001I'd like to call the Foster Glaster School Committee to order. Can I have roll call, please? >> Sure. Uh, Miss Mrs. Joyce >> here, Mr. Mara >> here, >> Miss Peza, >> Mr. Juwi >> here, >> Mrs. Keeling, >> Mr. Joyce, >> Mrs. Cook, >> Miss Ferrer >> here, >> and Mr. Rizzo >> here. >> Can we rise for the pledge of allegiance? >> [clears throat] >> I'll try. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [snorts] >> Okay, Beth, it's our favorite time. Student and staff recognition. >> Good evening, everybody. It is an absolute honor and I'm so excited to introduce to everybody tonight the 2025 undefeated division three state
002champion volleyball team. [applause] A number of of the kids couldn't make it tonight, but we're going to recognize two who can. The chieftains swept Tividan 2515, 2518, and 2521 to capture the D3 title. Panagans went 18 and0 in the regular season and rolled through the playoffs for the final mark of 21 to zero. To top it all off, this is the first volleyball championship in school history. SO, [applause] now I'd like to introduce the head coach who took this team from no wins to state championship. Second runner up last year, state champs this year. Shannon Reel, who has also been awarded the 2025 volleyball coach coaches association D3 coach of the year. So Shannon, come on up. Do it for you. You can get to the mic. >> All right. >> Okay. Thanks. How did
003I mess that up? >> I don't know. You did so good going through them all. >> Okay, stand up. [laughter] Who are you? >> Here they are. Here they are. >> Oh, okay. Amber >> Shaw, [applause] >> Molly Susa. >> [applause] >> Uh, Kyla Desert Marier. [applause] >> Congratulations, >> Devin Dixon. [applause] Some incredible artists, too. Just so everybody know. And then I'd like to also recognize assistant coach Abigail Real [applause] >> and assistant coach Jim >> McGee. [applause] >> Congratulations. >> Yours. Congratulations. >> Congrats. So, it was wonderful for you to come and you're welcome to stay till 10 o'clock tonight till this meeting is over, but you're also welcome to go and it won't be considered rude. [snorts] >> Congratulations. [snorts] >> That's our audience. >> [snorts] >> Good. Okay. So, we have
004public comment next. >> Do they have a sheet to sign in? >> Okay. Walter Ste from Glaster. I'm on uh going to talk about number 19 contract extensions. Uh I was wondering there's a lot of them here now. All these contracts can't be on there last year, but what are we going to be doing? bringing all these contracts up to three years again, even if they still have two years left on the contract. How many of these contracts are actually coming due? And why is this being done now? Uh could we wait after the regional financial meeting to see how that goes? See see if we have enough money. uh and uh have there been uh job evaluations done on all these positions? I know they're being recommended. So I I know there must be
005some work done on it, but has have you had a have you got an evaluation in front of you? And this is an election year. That means anybody elected to the school committee in uh November will not have any say on their administrators for two years because most of these people will all get imagine they will get to three years. Uh that's a maximum you can go. So those are some of the questions I had and maybe you could answer them when you come to that subject. >> Thank you Walt. Gary King plast left it on for me. Good. Um, yeah, I similar questions about the these contracted contract extensions. Um, I know you can't answer me, which you probably shouldn't, but it is concerning. why you doing that? You know, if we've got administrators
006that have got a year left on their contract, which would say be over in June, which is usually the way we did it. That's how we always did it. I don't know, maybe you guys changed the rule. So, you would do that extension now so that come June, they had somewhere to go. But if their contract isn't up for another two years, why don't you wait till next year? That gives you more time to make a informed decision on whether you want to keep the person. Just a thought. [clears throat] My other thing is the underground storage tank. Imagine that been brought up for the last three, four months. We were told it was grandfathered, right? >> You're correct. >> Yeah, you're wrong. >> Oh, I'm sure you do. Um, now I also know that
007it was recommended that the fuel tank be on the uh boiler replacement that went out cuz my bid package is right there and that went out in May for June 7th. It had to be in. I think I'm right on that too. But in that package says nothing about the oil tank. I know how old that tank is. That's why we were bringing it up. [snorts] I know how old it is. Well, that's concerning to me because I believe this committee as well as the public was misled about that tank. And then you've got on here that you want to extend the contract to the guy that did that. Just a thought. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other public comment? >> One more item. I'm sorry. You're going to vote on the contract extensions.
008You don't have a full committee. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Next is our annual election of co-chair and vice chair. I'd like to make a motion to nominate Eileen Cook for Fosters's co-chair. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed abstensions. One abstension. So, seven 0 one. I'd like to make a motion to appoint Joyce as >> second. >> All Oh, sorry. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. I'll abstain. >> I'd [snorts] like to make a motion to um nominate Aaron Dupi as vice chair. >> Second. Amy did >> Amy. >> Um, all in favor? >> I >> opposed abstensions. >> I'm going to abstain. >> Um, do I have a motion for the annual appointment of the clerk? >> Madam Chair, I make a motion to appoint Kyle Fratz as
009clerk for the Foster Cross Regional School Committee. Second. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Extensions. 8 Z. Appointment or reappointments to subcommittees. In your packet, we have a we have a chart for item eight. If you flip to item eight, you'll see where I was on wellness. Look at that. Um, so where do you want to begin with budget? Kyle, should I just go down the >> the >> Okay. [snorts] >> Okay. >> Budget. >> Beth, >> I just had a quick question before we begin. Are we limited on the number of committee members that we can have at each? Is it just enough so we don't have a quorum of this committee? >> I believe it's four. >> Is it four? So, yeah, >> you'll do it. >> Oh, no, no, no, no.
