Bard here to wrap up our strategic plan update and share her pride in the daily daily delegation of Cheraho students, educators, administrators, and staff. Thank you. Thank you, Ethan. There really is no way to follow that other than saying absolute charge of pride tonight. Um, I want to thank all of our students, all of our educators and staff and administrators. This work is a a labor of love for all of us. It's why we all um got into this work so we could hear stories like you heard tonight and really see it come to life. But more um I don't know
089when Ethan mentioned about my Dutch braid. I don't know what was harder Ethan the n uh figuring out the national competition's u schedule of events or doing a Dutch braid. Still jury's out on that one. But I am incredibly proud of all that they've done and the time that I've spent with students and staff and their families throughout these years. This strategic plan is is not my plan. It's not the school committee's plan. It's approved by the school committee. It's my charge to see it through. But it truly is in every single classroom and day-to-day interaction, every community event. It lives and breathes the pride of Charo. Um, and we felt that the only way to really share those successes is to bring it to life and let you hear directly from those experiencing our
090schools. And um, they're all available for questions. I promised them if it was a fast ball that I would take it so that they wouldn't um you know not show up tonight cuz they did a good job. But they also have stickers for everyone. We brought back our um my student education advisory panel uh which Brandon is a member, Charlie's a member, Ethan's a member. Um Ezri, a few of the ones that got awards tonight. Um I would like you to pass out the stickers uh to the school committee member so they can um use their sticker for their computers. But we will be celebrating that we are Charo because while we are so mindful of the wonderful towns you all come from we also know that you saw from Penelope that the our um
091the lines know no bounds. So we're really beyond the three member towns and we encompass every child who enters the doors of Charo. So, thank you all. And I would also like to announce that the budget passed 911 yeses. Great job. So, thank you all who voted this evening. Um, and it was what a great way to to end that presentation with the budget vote of yes. So, thank you all for coming out tonight and um if the school committee or anyone has questions um don't leave yet, all my presenter friends, but um we're happy to answer anything about our strategic plan, but like I mentioned, it's statistically significant. Uh we have we've seen goals as much as 10 to 15 to 20% in some categories and we'll be preparing for vision 2029 as we
092conclude vision 2026 next year. Thank you. Does anyone have any questions for the team on behalf of the school committee? Donna, not just uh questions, but I I don't know how you guys felt, but I really love this. What a beautiful way to see the kids in action. What's happening here, and I hope we do it more often. I thought this was great. Thank you for everyone who spoke. Excellent. Makes me proud. Great job, Karen. Quick question for um Andrea. Andrea, did you win the silent auction? [Laughter] That's beautiful. Gorgeous. It was gorgeous. Congratulations. That was amazing. And it definitely deserves to be in your office, Jean. I didn't tell you about that. Not yet, but I'm guessing I just have to go into the office to see. Anyone else? Well, thank you so much
093for taking the time. Thank you so much for showcasing Chero at its [Applause] best. Okay, next under business um item 9B, superintendent's contract renewal. So, this is in our packets and um the superintendent is asking for per her contract stipulations um an extension on her contract. Her contract uh let me just read this part of this. Her contract will expire currently in June 30th of 2027. So, per her contract, the school committee has to evaluate um whether or not she will be granted a one-year extension through June 30th of 2028. So, currently she has two years plus remaining on her contract. Um so, last month we had an opportunity to um in executive session have a performance evaluation. This is not a performance evaluation or a performance discussion this evening and I don't want to
094again if John is here I don't want to step in it because this is um he is this is related to personnel. Um so with that being said um Jess did you have something before I No, I I'll wait till you finish. Okay. Thanks. Um so um members of the school committee have an opportunity to vote to extend her contract by one year or to not extend her contract by one year. Um the school committee members have the opportunity to discuss why they may want to extend her contract or why they might not want to extend her contract. Um, and with that being said, I'll open it up for discussion. Yeah. So, I guess first I would make a motion to extend the contract for a year. Okay. Um, so we have a motion and
095a second. My question when you mentioned performance review, um, just confused because without dulging too much of executive session, it sounded to me like we would be having a performance review and open session because that's what the superintendent said she wanted. So, can you explain why we're not That was the superintendent's prerogative. I asked the same question last week on Tuesday when I met with her and she she you did not want that in open session. I did ask that question. So, the the typically those of you that have been here, my contract extension comes up every year per the contract. uh the year that we were level funded, I I said to the committee, while I've always appreciated any um raise that I didn't think it was appropriate and in lie of that uh
096you know, two-year notice as I am the bread winner for my family, it's important that I understand that if the the district uh likes the work that's happening and wants me to continue or if they were they're looking to do something different. So the uh the chair last meeting added um my job performance. Typically, it's just been an evaluation of my goals. So, John, I'm happy to just to share that I gave um my uh review last month. And what I said was if the chair wanted to talk about my job performance or if any other committee member um one, I would hope first that I would get the feedback or or they would meet with me to give me feedback. I have received nothing but wonderful feedback from those of you that participated. So,
097thank you for those that did. Um I've also provided paper that for for the meetings for those who wanted to give feedback could have the opportunity to share that in writing if they didn't want to uh do that in the the meeting that we held and I also opened uh individual conversations. So um I said to Mr. Inmore that I have no reason to to believe that uh my job performance is a concern. Um so I was I was happy just to do what we typically do is my contract extension. But I did say if a member wanted it it to talk more about it that it would be an open session. Okay. Okay. If right if anyone want because I have not had anyone come to to share and well I I and I
098appreciate all of the wonderful feedback that those of you gave me. Thank you. Okay. I just want to make sure that it's not something you were looking for that wasn't. I had only asked that if it was on the agenda if um there was concerns. Okay. Does that clarify Jess? Yep. Okay. So, I just want to Hold on, Donna. Thank you. So, I just want to make it clear that Gina and I had a conversation about this the other day. It was my understanding that it was possible that this would be discussed in open session, a performance discussion would be discussed in open session. I told Gina that I did not think that she was finished with her presentation to the school committee in executive session last month. I thought that there were more slides.
