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SC Meeting February 21 2026 — Transcript

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1:55Well, thank you, Madame Chair,
1:58members of the committee, Superintendent
2:00Buck. Uh, it's a privilege to be here
2:03this morning,
2:05um, to, uh, participate in this kind of
2:07a a discussion.
2:10Um the you know the old standard of
2:13presentation is uh tell them what you're
2:17going to say, say it and then tell them
2:19what you said. Um so we'll try to follow
2:22that pattern as best we can but we each
2:26of us want this to be as interactive as
2:29possible. uh you know the more
2:31discussion and questions and the more
2:33interactive it is the um the better
2:36chance I have of keeping you all awake
2:38through this um and if uh we're both
2:41successful as our standup routine this
2:43morning we we plan to take this show on
2:45the road so we want a lot of feedback um
2:49in terms of what we're going to say
2:51we're going to talk about a few basics
2:54about school committee legal status most
2:56of you probably know the basics but
2:58sometimes it's good to get back to first
3:00principles, put them all in context. We
3:03want to talk about committee powers and
3:04responsibilities. You have a very robust
3:07set of policies. One of the things I
3:10don't think that this district or this
3:12committee gets enough credit for is how
3:14conscientious it is about keeping its
3:16policies current. Um and uh it's been my
3:20experience with the district uh really
3:23has been interesting because of um the
3:26way this district teaches policies as a
3:28living document and tries to adjust to
3:31um not only the changes that we have in
3:34state law each on each occasion and
3:36regulations we get at RIDE, but you also
3:39have a very mindful eye of your students
3:41and families and you're very active
3:44about looking at those policies to
3:46address how those policies communicate
3:49and interact with student and families.
3:50So I've enjoyed being a part of that
3:52process very much. Um committee officers
3:56um there is u um you know a slow but
4:00changing um landscape on occasion about
4:03the duties responsibilities of committee
4:05officers um and the communications that
4:09go along with that. you know, the um the
4:11way we all communicate with each other
4:13changes at light speed and how we
4:16effectively do that and stay, you know,
4:18within our policies and guidelines is a
4:21little bit of a challenge all the time.
4:22It really is because we want to be as
4:25effective and efficient as possible and
4:26transparent as possible. At the same
4:28time, we want to protect the privacy
4:30rights of our students, families, and
4:32the folks who work with us. So, that's a
4:34a challenging area as well. uh we we
4:38intend to talk about the code of basic
4:40management principles and ethical school
4:43standards. Um there is a you know whole
4:45section of title 16 that deals with
4:48this. Um and uh once again it's an area
4:52that you are very active and attentive
4:54to in your policies and um it's been a
4:57good experience working with all these
4:59committee members and with the uh
5:01leadership in the district to model how
5:04we guide ourselves according to those
5:06principles and standards.
5:09Said a few moments ago that on occasion
5:11it's really good to get back to first
5:13principles.
5:14We've had u um a tragic and dramatic
5:18week um in Pucket and throughout the
5:20state and really in the country. Um and
5:24it's very difficult to being the
5:26epicenter of a moment like that.
5:30And I know it causes all of us to think
5:33about why we're here and why we do the
5:38things that we do. um and remind
5:42ourselves and maybe give ourselves some
5:44greater resolve to come out of
5:46circumstances like this. Um
5:50so um I with the chair's permission of
5:53the permission of the committee, I'd
5:54like to
5:56start with a reflective moment because
5:58we're going to get into some really nuts
5:59andbolt stuff, right? And sometimes the
6:01nuts and bolts stuff um and where all
6:04the gears are and all the levers are can
6:08sometimes cause us to lose sight of our
6:09greater purpose.
6:11Um so my favorite American poet is
6:14Amanda Gorman. I don't guys know Amanda
6:17but um
6:20she's uh as far as I know the only poet
6:22whether American or from any other place
6:23in the world that has presented both at
6:26a presidential inauguration and a Super
6:28Bowl and a Super Bowl. So um and um if
6:33you don't mind it'll just like take a a
6:35moment uh to begin with a reflective
6:38moment that uh Amanda could say says
6:41much better than I or I think anybody
6:42else in this room.
6:47We need a sound.
6:54>> Purpose not just ethical but eternal.
6:58For a while, every child is rightfully
7:01unique. The right to childhood is
7:05universal. We must care for every child
7:09everywhere, no matter race, religion or
7:13gender. And this never back down, never
7:16surrender,
7:19deserves a chance. And this world
7:24deserves a change. With this bright
7:27voice we speak, audacious and audible.
7:31What yesterday we might have tall
7:33obstacles, today are opportunities that
7:35make us unstoppable. We respond in every
7:39strife in struggle because every child
7:43is phenomenal. And to every child we are
7:48responsible. This is not just purpose.
7:53Now more than ever, it is possible.
8:02you know, kind of makes us all think
8:04about why we're here and what we do, the
8:05things we do, and why the nuts and bolts
8:09are important, right? It helps us. Maybe
8:13it's not a direct path. Sometimes it's
8:14one step forward and a half step back,
8:16but we get there and we always keep
8:19trying, right? So, thank you for
8:22allowing us to be a part of doing this
8:24with you.
8:28Now for the nuts and bolts.
8:32So want to begin a little bit about um
8:35the legal authorities and the legal
8:37genesis of uh school committees.
8:41Um the
8:43beginning of our journey really is in
8:46article 3 section one of the
8:47constitution of the state of Rhode
8:48Island where we have and fulfill an
8:52important constitutional responsibility
8:55um in the governing of our greater
8:57community. And
9:00what's interesting is the way it's
9:02presented to us is that the Rhode Island
9:03General Assembly is responsible for the
9:05exercise of plenary control over
9:08educational matters within the state and
9:11delegates that certain authority and
9:12responsibility to the local committee.
9:14That's us, right? And why this um is
9:20important in understanding where we are
9:22in this governing process is that our
9:24Supreme Court has told us that
9:28because of that constitutional origin,
9:30that constitutional genesis of what we
9:32do,
9:33we are really
9:36an agency of the state legislature.
9:39Now, we have this, you know, this kind
9:41of setup where we're in our
9:43municipality. We're elected by our
9:45electors and we're funded both by the
9:49state and the city. But we really are
9:53for legal purposes. Our Supreme Court
9:56has told us repeatedly, we are an arm,
9:59an agency of the General Assembly. We're
10:01a state. We're we derive our authority
10:04from the Constitution of the State of
10:06Rhode Island. So that's interesting
10:08because when you look at what's in title
10:1216 as we take our, you know, we I'll
10:14walk through some of the sections of
10:17title 16 this morning. The reason that
10:19we have the robust authority that we do
10:23is because of these words in our state
10:27constitution, these words in the um
10:31enabling legislation that creates us in
10:34title 16 and the Supreme Court telling
10:36us what our legal authority is and who
10:38we are. So you know because sometimes
10:41you get these larger discussions you
10:43know how can we do this why can we do
10:45this what are where are our guardrails
10:47and all that discussions begins with
10:49understanding
10:51we have a constitutional genesis and our
10:54authority is essentially as an arm of
10:58the general assembly despite the fact
11:00that we're elected locally and despite
11:03the fact that we have that co-unding
11:05mechanism.
11:06But it doesn't give us his independent
11:08taxing authority. But that's another
11:09debate alto together.
11:11So
11:13um
11:14now we all know that um our powers and
11:17duties are outlined um in title 16 uh
11:22subchapter 2 and
11:26there there's there's a lot there
11:29and the I think the best way to
11:32understand all of the specified
11:37powers and authorities that are in uh
11:40sub chapter two is to look at the
11:43introductory language, right? And the
11:46entire care control and management of
11:49all public school interests,
11:52public school interests,
11:56very broadly stated,
11:59we know we're focused on our programming
12:02all the time. We're focused on that
12:04particularly over the past decade in
12:06Puck, we've been focused upon
12:09construction to build um you know
12:1421st century
12:16learning centers in our in our schools,
12:19but we do so much more than that. And
12:22it's vested in the school committees of
12:24several of the several cities and towns.
12:27And and then again it says that school
12:29committee shall have in addition to
12:31those enumerated in this title the
12:33following powers and duties. So it's not
12:35exclusive, right?
12:38These are specified to us. These are
12:41everything we have to do
12:46but it's not necessarily everything we
12:48can do or we ought to do. These are the
12:50things that we have to do and they
12:52enable us to do them. Right? So the idea
12:55is that we don't necessarily have to
12:58look at these merely as the guardrails.
13:02These powers and authorities are our
13:05enablers.
13:08They were they are the the tools, those
13:11nuts and bolts
13:14that allow us to look out for those
13:17public school interests. What are the
13:19public school interests? Our entire
13:20community, right?
13:27What we do, what you do, what your
13:30educators do,
13:33and the way it impacts the families that
13:36we all serve infects our entire
13:38community affects everything.
13:44So, title two, don't look at as kind of
13:47a and I know we all get in this mode,
13:49and I'm as guilty of it as anybody else.
13:52we get sort of this legal straight
13:53jacket.
13:56Let's just look at what our legal
13:58authority is right now and make sure we
14:00fit into that niche, right? The better
14:03perspective is let's look at these as
14:05the tool that empower us to serve those
14:08interests.
14:14Now we go through a lot of these um
14:16individually um but you you look at like
14:19number one to identify the educational
14:22needs in the community that is very
14:24broadly based right it doesn't just say
14:28look at the educational needs of you
14:31know certain pieces of our community
14:35certain aspects of a community certain
14:37sections of our community. It says that
14:40we're responsible for the educational
14:43needs of all of the city of Pucket.
14:48It's a huge responsibility. It's a good
14:50thing we got a superintendent as big as
14:52buck,
14:54you know, big shoulders to carry it.
14:58But it's a huge responsibility. It's a
15:00blessing
15:03to be a part of that, right? It should
15:05empower us every day. And right now
15:08that's what you know in in Pucket we
15:12getting through this moment that we're
15:13in that's what we want to focus on. We
15:15want to focus on how we are empowered
15:18and how we can empower our community.
15:31That's going to come back.
15:42policy
15:45overall responsibility
15:49personnel
15:51that you might
15:54discipline uh for uh you know personnel
15:58matters or getting involved in personnel
16:00matters directly. But it does say that
16:02you do have the overall policy
16:04responsibility. If you want to create a
16:06policy that governs something that is uh
16:09dictates how you're supposed to treat
16:11certain instances of personnel uh
16:14issues, you can. Uh but you're not the
16:16one who's actually implementing the you
16:19implement the policy, but you're not uh
16:20you could create the policy, you're not
16:22implementing the policy. That would be
16:23uh Randy Buck as superintendent, his
16:25administrative team doing uh that work.
16:29Uh we also have um here another thing
16:32that comes up often uh because there are
16:34sometimes where we uh the school
16:36committee uh is facing you know our
16:39counterparts in the city u and working
16:42collaboratively is always the goal but
16:44ultimately the responsibility of the
16:46care and control of local schools falls
16:48on the school committee. That's your
16:49responsibility. they have a vested
16:51interest that that schools uh are in
16:54good repair as well because they're if
16:57they're elected officials, they have
16:58constituencies that go to those schools,
17:00but the responsibility rests on on this
17:02body. And so it's not to say they don't
17:04have they can't give input. This doesn't
17:07mean that we can't work collaboratively
17:08with them, but it's good to understand
17:10that the ultimate responsibility falls
17:12on on this public body. uh and so uh
17:17this goes on further uh I think there's
17:20another slide here of of enumerated uh
17:22powers and responsibilities again to
17:25provide for the location care control
17:27and management buildings equipment I
17:28goes back to the point I was just making
17:30as far as the ultimate responsibility
17:32when it comes to our school buildings
17:33facilities the responsibility falls on
17:35on this body to to manage um very
17:39important and again ties into working
17:42collaboratively with our municipal
17:44counterparts adopt the school budget to
17:46submit to the local appropriating
17:47authority. That would be the city. Um
17:49and and to adopt the school budget to
17:51submit to them because their appropriate
17:53authority, they have the as we know uh a
17:56role to play in the local funding of our
17:59schools to adopt any changes in the
18:00school budget during the course of the
18:01school year. when we're doing budget
18:03transfers, when we're maybe uh deciding
18:06to cancel a program or doing or moving
18:08some money around to create a new
18:09program, um you have the ability to do
18:12so to approve expedentures in the
18:14absence of a budget consistent with
18:15state law, never really want to be in a
18:17position where we don't have a state
18:18budget or rather of a budget. But to the
18:20extent that there's not a budget that's
18:22passed timely, uh which could happen, um
18:26we you still have the authority to to
18:28manage uh without one. Usually what we
18:30do with that is we just kind of operate
18:32off of the the previous budget and try
18:34to move forward to implement the new
18:35one. Um they one that we just uh were
18:39able to check off to employ
18:40superintendent of the schools. Uh and
18:43this is where the three-year contracts
18:45come in because that's the limit that
18:47title 16 expressly puts into law. Um 13
18:51establish minimum standards for
18:52personnel and to adopt personnel
18:54policies and approve a table of
18:56organization. Uh that's very important
18:58as well. Like I said before when we were
19:01talking about the policy aspect of it,
19:03you could establish minimum standards as
19:05as a as a school committee. You're not
19:07implementing it. You're not managing
19:09personnel. The only personnel that the
19:11school committee is managing effectively
19:13is the superintendent of everybody else
19:15is reporting to the superintendent. But
19:17we could dictate standards. We you both
19:21you you as a body could dictate
19:22standards for personnel that they have
19:24to meet. superintendent would be in
19:26charge with implementing those
19:27standards, making sure that people that
19:30work and report to him meet those
19:31standards, but it is up to to the school
19:34committee to to have some role in in in
19:37establishing that. Uh, and the table of
19:39organizations, this came up in the last
19:41couple years as an issue uh where there
19:44should never be a situation where the
19:46school committee doesn't understand the
19:47table of organization uh of the school
19:50district. In fact, they should be
19:51approving it. It should be with their
19:53consent. They decide who to hire in all
19:56those roles. Again, that would be a
19:58personnel issue that the chief
20:00administrative officer, Mr. uh Mr. Buck,
20:02would be doing. Uh but you get to
20:05dictate what that should look like. And
20:07if it's not reflective of this body, you
20:10know, what this body should face, you
20:13should have the ability to to establish
20:15an organizational chart uh that does. Um
20:18again, another one to establish
20:20standards for evaluation of personnel.
20:22You're not you're not evaluating
20:24personnel. The only personel again
20:26you're able to evaluate is Mr.
20:32But you can establish standards that Mr.
20:34B would have to and his team have to
20:35implement uh when managing personnel
20:38generally throughout the district.
20:42There's three slides. I believe it's
20:44three slides. A lot of roles and power
20:47and responsibility the school committee
20:48has importantly for you guys. Um set
20:51down a standard for conduct in the
20:53school for disciplinary actions. Again,
20:55we're not disciplining students,
20:57but you could set down standards of
20:59conduct, policies uh for disciplinary
21:03actions that you want the administration
21:05to follow uh to hear appeals from
21:07disciplinary actions. This is important
21:09because this is why you're not involved
21:11in those disciplinary actions whether
21:13it's personnel or students on the front
21:15end because if somebody is not happy
21:18with something that the administr
21:20administration has decided whether it's
21:22a school principal or an assistant
21:24superintendent the superintendent at
21:27that point they get to appeal to this
21:28body and you act in a quasi judicial
21:31role to determine whether or not you
21:33want to uphold that action or not
21:36which is one of the reasons why we
21:38stress
21:39very much when such things happen that
21:41you know um you're throwing me off here
21:44hers with the with the
21:47>> oh that's then that's on me. All right I
21:49I'm I'm going to keep doing this so I I
21:51apologize. Uh to enter into contract
21:53this is very important too because every
21:55now and then there are certain instances
21:57where there might be OMAs or uh you know
22:00agreements for to provide certain
22:02services that the district gets into uh
22:05to do you know certain things. Uh there
22:08is a difference though between an actual
22:10contract like there is a a MOA with ride
22:13to exchange information is an agreement
22:15but it's not necessarily a contract it's
22:17not exchange of money uh but to the
22:19extent that there are services uh you
22:22know uh goods that are not contemplated
22:24for in the budget things that are going
22:25to require getting to some contractual
22:27agreement this is the body that approves
22:29it you can't delegate that authority
22:31well I guess you could delegate that
22:32authority but you have to expressly
22:34delegate that authority there shouldn't
22:35be a contract that gets before for the
22:37school committee that's uh effectuated
22:39that school committee had no knowledge
22:40of they have to approve it. Um and so
22:43that's one of the powers and
22:44responsibilities expressly written for
22:47uh the school committee to follow uh the
22:50publish policy manuals which shall
22:51include all school committee policies.
22:53We're going to get into that in a bit as
22:54well. Again just to emphasize the
22:57importance of policy this this policy is
23:02based on it's a mirror image of statute
23:041629.
23:06It mentions policies already three four
23:08times. Um just stressing the importance
23:11that this role plays in developing
23:12policies to establish policies governing
23:14curriculum, courses of instruction and
23:16textbooks.
23:18Uh to provide for transportation
23:20services which meet or exceed the
23:21standards of the board of regents. That
23:23would be the the uh yeah uh to make any
23:28reports to the department of education
23:29that are required by the board of
23:30regions uh for the menary and secondary
23:32education.
23:36Uh this is important. Let me just
23:37reference this when in some uh sense
23:39when it comes to contract where we might
23:41delegate after you approve a contract
23:43you might say superintendent could now
23:45sign that contract delegate consistent
23:46with law any responsibilities to the
23:48superintendent as a committee may deem
23:50appropriate uh to address health and
23:52wellness of the students to establish
23:54subcommittees of the school board or
23:56committee to decrease uh obesity and
23:57address school health and wellness
24:00policies for students and employees.
24:02This is important. It's going to come
24:03back when we talk about subcommittees.
24:05There are a couple of subcommittees that
24:06are required by law. Wellness is one of
24:08them. So you they can't get rid of your
24:11subcommittee.
24:16>> Beyond that
24:18>> nice uh
24:20and uh last but not least as far as the
24:23the powers of responsibilities undertake
24:25the minimum of six hours of professional
24:26development as set forth and described
24:28uh in 1625.1
24:30uh annually. the school committee
24:32members, you can do that annual meeting
24:34uh at where was it last year?
24:37>> Was it uh
24:39>> the Crown Plaza?
24:41>> Uh so that that usually checks that box.
24:46>> Yes.
24:47>> Yes, it does.
24:48>> So you're going above and beyond.
24:52>> So I I didn't want to interrupt a couple
24:54things of interest.
24:58couple of things of interest that um
25:02we'll keep our eye on. May not directly
25:05impact us, but it's uh again points of
25:08interest to keep our eye on. You'll note
25:10that in U 17 when Dion talked about the
25:17um what I'll characterize as a corporate
25:19authority of the um district is that it
25:22talks about
25:24elected committees and appointed
25:26committees.
25:27doesn't talk about hybrid committees.
25:30Um, and we now have um a few hybrid
25:34committees in the state of Rhode Island.
25:38Nobody's quite sure what that means um
25:42since the statute doesn't cover it and
25:45everybody's trying to figure it out.
25:47There's a lot of um discussion going on
25:50about it. Um, I think there's uh there's
25:54some discussion going on about at the
25:56general assembly. I'm not sure how much
25:57of an appetite there is to address that
26:01issue in an election year uh because it
26:04has ramifications for governing and that
26:06dynamic tension between cities and
26:08towns. Um, and it examines, as I said
26:11earlier, where the constitutional
26:14authority of school committees uh
26:15originate from. So, but it' be
26:18interesting. there's a lot of discussion
26:20going on about it. Interesting thing to
26:22watch. Um I also think that it's
26:25important to understand what that
26:27corporate authority means. So you you
26:30delegate um authority to your
26:32superintendent through your policies.
26:34And so there are, you know, contracts
26:37that your superintendent signs for
26:40programming, some of your education
26:41partners, those kinds of things, right?
26:44But ultimately without that delegation
26:47the corporate authority resides in this
26:49committee resides in a majority vote of
26:52the committee. So binding the committee
26:56requires or binding the district
27:00requires
27:02school committee action. So while you do
27:05delegate some limit authority to
27:09your superintendent and his leadership
27:11team,
27:13you continue to hold on to that cor and
27:17our Supreme Court has told us this.
27:20The school committee continues to hold
27:23even when it may narrowly delegate
27:26authority to the superintendent
27:28appropriately through the statute.
27:31ultimately is the majority of the school
27:33committee that can bind the district. So
27:37that's in your relations with your
27:39community, that's in your relations with
27:41your municipality, it's in your
27:44relationship with your collective
27:46bargaining groups, it's in relationship
27:48with your administrators.
27:53And again, there's several ways that you
27:56get to that road. And Dion, as Dion
27:59mentioned, we're going to talk about
28:00that in a little more detail later, but
28:02because you approve contract templates,
28:04then authorize the superintendent to
28:06enter into them. You get those give the
28:08superintendent those guidelines within
28:10budget authorities to enter into those
28:12program contracts with education
28:14partners. Uh, but to bind the district,
28:16it needs to come to you. Sorry to
28:18interrupt you. Go ahead. You can pick up
28:21with the nuts and bolts. There are uh
28:29I don't think you want to give me that
28:30power.
28:32>> Um, all right. So,
28:35we could move on from the powers and
28:37responsibilities. And just to let you
28:38know, the packets that you have in front
28:39of you are uh aside from some uh small
28:43tweaking and some formatting uh
28:45differences, they are uh aligned or much
28:49uh much aligned with the policies as
28:51they are written. Um the very next uh
28:55section we're going to go over because
28:56we're trying to present this in blocks.
28:58We talked about um why the school
29:01committee has authority, where it comes
29:03from, what kind of powers and
29:04responsibilities and we want to kind of
29:06go the overview of the committee itself
29:09and how it is structured. And so uh you
29:11do have a policy BDB um is uh defines
29:16the officers of the committee. So the
29:18first officer that is defined is the
29:21chair. uh the chairperson shall presside
29:25at all meetings of the committee and
29:26receive all communications and sign all
29:28documents approved by and on behalf of
29:30the committee.
29:32That first sentence is very key because
29:34presiding uh over all meetings or
29:36presiding over meetings in general is a
29:41lion share the responsibility of the
29:43chair. The meeting is something that
29:46everybody has equally the opportunity to
29:48participate in as school committee
29:50members. it is the chair that kind of
29:52sets the rules and the tone going
29:54forward as far as how this meeting is
29:56going to progress. So often times when
29:58uh you know it's not just being polite
30:00when you ask the chair for permission to
30:02address the school committee or to have
30:03the floor. She bec she in this case Miss
30:07Bonolo is the presiding officer. She's
30:10the one who gives permission. Uh and
30:13we're going to talk about a little bit
30:14of other kind of rules and procedure
30:16that we have to follow. But the person
30:17that is kind of managing that we're
30:20following those rules, making sure that
30:22uh that if there's a motion, uh if
30:25there's a second, uh that uh that
30:27there's discussion, that everybody has
30:29opportunity to voice their opinion, uh
30:31that they are doing so respectfully, uh
30:34if there needs to be a recess because
30:36you maybe, you know, uh the conversation
30:38is getting to a point where that maybe a
30:40break is required or because it's been a
30:42long day. uh that is something that the
30:44presiding officer can manage uh and and
30:48how we can uh stay on track from meeting
30:51uh to meeting. Uh
30:54the chairperson shall be responsible for
30:56enforcing the committee's policies
30:58relating to the order of business.
30:59Again, that goes back into that role as
31:01a presiding officer. Uh, and the conduct
31:04of meetings, recognizing persons who
31:06desire to speak, protecting the speaker
31:07who has the floor from disturbance or
31:09interference, and explaining what effect
31:11of a motion would be uh if this is not
31:14clear to members. Um,
31:17again, very key. Now, the clerk has a
31:19significant role as far as making sure
31:21she's recording the motion, making sure
31:22that it's understood well enough for her
31:25to be able to record what it was and
31:26what the subsequent vote would be about.
31:28Uh but it is the chair's direct
31:30responsibility to ask for clarification.
31:33That that would be where where the the
31:35chair would come in to make sure things
31:37are clear before moving forward. Um
31:42the chairperson shall be responsible for
31:43the certification of all bills and
31:45documents except those that where the
31:47contract or instrument is so written and
31:48voted that the signature of members is
31:51required. Every now and then we'll get a
31:52contract sometimes from RIDE that
31:54requires everybody uh on the school
31:56committee to sign. Uh oftentimes though,
31:58if it's a contract with uh say some kind
32:01of vendor for goods or services, we
32:03could designate a person to sign whether
32:05that's the chair or the superintendent
32:06if that authority is delegated to him.
32:09The chairperson may take emergency
32:10action including the expedential of
32:12funds if such action is required before
32:14a special meeting of the committee can
32:16be called. He or she must however get
32:18the committee's approval of his or her
32:20emergency action not later than the next
32:22special or regular meeting. I don't know
32:24if Bill could speak on to whether or not
32:26this has occurred in in in his past as
32:29legal counsel for a school committee,
32:31but this would be a rare instance for
32:33sure. So
32:38>> it has So there's been
32:41essentially
32:44the two experiences where I've had this
32:46have both been the result of um climate
32:50events that have caused damage. Um in
32:53order to get the school open, emergency
32:55things had to be done that were not
32:57provided for in the budget.
33:00And that's the best example I can think
33:03of, but you know, we've got um you know,
33:05we've got the bomb cyclone coming at us
33:07on Monday, for instance, right? And the
33:10bomb cyclone snowstorm
33:13uh you know, causes some kind of
33:15catastrophic u infrastructure failure.
33:19We want to get schools open, right? The
33:23chair has the authority on an emergency
33:25basis, even if the funds aren't budgeted
33:27to do it, to incur that. but they've got
33:29to get to you right away um and get it
33:32approved or ratified. Question always
33:34becomes what happens if the school
33:36committee doesn't ratify that emergency
33:39expenditure. I don't know the answer to
33:40that um because in both occasions it was
33:44ratified. Ultimately the legal answer is
33:47that the school committee because of
33:50that authority uh the school district is
33:53bound by it. In other words, those
33:55vendors that did that work are going to
33:57get paid. The result is or the question
34:00is, so what are the consequences of
34:01those vendors getting paid? Where does
34:03it go from there? But in each of those
34:05occasions, um the school committee
34:08ratified those emergency expenditures.
34:10Um in both occasions it was a high
34:12school facility that had catastrophic
34:14infrastructure failures as a result of
34:17weather events and um emergency repairs
34:20needed to be done and the school chair
34:23authorized it and the school committees
34:25ratified it. So, a committee comes down
34:27to the exception, but it still requires
34:30the committee to approval after the
34:32fact. Um, which kind of goes to what
34:35we're going to talk about next, and it's
34:36going to keep uh coming up throughout
34:38some of these different policies that
34:40we're going to discuss, which is the
34:41school committee acts as a body.
34:45No individual school committee could
34:47make a unal authority decision or have
34:49authority to make unal decisions that
34:51will affect the district or the body. So
34:53in the extent of an emergency situation
34:55with to the extent that that uh
34:58exception uh that those circumstances
35:00arise, the chair can make some
35:03unilateral decisions, but ultimately
35:05still has to go back and answer to the
35:06full school committee. And for every
35:09other instance, it is the school
35:10committee as a whole that needs to
35:11approve of actions uh and make decisions
35:14that are going to impact the district.
35:17All members of the school committee
35:18shall have in shall receive copies and
35:20writing of any communication to and from
35:22the chairperson of the school committee
35:24when the chairpersons receiving and or
35:26making such communication in an official
35:28capacity as chairperson.
35:31If they are sending a letter to the
35:33chair of the school committee and
35:36they're saying chair chairperson uh
35:38bonolo I would like to tell the school
35:40committee x y and z. That communication
35:42is not to miss bonolo by herself. that
35:45is to the school committee to the extent
35:47that that letter gets sent to Miss
35:49Bonolo, she then sends it to everybody
35:50else. Now, if somebody sends a letter
35:53specifically to Miss Bonolo because they
35:54want because she's uh the the person
35:57they wanted to to touch base on an issue
35:59because as her capacity as an individual
36:01school committee member, well then
36:02that'd be different. She doesn't
36:03necessarily have to share that. Um, if
36:06it's a constituent that raises an issue
36:08that they're concerned about to to the
36:10same way that a constituent who reaches
36:11out to to Jim or uh to Anelise, if you
36:14they they reach out to you specifically
36:16about an issue or concern, you don't
36:17have to share that with everyone.
36:18Chances are depending on what it is,
36:20you're going to share with with your
36:21fellow committee members anyways because
36:22if you want to act on anything, you have
36:24to do so as a collective body. Uh, but
36:26it's just a different role in
36:27responsibility of the chair when they
36:29get writing and communication their
36:31capacity as chair. The chairperson shall
36:33immediately advise each member of the
36:34school committee in writing of any
36:36action which the chairperson is taking
36:37as chairperson whether it be oral or in
36:40writing including any directions to the
36:42superintendent or other school
36:44officials. There are a number of
36:47different
36:50uh provisions and other policies uh that
36:53reflect this sentiment effectively which
36:55is everyone should be on the same page.
36:58If the chair is doing something in their
37:00official capacity as chair, maybe
37:02directing the superintendent to do one
37:05thing or another thing, uh, you know,
37:07not to say that it's something that
37:09needs to be approved. It might not
37:10necessarily need to be approved. Uh, it
37:12might be just giving the superintendent
37:13a heads up or a caution maybe because
37:15they got a letter of some kind from the
37:16constituent about an issue that they're
37:19responding or or or forwarding to the
37:21superintendent. Everyone should be on
37:22the same page. And this is both for
37:24accountability for the chair as much as
37:26accountability for the superintendent
37:27that everybody's on the same page. Uh so
37:30if some issue that the chair already
37:32advised the superintendent to do
37:33something or to be cautious about
37:34something and and it doesn't get dealt
37:36with, the school committee shouldn't be
37:38hearing about it as a whole when it
37:40becomes an issue. They should know about
37:41it when when it was first addressed um
37:44and have an appreciation uh for any, you
37:47know, subsequent actions that might have
37:48to follow.
37:50uh the deputy chair
37:53is a significant position
37:56but their role is kind of the stand
37:57primarily a standby if the chair is not
38:00available. So they effectively have all
38:01the roles and responsibilities of the
38:03chair when the chair is not able to
38:05perform those duties. Um, so you know, I
38:08don't know when the last time uh Joanne
38:10took a vacation, but to the extent that
38:12she decides to take one, uh, hopefully
38:14in the near future, you know, take some
38:16well-deserved break, uh, then, you know,
38:18Miss Grant would would then step up and
38:20fulfill all the same duties and
38:21responsibilities we chose to list it.
38:24>> Before we go on to the cler, can I just
38:25add a comment? So I don't know if I I've
38:29often tried to describe
38:32um what this means what this these this
38:35means this meaning the
38:39responsibilities of a chair and a deputy
38:41chair in terms of how it interacts and
38:44how it works with the their colleagues
38:47on the committee and their u
38:51superintendent and the superintendent's
38:53leadership team and what I've described
38:56des it for in this way and I had
38:58somebody told me that it made sense to
38:59them so I'm going to repeat it um which
39:02is that
39:04it's a comparison between being the
39:06organizational leader
39:08and the kind of Orwellian concept of oh
39:11well I'm the most equal among equals
39:13right it's not the Orwellian concept
39:15it's not I'm the most equal among equals
39:18it's that I am the organizational leader
39:22I am the person that you know leads the
39:24discussions leads the communications
39:26takes responsibility for getting all of
39:29those um members of the committee in
39:33lines of communication, that
39:35collaboration and working together that
39:37um Dioni talked about. So, you know,
39:40it's and and sometimes it does mean just
39:43taking initiative right when the moment
39:46calls for it. But it's the idea that you
39:49take on some significant leadership
39:51responsibilities when you decide to um
39:55take on the position of chair. But in
39:58terms of the authority of the committee,
40:01it still works as a body. It still works
40:03as a whole. So, you know, the comparison
40:07between it's an organizational leader,
40:10um, and it's, you know, that for all of
40:12us who at some point in our lives read
40:141984, it's not the I'm the most equal
40:17among equals.
40:19So, if that helps um, put it in
40:23perspective, um, fine. If it doesn't,
40:26don't worry about it. Don't even think
40:28about it. But anyway, somebody once told
40:30me that was a good comparison, so I
40:32share it.
40:35Uh so the the clerk uh position the
40:38clerk of the committee shall record all
40:41business thereof in accordance with
40:43Sturgis. We're going to get into what
40:44Sturgis is in a bit and shall file all
40:47communications and other papers by
40:48direction of the committee in accordance
40:50with uh the open meetings act. Um, this
40:54is effectively the it's primarily if
40:57we're going to think of uh the minutes
40:58that uh as I hear her typing right now
41:01that uh that Jill is typing uh finalized
41:05once approved she file she files it with
41:07the secretary of state's website. Uh in
41:09accordance with 1626 the clerk may sign
41:12any orders or official papers. uh 626 is
41:16specifically
41:18um
41:20a uh statute under title 16 that talks
41:23about uh the role of the clerk. So it
41:25goes the school committee of each city
41:27or town shall choose a chairperson and
41:29clerk either of whom may sign in any
41:33orders or official papers and may be
41:35removed at the pleasure of the
41:37committee. The clerk under direction of
41:39the committee shall keep a journal of
41:41the proceedings of the committee. Uh so
41:43in this case 1626 talks about
41:46chairperson and the clerk. Uh statutoily
41:49gives uh the the school committee the
41:52prerogative to uh choose both of those
41:54positions and that those positions serve
41:56at the pleasure uh of that committee um
41:59at least in those respective roles. Uh
42:04lastly, the clerk, thank you. There's
42:06another page. The clerk shall
42:07immediately advise uh each member of the
42:09school committee in writing of any
42:11action which the clerk is taking at the
42:12representative of the school committee,
42:14whether it be oral or in writing, he or
42:16she shall notify in writing or by
42:17electronic transmission. Each member of
42:19the committee of every meeting, the
42:21notice uh to be posted at least two days
42:23prior to the time of the meeting. uh
42:24that's in compliance with uh the OMA
42:27although uh Jill every you know when she
42:29can she'll try to beat that 2 days uh
42:31for sure. Uh he or she shall also notify
42:35new members of the meeting for
42:36organization. Uh he or she shall
42:39properly uh number all resolutions,
42:42reports and petitions and communications
42:43presented at any meeting of the
42:45committee or filed by uh her and place
42:48them on the agenda. Uh so a lot that's
42:51kind defining the majority of the role
42:53of the clerk. Um
42:56this is the continuation in section
42:58three in the case of the absence of a
43:00chairperson deputy chairperson. So in
43:03this case and let's say uh miss bonolo
43:05miss grant on vacation uh he or she
43:08shall call the committee meeting to
43:10order and shall preside until the
43:11election of a chairperson for 10. So, in
43:14the event that your cl your chair and
43:17deputy chair are not present, but there
43:19is a quorum and you're going to advance
43:21the meeting either way, it is the
43:23clerk's responsibility to call the
43:24meeting into order and preside for as
43:27long as there's a vote to to uh elect a
43:30chairperson for temp. So uh in this in
43:33that hypothetical Jill will
43:36start the meeting uh indicate that the
43:38chair and deputy chair are not present
43:40indicate that there needs to be a vote
43:41for a chair prom uh and somebody would
43:45make a motion second discussion vote and
43:47at that point that new person will chair
43:49that meeting for that meeting. uh he or
43:53she shall also call the yays and nays
43:55upon request of any member and record
43:57the same and shall perform such duties
43:59in connection with his or her office as
44:01a committee shall direct. U there are
44:03sometimes where there's a roll call vote
44:06by necessity and sometimes there could
44:07be a roll call vote because somebody
44:09wants a roll call vote. Uh so that's
44:11something to keep in mind as school
44:12committee members. uh if you think it's
44:15important because of the nature of the
44:16vote that there should be a roll call
44:18vote, you could ask for one and we can
44:20go from there. Uh within the time frame
44:22uh specified and in 42467, the clerk of
44:26the school committee shall furnish each
44:27member of the committee a copy of the
44:28minutes. We talked about that a little
44:30bit from the previous section of regular
44:32or special meetings of the school
44:33committee. Executive sessions or
44:35conferences and negotiating sessions
44:37shall be retained by the clerk of the
44:39school committee. uh retained by the
44:42clerk for the school committee. The
44:45clerk works for the school committee,
44:46keeps and maintains these minutes so
44:48that any school committee could then go
44:50uh member could go to the clerk and ask
44:51for, you know, minutes from this day or
44:53that day or to the extent that they're
44:56not made, they should be in the
44:58secretary of state's website, but in the
44:59off chance that it's like an executive
45:00session minutes that were sealed, you
45:02want to get to see those, you got you
45:04ask the clerk, you have the authority to
45:05get those.
45:07Um, it shall be open for inspection by
45:09the committee members, uh, but may not
45:11be removed from the custody of the
45:12clerk. No shall copies be made available
45:14or distributed without majority vote of
45:16the committee. Uh the clerk shall
45:18furnish the superintendent of schools
45:20assist superintendent and each member of
45:22the committee the agenda for all regular
45:23meetings of the school committee uh at
45:25least 48 hours in advance. Again this is
45:28in line with the May restriction of uh
45:30that has to be posted with 48 hours but
45:32this is goes a little bit more beyond
45:35that in that it actually mandates the
45:36clerk to send a copy to the
45:38superintendent assist superintendent to
45:40each member of the committee.
45:42That's, you know, to to save them the
45:44trouble of having to go to Secretary of
45:45State's website to try to look it up,
45:46but that's something that's already
45:47being done as well. All business to be
45:49transacted at a regular meeting of the
45:51school committee shall be submitted to
45:52the clerk to allow enough time for the
45:53clerk to comply with the forementioned
45:55deadline. The deadline as is established
45:58in the policy and by state law and the
46:00open meetings act.
46:04May I one edit one one u one editorial
46:08note that's all and this is for our
46:10policy subcommittee you notice in
46:12section three we specifically reference
46:14Sturis fourth edition Sturgis is no more
46:19um the American Institute of
46:21Parliamentarian Standard Code of
46:23parliamentary procedure has officially
46:27renamed Sturis
46:30so our Sturgis fourth edition is not out
46:32there anymore so It's it's it's
46:34essentially the same. Um it's I don't
46:37even know what the updates are. I've
46:39looked at it, tagged a few things in
46:41here of interest, but um editorial note
46:45um for our policy when you get to it.