010That was me just asking in general for uh And I do think it'd be good to have someone from Foster, someone from Gloucester on each of them, but it was more just as we start on this process to understand what our limits were. >> Okay. >> So, are you a Foster person? >> I did get a note from Shelley expressing interest in participating in that one. So, I I think her name would be good to put there. Um, and I would wait and see who else wanted to sit there before Foster took two seats, but if needed, I'm happy to. >> Okay. So, I'll put So, you're telling me that she wants it? >> Anybody else want budget? >> I'll do it. and Aaron, Aaron, Beth, Shelly, >> Aaron, Beth, Shelly, and Eileen. Right. Okay.
011[snorts] Do we have to appoint uh approve that or is that >> vote? Okay. So >> I'll make a motion to put Aaron Dupi, Beth Keeling, Shelley Peza, and Eileen Cook to the budget subcommittee for 2026. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. Abstensions capital projects previously we had serving Aaron, Beth, Brendan, and Mark. >> I definitely want to be on capital. >> I I would be interested in continuing on that. And I did get Shelley did express interest in that one as well. It was those two that she had expressed interest in. >> You want to stay on it? >> I trust your >> Nope. >> It's up to you. >> You want to stay on it? >> I'm good with capital. >> You don't want capital? >> No. If someone else wants it,
012I can because it would be >> right now. I have Beth, Brandon, Mark. Yeah, then I'll stay on capital then. >> You want to stay on? >> I'll stay on capital. >> And Shel did express interest in that one as well. >> Oh, I thought she wanted pol. >> Then I can >> then I >> you'll step down. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, do I have a motion? I make a motion to appointing Shelley Mara and Mark to the capital project. >> Second. >> Policy committee. We have Aaron. >> We need to vote. >> Oh. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstensions. Policy. We had Aaron, Amy, Eileene, and Mark. >> I would like to stay on policy. >> I'll also stay. >> I'm good to get off. Um I done policy for Glosser
013so I can Is this me? >> Yeah. >> All right. So Mike, Aaron, Eileen, and >> Amy. >> That's four. All right. So I make a motion to appoint Aaron, Amy, Mike, and Eileen to policy. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> I >> opposed extension wellness. >> That was me and you, >> Cindy. I'll do a better job this time. >> Um I'll I'll stay there >> and I'm going to put a question mark next to Eileen just in case I need a backup >> as last time. >> I can do it too if you if you need it. Yeah. >> Want to do it with me then? The two of us? >> Sure. >> That will give Eileina. I make a motion to appoint Mark Rizzo and Cindy Joyce to the wellness
014subcommittee. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstensions. Okay. No. Uh, negotiations certified. >> I would like to stay on. I've been on it. >> Beth Aaron. >> Are those this year that I'll do it if if there's a spot? Eene, do you want to do that one or >> if you want to take it? It's up to you. >> Rock, paper, scissors. >> It's It's up to you. >> Okay. >> So, I have Aaron, Beth, Brendan, Mark. >> I make a motion to appoint >> Wait, did I Yeah, >> that's >> okay. I make a motion to appoint Aaron Dupwi, Beth Keeling, Brendan Mara, and Mark Rizzo to the negotiations certified subcommittee. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. 8 Z non-certified negotiations. [clears throat] >> Beth and
015Aaron again, Eileen. Anyone else? non-certified. Okay, Mike. >> Oh. Um, do I have a motion? >> I make a motion to appoint Aaron Dupwe, Beth Keeling, Michael Joyce, and Eileen Cook to negotiations non-certified. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstensions. Approval of meeting minutes for December 9th, 2025. >> Madam Chair, I make a motion to approve the minutes of the open meeting on December 9th, 2025. >> Second. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Opposed? >> I abstain. It was not there. Abstensions 701. [snorts] >> Madam Chair, I make a motion to approve the minutes of the executive session meeting on December 9th, 2025. Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Absentee. >> Approval of monthly bills. >> Madam Chair, I make a motion to approve the monthly
016bills dated December 1st, 2025 to December 31st, 2025 in the amount of 1,389,226.52. >> Second. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Absent. >> 8 Z. Finance update. The posted Nice. >> I make a motion to approve the fiscal year 26 quarter 2 budget adjustment as presented in the packet. Any discussion? Any discussion? All in favor? >> I I >> opposed. Abstensions. >> Number 12, approval of cell tower funds. >> I make a motion to approve the matching cell tower funds requested by the Pine against a high school basketball team of $1,800. >> Baseball. What did I say? >> Oh, baseball. to approve the matching cell tower funds requested by the PHS baseball team of $1,800 to defay the cost of bus and hotel as presented in the packet. >> Any discussion? >>
017No. >> Unless you want to. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I >> opposed abstensions. [snorts] You >> want to say anything? No. >> Thank you. [laughter] >> Sorry. Sorry. >> Do you guys get to go >> chaperoons? >> You don't want to drive to Coopertown? >> Oh, come on. Where's the [laughter] >> It's fun though. >> She's all set. >> All set. >> That's not bad, though. >> Syracuse in a couple months anyway. >> Well, I wish them luck. >> Not there. You want to stay? >> Of course. >> Obviously. >> We're going to move on to the superintendent report. Good. >> Good. I'm just telling you what we're doing next. >> Taking your input. >> It's Oh, it's right here. We have it. We have a new one. >> Oh, it was handed
018out. Yep. >> Yeah. Everyone has it. Um so we have three appointments. Um Jennifer Nardelli uh is appointed to a confidential financial analyst um position. You approved that at the last school committee meeting that's assisting in our business business office. Rebecca Aachile is the special ed coordinator. If you remember you approved that position. Um, and I'll speak a little bit about her and then I'll remind you uh where that position came from. So Becky has oh gosh over 20 I think five or so years 20 something years in education and Brendon you're nodding. Uh she's been a special educator. She worked one year I believe in the Gloucester elementary schools and then uh the rest of her career was at Captainic Isaac Payne. Uh, so she comes from us, she comes to us from Foster,