099there was going to be more opportunity for dialogue. But with that being said, that was not put on the agenda for this month. John, is there anything else that I need to clarify on this? Okay, Donna, I just have no concerns. Gina, I think we're, you know, I'm a supporter and I think we're extremely lucky to have you here. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Jess, I have a plethora of notes from this meeting and the executive session as well that I haven't really had a chance to share. Um, I don't want to really go into everything, but I will just say, you know, for me, when hearing the folks come up that spoke about our strategic vision, vision 26, 2026, it really has a lot of important um aspects that are important to me.
100student voices, um, high quality curriculum, really good educators that have been here for a long time and are truly dedicated. And I think that by supporting a proven and effective superintendent, we're supporting the district. Um, I I see you leading on all of those fronts, um, I see folks that want to work for you, kids that want to come to this school, families that want to live in this district. Um, you had really big shoes to fill when you arrived here. Um, you've had a number of different challenges and I've seen you rise to the occasion. Um, you wear lots of hats and you're on the ground here all the time. You know, I tell folks, this winter wasn't that bad, but last winter when we had like a cancellation every week. I said, you
101know, Gina's not making these calls from her home in her bed in North Providence. She's down here standing in a puddle or down here um figuring out if the roads are drivable for buses. Um, so I would support um an extension of your contract. I support the work that you've done. I appreciate all you do for us as a school committee. We really look to you for a lot of guidance and education. Um, and I I think that, you know, last year we we spoke to those that work most closely with you and they all had glowing reviews of you. Um, I will, you know, I will say my I my one piece of critical advice and it's not just for you. It's our long-standing problem of a missing capital improvement plan. I know it's
102a huge concern for you. I know it's a huge concern for me and a lot of people in this district, but our elementary schools are in dire need of a capital improvement plan. Um the reason we don't have one is it it's not your fault. Um we've all played a role. The community has played a role. Um but I just want to make sure that moving forward uh we have continued strong leadership for this school the transition to consolidation and as we really have seek to have a solid capital improvement plan for our youngest kids. Okay. So Karen um I will be voting in favor of extending Gina's contract an educator for 30 years myself. God that sounds weird. Um I can say that I've learned a great deal from Gina. Uh both um both
103that's impacted my teaching and my own learning. Um something about Gina that impresses me the most is she's never in her office. Um she's always after school. Uh she's in other buildings. She's in classrooms. That is very rare for a superintendent. Um every play I've gone to, every awards ceremony I've gone to, sporting events, um she's there. She was at all day on Saturday as were many of the faculty staff and administrators which is a a testament to to her. She's there. They are there. Um she also attends the Washington County Fair and honestly you can't be any more cheroo than uh attending the Washington County Fair and works in the book that help my Rotary friends. I was gonna uh the first time I saw her there I have to say I was a
104little shocked. So, I didn't expect um the superintendent of schools to be dulling out strawberry shortcake, but um I have since learned that Gina is where the community is. She is where our kids are. And I, as parent of a middle school student, truly appreciate that. So, thank you very much, Linda. I too will be in support of extending um Superintendent Bard's uh um contract. Um I uh have I I I mean everyone I agree with everyone what everyone said in her and but I also feel that um I too have given Gina feedback and um she takes it and she um and sometimes the conversations were not not they were a little difficult not truly difficult because I think Gina is open to feedback warm and cool feedback so I think that's important to
105know that she's a she's a good listener and she does think about things and gets and and becomes reflective and and and really truly tries to whether it is to change a behavior or to think about, you know, maybe a suggestion. Um I've personally seen her because I've been involved like in the the um she's she's a a huge uh proponent of school safety. Um she took a school safety um and I' I've been from the beginning and it was truly not well organized and kind of a mess. and now I go to these um I mean she truly believes that keeping our kids and our staff safe and our building safe is really important. So that's just from a personal perspective and seeing the work that's been done with that. Um I just I
106don't I think it it would be tragic if we lost her. I also want to say that my mailbox I'm I'm counting how many letters since like I don't remember but I think I'm up to eight nine 10 11 12 13 14 letters of support Gina that people have written to us as a school committee saying please uh extend your contract. Thank you Diane. Well, you know, I appreciate everyone here and their input into this very critical decision. Um I do believe, you know, Gina does love her job. I've had the opportunity to sit with Gina private and have conversations. However, I've also had the opportunity to speak to the people in the community and I have received some feedback that has not been good to me. Um, great some concerns. Um, you know, and
107I and I listen to everyone here and I do listen to others and I have heard good feedback also. So, the decision is going to be it's it's a tough decision. Um, I'm on the fence. I'm going to be honest, but I have to live listen to everyone here, but I also have to listen to the community and what all their concerns are. What are the concerns? Some of the concerns are the academic progress that their children are making and not making. Um the availability to the general public and the parents, the outcomes of a lot of things that were decided that many people weren't happy with. I mean I can't I don't want to go into indepth specifics or anything. such as all I'm saying is is I've gotten general feedback and as I