46:48It's just um there is no more Sturgis.
46:50There's no more fourth edition. It's now
46:52officially the American Institute of
46:54Parliamentarians Standard Code of
46:56Parliamentary Procedure. So if you're
46:58out if you're out there looking for it
46:59online, this is the one to get.
47:02>> Whoa.
47:03Well, formerly, yeah, for aka formerly
47:05known as Sturgis. Formerly known as
47:08Durges. Sorry, Jim. Go ahead.
47:14>> Organizational meeting. We shall talk
47:16about the officers. Now, we're going to
47:17go into how we uh choose those officers.
47:19The annual meeting. Annual school
47:20committee meeting for organization shall
47:22be held on the first. So, this is what
47:24there's a couple of policies that
47:25actually are really specific as to date.
47:28Uh and this is one, the first Tuesday
47:30after the first Monday in January. This
47:32meeting shall be a regular meeting,
47:33which means that technically in that
47:35first meeting you could conduct business
47:37as you would in in a regular meeting,
47:38but in most instances we're just doing
47:41the organizational meeting. We're only
47:42just picking the officers. Jim, you have
47:44a
47:53>> why
47:55phrase that hey ch always hated it and
47:58now it's in our policy. It was supposed
48:00to be at the beginning of a regular
48:01school committee meeting anyway.
48:03>> Oh, no, no. It's it's a it's a meeting
48:05that's specific to this organizational
48:07meeting. You could add stuff to it.
48:10>> Oh, so we still have to do this. Look at
48:12me. I'm
48:12>> so So this is actually different from
48:14when we talk about uh the meetings, the
48:15regular meetings, there's a different
48:17prescribed schedule for it. But for the
48:19first organizational meeting has to be
48:21the first Monday, first Tuesday after
48:23the first Monday in January. That's a
48:25little different from
48:27>> first regular meeting. That's
48:28technically the first regular meeting of
48:30the year. It's the organizational
48:31meeting.
48:32>> So we shouldn't have it as a
48:33organizational meeting. We we need to
48:36have organizational
48:38>> but then a regular meeting has to happen
48:39right after.
48:40>> No, you No, no, no. It's a
48:42organizational meeting is a regular
48:44meeting.
48:45>> In other words, you could tack other
48:47things on to the organizational meeting
48:49after you have organizational meeting.
48:50>> But in correct me, we haven't been doing
48:52that.
48:53>> But by choice.
48:54>> Okay. Can I
48:56>> Yeah. Yeah.
48:58choice by because I not been doing and I
49:01was told no no we haven't
49:04>> this is the first time I'm seeing this
49:05>> so so let me uh let me give you the
49:06scenario it makes more sense that an
49:10organizational meeting be just about the
49:13organizational meeting or the selection
49:15of officers and the clerk when we're
49:17having a new school committee coming on
49:19to on board right so right uh not this
49:22past January January before that you
49:25have new members you're not going to
49:27launch them into a with with new
49:29business when they just got elected.
49:31It's their first meeting and there's no
49:33chair yet and there's no clerk yet.
49:35>> Maybe that's what I fell into because I
49:37was used to it. So I was a new member
49:39but I I
49:40>> the only time it would make sense to
49:42possibly tack on the you know old
49:44business and new business onto an
49:46organizational meeting agenda would
49:48probably be when it's mid year. So it's
49:51the same members from one year to the
49:53next and there may be a change in chair
49:55or there may not be a change in chair.
49:57There might be a change of clerk but
49:58there may not be a change of clerk. That
49:59makes sense because the people who
50:01actually you know the public body itself
50:03is the same. Uh the roles might change
50:06>> but going forward the chair does have
50:08permission to make it part of
50:12put it put in the beginning. So next
50:15January on the first Tuesday after the
50:17first Monday in Jan if you wanted to
50:20approve a contract of some kind of you
50:22could put it on the agenda
50:24>> or if you wanted to approve a low policy
50:25for the first reading I guess you
50:26arguably could do that too
50:30>> new school committee at that time
50:31however
50:32>> that's when it probably wouldn't make
50:33sense
50:35yeah and the person deciding that agenda
50:38in that instance are the former uh
50:40school committee members uh
50:43>> this the former Yeah. potentially,
50:45right? So, um you wouldn't want to
50:48because that's the first time that
50:49they're going to meet as a new school
50:51committee member. So, they're not going
50:52to be able to craft um an agenda. So,
50:55the only time it would make sense, I
50:57guess, again going back to what I said
50:58originally to Mr. Buck's point, wouldn't
51:00it would be 2028
51:03on the first Tuesday after the first
51:05Monday in January where you could put
51:07additional business on. Yeah. So we can
51:09change the policy to have it sooner.
51:15Correct.
51:15>> You could except I think that this was
51:18smartly done at the time the the because
51:22of depending on what day of the week
51:24that uh the year starts.
51:27That's kind of a a moving uh so this
51:29this kind of ensures uh that the first
51:33full week of Monday that Tuesday is when
51:35you're going to have it. So as opposed
51:37to the first Tuesday of every year, that
51:40could be the first so the first the year
51:42you have a school uh which might be a
51:45forum depending on the situation, right?
51:47Or or just a intermediate time frame
51:50that that there could be a meeting but
51:51you argue could do it earlier if the
51:54policy changes but right now this is a
51:56date that has to be done.
51:58>> Um
52:00there is a provision changing regular.
52:02So let's say you can't do it on that
52:03day. something happened and that day is
52:05the day you can't do it. When we're
52:07talking about regular meetings later on,
52:08there's a provision where regular
52:09meetings could be changed by consent of
52:11the school committee. Uh we'll talk
52:13about that in a little bit. So, there is
52:15some provisions that might allow us to
52:18change it, maybe move it up, maybe move
52:20it back. Uh but the rule is always going
52:22to be this unless that happens. First
52:24Tuesday after the first Monday in
52:25January.
52:27>> Yes.
52:27>> Yeah.
52:28That's not just for organization
52:31educating that that word. We have to
52:34have all our meetings the first Tuesday
52:36after the first month.
52:37>> We're going to get to that. Okay. We're
52:38going to get to regular that there's
52:39another section that talks about
52:40meetings in general and it gives us a
52:42different time frame.
52:45>> Take a quick break
52:48from me.
52:51>> Yeah.
53:05meeting resumes at 9:31. Welcome back.
53:09And we shall continue with Dioni Garcia.
53:13>> Thank you. Uh and and H did bring up a
53:16good point. oftentimes when it's a new
53:17school committee, new start of a new
53:19term, um
53:22the time that the new members are sworn
53:23in is is like a week prior to this if if
53:27that. Uh so it kind of makes sense that
53:30the first meeting for a new term of the
53:32school committee uh just be the
53:34organizational meeting, but midterm
53:37that's always open. And it almost
53:39occurred this this January too because
53:41there were some uh hold over items from
53:44December that they was contemplating to
53:46put in in January, but uh there was a
53:49decision not to put it on there just
53:50because of you know whether those
53:52matters were necessarily ready at that
53:54time. But it could have been. It was
53:55contemplated. It just wasn't done this
53:56year, but it almost was. Uh the
53:58committee shall organize by electing by
54:00voting a chairperson and deputy
54:02chairperson. uh these elected officials
54:04may be reelected for succeeding years
54:06and can be removed by a majority vote of
54:08the committee. Uh a clerk shall be
54:10elected by voting for a period of one
54:12year. This is is is important uh in the
54:15sense that um there's a difference in
54:18language between two and three that is
54:20noteworthy. U the school committee
54:22organized by electing a voting of
54:23chairperson and deputy chairperson. They
54:25may be reelected for succeeding years
54:28and can be removed uh by majority vote
54:30of the committee. Okay.
54:34There's no time limit there.
54:37So the chair technically continues being
54:39chair for one from one year to the next
54:41if they're still with the school
54:42committee. There is a time limit for the
54:44clerk.
54:46It's only inconvenient when uh that
54:49that's only inconvenient when the
54:51organizational meeting happens after
54:54that one-year period because then
54:55technically that first meeting you don't
54:56have a clerk until you elect one. But in
54:58most instances there's overlap by a day
55:00or two. So this past year there was uh I
55:04forget what the dates exactly but uh
55:06Jill was appointed clerk uh previously
55:09on the 7th and then on the 5th was that
55:11organizational meeting for this past
55:12year. So she was still clerk for at
55:13least two more days until she got
55:15renewed for a subsequent year. Uh but
55:18the chairperson and deputy chairperson
55:20they retained their role until they
55:21there's a new election for another one.
55:23There's just a different in language
55:24there. Uh a little bit more limiting for
55:26the clerk. It's definitively a year
55:32uh code of basic management and
55:33principles and ethical school standards.
55:35Now, I'm not going to read all all of
55:36them, but it's one of those things where
55:38I listed all of the provisions. Uh if
55:41you read them, there are 14. Um they are
55:46uh reflective of uh the statute. It's
55:50not listed there, but I think we looked
55:52it up yesterday. 162
55:54was it 9.1? 9.1 uh and uh it talks about
56:00uh kind of the code of conduct code of
56:03basic management principles and ethical
56:05school standards. Doug school committee
56:07does hereby establish a code of basic
56:09principles and ethical standards for the
56:11school committee members acting
56:13individually collectively as boards of
56:16uh education in the management of public
56:18schools of Pucket. School Committee in
56:20Pucket accepts obligations to operate
56:22the the public schools in accordance
56:24with the fundamental principles and
56:25standards of school management uh which
56:28principles include but are not limited
56:30to the following.
56:33So these are prescribed by statute.
56:35These are adopted by policy. Arguably
56:38this school committee could add more uh
56:41provisions for principles and ethical
56:43school standards. Uh but these bottom
56:45line are what they are. So uh just kind
56:48of highlight some that are uh
56:50noteworthy. Um
56:53we have a number one again uh number one
56:56for a purpose recognize uh the first and
56:58greatest concern must be the educational
57:00welfare of the students attending the
57:02public schools above and beyond all
57:03other uh uh you know ethical standards.
57:06That is the the primary one. Uh two as I
57:10indicated before two and three talk
57:12about policies again formulate written
57:14policies for the administration of
57:15schools to be reviewed regularly uh and
57:17revised as necessary exercise
57:19legislative policym planning and
57:21appraising functions and delegate
57:22administrative functions in the
57:24operation of schools. Again policy is a
57:26very
57:28weighty uh responsibility of the school
57:31committee. A lot of your authority is
57:32going to be exercised through policy uh
57:35and and making sure you set the
57:37standards for which you want the
57:38administration to follow.
57:41Um
57:43let's see here. And also just on that
57:45note, uh number seven, act on
57:46legislative and policymatters only after
57:49examining pertinent facts and
57:51considering the superintendent's
57:52recommendation. Uh again, policy keeps
57:55coming up as an important uh uh role of
57:59the school committee. uh conduct conduct
58:01meetings with planned and published
58:03agendas.
58:04That's also a legal requirement. The OMA
58:07has that as a requirement. It's also
58:08reflective of other policies we should
58:10discuss. Uh encourage and promote
58:13professional growth of school staff so
58:14the quality instruction support services
58:16may continually improve. Establish and
58:18maintain procedural uh steps for
58:20resolving complaints and criticism of
58:22school affairs. Act only through the
58:25public meeting since the individual
58:26board members have no authority to bind
58:28the board.
58:30That's very important. We've already
58:31addressed it. It's going to keep coming
58:33up acting only through public meetings.
58:35That's also a legal requirement of the
58:37OMA. But to also act collectively, which
58:40is the nature of the of of this public
58:42body, no individual member could bind
58:44the board uh speak for the board uh
58:47affirmatively act for the board uh
58:49without uh the full school committee
58:50support and approval.
58:53uh not pull the majority. Uh work with
58:56other committee members to establish
58:57effective board policies and delegate
58:58authority for the administration of
59:00schools to the superintendent. Uh avoid
59:02being placed in a position of conflict
59:04of interest and refrain from using
59:05committee positions for personal gain.
59:07Attend all regularly scheduled meetings
59:10as possible and become informed concern
59:13of uh concerning the issues to be
59:15considered at those meetings.
59:17I said I wasn't going to read all of
59:18them and I did. Uh, so I saw Jim already
59:21kind of smiling, so I knew where that
59:22was going. Uh,
59:25yes,
59:28>> members, um, need to act through public
59:30meetings. It says no authority to bind
59:32the board. In this reference, the word
59:34board is referencing the school
59:35committee. Just wanted for
59:37clarification. It wasn't board of ed.
59:40>> Thank you.
59:41>> You also can't bind the board of ed to
59:44anything.
59:44>> Uh, but but yes, no, I get your point.
59:46Uh I think that the statute does switch
59:49from board to committee sometimes uh or
59:51governing body and it it's it's all
59:53synonymous. Uh
59:57okay. Um
1:00:00that gets us to the code of ethics. This
1:00:03was created by the school committee. Um
1:00:07and could there could be changes to this
1:00:10uh to the extent that it complies with
1:00:13uh aligns with state statute. Uh but
1:00:16this is something that if anybody thinks
1:00:18of adding a a bullet point, you
1:00:20certainly can. Um and so this is
1:00:25uh a list of uh commitments that you all
1:00:29have or bound by uh policy as school
1:00:32committee members. I will continuously
1:00:33be guided by what is best for all
1:00:35students of the district. That was the
1:00:36first uh uh you know um of the previous
1:00:40principles and ethical standards that we
1:00:42read reflective of that. I will
1:00:44consistently uphold all applicable laws,
1:00:46rules and policies and governance
1:00:47procedures.
1:00:49Again, this is a commitment. The
1:00:50policies, the governance procedures are
1:00:52what we're covering today. Uh policies
1:00:55again, we're be these are all the
1:00:56policies that we're we're dealing with
1:00:57today. There's other policies that are
1:00:59going beyond governance that we'd have
1:01:01to comply with as well. Uh rules and
1:01:03laws obviously uh we have the statutory
1:01:05prerogative as Bill indicated. we are
1:01:08agents of the state or we act
1:01:09effectively as agents of the state in
1:01:11our role uh as a public body over public
1:01:16schools and we have to follow you know
1:01:18title 16 is effectively our viable for
1:01:20that end I will consistently uphold the
1:01:22code of ethics of the Ryland ethics
1:01:24commission we didn't get into that but
1:01:26there's a whole as as elected officials
1:01:29a whole bunch of uh requirements to act
1:01:32if there's ever a concern of whether or
1:01:34not there's a uh a question of ethics.
1:01:38Whether it's you personally concerned
1:01:39about a conflict of interest or somebody
1:01:41else, that's something that you'd bring
1:01:42to legal counsel's detention. If we have
1:01:45to go to the um uh the ethics commission
1:01:48for an opinion or or ask or inquire or
1:01:51do research, we certainly can. But
1:01:52that's something you should everybody
1:01:53should be very conscious of. Not of just
1:01:56yourself. It should be primarily
1:01:57yourself. We want to hold ourselves
1:01:59accountable uh the most, but of other
1:02:02folks as well. You want to make sure we
1:02:03catch an issue before it becomes an
1:02:05issue. Um, I will not use my office as a
1:02:08member of the school committee to
1:02:09solicit donations or favors. I will
1:02:11respect the majority decision as a
1:02:13decision of the committee. That's a hard
1:02:15one to do. I'm not an elected official.
1:02:17My name is not on uh any of the little
1:02:20name plates. And so when you act as a
1:02:22body, you may not be happy with a
1:02:23decision that is made. Uh but this is
1:02:26one of the commitments you make as
1:02:28school committee members uh that
1:02:29whatever the majority decides you will
1:02:31be going with because you are part of
1:02:32the committee. I will avoid personal
1:02:34involvement in activities the school
1:02:36committee has delegated to the
1:02:37superintendent.
1:02:39There are responsibilities and duties
1:02:41that are delegated to the
1:02:42superintendent. And then there are
1:02:44statutory duties and responsibilities
1:02:45are only of the superintendent and this
1:02:47would apply to either or. We're not
1:02:49doing the job for the superintendent. We
1:02:51we're holding him accountable for doing
1:02:53his job, evaluating him when the
1:02:55evaluations have to come up. U you know
1:02:58bringing things to his attention that we
1:02:59think of concern, but it is up to him to
1:03:01do the work. Um, I will refuse to
1:03:04surrender my judgment to any individual
1:03:06or group at the expense uh at the
1:03:09expense of the district as a whole. This
1:03:11is important too because it it it
1:03:13doesn't it counters but doesn't uh
1:03:16contradict uh respecting the majority
1:03:19decision of the committee.
1:03:22Everybody here has an individual
1:03:23opinion. They have every right to voice
1:03:25it. uh and in discussion you don't have
1:03:28to change what you feel or believe is
1:03:30important to highlight or if you want to
1:03:32dissent in some way in discussion uh or
1:03:36in subsequent conversations about an
1:03:37issue you certainly can uh you're not
1:03:40surrendering your judgment the
1:03:42difference would be is if you decide
1:03:43just not to follow something that is
1:03:45decided by the whole committee but you
1:03:46could voice your descent if there is an
1:03:48issue that is important to you I will be
1:03:50fair just and impartial in all decision
1:03:52and actions I will accord others uh the
1:03:55respect I wish for myself the whole
1:03:57golden rule idea, right? Um these are
1:03:59all commitments that we make as or you
1:04:02folks make as school committee members
1:04:03and if you think of adding more, you
1:04:05can. Um I will encourage expressions of
1:04:08different opinions and listen with an
1:04:10open mind. This is something that the
1:04:12chair has a significant role to play
1:04:14especially when a motion is made.
1:04:16Second, there's discussion making sure
1:04:18that everybody has opportunity to voice
1:04:20their opinion uh before it goes on to a
1:04:22vote. I will accurately represent a
1:04:24district policy uh program and
1:04:27priorities in progress. Uh I will be
1:04:29accessible to the community, seek its
1:04:31involvement. I will work to ensure
1:04:32prudent and accountable use of district
1:04:34resources. I will always tell the truth.
1:04:36I will share my views while working for
1:04:39consensus. Uh I will base my decisions
1:04:42on facts. I will consider each issue on
1:04:44its merits. Uh I will not make
1:04:47statements to the media regarding
1:04:48personnel or other matters protected by
1:04:51law. The other matters picked by law,
1:04:53you could imagine student records,
1:04:55student issues. You're not going to uh,
1:04:57you know, make comments to the media
1:04:59regarding that. We'll have a media
1:05:01policy communication we're going to
1:05:02discuss in a second as well. Um, but
1:05:04again, these are all things that if if
1:05:06any school committee member feels
1:05:08inspired to add to this list, they can.
1:05:12Um
1:05:15next
1:05:20subcommittees
1:05:23uh the committee may have standing
1:05:25committees established at any time. Now
1:05:27this policy doesn't mention ad hoc
1:05:28committees expressly mentioned. It does
1:05:31sort of mention it down uh down in in
1:05:34one of the provisions we're about to
1:05:35cover. What it's expressly covers is
1:05:38standing committees.
1:05:40Now standing committee means from year
1:05:42to year that committee is there. That
1:05:44doesn't mean that you can't dissolve a
1:05:45particular committee with the exceptions
1:05:47of certain committees that are required
1:05:48by law. Wellness is required by law. You
1:05:51can't get rid of wellness. So from year
1:05:53to year that's a standing committee uh
1:05:55that the school committee has a
1:05:57prerogative to make sure that they are
1:05:59actually active. Uh
1:06:03and so uh this is referring to to to
1:06:06standing committees uh but it also makes
1:06:08reference to subcommittees in general.
1:06:10We'll get to that in a second.
1:06:11Subcommittees may be created for a
1:06:12specific purpose and to make
1:06:14recommendations for the committee
1:06:15action. Subcommittees do not act in lie
1:06:18of the full school committee. A
1:06:19subcommittee can't make a decision that
1:06:20binds a full school committee. At most
1:06:23they are making recommendations to the
1:06:24school committee. The way it's supposed
1:06:26to work is that you want the
1:06:27subcommittee to do all the leg work and
1:06:29you want to trust their recommendation
1:06:32uh going forward. But you may disagree
1:06:34with that recommendation and as a body
1:06:36you can decide not to go for that
1:06:37recommendation. Um the subcommittee will
1:06:40be established through action of the
1:06:41committee. One member can't start a
1:06:44committee.
1:06:45A subcommittee can't create another
1:06:47subcommittee.
1:06:49Subcommittees have to be created by the
1:06:50full committee. and what they're
1:06:53responsible for is something that the
1:06:55full school committee has to dictate. Um
1:06:58so with the exception of again wellness
1:07:00uh where their duties are already
1:07:02prescribed, the school committee could
1:07:04also add things to wellness to consider
1:07:06or refer things to wellness to consider.
1:07:08But generally speaking, when a school
1:07:10committee creates a subcommittee,
1:07:11they're also creating the terms in which
1:07:13they're supposed to act. We want you to
1:07:15focus on X and we want you to bring back
1:07:17a recommendation on Y. that those are
1:07:20terms that could be dictated by the full
1:07:21scope. Uh the subcommittee chairperson
1:07:24will be appointed by the committee
1:07:25chairperson subject to the approval of
1:07:27the committee. Chair decides who the
1:07:29chair of the subcommittee is going to
1:07:32be.
1:07:34They nominate we'll call it and then the
1:07:36full school committee could could
1:07:37approve of that individual. The rest of
1:07:39the members of the school committee are
1:07:41not chosen by the full committee. You're
1:07:44picking your chair of the subcommittee.
1:07:47The subcommittee chair then decides to
1:07:50populate their subcommittee based on
1:07:52whatever prerogatives were given. The
1:07:53school committee can say, "Hey, we want
1:07:54to finance a subcommittee.
1:07:57Uh
1:07:59Mr. Chal is nominated to be chair of
1:08:01that subcommittee. It's approved by the
1:08:03full committee and the school full
1:08:06school committee can say that finance
1:08:08subcommittee has to have five members.
1:08:12You would then have to pro follow that
1:08:14suit. But it doesn't it will never
1:08:16necessarily say I guess it could say but
1:08:18it doesn't have to say who those five
1:08:20members are. So that's something to
1:08:22consider. Um
1:08:25the subcommittee will be provided with a
1:08:26list of its functions and duties. I
1:08:28think that sometimes is missed or a
1:08:30little lacking. I think we're getting a
1:08:31lot better uh with it as of late. When
1:08:33we create a subcommittee we should
1:08:35expressly say it's designed to do this.
1:08:39uh and especially with the ad hoc uh
1:08:41subcommittee on redistricting, they were
1:08:44uh given there was a there was the one
1:08:45that I saw with the most detail in the
1:08:47sense of you want this types of members,
1:08:50we want this type of timeline uh and
1:08:54they were released to do what they had
1:08:55to do and that was approved by uh the
1:08:57school committee.
1:08:59Uh the subcommittee may make
1:09:01recommendations for the committee action
1:09:02but it may not act for the committee. We
1:09:04we established that. That's important to
1:09:05note though uh the subcommittee will
1:09:07function in accordance with 4246 that's
1:09:09the open meeting act in regards to
1:09:11agendas and minutes subcommittees they
1:09:13post their minutes they post their
1:09:14agendas uh within the same timeline that
1:09:16we were discussing about the school
1:09:18committee meetings a subcommittee will
1:09:20be dissolved
1:09:22uh a subcommittee will be dissolved by
1:09:24the committee upon completion of the
1:09:25assignment or may be dissolved by a vote
1:09:27of the committee at any time the
1:09:29exception is again wellness you're not
1:09:31going to be able to do that but for
1:09:32every other subcommittee it's not
1:09:34required ired by statute, the school
1:09:36committee could dissolve them or it
1:09:39could say you're automatically resolved
1:09:41dissolved once you completed your
1:09:43action. So like let's say the idea is to
1:09:45recommend uh you know the best sandwich
1:09:48of the school districts.
1:09:51I don't know why I went with that one.
1:09:56>> Yeah. Yeah. I'm thinking about a
1:09:57sandwich at this point. Uh so sorry now
1:10:00you're all thinking about sandwiches. Um
1:10:03so if the purpose of again redistricting
1:10:06is a good one uh example uh that once
1:10:10that issue is resolved that ad hoc
1:10:13subcommittee is dissolved. Um
1:10:21that's where we say that this policy
1:10:23although it doesn't mention ad hoc
1:10:24subcommittees it references ad hoc
1:10:26subcommittees not just not by name
1:10:31>> committee.
1:10:32>> Yeah.
1:10:33>> Do we have to make a motion that it's
1:10:35dissolved?
1:10:36>> No. Once its function is fulfilled.
1:10:37That's the whole idea of the ad hoc. The
1:10:39ad hoc is we have this issue. We're
1:10:40creating a subcommittee.
1:10:43Work on it. Report back. But once that
1:10:45is reported back, once that issue is
1:10:46resolved, the ad hoc dissolves. That's
1:10:48all ad hocs.
1:10:49>> But what if we
1:10:51like you had your committee, I have
1:10:53mine. What if um
1:10:57we plan on using it in the future?
1:11:00>> Well, then it's a standing committee.
1:11:01>> So, it'll remain standing until
1:11:04>> So, it depends on how you organize it.
1:11:05So, as a school committee, you decide,
1:11:07hey, we want a a subcommittee to look
1:11:09into this particular issue. uh that is
1:11:12going to be a standing committee going
1:11:14forward because it's a long-standing
1:11:16issue. Like think of an issue that just
1:11:17doesn't expire. Uh then until that gets
1:11:20dissolved by affirmative vote and as
1:11:22long as there's not a timeline to their
1:11:24existence, they'll continue existing.
1:11:26>> Yes. So if we want to revisit the
1:11:28cadence of those meetings, they don't
1:11:31when should we discuss that? So for
1:11:32example, if we wanted those to be
1:11:34monthly or bimonthly depending on what
1:11:36the topic is uh for something perhaps
1:11:38that we're discussing now that move its
1:11:40way into next year. Um, so I hear you
1:11:43saying that we wouldn't dissolve that
1:11:45particular subcommittee. Um, so it would
1:11:48just essentially exist and if we wanted
1:11:50to revisit it, we would discuss that at
1:11:52a at a regular school committee meeting
1:11:54>> unless a subcommittee is created and the
1:11:56school committee decides that it it's
1:11:58only to last a year. It's going to
1:12:00continue until its purpose is fulfilled.
1:12:03So if their purpose is perpetual until
1:12:05there's an affirmative vote to dissolve
1:12:07it, it continues. Uh so that would be
1:12:09effectively a standing committee. If
1:12:11it's an issue that could be resolved
1:12:12from from they there's an A to B to it
1:12:15once it gets to B it automatically
1:12:17dissolves.
1:12:18>> If they want to reinstitute it or
1:12:19continue it or change its uh purview by
1:12:22vote then it could continue.
1:12:24>> Yeah.
1:12:26Are they
1:12:29kind of thought about when we're doing
1:12:31organizational meeting like could they
1:12:33be brought in like at a later time?
1:12:36Okay. it makes sense to do it at the
1:12:37organizational meeting and I think
1:12:39actually it wasn't at the organizational
1:12:40meeting in the last couple years. It was
1:12:42done at the subsequent meeting because
1:12:44it's usually the chair that's going to
1:12:47uh appoint or or or nominate if you will
1:12:50chairs of the subcommittees. They might
1:12:51not we might not know who the chair is
1:12:53going to be on the organizational
1:12:55meeting. So it often makes sense that it
1:12:57doesn't happen until the following
1:12:59meeting after the organizational
1:13:00meeting, but it could happen then um
1:13:03depending on the on the situation. But
1:13:04at any point like if uh if you know
1:13:07granted it's on the agenda if at the
1:13:09next meeting you decided that you wanted
1:13:11to create another subcommittee you
1:13:12could. So it's not dependent on the
1:13:14beginning of the year could be at any
1:13:15point in the year depending on what
1:13:16issue you want to deal with. Yeah. So if
1:13:18you think about the ad hoc uh uh
1:13:21subcommittee on redistricting that was
1:13:23done mid year right and so then that
1:13:26continues into the next year until that
1:13:28issue is resolved uh and then it will
1:13:30dissolve. But like the really big ones
1:13:32like a fin I know wellness is is now but
1:13:34like a finance one and those
1:13:36>> can those be dissolved as well too or
1:13:38they just have to
1:13:38>> so what has happened in the past that
1:13:40the finance subcommittee has gone
1:13:42inactive
1:13:43>> in the past uh years prior and and this
1:13:46finance subcommittee you could consider
1:13:47it a uh a revival of what used to be a
1:13:51previous norm. So uh you know when when
1:13:54Jim wanted you know proposed to to
1:13:57revive it and and he was named uh as
1:14:00chair uh of that subcommittee that now
1:14:03continues. Now if there's any given year
1:14:06there is a lack of an appointment of a
1:14:07subcommittee. Let's say next year no one
1:14:10is appointed uh chair of the financial
1:14:14committee. It it could go dormant. Yeah.
1:14:16It's still a standing committee. It's
1:14:18just not activated.
1:14:19>> Yeah.
1:14:21boards fit in. Um,
1:14:24so Ry's got the community advisory
1:14:27board.
1:14:28>> So those are different. Those aren't
1:14:29subcommittees.
1:14:30>> Those are those are uh you think of it
1:14:33uh subcommittees are extension of the
1:14:35full school committee
1:14:36>> and and the committee advisory boards
1:14:39those uh those cabs are administrative
1:14:42uh boards. was more of an extension of
1:14:44of the superintendent's office uh that
1:14:46reports back uh the same way the
1:14:49superintendent reports back uh to the
1:14:51school committee. Uh but that's
1:14:53different from a subcommittee.
1:14:55>> Okay. Are there regulations on those?
1:14:59>> If you can't call something a board that
1:15:01effectively is a subcommittee and think
1:15:04that you can get around OMA. So to that
1:15:07extent that would be a problem like if
1:15:09you created a uh we're going to call a
1:15:12we're instead of calling it a finance
1:15:13subcommittee we're going to call it a
1:15:14finance board and Jim is still the chair
1:15:17of it and there's another school
1:15:19committee member on it and they're the
1:15:20ones in charge of it and it acts as a
1:15:22subcommittee but we're going to call it
1:15:23a board and so now they don't have to
1:15:25report to the you can't do that. No,
1:15:27>> but if it's a there are certain types of
1:15:29boards like the one you mentioned, the
1:15:30community advisory board that are
1:15:32created by statute. It's like a
1:15:33requirement when it comes to the
1:15:35redesign CSI school process.
1:15:38That board is created
1:15:42administratively, managed
1:15:44administratively. There was that
1:15:45confusion a couple years back where it
1:15:47was school committee members can't be
1:15:49part of it. That wasn't accurate. They
1:15:51could they just not managing it. there's
1:15:53a distinction between the subcommittee
1:15:54and the board and that's going to be ma
1:15:56mainly it you still participate and you
1:15:58still have to be mindful not to create
1:15:59an accidental quorum by if too many
1:16:02school committee members go uh but
1:16:04ultimately that's not an extension of
1:16:06the school committee it's an extension
1:16:07of the administration
1:16:13>> yeah I just want to further clarify that
1:16:14the community advisory board is is not a
1:16:16decision-making body and I I make them
1:16:18clear of that regularly um in regards to
1:16:21their roles and functions uh as an
1:16:23advisory group for the superintendent to
1:16:24which your point Dion which I report
1:16:26back to the school committee the updates
1:16:27from there
1:16:29>> and we got validation of that because
1:16:31there was an OMA complaint about cabs
1:16:33not complying to the OMA uh and and we
1:16:38won that. So this just an example of
1:16:40what we're uh that's what the law
1:16:42already kind of already says like the
1:16:44black and white of it but we also got
1:16:45validation from the AG's office on that
1:16:47point.
1:16:49If if I may just by way of followup, I
1:16:51did I I did want to um bring attention
1:16:54to um that um decision from the AG's
1:16:58office on the calves because it's it's
1:17:00important as to the cab, but it's also
1:17:03illustrative of other areas where school
1:17:08committee members participate on behalf
1:17:10of the committee, but it doesn't rise to
1:17:13the level of that bullet point where it
1:17:15says the subcommittee will function in
1:17:17accordance with 4246
1:17:20this because this issue comes up a lot
1:17:22and again the CAB is a really good
1:17:24illustration of it. It can come up a lot
1:17:26in other kinds of uh committees that the
1:17:30superintendent may put together um
1:17:33internally and invite a school committee
1:17:36member to participate in or be a part
1:17:39of. All that is fine. Well, that's good
1:17:42in fact and it creates that
1:17:43collaboration that we always talk about
1:17:46without violating the open meetings act.
1:17:48The other area where it comes up a lot
1:17:50is for instance
1:17:52um committees always designate a member
1:17:55of members to you know lead in
1:17:57collective bargaining for instance right
1:17:59um so that doesn't mean that that
1:18:01becomes a subcommittee where every
1:18:03collective bargaining session you know
1:18:05session um has to be posted with the OMA
1:18:08um you know there's all kinds of
1:18:10different um examples of that throughout
1:18:13the state school committees are very
1:18:16nimble depending upon um you know their
1:18:19community and what's efficient there.
1:18:21There's uh school committee members can
1:18:24be liaons to um municipal uh committees
1:18:29even um that doesn't create a you know
1:18:33school committee subcommittee. Uh u
1:18:36there's sometimes some some committees
1:18:38uh have liaison where there's a monthly
1:18:42or bimonthly meeting with um with the
1:18:46municipal folks and you know there's a
1:18:48couple of members of the school
1:18:50committee member that may you know be
1:18:52designated by the committee to
1:18:54participate in that that doesn't create
1:18:56a subcommittee. So, um there's lots of
1:19:01um ways of structuring operation and um
1:19:05collaboration without necessarily
1:19:07triggering all the formalities of the
1:19:09open meetings act. And just yeah, just
1:19:13want to add that
1:19:16>> the number of school committee members
1:19:17that could be on an advisory group as
1:19:20long as there's not a rolling quorum.
1:19:22Correct.
1:19:23>> Sorry. As soon as you put
1:19:26um a majority of the committee
1:19:30engaging in a function collectively,
1:19:33that's going to be um an OMA trigger
1:19:37because the OMA trigger is you the
1:19:40public body is the school committee.
1:19:41It's not the subcommittee. It's not the
1:19:44negotiating team, right? The public body
1:19:46under the OMA analysis is the school
1:19:48committee. Soon as you convene for those
1:19:51people and they are discussing something
1:19:53they have jurisdiction about
1:19:57you've triggered the OMA requirements.
1:19:59All the formalities of the OMA kick
1:20:01right in.
1:20:08>> Jim has a question.
1:20:09>> Madam Chair, I believe we're going to go
1:20:11on to school school uh protecting school
1:20:15district policies. Is that true? Okay.
1:20:18Do you want us to ask questions? I've
1:20:19been writing down questions. I can go to
1:20:21the page. I didn't want to stop the uh
1:20:23presentation, but do you want us to wait
1:20:25till the end of the full presentation?
1:20:27These are specific to the ones that
1:20:28happened before. So, it's up to
1:20:30>> So, why don't you go through those?
1:20:32>> Are you sure? I don't want to
1:20:35>> I'm going to set the table by me stating
1:20:38this is not anything personal decision
1:20:41to open up a can of worms that might
1:20:43this I'm asking these questions even if
1:20:45it's a difficult I just want just a
1:20:47black and white you've opened my eyes to
1:20:49things I thought I knew so uh super this
1:20:52has been something that has been going
1:20:54on since my first round in 04 so it's
1:20:57not a direct thing towards you I don't
1:20:58even know if you would have an issue
1:21:00with this but I've known group for
1:21:02years. I've always wanted to know who
1:21:05sets the pay rate for the teachers who
1:21:07work in a downtown position. Meaning, we
1:21:10have teachers that are part of the
1:21:12collective bargain, but then they apply
1:21:13for a position. Who sets the salaries?
1:21:16Because I've always said to myself,
1:21:19again, not this isn't I'm not saying
1:21:21accusatory, but couldn't a
1:21:24superintendent say I want a role and I'm
1:21:26going to pay them $230,000
1:21:29and then the school committee Well, I'm
1:21:32getting we've never been able to say no
1:21:35to the salary, but okay, you want the
1:21:37position. So, part of this when I saw
1:21:40responsibilities and stuff, where does
1:21:42that fall into line for us?
1:21:44>> So, I want to make sure I'm I'm
1:21:46understanding your question. So, because
1:21:49you talk about teachers, D. So first of
1:21:51all, if if as a teacher, you know, it's
1:21:56a member of the certified teachers
1:21:59union, then that's decided through the
1:22:01collective buying agreement. Any
1:22:03position identified in that CBA is set
1:22:06through the collective buying agreement.
1:22:09The committee or the superintendent
1:22:11cannot um you know, unilaterally, it's
1:22:14an unfair labor practice. if okay you're
1:22:16this position is in the bargaining unit
1:22:18but I think that position is underpaid
1:22:21um pull that pull that educator into the
1:22:25um you know into the office say you know
1:22:27what you do such a good job your
1:22:28position is so important I'm going to
1:22:30give you 2% more we can't do that
1:22:33>> now
1:22:36on the other hand if what you're talking
1:22:37about and and again stop me if I'm
1:22:39missing your question please
1:22:42the administrators has become a little
1:22:44more um I don't want to say complicated
1:22:47but it's a little more um structured
1:22:49than that in that since 2019 and even
1:22:53though it's been 2019 and here we are in
1:22:552026 those of us who have been part of
1:22:57the system for so long I think still
1:22:59have the old muscle memory and we have
1:23:01to break out of it so the um with
1:23:04administrators
1:23:06what the committee does is approve
1:23:09an administrator's
1:23:11template for a contract and My
1:23:14suggestion is, by the way, since I'll
1:23:16I'll I'll take the moment to pitch for
1:23:17this, that's that's something that
1:23:20respectfully to our superintendent of
1:23:22committee, that's something we should
1:23:23put an eyeball on and get to. Um, we
1:23:26need to we need to update that a little
1:23:28bit. That's all I'm saying. I'm not
1:23:29criticizing what's out there over the
1:23:32We've had some administrative turnover.