019which is just a wonderful addition to the Foster Gloucester family when you have someone who already knows the the students. Um, she started on Monday. Uh, and we're just very excited that she will be in that position. Remember that we posted this position uh because Kyle Santos, who I will speak, uh, very highly of and fondly of as well, Kyle moved on to another position in Massachusetts. Um, and she was she was unsure if she should leave the family. She had a very very strong uh connection and dedication to our families who she's worked with and I want to acknowledge and recognize that. Um, she was delightful to work with and I wish her the best where she goes. Uh, and I'm thrilled that we have Becky who she and Kyle also had a little
020bit of time to transition um before Kyle left. So, I want to recognize Kyle's work. I want to welcome um Becky and Jennifer Nardelli, I should say, comes from us from within our system. Uh she's worked at uh Foster Gloucester Schools uh as an instructional teacher assistant and she decided to try uh a new role and and we're thrilled with her as well. And then Carmen Rodriguez, she is a new hire um for our second shift custodian. So those are all good additions. Then you have job sharing. You've always this has been in place way before my time. uh and it works very well. The union is in agreement and you'll sign that agreement every every year and you will have one um non-renewal uh to approve later on. >> Do I have a motion
021for the job share? >> Madam Chair, I make a motion to approve the job sharing of Jay Panley Antonio and Jay Fino as presented in the packet. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> Opposed? sentence accountability report that's behind that's up on the screen. >> Dave, are you um am I moving your Okay, you will. All right, thank you. Uh so that's our all right. Um so this is an overview of Ride Rhode Island Department of Education's accountability system. Those of you who uh are in the gloster committee, some of this is going to be familiar. So, I'm going to uh just sit and discuss a little bit of the performance measures component. So, remember this is RID's statewide accountability system. It's required under federal law of the of the ESSA, every student
022succeeds act. Um and every year annually around November, schools re um receive a rating. It's a five-star rating. So, one, two, three, four, five. And it's based of those performance based on those performance measures that you'll see in the left hand side. the academic performance which is achievement growth um proficiency in English, math, ELA, math and science, student success which includes our student absenteeism, our teacher absenteeism, suspension rights and whether we've exceeded the expectations in the academic performance and then college and career readiness which if you were in Gloucester you didn't hear that part because that's only for secondary schools. Thank you. So, that's a sample just to to give you what you're going to see in the next few slides. Um, the the row that has the rectangle around it is just drawing your
023attention to the number of stars. So, the first row has five stars, the second row has four stars, and the third row has three stars. The reason that's important is because a school's rating is only as high as their lowest star rating. And if you shift your eyes over to the box on the right hand side, you'll see the third bullet um the third bullet down that really emphasizes the need for this approach. Uh it prevents a school from having tremendous strength in one area only and not uh putting attention on the other areas. So this is meant to be a more holistic approach uh with the students experience in our schools. Oh, you can skip that one. You can skip that one. Sorry. Okay, that one. So, this again a slide from the Rhode
024Island Department of Education. And if you look at really the middle part where you see the little people, um I'd like you to just look at that. Our assessments, remember that your um your middle school six through eight take the Rycast, the Rhode Island common assessment. Uh the high school's test is the SAT and the NGSA is for science. Both schools take that assessment. Uh, so we're tested grades six through eight. PSAT is 10, SAT is an 11. And if you look at the middle with the little people, you'll see that your middle school in general, grades three through I'll say six through eight. Uh, overall about a third of the students, 34% in the state perform on grade level for ELA, 34% on grade level for math. If you go down to the next
025one, you'll see 51% proficient in ELA and about 23 proficient in math across the state on the SAT. The next slide um is a breakdown and I shared this with you uh in the December uh the November meeting when it first came out is I'd like you to look at the gray is the state um and the ELA for the middle school is just about 50%. Um and the state is only at about 33% for ELA. The state for ELA and the SAT is 50 about 52% and our high school is 70%. Um we are one of the we are in the top performing uh high schools with respect to ELA across the state and I want to recognize that you um have Amanda who was your district literacy coordinator and years ago you gave
026her that title as well. So she definitely works towards strengthening that and we can we can see that. Um the math we know across the state there's a struggle. Uh we did purchase a new curriculum you know that uh and we're working towards really looking at our student needs looking at data and and and working to improve improve those scores. Um and then in the high school we are higher than the state 35% for the high school with 23% at the state. and then science. You can see that we're higher in both higher than the state in that category for both grade levels. This is the snapshot that's similar to the to the one that you saw at the beginning. There are five categories that we would look at. This is last year. It's going
027to be a gray slide and the green slide is going to be this year. So in 2024, if you really look, we had two blue, that's strong performance, and three gray, that's mid-level. And then there's also tiers to each one. You can see some of the gray ones are shorter than the others. If we go to the next slide, you can see the increase, right? It's it's that we now have three blue. And our increase came in our um I have the next slide. There we go. So, in 2024, your high school was a three star school and our three our three stars uh focused on our diploma measures. Now, our diploma measures really uh talk about the student success after high school. uh in proficiency um exceeding proficiency. So if you fast if you