108said the decision on this isn't going to be an easy one. Thank you. Thanks Diane. Anyone else? Laura, I also want to say that I've I've heard what everybody has said tonight and um I too have received many emails up to almost a hundred emails and it is not in favor of extending Gina's contract at this point in time. I want everybody to know that I do think that Gina is that she is is very driven and she has an excellent work ethic and I don't think that anybody can discount that. Um I will not be voting to extend her contract tonight only due to some some other issues that have come up since the initial time that we did the review, but I'm not going to speak on those tonight. Thank you. So, Don,
109Donna, go ahead. Laura, you represent the same town I do. I don't know who's giving you these negative letters or emails or whatever. I did not receive anything but positive emails. So, I don't know who in the town of Charles Town is contacting you to give negative feedback. I would love to know. I think maybe we should have a town hall or something with our constituents to see what the problems are. Yeah. Yeah. It was from multiple towns. I can't hear you. To be clear, it was from multiple towns. You heard from multiple towns and you represent Charles Town, correct? Okay. All right. So, what I'm going to say is this is that I'm a professional person and I realize your reputation is very important. Gina has a very good reputation. Since I came on
110the school committee, I have been very, very grateful to Gina for, you know, bringing me up to speed. She's always available. Um, and I appreciate that. Um there have been some difficult waters that I've had to chart a course, you know, uh swimming in, if you will. Um and I appreciate the availability of Gina and her team with answering any questions that I've had and I you are a reflection of your team. I mean obviously we heard tonight from many many members of your team and um that represent the best of the district. Um, I do want to say that I have said from the very beginning, even when I ran for office, that academic excellence is one of my top priorities as a member of the school committee. And I think that one of
111the criticisms that I heard on the campaign trail was, Louise, your son doesn't go to school in the district. You have no skin in the game. But I do have skin in the game. I am a taxpayer and I am a Richmond resident and academics is very very important to me. I feel like there has to be an opportunity for all voices to be heard both both positive and negative. And sometimes when you surround yourself with the same voices that are voices that are telling you cherho is moving in the right direction. I do agree that Charo is moving in the right direction, but I want to see better academic performance, especially at the middle school level. I have had private conversations with the superintendent. The superintendent has been um has received my feedback, I
112think, with grace and professionalism. Um, I've al also spoken with some members of her team as recently as last week about what I want to see to elevate Charo to a level of academic excellence that we've never seen before. And I want all of us as a community to embrace being the best, including parents. Parents are stakeholders. And one of the things that I would like to see is I would like to have an opportunity moving forward for the educators and the community to be able to, you know, give us feedback as members of the school committee about whether or not the CEO of a $70 million organization is moving the district in the right direction. I appreciate all of you being here tonight. I appreciate everybody that emailed me. I got countless emails today
113as well. Donna from all different towns. It wasn't a hundred, but it was a substantial amount of emails from f hold on from folks. You said that you're the chair. You would get that. Laura is not the chair. Why? She was getting them from I have been She is the vice chair. I have I am on the school committee committee for almost 10 years. I have never gotten point of order from other towns. What's your Polly? Your point of order. Point of order. We're a district school. Jessica holds meetings in Hopington. She's a Richmond rep. We're a district school. So, we've been through this. What I'm saying is is that we have to listen to everyone. And I don't know how many emails Laura received or she received 100 emails. She received 100 emails. I
114received a substantial amount of emails this week on a number of topics. One of the most emails that I got I received was whether or not to extend the superintendent's contract which does have another two years. Two two years and three months. Okay. So with that being said, is there any other comment from the school committee? Okay. Yeah. Yes. Craig. And just to let everybody know, the next election can change the configuration of the school committee. Thank you. Okay. So, at this point, all in favor of ex? No, I'm not. I am not taking public comment on this. Absolutely not. Because I'm because I am the chie I am serious. No, I'm a parent. I'm a stakeholder. Excuse me. I am running this meeting. You have not been recognized. You have not been recognized. I
115am running this meeting. I actually did consult with the attorney on this and this can quickly devolve into a performance discussion and I am not going to open myself up or this school committee to another open meetings complaint and you are very prone Mr. Kona to filing open meetings complaints. Sorry but it's the truth. So I am not taking public comment on this. If you would like to I have not recognized you Mr. Aian. I have not recognized you Mr. Abdesian and excuse me, I have not recognized you and what I have not recognized you. You've gotten from I have not I I have not recognized you and I am not taking public comment on this. I'm sorry. Well, it is what it is. So, we have a motion. We have a second. We've had
116discussion among the school committee members. Not appropriate. The public is here. Yes. You cannot do this. This is not transparency. You want transparency. You want honesty. You want every But you're not willing to give the people who are here an opportunity to speak. I am not willing to open. I got a hundred emails today too all in favor of Miss Far. Oh, and that and that's what you received, right? I didn't have any in opposition to this contract. Okay. Well, that's Thank you for sharing that. And I would think that if people are going to email, they email all of us. Well, I mean, I can't control what people what people email what members of the school school committee. So, Donna, I think you have you spoken twice on this matter? You've spoken twice on