1:23:34So, I think there's been some um uh
1:23:37passive changes in administrators
1:23:40contracts. We've got to get that
1:23:41template rebuilt. Not a hard thing to
1:23:43do, but it's something we should pay
1:23:44attention to. Now, that has to come
1:23:47before the committee. So, that contract
1:23:50template is the committee's control over
1:23:54that process. What the statute says and
1:23:56what the regulations enabling the
1:23:59statute say is that
1:24:02the hiring decisions, who's hired as the
1:24:06administrator and even the salary for
1:24:10those positions and the job descriptions
1:24:13that you know the duties and
1:24:15responsibilities that belongs to the
1:24:17superintendent.
1:24:18>> Salaries belong to super. Yes. So my
1:24:20question is
1:24:20>> with a with a god rail on it. I didn't
1:24:22mean to interrupt Jim, but the guardrail
1:24:24is the guardrail I understand it's a
1:24:27loose one, but it's important because
1:24:29you meaning the committee are in charge
1:24:31of the budget and the guardrail is that
1:24:34those salaries have to be within the
1:24:38established budget
1:24:40>> who established and I'm on the finance.
1:24:44What is the budget for the like who or
1:24:47did we did we approve
1:24:50>> or the CFO
1:24:52>> right
1:24:53>> and we it's been the last few
1:24:57>> All right good I'm happy to hear that
1:24:58because
1:24:59>> it was Melissa
1:25:01>> she had a budget she gave up line by
1:25:05line
1:25:06>> that a superintendent would be able to
1:25:08hire in Okay
1:25:10>> there was so much money for
1:25:12administration
1:25:15Okay. So, so the not the superintendent
1:25:17but any superintendent did have some
1:25:20type of guard railing said to work with
1:25:23them. That that was my question of how
1:25:25because again it could be that it
1:25:28happens but um you would I think I don't
1:25:31know if this happens you would want to
1:25:33pay I I think a high school teacher I
1:25:36mean sorry high school principal or
1:25:38maybe a maybe I should just shut up. So
1:25:41I'm thinking you want to pay someone
1:25:43that has a larger school more than
1:25:44someone with a smaller school. But then
1:25:46again, if I'm an elementary school
1:25:48principal, hey, elementary school
1:25:50responsibilities, no matter if I have
1:25:52100 students or 300 students is the
1:25:54same. So I just didn't know what gu. So
1:25:57there is something that superintendent
1:26:00not only buck but superintendent school
1:26:02district had to follow or had guidelines
1:26:04in.
1:26:05>> Right.
1:26:06So I think some of
1:26:09where your thought might be going is
1:26:12that occasionally we have teachers that
1:26:15move into the administrative offices.
1:26:19They don't become
1:26:21administrators necessarily. Some of them
1:26:24retain their teaching position. However,
1:26:28there are others who are given a choice
1:26:31of becoming an administrator
1:26:34and part of that cohort.
1:26:37But that changes
1:26:40that takes them out of the teaching and
1:26:42puts them in administration.
1:26:45>> So,
1:26:46>> and then puts them under the contract,
1:26:48>> right?
1:26:48>> They're in down the contract.
1:26:50>> But otherwise, they're still teachers
1:26:52while they're here.
1:26:53>> Okay. So everyone that's down here that
1:26:55does the majority of time is in
1:26:58administrative. They're not under the
1:27:00teacher contract.
1:27:00>> Right. But there are some people that
1:27:02are still teachers that are here.
1:27:04>> So they still have like the same salary
1:27:06but they're doing
1:27:06>> but
1:27:07>> they have teaching salary. Sorry.
1:27:09>> Yes.
1:27:09>> Under teacher salary. Okay. What if it's
1:27:12not above the the top step teacher
1:27:14salary or whatever it is. All right.
1:27:17So, if I may, I apologize, Madam Chair.
1:27:19Just to clarify
1:27:22um a point um for those watching
1:27:24remotely, um we just received a text
1:27:28from um the PTA president uh Ron Bop pre
1:27:32that um he doesn't have any of the
1:27:34documents that you're looking at and
1:27:36under the contract he's the union gets
1:27:38those 48 hours in advance. What I want
1:27:40to do is assure um all of those
1:27:43participant you don't have any other
1:27:44documents. What um what you're what
1:27:47you're looking at is you got a handout
1:27:50of the um what's on the screen. The all
1:27:54you have is what's on this screen and
1:27:57that that's being contemporary
1:27:59contemporaneously
1:28:01presented to you. So there aren't any
1:28:03any documents independent of the screen
1:28:07that you're getting and you're being pro
1:28:10you're being presented with this um
1:28:12contemporaneous. there's no prior
1:28:14distribution of the slideshow you're
1:28:17getting at the meeting. And by the way,
1:28:19your policies allow for that to happen.
1:28:21We can look at that, too. So, I just
1:28:22wanted to clarify that so nobody thinks
1:28:24that you're getting any documents
1:28:26support of this that are not on the
1:28:28screen. That's all it is.
1:28:31That's all it is. That's all it is.
1:28:32There aren't any other documents.
1:28:33>> I can verify we're looking directly at
1:28:35whatever's not been on the screen will
1:28:37be there on there. And two more
1:28:39questions, but one that kind of joined
1:28:41this together. Uh it happened just
1:28:42recently, but what is the fine line or
1:28:44the differences between communication
1:28:46with school committee members versus an
1:28:48OMA violation in the sense of like I
1:28:52said, yeah, I can we can discuss things
1:28:55amongst oursel. We can be somewhere
1:28:58going to policy as long as we don't talk
1:29:01about what we're g as long as there's
1:29:03not more than three of us at an event.
1:29:06Let's say Um um the the the man the man
1:29:11may just recently unfortunately we had
1:29:13that tragedy that happened in our city
1:29:15but he did a wonderful job of leadership
1:29:17and brought the community brought the
1:29:18elected bodies together. There could
1:29:20have been four of us together as long as
1:29:22we don't talk about something that's on
1:29:24the agenda. There's no need to there's
1:29:26no violation of my
1:29:32>> business. Right. So when it comes to
1:29:35group text messaging, if someone tells
1:29:38us something that has to do with in a
1:29:41supportive this is what's happening due
1:29:44to this horrific senseless act of
1:29:47violence, a group text message went out
1:29:49to us. If someone responds, thank you
1:29:51for this or uh thanks for the leadership
1:29:54or just thumbs it up. OMA violation when
1:29:57it comes to text messaging on something
1:29:59that will not be on will not be on will
1:30:02not be on an agenda
1:30:04violation of OMA.
1:30:06>> No. But I want to clarify the no.
1:30:09>> Yep.
1:30:09>> All right. Because the examples that you
1:30:11just gave me, the answers to every
1:30:13single one of those examples you gave
1:30:15about text messaging, the answer is
1:30:17that's not an OMA violation. But it's
1:30:19not simply because it's not an agenda
1:30:21because the um the standard is a little
1:30:24bit broader than that under the statute.
1:30:27And the standard is matters over which
1:30:28you have supervision or jurisdiction.
1:30:31Right now that is a um that's a public
1:30:36event. That is you know uh that is not
1:30:41something that you're exercising
1:30:44jurisdiction over. or it's not something
1:30:45you have any supervision over that
1:30:48sharing of um information, that sharing
1:30:53of community support, that's not
1:30:56something you have supervision or
1:30:57jurisdiction over. what what is though
1:31:01and and that's that's a really good
1:31:03example because of what we just
1:31:04experienced and
1:31:07um you know it's like anything from you
1:31:10know the ridiculous to the sublime
1:31:12anything from uh you know in um the end
1:31:16of October and um November when we're
1:31:19all sending text messages around
1:31:21celebrating the Red Sox winning the
1:31:23World Series. That's okay because you
1:31:25don't have any jurisdiction over the Red
1:31:27Sox winning the World Series. Um but
1:31:31when those text messages get to um
1:31:35matters over which you have supervision
1:31:36and jurisdiction,
1:31:38then you've crossed the line. You know,
1:31:40it's it's it's okay for you all to go to
1:31:43the Taylor Swift concert,
1:31:45right? It's okay.
1:31:48What you can't do is go to the Taylor
1:31:50Swift concert and then, you know,
1:31:52surreptitiously start talking about
1:31:54school committee business because you'd
1:31:56be so focused you couldn't pay attention
1:31:58to Taylor Swift and you'd want to get to
1:32:00that school committee business. Um, and
1:32:02you know what happens, right? We find
1:32:04ourselves in social events together.
1:32:06It's okay. It's okay. the the rules that
1:32:10I was told in my time if it's going to
1:32:13end the possibility of it ending up on
1:32:15an agenda
1:32:17that that's where you can't do it.
1:32:18>> That's a good guideline.
1:32:19>> You can't talk about it, you can't text
1:32:21about it, but and if we're going to take
1:32:23an action on it, but go superintendent,
1:32:25I didn't see the
1:32:26>> This is just closely related to to
1:32:28school committee business and and
1:32:29ensuring that you don't fall into a a
1:32:31quorum with school committee members.
1:32:33So, as a superintendent, there are often
1:32:34things that I'd like to bring school
1:32:36committee members to uh to not
1:32:38participate in school business, but to
1:32:40to uh sort of understand uh and hear
1:32:43from our administrative teams, perhap
1:32:45involve them in uh activities, but not
1:32:48discuss uh school related business per
1:32:51se, more to uh uh share with them some
1:32:55of the happenings that are happening uh
1:32:56with our administrators, some of the
1:32:58training and professional learning that
1:32:59happen with our administrators. what say
1:33:01you as it regards to to involve a school
1:33:03committee members to that?
1:33:04>> Yeah. So, um there's there's not a
1:33:08bright line. Let me let me sort of talk
1:33:10about and the attorney general has told
1:33:12us more than once that there's not sort
1:33:13of a magic formula for that kind of
1:33:15circumstance that they look at a variety
1:33:18of factors in evaluating it.
1:33:21The
1:33:23difficulty is in that kind of a setting
1:33:25is if you get a quorum of school
1:33:27committee members at that kind of a
1:33:29meeting with say four or five department
1:33:31heads, one or two department heads,
1:33:32right? Um
1:33:35your goal is to share that information.
1:33:39But the topics are matters over which
1:33:42the school committee may have
1:33:43jurisdiction or supervision. So the
1:33:46problem in setting something up like
1:33:48that, as laudable as that goal is and
1:33:51the purposes behind it, you get closer
1:33:55to crossing that that line of you have
1:33:59an OMA violation. So that's an area you
1:34:01really have to be careful. Um, and
1:34:05I'd like to say here is the litmus test.
1:34:08here's where the line is drawn. But the
1:34:10attorney general has told us time again
1:34:12that it's they look at a variety of
1:34:14different factors. They're going to
1:34:16evaluate those kinds of meetings on a
1:34:19case-byase basis. My best advice is that
1:34:23if you bring a quorum to a meeting that
1:34:26administrators are going to present
1:34:27information,
1:34:29that's going to be looked at as a
1:34:30meeting. Even though that may not be the
1:34:33goal of it, that may not be the intent
1:34:34of it, that's going to look like a
1:34:36meeting, you know. Yeah.
1:34:41>> School,
1:34:43>> that's okay. That's social, right?
1:34:44Welcome back. We're not talking about
1:34:46what the educational uh program is going
1:34:48to be for, you know, uh the middle
1:34:52schools or the elementary schools or the
1:34:53high schools. Just saying, "Welcome
1:34:54back." So, keep it that way, though,
1:34:57right? Don't cross the line. we go on a
1:34:59building tour and we have a quorum then
1:35:02that has to be posted.
1:35:04>> Yeah. Be and the reason that is because
1:35:06you're having a tour because it's that
1:35:08one of the one of your job
1:35:10responsibilities under 162 is all that
1:35:12infrastructure and the buildings you're
1:35:15actually doing that to meet your
1:35:16responsibility of your care custody
1:35:18control of those facilities. So that's
1:35:20why,
1:35:20>> right?
1:35:23>> So there are things and uh I've seen the
1:35:27city council do it. They have a
1:35:28Christmas party every year and it's nine
1:35:32members
1:35:34and they don't post it. They just have
1:35:36their Christmas party
1:35:37>> because they don't talk about something
1:35:38that won't be
1:35:39>> because they don't talk about business.
1:35:41>> You have to be our best um uh advocates
1:35:45and and make sure not to cross over and
1:35:47and do this. So Um, sometimes I get a
1:35:50little frustrated over I but you need to
1:35:53tell me if you're going to show up to
1:35:54this event because and sometimes I don't
1:35:56but you don't have to because as we have
1:36:00to be we have to be educated to know
1:36:02don't talk about anything school
1:36:05committee related and we can go we can
1:36:07have a school committee
1:36:08>> we can talk about soccer stadium or
1:36:12>> but one last thing
1:36:15>> and by the way for the the Christmas
1:36:16party is a good idea Yeah, I didn't get
1:36:19my invitation this year, but I'm just
1:36:22>> I can't wait. It's going to be a black
1:36:24party.
1:36:24>> We're going to have a Christmas party
1:36:25from now on.
1:36:26>> I'm already thinking it's going to be a
1:36:27black tie event. I promise.
1:36:31>> Question
1:36:33um totality though of what we're going
1:36:35through. So maybe it's not appropriate
1:36:37right now, but I got the mic going.
1:36:39>> Who and why is the policy manual um uh
1:36:42formatted in this way? Meaning, why is
1:36:45it uh letters and not numbers? Why do we
1:36:47have policy BD, BCA? What I'm assuming
1:36:51they match up somewhere, and I'm not
1:36:53throwing anyone under the bus, but my
1:36:55policy manuals at where I work, uh,
1:36:57section A, but section one A, B, and C
1:37:00or section A 1, two, and three. Uh, is
1:37:02it a legal thing that we is does the A
1:37:04match up? Does B match up somewhere?
1:37:06>> It, you know what? Um, loosely, yes. But
1:37:11>> but and I'm trying to think, every
1:37:12district I have is set up with those
1:37:14with that same
1:37:16>> Oh, okay. Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. You know,
1:37:21>> yeah,
1:37:24but you don't have to.
1:37:27>> Oh, damn.
1:37:29>> It was something I was going to bring to
1:37:30the policy to find out if
1:37:32>> you can
1:37:33>> normalize it because it's easier to say,
1:37:35can you refer to policy section A 1,
1:37:38two, or three compared to what BDA is or
1:37:41BDC?
1:37:42>> No, you can do that. Unless it meant
1:37:43something and it was above my pay grade,
1:37:45then I'm I apologize.
1:37:46>> So, we did talk about it at the last
1:37:48policy meeting and I believe it's
1:37:51crafted after a Massachusetts policy
1:37:55guideline.
1:37:57>> As long as it matches up as long as
1:37:58we're not randomly saying
1:38:00>> BCA, BAD, it's just it just it's easier
1:38:03to follow if you know what the uh table
1:38:06of contents, right? All right. Thank you
1:38:08guys. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. Different
1:38:11committees have them. A lot of
1:38:12committees have them structured this
1:38:13way, but there are committees that have
1:38:15numbers, too. Just checking with Dion
1:38:17on.
1:38:18>> Yes.
1:38:19>> Thank you.
1:38:20>> Okay.
1:38:21>> Thank you for engaging
1:38:26>> and we can continue on to policies,
1:38:34>> policies,
1:38:36uh policy development. Uh we talked
1:38:39about uh in the previous uh policies how
1:38:42heavy it references policies and the
1:38:45statute requires uh the school committee
1:38:48you know exercise prerogative over
1:38:50district policies. Uh this is our policy
1:38:53that concerns the development of
1:38:55policies. Uh the school committee is the
1:38:57sole body empowered to formulate adopt
1:38:59and revised policy of the Kentucky
1:39:02school system. Again this policy BG this
1:39:05is what is written in our policies per
1:39:07uh what might look different is I may
1:39:11have formatted it differently just so I
1:39:13could emphasize certain points um but
1:39:16again that is accurate that's consistent
1:39:18with power responsibility school
1:39:20committee that we read earlier sole body
1:39:22power to formally adopt funding the
1:39:25formulation adoption of written policy
1:39:27shall constitute the basic measures by
1:39:28which the committee's leadership in the
1:39:31operation school department. So for
1:39:34examp if there is an issue with uh the
1:39:41makeup of a department or the administr
1:39:45administration building who works here
1:39:48how you create a policy where you get
1:39:50updated on certain things. You could
1:39:51also ask the superintendent for
1:39:53information. We'll go over that who's
1:39:54here and what they're doing. uh you have
1:39:57a policy set in stone that says that
1:40:00every six months or every quarter you
1:40:02get reported back you know what's going
1:40:04on you could do that and so that you
1:40:05don't have to think about it doesn't
1:40:06have to change from one to the next
1:40:09anything that you think should be a
1:40:10longterm solution to an issue that goes
1:40:14beyond what you are particularly
1:40:16interested in right now think it's a
1:40:17longterm thing you create a policy you
1:40:20wanted to formalize uh the finance of
1:40:23committee projects uh how the school
1:40:27committee as a whole deals with finance
1:40:28matters including that of uh uh
1:40:34approving of the budget. If you wanted
1:40:35to formalize that and and have
1:40:38structured timelines and deadlines, you
1:40:40could decide that at the beginning of
1:40:42each year or you could decide that based
1:40:44on a policy. Uh the the problem with
1:40:46creating a policy on all such things is
1:40:48that it does uh narrow the flexibility
1:40:51to the school committee to deal with
1:40:52things. Uh and and as we all learned
1:40:55that there's always something that's you
1:40:56know that wasn't expected. Uh but if you
1:40:59wanted to have as many uh guard rails as
1:41:02possible on any particular issue, it's
1:41:04through policy that you would do it. Uh
1:41:07the study review and evaluation of
1:41:09reports concerning the adoption,
1:41:10execution of its written policy shall
1:41:12constitute the basic method by which the
1:41:14committee shall exercise its control
1:41:16over the operation of the school
1:41:17department. Every now and then you might
1:41:19want to see whether or not a policy is
1:41:21effective and whether or not it's
1:41:23accomplishing it its intended goal.
1:41:24There's a lot of unintended
1:41:25consequences. Sometimes it happens with
1:41:27policies and you have the prerogative to
1:41:29to review that. The adoption of all the
1:41:32policy shall be recorded in the minutes
1:41:33of the committee meetings. We're going
1:41:34to go into what is required to uh
1:41:38establish a policy. Uh it effectively
1:41:41guarantees that it's going to be
1:41:42recorded in the minutes of the meetings.
1:41:44Only those written statements so adopted
1:41:46and recorded shall be regarded as
1:41:47official committee policy. You could
1:41:50state a preference. You might be able to
1:41:53ask for individual requests uh of say
1:41:55the superintendent for information or
1:41:58periodic updates on something. That's
1:42:00not policy until you make it policy. You
1:42:02certainly can. Or if you decide that you
1:42:05want to just let it roll as a informal
1:42:07request or from a standing order from
1:42:09meeting to meeting, you certainly can do
1:42:11that as well. Uh the committee when it
1:42:13deems it necessary shall adopt policies
1:42:15concerning operations specific enough to
1:42:17provide guidance but at the same time
1:42:19broad enough to leave authority for the
1:42:21superintendent of schools to establish
1:42:23his or own his own procedures in order
1:42:26to put this committee's policies into
1:42:28effect. You can't create policies that
1:42:30effectively micromanage the
1:42:32superintendent,
1:42:34but you could set strict guidelines on
1:42:36how you like to see things done. So you
1:42:39can't usurp the superintendent's
1:42:40authority to hire, but you could
1:42:43establish a policy for hiring practices.
1:42:46And so at that point, you would evaluate
1:42:48the superintendent by did you adhere to
1:42:50the hiring practices. You may not be
1:42:52happy who he he hired with. Hopefully
1:42:54you are. That's why we trust the
1:42:55superintendent. But let's say you
1:42:57question who he hired. As long as he did
1:42:59it by the policies or the the standards
1:43:02and that you established through policy,
1:43:04that's what it is. The idea of the
1:43:06standard set through policies for like
1:43:08say hiring practices is to ensure that
1:43:10whoever he picks is in line with what
1:43:12your expectations are. It could be job
1:43:14qualifications, it could be years of
1:43:16experience, it could be um you know a a
1:43:20committee uh a subcommittee or a board
1:43:22that he creates for hiring practices
1:43:24that includes uh you know this person
1:43:26and that person. You could do all those
1:43:27things uh through policy uh and he would
1:43:31just have to be left with the ability to
1:43:34to act uh through those proposed
1:43:36policies may be written by members of
1:43:38the committee. That's any member of the
1:43:40committee could propose a policy. They
1:43:41could write one. Uh the superintendent
1:43:44or members of his or her staff
1:43:46superintendent
1:43:47uh a another administrator within
1:43:49central office might see a problem issue
1:43:52and draft a proposed policy for
1:43:54consideration. They can't create the
1:43:55policy but they could in the sense that
1:43:56they can implement the policy. Um I keep
1:44:00using implement when once they establish
1:44:02they can establish the policy. That's
1:44:03your prerogative as we established
1:44:05already. But they could draft it. They
1:44:08could draft the language. You could
1:44:09consider it. You could tinker with it.
1:44:10You could approve it if so if that's the
1:44:12desire of the school committee. Proposed
1:44:14policy shall be submitted in writing as
1:44:16part of an agenda to the members of the
1:44:17committee at least three days in advance
1:44:19of a meeting. This is so that nobody's
1:44:21surprised by it by a policy. They get to
1:44:23read it. um beforehand uh and at which
1:44:27uh at which the proposed policy is to be
1:44:29first considered. A policy to be
1:44:32formally adopted, rescended or amended,
1:44:34it must be voted on at least two
1:44:37meetings. There could be small changes
1:44:39from first meeting to second meeting,
1:44:41but that at the end of the day, what you
1:44:43want is the school committee to know
1:44:45what a policy is about, approve it once,
1:44:47approve it twice, then it becomes a
1:44:49policy. So if anybody wants to do
1:44:51something quickly
1:44:53in refer in in reference to uh a policy
1:44:56there's the timeline that you have to
1:44:57keep in mind. If it's a if it's a new
1:44:59policy a new draft language you have to
1:45:02submit to um to the school committee in
1:45:05advance three days prior to the first
1:45:07meeting and then once it's approved
1:45:09after that first meeting you need a
1:45:10second meeting. Uh if that doesn't
1:45:12happen the policy you didn't create a
1:45:14policy yet. So it's not meant to be
1:45:17fastm moving. Uh you could do things to
1:45:20accelerate the timeline. You could do a
1:45:21special meeting to hear a policy. You
1:45:24know, there are sometimes there's
1:45:25deadlines we have to meet. A policy has
1:45:26to be changed to comply with some kind
1:45:28of statute or some ride regulation in
1:45:30which case maybe there's a special
1:45:31meeting that can be done between regular
1:45:32meetings. But it still requires two
1:45:34meetings. That make sense?
1:45:37>> Yes.
1:45:38>> Three days. Even if we have an
1:45:41established policy and we tweak it,
1:45:45that has to be submitted to the
1:45:47committee 3 days ahead of time.
1:45:49>> So this actually says proposed policy
1:45:51shall be submitted in writing as part of
1:45:53an agenda to the members of the
1:45:55committee at least three days in advance
1:45:56of the meeting. Um I have to imagine
1:45:59that this to be safe and sorry I don't
1:46:03know what contemplates tweak that you
1:46:04should abide by the 3 days but let's say
1:46:06it's a um it's a grammar issue. I I
1:46:10could make an argument that that's not a
1:46:12new proposed policy or or if it's
1:46:14something like hey there was this
1:46:15grammatical error that was been in this
1:46:17policy for 20 years and we're going to
1:46:18change it because it annoys me. That's
1:46:20technically argument not not a new
1:46:21proposed policy. Uh, but I think to be
1:46:24safe and sorry, there's no reason why we
1:46:26couldn't meet that deadline of three
1:46:28days prior to a meeting to get everybody
1:46:30that. And by the way, that's not
1:46:32entirely on say the clerk because maybe
1:46:33the agenda is not done 3 days before the
1:46:35meeting. Maybe it's it's going to be
1:46:36done within the 48 hours. But a policy
1:46:39ordinarily is coming out of the policy
1:46:41subcommittee. So once a a draft or
1:46:44revision of a policy comes out of the
1:46:46the subcommittee, send it to everybody
1:46:48on the school committee. Hey, we're
1:46:50contemplating this. That box is checked.
1:46:52uh and then you can move from there.
1:46:55>> And if I could just add to that um I
1:46:58don't want to over complicate your
1:46:59question, right? Because one person's
1:47:00tweak is another person's uh you know
1:47:03major overhaul. Um so
1:47:09there's one thing to correct Scrivener's
1:47:10errors, right? That those are typos.
1:47:13Those are the kinds of edits that Dion
1:47:15was talking about you're changing. Um,
1:47:18so it's one thing to do that and
1:47:21Scribner's errors are just that. They're
1:47:23it's a grammatical error, but it's it's
1:47:26more about substance because one word
1:47:28sometimes can make a huge difference. So
1:47:32on occasion, changing one word because
1:47:34of Scrier's era is okay. On another
1:47:37occasion, changing one word can change
1:47:39the whole meaning of a sentence. That's
1:47:41not okay. You know, that's a slate of
1:47:43hand. And so you have to look at it to
1:47:46answer that question. But I I think you
1:47:48have a sense of what we mean by that.
1:47:51>> They um
1:47:52>> Yeah.
1:47:53>> Yeah. Yeah.
1:47:55>> You know,
1:47:55>> I learned a new word,
1:47:57>> right?
1:47:59>> But if we were to say
1:48:02say, okay, we talked about green
1:48:05policies and then we said a specific
1:48:08type of chemical that was going to be
1:48:12used that actually changes the policy.
1:48:15>> Yes, it does. So that would be come
1:48:18before the people.
1:48:19>> Yeah.
1:48:19>> Okay.
1:48:20>> Yeah. And I just I was gonna sort of
1:48:23wait till Dion got to the end. I wanted
1:48:25to add um some commentary to uh Dion's
1:48:30explanation of that policy development
1:48:32piece when it comes to the interaction
1:48:34between the superintendent's
1:48:37authority under title 16 and the
1:48:40committee's authority under title 16.
1:48:43um you know the the classic tension
1:48:46whether it's in you know Pucket or um
1:48:50anywhere else the classic tension is
1:48:53seems to be when
1:48:56you know a superintendent says I want to
1:48:58establish my
1:49:01administrative team this way. I want to
1:49:03have my table of organization
1:49:05um this way and I want to have my
1:49:08leadership team structured uh to be
1:49:11doing A B and C right and Dion said a
1:49:15couple of important things about that
1:49:17which is that
1:49:20where is the school committee's role in
1:49:21that because what I said in the
1:49:23beginning of the meeting was corporate
1:49:25authority still resides in the committee
1:49:29so whereas you can't interfere with the
1:49:33superintendent and his day-to-day
1:49:34activities and stuff, you still exercise
1:49:37a lot of authority about how you want
1:49:39your school district to operate and how
1:49:42you want it to be administered. So those
1:49:45ideas about what are those positions
1:49:48that are going to be the administrative
1:49:51leader positions in your district,
1:49:54it's your decision.
1:49:57Now, the superintendent comes to you and
1:50:00says, "Here's my table of organization.
1:50:02Here's how I want to set it up. Here's
1:50:03how I want to do it. Here's why." All
1:50:05that's great and it helps you understand
1:50:07it. But ultimately, if you think that,
1:50:11you know, administrators is, and the
1:50:14classic always is we have too many
1:50:16administrators, you hear the word, we're
1:50:17topheavy, we got people doing this,
1:50:19we're paying too much money for that.
1:50:21Um,
1:50:22ultimately, that's your decision how
1:50:24that works.
1:50:28when there's a need for restructuring,
1:50:31which is, you know, it's dynamic, right?
1:50:34Things change fast out there and you
1:50:37want your leader, you want your
1:50:40superintendent to be nimble. You want
1:50:42your superintendent to react to those
1:50:44changes, right? So, you want the
1:50:47administrative structure to do that. So,
1:50:51but it does mean that you don't give up
1:50:55your responsibility
1:50:58under subchapter 2 of title 16. That
1:51:02still belongs to you and it's up to you.
1:51:05I'm sorry. And it's up to you and it's
1:51:07up to work with your superintendent to
1:51:09achieve that. Right. And you know,
1:51:11ultimately, um, if you have a
1:51:13superintendent that tells you to pound
1:51:14sand, that's not the way I want to do
1:51:16it. Well, you know, that's you go pound
1:51:19sand then,
1:51:21you know.
1:51:24>> So, were the superintendent to submit an
1:51:28AUG chart to the committee, would it
1:51:32then be our responsibility to vote on
1:51:34that?
1:51:35>> If you don't like that or chart, that's
1:51:36your time to say it. We don't like that
1:51:38chart. That's not how we want our
1:51:39district structure.
1:51:40>> So, then it should be put under a
1:51:42discussion action item. Yeah. Yeah.
1:51:44>> And if action is needed, then we take it
1:51:47at that time.
1:51:48>> Yes. Yes.
1:51:49>> Okay.
1:51:51>> Yeah.
1:51:52>> Go ahead.
1:51:54>> Thank you so much. Um attorney, I got a
1:51:58in regards um when a policy needs to be
1:52:02adopted, resended or amended. Um it only
1:52:06have to be in the policy subcommittee
1:52:08the two votes that it requires to become
1:52:11a permanent policy or it have to be
1:52:13after to the full committee to get
1:52:15approved.
1:52:18>> I see
1:52:21like a little little
1:52:24>> handheld.
1:52:25>> We we have this challenge everywhere we
1:52:27go together. You know
1:52:30>> um all right so so that that's this next
1:52:32slide may answer that question. So there
1:52:34is a uh of the standing subcommittees
1:52:37that are required. Uh the wellness is by
1:52:40statute. Uh sub uh policy subcommittee
1:52:43is by policy. Uh that there shall be a
1:52:46policy subcommittee and it shall be the
1:52:48responsibility of this subcommittee to
1:52:50consider proposed changes to the policy
1:52:52manual and reports his recommendation to
1:52:54the full committee at least annually.
1:52:56That's the bare minimum. So one is
1:52:58established. Their prerogative is to
1:53:00revise uh and update the policy manual
1:53:03to the extent necessary
1:53:06to approve a policy. It doesn't have to
1:53:08go through the subcommittee. Best
1:53:10practice is that it does so that any
1:53:13wording needs to be changed. It could be
1:53:15vetted uh by the the policy uh
1:53:17subcommittee members. The policy
1:53:19subcommittee members is, you know, uh
1:53:22Ron is still on the the the policy
1:53:24subcommittee, right? So you get input
1:53:26from from from the teachers union there
1:53:27on a policy that might impact their
1:53:30membership and uh you get impact from
1:53:32the superintendent or his design about
1:53:34things that might impact his
1:53:36administration and his responsibilities
1:53:38as superintendent. you get uh the uh
1:53:41consideration of the school committee
1:53:42members that are part of it and anybody
1:53:44else that's part of that subcommittee uh
1:53:46to kind of better inform how to tweak a
1:53:49uh a policy including maybe if there's a
1:53:51question you refer to legal so that the
1:53:53language could be down so that
1:53:54everyone's okay with it so that by the
1:53:56time it's in front of the school
1:53:58committee as a whole
1:54:00there's maybe some tinkering between
1:54:03reading one and reading two but for the
1:54:04most part it's solid all of the issues
1:54:06are concerned that's why you have that
1:54:08subcommittee you get all that input from
1:54:09people that are important. And so when
1:54:12it comes to a policy though, the
1:54:14requirement is what we talked about
1:54:16earlier, which is 3 days prior to a
1:54:18meeting, school committee members need
1:54:19to see a version of it so they can read
1:54:21it. Uh it has to have a first reading
1:54:23and then a subsequent uh second reading
1:54:25and approval. So two approvals between
1:54:27two meetings of the full school
1:54:28committee. Ultimately, that's what's
1:54:30required for approving of a new or
1:54:32revised policy.
1:54:35best practices is that in addition to
1:54:37that it goes through the policy
1:54:39subcommittee however many times it needs
1:54:41to. Yes.
1:54:43>> And but because wellness is mandatory
1:54:45would you is it recommended that
1:54:47wellness goes through the policy
1:54:50subcommittee first
1:54:51>> to to uh like if wellness had a policy
1:54:53change y
1:54:55>> um I think that yes so subcommittees
1:54:57could work in conjunction with uh
1:54:59subcommittees. Yeah. You could say,
1:55:00"Hey, we did this." Referring it to
1:55:03let's say there's a a program that
1:55:05wellness wants to establish. They kick
1:55:06it over to finance so they can say,
1:55:08"Hey, how's the best way to kind of fund
1:55:10this?"
1:55:10>> Uh, or can this be funded within
1:55:12something? You can do something like
1:55:13that, too. Uh, so that by the time it
1:55:15gets to the full school committee, uh,
1:55:17it's something that is is completely um,
1:55:20you know, uh, it's a solid well
1:55:22thoughtout thing with
1:55:23>> like I have all my ducks in a row type.
1:55:25>> Now, there's different ways it could go
1:55:27that we're up, right? Maybe as wellness
1:55:29you want to really implement this
1:55:30program that's really great and you kick
1:55:32it up to an agenda item for discussion
1:55:34action to the school committee and the
1:55:36school committee might say hey that's a
1:55:37great program I don't know if we could
1:55:39afford it let's figure out how we could
1:55:42flesh that out let's send it to finance
1:55:44for that purp for those purposes so it
1:55:45could be kind of that indirect route or
1:55:48it could be that you should call up Jim
1:55:50as finance chair uh and say hey could
1:55:53you could you put this on your agenda
1:55:55I'd like to bring this up
1:55:56>> okay
1:55:56>> yeah yes So the
1:55:59>> it's clear that um the subcommittee
1:56:03policy have the authority to approve in
1:56:06two votes
1:56:08the proposed um policy.
1:56:10>> Subcommittee can do it in one. Send it
1:56:12up to the to the to the full committee
1:56:13>> to the full committee.
1:56:14>> The full committee that needs the two
1:56:15votes
1:56:16>> needs to vote. Perfect. Okay. Got it.
1:56:18>> Yeah. So that's the big one. The full
1:56:19school committee is the big one as far
1:56:21as if you have a a policy that needs to
1:56:23be done as quickly as possible. there is
1:56:25a a realm of possibility that it could
1:56:28bypass the subcommittee altogether and
1:56:30go directly to the full committee. It's
1:56:32just best practices is put it in the
1:56:33subcommittee get the input from all the
1:56:35people who are important. We mentioned
1:56:37the the the the uh you know Ron for
1:56:40behalf of teachers union talked about
1:56:41superintendent on behalf of the
1:56:42administration the school committee
1:56:44members could look at it as well that
1:56:45are part of that. Uh any other is there
1:56:47any other members that I'm think I'm
1:56:48missing that are part of that?
1:56:51uh and then we would take a look at it
1:56:53and at that level any of the issues and
1:56:56all the input that's important gets
1:56:57incorporated and then when it goes
1:56:59before the school committee there's less
1:57:01concerns and questions about things that
1:57:03may have been overlooked hopefully
1:57:05because it's all done at that lower
1:57:07level.
1:57:07>> Okay.
1:57:08>> Yeah. Um so uh important here. So the
1:57:13school uh the policy subcommittee the
1:57:16committee may direct the policy
1:57:17subcommittee to review and revise any
1:57:19existing policy at any time. As a vote
1:57:21of the full school committee they could
1:57:23say hey I have a problem with this
1:57:25policy. I think it's not really covering
1:57:26everything it needs to. I'm going to
1:57:29direct the policy subcommittee to revise
1:57:31this policy. You could that could be
1:57:33done by order of the full school
1:57:35committee. Yes.
1:57:37And so BDH
1:57:39>> Yeah.
1:57:39>> You know that policy annoys me.
1:57:41>> Okay. So you gave
1:57:45um a legal
1:57:48brief on
1:57:51the expansion of the policy dos and
1:57:53don'ts and
1:57:55um what was meant in the read between
1:57:58the lines
1:58:00thing is
1:58:03BDH.
1:58:05So, can we amend the policy to have a
1:58:11BDHA
1:58:12which would include
1:58:15your um report on it or
1:58:20>> I wouldn't do that. That's relying upon
1:58:22the policy because if the policy
1:58:24changes, so does that. That was a a
1:58:27referring to a a legal memo about how to
1:58:30best adhere to that policy. uh with
1:58:32there were specific considerations that
1:58:34were given to that where I'm not going
1:58:35to go into because that that that's that
1:58:37would be privileged. But the idea that
1:58:39being that if you wanted to revise BDH,
1:58:42clarify a section or expand another
1:58:45section. You could certainly do that
1:58:47within BDH. You could have it revised.
1:58:50>> Okay. So, we could take things from your
1:58:52memo and add them into the policy itself
1:58:56so it actually reads like it should.
1:59:00>> Right. If there's anything about I I
1:59:02would I would separate
1:59:04you the the memo that I wrote the legal
1:59:06memo because it's privilege. I'm not
1:59:07going to go into it too much, but but we
1:59:08could talk about it as a as a any
1:59:10reference point of any changes you think
1:59:13are proper because maybe it's based on
1:59:16uh what you believe uh or what the
1:59:18consensus is or what advice is that
1:59:20certain sections aren't clear enough.
1:59:22You can clear that up. And it could be
1:59:24that it's clear, but you want it more
1:59:27clear. uh down there more black and
1:59:29white absolutely you could do that uh
1:59:31and and it would be I would recommend
1:59:33instead of adding an addendum to that
1:59:36policy I would just change the policy so
1:59:38for example one of the issues that have
1:59:39come up in the past on that policy is uh
1:59:42it says within uh for request for
1:59:44information needs to be provided within
1:59:46a reasonable time uh or up to 20 days
1:59:49right and so maybe the issue is well 20
1:59:50days is too much uh depending on what
1:59:52the request is maybe they say 20 days is
1:59:54too much and if that's the case uh then
1:59:56you can just tweak that it could just be
1:59:57reasonable time and which would be more
1:59:59general but it' also be like justify why
2:00:01it takes more than 5 days. Uh we don't
2:00:05have capacity it's too much information
2:00:07yada yada that could be the response. Uh
2:00:09or it could be shorter could be within
2:00:1110 days uh reasonable time but not up to
2:00:1410 days unless XYZ happens. There's all
2:00:16these provisions that could be added to
2:00:17that or omitted or tightened up to
2:00:18address that issue. Um but yeah that
2:00:21that could be changed.