028go to the next slide there's the breakdown. So remember dark blue is strong grayish blue is mid-level and orange is attention. So we took that we got the results last uh October November and we started to focus. So if you go to the next slide in 2025 we are a four-star school. So we went from a three star to a four-star and the increase you'll see came at that now they're not in the same order right but it came at that top tier which was really with our achievement and growth and we also increased in our diploma plus measures and there's the breakdown we want to see a lot of blue and especially blue all the way over to the right that's amazing and I want you to focus from the bottom up the second
029bar up is exceeds expectations in ELA and we are we are all the way across on that bar. Our suspension rate is is good. That means it's a low suspension rate. We work well with students and their infractions. Progressive discipline and your teacher chronic absenteeism is good, which means it's low. Your teachers are coming to school. So, I'm not going to go much deeper in that, but I want to give you a general overview. And Aaron, you look like you have a question. I don't know if it was a few slides before. >> No, it was like this slide and then the one from 2024. If you can just give me a breakdown like what does exactly commissioner seal mean? Because I know that we had in 2024 it was orange and then this year
030went up to gray. What is considered commissioner seal? >> So the comm so some of the breakdown is on the front over there. The commissioner seals include um the by the seal and by literacy. So students if they are proficient in ELA and they'll take like the Spanish test um and they can be proficient on the PSAT or the SAT to count in that. So there are certain seals for the commissioner if they exceed proficiency in certain areas. The commissioner has three different three several seals that a student can can obtain. And so that's the criteria that's focused that that comes in in that. >> Thank you. I was just curious because I'm like >> there are a couple of different ways they can achieve that. Thank you. >> I have a question too before
031you go. Um, >> what are you attributing the the shift in the chronic absenteeism of students? Uh, the improvement that was made, what what do you attribute the the improvements to? >> An intentional plan. Uh, you had your assistant uh associate principal at the high school um over the summer work to reach out to families to support them. Um, the data is and I mean Amanda can speak better to this than I can, but I can tell you generally to answer the question, it was an intentional shift and intentional focus and looking at the at the absenteeism of students and being um and intervening early. And so her associate principal and assistant principal really have had their eyes on this from the end of from when we got the data last year. And I would
032say [clears throat] you can see that when you identify an area that you need to grow on, grow in, and you put your efforts there, then we're seeing the the product of that. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions? Um, there's more. Oh, let's keep going. >> Did you want to ask a question now? >> Oh, sorry. >> No, you if you're in the in the middle, you can. >> Well, now I should, I guess. A couple years ago, we uh when we saw a similar presentation, it was super helpful to see a breakdown between the Gloucester versus Foster results for like some of those standardized testing for middle school and high school. Not from like a competitive standpoint, but more we have these kids coming from different schools into the middle school just
033to understand if there's areas where one district is excelling over the others. I I think it's helpful for us to understand and we can work with one another to identify that. If we could get that, I think it would be really beneficial. Ideally, they're equal, but if they're not, it'd be nice to know and kind of get our heads around why. >> Yeah. >> So, you're saying are students broken down? >> As I recall, it was it was in I just it sticks in my mind because I remember like the foster kids I feel like were a little bit behind in some of the subjects in sixth grade, but by the time it was eighth grade, it had almost flipped. >> Okay. >> And I'm not really sure what to do with that, but it
034was just it was very memorable for that. Uh, but if there's a really big swing in one area or another, like we should know. I mean, just as a district, it's important. If if our our, you know, one group is coming in and math scores are at 20%, the others are like 80%, like gosh, you know, it's really hard to teach to that. Uh, and there's got to be a reason for it. We should figure it out. Or they're all 50. Hey, you know, let's >> raise the vote together. [snorts] >> I can do that. >> Yeah. No, thank you. Okay. And then um we shift to the next one. So this is Gray of of Panaganset Middle School last year was a three star, but Panaganset Middle School had a a student support a
035group of students that were um considered TSI targeted support for intervention. I'm not going to reveal what group of students that that was uh because that would be confidential. But when you when you notice that they went from a three star to a three star, you have to understand that that targeted group made progress. So they're no longer a targeted group. So, you might not see it in the star rating, which you won't because this is a three. Dave, can you switch to the next one? Um, they're still a three, but that targeted group made the growth and the progress that we needed. Uh, and that's that's a form of of progress, and we want to recognize and acknowledge that. Um, so if you go to the next screen, their target last year, I can't
036see from there, so I have it in front of me. Uh, Pontagans Middle School's target last year was uh the growth in in math. Um, and if you can switch to the next one. We have to focus more on math, but keep in mind that this is also um it's the year where we have the new curriculum. And this is a year where you have students coming in, Brendan, like you said, from two different districts, three different schools. It's very different when you transition from middle to high school. We have much more collaboration and and common expectations there. Um, and so we know what we have to do for work. But even though you have two areas that are recommended for uh focus areas, the school is still a three-star school and your academic performance