117this matter. Suggest if you're going to be transparent, let the people Craig About a year and a half ago when actually more than a year and a half ago, Linda was the chair. People came the opposition side and they were allowed to speak meeting after meeting after meeting. No one was ever denied. All right. Now all of a sudden the table has turned. You You have the majority. It it appears to all of us where we're going with this. Oh gosh. Well, I I can predict as much as you know I got a thousand emails. I know. But the point being that you everybody was allowed to speak and at every meeting you were allowed to get up and speak numerous times over and over again when you were not a member of this committee
118and you weren't always presenting facts when you were doing that. So with that being said, that's not fair, Greg. It's not fair. It's not fair. Point of order. This is getting out of control. No, no. I I'm communicating right now about this issue. Craig, calm down. Oh, excuse me. Calm down. She's allowed to yell. Let's Let's all calm down. John, where are you? Is it the chair's discretion to take public comment or not take public comment on a on a matter like this that can devolve into potentially a I'm not finished that can devolve into a potentially a performance discussion because I don't want to go there. I don't want to open myself or the school committee up to that and I don't I don't and well Gina did not want to have a public
119performance discussion. We already talked about that. And uh John, I've I've advised the school committee for 17 years that the chair presides at the meeting and the chair runs the meeting. That's what I've said for 17 years, no matter who the chair was, no matter where which town the chair came from. So I will get the same advice that I've always given and that is the chair presides at the meeting. Jess, so it would be your decision and your decision only. Just to make that clear. My um I do have just um a small ask about the contract. I was curious about like you know how the policy has a running list at the bottom that says when it was adopted and when it was effective. I think it would be helpful if the contract
120had a similar running at the bottom so we could know how long you've been in the district, how long that was just an idea as I looked at it. it was it shows your current contract but it kind of doesn't show how long you've been in the district. Um so that was just sorry a little bit of a detail. And then secondly um this is the second time I've spoke so I just want to talk about what would happen if Gina's contract is not renewed. Um yes it would be until June 2027 but if I was an employee and my boss basically said okay well you're pretty much expendable. we're we're not really going to respect you enough to keep you on move forward with your contract. Um we're going to show that we don't
121have much confidence in you. I I would take that in a certain way and maybe start looking at other places or I know you mentioned that you've had job offers. Um I know there's different districts in the state that are looking for superintendent. It is not a easy process. It is not a cheap process. Um in East Greenwich, I think they they their their superintendent left. They're not only paying to search for a superintendent, but they're paying out the rest of that person's contract um to the tune of like $90,000 um and an additional $1,000 pay. You haven't been recognized, Karen. Hold on. I'm happy to recognize you. I just I just want to, you know, after speaking my support, after giving my little detail request, um I just want to especially since the public
122will not be allowed to speak on this, talk about what some of the implications could be if this extension is not granted. So, thank you. I I just want I want to clarify when when I um talked to the chair about the my focus is the agenda is the committee's agenda. So what I said was if the committee I would expect that any committee member here who had feedback on how I could improve would have taken the opportunity to do that and I think everybody in here at one point or another except for maybe a couple have met with me as individuals have shared feedback with me directly um which I appreciate. So the purpose of the agenda item request was when I was asked if I wanted to continue this in April and I
123said if we if the committee has more to say that they're not going to say in executive session then I would like that to be in public. That's what well and it's not on the agenda which means the committee cannot engage in that conversation. But the public can that's up to the chair. All right. And I'm not I'm sorry. I'm not allowing it. I'm not allowing it. I'm I'm I am ready to vote. I am ready to vote. Um Pat, you can you have not been recognized, Greg. You have not been recognized. It is you could have very easily emailed anybody today, called them, texted them. You are not recognized. this. Well, then vote me out the next time. Well, you voted in, right? I was Pat. Um, yeah, my I I have not met
124with Gina personally, but I did fill out that form in the last meeting and one of my concerns is and and it it it I heard it tonight again about attendance, attendance, attendance. And I'm not saying that attendance is not important, but I won't be happy until we are at 95% proficient at graduation rate. We are we are she said we're at 97 for the high school. I'm not talking about attendance. I'm not talking about graduation rate is 97%. I'm not I'm talking about reading and math proficiency because where we where got reading and math proficiency in a lower grades are not at where they need to be and that and I would like to see the focus beyond that because that to me is a bigger issue. I am happy to say that we
125have grown every single year that I've been here. statistically significant growth. And those of us that do this every single day, percentage increases, statistics, we we're dealing with real life children who have real life needs. And we are responsible for every single one of them. And it's not an excuse. But sometimes in a moment in time, like I shared and we shared on this agenda, you you're taking that test today. If you're in high school and you still have a continuous quarter left, you're taking that test. Um, and if we're going to put it on state assessments, then we really need to be be thinking about what that means because it's a year old data and we have data that every day shows what our students can do by the end of the school year.