2:00:22>> Okay. So we'll talk.
2:00:24>> Okay. Uh and and the best thing about
2:00:26that is that if we do that at the
2:00:28subcommittee basis, you could have more
2:00:30of a a bigger conversation about what
2:00:33that means and entails. And so by the
2:00:35time that it goes to the full school
2:00:36committee, the conversation could be
2:00:37like, we want to do this change because
2:00:39of X, Y, and Z. We we wanted it to be
2:00:41worded this way, but really this is the
2:00:43best way of doing it this way. And then
2:00:44everyone could realize that it was fully
2:00:46considered and maybe comfortable with
2:00:47voting and approving it. The
2:00:49superintendent may also request that a
2:00:50policy that the policy subcommittee
2:00:52review and revise uh an existing policy
2:00:54at any time. So we have the committee
2:00:56directing it as a body. They voted
2:00:59action item, revise this policy or you
2:01:01could have the superintendent requesting
2:01:04uh that the subcommittee address a new
2:01:07policy or revise an existing policy. Um
2:01:10and but the reality is is that any
2:01:13member of the school committee could
2:01:14also request uh that uh bring it to the
2:01:18attention, draft it. Hey, consider it.
2:01:20But for the subcommittee to had to take
2:01:22mandatory action on a requested revision
2:01:26or new policy, school committee vote,
2:01:29superintendent may request.
2:01:32Then the subcommittee doesn't have they
2:01:35have to address it at that point. Um but
2:01:38that nothing stops from Jim Bob somebody
2:01:41calling somebody on policy and saying
2:01:43hey I really want to do this um or maybe
2:01:46even it does it indirectly hey
2:01:47superintendent I think this policy needs
2:01:49to be changed and superintendent goes
2:01:50yeah I agree maybe he is the one who
2:01:52then suggests to the subcommittee to
2:01:53take it on there's different avenues to
2:01:55do it and some of it is just you know
2:01:57working together collaboratively some of
2:01:59them is going to force the issue kind of
2:02:01you know depends the situation um the
2:02:03policies can be amended only by majority
2:02:05vote at two successive meetings of the
2:02:07school committee. It's the same standard
2:02:09that we were just talking about earlier.
2:02:13Next section. Uh this is a Yeah,
2:02:17>> Madam Chair, do we want to do the same
2:02:18thing we did last time before we move on
2:02:20to the next section and do a Q&A that
2:02:23will cover any other Q&A that's left on
2:02:26that session before we segue into the
2:02:28next session?
2:02:31>> Any questions?
2:02:36Okay, you you did well.
2:02:39>> We can move on.
2:02:41>> No, get
2:02:58Oh, all right.
2:03:03>> All right. I I like moving around. If I
2:03:05have to stand one place, it bothers me.
2:03:07All right. Um, so, uh, school committee
2:03:10communications.
2:03:13Uh, Miss Bonolo, your favorite policy.
2:03:15VDH, first one up. Uh, we were just
2:03:17talking about it. Uh, so request for
2:03:19information. This is a standing policy.
2:03:20Uh, to the extent that it might be
2:03:22revised, it may, but let's just go
2:03:23through it real quick. So uh school
2:03:25committee members may request available
2:03:27school department information from the
2:03:28administration. It is very important
2:03:31that all the school committee members uh
2:03:33recognize their individual authority uh
2:03:35in uh to kind of uh make requests and
2:03:39put things forward. Um you act as a
2:03:41body, you make decisions as a body
2:03:43collectively. Yes. Uh but if you have a
2:03:45particular issue in mind you want to
2:03:46raise uh whether it's uh requesting for
2:03:49information or putting something on the
2:03:51agenda, you guys have the we're going to
2:03:52go over that. you have that ability to
2:03:53do that. Uh and BDH, uh the intention
2:03:57was to make sure spell out, uh the ways
2:03:59that school committee members could
2:04:01request information. So if you're
2:04:03requesting information from the
2:04:04administration, uh it shall be directed
2:04:06through the school committee clerk. So
2:04:08instead of, you know, seven members
2:04:10sending individual emails to the
2:04:12superintendent or to an assistant
2:04:13superintendent, the idea was to
2:04:15streamline that through the clerk. You
2:04:16send your request to the clerk. clerk
2:04:18then goes and and copies the request for
2:04:20information uh to the chair of the
2:04:23school committee and there's going to be
2:04:24a reason for that and to the
2:04:26superintendent. Uh the school committee
2:04:28chair shall be copied on all requests
2:04:30for information determined if the
2:04:31request for information should be placed
2:04:33on a school committee agenda for
2:04:35authorization. Now, if the request for
2:04:37information is extensive and it requires
2:04:40maybe an analysis or report or a
2:04:43consultant or something along those
2:04:44lines and uh it's based on a request of
2:04:47an individual member,
2:04:50that's why it goes to the school
2:04:51committee for approval because at that
2:04:53point it's like we're telling the
2:04:55superintendent, hey, I know you have
2:04:56your priorities set what you want to do
2:04:58that next week, but guess what? We
2:05:00really want this information to be
2:05:02provided sooner rather than later. So we
2:05:04are directing you to do X Y and Z and
2:05:07that that kind of it it deals with the
2:05:10in the fear that any individual member
2:05:13is directing personnel to do things. It
2:05:16it deals with the idea of uh not
2:05:20undermining the superintendent's
2:05:21authority to do things from one because
2:05:23superintendent might not be aware that
2:05:25the finance director was told to do uh a
2:05:28report on something uh and that person
2:05:31reports to the superintendent. We don't
2:05:32want the the the uh the finance director
2:05:35to be in hot water with the
2:05:36superintendent. We don't want the
2:05:37superintendent to miss a deadline that
2:05:39there was important that maybe wasn't
2:05:41contemplated when the request was made.
2:05:43The idea is to streamline it. So, it
2:05:44goes through the clerk. Uh the chair is
2:05:47copied not to approve the request, but
2:05:50to determine whether or not the request
2:05:51is too extensive or not, uh or expansive
2:05:54or not, in which case it needs school
2:05:56committee approval. If it's not too
2:05:58expansive, it's just a regular request
2:05:59for information data or some kind uh
2:06:02that could be provided and the
2:06:03superintendent uh could direct his staff
2:06:06to say provide this summary or provide
2:06:08this data point that's being requested.
2:06:10Uh the superintendent and their staff
2:06:12are not to honor requests made by an
2:06:14individual school committee member if
2:06:15such a request entails preparing a
2:06:17document which does not already exist or
2:06:20which requires conducting a study
2:06:21report.
2:06:24This does not mean, and it has been
2:06:26misinterpreted in the past, that the
2:06:27superintendent is authorized to say,
2:06:30"Too bad. I'm not going to do it." Uh,
2:06:32because I don't like the question. I
2:06:34don't like what you're getting at. I'm
2:06:35choosing choosing to ignore your
2:06:37request. What it says is that it's not
2:06:39going to honor a request unless it's
2:06:40coming from the school committee as a
2:06:42whole. So, that's really a matter of
2:06:43communication. Hey, I know you wanted X,
2:06:46Y, and Z.
2:06:48That document doesn't exist. It's going
2:06:50to require manh hours to do X, Y, and Z.
2:06:52So, it's going to have to go through the
2:06:54school committee. That's it. That's all
2:06:57that that that amounts to. Um, it's not
2:06:59about denying people information. It's
2:07:01about making sure that uh everyone's
2:07:04within their particular roles and they
2:07:06know what priorities are being set uh as
2:07:08far as what to do uh on the day-to-day.
2:07:11Um,
2:07:13one of the important distinctions there
2:07:14is if it doesn't exist already. Now,
2:07:16there could be a document that doesn't
2:07:18exist, but the information is pretty
2:07:20basic, and so you all you have to do is
2:07:22copy and paste, and I wouldn't put it in
2:07:24a position where, you know, strict
2:07:26adherence to that policy in that regard
2:07:27probably would be counterproductive to
2:07:30the intent of the of the policy. But,
2:07:32uh, if it is much more than that, then
2:07:35that's why this policy exists. Uh, when
2:07:37information has been secured, the clerk
2:07:39will share the members, uh, share it
2:07:41with all the members of the committee.
2:07:44This is another important aspect of this
2:07:46policy. The idea of this policy is that
2:07:48if one school committee member knows
2:07:50information because they requested it
2:07:52that they all everybody knows it. So
2:07:54that there's no every school committee
2:07:56member might have a niche uh area of
2:08:00interest.
2:08:01Fine. That could be their focus. But
2:08:04what you don't want is an imbalance of
2:08:06information amongst one school committee
2:08:07member and another. That's the purpose
2:08:09of this policy that everybody has. You
2:08:11know, maybe they don't prioritize it the
2:08:12same way that another school committee
2:08:14member prioritizes it, but no one has
2:08:16the advantage of having more information
2:08:17than the other, which is important and
2:08:19certainly conducive to collaborative
2:08:21work when an issue comes up that needs
2:08:22to be voted on that every member feels
2:08:25like they're just as informed as
2:08:26everybody else and they're not
2:08:27surprised. Usually, that's an issue,
2:08:28right? Nobody wants to vote on something
2:08:30that they're not uh fully vetted, they
2:08:32haven't fully vetted themselves on. So,
2:08:33this gives everybody the opportunity to
2:08:34do that. Um then we have this
2:08:37information will be delivered to the
2:08:39committee within we're just talking
2:08:40about this within a reasonable amount of
2:08:41time but not to exceed 20 days.
2:08:44Reasonable amount of time is you know
2:08:46objectively depends on what the request
2:08:48is. So reasonable amount of time might
2:08:50be 24 hours. A reasonable amount of time
2:08:53might be a week but what this policy
2:08:56says is that it shouldn't exceed 20
2:08:57days.
2:08:59>> So if I if I could add to that. So I
2:09:02want to if I may talk a little bit more
2:09:04about number three because I think
2:09:05that's where most of the um dynamic
2:09:10um in the communication area takes place
2:09:12right so Dion talked about you know
2:09:15there's sort of two pieces to it
2:09:17preparing a document which is not
2:09:19already in existence that's one piece
2:09:21and it's an or right not a disjunctive
2:09:23it's an or it's which requires
2:09:27or which requires conducting a study or
2:09:30report. So you know how do what does
2:09:32that mean in a practical level? Well
2:09:35preparing a document which is not
2:09:37already in existence. So there might be
2:09:39a request and for information and that
2:09:44information may may not be all in one
2:09:46document but among the administration
2:09:50there's a document here a document there
2:09:53and a document here that's going to give
2:09:55the information. That's fine. it's
2:09:58existing documents because it's going to
2:10:00take a little bit of effort to marshall
2:10:02those documents to get you the
2:10:03information. That's not an excuse not to
2:10:05provide that information to the
2:10:07committee member, right? I mean, it
2:10:10doesn't say because it's going to take
2:10:12extra effort. It says a document. So,
2:10:15you know, you can't be sort of have a be
2:10:18myopically literal and say, well, it
2:10:20says a document. That's not what it
2:10:23means. It means that if the information
2:10:26exists in documents, you have a right to
2:10:27it. You should get that information.
2:10:31But it does say which requires or which
2:10:34requires conducting a study of report.
2:10:37So request that says
2:10:41all right, I have this information, but
2:10:43I want this analysis to be done. Now
2:10:45that I've got the information, now I
2:10:47have follow-up questions. I want an
2:10:49analysis to be done or I want you to
2:10:52tell me how you're going to implement
2:10:53this or I want to tell you how it has
2:10:56been historically implemented. That is
2:10:59something that needs to come to the
2:11:01committees,
2:11:02right? Because it's asking for more than
2:11:04that, right? It's asking now you're not
2:11:07saying I want information. Now you're
2:11:09saying I I I want really some um extra
2:11:13work to be done here. And while
2:11:16respectfully one committee may think
2:11:19that it's very important to have your
2:11:22administrative team drill down on that
2:11:23and get there, if a majority of the
2:11:25committee doesn't feel that way about
2:11:27it, then it doesn't have to happen. Does
2:11:31that make sense? Does that, you know,
2:11:33help us understand where that line is
2:11:35drawn? Um, so because that seems to be,
2:11:39you know, in every committee that's
2:11:41where the tension always always comes
2:11:43up. Um, so on the administrative side,
2:11:47you can't read it too literally and say,
2:11:49"Oh, well, you know, I've got to I've
2:11:51got to put 12 different documents
2:11:53together and I've got to have three
2:11:54different administrators do that." So
2:11:56what? That's what you have to do, right?
2:12:00The committee member has the right to
2:12:01that information. The other side of it
2:12:03is if I'm asking that, well, now that
2:12:06I've got this information, I want a plan
2:12:09on implementing it. I don't you know I I
2:12:11want to know what the analysis is and
2:12:14support it. That's a bigger job and that
2:12:17requires resources and time. That's the
2:12:20committee decision.
2:12:23Hope that helps.
2:12:26>> Jim Madam chair point of privilege I
2:12:29think in one sense I need to know if I
2:12:31were to leave and we went under the
2:12:33quorum did this meeting have to dissolve
2:12:35or can you finish? Are you going to take
2:12:37a vote? Uh no votes will be taken. Um uh
2:12:42but uh the quorum rule is that you can
2:12:44start and finish without a quorum,
2:12:46right? But you can't take a vote.
2:12:49>> Yep.
2:12:49>> And you won't be take will you be taking
2:12:51an action, madam chair, because I do
2:12:53apologize. I do have a hard stop.
2:12:55>> No, there's no action to be taken. So
2:12:58you're good.
2:12:59>> I do apolog
2:13:02and this was good.
2:13:03>> No, I mean it this was I I detected a
2:13:06hint of uh
2:13:09I I do agree that this was actually very
2:13:11good and I wish we went I I but I do
2:13:13have to go somewhere and I think on
2:13:15Tuesday we'll be spending about six to
2:13:17seven hours with you all. So something
2:13:19to look at agenda. So but I do have to
2:13:25I do I do have to leave as long as I'm
2:13:27not going to affect your time meaning
2:13:29that you guys don't have to um absolve
2:13:32this meeting. So I'm good. All right.
2:13:33Thank but honestly
2:13:35>> have a good time. All
2:13:44right. So, more on BDH. Uh BDH also
2:13:48covers uh school or classroom visits. Um
2:13:53school committee members interested in
2:13:55visiting schools or classrooms will
2:13:56inform the school committee clerk.
2:13:58Again, the clerk plays a role in this
2:13:59who will make arrangements for
2:14:00visitation through the principles of
2:14:02various schools. So the idea is so that
2:14:06if a school committee member has an
2:14:08interest in visiting a school or a
2:14:10classroom maybe because it's a new
2:14:11program of some kind that we want to go
2:14:13through the school principal so that
2:14:14they could prepare for the visit so
2:14:15there's no surprise visits or an
2:14:17interruption or a disruption into
2:14:19something that's already planned that
2:14:21maybe the school committee member would
2:14:22not have known aside from having this uh
2:14:24communication with the principal. Uh and
2:14:27at that point uh what was uh emphasized
2:14:30in this was to emphasize that uh the
2:14:32emphasis was on that these school visits
2:14:34would be informal expressions of
2:14:36interest in school affairs and not as
2:14:39inspections or visits for supervisory or
2:14:41administrative purposes. Now,
2:14:46there could be a constituency
2:14:48uh you know that reaches out that
2:14:50constituent that reaches out that says
2:14:52there's an issue with a building and uh
2:14:56maybe in order to kind of verify that or
2:14:58look it up or to see what the progress
2:15:01on on it being uh dealt with that you
2:15:04might want to schedule a a a visit. What
2:15:06we were trying to what this policy was
2:15:08trying to avoid is that uh there'd be
2:15:12surprise visits, surprise inspections
2:15:14and that that suddenly it's now a uh
2:15:18instead of a school committee member
2:15:19observing now they have that
2:15:21information. They could now act on it if
2:15:23they have to in a school committee
2:15:24member that it ends up being a surprise
2:15:25inspection and they're now directing the
2:15:27principal to, you know, change that
2:15:29light bulb or do this or do that, paint
2:15:31that wall because that should be an
2:15:32administrative function that should come
2:15:33from the superintendent. And if there is
2:15:35ever an issue uh that a constituent
2:15:37raises about a school building or
2:15:39facility or an issue, I I would imagine
2:15:42the first call to be made is to the
2:15:43superintendent so they're aware of it
2:15:44because they may not be. Uh and then if
2:15:46there's any action that needs to be done
2:15:48on behalf of the school committee, uh
2:15:50then it could be part of an agenda item
2:15:52for discussion or action. Uh but the
2:15:54school visits is something that's a
2:15:55prerogative of the school committee
2:15:56members. Obviously, as school committee
2:15:58members, you probably have a, you know,
2:16:00understanding would have an interest in
2:16:02going to any or all the schools that are
2:16:04within uh the district to to see what's
2:16:07going on, to observe, uh to maybe verify
2:16:10maybe a program that was approved by the
2:16:11school committee that you just want to
2:16:13see how it's going. Uh the idea of this
2:16:15is to make sure that's streamlined uh
2:16:17and so that no one's denied. The other
2:16:19way of looking at this as well is that
2:16:20school committee members because of this
2:16:22have the authority to request that visit
2:16:25and so those arranges can be made and so
2:16:27no one could be just denied arbitrarily
2:16:30the opportunity to visit schools because
2:16:32that could happen too. It works both
2:16:33ways. This is not just limiting to a
2:16:35school committee member. It empowers
2:16:36them to be able to make those visits.
2:16:37It's something uh that policies when
2:16:39you're looking at policies you should
2:16:41look at it from from both perspectives.
2:16:43Um, yes,
2:16:46>> the schools have implemented a policy of
2:16:49their own. So, it came from the
2:16:52superintendent.
2:16:53Anybody going into the school must sign
2:16:56in and anybody going when they leave,
2:16:59they have to sign out and they have to
2:17:00wear a visitor tag,
2:17:02>> okay,
2:17:03>> while they're there.
2:17:04>> And so, we read in our classrooms.
2:17:09Um, so it's reading week or reading
2:17:12month. So everybody who goes in to read
2:17:16should even though they may be very
2:17:19familiar with the school and the people
2:17:22in it, they should still sign in and
2:17:24sign out because it's accountability
2:17:28should something happen.
2:17:35So So there's a little bit of a
2:17:36difference, right? So if if a school
2:17:38committee member is invited into the
2:17:39building to say read,
2:17:42>> that's different from what this policy
2:17:43covers, which is a school committee
2:17:45member interested in visiting a school
2:17:46or classroom uh for informal expressions
2:17:49of interest in school affairs. That's
2:17:51different from you're being invited over
2:17:53to to read to the class,
2:17:55>> right?
2:17:56>> Yes.
2:17:56>> I think probably can we can we ask Mr.
2:17:59Buck?
2:18:01I would say probably that like as you
2:18:02know some of the schools invited some of
2:18:04the school committee members to go and
2:18:06read when we get that initial and I
2:18:09liked the way that this last school did
2:18:11it. Um it was like an Excel sheet. You
2:18:13can go in and you can sign on your time.
2:18:16Really really nice. It's a working
2:18:17document. Um maybe that school should
2:18:19share it probably to everybody else if
2:18:20you like it. But um once we kind of make
2:18:24the initial in our personal like if we
2:18:26can go read do do you want us to then
2:18:30email Jill and you and say hey I got
2:18:33invited to this school I'm able to go at
2:18:36this time frame like do you just want a
2:18:38heads up or is it am I confirming just
2:18:41with the school itself or the chair
2:18:42should I say?
2:18:43>> Yeah. I'd prefer if you uh follow with
2:18:44the clerk and the clerk will will come
2:18:46to me that way.
2:18:47>> Okay.
2:18:47>> Yeah. And then every time that we're
2:18:48sending something to the clerk also
2:18:50CCing the chair on it as well too. You
2:18:53>> certainly can. Yeah. So, so one of the
2:18:54things I would say is that um if a
2:18:58school principal or uh at or if at the
2:19:00teacher level they invite a school
2:19:02committee member uh that one would
2:19:05presume although it's not expressly in
2:19:07this policy it doesn't have to be that a
2:19:09teacher visiting or or inviting someone
2:19:12over to their classroom to read or
2:19:13present that they're going through their
2:19:15building administrator and the building
2:19:16administrator then would have the
2:19:17prerogative to let the superintendent
2:19:19know, hey, we have certain visitors
2:19:21coming in just to let you know. It's I
2:19:23if if uh if Randy as superintendent
2:19:26decides to make that a administrative
2:19:29directive to his building administrator
2:19:31say hey I need to be informed who's
2:19:33going to what schools just so I know
2:19:35he's could do that it doesn't prevent uh
2:19:39it it that has nothing to do with
2:19:41necessarily with this policy in the
2:19:42sense that um this policy gives you the
2:19:45right to go to winters because you want
2:19:48to go to winters
2:19:50just prescribes the way that you want to
2:19:51do that you want to visit Winters, you
2:19:53want to check out a program or a new
2:19:55addition or something, and you send that
2:19:57request to the clerk. The clerk then
2:20:00goes to the principal and shoots out an
2:20:02email to the principal and says, "Hey,
2:20:03I'm trying to arrange this visit." Now,
2:20:05uh it might be easier for the clerk to
2:20:07go to the superintendent to get to the
2:20:09principal. That's fine. Uh but the idea
2:20:12is that uh you are then able to say,
2:20:15"Hey, you wanted to visit Winters, you
2:20:17could do it next week."
2:20:18>> Okay,
2:20:18>> we've cleared it with the principal,
2:20:19building administrator. I just want to
2:20:21name that under my leadership, this is
2:20:23not uh uh an opportunity to be a
2:20:25gatekeeper. So, I just want to make sure
2:20:26that that's pretty clear and it's out
2:20:28there. Truthfully, it's an opportunity
2:20:30for for us to be aligned with our
2:20:32principles. Um, we really want to
2:20:34collect data and celebrate the visits
2:20:36that happen at our our our schools with
2:20:37our school committees so that we can
2:20:38kind of share that data at the end of
2:20:40the year. Um, because I think it's an
2:20:41opportunity to celebrate that. So, I
2:20:42just want to be clear um from my purview
2:20:46that this this is just an opportunity
2:20:48for us to to be in the know uh to
2:20:50communicate with our principles, commun
2:20:52our principles communicate back to us,
2:20:54but we get to celebrate um the the
2:20:56amount of context. I think the things
2:20:58that happen in Pucket regarding our
2:21:00school committee and our schools are
2:21:01excellent. The readings that happen, I
2:21:03don't think that that's uh consistent
2:21:04across the state. So, I want to make
2:21:05sure that we celebrate those things.
2:21:09We also have a direct communication with
2:21:11members uh of the administration. So if
2:21:14uh school committee members have again
2:21:17they might have a particular interest in
2:21:19a particular program or school they
2:21:21might want to reach out to a principal
2:21:22or another administrator to ask about a
2:21:25program of some kind. uh this cuts out
2:21:28chairpersons of subcommittees of the
2:21:30full committee can communicate directly
2:21:33with members of the administration on
2:21:34items that are upcoming subcommittee
2:21:36agendas in order to ensure the proper
2:21:40documents and information will be
2:21:41available for the meeting. So,
2:21:43facilities, building,
2:21:45wellness,
2:21:48finance. When regards to the CFO, the
2:21:51chairs of those subcommittees could
2:21:52reach out to the corresponding
2:21:54administrators to say, "Hey, we're going
2:21:56to be discussing uh this wellness
2:21:59program. We need all the data for this.
2:22:01We want the grant information for it. We
2:22:02want this and that to know what the
2:22:03information is." Wellness could do that.
2:22:06Finance Duchelle could also do that as
2:22:07well. he can request the CFO, hey, I
2:22:09need all this documents prepared because
2:22:11we're going to be covering this item uh
2:22:13come uh you know the finance
2:22:16subcommittee. Same thing with building
2:22:18and facilities, you could do that. You
2:22:19can have those conversations. That's the
2:22:21exception to the rule. Other than that,
2:22:24if it's a particular individual member
2:22:27of the school committee that wants
2:22:29information from that would, you know,
2:22:31you know that Lee has this information,
2:22:34instead of going directly to Lee, you're
2:22:36going through what we just discussed
2:22:38earlier, ask through the clerk. The
2:22:39clerk then forwards it to the
2:22:41superintendent, CC's the chair, and it
2:22:43goes through that process we just talked
2:22:44about. Uh, and again, the purpose is to
2:22:47streamline those communications and
2:22:49those requests for information. Uh and
2:22:51the only caveat is going to be the
2:22:52chairs of the subcommittees. They have
2:22:54every uh there's a different working
2:22:56relationship say or like with Miss Grant
2:22:58maybe with with special ed, right? She's
2:23:00going to talk to administrators that
2:23:01deal with special ed in a different way
2:23:03in preparation for those subcommittee
2:23:05meetings in the same way that wellness
2:23:06might with other administrators or
2:23:08building with uh other administrators.
2:23:13School committee superintendent
2:23:15relationship. This section is covering
2:23:17communications what I wanted to focus
2:23:18everything on. Uh so request for
2:23:20information, communications between
2:23:22school committee members and
2:23:23administrators. Uh this would be uh in
2:23:26the same line request for the
2:23:28superintendent. Uh so uh here we have uh
2:23:33let's see information requested by
2:23:35members. This is in line with BDH. It's
2:23:38separate and uh it doesn't contradict
2:23:41one another. So there's overlap. So
2:23:44individual members may request uh
2:23:46specific uh information uh regarding
2:23:49specific agenda items that will be
2:23:51provided by the superintendent at least
2:23:53four days prior to the meeting. That's
2:23:55the ideal four days prior to the meeting
2:23:56at which time the information will be
2:23:58discussed. Uh if the meeting for which
2:24:00the information is requested is
2:24:02scheduled for less than one week from
2:24:04the date of the request, the
2:24:05superintendent will have two days
2:24:06because less time to prep, they'll have
2:24:08two days uh prior to the meeting to
2:24:10provide information. nothing in this
2:24:12rule prevents superintendent from
2:24:13providing information on the day of the
2:24:14meeting. It may very well be that the
2:24:16superintendent can't collect all that
2:24:17information in time uh to meet the four
2:24:19days or the two days and they might the
2:24:21idea here is that that they're setting
2:24:23the standard if it can't be met for
2:24:24whatever reason superintendent says I'm
2:24:26not going to have that ready to you till
2:24:28the day of the meeting that could be
2:24:29done as well. Uh and I think the key to
2:24:31this is uh communication. Um any member
2:24:34may request data from the superintendent
2:24:36at any time and such data will then be
2:24:38shared with the committee members uh
2:24:40with all the committee members. Again
2:24:42this data request of the superintendent
2:24:44should be read in line with BDH. So if a
2:24:47particular school committee member is
2:24:48asking for data sets and it's not coming
2:24:52from a document that already exists or
2:24:54requires an analysis uh that requires
2:24:56some leg work to do. uh at that point
2:24:58you're going through BDH and possibly
2:25:00going through the school committee to
2:25:02approve. Um so that's just something to
2:25:04keep in mind. So this is not in this
2:25:06this pre-existed this pre-dated BDH but
2:25:10now that BDH exists. It doesn't
2:25:13contradict this. You have to read it
2:25:14together. That make sense? Uh so then we
2:25:16have superintendent shall notify the
2:25:18chair in writing of any violations of
2:25:20district policies brought to the
2:25:21superintendent's detention by an
2:25:22employee or a vendor to the school
2:25:24department.
2:25:26That's just a again as the presiding
2:25:28officer to decide what guidance as to
2:25:31what to do. You're just notified if
2:25:33there's an issue. Yes.
2:25:36>> Between uh calendar days and regular
2:25:38days between the four and the two that
2:25:40that might uh language might be clear.
2:25:43>> This doesn't make that clear.
2:25:44>> Okay.
2:25:45>> I would say uh just because most things
2:25:48are going to go calendar day wise, I
2:25:50would go with that. Um but
2:25:55>> business days.
2:25:56>> Well, I would say that because if it's a
2:25:57Sunday or vacation, yeah, that probably
2:25:59is a little unfair to to folks who not
2:26:00be working. Yes,
2:26:01>> maybe. Well,
2:26:03>> yeah.
2:26:04>> The materials requested of the
2:26:06superintendent.
2:26:08Um and this reads, uh regarding specific
2:26:11agenda items. Does that necessarily mean
2:26:14the supporting documents or is it
2:26:15recommen
2:26:17>> but does it have to be the supporting or
2:26:19could it be requested documents that are
2:26:22going to help them understand something?
2:26:24Could
2:26:24>> be both
2:26:24>> or either or
2:26:25>> either or
2:26:28it the limiting factors that's regarding
2:26:30agenda items. So it could be the
2:26:31supporting documents or it could be
2:26:33documents that you think are necessary
2:26:35to better inform a decision. Yes.
2:26:36>> Like context. Okay. And there's an
2:26:38opportunity for dialogue to request
2:26:40additional time based on the request. Uh
2:26:43for example, some of the requests may
2:26:45require an extensive amount of data
2:26:48gathering uh uh document gathering from
2:26:50members of my team. Um that's an
2:26:52opportunity that presents itself as
2:26:54well. Correct.
2:26:55>> Uh yes,
2:26:56>> under the previous
2:26:58>> I didn't mean to say it that way. It's
2:26:59just I was midthought and then I wanted
2:27:02to say yes. Yeah. Um,
2:27:08all right. Let's uh
2:27:12technology. Great. Uh, oh, my battery is
2:27:15running low. That might be a good sign
2:27:17to wrap it up. Um, let's see here. Uh,
2:27:20communication with media. This is, uh,
2:27:22relevant as of late because there has
2:27:24been occasion where, you know, the media
2:27:26inquiry has been strong given the
2:27:28current events that have been happening
2:27:29around the city. uh the chair or
2:27:31designate shall be the official
2:27:32spokesperson for the committee and can
2:27:34only make statements on actions or
2:27:36positions upon which the committee has
2:27:38taken official action. The chair is the
2:27:41default spokesperson for the committee.
2:27:44If the committee is taking a position or
2:27:47is announcing some kind of action on an
2:27:49item, the chair could then speak for the
2:27:51committee and say yes we are doing X Y
2:27:53and Z. Press releases on behalf of the
2:27:56committee shall be approved by the chair
2:27:57and reviewed by legal council fire to
2:27:59release. Uh
2:28:03that would mean like official press
2:28:04release if it's going to be prepared by
2:28:06the on behalf of the Pucket school
2:28:08committee. This is a press release.
2:28:10We're starting this program. We've
2:28:11decided to do this uh
2:28:15as individual school committee members.
2:28:17You folks are definitely going to get
2:28:19media inquiries individually whether you
2:28:21like it or not. In which case that's
2:28:24different from what we're talking about
2:28:26here. What it this subsequently says is
2:28:28that in this policy it recognizes
2:28:30individual members retain the right to
2:28:32speak to media as individuals but
2:28:34understand that any comment will likely
2:28:35be interpreted by viewers, readers and
2:28:36an official statement by the committee.
2:28:38It's asking you to be mindful that when
2:28:40you speak with media that you
2:28:42differentiate that you're speaking on
2:28:43your behalf of yourself versus the
2:28:45behalf of the the full school committee.
2:28:47It's not the same as a press release if
2:28:50you just give a a comment. If it's
2:28:52misinterpreted or or it sounds very much
2:28:54like you're speaking on behalf of the
2:28:55school committee, you know, from case to
2:28:58case, we want to be mindful of that for
2:28:59sure. But, uh, it's it's one of those
2:29:02things where you have the right to we're
2:29:04we're not putting a gag order on school
2:29:06committee members. You could speak with
2:29:07media. It's just asking folks to be
2:29:09prudent in how they speak with the media
2:29:11and making sure that they preface
2:29:12comments stating that members are
2:29:14speaking individually and not only as
2:29:16committee as a whole. uh and that only
2:29:17committees as the whole can make
2:29:19policies and and decisions for the
2:29:20school department.
2:29:22So in a universe where it sounds like
2:29:24you're speaking for the school committee
2:29:25but you're not actually speaking on
2:29:27policies or decisions of the school
2:29:29department,
2:29:32it kind of falls in between there as far
2:29:33as like your well if you say something
2:29:36that's obvious which is you know on
2:29:39behalf of the school committee we all
2:29:42want students to be safe.
2:29:45I think I think we don't have to put
2:29:46that to a vote. I think that's that's
2:29:47that's pretty that's pretty fair. Um but
2:29:50what you don't want to do is start
2:29:52parsing things out. It gets into a
2:29:53trickery slope. The difference would be
2:29:55is that as behalf of the school
2:29:56committee, we're going to uh shore up
2:29:59all security protocols and that needed a
2:30:02vote. That's an action item you're
2:30:04announcing that didn't get approved by
2:30:05the school committee. There's a
2:30:06difference there for sure. I don't want
2:30:08to parse it out too much. If I had to
2:30:10give a default rule, it would be anytime
2:30:12you're asked by the media for a
2:30:13question, it's not an official position
2:30:15yet of the school committee. School
2:30:16committee hasn't convened yet to have
2:30:17the conversation yet that you preface
2:30:19every comment like this says and says
2:30:21I'm speaking for myself.
2:30:24I would imagine my colleagues may agree,
2:30:26but we just haven't had a chance to
2:30:27discuss it yet. But this is my position.
2:30:30That's fine. uh the superintendent or
2:30:32staff uh member designated by
2:30:34superintendent shall be the official
2:30:36spokesperson for the school department
2:30:37on issues that relate to district
2:30:39operations. So if uh Randy as
2:30:42superintendent is going to announce a
2:30:43snow day, he doesn't need a vote from
2:30:45the school committee. If he's going to
2:30:48announce a closure of a school because
2:30:50of uh
2:30:52you know some kind of issue with the
2:30:53school uh the heating went out or a pipe
2:30:56burst, he doesn't need to get approval
2:30:58from the school committee to do that.
2:30:59that has to do with the day-to-day
2:31:00operations and he is a spokesperson for
2:31:02the administration or somebody that he
2:31:04designates is a spokesperson for the
2:31:06administration. U statements shall not
2:31:08be made to the media regarding personnel
2:31:10or other matters protected by law.
2:31:12That's everybody. Nobody's making
2:31:14personnel uh comments. Nobody's making
2:31:17uh comments that relate to student
2:31:18information. No one's making those
2:31:20comments.
2:31:22>> Yeah.
2:31:23Randy does do so when there's going to
2:31:27be a school closure for whatever reason
2:31:31is he does let us know ahead of time
2:31:34that it's going to happen.
2:31:36But you have a question.
2:31:38>> Yeah. No, that that's just, you know, I
2:31:39do that out of courtesy. I think it's
2:31:41important to have that open relationship
2:31:43with your school committee. Um, I guess
2:31:45my question is about uh and I don't know
2:31:48if it comes up in this section, but I
2:31:50suspect that it does because it pertains
2:31:51to media. Does this pertain to uh social
2:31:54media and and ethics for for school
2:31:56committee member? Is there any language
2:31:58in regards to that
2:32:06like governing what a school committee
2:32:08member individually could post on on
2:32:09social media
2:32:10>> per se? Yes.
2:32:12>> Uh no. So this is talking about media or
2:32:16uh uh conversations or communications
2:32:18with media. We're talking about news. uh
2:32:21if an individual has Facebook account,
2:32:24Instagram account, Tik Tok, whatever is
2:32:26out there that you guys want to put out
2:32:27a message, you guys are still
2:32:30in the United States, you have first
2:32:31amendment. You can speak on issues. Now,
2:32:33if you speak on issues that are
2:32:34improper, like uh making uh references
2:32:37to personnel matters or putting out
2:32:39student information, that's a whole
2:32:41other issue that we have to deal with.
2:32:43Uh but if you are making a statement
2:32:46about a personal opinion, belief, uh
2:32:49expectations, desires, uh you could do
2:32:52that individually as school committee
2:32:53members. Uh now, if you want to create a
2:32:57policy, if the school committee wants to
2:32:59create a policy, tightening up the
2:33:00reigns of social media policy and about
2:33:03uh uh discussing things that have to do
2:33:06with school department business, I guess
2:33:08they can. I just would caution to make
2:33:11sure that we are not overstepping and
2:33:12saying that you know you can't say
2:33:14anything negative about the district or
2:33:16you can't do this and that then we're
2:33:17kind of infringing on the first
2:33:18amendment there and and I would probably
2:33:20urge us not to do that. I don't think
2:33:21that would pass anyways by the school
2:33:23committee. I think everybody
2:33:24individually wants that freedom to be
2:33:25able to speak on their behalf um
2:33:28individually. The only thing that this
2:33:29policy is meant to do is to curtail any
2:33:32speech uh or or inc uh responses to
2:33:35media inquiries that speak for the
2:33:37district when that person can't speak
2:33:39for the district. That's really what
2:33:41this is about. But anything else is kind
2:33:43of you know up to people's personal
2:33:45judgment.
2:33:46>> That's just just for me just gaining
2:33:48clarity. So thank you.
2:33:49>> Sure.
2:33:50>> And if I can follow up on that. Yeah. If
2:33:53I can follow up on that. I think Dion
2:33:55said it well. So this I'm probably not
2:33:58saying it any better, but
2:34:02we're talking a lot about, you know,
2:34:04school committee governance and
2:34:05operations today. The reality is that
2:34:10you're also elected public officials.
2:34:14And so what you say in your capacity as
2:34:19an elected public official
2:34:22has frankly robust first amendment
2:34:25protections, right? There's different
2:34:27levels under the first amendment there's
2:34:29different levels of analysis, right? And
2:34:32what's said within a school in an
2:34:35educational setting um doesn't have as
2:34:38much freedom of expression as you might
2:34:41in on the village green.
2:34:45Right. And no form of speech gets
2:34:50greater protection under the first
2:34:52amendment in this country than political
2:34:54speech.
2:34:55And political speech can be
2:34:57uncomfortable.
2:34:59It can be it can be aspirational,
2:35:05but political speech gets robust
2:35:07protection. So you sort of have to
2:35:10understand that there's a difference
2:35:11between
2:35:13what you might say
2:35:16in a classroom
2:35:19to seventh grade students
2:35:25that gets frankly less protection
2:35:29than once you speak in your capacity as
2:35:32an elected public official. there really
2:35:35is a distinction.