037is is comparable and higher than the state. So I'm I'm proud of that as well. And then the summary and next steps, we will continue to implement um the math curriculum which is new this year. A lot of 6 through 12 work. uh continue participation in open science open science ed through ride. Um we have some teachers who are piloting that uh implementation of tier one strategies. We've been very intentional and direct on uh there's a there's a um a book that's called building thinking classrooms and it's a very strategic way of teaching. Uh and so we kicked that off and both buildings have their Monday meetings and their many of the teachers um PGG's professional growth goals are based on that and what the principles are doing and um the leaders of the building
038when they go into classrooms they're looking for these common strategies. We have universal literacy strategies across the the the district. And I don't want to minimize that and say, "Oh, we have universal literacy strategies and we've been doing it for so many years, but we've been doing it for many years and now you're seeing the fruit of of of all that work." The expectation is that you walk into any content area and you will see lit literacy strategies, specifically the science of reading, which you know was a was a mandate. You will see those strategies. You can see the measure in classrooms. And I think that's important to recognize and it shows in our scores and you have a principal who serves in that capacity as the district literacy coordinator. So I don't want to
039miss uh miss an opportunity to recognize that work. We have a lot of rycast and SAT prep and and not just pull out prep, but the teachers embed it in the classroom. And then there's this opportunity, this program called Coningo. It's through RIDE and um we're using that at the high school. It's only for the high school SAT, but It's very um it it allows students it's a personal program for students. So if a student gets something wrong, it can kind of help them work through. It's called a self it's a self-regulating, right? If it gets wrong, it gets a little bit easier till they get it till they get it right. Remember that last year um we started the core class at PMS. We definitely are using that for some of our rycast prep
040and familiarity. Increased collaboration with the elementary schools. We definitely have started to do a little bit more of that and especially grades five and six. And then Amy, continue with the attendance strategies. Um, and the middle school did the same thing. I don't want to minimize that. The middle school did the same thing with looking at um some attendance needs over the summer and being ready to support families um at the beginning of the school year. So, that's our work. That's our those are our outcomes. And um thank you. Do you have any questions? >> Question. I really like that we're being intentional about um integrating SAT prep because standardized test scores are the most important metric for placing uh students in universities. Um given that across the board, I mean even looking back to
041the elementary schools were performing so much better in science than math. Have we looked at all at the ACT um or offering that to students because I know that that weights science much more heavily and so large larger proportion of our students are overperforming in science. they might overperform on the ACT relative to the SAT. >> So that's a good question. Uh we we have to um we have to the state assessment is our SAT, right? So we definitely have the practice there. I will say in my years here in at Pontigansit the opportunities uh the way counselors speak with students about ACT is much more open than it was before. It's not SAT SAT SAT. I find that they're having very intentional conversations with students based on their interest and may maybe saying to
042the student, you should take the ACT because but the only performance you're going to see is SAT because that's our state assessment. But I can't speak to maybe the last three and a half years because I haven't been in the school, but I know when I was principal three, four years ago, we were definitely moving more towards that. And that's the counselors knowing the students, which I think is a is is a plus. I don't have data to support how many students take the SAT. If you wanted that, I probably could could get that from our our counselors. >> Any any questions? That was great. Thank you, Dr. Plazo. Um, technology update. I always love those seeing all the especially when they're going. >> All right. Good evening everybody. Just get close to the mic
043here. All right. So I was brought in front of you guys to have a a short chat about cyber security. Um so here we go. Um I stand before you the as the assistant director of technology for Foster Gloucester Regional Schools and an accredited IT professional. I hold multiple degrees in the field including a bachelor's degree in cyber security and a master's degree in information technology. In light of recent disc in light of recent discussions, the department was asked to provide a brief cyber security update focused on email, specifically the potential security risks involved in the safeguards currently in place to protect student and staff district email accounts. So to begin, I need to ask you guys all a question. Do you guys know what fishing is? Beginning with a ph, can everybody raise their
044hand if they know what it is? So everybody everybody knows. All right, good. So, fishing takes many forms, right? But at its core, it is an email that appears to be to originate from a legitimate source, and is designed to trick the recipient into providing personal or sensitive information. Once that information is stolen, cyber criminals can use it to access legitimate systems, take over accounts, impersonate users, and in many cases, permanent permanently lock rifle owners out. According to the US Department of Homeland Security, more than 90% of successful cyber attacks begin with a fishing email. Many of these attacks cost school districts millions of dollars, and some districts never fully recover. Members of the school committee and district administration are considered high value targets to cyber criminals. Decisions involving district finances, personnel, and confidential matters
045make these accounts particularly attractive. Exposure or manip manipulation of this information could result in significant financial impact and damage to public trust in the region. This leads me to talking about the security benefits of using a districtsued email account. District provided email accounts offer protections that do not exist with personal email services. One key benefit is a centralized monitoring, alerting, and rapid response. The technology department actively monitors for fishing attempts and emerging threats. When a malicious email is identified, staff can be alerted immediately and in many cases, the message can be removed from inboxes before harm occurs. Additionally, all district email communications are securely logged and retained for extended periods of time without consuming space in personal Google, Dropbox, iCloud, or Yahoo accounts. I bet everyone here can probably raise their hand. they've had their