126Our graduation rate is the signal of success the very end. That's why we've talked about the vision of a graduate and we are at and I'm proud to say 97%. And uh I Pat I do recall you it actually wasn't feedback you had said you know you wanted to be when the district was top three. I don't know when that was but in I can tell you that it didn't include all the same grade levels. It was a different system. The laws and the things change and we all want to be there. I think there's not an educator in this room or a student that doesn't want to be the best they possibly can be. um that includes me and we're doing that work every single day and we're growing every single year statistically significant
127and if the growth that you're seeing isn't good enough right now then find the person that you think will do that followup my um and this is just because and I'm not just isolating charo I'm just saying across the state my stepson is an agitant professor at CCRI and he tells me all the time he said you know these Kids get their first two years of college for free. They're coming into college and they can't even complete a coherent sent. Not from Cheraho. I'm not saying from Cher, but I'm just saying this is what we have in the state. We're very proud of the work of I'm very proud of the work that happens are here every day and I stand by that work. Okay. So, having heard from all the committee members, um, all
128in favor of Do do you want to come up and speak or do you want to speak from from the audience? No public comment. No, I'm I'm just if you want to be recognized about a roll call vote, I just I can't have people shouting from the back. You of all people should should be aware. So, I apologize. I didn't think you were taking public comment. It's not a public comment, but I think it would be helpful if you did a roll call vote so everybody speaks their vote for the public record so we all know. We're not worrying about seeing hands. We know how each person's voted. That's all. Thank you. Okay. I I will start with Tyler. No, you cannot. No, you cannot, Tyler. One more. Tyler, we'll come back to you. Linda.
129Uh, I vote to extend the contract. Jessica Purcell, proud chair, parent, school committee member, and resident. I vote yes. Paulie Hopkins, no. No Diane Teft. No Karen Reynolds. Yes. Craig Lan. Yes. Larry Phelps. No. Pull. No. Donna Chambers. Yes. Tyler. No. Okay. Motion fails. Okay. Moving on. Memorandum of agreement between the Cheraho Regional School District and Charo Education Support Professionals regarding the Junth holiday. Gina, we discussed it in executive session. Make a motion to recommend approval. Okay, Gina is recommending approval. Do I have a motion? Second. Motion to approve by Diane. Second by Polly. Uh discussion. All in favor to approve the Junth holiday for the agreement between Charo Regional School District and Charo Education Support Professionals. In favor? That is unanimous. Thank you. Okay. Out of district, excuse me, out of state field trips.
130Gina, do you want to chat about the Ferris State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan? I recommend approval of both field trips. So moved. Okay. So we have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Actually, I think Pat raised her hand first. Um, Madam Clerk, did you get that? Okay. Any discussion on this? Okay. All in favor to move forward with the out ofstate field trips as presented on the agenda. That is unanimous. Okay. Uh, renewal of food services contract. Gina, I recommend approval of the food services contract which is an extension from so moved. So we have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. So we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? I I just Yes. Yeah. Thank you. I just want to say that um I really appreciate the health and
131wellness committee. Um there we have members from the employees from Chartwells come and they tell us about all the great initiatives. It's really a good learning experience and I I would approve this contract. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. So, we have a motion and a second. All in favor? That is unanimous. Thank you. Grants, I recommend approval of the US Tennis Association venue service grants. Do we have a motion? So moved. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Sorry. Um Tyler. Okay. Um is there any discussion on this? Raising my hand. Sorry. Any disc um so I had a question but then as I read it it seemed like it answered the question because I was thinking about the capital improvement plan for the main campus. I know there was some money
132for the tennis court. It seems like this is in addition to that it's some extra not extra but additional work to be done that we're trying to get it so that we can because obviously the bond is so much money but there's plenty of projects on the main campus so anywhere we can save then we can use it for a different project. Okay. So you would could actually reallocate some of the tennis courts some of the um the resurfacing I think it was. No we have to do all the work for the tennis courts but if we get money through the grant and save some money there other projects on that list the capital list okay have we have more wiggle room. Okay. So, I have a question about this. So, in the grant categories,
133there was a category one and a category two. Does this grant opportunity allow to apply for something in category 1 and something in category 2 or just one or the other? Do you are you aware of that? Uh, Katie here. Thank you. Hi, Katie. to this project um a little bit later, but it was suggested that we just apply for the lighting category. Okay. Um thank you. So I I just have a question about resurfacing because category 2 says resurfacing and isn't it part of the bond uh parameters to resurface the tennis courts? I'm not sure if there's anybody can It's literally that's what's listed for the tennis courts resurfacing for $250,000. That's not accurate. But that's what it said on the chart and that was given to us. I I don't have it with
134me. Sorry. I left my bond stuff at we received the entire stage one and stage two. That was on one document that you received. Yeah. Well, what that was the discussion we had, right? Okay. Larry survey. Well, the latest document we got from the building committee says new asphalt, tennis courts, nets, lights, and power to shed. So, you're saying you don't want us to get a grant to help with tennis courts. You would like it to all come from the Is this just want to know if this money is going to come off that one 1250? Yes. That's my question. Can you repeat that? You got a,250,000 to do the courts. Correct. According to this I don't think it's a million 1.1 maybe one 1 million because 250 was allocated there is money allocated over
135a million dollars to the tent courts. Okay. Is this going to come off that 1 million? So you take that if we get it we can that's what we need to know. We can reallocate the funds right now you can refocate some of that million dollars somewhere else on the main campus capital approved projects. Okay that's all I need to know. Thank you. So, just for for Katie's um input and for Gina's input, if it's if it's possible, I'm not the be all end all on this, but I do a lot of grant writing for my work. If it is possible, if the US Tennis Association has a foundation, if it's possible to apply for something in category one and something in C and for something in category 2 because resurfacing is in category 2,
136um I would see if we could possibly apply for um both categories if if it's possible. Excuse me. Uh we have been working with a project manager for USATA um and going based on their guidance and it is for us to look at the lighting for grant purposes. Okay. So light lighting is the first priority. Yes. Okay. All right. That's just my my two cents. Thank you. Um so we have a we have a motion and do we have a we have a motion and a second on this? Right, Madam Clerk? Okay. Um, is there any other discussion on this item? Okay, so um, Gina is recommending approval of the US Tennis Association Venue Services Grant for potentially over $60,000 in funding. All in favor, so unanimous, but Polly is not here. So if you
137could note that, please. Madame Clerk. Thank you. I recommend approval of the reallocation of funds for the Get the FOMO grant. So, Gina, can Oh, I have a question unless anybody else does on this one. Motion to approve. Um, so we have a motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second. Tyler seconded it. So, um, just for purposes of discussion, when it says reallocation, so did we not utilize the full funding for this grant and we are now asking for it to be allocated to something else? Is that my understanding? No. Katie, do you want I can clarify. All right. Thank because it says reallocation of funds. So to me that means I interpret that to mean that we are wanting to use it for something else. We're proposing to move it within categories.