2:35:37So it's um maybe it's uncomfortable but
2:35:42um you know policies which try
2:35:46to govern
2:35:48school committee members in terms of
2:35:51what they are able to say and write and
2:35:55do
2:35:57in their capacity as elected public
2:35:59officials will are bound to fail. I'm
2:36:03just I'm telling you, you're not going
2:36:04to be able. The First Amendment says
2:36:08that
2:36:11we protect political speech, whether
2:36:14it's comfortable or uncomfortable.
2:36:19>> I suspect that's a little different for
2:36:21the superintendent himself or herself.
2:36:22>> You have no rights.
2:36:26>> You have absolutely no rights.
2:36:28>> You You popped your First Amendment
2:36:30right outside that door.
2:36:31>> Exactly.
2:36:34I thought so
2:36:36>> just just to be um
2:36:38for the future deposition.
2:36:40>> Yeah, absolutely. I just wanted to put
2:36:42the only kidding at that there. Um so
2:36:45but in the same way that you can manage
2:36:48your expectation of your subordinates.
2:36:51Uh the school committee could do the
2:36:52same as far as uh who you report to
2:36:55which is the school committee. They
2:36:56could say, "Hey, uh, we want messaging
2:36:59to be done x, y, and z, or this is
2:37:03unbecoming or unprofessional because of,
2:37:05you know, the context in which something
2:37:06is posted." None of which I have any
2:37:10reason to believe would come from you,
2:37:11uh, Randy. I actually, we're not friends
2:37:13on social media, and I I don't know if I
2:37:15should take that personally or not, but
2:37:17we'll put that aside. Uh, but I there's
2:37:19just one of those things where you would
2:37:20use it. um the the whole idea of picking
2:37:22a superintendent and you picking your
2:37:24administrators and and and other staff
2:37:26is is this idea that they're going to
2:37:28conduct themselves professionally and
2:37:29reflect well on the district when
2:37:30they're in that role. So there's a
2:37:32matter of trust there. If there's ever
2:37:33some guidance or uh policy that you want
2:37:37to impose upon your subordinates, you
2:37:39can certainly do that administratively.
2:37:40And if if there ever a need arises by
2:37:42the school committee to do so for the
2:37:44superintendent, uh they certainly can.
2:37:46or they want to police themselves, they
2:37:47certainly can to to certain extents that
2:37:49we were just describing, but it kind of
2:37:51goes on a case to case basis there.
2:37:54>> And I apologize. I think about
2:37:55politically charged climates,
2:37:56particularly around election times where
2:37:58areas become gray. Uh people have
2:37:59personal opinions and obviously we have
2:38:01first amendment rights, but I I've
2:38:03certainly in my time uh from both
2:38:05committee and uh uh district employees
2:38:07seen some questionable, you know, post
2:38:09that that really, you know, when you
2:38:11serve a community can be problematic.
2:38:13And so you know for me I think just
2:38:15getting some clarity around where that
2:38:17and this may not be the forum or space
2:38:18for that conversation but around where
2:38:20that lives. So
2:38:21>> so like the guiding principle for like
2:38:23the first amendment is that when
2:38:25best way to combat bad speech is good
2:38:27speech. So just keeping that dialogue
2:38:29open and communicating is probably the
2:38:31best way. So if someone posts something
2:38:33that reflects negatively on an
2:38:35individual or the organization as a
2:38:36whole, uh countering it with your with
2:38:39with what we would call good speech or
2:38:41clarifying language or putting into
2:38:42context is kind of the best way. Uh
2:38:45because there's always going to be
2:38:46something posted whether it's within or
2:38:48outside the district that might concern
2:38:49what we're doing. Uh and it's just a
2:38:51matter of of like I said, combating past
2:38:53speech with good. Um so uh Oh, wow.
2:38:58Okay. Maybe I hit that button a little
2:39:00too hard.
2:39:09All right, we're not going to the
2:39:10beginning. Um,
2:39:14here
2:39:18get back to where we were.
2:39:24Electronic communication, email
2:39:26communications to or among a quorum of
2:39:29members concerning the committee or a
2:39:31school department business uh shall be
2:39:34limited to those purposes provided under
2:39:36the Rhode Island open meeting law
2:39:39notification and scheduling of meetings.
2:39:41That long sentence effectively meant
2:39:43means that you guys could text and email
2:39:46each other.
2:39:48If it's about school committee, school
2:39:50department business, anything that as
2:39:52Bill indicated, the standard is anything
2:39:54that you have direct jurisdiction over,
2:39:56you have to limit that those
2:39:57conversations to scheduling a meeting or
2:40:00notification meeting got cancelled.
2:40:01Meeting is I'm going to be running a
2:40:03little bit late at said meeting. But to
2:40:05talk substantive issues, if there's a
2:40:07quorum of members discussing it through
2:40:10electronic means, it's a rolling quorum
2:40:12or uh and it's going to be a problem.
2:40:14It's going to be a potential OMA
2:40:15violation. Um,
2:40:18one of the things that I
2:40:21advise caution around is that you may
2:40:23not be intending to cause a rolling
2:40:25quorum. You might think you're just
2:40:27going to talk to one member about
2:40:28something. You just got to be cognizant
2:40:30of the fact that once the rolling forum
2:40:32also considers you that conversation and
2:40:36then that person talks to another person
2:40:38and then that person talks to another
2:40:39person and suddenly there's a tree of
2:40:42communication whether that's a
2:40:44combination of email and text and
2:40:46in-person conversations. If it's all
2:40:48about an item that is being discussed
2:40:49that you have jurisdiction over as a
2:40:51school committee that's where the role
2:40:53in quorum is going to come into play. So
2:40:56like my advice is that if it's something
2:40:58substantive that if you have a
2:41:00conversation with a colleague, another
2:41:01fellow school committee member that in
2:41:04the occasion where that happens that you
2:41:06make it very clear this is between you.
2:41:08We're having this conversation right
2:41:09now. You're the only one I spoke to this
2:41:11about. Um or I already spoke to Juan
2:41:14Baba about this. Now I'm talking to you
2:41:16about this. That's three members there.
2:41:18One more member. We got a rolling
2:41:20quorum. Right? So you just got to be
2:41:22very conscientious of that. doesn't mean
2:41:23that you can't have conversation with
2:41:24with your colleagues about certain
2:41:26things that are substantive, but you got
2:41:28to make sure you keep into check. Uh the
2:41:30idea of the OMA is that all of the
2:41:32conversations about things that you have
2:41:34jurisdiction over are done in an open
2:41:37meeting and if there's an exception in
2:41:39an exe executive session, a closed
2:41:40meeting. But aside from that, there are
2:41:42no decisions in substantive
2:41:44conversations about matters uh you know
2:41:47outside of those situations.
2:41:52If I may,
2:41:56thank you for the clarification. You
2:41:58know, I'm very active, you know, talking
2:42:00to my colleagues and sending requests to
2:42:03superintendent when some my constituents
2:42:07send me a request, you know, that can
2:42:10affect uh schools, students. But I'm
2:42:13very respectful on that. I I I put them
2:42:16on the knowledge of superintendent any
2:42:18that my constituency bring to me and he
2:42:20decides what to do. Um but when
2:42:23superintendent send us emails regard any
2:42:26situation at schools uh are we able to
2:42:29reply or not in into them emails
2:42:37>> a button? Um that's the that's the key.
2:42:41So
2:42:45Whether it's the superintendent sending
2:42:47it out, you know, to through the clerk
2:42:49to everybody.
2:42:50>> Yeah, that one.
2:42:51>> Or whether it's even you sending it out
2:42:55to everybody, a piece of information.
2:42:57That in and of itself doesn't create a
2:42:59violation of the OMA because it's being
2:43:01communicated to a quorum, right? As soon
2:43:04as you get that first person responding,
2:43:08that's not even a rolling quorum because
2:43:10you're talking to everybody once. The
2:43:12rolling quorum is when you establish it
2:43:14through a series of communications.
2:43:16It's the response that's the problem.
2:43:19>> Okay?
2:43:19>> It's not the initial email. That's
2:43:22actually okay.
2:43:23>> Mhm.
2:43:24>> Right. It's the response that's the
2:43:26problem. As soon as one committee member
2:43:29hits the reply all button,
2:43:31>> then you've got the discussion. So, you
2:43:34reply to the superintendent one-on-one.
2:43:37>> Not an OM violation. Okay? You know, we
2:43:40when we send our memos out, you know, we
2:43:42always hope you, you know, we mean it
2:43:44respectfully. Hope nobody's offended by
2:43:46it, but we always have our tagline at
2:43:47the bottom. You know, please do not
2:43:49discuss this among yourselves. Have any
2:43:51questions, call us directly. It's for
2:43:52that reason. You call the only about it,
2:43:55you call me about it. We have that
2:43:57one-on-one conversation. That's fine.
2:43:59Okay?
2:44:00>> But as soon as you hit that reply all,
2:44:03then again, that's not even rolling.
2:44:05You're not talking to everybody at once.
2:44:08The ruling quorum as Jan just explained
2:44:10is when A and B talk to C and then C
2:44:13goes talks to D.
2:44:15>> Exactly.
2:44:15>> Now, and there's there's two other not
2:44:18that we maybe we don't need to go this
2:44:21this deep into it, but these cases
2:44:23happen where A and B talks to C.
2:44:28They are three. Now C doesn't want to
2:44:31create the rolling quorum. So C goes to
2:44:35a nonparty says hey can you tell
2:44:39BC
2:44:42said you have
2:44:44>> you can't sort of like break the chain
2:44:46by using you know an independent
2:44:48communication
2:44:50>> ultimately if it's something important
2:44:51enough that you need to speak with that
2:44:53many members about put on the agenda.
2:44:56>> Okay. If it's something that you don't
2:44:58want to discuss openly, if it qualifies
2:45:00for one of the exceptions, then it goes
2:45:01into close session. But if it doesn't,
2:45:03then it's open meeting.
2:45:05>> So, thank you.
2:45:06>> Stupid question, but a question
2:45:08nonetheless.
2:45:10The clerk sends out information to us
2:45:15and some fool hits the reply all button
2:45:19and says, "Thank you."
2:45:22That's okay. Thank you.
2:45:27Oh, one thing that I'm I'm paranoid
2:45:28about, I haven't seen it yet, but
2:45:29apparently Gmail has allowed like a
2:45:31little emoticon reactions. If you ask a
2:45:35if you ask a question, hey, uh, I really
2:45:38like this program. I hope everybody uh,
2:45:40approves of it and everyone does a
2:45:42thumbs up. There's an argument to be
2:45:43made that you're all affirmally agreeing
2:45:44on something and that that's an issue.
2:45:46So,
2:45:48>> we haven't had that decision yet whether
2:45:50Roly Porum has existed by
2:45:51>> right in the emojis. In the last AG
2:45:56um the last attorney general, you know,
2:45:58open government summit, that question
2:46:01actually came up
2:46:03>> and the AG said that's a violation.
2:46:08>> That exact question actually came up.
2:46:10It's not a there's not an AG opinion on
2:46:12yet. And the AG was presenting said
2:46:13nope, that's a violation.
2:46:15>> So the goal would be is um
2:46:20just be cautious of that. I think are on
2:46:22the side of caution. If it's really
2:46:24like, hey, this is an update from the
2:46:26superintendent, you did a thumbs up,
2:46:29fine. Uh, if it's a substantive issue,
2:46:31you're giving thumbs up, could be
2:46:32interpreted as a approval of something
2:46:34that still hasn't been discussed before
2:46:36a school committee meeting, I rather
2:46:38not. Um, that includes frowny faces and
2:46:42crying faces or that little sick face.
2:46:45Yeah. Yeah.
2:46:47>> A girl, but um Okay, understood. Reply
2:46:51all and no thumbs up.
2:46:54>> Okay.
2:46:56>> Okay.
2:46:57>> Notification on a communication sent out
2:46:59to the group where everyone's blind
2:47:01copied so they can't reply all but it's
2:47:04information only. It's going to snow
2:47:07tomorrow. It has nothing to do with the
2:47:11work of the committee or items on an
2:47:13agenda.
2:47:14>> I mean a comment like I can't think
2:47:16another snow apocalypse is okay.
2:47:18>> Okay. Thank you. Um,
2:47:20>> well, would it be okay if you say, "Hey,
2:47:21we should definitely cancel school." And
2:47:23somebody else chimes in and goes, "Yeah,
2:47:24we should." Another person says, "I
2:47:26don't know if we should." And now you're
2:47:27talking about a substantive issue.
2:47:28>> If it's just informing, if it's
2:47:30informing it, it is not it's outside of
2:47:33this.
2:47:34>> Yes.
2:47:34>> Okay.
2:47:36>> Uh, now we're going to go in
2:47:37requirements for meetings of the school
2:47:39committee.
2:47:41We were just talking about OMA. We've
2:47:42been talking about OMA in different
2:47:44various contexts. The committee shall
2:47:46conduct its meeting in accordance with
2:47:47the provision of 4246 the open meetings
2:47:50act. This is why we have to post notices
2:47:52of meetings which is our agendas 48
2:47:54hours before. This is why yes
2:48:00to have a working lunch.
2:48:03Um so we are going to take a five minute
2:48:06break
2:48:09and then we'll come back and finish
2:48:12yours.
2:48:15Oh,
2:48:20>> you're almost near the end.
2:48:24>> Yeah, let's bring it here. I'd rather
2:48:25take a break and get
2:48:27>> You want to take a break, get the food,
2:48:29and
2:48:31>> hungry.
2:48:56And welcome back everybody. It's 11:38
2:49:00and we are going to finish up with our
2:49:04legal information on policy and then we
2:49:07have some
2:49:09other wonderful information to share
2:49:12with you.
2:49:14So Dioni,
2:49:16>> yes thank you. Um so we are on to the
2:49:18next policy uh BEC. It uh acknowledges
2:49:23what we're already statutoily required
2:49:26to follow which is open meetings act and
2:49:28the guiding principle for open meetings
2:49:30act that everything that has to do with
2:49:33uh what the school committee has
2:49:34jurisdiction over is going into an open
2:49:36meeting and then there are exceptions to
2:49:38that rule that we'll cover and it elects
2:49:41the school committee with the ability to
2:49:43discuss those items those exceptions in
2:49:46close session and executive session uh
2:49:49as we otherwise refer refer it to. The
2:49:52general rule is everything starts at
2:49:53open meeting. If it meets an exception
2:49:55to go into closed meeting, then the
2:49:57school committee then decides whether or
2:49:58not they want to do it in closed
2:49:59session. Um and uh so executive session
2:50:03goes no person other than the members,
2:50:05the superintendent, clerk and legal
2:50:07counsel is entitled to attend or
2:50:09participate in executive sessions other
2:50:11than by express invitation by the
2:50:13committee or the chairperson. This often
2:50:15comes up when we're going to have an
2:50:16executive session where we are going to
2:50:19ask uh maybe if it's about a personnel
2:50:22matter or it's about uh some kind of
2:50:24issue that that requires a presentation
2:50:27of some kind, we will invite those folks
2:50:29into executive session. Uh and that's
2:50:31something that has to be done uh by the
2:50:33school committee uh by vote. Uh the only
2:50:36caveats or exceptions to this would be
2:50:38that if uh say the superintendent is the
2:50:41matter that's going to be discussed uh
2:50:43like as a personnel matter which is the
2:50:45only personnel matter that the school
2:50:46committee will be able to to deal with
2:50:48that in the clerk then at that point the
2:50:50superintendent would be entitled to to
2:50:52appear but on invite only. Uh but
2:50:54otherwise these are this is the core
2:50:56group that's entitled to go into the
2:50:58executive session per our policy. This
2:51:00is not per the statute. This is per the
2:51:02policy. So, has anybody wanted to change
2:51:03this uh and add somebody else that would
2:51:05otherwise be entitled to be in executive
2:51:07session, I don't think that necessarily
2:51:09be advisable given what is usually
2:51:11discussed in executive session, but this
2:51:12is the core group. Um, a record of those
2:51:15votes in executive session will be kept
2:51:16by the clerk indicating when they have
2:51:18been announced. Now, that's also
2:51:21compliant with OMA. So, that's not just
2:51:23policy. Uh, and in addition to that, uh,
2:51:26the votes will be announced in public
2:51:28session as required by open meetings
2:51:29act. So, it's just announcing the vote
2:51:31or
2:51:33notifying in open session that votes
2:51:36were taken. Uh, if the m minutes are
2:51:38sealed, you're not going to announce
2:51:40what those votes necessarily were for,
2:51:42but you would announce what uh that the
2:51:44votes were taken on whatever issue was
2:51:46discussed. Uh, members will not disclose
2:51:48or comment on discussion in executive
2:51:50session other than to restate what is
2:51:52posted on the agenda. This is important.
2:51:54If it qualifies under one of the
2:51:56exceptions that allows you as a school
2:51:58committee to address things in closed in
2:52:01a closed meeting that is based on the
2:52:04confidentiality or privilege type of
2:52:06information for the most part and so it
2:52:08makes no sense to be able to do that and
2:52:10then have members then disclose what was
2:52:14discussed inside executive session to
2:52:16the general public. It kind of breaches
2:52:18that uh that that veil of
2:52:20confidentiality that was set up by a
2:52:22closed meeting. Uh it if it is in the
2:52:25interest of the district for a statement
2:52:27to be made regarding a close session
2:52:29discussion, the chairperson will compose
2:52:31an official public statement uh that
2:52:33meets with the approval of the majority
2:52:35of the committee and any such statement
2:52:37must comply with the limitations of the
2:52:39law. So consider a couple of things in
2:52:41reference to that provision. One is
2:52:44if the closed meeting is held and it
2:52:49concludes with the sealing of the
2:52:51executive session minutes, if there's
2:52:54going to be disclosure of what was
2:52:57discussed, then that vote would have to
2:52:59be revisited or there should be a caveat
2:53:01to these minutes are going to be uh
2:53:04sealed uh but we're approving a
2:53:07particular message or statement that
2:53:08goes out to the general public about it.
2:53:11uh in which case much like when we're
2:53:13talking about media uh press releases
2:53:15that are coming out from uh the school
2:53:18committee chairperson is the
2:53:20spokesperson by default but any message
2:53:23that is sent out on behalf of the full
2:53:25school committee needs to be done by
2:53:26approval of the full school committee.
2:53:28This kind of this reinforces that
2:53:36regular meetings. So this is a um so the
2:53:40regular meeting of the committee shall
2:53:41be held again this is the the the little
2:53:44uh trick they have here in the
2:53:46organizational meeting has the same
2:53:47thing on the first Tuesday after the
2:53:49second Monday. Now this is different
2:53:51from the organizational meeting which
2:53:52was the first Tuesday after the first
2:53:54Monday. This is now the first Tuesday
2:53:56after the second Monday for every
2:53:57meeting thereafter. Wish Jim was still
2:53:59here so we could have uh we could have
2:54:00played around with this language. uh in
2:54:02each month a at a location designated by
2:54:05the school committee at 6:00 p.m. Uh
2:54:07providing however that if the day of any
2:54:09such meeting is a legal holiday, the
2:54:11regular meeting shall be held in the
2:54:12evening of the next business day.
2:54:14Furthermore, the committee may cause uh
2:54:17may for cause vote to meet at some other
2:54:19agreed date. If the calendar is
2:54:22established at the beginning of the year
2:54:23and you decide to deviate from this
2:54:25standard, you can. Yes.
2:54:28>> So, quick question.
2:54:30We we've seen obviously circumstances
2:54:33here in Rhode Island where we leave they
2:54:34cancelled due to um emergency events
2:54:37that occurred across the state and or
2:54:39weather. In those particular instances,
2:54:42what what is the next step in re
2:54:43rescheduling? Is it you cancel that
2:54:45particular meeting and you move to the
2:54:46next or should that initial meeting be
2:54:48rescheduled?
2:54:49>> So you should contemplate regular
2:54:50meetings and special meetings. So a
2:54:52regular meeting means that at the
2:54:54beginning of the year you have all your
2:54:55regular meetings set. Everyone knows
2:54:57what those are because they're set at
2:54:59the beginning of the meeting, uh,
2:55:00beginning of the year.
2:55:03Thereafter, if there's meetings that
2:55:04need to be cancelled,
2:55:06uh, at that point, uh,
2:55:09the rescheduling of that meeting is is
2:55:11going to be effectively a special
2:55:12meeting,
2:55:14>> but it doesn't have to be reschedled. If
2:55:16we can move some of those agenda items,
2:55:18or does it need to be?
2:55:19>> Oh, if you don't have a let's say all
2:55:20the agenda items on a meeting that was
2:55:22canceled could wait until the next
2:55:23regular meeting, just pass it over. You
2:55:25don't have to reschedule a meeting just
2:55:27because it was canceled. In fact, last
2:55:29year there was a December meeting
2:55:30canceled that I think was a regular
2:55:32meeting and the year ended. There was no
2:55:35rescheduling of that meeting, but those
2:55:37agenda items got transferred over to a
2:55:38subsequent meeting.
2:55:41>> So, if we
2:55:45say we can't have our meeting, it now
2:55:47becomes a special meeting.
2:55:49>> Yeah. If you reschedule your regular
2:55:51meeting, you're no longer having a
2:55:52regular meeting. It's canceled.
2:55:54>> Okay. But it but let's say there are
2:55:56agenda items on that regular meeting
2:55:57that are important that maybe because of
2:55:59deadlines need to be addressed within
2:56:01the month and you decide to schedule a
2:56:03special meeting two days later 3 days
2:56:05later
2:56:06>> that's it's going to operate under
2:56:07special meeting rules which we're going
2:56:09to discuss
2:56:10>> next
2:56:10>> right now
2:56:11>> uh be special meeting uh special
2:56:14committee meetings special committee
2:56:15meetings may be called by the
2:56:16chairperson uh this is important this
2:56:18next section here because it kind of
2:56:20goes into
2:56:22the responsibilities and roles roles of
2:56:24individual members
2:56:26and the responsibility of the chair. So
2:56:28the chair has the authority to uh call a
2:56:31special meeting. The clerk upon the
2:56:33request in writing by three members of
2:56:35the committee shall call a special
2:56:37meeting. So if the chair doesn't call a
2:56:40special meeting, but there are three
2:56:42members of the committee that want to
2:56:44call a special meeting and they put it
2:56:46in writing and send it to the clerk. The
2:56:49clerk is then going to set up that
2:56:51special meeting. So either it is
2:56:52established or set by the chairperson by
2:56:54by the chairperson's prerogative or it's
2:56:57by the prerogative of the three members
2:56:58that submit to the clerk in writing that
2:57:01they want a special meeting. Notice of a
2:57:03special meeting shall be sent to the
2:57:04committee members and to the
2:57:05superintendent of schools and assistant
2:57:06superintendent of the schools
2:57:08electronically with return receipt
2:57:10requested uh with telephone or
2:57:11electronic confirmation so that the
2:57:13notice will be received not later than
2:57:1424 hours prior to such meeting. Well,
2:57:17unless it's an emergency, it's going to
2:57:18be 48 hours. Um, so there's emergency
2:57:21meetings that are allowed. We haven't
2:57:23had it in a while, but uh I think when
2:57:25the issues and winters occur, there was
2:57:27a couple of of emergency meetings. And
2:57:29that's unforeseen events uh or
2:57:31unforeseen or unanticipated. Uh Bill,
2:57:33you remember that language?
2:57:36>> Wording under the statute is there's
2:57:39sort of there's two pieces to it.
2:57:43unexpected occurrence
2:57:45and that requires some action to protect
2:57:48the public.
2:57:50So unexpected occurrence is not adequate
2:57:55and you have to have that extra that
2:57:58there's a reason that the public now
2:58:00something something whatever it might be
2:58:04u some action needs to be taken or
2:58:06addressed because there's some public
2:58:09interest at risk not a generic like oh
2:58:11you know it's a very specific um so you
2:58:15know there's a distinction between
2:58:17special meetings and emergency meetings.
2:58:20meetings, emergency meetings, you are or
2:58:23are just for that. So,
2:58:26you know, if there's something that
2:58:30maybe even a majority of you think it's
2:58:31an emergency because of the level of
2:58:35public interest in it, but it's not
2:58:36unexpected. It's been something you've
2:58:38been knowing, you've known about and
2:58:39it's been ongoing and all of a sudden,
2:58:41you know, there's an urgent, you know,
2:58:42there's a sense of subjective urgency to
2:58:45talk about it. that doesn't qualify as
2:58:46an emergency
2:58:48under the statute.
2:58:50So that's the two standards you need to
2:58:52meet. Unexpected occurrence, you know,
2:58:54public safety. So, but for special
2:58:57meetings in general, which is just going
2:58:58to be, hey, we really need to discuss
2:59:00this by February because we have a March
2:59:02one deadline and the regular meetings
2:59:04are already on the calendar aren't going
2:59:06to suffice. uh then we're going to go by
2:59:10the OLM rules 48 hours notice prior uh
2:59:14and uh setting it up. And as far as
2:59:16setting that meeting up, if it was a if
2:59:18it's a special meeting, again, restating
2:59:20it, either the chair is going to
2:59:22announce we're going to have a special
2:59:23meeting or three committee members could
2:59:26get together and say we want a special
2:59:27meeting. That's how special meetings are
2:59:29going to be put on the calendar. And the
2:59:30only time where this reference to 24
2:59:32hours prior to such a meeting will come
2:59:34into place is if it's a truly an
2:59:36emergency meeting. So the we'll call a
2:59:38variation of a special meeting.
2:59:40Something is happening where it's
2:59:41unforeseen and the public interest is
2:59:44involved.
2:59:48>> Question. So made a distinction between
2:59:52a special meeting and emergency meeting.
2:59:54So
2:59:56do this three members have you know the
3:00:00authority to call or sell the chair we
3:00:02need a request a special meeting or
3:00:05emergency meeting. So both apply to
3:00:08special and emergency meeting that the
3:00:11three three members call.
3:00:14>> I would hope that if there's a like if
3:00:15there's truly an emergency that requires
3:00:17an emergency meeting that three members
3:00:19don't have to get together to to force
3:00:21the issue because so the chair can call
3:00:22the chair could just call it. So I I
3:00:24just practically speaking, I would
3:00:26imagine that if it was a true emergency
3:00:27and it qualifies for an emergency
3:00:29meeting that there is no reason why the
3:00:32chair wouldn't just agree to it. So we
3:00:34just kind of skip that step necessarily.
3:00:36The chair is just going to call it. Um
3:00:38but let's say they didn't. Let's say
3:00:39it's uh chair is not available
3:00:42>> uh and three members get together
3:00:44because they know for a fact that this
3:00:45is an emergency that needs to be dealt
3:00:46with. Then they could trigger this
3:00:49through that process. So I would think
3:00:50that the the only time where I would
3:00:52think that that would come into play
3:00:53would be if the chair is not available
3:00:55>> and the deputy chair is not going to
3:00:58assume the role of the the chair in
3:01:01between meetings. The deputy uh chair
3:01:03assumes the duties of the chair during
3:01:05meetings of the presiding officer in
3:01:07between meetings and we're we're going
3:01:08to have to go through something like
3:01:09that if an a true emergency shows up. At
3:01:12that point I'm sure somebody would reach
3:01:13out to to legal and legal would say yeah
3:01:16that's an emergency. get two more people
3:01:18together and set that meeting. Um that
3:01:20that would be the way of going about it.
3:01:22>> Okay.
3:01:22>> Yeah.
3:01:25>> So you will
3:01:29change.
3:01:31>> All right. So we have committee calendar
3:01:32and agenda setting. The second part is
3:01:34going to be the meteor meteor part.
3:01:36Meteor that doesn't sound right at all.
3:01:39Uh the more meaty part of the the the
3:01:41policy. Uh so calendar no later on
3:01:43December 1st of each year. At the end of
3:01:45each year, the committee chair in
3:01:47cooperation and in consultation with the
3:01:49superintendent shall develop the
3:01:50committee's annual calendar. So in the
3:01:53case of the end of 2024,
3:01:57the outgoing school committee set the
3:01:59calendar for the incoming school
3:02:02committee. Uh and then you know that
3:02:05they're not going to vary so much
3:02:06because there's policies in place about
3:02:08when meetings are supposed to take place
3:02:10anyways. Um and to the extent that that
3:02:12needs to be tweaked by the new school
3:02:14committee. So if you guys decided that
3:02:15you wanted to tweak that calendar that
3:02:17was approved the year prior by the
3:02:19former school committee, you could by by
3:02:21vote of the school committee. Uh but at
3:02:23the very least each December uh no later
3:02:26than December 1st, the committee chair
3:02:29in consultation with superintendent will
3:02:31develop the committee's annual calendar.
3:02:32The calendar shall be distributed to the
3:02:33committee for input and approval before
3:02:36December 31st. By December third by
3:02:38December 31st, we should have an annual
3:02:40calendar for the upcoming school year.
3:02:42Uh the calendar will include items
3:02:44legally required at specified times.
3:02:46That's like the organizational meeting.
3:02:48Um items legally required annually but
3:02:51not specific times and items required by
3:02:54board policy. Um the annual committee
3:02:58calendar may be modified at any time by
3:03:00consensus of the committee. The calendar
3:03:02shall be posted on the school
3:03:04department's website after it has been
3:03:06approved by the committee. This is
3:03:08usually a one pager that just lists all
3:03:10of the uh dates for that upcoming year.
3:03:13Uh if it has to be changed throughout
3:03:15the year for whatever reason, that form
3:03:18that's posted on the site should be
3:03:20changed as well should be accurate. Uh
3:03:22it shall be the duty of the clerk or in
3:03:25his or her absence the designate
3:03:27approved by the committee to give
3:03:29written notice of these regularly
3:03:31scheduled meetings at the beginning of
3:03:32each calendar year. The notice shall
3:03:35include dates, times, and places of the
3:03:36meetings and shall be provided to
3:03:38members of the public upon request and
3:03:40to the secretary of state at the
3:03:41beginning of each calendar year. So,
3:03:42that last part is required by law.
3:03:44That's an OMA uh issue. Yes,
3:03:47>> I don't not quite certain uh if this
3:03:50date language aligns with Ride. I only
3:03:53say that to say that typically we align
3:03:55our date calendar development date with
3:03:57Ride. And I'm not saying that this
3:03:58>> talking about the school year.
3:03:59>> Yeah.
3:03:59>> So, this is this talking about meetings.
3:04:01>> Oh, okay.
3:04:02>> Yeah. this this okay it's a good
3:04:03question though so we're talking about
3:04:04here the c the school committee calendar
3:04:07for their meetings is what we're talking
3:04:09about and one of the provisions of the
3:04:11OMA is that we this year calendar that
3:04:13is provided that we provide that we
3:04:15update that um
3:04:17>> throughout the year so or rather we
3:04:18update that at the beginning of the year
3:04:20so that's posted so this is this is not
3:04:22you're you're right that's a different
3:04:23timeline uh where I think right approves
3:04:26yes uh the calendar year u so so this is
3:04:29different
3:04:33agenda. Uh again, this is going to go
3:04:35into uh the empowerment of individual
3:04:38members so that people people should
3:04:40feel and understand that individual
3:04:41members although they don't act
3:04:43individually can use their uh individual
3:04:46powers to to to make movement on items
3:04:48that they think are important. Uh so
3:04:50agenda in accordance with open meeting
3:04:52law not less than 48 hours in advance of
3:04:54any committee meeting the clerk uh or in
3:04:56his or her absence the designate
3:04:58approved by the committee shall post a
3:04:59primary notice of the meeting on the
3:05:01secretary of state's web page as well as
3:05:03supplemental notice which will which
3:05:06shall also include a statement
3:05:07specifying the nature and the business
3:05:08to be discussed in a public place at the
3:05:10school of administration building and at
3:05:12least one other prominent place within
3:05:14the Pucket school uh district. So, um,
3:05:19interesting enough, the OMA actually
3:05:20puts the the the physical notice above
3:05:23the online notice. Practically speaking,
3:05:25the online notice is what most people
3:05:27check. They're both important to to
3:05:29qualify for the to to fulfill the
3:05:31requirements of the OMA. So, posting it
3:05:33online in time and posting it in a
3:05:36physical place or two physical places is
3:05:38also important to be able to comply with
3:05:40the OMA within 48 hours. If one goes up
3:05:42before the other, that's fine, but they
3:05:44just both have to be up uh no less than
3:05:4648 hours. Uh the notice that we're
3:05:49talking about is usually just the
3:05:50agenda. The agenda has all the
3:05:51information on there that the notice or
3:05:54notices are ordinarily required to have.
3:05:56Any member who makes a formal request to
3:05:59have an item on the agenda at or before
3:06:01regularly scheduled meeting shall have
3:06:02the right to have such items made part
3:06:04of the agenda. So, individual members
3:06:07have a right to make a formal request to
3:06:09have agendas on uh on a next meeting or
3:06:13a future meeting. Uh but there's there's
3:06:16some requirements to that. So, uh, if
3:06:19they want to have something on the next
3:06:20regularly scheduled agenda, provided
3:06:22that said request has been made in
3:06:24writing or by email, effectively still
3:06:27in writing, at least 8 days prior to the
3:06:29scheduled meeting day or said request
3:06:32has been made at a school committee
3:06:34meeting and documented in writing in
3:06:36form provided at the meeting. Uh
3:06:42this doesn't mean that an individual
3:06:44member can't request it with less than 8
3:06:46days and still get it on the agenda, but
3:06:48then at that point it's going to be
3:06:49subject to the process uh you know
3:06:52decided upon by the chair. If the chair
3:06:54decides there's just too many things on
3:06:56the agenda already, it could go on to
3:06:59the next one. Yes.
3:07:02documented in the meeting minutes in lie
3:07:05of a separate form saying this is my
3:07:08request since it's being
3:07:09>> the way the policy is written is in
3:07:11documented in writing in the form
3:07:12provided at the meeting. So if they
3:07:14could request it
3:07:17uh live during one meeting uh and at
3:07:20that point the you could recording your
3:07:22minutes obviously you can record
3:07:24everything else but then based on this
3:07:25policy you would then turn to that
3:07:26person and say put it in writing
3:07:28>> okay because it's referencing a form
3:07:30>> there is no form they
3:07:32>> just the term use
3:07:33>> in this instance yes you could create a
3:07:35form if you wanted to
3:07:39>> the form piece of that policy has been
3:07:41on in the breach Um, and all the time
3:07:44that I've been in the district,
3:07:47uh, if a member of the committee has
3:07:50made the request on the record during a
3:07:52meeting, it's always been honored.
3:07:53>> Okay.
3:07:54>> Um, so I you're right. I
3:07:57>> I remember looking at that when I first
3:07:58got here and asked a previous cl, is
3:08:01there a form? They said, no, it's okay.
3:08:03>> I just want to make sure we're not
3:08:05obligated to provide said arm.
3:08:07>> Yeah. No, but if for whatever reason,
3:08:09just for
3:08:12uh
3:08:13you wanted to create a form in order to
3:08:16create uniformity and make sure
3:08:17everything is clear, you could. And this
3:08:19would give you the ability to do that.
3:08:21But practically speaking, if it's just
3:08:23easier, it's just, hey, sure, we're
3:08:25going to put this on the next agenda.
3:08:26We're just going to put on the next
3:08:27agenda. Um, no item may be discussed at
3:08:30any meeting of the school committee
3:08:31unless it has been placed on the and
3:08:33placed on the distributed agenda except
3:08:35in the case of emergency meetings which
3:08:36are posted in accordance with the open
3:08:38meetings law. This is again kind of
3:08:40restating in in a funny way what the OMA
3:08:42already requires. If it's not on the
3:08:44agenda, we're not discussing it. No
3:08:46action discussion is going to take place
3:08:48unless it's on the agenda. If
3:08:49something's only on the agenda for
3:08:51discussion, then it's only on for the
3:08:52agenda for discussion. There's no action
3:08:53steps taken on it. Um if uh uh if it's
3:08:58something new uh that somebody's trying
3:09:00to add to the agenda, um it's going to
3:09:03have to go for the next one.
3:09:08All right. Requirements for conducting a
3:09:10meeting of the public school committee.
3:09:12This is getting this the last section uh
3:09:15that we have. Uh we talked about it
3:09:17earlier today about quorums. We had we
3:09:19need four members of the committee shall
3:09:21constitute a quorum for the transaction
3:09:23of business. uh four being the majority
3:09:26of seven, we need four to have quorum.
3:09:28Uh we can't have the meeting, we can't
3:09:29start a meeting without a quorum. We
3:09:31can't have votes without a quorum. If we
3:09:34lose quorum during the course of a
3:09:35meeting, the good news is the meeting
3:09:37doesn't continue forever. We could just
3:09:39end the meeting. You don't need a quorum
3:09:41to vote on an adjournment. Just adjourn.
3:09:44Um but if there's any substantive vote
3:09:46without a quorum can't happen. You could
3:09:47have a discussion. We're having a
3:09:48discussion right now. We lost quorum
3:09:50earlier, but there's no votes that are
3:09:52going on from this point forward. uh
3:09:54voting uh the yays and nays shall be
3:09:56taken and recorded. Uh that's the duties
3:09:59of the clerk that she's going to take
3:10:01yays and nays and record them
3:10:02accordingly. When a quorum is present, a
3:10:04majority vote shall be defined as the
3:10:06majority of the votes cast. So when
3:10:08we're talking about majority vote, we're
3:10:10not saying a majority of seven if only
3:10:12four members are present. It's going to
3:10:13be the majority of the four who showed
3:10:14up. Uh that's going to constitute the
3:10:16majority for that given vote. uh which
3:10:19is sufficient for the adoption of any
3:10:20motion except those requiring majority
3:10:22vote of the entire membership. There are
3:10:24some matters that are going to require a
3:10:27majority vote. It depends on the
3:10:28situation um for sure, but that's going
3:10:31to be on a case to case basis. For the
3:10:32most part, majority vote is what's going
3:10:34to rule the day. The only business that
3:10:36can be transaction transacted in the
3:10:38absence of a quorum is to take measure
3:10:41to obtain a quorum and to fix the time
3:10:43to which it which to adjurnn and to
3:10:45adjurnn or to take a recess. So you
3:10:48don't need a quorum to fix the time at
3:10:50which to adjurnn and to adjurnn or to
3:10:52take a recess. Um
3:10:56that's it. That's for the forum. That's
3:10:59what the policy says. Rules of order.
3:11:01Our policy still currently says that our
3:11:03rules of order uh this this slide is
3:11:05very short because that's all the policy
3:11:07actually says except otherwise provided
3:11:08by law. The policy of the committee
3:11:10meeting of the the meetings of the
3:11:12committee will be conducted accent
3:11:14according with Sturgis. And as Bill
3:11:16indicated, Sturgis has now been renamed
3:11:19to the what is it? The standard code of
3:11:22parliamentary procedure or process.