046account run out of space because of email, right? This approach ensures accountability, visibility, and support while allowing staff to rely on a dedicated team of security professionals who can respond in real time. Another important safeguard is the enforcement of multiffactor authentication or MFA. Passwords alone are not no longer sufficient for protection. MFA requires a second form of verification, typically a mobile device, before access is granted. This is the same security standard used by banks, insurance companies, and many other institutions. Using a districtisssued email account ensures the MF that MFA is enabled and properly enforced. If access issues occur, such as a lost phone or account lockout, support is available to securely restore access without unnecessary delay. Finally, all district email accounts originate from the official domain fgschools.com. This is a critical security control. It ensures
047that when all email is received from a district staff member, the sender is authenticated through a secure district account. No outside individual can legitimately send email as a district user within this domain. Email impersonation remains one of the most common and effective attack methods used against school districts. While display names can easily be falsified, the district domain cannot. staff are trained to recognize the fgschools.com domain as a key indicator of legitimate communication. The goal of technology of our technology department is to reduce cyber security risk across the district. Constant use of districtisssued email accounts allow for stronger protections, faster response, and a greater assurance as schools nationwide continue to face increasing cyber security threats. I'm going to continue here. Um, using a district email doesn't make you a target. It makes you protected when targeting
048happens. School districts are targeted regardless of what email platform individuals use. The difference is visibility and control. When district email is used, activity is monitored, suspicious behavior is flagged, and t and attacks can be stopped quickly. When personal email is used, none of these protections exist. So while schools are a higher priority target, district emails allow the allows the risk to be actively managed, detected, and responded to. Personal email removes all those safeguards entirely and leaves individuals isolated if something goes wrong. Thank you for the committee's time and David and myself will be available to answer any questions. >> Any questions? >> Oh, I Where was this agenda item last month? I mean, talking about the email. Yeah, I think it's a byproduct of that. >> That would have been great last month. That would
049have held off all the conversation. >> Yeah, it's a result of that. >> Oh, okay. >> It is. >> Okay. >> I I had some questions for you. I think everything that you stated with regards to email makes perfect sense, 100%. My concern is more with the data storage. So, we receive all of these pieces of information, whether it's on our phone, device, whatever it may be. um the district has no control over what we do once we download that file onto a personal device. >> Correct. >> And that's I think where the real soft spot lies in what we're doing. The same thing applies to those who have these paper files. You know, we leave here and some of us who've been on this committee for a while probably have stacks of the paper
050files that are taller than themselves. And I think that's something that as a district we really need to study is how we handle that. And that's something I would really look for you guys to weigh in on and I'm happy to abide by whatever the recommendations are. Um, but the I mean the the point with email is solid, but I think as you know like once I receive that I do not have a district device nor do I want one frankly. I have enough devices as it is. But if we're to be downloading those files onto an FG school's one drive, whatever that looks like, whatever that data storage is, I think is something that we really need to think strongly about because how everyone handles that is very different. So I may have my
051FG schools email that I I use here and email from here. I download that file onto my my hard drive or wherever I may store it whether it's one drive cloud storage and then if I'm using for personal use or my work use whatever it may be another email I am now exposing that data or people here are exposing that data um to whomever may have access to that other email you know there there's still a soft spot that I think we need to look at >> no I 100% agree Brendan >> and the other part I would say is I think it would be useful not specific specifically a policy per se, but perhaps a best practices guide from our IT department on how to handle not just the the paper information, but uh
052correspondence, the email, and whatever it may be for the the electronic file storage, which I'm a huge proponent of. I mean, like I said, we end up I I think it's easy for me personally to go back and look for past information because I have access to it here. Um, but I mean, we can do all the stuff we want with email and I and I think we should. I mean, I get a fishing emails all the time from folks who are, you know, using emails from here. Oh, you know, I need you need to call me right away. I'm like, okay, sure. And I'm sure you guys do, too. Um because all of our emails are out there in the ether and they just they you know, there's there's all sorts of ways that
053folks who wish ill upon the district and schools in general will get that information and look for it. But it's really it's it's that file once it's out of our control, what we do with it. But I know with the students and staff here, you you do have more control because it's on the network and likely um but that I think that's the weak spot that we need to really think hard about especially with some of the more sensitive confidential data that we do receive electronically and I I don't think the paper copy is specifically foolproof either. Um but >> yeah, it is a very hard piece to manage specifically um without issuing district level machines and having that level of control. Um, I mean in development of policy and I think just giving everybody