138Um so we initially had put in for money to uh rent the dishwashers and also to do uh a lot of purchases of reusable trays. We actually saved money on the reusable trays. So, had additional money and in our conversations with Chartwells, they actually have requested um an improved dishwasher at the middle school. We actually have enough in our cost savings to purchase a new dishwasher at the middle school outright versus having to lease it and probably paying more in the end. Um so, we would like to move forward and purchase a new dishwasher at the middle school. There are two dishwashers. One of them is a high heat dishwasher which is drying the reusable trays much quicker so they can get those out to students much more quickly. um the other one is not
139and it's taking a very long time. So, they'd like to just have alignment there and have both of the dishwashers the same. And we actually have enough savings to purchase a dishwasher, which is um luckily not the price of the dishwasher in my own home because it's like $17,000 for a dishwasher. Um and with the new volume of reusable trays, uh it would be very efficient. Okay. Thank you for that explanation. Can I just ask a question? I guess this is a a weird little question. Shoot. When you lease a dishwasher, does it come with built-in repairs should anything go wrong? I have not reviewed our leases in in detail. Um, so I would have to refer to those. Um, but some of these leases um have been 10 plus years. So, I think it
140would be beyond the point of they're pretty sturdy. I was just curious if the leases came with a repair schedule and if by buying one we would be responsible for that, which is fine, but just giving all the angles to purchasing something. I have to admit I I'm unsure and we're actually no longer leasing some of our equipment because it's been um it's now purchased outright. I'm unsure, too. That's why I asked. Yep. Laura has a question. And then Jess um is the dishwashers the one that is you said that there's two of them and one of them is going to be replaced. What is the life of the the one that's that you are using that is up to speed with what it is that you know with the heating and all that other
141stuff. So, we currently have a um it's not that it's passed its um like efficiency, but it just is not heating of the it's not a high temperature dishwasher. Um I've been learning a lot more about dishwashers than I ever thought I would um you know care to know, but it the high temperature is drying the reusable trays much more quickly. So, we're leasing a dishwasher at the middle school and we'd like to and that lease is actually up. We would like to propose purchasing a new one since we have these funds which are going to be expiring um to utilize those funds so we can uh you know finish out the amount of the grant and uh the life expectancy I would assume is you know 10 15 plus years. Okay. Thank you Jess.
142Um my question is about the composting. Is this the full cost of the compost pickup services or is this just part of it that you divvied up what you had? It's like $13,200 for SY27. That is a So, what we're proposing is to pay for the composting services for next school year as well. Um, it is higher than what we're currently paying. However, when we prorrated what we're paying, that was before we did the get food smart program, if that makes sense. So, we know that the volume of compost is going to be slightly larger. we might need an additional weekly pickup or a slightly larger tote. So, we I don't want to say overestimated, but we kind of added in some additional um cost per month. This is an estimate. Um but because we're
143asking for this to not close um for the school building authority at Ride, we're asking for this grant to extend all the way through next school year as well as school year 27 if they will allow it. Um we know that certainly within two school years we'd be able to utilize all of these funds and then um you know the potential for local funds to take over composting. But we're saving money on our trash pickup. Um I think the first time in many many years I've heard we did not need uh trash pickup in February. I'm also learning a lot about trash um just so you know and composting and worms and many interesting things. But um we did not need trash pickup in February. Um, we think that's due to the increased composting that
144we're doing at some of the schools and then also coupled with a February vacation. Um, we actually saved money. So, it it does kind of balance itself out with decreased trash pickup, increased um, composting. Okay. Thank you. I'm just, you know, I'm curious because I know that the composting is not only uh, you know, feel-good initiative, environmentally sound, but it is a legal requirement that schools do this. So, I'm just curious about tracking the cost of the compost. I think that's great to know that um the the cop composting is offsetting some of the trash expenses expenses, but I just think overall it's a good thing to track. That's why I was curious what the numbers were. So, maybe that's something that we could talk about at a different time. Yes. And through our work
145with Rhode Island School Recycling Project, who's been an excellent partner. um they help us do waste audits and then our own charost staff and students are taking over like in math classes for example to weigh the trash and then multiply that by the number of days in a given month. Um so there is some uh learning that it can even happen with composting for sure beyond feel-good but real like multiplication addition um yes so they're doing audits um we have thanks to the business office a lot of data that we've been collecting on how much we're paying every month but we do think since Richmond was the first to start in September we do think it would be best to have a full school year completed um before we then look back and see how
146it might have deferred any costs for example but really fascinating um project. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Katie. Thanks for your really great work. We appreciate it. All right. So, we have a motion and a second on the realloc reallocation of funds for the get the foam out grant. All in favor? Unanimous. Thank you so much. Thanks, Katie. The next is the FY26 CTE teacher grant. This comes up every year. The um I am recommending approval of the following grants as presented to me by the career and check director for the programs needed. Okay. Do we have motion? Linda. Second. Do we have a second? Second. Oh, second. Okay. Thanks, Tyler. Sorry I didn't hear you. Any discussion on this hearing? No discussion. All in favor? It is unanimous. Thank you. I recommend approval of
147the budget transfers as submitted. So moved. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion on this? Sorry. Um I just wanted to, you know, because of some of the discussions that have been going on with the playground. Um folks have floated the idea of using the fund balance to fund the playground. Um, and there's just a note in in Greg's memo that says it's very likely like likely we we will need to use the fund balance to pay any negative balances in healthcare. So that is just an example of a an emergency. The note also says that we're already $300,000 in the home with healthcare. Yep. So I just wanted to bring that to the attention of the committee. So I just have a point of clarification. It says budget transfer/budget update.