3:11:25>> Oh Jesus. Okay.
3:11:27>> Okay. It's a lot of gravitas there.
3:11:29>> Standard code of parliamentary
3:11:30procedure.
3:11:31>> Yeah. Formerly known as Sturgis. Uh
3:11:34that's what we have. A lot of folks go
3:11:36by Robert's rule of order. Uh Pucket uh
3:11:38decided to go with Sturgis, which is now
3:11:40the American
3:11:43standard of code of followment
3:11:44procedure. that doesn't roll off the
3:11:45tongue as much as Sturgis, but I want to
3:11:47continue calling it Sturgis. Uh public
3:11:50participation that's required by both by
3:11:52policy and by ordinance. Uh and
3:11:55recording and archiving school committee
3:11:57meetings. Uh this is interesting in the
3:12:00sense that every school committee
3:12:01meeting needs to be recorded except for
3:12:03subcommittees. Expressly by policy says
3:12:06subcommittee meetings of the of the
3:12:08school committee will not be recorded.
3:12:09Uh and then again it says minutes will
3:12:12be recorded. uh during these meetings in
3:12:15our travel secretary say that's an OMA
3:12:17reference.
3:12:19This also requires the live streaming uh
3:12:22that will be posted uh prior to the
3:12:24meeting that's added to the agenda.
3:12:26Minutes of the school committee meetings
3:12:27are archived in the secretary of state
3:12:29web page that's just restating the OMA
3:12:31requirement. So the fact that we live
3:12:32stream it the fact that we save the the
3:12:36recording of meetings that's based on
3:12:38policy not the OMA. The OMA says we had
3:12:41to maintain minutes. Our policy decided
3:12:43that we're going to maintain the video
3:12:45of it as well.
3:12:46>> Yes.
3:12:48>> Um say for the wellness committee um
3:12:53I have two members on it but say that
3:12:55they can't make it and then say that um
3:12:57usually um superintendent assistant
3:13:00superintendent Lee's there. Say she's
3:13:02not there to take minutes. Can I take
3:13:04minutes or do I have to have somebody
3:13:06else take minutes for? So the caveat to
3:13:08the clerk uh position uh the clerk's
3:13:11responsibility to take minutes.
3:13:14>> It's either the clerk or the designate
3:13:17that the school committee approves,
3:13:19>> right?
3:13:19>> So that's of the the full school
3:13:20committee of the subcommittees.
3:13:22>> Yeah.
3:13:22>> Uh it's whoever you designate as as
3:13:24who's going to take minutes. So I know
3:13:26that the clerk takes minutes for a
3:13:27number of the subcommittee, right?
3:13:29>> Uh and but there there's not a
3:13:31necessity. So if there's ever a
3:13:32subcommittee that doesn't have Jill as
3:13:34the clerk, but they decide to designate
3:13:36the responsibility to maintain minutes
3:13:38as somebody that's in the room, they
3:13:39could do that,
3:13:40>> right? Like mine is usually super
3:13:42attendant um lead, but my thing is what
3:13:44if she's not there and then now it's
3:13:46just me and the community partner
3:13:47partners. Can I do it or do I do it?
3:13:49>> Okay. Okay.
3:13:50>> And you just announce it. You're you're
3:13:51responsible as chair of the wellness
3:13:53committee to make sure that minutes are
3:13:54maintained,
3:13:55>> right? So if uh Lee's not there and
3:13:57she's the one that ordinarily does the
3:13:59minutes then you figure out who it is
3:14:00and you might find somebody one of the
3:14:01community members might be great at it.
3:14:02You might ask them to do it. Um but
3:14:04that's your prerogative.
3:14:05>> Okay.
3:14:05>> Yeah. Thank you.
3:14:06>> The idea is that we definitely
3:14:09>> get it. Yeah. Yeah. We just need it.
3:14:11That's all.
3:14:13Any other questions?
3:14:14>> Yes.
3:14:17Can a member of the community who is not
3:14:21in person in one of our school meeting
3:14:25sessions
3:14:26can participate in any way? I'm I'm
3:14:30asking this because I attended uh the
3:14:33council meeting with Joan last week and
3:14:36it seems to me that the president
3:14:38council um asks to declare if somebody
3:14:41of the community wanted to participate
3:14:44it can happen in our sessions. So, so it
3:14:47depends on there's public comment which
3:14:49they could be asked to come up and speak
3:14:51in public comment. They can speak about
3:14:52anything that that's as long as they
3:14:54sign up and they're following the rules
3:14:55that govern public comments. They could
3:14:57just say what they need to say. But
3:14:59participating in actual meetings, then
3:15:00that'd be up to the chair. So, if the
3:15:03chair recognizes someone because uh
3:15:05maybe an administrator or uh somebody
3:15:08with knowledge is in the audience, they
3:15:11could call that person up to address an
3:15:13issue.
3:15:14>> Yeah. And I if I may, I think the other
3:15:15part of your question is
3:15:18under the OMA
3:15:20um members may members of the committee
3:15:23may not participate for moment,
3:15:26>> but if the committee wanted a policy
3:15:28that said members of the public can
3:15:31participate, you could do that.
3:15:34>> Just to uh Mr. Mr. Burr's point earlier.
3:15:36Uh my wondering and question is when
3:15:38they are in that particular capacity for
3:15:40example at city council are they
3:15:42speaking on behalf of a school
3:15:43committee? Are they speaking on behalf
3:15:45of themselves as individuals?
3:15:47>> Right?
3:15:47>> If they're before this if they're in the
3:15:49city if they're at a city council
3:15:50meeting and it's discussing some issue
3:15:54that deals with the school department
3:15:56budget or otherwise. um
3:16:01if they are participating in a sense of
3:16:03they're being asked and answered
3:16:05questions or they're presenting some
3:16:06kind of issue then they could do so. So,
3:16:09it's anytime that they're going to speak
3:16:11on behalf of the school committee and
3:16:12say there's a difference between saying
3:16:14yes, we did that or we approved this uh
3:16:17which is again it's back with what it's
3:16:20evidence factbased whatever it is. It's
3:16:23a difference between say uh
3:16:26Miss Bonolo, you know, she is the chair,
3:16:28but she goes before the city council and
3:16:30says, "And we will do X, Y, and Z at the
3:16:33next school committee meeting." Because
3:16:34at that point, that's not something
3:16:37definitive discussed by the school
3:16:38committee as a whole. There hasn't been
3:16:39a decision. There'd be a difference that
3:16:41it's like a small nuance there. But if
3:16:42you're there because there's a greater
3:16:44conversation that has to do with the
3:16:45school committee, you're there as a, you
3:16:48know, on your own accord effectively.
3:16:50Unless there's a message produced or
3:16:52approved by the school committee, you're
3:16:53not speaking on behalf of the school
3:16:54committee. And I think that the only
3:16:56danger would be if you commit the school
3:16:58committee to do something they haven't
3:16:59contemplated yet uh ahead of time in
3:17:02that type of venue where you guarantee
3:17:04something's going to happen because then
3:17:05that's an OMA violation.
3:17:07So they put out a resolution
3:17:10on one of our schools and
3:17:13um Juan Pablo and I were there.
3:17:16>> You were there individually?
3:17:17>> We were there individually
3:17:20>> and they asked if we wanted to make a
3:17:23comment. We pretty much said thank you.
3:17:26>> Yeah.
3:17:27>> And that was a
3:17:28>> Yeah. the the the only time I think that
3:17:29you might want to file in that scenario,
3:17:32let's say if it played differently,
3:17:33would be if uh you went up there and you
3:17:36said something like and we will adopt a
3:17:38similar resolution next week because you
3:17:41you can't say that. You could say that I
3:17:43hope for the school committee to
3:17:45consider that at a future agenda. That's
3:17:46fine. But you just can't commit the
3:17:48school committee to something that they
3:17:50haven't approved yet.
3:17:51>> But but you could you could say me
3:17:53personally, I'm going to advocate for
3:17:54this back when I go before the school
3:17:56committee. That's fine. Um, or you could
3:17:58say you support what they were doing in
3:17:59that moment. That's fine as well.
3:18:05>> Okay.
3:18:07>> Um, and now for the movie. No, just
3:18:09kidding. That's over. Okay.
3:18:13>> I mean, it's been very informative.
3:18:16You answered a lot of our questions
3:18:20and we were glad to have you.
3:18:31Okay.
3:18:37>> Yeah.
3:18:38>> Family engagement. And I don't fear Bill
3:18:40as much as I fear Bill's wife. So,
3:18:43I'm trying to make sure he gets out. But
3:18:45if you don't need
3:18:46>> Yeah. But if you don't need legal
3:18:48counsel, I'm going to get going as well.
3:18:49Okay.
3:18:50>> Okay. We're going to take
3:18:53a 10-minut break.
3:18:57And then we will switch over and Mr.
3:19:01Buck. Superintendent Buff will lead the
3:19:04second part of the presentation.
3:19:24Okay, welcome back at 12:22 to our
3:19:28workshop. And now I will turn the mic
3:19:31over to Superintendent Buck who has
3:19:37wonderful information to offer us.
3:19:40>> Good afternoon everyone. I want to thank
3:19:42you all for your time particularly to
3:19:44school community members the time and
3:19:46focus that you've already given uh this
3:19:49morning. Uh I know you spent the morning
3:19:51on understanding legal matters uh at a
3:19:54high level focus on governance. uh and
3:19:56today and this afternoon we're bringing
3:19:58forward how this governance translates
3:20:00directly uh into direction, alignment,
3:20:03and results for students. And so, as
3:20:06many of you know, over the last year,
3:20:08Pucket has went through a number of of
3:20:10significant challenges and changes. uh
3:20:13we face financial instability,
3:20:15leadership transitions, redistricting
3:20:18conversations, CSI designations,
3:20:20statewide safety crisises, which we're
3:20:22uh coming out of now, and urgent
3:20:24academic needs. But quite frankly, this
3:20:27afternoon isn't about revisiting those
3:20:29challenges. It's talking about where
3:20:30Pucket is going. Because through that
3:20:34work, uh something important has
3:20:37happened here in Pucket. We've
3:20:38stabilized critical systems. We've
3:20:41rebuilt trust uh with our staff,
3:20:44families, the union, the city, our
3:20:46school committee, and we focus our work
3:20:48where it belongs, on students, and on
3:20:50outcomes. And so that stabilization
3:20:53creates opportunity and demands
3:20:55execution.
3:20:59So before we move forward, I want to
3:21:01frame out what you're going to hear uh
3:21:03for the next hour and a half this
3:21:04afternoon. Uh, you know, this work, you
3:21:07see me on top of here, but this work
3:21:09isn't carried by just one person. Uh,
3:21:11it's carried by a leadership team that's
3:21:13deeply committed to students and to this
3:21:15community. Uh, and this afternoon,
3:21:16you're going to hear briefly from each
3:21:18of them, uh, about how the work that
3:21:20they're doing is translating into daily
3:21:22execution across pathways, uh,
3:21:24professional learning, elementary
3:21:25education, uh, instruction and
3:21:28operations.
3:21:29Uh, what you won't hear is disconnected
3:21:31updates, right? You won't hear
3:21:32disconnected updates, but you'll hear a
3:21:33shared structured shared structure. Um,
3:21:36you'll hear the problem we're solving
3:21:38for students, what will be meaningful,
3:21:40meaningfully different one year from
3:21:42now. Uh, and how you as school committee
3:21:44members will know the work that we're
3:21:46doing is making a difference. And so,
3:21:48what we're doing this afternoon is very
3:21:49intentional. And my hope is by the end
3:21:51of this portion is that you leave with
3:21:53three things. confidence that Pucket has
3:21:55a clear direction, confidence that this
3:21:58leadership team is aligned, and
3:22:00confidence that we're moving from
3:22:01stabilization to measured results.
3:22:09So, in the past year, as I shared
3:22:11before, you know, Pucket has faced a
3:22:13number of significant challenges. Uh,
3:22:15but through that work, something, like I
3:22:17said, really important has happened.
3:22:19We've stabilized those critical systems.
3:22:21Again, we build trust with the city, the
3:22:23family, school committee, and we focus
3:22:25refocus our trust on outcomes.
3:22:29As you can see here, we've mentioned it.
3:22:30It's our new logo. All in, all year, all
3:22:33Pucket.
3:22:34Allin
3:22:37means that every adult in this system
3:22:39accepts responsibility for every child's
3:22:40success. Not selectively, not
3:22:43situationally, but completely.
3:22:46all year means urgency and consistency
3:22:49from the first day
3:22:51to the last day of school. No lost time,
3:22:54no uneven expectations, sustained focus
3:22:57on teaching and learning and belonging
3:23:00and all Pucket, which means that every
3:23:03school, every neighborhood, and every
3:23:04student matters equally. And here in
3:23:06Pucket, equity is not an initiative,
3:23:09it's our obligation. It's not a slogan,
3:23:11but it's how we show for students every
3:23:13single day. And to make that commitment
3:23:15real, the work that we've done is we
3:23:17clarified our instructional vision.
3:23:25And so if you can see here through this
3:23:26graphic, because I think graphics paint
3:23:27a clear picture, our instructional
3:23:29vision is direct. Every student deserves
3:23:31strong grade level instruction every
3:23:33day. Every educator deserves clarity and
3:23:36support to be able to deliver that. And
3:23:38so this is about access. It's not about
3:23:40lowering expectations. Equity means
3:23:43scaffolds and supports uh that allow
3:23:45students to engage in grade level
3:23:46content, not separating uh them from it
3:23:49or giving them something different
3:23:50because it feels easier. And so far for
3:23:52far too long, education uh intervention
3:23:55has uh sometimes meant removal. But our
3:23:58vision here in Pucket is different.
3:24:00students with disabilities, multilingual
3:24:02learners, students who are blind,
3:24:03students who are heart of hearing, they
3:24:05deserve the same access to the rigorous
3:24:07education, standards align instruction
3:24:09with the right supports that are layered
3:24:11in for all of our students. And so this
3:24:13vision wasn't written in isolation. It
3:24:15was shaped with principles, teaching and
3:24:17learning directors, special educators,
3:24:19MLL leaders. Uh, and it reflects our
3:24:22schools. Uh, it reflects what schools
3:24:23say they need, clarity, coherence, and
3:24:26consistency across the board. And quite
3:24:28frankly, it aligns directly with RI's
3:24:30expectations to our district proficiency
3:24:32goals. So, excellence through intention,
3:24:35success through equity, and impact
3:24:37through education. That's the
3:24:39foundation. So, where are we at today as
3:24:42a department?
3:24:47So, the f the past year, we truly
3:24:49focused uh on on uh clarity and
3:24:52alignment. You know, we spent the last
3:24:54year just sort of pulling out the weeds,
3:24:56understanding what are some of the
3:24:56barriers that we've challen uh we faced
3:24:59uh and some of the challenges that we
3:25:00had. And again, we focused on clarity
3:25:01and alignment. And so we developed a K
3:25:03through2 instructional vision uh that
3:25:05was aligned to our district goals.
3:25:08Um so schools wouldn't guess have to
3:25:11guess what matters most. We've aligned
3:25:14our curriculum. We've aligned our
3:25:15walkthrough tools and professional
3:25:17learning. So the feedback that's given
3:25:18to teachers connects directly to what we
3:25:20expect to see in our classrooms.
3:25:22We strengthen structured data reviews,
3:25:25not just looking at numbers, but
3:25:27identifying trends, uh, naming those
3:25:29gaps, analys analyzing root cause
3:25:31analysis, and aligning action steps to
3:25:33measurable goals. We're in the process
3:25:36of establishing a district-wide MTSS
3:25:38structure, which brings academic and
3:25:39social emotional supports in one
3:25:41coordinated system rather than
3:25:43fragmented efforts. Uh importantly, this
3:25:45work is intentionally centered uh for
3:25:48special education and ML ML leadership
3:25:50because if the system works for our
3:25:51highest need students, it works for
3:25:54everyone. And so the result is this. We
3:25:57now have greater clarity and alignment
3:25:59across the system. We no longer have
3:26:01layering initiatives on top of each
3:26:02other, but we're aligning them, which is
3:26:05so important. But clarity alone doesn't
3:26:08change outcomes. Clarity must now lead
3:26:10to results.
3:26:15So if you see here, we'll talk about
3:26:17some of those results that we're looking
3:26:18forward into where we're going. So two
3:26:202025 2026 targets in terms of our
3:26:24district-wide data. Right now we're at
3:26:2519.2%.
3:26:27We are looking to move the needle uh
3:26:30slowly
3:26:32uh not drastically, right? We recognize
3:26:34the importance of growth. So we're
3:26:35looking to move that to 22%.
3:26:38In math, we're looking to move from
3:26:4016.3% to 19% as a district.
3:26:44And science, we're looking to move from
3:26:4616.6%
3:26:47to 20%.
3:26:50We're looking to move our high school
3:26:51rate uh graduation rate amongst our
3:26:53three high schools from 71.2% to 75%.
3:26:58And to decrease our chronic absenteeism
3:27:00from 31.5% to 28%. And so beyond the
3:27:04numbers, beyond this data here, what we
3:27:06expect to see is that more consistent
3:27:08instructional quality. We expect to see
3:27:10a stronger use of high quality
3:27:12curriculum implementation, uh improved
3:27:14access for multilingual learners and
3:27:16students with disabilities and clear
3:27:18alignment between school uh and district
3:27:20priorities. And so the question is not
3:27:23whether we can get there because I know
3:27:25with the folks in this room and some of
3:27:26the folks who are not in this room, we
3:27:27can definitely get there. The question
3:27:29is how disciplined will we be in doing
3:27:31so?
3:27:36So as you see here, our focus is
3:27:38disciplined and strategic. So with the
3:27:41goals of strengthening tier one
3:27:42instruction, ensuring high quality core
3:27:45instruction for all students every day.
3:27:48Fully implement highquality
3:27:49instructional materials by providing
3:27:51equitable access to rigorous standards
3:27:53and aligned curriculum. using data
3:27:56protocols to drive decisions. Constantly
3:27:58consistently rather monitoring progress
3:28:00to inform interventions and support and
3:28:04improving attendance through district
3:28:05school collaboration by working together
3:28:07to remove barriers and ensure consistent
3:28:10presence.
3:28:12And so all this work quite frankly leads
3:28:15and aligns to our strategic plan. As you
3:28:17know there was a district strategic plan
3:28:19that uh began in 2023 and expires in
3:28:212026. So right now we are in the process
3:28:24of rewriting that district uh strategic
3:28:27plan uh and that district strategic plan
3:28:29will involve our school improvement
3:28:31plans. It involve our MTSS process,
3:28:34professional learning all aligned one
3:28:37direction. And so this directly supports
3:28:39our CSI and our ATSI schools. You guys
3:28:42know that we have 47% of our schools,
3:28:44excuse me, 47% of our students who are
3:28:46categories as CSI schools. all of our
3:28:48secondary schools with the exception of
3:28:49JMW uh and our ATSI elementary schools
3:28:53includers including Slater's redesign
3:28:56with a coherent district strategy. And
3:28:58so quite frankly, we're not looking to
3:29:00add more work, but we're looking to
3:29:02execute the right work at a more
3:29:03consistent pace and level.
3:29:08And so what I'm going to do now is I'm
3:29:09going to turn over to my team members.
3:29:10You're going to hear from me at the end.
3:29:12Um, you know, our work in CTE and
3:29:14unified arts is central to engagement
3:29:16into pathways here in Pucket. We're
3:29:18doing a lot of work and you're going to
3:29:20hear about that in a moment with
3:29:21partnering with businesses and in just a
3:29:23several years we'll open up the door to
3:29:25a comprehensive CTE school. We're so
3:29:27excited about that work and Dr. Sardell
3:29:29has been leading efforts to strengthen
3:29:30and reimagine this work and I'm really
3:29:33excited about what you'll hear from her
3:29:34next.
3:29:44Thank you. And I'd like to thank
3:29:45everyone here today, especially
3:29:47Superintendent Buck and Hirsh for
3:29:49supporting me in um all all the things
3:29:53that we're doing very quickly in the CTE
3:29:56and unified arts department. So, our
3:29:59current state right now, we have 20 CTE
3:30:02programs. Um, not all are currently
3:30:05running because of enrollment, which we
3:30:07will be addressing. Um, we have 498
3:30:12students currently in Pucket that are
3:30:14involved in CTE programs. So, it's 35%
3:30:17of our students. Um, but I also wanted
3:30:21to put out our out of district students
3:30:24that leave our district. As you can see,
3:30:26we have 418 students that leave Pucket.
3:30:30Now, when students leave our district
3:30:32and go to a CTE program in a different
3:30:34district, that's our funding. We have to
3:30:38pay districts for that. So, that's
3:30:40funding that leaves us and goes to a
3:30:42different district. Out of the 418, we
3:30:45have three communities, one student
3:30:47each.
3:30:49Barington, Central Falls, Cranston,
3:30:51Lincoln, we have five students.
3:30:54North Providence, six. That's all within
3:30:58the realm of many CTE programs
3:31:01throughout the throughout the state. You
3:31:03do have a few students here and there
3:31:05that might end up going to a CTE program
3:31:07in a different community.
3:31:10Then we look at East Providence, 27
3:31:13students.
3:31:14We also have to remember
3:31:17they have a beautiful bright and shiny
3:31:20new high school and that's very
3:31:23appealing to students. So, I I think
3:31:26part of what we see in that East
3:31:29Providence number is that new shiny high
3:31:32school.
3:31:34The hard pill to swallow is Davies.
3:31:38377
3:31:40students from Pucket are over at Davies.
3:31:43And I broke it down to the grade levels.
3:31:469th grade 120, then 102, 93, 62. This is
3:31:51a very, very big concern.
3:31:54um we are able to work with the state
3:31:57and do something called substantially
3:31:59similar programs which means if Pucket
3:32:03offers a CTE program that another school
3:32:06district offers and it's very similar we
3:32:09can deny students the right to leave our
3:32:11district. However,
3:32:14Davies is considered a state school and
3:32:17we cannot do that to Davies.
3:32:20So that is an issue, but we're hoping to
3:32:27solve that issue and to start callulling
3:32:30students back from that in the following
3:32:33way.
3:32:35By the end of next school year, this is
3:32:37what I hope to bring to you. Um, and
3:32:41increase CTE pathway completion. We have
3:32:4436 35% of our students right now that
3:32:47are involved in CTE pathways.
3:32:49Unfortunately,
3:32:51not all of that 35% will complete their
3:32:54CTE pathway. And it's for various
3:32:56reasons. I believe that the only way we
3:32:59can improve ourselves is by really
3:33:03opening up and finding out what are
3:33:05those reasons. We don't know what we
3:33:07don't know. We don't know why they're
3:33:08not. We can assume while they're not,
3:33:11but we need to hear voices from
3:33:13students, which goes over to the second
3:33:15um point that you see there. We need to
3:33:19increase student voice in CTE
3:33:21programming and pathways. There has not
3:33:24been a student survey since 2017
3:33:28involved in CTE programming. So, I was
3:33:32going to I've been working with the um
3:33:35high school principles and I was going
3:33:37to send out a survey next week, but
3:33:38because of everything that's going on in
3:33:40the community, it's going to be the
3:33:41following week. We are sending out three
3:33:44different surveys. The first will be for
3:33:46current Pucket High School 9th graders
3:33:50to gauge their interest in our current
3:33:53CTE programs and see if there's any
3:33:56other programs that they're thinking
3:33:57that they would like to explore.
3:34:00The second is for students in grades 10
3:34:02to 12 who are currently in CTA programs
3:34:05to ask them what's the highlights, what
3:34:09are the struggles you have, do you
3:34:11anticipate you're going to finish? If
3:34:13not, why? What are the barriers? So we
3:34:17can identify those barriers and resolve
3:34:19those barriers to get more complet.
3:34:22And the last is for students in grades
3:34:2310 to 12 who are not in CTE programs. I
3:34:27would like to know why. Why did they
3:34:29choose not to take a CTE program?
3:34:32So, and that very well may include
3:34:34students that were in CTE programs but
3:34:37decided not to pursue it. So, that's all
3:34:39information that we're going to take.
3:34:41I'd be more than happy to share that out
3:34:43with Superintendent Buck and and all of
3:34:44you so you can see um how that's going
3:34:47to be impacting our programs going
3:34:49forth. Yes.
3:34:52>> Sure. The um
3:34:55CTE programs on the last slide 27
3:34:59Providence and then the others plus the
3:35:03377 at Davies. Do you know what programs
3:35:08they're taking? Very good question and
3:35:11that actually is going to be addressed
3:35:13pretty soon. Um, so
3:35:19we currently do not have any procedures
3:35:22or policies in the CTE department
3:35:25to send to other districts to require
3:35:27them to give us information on the
3:35:30students that we're sending, which I'm
3:35:32quickly working on uh, and we'll involve
3:35:35you on so we can fix that. So, as of
3:35:38right now, for students that we
3:35:41currently have in East Providence,
3:35:47East Providence automatically will send
3:35:50us, here's their attendance record,
3:35:53here's the discipline record, and here
3:35:55are their grades,
3:35:58and here's the bill because they're
3:36:00going to continue. And then we know, oh,
3:36:02okay, so they're being successful in
3:36:04that program. That makes sense because
3:36:07Davies is a separate entity.
3:36:11We get nothing. We don't even get what
3:36:15programs they're in. Nothing.
3:36:19And I feel such strong fiduciary
3:36:22responsibility to the taxpayers here in
3:36:25Pucket.
3:36:26I can't express to you how upsetting
3:36:29that is to me and angering. Um, we
3:36:33deserve to know. That's Pucket taxpayers
3:36:36money. We deserve to know. So, um, I
3:36:40will be working very closely to see how
3:36:42can we resolve that and move that going
3:36:43forward. I know having policies and
3:36:45procedures in place. At least it gives
3:36:47us a little bit of a tooth rather than
3:36:49just, hey, can you give us this
3:36:51information and if they say no,
3:36:55we don't have anything to go to fall
3:36:57back on. So hopefully that will address
3:37:01that.
3:37:03Yep. Um, and then the next thing is
3:37:07reimagine CTE exploratory program. Right
3:37:10now, when students enter Shea or Tolman
3:37:13High School,
3:37:14and I'm only saying Sheay and Tolman
3:37:16because JMW is an outlier. In JMW, when
3:37:20students audition, they go into the
3:37:21program, they're automatically in a CTE
3:37:23program. But for Shay and Tolman, their
3:37:26freshman year, they go through a course
3:37:28called CTE Exploratory Programs. So
3:37:32Sheay will bring the kids through like
3:37:35mini trials of all the CTE programs
3:37:38offered at Sheay. Tolman will bring
3:37:41students through those mini courses that
3:37:43are offered at Tolman.
3:37:46Students are not brought through the CTE
3:37:48programs at the opposite school. So
3:37:51they're seeing half of the programs
3:37:53which is better than none.
3:37:56But then that pushes their availability
3:37:59to take or enter into CTE courses until
3:38:0210th grade. Most CTE course programs are
3:38:06three years, which means in their last
3:38:09year of their program,
3:38:12if they are still taking content in
3:38:15their program to receive those
3:38:16credentials,
3:38:18they have very limited ability or almost
3:38:21no ability to also do an internship.
3:38:24And when Tolman had the NEAS visit, that
3:38:28was one of the areas that they cited was
3:38:30our lack of um internship opportunities
3:38:34for our students in CTE programs. So the
3:38:36way I would like to address that is um
3:38:39I've already met with skills for RARI
3:38:42and I'm going to be working with them to
3:38:43present this
3:38:46very spec pucket specific
3:38:49curated
3:38:51middle school CTE
3:38:53exploratory program.
3:38:56So, in grade seven for half of a year
3:38:59and grade eight for half of a year,
3:39:02beginning hopefully this coming fall,
3:39:05our students will be going through
3:39:07little mini modules
3:39:09featuring all of Pucket CTE programs.
3:39:13So, like for example, I have there like
3:39:16um a um medical program.
3:39:20It'll be called medical careers, but
3:39:23that module will not only focus on our
3:39:26medical programming, but Skills RARI
3:39:30will set up visits, they'll set up
3:39:34speakers, they'll set up partnerships
3:39:36for us with Brown University
3:39:39and with other medical facilities. Um,
3:39:43and I think that's going to really open
3:39:46up students eyes. Students do not know
3:39:49what we have here. We have amazing
3:39:51teachers, amazing educators. We um we
3:39:56offer so much but they don't know what
3:39:58they don't know and we have to fix that.
3:40:03>> Um
3:40:07so our students have student choice to
3:40:09go of the schools
3:40:12>> within our own district. Do they have
3:40:14student choice where they can go to Shay
3:40:18or Tolman depending on what CTE are
3:40:21offered?
3:40:22>> Yes.
3:40:22>> Do we offer transportation for that?
3:40:25>> Yes, within the district we do. Um so I
3:40:29went to um both Shay and Tolman and I
3:40:34did presentations the last week of
3:40:36January. Um, and I went through all of
3:40:41the CTE programs and I went through all
3:40:44of them, even the ones that were at the
3:40:46opposite school.
3:40:48Um, I would like to go back sometime in
3:40:51March. And I'd like students who are
3:40:54actually in those programs, talk to them
3:40:56because really,
3:40:58I'm just a lady. They're friends. They'd
3:41:01rather take it from their friends and
3:41:03hear from their friends what we could
3:41:05do. Um, and that goes right into the
3:41:08increasing business and community
3:41:09involvement. I've already met with CVS
3:41:12who has uh talked to me about some um
3:41:17expanded
3:41:18um medical programming like
3:41:20pharmaceutical tech that they're willing
3:41:23to explore with us and to build out with
3:41:26us. Um, I just met actually this week
3:41:30with the Pucket firefighters
3:41:33and right now that program's not
3:41:34running, which it should be running. So,
3:41:37we're looking at revitalizing it, um,
3:41:41getting it out to the kids, getting kids
3:41:43involved this spring so they can sign up
3:41:46for it because it's a crucial program
3:41:47for our city as well as our students
3:41:52um, and many other communities. But we
3:41:54we really need to strengthen that and
3:41:56get the communities involved. Um, one
3:41:58other thing that I'm doing is last year
3:42:01um there was a
3:42:06program that was on a uh I believe it
3:42:08was on a Saturday. It was a career
3:42:10program um for students community career
3:42:13program. We held it and so did the Boys
3:42:17and Girls Club. Two separate programs
3:42:20this year. um combining with them. We're
3:42:23working together. We're all one Pucket
3:42:27and that way we can engage students.
3:42:31It's a bigger facility for right now.
3:42:33So, we could hold it there. Um but I
3:42:36think that there's other ways thinking
3:42:37outside of the box, thinking how we can
3:42:39engage other members of our community
3:42:42and work together. We're also working
3:42:45closely with the Pucket Arts Council and
3:42:48doing different opportunities for our
3:42:50students to do performances and to
3:42:52support some of their events.
3:42:55Um, but I think it's just it's just at
3:42:57the beginning, but I'm super excited
3:42:59about that. That's the stuff I love
3:43:00doing. Yes,
3:43:03>> I want to hold it towards the end, but I
3:43:05do want to say that your enthusiasm is
3:43:07really, really warming to my heart,
3:43:09especially because I you're just newly
3:43:11into the role, right? Yes. and you're
3:43:13handling it with so so much grace and so
3:43:15much enthusiasm that I really like I'm
3:43:17sitting here and I'm listening to you
3:43:18and it's just like yes. Um, I did want
3:43:21to say that Pucka is up there in the
3:43:25sense where in my new role of my actual
3:43:29job that I have, you know, um, but I
3:43:33I've actually gotten asked I've gotten
3:43:34asked by, you know, women that I work
3:43:36with, you know, because they have
3:43:37younger children, um, that, you know,
3:43:39they're interested in our CTE programs.
3:43:42And I've heard it, you know, I've had,
3:43:43you know, like one of the women, she was
3:43:46just like, you know, I'm in situate. How
3:43:47can I get my daughter to this school or
3:43:50this school? And then currently we have
3:43:52I have two friends that have students in
3:43:55JMW. And same thing that they were also
3:43:57talking to friends in Central Falls
3:43:59because Central Falls is also coming up
3:44:00on the map, right, with a brand new
3:44:02fancy school.
3:44:03>> Correct.
3:44:03>> Which is great. And I'm happy for every
3:44:05school in P in in Rhode Island, but you
3:44:07know, obviously we're here in Pucket and
3:44:09we want to keep the kids here in Pucket.
3:44:10But I do want to let you know that your
3:44:12enthusiasm it is going a long way. And
3:44:14like I said,
3:44:15>> Pucket is coming up on the map. Like I
3:44:17have someone from Situit that's asking
3:44:18and then like someone that's like right
3:44:20next door in Central Falls that's like
3:44:21asking about about our schools and our
3:44:23CTE program. So thank you. And I if you
3:44:26need anything from any of us, please
3:44:28reach out. I know you're not done yet,
3:44:29but I just
3:44:32extremely happy.
3:44:33>> Yes. Oh, I I greatly appreciate that
3:44:35feedback and yes, you know, I feel like,
3:44:37you know, it's only been seven weeks.
3:44:39We've done a lot in seven weeks.
3:44:41>> Um, but, you know, it's it's just the
3:44:44very beginning and um my goal is to
3:44:46really make this the spotlight district
3:44:50in Rhode Island, you know, so
3:44:54everyone else is on notice, right?
3:44:56Um, so the evidence of our impact will
3:44:59be the refreshed CTE offerings. Um, I
3:45:03know that when the new high school was
3:45:05created, we did have some CTE offerings
3:45:07that were planned, of course, because
3:45:09they were at that point, but now getting
3:45:12student input and looking at some um
3:45:16different CTE programs that are being
3:45:18created literally every day. There's
3:45:20there's new ones. Right now, one of the
3:45:21new ones is cyber security and AI. Um,
3:45:26so we're looking at different ways that
3:45:28we can get student choice, student
3:45:30voice, and we can keep these fresh
3:45:33offerings so students will want to keep
3:45:36on coming to Pucket and really want to
3:45:38not only graduate from Pucket High
3:45:40School or whatever the name's going to
3:45:42be for our high school and um just stay
3:45:45within our community
3:45:48um and and just help revitalize our
3:45:50city. Um, and I did go over the medical
3:45:53careers, um, where, um, this is
3:45:57something that I hope to have for the
3:45:59fall. So, we're going to call it medical
3:46:02careers and it will be a combination of,
3:46:06um, CPCT, which is certified patient,
3:46:09certified patient care technician. I had
3:46:13to practice that a lot. Biotech,
3:46:15pharmacy tech, x-ray tech, and CNA, and
3:46:19everything else. Year one is going to be
3:46:21a combined course.
3:46:25So that way students will all be
3:46:27certified as a CNA by the time they
3:46:29finish that course. They'll also be
3:46:31certified as um the health care
3:46:35professional for C for CPR and AED.
3:46:40Second and third year is when they
3:46:42venture out
3:46:44and that's when they get into their
3:46:46specialties.
3:46:48But they can also within those
3:46:49specialties get one or two more
3:46:52additional certifications.
3:46:55So I would like to see in our medical
3:46:58careers students walking out walking
3:47:00across that stage with a minimum of two
3:47:04healthc care certifications CNA and
3:47:06another specialty possibly three. That
3:47:09makes them employable. That gives them
3:47:11that choice. Once they start something
3:47:14they might want to be a pharmaceutical
3:47:16technician first. then they might want
3:47:17to switch but then they have that
3:47:19ability. Um and then additional impact
3:47:23areas um reworking the CTE exploratory
3:47:26program in the middle schools. I talked
3:47:28about seventh and eighth and sixth
3:47:29grade. Um I really want to work with
3:47:31robotics and have a very strong robotics
3:47:35program especially since our middle
3:47:37schools all compete in robotics
3:47:39competition. So, I really want to get
3:47:41delve into that increased communication
3:47:43between me and the CTA programs and
3:47:45unified arts. Um, I have been to every
3:47:48single school, some multiple times. I've
3:47:51met with people in groups. I've met with
3:47:53people one- on- one just to reach out.
3:47:56Um, I love it, you know, being with
3:48:00people and, um, I just think that that
3:48:04communication and that human connection
3:48:06goes a long way, um, in building trust
3:48:09and in really keeping our programs
3:48:12top-notch. Um, increase student
3:48:14internship opportunities. We're already
3:48:16doing some of that right now. I know
3:48:18Hirsh and also um Ariel is doing um
3:48:23student interns
3:48:25um and we want to keep on building that.
3:48:27We want to keep on increasing that. I
3:48:30would love to see so many of our Pucket
3:48:34High School students in the community
3:48:36and internship opportunities. That's the
3:48:38best advertisement we have.
3:48:41Um, and then the creation of the CTE
3:48:44program and procedures that I think we
3:48:46desperately need as quickly as possible.
3:48:49Um, does anyone have any other
3:48:51questions? Yes.
3:48:53>> Just want to say that I'm fascinated
3:48:56with your intervention today. Um, I'm
3:48:59excited to hear all these new great
3:49:01ideas that you're bringing to our
3:49:02district to improve the CTA for our
3:49:06students so they can be successful
3:49:08student when they exit when they finish
3:49:10their high school. That's amazing and I
3:49:12want to congratulate and celebrate this
3:49:15great state, this vision that you have.
3:49:17You are so passionate and I share your
3:49:20passion, your vision. Um you can count
3:49:22on me as Angelie told you and Joanne you
3:49:25know where any anything that you need
3:49:27from us you can count on it. I just want
3:49:29to um make a suggestions uh in regards
3:49:32the increase the student internship. I I
3:49:36applaud the the effort that um our
3:49:40communi communication director and Herz
3:49:42are doing now to bring a student for
3:49:44internship. But I encourage you to also
3:49:47reach out to the city council, the mayor
3:49:50office, our state legislators to bring
3:49:53our students for internship into levels
3:49:55such as the state, such as the city.
3:49:58Maybe some of them will be a great
3:50:00successful politician in the future. So
3:50:02that that is a is a plus for them and
3:50:06just a suggestion um to make those reach
3:50:09out to those um offices.