054a little education and developing that policy to build a framework is a really great idea, Brendan. We totally rip your game for that. >> Even like USB devices, you know, that's that's something that we're trained at work now is like we're we're no longer allowed to use any sort of USB or portable storage device >> because that's like one of the number one ways that all of the malware is >> is entering the larger corporations. You know, they've moved past emails. it's just here here's a free USB drive and boom all of a sudden it it's you your entire company's held ransom um but >> stuff like that I I I would welcome the the conversation I know we have our workshop coming up or maybe a future meeting and I'm sure others would as
055well >> sure I'm going to hand it over to Dave but 100% Brendon in agreement with you >> yeah we'll definitely discuss this a little bit further in the workshop and it is scheduled for a lot in there. Thank you. >> Perfect. >> Well, I was just about to to state [clears throat] and I'll say this again on Saturday that I know in terms of like my work because I deal with a bunch of sensitive information and everything else, we actually password protect our files in terms of if they have like the PII or whatever and have like, you know, a standard password that only us know. So, like it's password protected. I'm sure we can do that with our PDFs for our you know once we receive them we can have a password protected
056because that's another layer of security that hey it's one of those easy password that only we know it's one of those like n or you know like national password or whatever like that's what we use at our work anyway um in order to >> well it's not that but but also we change it also every like month or so so like it's always continuous ly change that way if something >> if it does get out we can immediately adjust and get a new password out to the field. >> These are all great conversations. I think uh again our first step is proper email communication and agreement getting everyone set up with 2FA. Um Dave's going to speak more on that and work with you guys on Saturday. Um and then we can kind of move
057forward and and develop framework that's security conscious. So this sounds really good. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Thank you. Yep. >> Thank you. >> Anything else? Any other questions? >> Can we have do we ever do shredding here? >> Yes. Thank you. >> Can we bring like I am happy to bring piles of old agendas that are now threatening lives in my home >> um in to have them try because I honestly don't know what to do with them after a while. >> Yeah. >> The bonfire. >> I agree. I'm glad you brought that up. I know it's kind of a quite the extension of the topic, but I'm glad you brought that up. >> Yeah. Oh, yeah. Sorry if I Yeah. Okay. Anything else? Thank you. I appreciate it. >> Now we have the
058approval of the >> Madam. >> Yeah, he is. He's next right now. Approval of >> the grant, his esport. >> Madam Chair, I make a motion to approve the $2,500 grant from the ACT Foundation for esports as presented in the packet. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Can you stay? >> Yep. >> Okay. Um, so each year the National Federation of State High School Associations recognizes coaches and officials around the country for their outstanding service and unselfish devotion to intercolastic athletics. Individuals selected to receive the coach of the year honor are chosen based upon their performance as a coach on and off the field. Your your field, right? Uh, and the positive work they have done with the athletes in their program. Nominees
059for the official of the year award uh must exemplify the highest standards of ethical conduct, moral character, and carry the endorsement of your respective high school. You've also made a recent significant contribution to the high school in the state. So, this is the criteria of which you you'd be chosen. And we spoke briefly about it last month, but congratulations because Dave Carnival is the esports coach of the year. [applause] Thank you. >> And I want to go a little bit further and say that NF NFHS has recognized that esports and high school is rapidly rapidly growing. um officially sanctioned activity where students compete in video games, fostering teamwork, communication, and leadership while boosting engagement and academic performance, bridging traditional gaps by reaching non-athletic students, and creating pathways to STEM careers, college scholarships similar to traditional
060sports, but played online with coaches and structured seasons. So, I'm really proud. Um it's been two three years since you you've started this and you've been the state right state championship. So um congratulations Dave. Welld deserved. [applause] Congrats. [laughter] Okay. So, number 15 is facilities update. So, uh quick update in regards specifically to uh the underground storage tanks across the high school. So, I know this has been a topic of discussion of concern amongst the committee and the public. Uh basically just to give you a quick breakdown of what we experienced over the last month. So the DEM agent reached out to me and we had an anonymous tank um an anonymous complaint um you know called in to the DEM alleging that we had uh an abundance of water in our fuel oil number
061two tank that services our boiler. Uh basically the DEM agent came out on December 16th. uh they met with us. We went through all of our tanks. We identified all of the previous tank inspections, all the, you know, information that came from those tank uh tank inspections, the action plans, the proactive plans that we took um after the inspection reports. So, to make a long story short, after the DEM came out, I do have the full DEM report in my hand. And the most important thing at the bottom, it states no violations found. We are 100% in compliance at this point in time. Our tank is 35 years old. The we don't we are not required to upgrade to the you know standards of today because we're grandfathered in as I previously stated. Um moving
062forward we are developing an action plan to replace that tank hopefully um an immediate faction um over the summer before we install our new boiler equipment. I do have um full proposals to present to our capital projects team at our next meeting and ultimately I look forward to reviewing that with the team and just to put everybody at ease at this point in time we have no violations with the DEM and these public records are 100% available on the DEM website and if you have any further questions please reach out to me and I'd be more than happy to provide you with any information that I can. >> Thank you Steve. >> Thanks Steve. Does anybody have any other question? >> Does anybody have any other questions for Steve? >> Thank you. I appreciate it.