148We don't have any budget transfers that you're asking us to approve tonight. Is that right? Or did I miss documentation? I don't have that documentation. It's in there. You said you handed it to me last month. Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't see this. So, um I trust that they're all for heat and course, too, if you notice. All right. Thank you. They are now. I just when I look at it, I Okay. So, do Oh, sorry. So, we have a we have a motion and a second. Um, any more discussion on this? All in favor? Uh, unanimous. Thank you. Transportation resolution in support of House Bill 5204 submitted by members PCEL. Yes. Okay. So, um, should we make a motion to approve it first before I talk about it? Yes. Do we have a
149motion to approve? Can someone else make it just Okay. So, we have a motion by Karen. Do we have a second? Second. Okay. Second by Diane. Discussion. Jess. Okay. Thank you. Uh so this is a resolution in support of a bill 5204 that would allow Chero to use its own contracted transportation provider for non-public nonprofit schools rather than the statewide system as is currently required. The reason for this would be to lower the cost and increase in efficiency. Importantly, this bill would allow Chero to still receive the state subsidy it currently receives to offset the cost of transportation to non-public schools outside the district. I believe this is a more practical, specific, and effective alternative to the resolution that has been circulating across the state that attempts to develop a cost sharing model between public
150and private school private schools. There's no bill for that effort at the moment, and I don't see a clear path forward. H5204 has a companion bill in the Senate, and I hope that a resolution from our school committee and three town councils could help us lower the cost of this legal requirement to provide transportation to non-public schools. So, I would seek your approval and support and welcome any suggestions. I just want to say thank you for your leadership on this, Jess. Appreciate it. Very nicely done. Any discussion? Any more discussion? Okay. So, motion to approve the transportation resolution in support of House Bill 5204. All those in favor? It is unanimous. Thanks again, Jess. Thanks. Okay. Hope Valley School resolution. Um, Char School Committee resolution in honor and support of Hope Valley Elementary School students,
151staff, and alumni. Requested by Jessica and Karen. Um, motion to approve. Linda. Second. Second. Okay. By Laura. Um, discussion. So, um, This resolution, you know, came out of a discussion Karen and I were having about ways the school committee specifically could show our support and appreciation of Hope Valley students. I know it's something that we all um are feeling and we know it's was a difficult decision to make this transition to consolidate. So, this is an attempt, it's really just a draft resolution because I want input from folks from people in Hawkington that live in Hawkington that went to Hope Valley, um staff, students, community members. So, I I'm putting this out there just as a first go at it, but I I really welcome any um participation and suggestions. And I'd just like to
152add that um through our conversation, Jess and I were just looking for ways to recognize um students and the faculty and the staff that have made Hope Valley an important part of our community. Um that we're not doing this lightly. So, um, we're open to ideas and suggestions and, you know, how can we help the teachers move, um, you know, to make this as seamless as possible. Thank you. Is there anyone else from Hope Valley that might want to send us some um maybe some language or some some a narrative to potentially add to the resolution to make it stronger, more spirited. Um I guess if you would like to do that, um you can email anyone. But I I'm I'm thinking since this is on the agenda, you want us to approve this this
153evening. Is that is my is that my understanding or that would be up to everyone a motion? Yeah, we have a motion unless we withdraw. I will um do you mind if I just read Sure. part of it. Go ahead. So, you know, it has all the wheres, you know, about different facts about Hope Valley. And then um now therefore be it resolved that the Cherho Regional District School Committee hereby honors Hope Valley Elementary School for its long-standing commitment to students in providing excellence in public education and service to the community and encourages the school communities in Ashawway, Charlestown, and Richmond to welcome and support incoming students and staff from Hope Valley and expresses its heartfelt gratitude to all who who have been part of the Hope Valley Elementary School family and extends its best
154best wishes to the students. and staff as they move forward to new opportunities and seeks the support of the chairhole community regarding this recognition. And then like many resolutions, it asks that this be sent to the town councils and legislators in the district. Thank you. Okay, so we have a motion and a second. All those in favor? It is your hand raised? Yes. Uh it's unanimous. Thank you. Okay. Consent agenda items. Are are we taking these in a group or does anyone want to pull any of this? Donna, pull the minutes. I need because because I was not here. Okay. So, the minutes from last month. Okay. Yes. Okay. So, A1 and two. No, no, just A1. Just A1, I believe. Mhm. Just Oh, A1. A1. I'm sorry. Okay. So, with that being said, do
155I have a motion to approve consent agenda A B C D E F G N H? So, moved. Okay. So, we have a motion. Do we have a second? We have a second. We would We should read the donations. Craig, would you like to read the donations? Good tonight. Okay, I'll read. Would anybody else like to read the donations? Absolutely. Gladly read the donations. We'd like to thank the Charles Town Council and chairperson Deb Carney for appropriating $150,000 toward a new Charles Town playground using the town impact fee fund. This money was gifted to the district and new playgrounds were recently installed out front. The students at Charles Town School are loving their new playgrounds, and we appreciate the support from the town council and taxpayers. Donations from Taylor Farm, courtesy of Richmond Elementary School