3:50:12>> Thank you very much. I do have a meeting
3:50:13uh in two weeks with the mayor and I
3:50:16will add that onto our agenda but I have
3:50:19not reached out yet um to um the other
3:50:24state officials u and representatives
3:50:26and I think that's an amazing idea and I
3:50:28will definitely do that. I'm pretty
3:50:30confident that our st legislator, our
3:50:33delegation will say yes. Um they will
3:50:35definitely be welcome all those students
3:50:38in their offices because it's going to
3:50:40be a beautiful journey for them,
3:50:43beautiful learning for them and for the
3:50:45our representative and senate will be
3:50:47amazing amazing job. So just a
3:50:49suggestion and my congratulations for
3:50:52your visions,
3:50:53>> your uh passion, you know, it makes me
3:50:56so happy and um thinking that we are
3:50:59making a huge steps for educational
3:51:01excellency for our students.
3:51:03>> Thank you. Thank you very much. And you
3:51:05know um I hope to realize a lot of these
3:51:07things as quickly as possible because
3:51:08that's just my personality. It might
3:51:10take me a little bit longer than I'm
3:51:12hoping for, but I'm reaching for the
3:51:14stars. And now I'd like to introduce
3:51:17Melissa Leosier who's our talent
3:51:20coordinator,
3:51:22development coordinator.
3:51:41Thank you. I didn't want to walk in
3:51:43front of it.
3:51:46Good afternoon. Um, thank you for having
3:51:49me and for taking this time on a
3:51:51Saturday.
3:51:53My name is Melissa Labasier and I am the
3:51:55talent development coordinator for the
3:51:57school department. Um, just a very
3:51:59briefly, this is my I think it's my 32nd
3:52:01year here in the district. I spent 20
3:52:04years teaching middle school Spanish.
3:52:06Um, and then the last 12 years I have
3:52:09had the honor to do this role. And
3:52:13although it has multiple layers, I am
3:52:16going to spend the time this afternoon
3:52:17just talking about the professional
3:52:19learning piece. However, I will tell you
3:52:21a little bit about how some of the other
3:52:24pieces that I support fall into the
3:52:26professional learning piece as well. So,
3:52:29one of the most one of the things that
3:52:31I'm most proud of is in this district
3:52:33currently right now, if you were to go
3:52:36into our portal where we offer all of
3:52:38our professional learning opportunities,
3:52:40we currently have over 50 opportunities
3:52:42for our educators, um, from this moment
3:52:46all the way until June. And that's just
3:52:49right now. So, if you were to look back
3:52:51to the start of the school year, we had
3:52:53over a hundred different types of
3:52:55offerings for our educators. Within
3:52:58those offerings, there are a wide
3:53:00variety of learning opportunities. So,
3:53:03there's a couple here on the screen. um
3:53:06a wide range of effective teaching
3:53:08strategies from quality of questions,
3:53:12engaging students, um all anything and
3:53:17everything because you're going to see
3:53:18that really we continuously evolve our
3:53:21professional learning depending on what
3:53:23the educators need, depending on what
3:53:25the data says, and really also anything
3:53:28that we can do to support our
3:53:30administrators at the building level as
3:53:32well. So some of the other things are
3:53:34social emotional learning. Um and that
3:53:36goes really back to one of the things
3:53:38that Mr. Buck said and it really weaves
3:53:41into academics because we know that
3:53:44social emotional learning has a direct
3:53:46connection to academic improvement.
3:53:49Within that we also have a a really
3:53:52robust and I'll talk more about it in a
3:53:54moment um English language learner
3:53:56professional learning opportunity. We
3:53:59work and we do something with
3:54:00traumainformed and mental health. Um I
3:54:04have to say
3:54:06all because I am an AFT trainer, a
3:54:10national trainer for trauma informed. Um
3:54:13that information has really come to the
3:54:16forefront over this last week. um and
3:54:19really nationally we were able to get
3:54:22supports and from supporting our
3:54:25students to supporting our teachers to
3:54:27supporting our community. It's really
3:54:29important to me because the other thing
3:54:30that I didn't mention is I am a Pucket
3:54:32girl. I have lived here my entire life.
3:54:35Um and this is very important to me that
3:54:39our educators get what they need because
3:54:41what's most important is that they are
3:54:43in front of our students doing the work
3:54:45that needs to be done. Um other things
3:54:48are um Spanish for educators. So just
3:54:52really briefly speaking to the idea of
3:54:55meeting the needs of teachers,
3:54:57educators reached out to me and said,
3:54:59"We'd really like to learn Spanish. We
3:55:01really want to be able to connect with
3:55:02our students and our families." So I
3:55:06said, "I'm going to put a different hat
3:55:07on from teaching of students Spanish to
3:55:09teaching teachers Spanish." Um and I
3:55:13think it's been three years now. I
3:55:15created a program. It's eight sessions
3:55:18and I want to just say this part. Um
3:55:20teachers come and they sign up. They do
3:55:23not get paid um because they want to
3:55:26learn these types of things. After
3:55:28school um we really try to have our
3:55:31series multiple series because what you
3:55:33know about research for professional
3:55:35learning is a oneanddone is not the best
3:55:37way. So they sign up for example for the
3:55:39Spanish for educators. They're signing
3:55:41up to come eight times after school
3:55:44after a very long day of teaching. Um,
3:55:47not for compensation, just to learn.
3:55:50That course has been I like to say it's
3:55:53sold out. Um, every time that I have
3:55:56offered it and we are now on, I think
3:56:00we're close to 200 educators taking
3:56:02advantage of it. And when I say
3:56:04educators, it's open to our
3:56:07paraprofessional teacher assistants.
3:56:08It's open to our administrators. It's
3:56:11open to everyone and anyone who is staff
3:56:13in the school department. So that's one
3:56:16example. We also um do professional
3:56:19learning on classroom management. And
3:56:21then most recently um a series on
3:56:24artificial intelligence again requests
3:56:26from educators. We want to know more
3:56:28about this. Where can we go? Um I
3:56:31happened to see uh a conference during
3:56:34the summertime. So I said I need to
3:56:36learn more. So I went I went multiple
3:56:39times. Um I made a connection with
3:56:41someone who offers these and we are
3:56:43currently running an artificial
3:56:44intelligent really literacy for teachers
3:56:47so that they can learn like what is
3:56:49this? Um for that in particular I feel
3:56:51we need to get in the forefront of it.
3:56:53Our kids are using it. We need to learn
3:56:55how to best support this because it's
3:56:58part of the real world and that is our
3:57:00goal. Yes sir.
3:57:14testing. If I may, I want to call out
3:57:16the work that's happening uh uh in our
3:57:19talent and uh from our talent and
3:57:20development coordinator out of coming
3:57:22out of this office. Um you know, part of
3:57:24the work that Miss Lamasier does is also
3:57:26is is to meet with our new teachers, the
3:57:29new educators, not just teachers, but
3:57:30new educators who come here to Atuck.
3:57:32And so she does this induction program
3:57:34with them. But what I've seen in the
3:57:37last year is that work doesn't just get
3:57:39them in the door and get our new
3:57:40employees in the door, but it's it's
3:57:41sustaining and keeping those employees.
3:57:43Uh and and we've had an opportunity to
3:57:46meet with those folks to do a midyear
3:57:47check-in, something that's very new and
3:57:49something I'm appreciative that she's
3:57:50brought to the forefront. And the level
3:57:51of excitement uh and the feedback that
3:57:54they've shared with us about being part
3:57:55of Pucket this year has been so
3:57:57incredible. And I'm sure she can uh
3:57:59share what some of that feedback uh is
3:58:01like. Some of the things that she hasn't
3:58:03mentioned that she's involved with and
3:58:04just most recently uh Mr. Barrower you
3:58:06attended was at our Cape Verdian Museum
3:58:08Association just most recently this past
3:58:10weekend uh helping to organize that
3:58:12program bridging the gap between uh some
3:58:15of the communities we serve here uh and
3:58:16obviously expanding those opportunities
3:58:18to our educators so that we could be
3:58:20culturally responsive here in the
3:58:21district by offering Spanish uh and
3:58:23Portuguese as a language for our
3:58:24educators. So I just want to just take a
3:58:26moment to just shout you out. I know
3:58:27you're naming these things here, but um
3:58:29it's very important for for me to just
3:58:31name the fact that she's doing some
3:58:32remarkable work here in Pucket. So,
3:58:34thank you.
3:58:34>> Thank you. I appreciate that. Um and and
3:58:37to that point, Spanish for educators
3:58:40evolved into teachers then said to me,
3:58:42"But I want to learn Kvery and Creole."
3:58:44I said, "Okay, let me let me see what we
3:58:46can figure out." Um and last year, we
3:58:48offered two different series. I took
3:58:50part as a participant. I love when I can
3:58:52sit in the seat and learn. Um, and
3:58:54that's really how we became this
3:58:55partnership with the Cape Verian Museum.
3:58:57Um, and then through working with other
3:58:59departments like the English language
3:59:01learner department or the multilingual
3:59:03learner department. Um,
3:59:06they had some funds from a grant. So, I
3:59:08said, "Let's try to pull this all
3:59:09together." And we had an event, um, I
3:59:13think I was going to do that on my next
3:59:14slide, but I I'm going to talk about it.
3:59:16We had an event this past weekend that
3:59:17really had, um, a great connection to
3:59:20community. And again, the professional
3:59:24learning continuously changes because it
3:59:27changes to meet the needs. What do our
3:59:29kids need? What does the data show us
3:59:31the kids need? But also, what are our
3:59:33educators need? Um, and really evolving
3:59:36to those pieces. And so what happened is
3:59:39we went from one time where all of our
3:59:43professional learning took place in
3:59:44seats in person. Um then when we
3:59:47switched to virtual learning by force,
3:59:50we saw wow we can do some virtual
3:59:52training and we get other educators to
3:59:56take part in those just because of their
3:59:58schedule. And then over the last two
4:00:00years I added a third layer of we do
4:00:03some book studies. So there's some
4:00:05educators who just love to read. So yes,
4:00:08I will join a book study and I will meet
4:00:10you on that. And I will say to Randy
4:00:12sometimes, I have 40 people coming on a
4:00:14call at 3:30 today because we're all
4:00:16reading this book. Um I often will
4:00:18invite him and say, "If you've had a
4:00:20long day, come upstairs because it's so
4:00:23joyous because um I'm going to read
4:00:26directly some of the feedback from the
4:00:27teachers." And one of the things they
4:00:29said was the positive energy made made
4:00:32it fun to learn. And and that's really
4:00:33the teachers, right? That's the
4:00:35excitement of learning. Um somebody else
4:00:38said the discussion and excitement. I
4:00:39loved learning phrases and ideas to help
4:00:42in the classroom and with families. And
4:00:45then another one said, "Knowing that a
4:00:47lot of what I already do is the correct
4:00:50strategy, but learning new strategies to
4:00:53implement is even better because not
4:00:55often enough do our educators, you know,
4:00:57get a pat on the back of like you're
4:00:59doing great things, but now maybe you
4:01:02take one more thing and add it to your
4:01:03toolbox." Um, so, so those are a couple
4:01:06of things of the current state and
4:01:08what's happening. So the vision forward
4:01:10is I have been working with Ryan Wallace
4:01:13who was who is our curriculum director
4:01:16um and really again going back to Ry's
4:01:19um opening we're really looking at the
4:01:22high quality curriculum materials and
4:01:25professional learning around that. And
4:01:27one of the ways that we plan to work on
4:01:30this is by really tapping into our
4:01:33educators who are experts and training
4:01:36them to be facilitators of professional
4:01:39learning. So tapping into the experts
4:01:41that we already have in this district.
4:01:43Teaching students is one thing and
4:01:45facilitating professional learning is a
4:01:47little bit of a different skill set. So,
4:01:49I'm working with Ryan and we're going to
4:01:51offer a trainer of trainers so that we
4:01:54can tap into all the expertise that we
4:01:56have in the district and it really also
4:01:58helps with the sustainability piece. So,
4:02:01we don't have to always look out to an
4:02:03outside vendor. We have people in the
4:02:05district who can provide that. So, we
4:02:08will continue to offer and create
4:02:10professional learning opportunities. Um,
4:02:12sometimes we have administrators who
4:02:14will reach out and say, "My staff is
4:02:16really looking to improve this skill."
4:02:19So, I will work to either create a PD or
4:02:22find someone um to help support that.
4:02:25Um, and we can just really meet the need
4:02:27in the moment, which is really crucial,
4:02:29especially with some of our high schools
4:02:31um and working with those
4:02:32administrators.
4:02:34some of the partnerships that we already
4:02:35have which have been so instrumental.
4:02:38Bradley Hospital, we offer
4:02:42I want to say it's over 30 professional
4:02:44learning opportunities virtually um for
4:02:47any of our educators to take part in
4:02:49from things like the autism project that
4:02:52we support that um through Brown and
4:02:55through I'm sorry Bradley Hospital which
4:02:57is now Bradley Hospital, Brown Health
4:02:59University. Um, but that's comes through
4:03:01a grant, the project aware grant. So,
4:03:04we're able to provide professional
4:03:05learning to all of our teachers in such
4:03:08a such a variety in facets. Um, also the
4:03:12Rhode Island Department of Ed, we tap
4:03:13into things that they have. We offer and
4:03:16make those connections. Um, AFT is
4:03:19another piece Randy had mentioned at the
4:03:21start is really building um that
4:03:24collaboration with the union and the
4:03:26district. And I have to say that has
4:03:30also been instrumental. So
4:03:34having h being an aft trainer myself,
4:03:37I'm able to learn new things and bring
4:03:39them back to the district. Um, another
4:03:41thing that just recently happened
4:03:43through project aware is we have a
4:03:44partnership with Peace Love. And if
4:03:46you're not familiar with them, they are
4:03:48a local Pucket agency and we've sent
4:03:51some educators out to be trained and
4:03:54they bring that training back and it's
4:03:56through social emotional learning and
4:03:58expressive arts. And what's great about
4:04:01Peace Love is they replenish your
4:04:04supplies every time you do a
4:04:06professional learning. So I am always
4:04:08looking at the sustainability piece
4:04:10because I know there have been times
4:04:12where we have had like esser funding and
4:04:14then there are times where we have no
4:04:16funding. So I'm always like how can we
4:04:18keep this going with very little funds
4:04:21um and and that's a great opportunity.
4:04:23And then finally um Kagan is worldwide
4:04:29organization that works with cooperative
4:04:31learning and they actually reached out
4:04:33to us and said we have had such positive
4:04:36experience in your district we'd like
4:04:38you to host a regional professional
4:04:42learning opportunity and within that
4:04:45anyone from outside who pays their
4:04:48registration we then get free
4:04:50registration for our educators. So I
4:04:53asked Randy about it. He's like yes. So
4:04:56we have that actually coming up in
4:04:58April. So again just um really Pucket as
4:05:03mentioned it's really spreading and
4:05:05people are looking to us as the lead for
4:05:08these different things including
4:05:09professional learning. Um I don't know
4:05:12if I want to just make sure I didn't
4:05:14forget anything I wanted to say there.
4:05:16So then the evidence of impact really
4:05:20first of all is the feedback directly
4:05:22from the educators. I shared a couple of
4:05:24direct quotes from them. Um I have a
4:05:27couple of more. Someone said I was able
4:05:29to go to the school the next day and
4:05:31implement one of the strategies from the
4:05:33PD. The way it helped us to understand
4:05:36what our English language learners
4:05:38students and families go through when
4:05:40trying to learn a new language was
4:05:42eyeopening. So, it's having a direct
4:05:45impact and you hear it from educators,
4:05:48but also with the new hires. New hires
4:05:52will often tell me, "I have not had
4:05:55professional learning like this in
4:05:56another district that that is pretty
4:05:58close by or I have not had this mentor
4:06:01program that falls under the talent
4:06:03development coordinator where I can go
4:06:05to someone." And these things all happen
4:06:08because of our educators. They don't get
4:06:10paid to be mentors. They don't get paid
4:06:12to come to the professional learning.
4:06:14They are just improving their craft
4:06:16because of their passion. And I I cannot
4:06:18say that enough. Um the other impact is
4:06:21we're able to meet needs that our
4:06:24educators have like certification
4:06:25requirements and also the there's new
4:06:29MLL regs very similar to the right to
4:06:32read act um which again professional
4:06:35learning that educators need to do and
4:06:38within the regs the responsibility falls
4:06:40on the district. So the district has to
4:06:42figure out how do we provide this? So
4:06:46because I am an AFT national trainer for
4:06:48English language learners, we were able
4:06:50to get a course approved through RIDE.
4:06:52We currently have 45 teachers who signed
4:06:56up for 12 sessions um and they will
4:07:00finish and they will have their
4:07:01proficiency requirement. We already have
4:07:05signups for next year. Um so we're able
4:07:07to meet these needs in the district. So
4:07:10teachers do not have to leave the
4:07:12district to meet these requirements
4:07:14because there are a lot of requirements
4:07:16for educators. Um and we keep getting
4:07:18more. So we had the right to read act
4:07:20now we have the MLL proficiency but when
4:07:23they can come in district and know that
4:07:25they can complete it here one it's a
4:07:28sense of relief for them. Um but also
4:07:30it's great that we can come to in with
4:07:33community and complete that all here. Um
4:07:36so really the professional learning is
4:07:38created and offered through datadriven
4:07:40decisions. What do we see? What do our
4:07:42kids need? What do our teachers need?
4:07:44But also we see the ripple effect as
4:07:47already mentioned with the Cape Verdian
4:07:49Museum. So we had teachers who learned
4:07:51Kverian Creole and learned about the
4:07:54culture. We then brought it into a
4:07:57family event which has now spread out
4:07:59into the community and really just a
4:08:02partners in learning so that our
4:08:04families can see that we are working in
4:08:07the community and we want them to come
4:08:09to the school department as a place
4:08:11where learning and celebration happens
4:08:14because that's really one of the most
4:08:16most important things um to keep our our
4:08:19schools open so our families can come
4:08:21here as a place when they need something
4:08:24and hopefully they're not moving to
4:08:25other places, right? And we're keeping
4:08:27them here in district. That is our goal.
4:08:30So, I feel like I did a lot of talking
4:08:31and when I do professional learning, I
4:08:33don't like to be the one doing all the
4:08:34talking, but um if you have any
4:08:36questions for me, I am happy to answer
4:08:39that.
4:08:41comment and and it's the reason why I
4:08:44specifically had asked you to come even
4:08:47though I went about it in the wrong way
4:08:50but
4:08:51I'm really glad that you are here
4:08:54because you know having been on the
4:08:57committee for a long time I see the
4:09:00impact that you have given to this
4:09:02district and I wanted to learn more
4:09:05about what you do and I know you've
4:09:07probably only scratched the surface
4:09:09surface,
4:09:11but it's amazing. You are great.
4:09:14>> Thank you.
4:09:15>> And you are very well respected in this
4:09:17community
4:09:19um in all our schools by all our
4:09:21teachers. And I'd like to say thank you.
4:09:23>> I appreciate that.
4:09:25>> I I have to say that I I I know how I
4:09:30I can't find the right word right now,
4:09:32but I am so grateful to be in a role
4:09:34that I I love. I love my job. Um, I I
4:09:36love my city and um you know that that's
4:09:40why I do what I do. Thank you. Thank
4:09:42you.
4:09:45Right. Okay. So, I'm going to t turn it
4:09:47over to um Kim Mahi who who is our
4:09:50executive director of elementary
4:09:52education.
4:10:09So for people who know me, they know
4:10:12that um I don't want to talk at you. I
4:10:17want you to work with me.
4:10:19So Mr. Buck is handing out something
4:10:22called a word splash.
4:10:25And I'll explain a little bit more about
4:10:27it as as we go through today.
4:10:32It's gonna go in your cubicle.
4:10:35Um, for those of you who don't know me,
4:10:38my name is Kim McCahi and I've been an
4:10:40educator for 36 years. I look 12.
4:10:45Go ahead. It's okay. Um, I've been here
4:10:48in Pekka for 24 years.
4:10:50My experience um in the role of educator
4:10:56encompasses everything from preschool to
4:10:59teaching graduate school.
4:11:02I have worked with every level of
4:11:05learner in between.
4:11:07Um my initial background is in
4:11:10elementary ed. I then decided I was
4:11:14going to go to school and become a
4:11:15reading specialist. And then I went the
4:11:18route of administration.
4:11:20And my roles here in Pucket have ranged
4:11:23from everything from a reading
4:11:25specialist
4:11:27to I spent 10 years as a building
4:11:30administrator at both the elementary and
4:11:33the secondary level. I worked as a
4:11:37district coach.
4:11:39And I kind of feel like the role that I
4:11:41am currently in
4:11:44kind of takes everything I have ever
4:11:46done and puts it all together. Um,
4:11:50people say to me, "What exactly is your
4:11:52job?" And I say, "It changes every day."
4:11:54And it does. And I love that part about
4:11:56it because although I might think I have
4:11:58a plan on a certain day, it might
4:12:00change.
4:12:02Basically what I do right now is I
4:12:04oversee all 10 of our elementary schools
4:12:07and I'm ensuring as Randy talked about
4:12:10the instructional quality is being
4:12:13consistent across all of our elementary
4:12:16schools.
4:12:17I am out in our schools every day. I
4:12:21have um a set rotation that is
4:12:24calendared
4:12:26but I also will go to whatever else I
4:12:29need to. So, I might have a plan to be
4:12:32in this particular school at this
4:12:34particular time, but an administrator
4:12:37might say to me, "Hey, I have this PLC
4:12:40coming and coming up and I'd like you to
4:12:43join to help with X, Y, or Z, what
4:12:46whatever the case is." So, I'm very very
4:12:49flexible with them on what I can do.
4:12:53Some of the duties that I have, I
4:12:55supervise and evaluate the elementary
4:12:57principles. I monitor to make sure that
4:13:00the curriculum that the students are
4:13:02receiving is aligned with our Rhode
4:13:04Island state standards. I look at um
4:13:08analysis of achievement data with the
4:13:11school leaders. Also programmatic data
4:13:14because I was the curriculum director.
4:13:16So I can still log into SAVS and say,
4:13:19"Hey, you know, your third grade, you're
4:13:21telling me that they're grappling with
4:13:22this particular um standard. Well, let's
4:13:26look at where else is going to come up
4:13:28in the curriculum later on and look at
4:13:31some of the assessment data that the
4:13:33students might have.
4:13:35I monitor the status of um the schools
4:13:39uh school improvement goals,
4:13:43what is your plan? And then we bring
4:13:45that up, you know, when I'm working with
4:13:47those leaders to say, hey, how are they
4:13:49doing towards this? What evidence do you
4:13:51have of that? Uh, I also help them with
4:13:55um their school budgets and staffing if
4:13:57they're having an issue or concern
4:13:59around that. And then I also am the one
4:14:03um that gets the wonderful job of
4:14:06responding to parents who have escalated
4:14:08concerns.
4:14:10So I handle that.
4:14:12In short, this is what I tell everybody.
4:14:15I work to help our students succeed by
4:14:18supporting the leaders and the educators
4:14:21in our buildings.
4:14:24So that's who I am and what I do. So
4:14:27because I do have a background in
4:14:28reading and because I am forever an
4:14:31educator, what I have given you is a
4:14:34word splash activity that is on the role
4:14:37of elementary education.
4:14:40This type of activity you might see in
4:14:43one of our elementary schools. A lot of
4:14:45our educators will use this as a review
4:14:48um before the test.
4:14:51So
4:14:53the words from um the unit would be
4:14:57placed on the splash. You can do it so
4:15:00that the students are actively involved.
4:15:02You can, you know, use our technology
4:15:04and zoom them in. You can have, you
4:15:07know, um, kids, I've actually seen them
4:15:09use a fly swatter where three words
4:15:12might come up and they have to hit the
4:15:14right one. They love that one with the
4:15:16fly water. Um, I've seen students do
4:15:18this in a classroom preparing for their
4:15:20science test and they have um different
4:15:23colored highlighters
4:15:25and they're using a highlighter in order
4:15:28to identify a life science versus an
4:15:31earth science word. So, there's lots of
4:15:34different ways they can do this, but
4:15:35basically, because it's been a long time
4:15:38since I've been in elementary school,
4:15:40and I'm sure for some of you, it's been
4:15:42a long time since you were in elementary
4:15:44school, I wanted to go over what exactly
4:15:46happens in elementary school, because we
4:15:48send them in the door, and then they
4:15:50come out, and we send them in, and we
4:15:52want them smiling when they go in and we
4:15:53want them smiling when they come out.
4:15:55But what's happening in there during the
4:15:56day?
4:15:58Elementary school is a student's first
4:16:01formal schooling.
4:16:03It's going to build all of their
4:16:05foundational skills.
4:16:08It supports overall child development.
4:16:12Obviously, it has academics.
4:16:14There's social skills that we actually
4:16:16have to teach the children. there's
4:16:19emotional growth and there's um the
4:16:22development of both fine and gross motor
4:16:25skills that are worked on at the
4:16:28elementary school level.
4:16:30So I'll start with our academics.
4:16:35You think of reading, writing, speaking,
4:16:38and listening, basic communication
4:16:41skills.
4:16:42All of those are taught in the
4:16:44elementary school from everything from
4:16:47what is a sound
4:16:49all the way up to writing multiple
4:16:52paragraphs.
4:16:54And when you stop and think about that,
4:16:56all that happens in six years,
4:16:59kindergarten to grade five is only six
4:17:02years.
4:17:05math.
4:17:07Everything that you need to know, you
4:17:09learn in elementary school. All of your
4:17:11basic arithmetic
4:17:13all the way up through fractions,
4:17:15decimals, including problem solving. All
4:17:18along the way, problem solving, that's
4:17:20all part of the mathematics that's
4:17:22taking place in our classrooms every
4:17:24day.
4:17:26science. They have life science,
4:17:28physical science, earth science, and
4:17:31learning all about the scientific
4:17:32process.
4:17:35Social studies, they're learning about
4:17:37community, citizenship, geography, basic
4:17:40history, and cultural awareness.
4:17:44Elementary students also receive an
4:17:46introduction to technology, art, music,
4:17:49physical education, and health.
4:17:53They go in smiling. they come out
4:17:55smiling.
4:17:58Sometimes we have some social or
4:18:01emotional skills that we also need to
4:18:04address because they may not have
4:18:07learned these skills before coming to
4:18:09school. Communication,
4:18:12teamwork, cooperation,
4:18:15accountability,
4:18:17emotional control, empathy,
4:18:20understanding,
4:18:22conflict resolution
4:18:24daily responsibility and
4:18:27self-regulation.
4:18:30as a classroom teacher. Many of our
4:18:32educators not only have the academics to
4:18:34teach, they have all of these social and
4:18:37emotional skills that they also need to
4:18:40um teach.
4:18:42Fine and gross motor skills, those are
4:18:45the small and the large muscle groups.
4:18:49Pencil control,
4:18:51proper scissor, scissor usage, drawing
4:18:55in art schools, how to use a tool, how
4:18:58to measure with a ruler, how to build
4:19:01with objects,
4:19:03math manipulatives,
4:19:06keyboarding, typing, how to use a mouse.
4:19:09All of those require fine motor skills.
4:19:13Many of those we have to teach the
4:19:15students how to use them correctly.
4:19:19For the gross motor skills, balance,
4:19:22coordination, running, agility, ball
4:19:25control, throwing, catching, kicking,
4:19:27strength, endurance, those are all
4:19:29skills that we also work on at the
4:19:31elementary school level.
4:19:34The aim of elementary education is to
4:19:36build fundamental knowledge and skills
4:19:39that prepare the student for their
4:19:41future learning.
4:19:44This word splash that I've given you can
4:19:46be something to look back on when
4:19:48thinking about all that our students are
4:19:51learning on a daily basis in our 10
4:19:54elementary schools.
4:19:57Our current state, where are we? That
4:20:00data that Mr. Buck showed at the very
4:20:02beginning is K12 data.
4:20:06We have many students that still have
4:20:10academic and social and emotional
4:20:12deficits that they need to overcome. We
4:20:15need to help them overcome them.
4:20:18Clicker.
4:20:22Nope. Wrong way.
4:20:25There we go.
4:20:28Unfortunately, many students have not
4:20:31successfully climbed that literacy cliff
4:20:34and moved from
4:20:36learning to read to reading to learn.
4:20:42Without the ability to do that, students
4:20:46cannot access higher level curriculum
4:20:49and successfully
4:20:52accomplish all the rest of the standards
4:20:54that are built upon those foundational
4:20:56skills.
4:20:58This unfortunately has many students
4:21:00that are spending a great deal of time
4:21:03working at their frustration level.
4:21:06We want them going in smiling and coming
4:21:08out smiling. and some some of our kids
4:21:12are really really frustrated sometimes.
4:21:14So, one year from now, what do we
4:21:16expect? We want to see more students
4:21:19reaching academic proficiency.
4:21:22Mr. Buck gave the district goal. I will
4:21:24tell you that many of the school
4:21:26improvement plans that I have uh worked
4:21:29with our leaders on this school year,
4:21:32those goals are much higher. They want
4:21:34to see their students reach higher
4:21:37levels and they're like, "We have to
4:21:39have more, be more successful."
4:21:42How will we know that they are um
4:21:46reaching the um goals that we have?
4:21:50You're definitely going to see an
4:21:52increase at a minimum on the district
4:21:54benchmark assessment data. Our students
4:21:57are taking the I Ready assessment three
4:21:59times a year, and so we're tracking
4:22:02growth over time. Um very often I I will
4:22:06work with um a particular family who
4:22:09might be having an issue and I'll go
4:22:12into the historical data for that
4:22:15student and show the parent, you know,
4:22:16look at the growth that your your child
4:22:19has made over time. You know, yes, your
4:22:21child is having, you know, a a difficult
4:22:24time with, you know, behavior in this
4:22:26particular situation, but I can see how
4:22:28much they have been learning all along.
4:22:31Sure.
4:22:33on that vein, if you're going into the I
4:22:37Ready data over a period of time and you
4:22:41see the growth and you can say that, but
4:22:44when you don't see the growth, I know
4:22:47you have to parents have to ask for 504s
4:22:50and IEPs,
4:22:52but does the district itself initiate
4:22:56any of those when they know a student is
4:23:00in danger? Yes, absolutely. Um there's a
4:23:04couple of different ways that comes up.
4:23:06It could come up through um all of the
4:23:09elementary schools have an RTI team,
4:23:11response to intervention team. So that
4:23:14if if a as a classroom teacher, I have a
4:23:17student that I can see is having a
4:23:19difficult time um learning a particular
4:23:23skill or concept, I can bring them to
4:23:25the RTI team and it's met with um the
4:23:29specialists in the building to talk
4:23:30about what can I be doing in my
4:23:32classroom, what else can we be doing for
4:23:34this student? Parents are informed of
4:23:37that process along the way. Um the
4:23:40district itself, Mr. Mr. Buck in his
4:23:42slide talked about the MTSS
4:23:45uh multi-tiered systems of support which
4:23:48is being rolled out um into next school
4:23:52year, but it will be districtwide so
4:23:54that what's happening in one school is
4:23:57happening at another school as well. So
4:23:59yes, we we do address that as we're
4:24:02going on. I will tell you though when
4:24:04I'm meeting with a family, me
4:24:06personally, I absolutely can always find
4:24:08something that that student has done
4:24:10well and find growth. Even if I can um
4:24:15at a minimum recently I I met with a
4:24:18family and we talked about that I saw
4:24:20that their child was in school more
4:24:22often.
4:24:24>> You know, I looked at the attendance
4:24:25data. So that's telling me that your
4:24:27child is not giving you as much a
4:24:30difficult time at home and is wanting to
4:24:32come to school and is there and is you
4:24:35know working to be ready to learn what
4:24:37they need to learn.
4:24:39>> Thank you.
4:24:40>> Absolutely. Um the other way that you
4:24:42will know is that there will be a
4:24:44decrease in student behavioral
4:24:46referrals. Students can also go to that
4:24:48RTI team for behavior as well.
4:24:54Um so how how will this happen? It's
4:24:56kind of come up. It's a theme. We did
4:24:58not write our notes together but it is a
4:25:01theme. Um how how are we going to
4:25:04achieve this? Definitely through
4:25:07professional learning with the staff and
4:25:10I say staff it involves everybody.
4:25:14A curriculum reboot. Um they talked
4:25:17about the high quality curriculum
4:25:19materials that they have. I know that I
4:25:22was the curriculum director and I know
4:25:24that when that first rolled out it was
4:25:27COVID times and it was very different
4:25:30then and to have that curriculum reboot
4:25:34but
4:25:35adding another layer to it adding it
4:25:39since that time our elementary educators
4:25:42had to go through the right to read act
4:25:43training and so to build what they
4:25:47learned in the right to read act
4:25:49training into the curriculum definitely
4:25:52is something that will help um improve
4:25:55that instruction for our students. Uh we
4:25:58talked about the district-wide MTSS roll
4:26:00out with all three tiers of
4:26:02intervention.
4:26:04SEAL strategies, social emotional
4:26:07learning strategies is a training that
4:26:10many of our classroom educators um need
4:26:12to have particularly about how to
4:26:15deescalate students when they are
4:26:18escalated. what are some ways that they
4:26:20can help with that? Um, better training
4:26:23and scheduling of classroom
4:26:25interventions. That's actually something
4:26:27that's taking place now as I go out to
4:26:29our 10 schools. There's lots of
4:26:31discussion about um getting the biggest
4:26:34bang for our buck. This is what I have
4:26:37available. If I, you know, change this
4:26:40in the schedule, I can then put this in
4:26:42here. And talking about, you know, being
4:26:45flexible to be able to address student
4:26:47needs that way.
4:26:49One other thing I want to point out, it
4:26:51doesn't have to do with the school
4:26:52department, but it's something that we
4:26:54have um seen the mobile crisis um truck
4:26:58that has been going out to help families
4:27:02many times when a student is before an
4:27:04RTI team. They talk about making kids
4:27:08link referrals and they have had great
4:27:11success with that. Um there are actually
4:27:13even some instances where the um
4:27:17clinician will go to an upcoming RTI
4:27:21team meeting or an IEP meeting for a
4:27:24student to talk about ways that the
4:27:26school can help that particular student
4:27:28in the class.
4:27:32So why why do we emphasize all of this?
4:27:36Well, what the research tells us isn't
4:27:39great. If a student is not reading on
4:27:42grade level by the end of grade three,
4:27:44they're four times less likely to
4:27:48graduate on time.
4:27:51It's a sobering national statistic. We
4:27:55don't want to do that. We want to see
4:27:57our students succeed.
4:27:59So, in the words of Dr. Seuss in his
4:28:02book, I can read with my eyes shut.
4:28:06The more that you read, the more things
4:28:08you will know. the more that you learn,
4:28:11the more places you'll go. And that's
4:28:14exactly what we want for our students at
4:28:16the elementary level. We want to be
4:28:18sending students to our secondary
4:28:21schools with um better equipped to be
4:28:25able to think at that higher level and
4:28:27to be able to meet those um expectations
4:28:31that we have of our um secondary
4:28:35students.
4:28:37many things. You know, as Susette was
4:28:40talking, I was thinking about as they go
4:28:42out to do those internships,
4:28:44if we hadn't taught them how to
4:28:46communicate effectively or to deal with
4:28:49conflict resolution, they would not have
4:28:51a productive
4:28:53and successful internship experience.
4:28:57So, it all comes back to elementary
4:28:58school. And um I'm thrilled to be able
4:29:01to be working in our elementary schools.
4:29:05It's definitely some days I I say to
4:29:07myself, "Oh, there's a lot. There's a
4:29:10lot." Because I could be at one and have
4:29:12a problem at another and, you know, I'm
4:29:14I'm juggling to be able to help them.
4:29:16Um, I am a department of one, but
4:29:20everyone knows I'm just a phone call
4:29:21away and I'm very happy to be able to
4:29:23help them.
4:29:25>> Questions
4:29:28>> for you?
4:29:28>> Sure. So you keep saying we have 10
4:29:31elementary schools where we technically
4:29:33have 11. So are you involved in the PHA?
4:29:40>> I am uh not so much this year as I was
4:29:44last year. I am at the school end
4:29:48because the students the ultimate goal
4:29:51is that once they have finished their 45
4:29:52days they go back. So helping the
4:29:55schools prepare um for the receipt of
4:29:58those students back. Yes, absolutely.
4:30:02>> Okay.
4:30:04Um and again you thank you all for just
4:30:07being here and just showing your love
4:30:08especially on a Saturday. Um but just
4:30:10letting us know that what you do and how
4:30:13you do it and I know you had mentioned
4:30:15that every day is crazy. education in
4:30:17general. If you're an educator, you know
4:30:19that whatever you have planned for that
4:30:21day can just go out the window as soon
4:30:22as you get out of your car and you punch
4:30:24in for the day. Um, so just thank you
4:30:26for saying everything that you said and
4:30:29you still have a smile on your face and
4:30:31you're still enthusiastic
4:30:34um about the work that
4:30:36>> right and you know that just shows a lot
4:30:38as a mom that has a six-year-old that's
4:30:41in elementary school and then I have my
4:30:43girl that will be coming into the
4:30:45district and hopefully if the time
4:30:48changes mess me up but they're at the
4:30:50elementary school that I went to as well
4:30:52too. there at Curvin. Um, and just look,
4:30:56like I said, like even though I joked
4:30:58about it, but it probably will go in my
4:31:00cubicle. Um, I I do I used to do the pre
4:31:04the preschool age. So, that was the
4:31:05director at the children's workshop that
4:31:07kind of gets them leading into the
4:31:09district, right? And I always that was
4:31:12always something that was really really
4:31:13important to me because
4:31:15what the educators as you said they're
4:31:17doing academics but now they're doing a
4:31:21lot more than just the academics because
4:31:23it is the social emotional piece that
4:31:25you know this generation of kiddos that
4:31:28they just need more assistance on. and
4:31:30just thank you even though you're a
4:31:32department of one like both of you guys
4:31:34um you guys are still showing up and you
4:31:37have a smile on your face and again
4:31:39you're 32 years here in the district or
4:31:41how long you've been here it shows a lot
4:31:43just just thank you cuz as a mom I was
4:31:46already like going in my head my Alani
4:31:48will be five in just like two weeks so
4:31:50I'm will be here like
4:31:52>> what do I got to work with you now I
4:31:54just got my my brain going so thank you
4:31:56and again we talk about it all the time
4:31:58but if you guys ever need anything any
4:32:00support or any way that we can or even
4:32:02if you just want to talk. I want to talk
4:32:03education. I love talking and I love
4:32:05talking about education and I love and I
4:32:07love the city. So, thank you.