063>> Um, number 16. >> I make a motion to seek to convene to executive session to discuss and or vote on the following matters. Burn Island General Law 42-46-5A privacy of student records home school approval CTE student appeal Bernland General Law 42-46-5A legal advice/pending litigation legal advice regarding suspension hearing Barrett v Foster Glosser Regional School Committee 1110 2025 affidavit from school committee members Pez of v Foster Glosser Regional School Committee 1219 2025 update Barrett v Foster Glosser Regional School District Appa 1119 2025 update Figus E Foster Regional School Committee APA 1116205 update ride complaint 25-074A regarding Warick v Barington at all the CTE petition island general law 42-46-5A collective bargaining grievance number 2425-02 teaching hours and teaching loads update on the unfair labor practice case number ulp 6433 by NEA Pontigans and Port Island general
064law 2-46-5A job performance, contract extensions, non-renewal of non-tenure teachers, and all individuals have been notified. >> Second. >> Got the easy part, huh? Right. >> All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstensions? >> 8 Z. We'll be in here for a I wanted to try one. Sorry. Huh? Where are we? >> Do I have a motion to reconvene? >> I make a motion to reconvene. >> Okay. While in exe, >> all in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstensions. While in executive session, one vote was taken in the affirmative. Um, we discussed Oh, boy. >> Oh, regarding homeschooling. And we discussed legal Yeah, right here. I got it. Thank you. Um, legal advice pending litigation, collective bargaining, and job performance. No other votes were taken. >> I make a motion to seal the minutes. session. >> Second. >>
065All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstensions. So now we are on the contract extension approvals. I make a motion to consolidate all administrative contracts for the purposes of voting. >> Have a second. >> All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstensions. Okay. Any discussion before we vote? I just want to make it clear. There was a question as to why we were doing it now. Um contract extensions um by renewing them for three years um is just a standard process. It shows that we have faith in our administrative team and we are um retaining high quality high quality um administrators. We have high performing schools right now. These are not administrators we want to see leave. You could see that if you listen to the um presentation today, all of our scores are going up. In addition, if
066you compare this administration to our previous administrators um that were serving three years or four years ago, we are saving and I know we had a question about the budget. We are saving 1.3 million or have saved 1.3 million over the four years FY23 to FY26. That is a significant savings. Um when our superintendent was hired four years ago, this committee made a commitment um to and ensuring that she was allowed to build her team and that's exactly what she has done. we fully support or we we want to show that we fully support this team. Um, and again, like I said, I understand your budgetary concerns, but let me reiterate that we save approximately f uh 560,000 a year on this new administrative team compared to the one our previous um administrative team. our
067survey works results have come back and have been a a great report and again we're highly performing. So for all of those reasons I I actually am honored to to offer them an extension. That's me personally, but I I I think they're amazing. With that said, does anybody else have any other comment? Do I have a motion? Or was that the motion? >> Okay. I make a motion to approve the contracts contracts for superintendent director. Do you want me to read them all or no? >> Director of student services. Administrative assistant to superintendent. Facilities Director, Assistant Facilities Director, Business Manager, Human Resource Manager, Technology Director, Assistant Technology Director, PHS Principal, PHS Associate Principal, and PHS Assistant Principal. >> Did you say director of facilities? >> Did I? >> Yeah. Okay. And who is the second?
068Beth. Any other discussion? All in favor? >> I opposed. abstensions. Thank you. We are now on to number 20, approval of the non-renewal of non-tenured teachers. >> Madam Chair, I make a motion to approve the nonrenewals of the nontenure teachers. >> Do I have a second? >> All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstensions. Uh number 21, we again have um public comment on open agenda items available for you. >> Walter Ste, I just like to thank you for putting it this back in at the end of the meeting because I think it's important to have it both, you know, at the beginning and at the end. Uh, also I know you're worried about security and stuff. If you want a bunch of old packets, I have a bunch in my house, but you better bring a
069pickup truck over. >> Eileen just said she uses them to to heat our home and burns them. So >> what? >> Burn them. You can burn them. >> Throw them in my wooden stove. I heat my house. >> You can't burn them. We will shred them. >> Yeah, I know. I can't carry too much at a time now. I had to make a lot of trips. [laughter] No, that's all I have. >> Thank you all. >> Gary King again. Uh, I remember when I sat where you guys are, Greg, you'll have to correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there about contracts can't be longer than the tenure of the longest school committee member? Am I wrong? In other words, when you when you do contracts, right, it's a three-year contract, then you do a
070one-year renewal when you get close because I remember, Greg, we had this conversation, which I know it was a long time ago, and you're getting older. >> I understand. No, but it's a it's a it's a it's just a legal question, which they don't Okay. So, anyway, it was always our practice. We never extended a contract past a com the longest committee member's tenure. So, it's three-year contract. When it comes up, you do a one-year extension. Am I You can do a three-year with a negotiation on the salary rate. Yes. But if you're just going to take somebody's contract as written and you're going to extend that contract with a committee vote, you know, to whether it be a one-year or so forth, or you sit down and you renegotiate another three-year contract. Yeah. And
071I I I heard you. You said you you saved all this money and all of that, but it's just a for me it's a it's a procedural question. If you've got somebody that's still got two years or two and a half years left on the contract they're in and you're going to extend that contract so that in two and a half years they got an automatic extension. I don't I don't I don't see how that works. I just can't make that go really. I can't. And I and I usually we didn't do any contract voting uh without a full committee or at least if say Brandon talked to Shelley and she said, "Yeah, I don't have a problem with this. You can go forward." Did that conversation happen? I know you can't answer me. Well,
072this isn't a normally scheduled meeting, so that wouldn't be forcing somebody to show up. >> But you can't >> speak, not ours. >> I get it. So, I'll keep my mouth shut. So, I'll have to take it, >> but I won't. Good evening. >> Thank you. That's it.