156parent, Carrie Lindsay, 80 student backpacks, and 30 staff backpacks filled with school supplies, 80 salad kits, and 80 snack packs. This was a reward assembly where students learned how lettuce ends up in salad kits. It was especially assembly for team broccoli who won the Richmond Elementary School Fruit and Vegetable Challenge for eating the most servings as a team in the month of December. SAS Enterprise Incorporated Incorporated, DBA SNS Landscaping of Ashway, Rhode Island, has donated $2,000 for the Hope Valley Elementary School play. Thanks, Scott. Rosemary's Wish Kids donated $500 for Project Playhouse. A donation of $10,000 to the Barry Reachi scholarship fund was received by Lisa, Christopher, and Michael Reachi. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So, we have a motion and a second. Um, all those in favor? Unanimous. Thank you. Now, getting back
157to uh consent agenda item A1. Minutes from the regular session of the Cheroke School Committee from March 11th, 2025. Make a motion to approve. Second. So, we have a motion and a second. I just I just have to say thank you to Angela for compiling those 36 pages of meeting minutes. Thank you, Angela. You're a rock. I was very impressed. She's getting pretty good. You can see she doesn't even look up when somebody says mo. She's got the voices down already. So, that should also be noted. Doing her job. All right. So, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor? All those opposed? Any abstensions? Donna is abstaining. Okay. Thank you, Donna. Okay. Uh motion carries. Uh reports, Gina. So, this past weekend, the Cherokee community came together for the one of
158our most vibrant and inspiring traditions, arty. And what an incredible celebration it was. Thousands of students, families, staff, and community members participated in this dynamic showcase of student creativity, talent, and innovation. From stunning visual art exhibits and powerful musical performances to hands-on STEM workshops and engaging program displays, Odyssey truly brought our schools to life. The pride, energy, and sense of community were palpable in every corner of the event. This would not have been possible without the tireless work and vision of our odyssey planning committee. A heartfelt thank you to Kristen Merritt, Dana Thomas Hall, Susie Scannipo, Dr. Camela Jerry O and our incredible student intern lead Kayla Cmerford for organizing such a meaningful and successful experience for all and for all our staff and educators and students and families who came out to also participate
159and volunteer for the event. Odyssey reminds us of the importance of the arts collaboration and community spirit in shaping well-rounded learners. We are so grateful for everyone who helped make that event a resounding success. Thank you, Charo, for showing up and celebrating all the amazing talent and the things that happening in our schools. Our joint school improvement team has been diligently collaborating on the upcoming closure of Hope Valley Elementary, the redesign of the Char Alternative Learning Academy, and welcoming new families to the district. We are pleased to announce that the Kala team will present an update of their progress at next month's school committee meeting, showcasing their efforts to ensure a seamless transition. In preparation for welcoming new families, the Richmond PTO and Ashway PTO along with our principles have extended invitations to current valley
160families for upcoming spring events, fostering early connections within the school community. Similarly, Ashway Elementary is focusing on enhancing district communication strategies to support families from registration through their first day of school, ensuring they feel informed and welcomed. Additionally, the Charlestown SIT is dedicated to facilitating a smooth integration for our preK students and teachers. Based on current enrollment data, we anticipate class sizes at Richmond and Ashway Elementary to arrange between 20 and 21 students for the next academic year throughout the grade levels. For detailed enrollment figures, you can find it on the website under superintendent e update both the presentation tonight on the strategic plan as well as the enrollment data slide. We are proud of the collective efforts and commitment demonstrated by our sit teams and our district teams in ensuring a supportive and welcoming
161environment as we deal with the district transition for all charo families. Thank you. Okay. Uh finally or close to the end. School committee requests for future agenda items or legal opinions. Donna, I just want to make the comment that I think this is a very very sad day for Cherokee. Okay. Anyone else? Uh, Linda? Laura? Um, as we spoke earlier, um, to put the agenda item above the Ashway and the Richmond playground. Yes. Noted. Thank you, Laura. Yes, that was yours as well, Jess and Karen. Um, so the policy I' like to discuss, um, and I have discussed it with Gina as well, but the voluntary change of elementary district is a policy that's going to affect a lot of families. I don't know if it's something that we should necessarily change or maybe change
162with a date. It's it's kind of a but I I think there's some families that would like some reassurance. So, I'm just I just putting that out there. It's something that I think we should discuss a little further. Thank you, Karen. I'd like all ride cast testing notes from ride to be included in the next packet whether in the FYI or as an agenda item to discuss. It was a change in platform this year and I think it's important to know. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. Do we have a motion to adjurnn? So moved. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Okay. Uh that was I think Diane beat you to the punch. All right. All in favor of adjourning. I Donna, are you Yes. All right. It looks All right. I think
163that is unanimous. Thank you. Have a good night.