4:32:08>> Thank you. You're welcome.
4:32:09>> Thank you.
4:32:10>> All right. I'm going to turn it over to
4:32:12Dr. Andred.
4:32:18>> Thank you. Make sure
4:32:23I I got you right. I'm going to do this
4:32:26in 10 minutes, but I'm watching the time
4:32:28as well. gonna make sure you get out
4:32:29there to get your milk and bread. Right.
4:32:31We have officially received the blizzard
4:32:33warning. Sorry. Um I I just want to
4:32:35start off and and it makes me think,
4:32:37Miss Rosa, on your comments. It's truly
4:32:40invigorating to be here and, you know,
4:32:42to follow suit with these amazing
4:32:44educators. And I think about education
4:32:46as this expensive Rolex and the dial
4:32:50represents our students and as those
4:32:52dials move forward, that represents our
4:32:54student outcomes moving in the positive
4:32:56direction. But what you don't really see
4:32:59school committee, you see my face all
4:33:00the time, right? Unfortunately, you're
4:33:01like, "Oh my god, here he is talking
4:33:03again." But what we don't see as a
4:33:05committee is the the hard work that
4:33:07happens behind the scenes and that's
4:33:09reflective of all those small gears
4:33:10making that big cog working together in
4:33:12a symbiotic relationship. And so kudos
4:33:14to to my peers for doing an amazing job
4:33:16and and that passion and hopefully I can
4:33:18follow suit. So really short, I'm going
4:33:20to try to do this quickly in this
4:33:22presentation. Uh I'm going to follow the
4:33:24same three pillars that uh
4:33:25superintendent Buck had sought start us
4:33:27off with and that's aligns with the
4:33:29current state and then looking at vision
4:33:30forward and evidence of impact within
4:33:32each one of those respective spaces. So
4:33:36the first one is the transportation and
4:33:38we think about transportation on the
4:33:39operational size. You think of our
4:33:41budget as approximately $15 million,
4:33:44right? So look at that percentage right
4:33:46there. It's about 8% of that slice of
4:33:48pie is dedicated to transportation.
4:33:52Transportation is broken up into two
4:33:54spaces. One is our in district
4:33:56transportation which is our we utilize
4:33:58our vendor for a student. Then there's
4:34:00out of district transportation which is
4:34:02what we collaborate with statewide. So
4:34:05you'll see the differences in between
4:34:07the two but that and I'm going to switch
4:34:09to the next slide here. You look at the
4:34:12difference for the estimate on the
4:34:13course ridership per uh rider. So in
4:34:16district we're paying approximately
4:34:18$2,600 per student whereas we're looking
4:34:22at statewide it almost doubles if it
4:34:25actually it does double uh into about 51
4:34:28to 5,300 per student. Now there's and
4:34:31when we look at that ratio of students
4:34:33when you're saying 2200 students how in
4:34:35the world is it that much more and so as
4:34:38Dr. the world had mentioned right we
4:34:40have several students that are going out
4:34:43to specialized programs CTE well we are
4:34:45responsible for that cost as well uh
4:34:48there are some mandated specialized
4:34:50transportation services that we must
4:34:52provide as a district students that fall
4:34:54in McKini Vinto situation which is
4:34:56representative of families who have
4:34:58identified themselves as being homeless
4:34:59so they may be residing in a homeless
4:35:02shelter that might be in Westerly we are
4:35:05responsible to transport that student
4:35:06back and forth to Pucket
4:35:08You have ESSA display students which is
4:35:10another category. You have private
4:35:12placements. Lal, St. Patrick's Academy
4:35:15in Providence, we transport students.
4:35:18We're responsible for that cost. St.
4:35:20Cecilia, St. Teresa's, St. Ray, right?
4:35:23All those students were responsible to
4:35:25pay. And then special education is one
4:35:28of the biggest drivers in that cost. Um,
4:35:30of course, that's all dependent upon the
4:35:32distance to those out of district
4:35:34placements. uh depending on the
4:35:36accommodations for that particular
4:35:38student can significantly increase the
4:35:39cost of that um students. So it just
4:35:42gives you a rough idea of when we're
4:35:43talking about this numbers in the $9.1
4:35:46million that we're spending in regards
4:35:48to transportation is there an
4:35:50opportunity there where we can think
4:35:52about in the current fiscal state can we
4:35:54reduce that cost? So we are just like
4:35:57everyone else. We have to compete with
4:35:59the contractual bargain and agreements.
4:36:00There's always going to be an escalation
4:36:02right for labor and we as the client are
4:36:06going to receive that in the end. We pay
4:36:08for it right. So similar to typical
4:36:11contracts there'll be a 3% increase. So
4:36:13we have to anticipate for those costs.
4:36:15Right? So in this situation what we're
4:36:17looking at it just so happens that we
4:36:19are our three actually I say three to
4:36:21fiveyear contract with first student is
4:36:23up this year. So we will be going out
4:36:25for a request for proposal which provide
4:36:28us for an opportunity to really be
4:36:29thoughtful and intentional and strategic
4:36:31about what the criteria is and what our
4:36:33priorities are regarding that that that
4:36:36proposal. So one of them what we're
4:36:38doing is we are coordinating we have an
4:36:40which the school committee approved is a
4:36:43third-party analysis a route analysis
4:36:46and we're we've already had preliminary
4:36:48conversations and we're looking forward
4:36:50to that presentation in early March. Uh
4:36:52they'll be presented to the school
4:36:53committee. We're working with our ride
4:36:54partners uh Dr. Corino and we really
4:36:58have some really you know really good
4:37:00information from an independent party.
4:37:02In addition to that we're doing our own
4:37:04internal audit which means our
4:37:06principles are tracking all the students
4:37:09that actually board the buses and so we
4:37:10can get a really good picture and then
4:37:12of course our vendor is doing their
4:37:14audit as well. So you have three data
4:37:16sets that we can utilize to put together
4:37:18to really make formative decisions
4:37:20moving forward and we look forward. So I
4:37:21don't want to spend too much time on
4:37:22that because we'll be presenting that at
4:37:24another date.
4:37:27So how are we going to know what that
4:37:28evidence of impact? This is an
4:37:30aggressive goal, right? This is not
4:37:32conservative by evity means, but we
4:37:33believe that we can project our
4:37:35transportation's cost by a million
4:37:37dollars next year. So this year's budget
4:37:39was 9.1 million. Three years ago was
4:37:416.2. We saw an escalation in
4:37:43transportation of $3 million year over
4:37:46end. We believe that we can bring that
4:37:48back, right? And hopefully with the
4:37:50intent that we're going to absorb that
4:37:513% escalation cost that's going to be
4:37:53sent back to us and we think we're going
4:37:55to be do that. With that with that being
4:37:57said, I just want to point out one
4:37:59important piece here. Sorry. And that's
4:38:02going to be re related to oops, where is
4:38:04it? It's a side. It's going to be number
4:38:06two, school policy review and alignment.
4:38:09So a lot of the work that we do is based
4:38:12on policy. So for example, you could
4:38:14think about the depot stop distance from
4:38:17one school. Um, that's something that we
4:38:19might want to look at. You might want to
4:38:21look at the school start times and
4:38:23alignment. We have three tiers. We have
4:38:24three schools that are at 8:30. Is there
4:38:26enough of space between that 8 and 9:00
4:38:29for one bus to do both trips? No,
4:38:30there's not. Right. So is there an
4:38:33opportunity to be strategic in thinking
4:38:35about adjusting school times even you
4:38:37know this was there could be an
4:38:39opportunity for flexing secondary 15
4:38:41minutes ahead or behind which will
4:38:44provide transportation costs to go down
4:38:46to capture that $1 million and what
4:38:49happens when we save that $1 million of
4:38:50savings we refocus those and we push it
4:38:54back into the teaching and learning
4:38:55which is what we need most.
4:38:59>> If I may I don't want to steal Dr. Andre
4:39:01thunder or the presentation that we'll
4:39:02hear in early March, but just some of
4:39:04those few uh solutions in regards to
4:39:06transportations, the cost savings around
4:39:08those small changes are significant.
4:39:12And I think about some of the challenges
4:39:15fiscally we have as a district. This
4:39:18will greatly help us as a district. So,
4:39:20I'm excited for uh not just you all
4:39:22here, but the entire committee in early
4:39:23March to hear more about this in greater
4:39:25detail.
4:39:28So, next is athletics. So, you've
4:39:31probably seen coach camp come up here at
4:39:33the podium and school committee. Uh, he
4:39:35is well respected in the community and
4:39:37the work that he does is super
4:39:39passionate. Uh, he's also has an amazing
4:39:41compassion for all his athletes. And I
4:39:44had to quote him and and having a
4:39:46conversation with him and he always
4:39:47he'll always preface his speeches and
4:39:49saying it's not about winning, it's
4:39:51about developing young men and women in
4:39:52Pucket and preparing them for our
4:39:54future. Right? And that's really the
4:39:56fundamentals, right? That's the
4:39:57foundation of the work that we do. It's
4:39:59not about the competition. It's not
4:40:00about the winning. It's about being
4:40:02being able to foster a beautiful team
4:40:04and that camaraderie uh and building
4:40:06that character development. So, kudos to
4:40:08to uh coach camp. Now, when I did, I
4:40:11reached out to him really quick and I
4:40:12said, "So, what are some points that you
4:40:13wanted to, you know, recognize?" And the
4:40:15first thing he went to was the student
4:40:16accomplishments, right? And I'm like,
4:40:18"You know what? Let's save that for the
4:40:20students to come up to the podium in a
4:40:21school committee meeting where they can
4:40:22celebrate." So, I didn't want to name
4:40:24anything particular, but more of a a
4:40:26macro level taking a step back and some
4:40:28of the amazing things that we've been
4:40:29able to uh take advantage of with
4:40:32several grants. Uh, one of specifically
4:40:34with a city grant from Opera is really
4:40:37uh putting wonderful, beautiful uniforms
4:40:41and warm-up suits and the swag and the
4:40:43gear, right? And you'll see that as we
4:40:45walk around, right? And Superintendent
4:40:47Buck is, you know, wearing some of that
4:40:48gear today. And so it's super exciting
4:40:51to see that it's just showing that we
4:40:53care about our athletes. And think about
4:40:56when we're traveling to other districts
4:40:58and they're coming across off that bus,
4:41:00right? It's that perception and it's
4:41:02like, hey, wait a second, we care about
4:41:03our kids and we certainly do. Um, one of
4:41:06the greatest pieces that again, thank
4:41:08you to the school committee is last year
4:41:09you approved a co-op shuttle bus which
4:41:11allowed our students to really enhance
4:41:13the increase the increase the
4:41:15participation rate of our students going
4:41:17merging into athletics which has been
4:41:19super helpful. And then lastly, a really
4:41:21one thing I want to shout out is we have
4:41:23this wonderful I'm going to uh shout out
4:41:25Dr. Shelvy. He's got a a pediatrician
4:41:27practice over on the east side. And
4:41:29historically in the past we had
4:41:31difficulty getting our students to get
4:41:32those physical assessments which is
4:41:34criteria that you must have a physical
4:41:36assessment before you participate in
4:41:38sports. So we were able to work with Dr.
4:41:40Shelvy who provided this form for free
4:41:43and then on our part we provided the
4:41:44busing. So we created depot stops for
4:41:47our students early in fall. We're going
4:41:49to be doing another session in the
4:41:50spring so that in advance of these
4:41:52sports that's one barrier that we can
4:41:54knock down so students have access to
4:41:55that space.
4:41:59Yeah, you know, in urban districts,
4:42:01particularly here in Pucket, that was a
4:42:02huge barrier. When parents have younger
4:42:04siblings and or work multiple jobs,
4:42:07getting your kid to a physical sometimes
4:42:09is not the highest priority to to no
4:42:10fault of anyone's. And so, this has been
4:42:13remarkable and in assisting our students
4:42:15become involved in extracurricular
4:42:16activities. So, this was a great win.
4:42:20All right, food services doesn't get a
4:42:22lot of attention, though. Okay. But
4:42:24super important in that we want to make
4:42:26sure that our students tummies are
4:42:28filled every day. Right? There is a
4:42:29direct correlation with students
4:42:31nutritional levels and the work that
4:42:33they do uh and coming to school every
4:42:35day. So this is just a snapshot in time
4:42:37of February 10th and I think it's
4:42:40important information to share in that
4:42:42we are proving students 7,762
4:42:46meals that were delivered in that one
4:42:48day. So that's a combination of lunch
4:42:51and uh breakfast combined together. And
4:42:53the beautiful part about this is it's
4:42:56all free, right? So think about that. So
4:42:59even though we had five
4:43:00non-reimburseable paid, meaning five
4:43:02students did pay for that service
4:43:04overall where under the community uh
4:43:07eligibility provision, we call it C, the
4:43:09acronym, and that we are eligible for
4:43:11that work. So it's truly important for
4:43:13the district to continue that work and
4:43:15and make sure that we're eligible for
4:43:17this. Uh clearly there's a a positive
4:43:20impact on filling our students tummies.
4:43:23Uh they're they're coming to school,
4:43:25right? It's going to increase
4:43:26attendance. Maybe there might be some
4:43:27difficulty at home. Uh virtually no paid
4:43:30roughly 5,300 late lunch daily. I that's
4:43:34amazing. And we're seeing a significant
4:43:36increase in our secondary schools as
4:43:37well in our middle school and and high
4:43:39schools. Uh so it's just fantastic. Now
4:43:41there's opportunity there, right? We do
4:43:43believe that we can increase the
4:43:45participation rate because in the end
4:43:47when we think about food services in
4:43:49this situation it's somewhat
4:43:50costneutral. So it's not a cost to the
4:43:53district. So typically in the
4:43:54historically in the past when we were
4:43:56not eligible it's about $5 million for
4:43:58food services and now at one point in
4:44:01time uh Miss Mcah would remember as
4:44:04principles we became debt collectors and
4:44:07so it was the responsibility of the
4:44:08principles when families were running up
4:44:10these bills right and I get it. I it's
4:44:13it can be really difficult and
4:44:14challenging. We don't have to worry
4:44:16about that now and we've again knocked
4:44:19down that barrier. So, we're really
4:44:21excited to move forward and hopefully
4:44:23we'll continue to do this amazing work.
4:44:24>> Dr. Andre, can you talk about some of
4:44:26the innovative ideas that we're doing at
4:44:27the elementary level to increase
4:44:28participation particularly at the
4:44:30breakfast level?
4:44:31>> Yes. Yeah. So, one of the pieces is in
4:44:34that missed opportunity there is to
4:44:35really increase our participation. And
4:44:37so we are piloting a program uh in one
4:44:40of our elementary schools where we're
4:44:42thinking about doing ways in which we do
4:44:45grab and go for our students. Are there
4:44:47opportunities where we can carve out 5
4:44:49to 10 minutes of time in the elementary
4:44:51classroom when students are doing their
4:44:53daily warm-ups where there can be an
4:44:54option where it can take the students
4:44:56can take that responsibility for doing
4:44:58the cleanup, the passing out of the
4:45:00breakfast, uh picking up the trash,
4:45:02putting it in the trash cans at a
4:45:04rollable bowl. So less work for the
4:45:06teacher where they can focus their work
4:45:08uh and then less work on the custodial
4:45:09staff because now the students are
4:45:10taking that responsibility and assisting
4:45:12with that work. So we're hopeful that
4:45:14one of those um that that scenario will
4:45:16will spread across all the elementary
4:45:18schools. So overall, you know, our
4:45:21vision forward is really focused on
4:45:23increasing that participation rate. Um
4:45:25we're really we have the chef of the
4:45:27month which was celebrated in last uh
4:45:30last month's committee meeting where
4:45:31students are taking ownership of their
4:45:32own menu items. uh and Aram has been
4:45:35really a great partner to work with.
4:45:39Alrighty. So now we're going to go to
4:45:41the facilities current state and I I
4:45:44this is really exciting to me again.
4:45:46Thank you for the school committee for
4:45:47allowing us to transition to a new
4:45:49platform. Uh you'll be seeing this
4:45:51Tuesday a new updated report. Uh it and
4:45:55it talks about the operational snapshot.
4:45:57So what this is provide us is a work
4:45:59order system that's customized in a way
4:46:01to provide us that analytics from those
4:46:03day-to-day operations and work orders so
4:46:06that we can really uh be strategic
4:46:08intentional about how we uh share out
4:46:10our resources. So when we look at this
4:46:12really quick we've had 680 work orders
4:46:15to date from day one 562 have been
4:46:18closed 118 remain open. The completion
4:46:20rate is 76% and we're going to continue
4:46:23to move forward to uh to get to 100%.
4:46:26The average request we're probably
4:46:28getting about six and a quarter requests
4:46:29per day, right? So it doesn't seem like
4:46:32a lot, right? But but it depending on
4:46:34the the type of request, it can be
4:46:36pretty significant. 20 days submitted,
4:46:39completed, 20 days assigned, completed.
4:46:41So what's the difference? They're the
4:46:42same. What this tells me is that the
4:46:44person who is assigning these work
4:46:46orders is doing so in real time. So
4:46:48there's nothing lingering because it's a
4:46:50multi scheduleep process. And then as
4:46:52soon as it's assigned to that particular
4:46:54maintenance person, whether it be
4:46:55electrical, plumbing, etc., it takes on
4:46:58average 20 days to finish that work.
4:47:02Uh on average, we're doing 487 average
4:47:05hours of completion. And then the
4:47:08targeted areas overall in the district
4:47:10are general maintenance is 86% 23% has
4:47:14been plumbing. 7.3% for electrical and
4:47:18uh HVAC and then doors and hardware uh
4:47:21which is usually a collaboration with
4:47:23the IT department uh is about 16%.
4:47:27So what are we looking to do is to
4:47:29reduce those response times right rather
4:47:31than at 20 I would like to see 15 days.
4:47:34Uh we really thanks again to the school
4:47:36committee looking forward to doing
4:47:37preventative maintenance rather than
4:47:39being reactive right in real time. Right
4:47:42now we're dealing with an addition and
4:47:44an issue in an aging building. So our
4:47:46team is on on on addressing that. But
4:47:48when you start to be preventive
4:47:50especially with all our new campuses
4:47:52we're going to be hopeful that we can
4:47:53keep it right keep it status quo. And
4:47:57then lastly, resource uh allocation
4:47:59optimization, which is what we're
4:48:00focusing on and thinking about how we
4:48:02utilize our maintenance staff and how we
4:48:04distribute them and send them out to
4:48:06each call. And utilizing this data is
4:48:08going to help us be more strategic in
4:48:10doing so.
4:48:12>> Yes.
4:48:13>> Um
4:48:15inventory.
4:48:17>> Yes. So inventory is an ask that we did
4:48:20a small um I would say a pilot uh per
4:48:24committee members request about looking
4:48:26for the number of seats and chairs when
4:48:28we were moving relocating JMW to the
4:48:31annex uh and and instead of purchasing
4:48:34some so when we did that exercise we
4:48:37don't have a system an electronic
4:48:40digital system to capture that type of
4:48:42equipment. So we've had preliminary
4:48:44conversations behind the scenes working
4:48:46with this new Dr. Waterland CTE that
4:48:48historically in the past the previous
4:48:50CTE director used a program called
4:48:52Sortly. Think about it like a library
4:48:54scanner. When you take the little
4:48:55digital book, you you scan the ISBN
4:48:58number and then it'll actually populate
4:49:00into a spreadsheet. So we're looking at
4:49:02thinking about a a platform that could
4:49:04do that for everything that we have. And
4:49:06there are requirements when we look at
4:49:08our entitlement grants. When you
4:49:10purchase certain items uh or fixtures or
4:49:13equipment that are more than a certain
4:49:14threshold, they need to be labeled and
4:49:16identified. So that's something that
4:49:18we're actively looking at. But at this
4:49:19current time, we do not. Technology has
4:49:22theirs for their Chromebooks. Um but we
4:49:24do not have one for all things else.
4:49:26Right.
4:49:27>> But I think we have a significant
4:49:29investment in band equipment that needs
4:49:31to be
4:49:33>> I actually believe those were tagged.
4:49:38Yes,
4:49:42>> new band instruments that have been on
4:49:44there. Um, but we're looking at ways to
4:49:47expand it to have all of the instruments
4:49:49throughout the school district because
4:49:51even in the elementary there are some
4:49:54instruments that really should be
4:49:55cataloged.
4:49:57>> Absolutely. And I think about forward
4:49:59thinking when we look at the new high
4:50:00school, we're going to spend millions of
4:50:02dollars on FFNE. And so when we get on
4:50:05the onset and we include that when we do
4:50:07the staging and the dissemination of
4:50:08this material, which will take months in
4:50:10a school that size, that would be an
4:50:13opportunity to have a vendor tag and
4:50:15scan and then they'll do it for us in
4:50:17the background. Needless to say, we
4:50:18still have all our other campuses to do
4:50:20as well.
4:50:20>> Have you found a hyonic garden yet?
4:50:23>> Nope.
4:50:25Had we had an inventory system, though,
4:50:27I would have known could have told you
4:50:28right off my phone. All right, capital
4:50:30improvements. This is my favorite to to
4:50:32to talk about. I mean, this is kudos to
4:50:34the committee for supporting this
4:50:36amazing work. You know, all the work
4:50:37that we're doing. We have an amazing
4:50:39major construction project, a new high
4:50:41school, uh, planned to open in fall of
4:50:4429. That's three school years away,
4:50:46right? That's right around the corner.
4:50:48Uh, by the end of next this summer,
4:50:50right? So, this summer, you'll start
4:50:51seeing the steel go up. So hopefully I
4:50:54think in March presuming all the snow
4:50:56melts the foundation footprint will be
4:50:58in in August June you're going to start
4:51:01seeing the first steel structure the
4:51:03erector set you're going to see the
4:51:04cranes by the end of January right of 27
4:51:09you'll see the topping off ceremony
4:51:11where we have that last piece of steel
4:51:13hanging up there students sign it the
4:51:16Christmas tree historic what's amazing
4:51:18to me is that in September of 27 7. It
4:51:23is expected to be weathertight.
4:51:26Think about that, right? So, that's
4:51:28almost a year and a half from now. So,
4:51:29it's super exciting. They're going to It
4:51:31doesn't look like there's much going on
4:51:32right now, but there will be and it's
4:51:34going to be moving fast. So, very
4:51:35excited. Learning inside out grant uh we
4:51:38just finished off. We can't wait for the
4:51:40spring to come out so we can celebrate
4:51:41those successes. 21st century grant that
4:51:44m Mr. Christina's working with uh CTE
4:51:48acoustic learning upgrades which I'm
4:51:49super excited about that we just
4:51:51approved. Uh we got a $115,000 grant
4:51:54from Ride where we're going to be
4:51:55focusing some of that work into Varia
4:51:58Little and Slater. Uh we're going to be
4:52:00focusing on early childhood safety which
4:52:03we'll be really excited about to upgrade
4:52:04our play surfaces uh playgrounds I
4:52:07should say in in certain locations and
4:52:09then curve and modernization in the
4:52:11restroom facilities. So, we're very
4:52:12excited about um uh engaging in that
4:52:15work and that a lot of that work will
4:52:17happen within the next year, not
4:52:19necessarily this summer, but of next
4:52:21summer as well, summer of 27. And then
4:52:23we have we're finishing off our uh the
4:52:25big bonds which were on number six. Uh
4:52:28that's including the Varia roof which
4:52:30was finished uh LA this summer. Uh now
4:52:32we're transitioning to the HVAC
4:52:34replacement which will happen this
4:52:35summer. Varia bathroom partition
4:52:38upgrades, little partition upgrades. uh
4:52:40really beautifying our our students
4:52:42spaces. Uh Jensen Middle School, which
4:52:44I'm really really excited about, uh Miss
4:52:47Benolo, I know this has been one of your
4:52:49requests for probably over a decade, if
4:52:51not decades, uh is replacing our failing
4:52:54acoustic tiles, right? I think that's
4:52:56going to go a long way because when you
4:52:59walk into Jenks Middle School, the first
4:53:00thing you're attracted to is the duct
4:53:02tape on the floor and then the
4:53:04decrippling degrading uh ceiling tiles.
4:53:07So, both of those will be replaced. And
4:53:09then our team inside will be painting
4:53:11the walls. So I it's going to go a long
4:53:13way. Excuse me.
4:53:15>> Are we doing this sailing tiles magnus
4:53:18little?
4:53:19>> Yes.
4:53:20>> Thank you.
4:53:21>> Yes. Yes, we are. And then we have a big
4:53:23project this summer including the Fallon
4:53:25roof. And then lastly, we want to
4:53:27celebrate that the life safety systems
4:53:29both at Tolman Sheay and Goff have been
4:53:33have been completed. And then lastly, we
4:53:36uh and big kudos to the the team in
4:53:39making sure that the Potter burns radon
4:53:41mitigation system was installed as
4:53:42quickly as it was. All righty. So,
4:53:46here's the part where I want to spend
4:53:47the most time on and I'm going to go as
4:53:49quickly as I can, but this is a lot of
4:53:50information and you have those tracks in
4:53:52front of you. So, as we have and and
4:53:54this is perh chairperson Benola's
4:53:56request that we share this with the
4:53:58committee.
4:53:59We've been working with the ad hoc
4:54:01committee. We've had four meetings thus
4:54:02far. I can say in my 29 years of service
4:54:06to public education, this has probably
4:54:08been the most challenging, emotional,
4:54:11um, difficult project to embrace. Uh, I
4:54:15love the work that we do and we still
4:54:17have space to work to do to continue.
4:54:21So, one of the things that we noted is
4:54:23one of the amazing pieces that we've
4:54:24done is with stage one, we have finished
4:54:27a master plan within that master plan
4:54:29which was a an educational engineer. He
4:54:32came out and he made recommendations to
4:54:35the school committee and one of those
4:54:37high recommendations was launching a
4:54:40comprehensive redistricting study which
4:54:42is a lot of the work that the ad hoc
4:54:44committee has started to discuss. One of
4:54:46the biggest points that he noticed is
4:54:48that the utilization of our elementary
4:54:50schools are imbalanced.
4:54:53And so part of when you do redistricting
4:54:55work, redistricting work can result in
4:54:58different different ways. It it depends
4:55:00on the work that you do and the
4:55:02analytics that you see will determine
4:55:03what those next steps are. Sometimes
4:55:05people will say redistricting
4:55:07automatically equates to a school
4:55:08closure or a school consolidation. It
4:55:10doesn't necessarily mean that um but and
4:55:13but really you let the data drive the
4:55:15conversation. So this is factual and
4:55:17this is an imbiased presentation to show
4:55:20you our 10 elementary schools and this
4:55:23graph here will depict the green each
4:55:26one of these. I'm sorry mic
4:55:30here.
4:55:32So I've thought of her and I'm starting
4:55:35with the percentage empty of seats is
4:55:378.78.
4:55:38That's about the Goldilock zone that you
4:55:41want to be in for a school district,
4:55:42right? Ideally, in a perfect world, you
4:55:45have all your classes filled, but that
4:55:47doesn't allow for opportunities for
4:55:49transition or new students entering the
4:55:51building. So that's why it's never at
4:55:530%, right? There's always going to be
4:55:55that zone of to 10 to 12%. So, Potter
4:55:59Burns is one of those campuses that
4:56:01you'll see you'll see you'll see more
4:56:04green than you will red. The red
4:56:08represents the empty seat. Now, every
4:56:10slide that you're going to see after
4:56:11that is going to be in the same format.
4:56:13What you see here is a straight bar
4:56:15going across that represents the 23
4:56:18capacity thresholds, right? Our
4:56:20contractual agreement says 23 students
4:56:23between K1, 2, and three. and then 28
4:56:27for 4 through 12. In this case, we're
4:56:30only focused on lunchery. And a quick
4:56:32caveat here, what you won't see are your
4:56:34specialized classrooms, self-contained,
4:56:35and you won't see early childhood,
4:56:37right? Why? Because early childhood, we
4:56:39have a waiting list of students who want
4:56:41to come in, right? So, that's a good
4:56:43problem to have. Uh, but we have to cap
4:56:45off at 25. In self-contained, we have
4:56:47approximately 20 classes, classrooms
4:56:49that spread across all 10 elementary
4:56:51schools. And there are also
4:56:52approximately 10 to 11 students per
4:56:54class. So what you do see here is your
4:56:57typical classroom. So example, this pot
4:57:01of burns is a typical threetrack school.
4:57:04Meaning there is three classrooms in
4:57:06each grade level. Kindergarten three,
4:57:09first, second, third, fourth, fifth,
4:57:10etc. So when you look at Potter Burns,
4:57:13it's pretty busy. I can tell you right
4:57:15now this kindergarten class at 13 to10
4:57:17ratio I I'm pretty confident it's
4:57:20probably going to be a um an inclusive
4:57:23class an inclusion class right so there
4:57:25is going to be those little nuances
4:57:27there right that I want to point
4:57:29attention to
4:57:31I'm going to go to the next school
4:57:32Memorial right down the street on
4:57:34Newport F right's
4:57:36at 16% okay this is within that zone
4:57:40right we're utilizing this school the
4:57:42way in which we should Right now, there
4:57:44might be some subtle imbalances here,
4:57:47right? But if I were and I'm going to
4:57:48use this this this scenario right here.
4:57:50I'm sorry, the space right here. But if
4:57:52I were to do you have four first grades
4:57:55here, okay? And if I add up 666, right?
4:57:59So that's 18 + 7 is what? 23,
4:58:04right? So technically, you could close
4:58:08out one and open up another class,
4:58:11right? That's just one strategy that we
4:58:13look at from the top down, right? Not to
4:58:16say that's going to happen, but that's
4:58:17how we that's the methodology
4:58:20curve and McCabe. So now, and I'm going
4:58:22to give just throw it out there. You're
4:58:24going to see these percentages increase
4:58:26significantly as we go through these
4:58:28works, this work. So here in Kurban, you
4:58:32have
4:58:3324% utilization of empty seats, right?
4:58:36That means that's 24% of the capacity as
4:58:39it stands today. not functional, right?
4:58:42It's instructional as what the
4:58:43classrooms are today. We have these
4:58:47three fourth grade classes, right? That
4:58:50have 11 students that could potentially
4:58:53squeeze in. So 11 * 3 is 33. That could
4:58:57be one class, right? Just working
4:59:00through this methodology here.
4:59:04Varia 27%.
4:59:07Okay, 27% it's a twotrack school. It's a
4:59:10smaller school. It's a beautiful school.
4:59:13Amazing educators, amazing learning
4:59:15going on. Kindergarten is maxed,
4:59:18right? Let's look at first grade. Okay,
4:59:22I mean this there's seven. There's
4:59:23opportunity students could transfer, but
4:59:26I'll show you an example of an
4:59:27imbalanced classroom. Remember of Pow
4:59:29Burns? Their fifth grade was 28 28 28.
4:59:34And I'm just going to look at an example
4:59:35here. fifth grade, we're 16 and 14,
4:59:40right?
4:59:4120 and 17 and and and fourth grade. So,
4:59:44there's an example of what we refer to
4:59:47when we're thinking about the unbalanced
4:59:49classes across the entire district. I'm
4:59:52going to go to Curtis. You're going to
4:59:54notice these percentage is going to
4:59:55continue to go up. You're going to see
4:59:57us a common theme here. Okay. Now,
5:00:00Kervin makes it complicated similar to
5:00:02Avaria where this is a two-track school.
5:00:05One of the things we try not to do is
5:00:08have a onetrack school. You don't want
5:00:09to have one grade all the way through,
5:00:12right? That's going to be a logistic
5:00:14nightmare for the principal. I can tell
5:00:16you that. Um, what happens if a
5:00:18teacher's absent? You don't have a sub.
5:00:20Where do those students go? Right? It
5:00:21can be really challenging.
5:00:23Agnes Little, it's a predominantly a
5:00:26three-track school. You have your
5:00:28kindergarten here, but you see some, you
5:00:31know, pretty a lot of room. There's a
5:00:33lot of room in those spaces. Again,
5:00:35based on that 23 and that 28. This is
5:00:38real time. We have about 185 classrooms
5:00:41across all 10 elementaryaries.
5:00:44Cunningham 24.28%.
5:00:47It's pretty popular filled. I shouldn't
5:00:50use the word popular, but it's it's a
5:00:51it's a school that we are pretty much
5:00:53maximizing. I can tell you right now
5:00:55that K classroom right there, I'm
5:00:57betting it's an inclusion class. I know
5:00:59it is inclusion, but that that's why you
5:01:00see that, right? And that makes sense.
5:01:03Nathaniel Green, one of our newer
5:01:06schools, right? We just invested a lot
5:01:09of money in green just like we did with
5:01:10Pota Burns. I want to ask you, are there
5:01:13opportunities for optimization here?
5:01:16Right? The data, this is what the data
5:01:18shares with us. This is real time
5:01:19figures.
5:01:22Winters, this is where I want to draw
5:01:24your attention to.
5:01:26Miss Bolo, what does this yellow bar
5:01:29represent?
5:01:31That's right. Say that one more time.
5:01:34>> Empty classroom.
5:01:36>> Yes. So that means that we spent $50
5:01:38million on a beautiful brand new
5:01:40elementary school with gorgeous brand
5:01:43new furniture and desks that are
5:01:45collecting dust.
5:01:47So we think about that and we look at
5:01:49these. There's still even opportunities
5:01:51say in fifth grade just to say that you
5:01:55could and and we could probably you
5:01:57could again this is current data those
5:02:00fifth graders are going to rise to sixth
5:02:02grade next year so we'd be working with
5:02:03the fourth grade but let's just say last
5:02:05year we were looking at this right you
5:02:07could say well maybe they could have
5:02:08just done two two fifth grades right
5:02:12again just walking you through that
5:02:14logic
5:02:16Baldwin
5:02:18$71 million Dallas
5:02:21just opened up in the fall. Look at
5:02:23these orange bars. Brand new school, the
5:02:27newest in the state, if not the region.
5:02:30And you see opportunities. I will point
5:02:33out your K number is right here is your
5:02:35dual language program. K number here,
5:02:38one is a dual language. Next year will
5:02:40be expanding. Those students will move
5:02:42up to this one. This is not dual
5:02:44language. It's only K and one. So next
5:02:46year there'll be three grades. I I
5:02:48right. Yeah. And then again here you see
5:02:52empty classrooms
5:02:54collecting dust.
5:02:57So overall this is a summarization of
5:03:00the the elementary capacity. This is a
5:03:03percentage of the empty seat in each of
5:03:05those respectively. And then here I
5:03:07think this is the most striking map. I
5:03:09think this is helpful just kind of put
5:03:11it in context from the you know looking
5:03:13side out. And what you'll see here is
5:03:16when you look at these percentages of
5:03:18empty schools, you have notice I said
5:03:20Newport A Bon Potter. That's where you
5:03:24want to be. That's 16% would be ideal
5:03:27where we're having difficulties.
5:03:3041% in our newest school, 44% in our
5:03:34newest school, 28% in green, our newest
5:03:39school. And notice geographically where
5:03:41that location is.
5:03:44So when that conversation came up
5:03:46through the ad hoc committee was
5:03:48recommended from the committee of a
5:03:49Cunningham closure that's that that was
5:03:52a lot of the reason the why behind it
5:03:55okay all right so with that being said
5:03:57any questions that was a lot yes sir
5:04:01your opinion what is the reason to
5:04:06winters and balding can be so impacted
5:04:10with emptiness at this moment
5:04:13That is a really good question. There
5:04:16are different strategies in which the
5:04:18district can embrace. And when we first
5:04:21thought about redistricting and Hersh
5:04:23and the team, we did a lot of work
5:04:25crunching the numbers. The reality is if
5:04:29we took those numbers with those empty
5:04:32seats in their current way, when you
5:04:35stop balancing out those classrooms,
5:04:38it's actually going to have a negative
5:04:40in with 10 elementary schools. It'll
5:04:42have a negative impact on services.
5:04:45>> You're take the analogy we used is if
5:04:47you have 10 50% buckets filled with
5:04:50water and I take two of those buckets
5:04:52and empty them to make them all equal,
5:04:54I'm still going to have empty buckets in
5:04:56the end. So there's no
5:04:59real way of moving forward, right, that
5:05:02we can think of while also being
5:05:05fiscally responsive.
5:05:07And that's the hard part. That's the
5:05:08emotional piece to this conversation.
5:05:10Not only that when you talk about school
5:05:12closure there is going to be emotion
5:05:14connected to it. There's families right
5:05:16that's the challenging piece. So the
5:05:19only way in my opinion right and it's
5:05:21just my opinion sir
5:05:22>> and just logical thinking is that you
5:05:25have to consolidate schools of some
5:05:27magnitude what that is is for the
5:05:29committee to decide right I don't know
5:05:32is that the easiest path forward yes do
5:05:34I think we may perhaps need time so we
5:05:36can better communicate this with the
5:05:38community perhaps but I also know that I
5:05:41look on the lens of the fiscal fiscary
5:05:43responsibility if we want to allocate
5:05:46our resources to the most important
5:05:47piece of why we do this work beyond the
5:05:50safety and security of our kiddos.
5:05:51Second is what? Teaching and learning.
5:05:53Then we need to optimize utilization of
5:05:55our resources and push it in towards
5:05:57teaching and learning. And what's the
5:05:59best way to do that? Putting more
5:06:00resources under one roof. The idea is
5:06:03big big builder bigger, right? That's
5:06:06the right way. Big bigger SK schools so
5:06:09you can have more resources under one
5:06:10roof to be able to provide those service
5:06:12to those students.
5:06:15>> Yeah. It it calls me the attention that
5:06:18these brand new schools if because
5:06:21they're new schools uh 20th century
5:06:24schools it should call more parents to
5:06:27come and you know because the attraction
5:06:29is a brand new school. So I was
5:06:31wondering why they is still empty. So
5:06:34there's no reason there's no you just
5:06:37explained that
5:06:38>> my my belief is that we have not
5:06:42undergone a redistricting plan in in
5:06:44Pucket since 2000 and even that was a
5:06:47very small one from my understanding
5:06:50prior to that look at the eight the
5:06:52what's the most recent I'm going to look
5:06:53to you Miss Levasia the the most recent
5:06:56uh elementary school the newest
5:06:58elementary school portfolio
5:07:00Kervin McCabe oh or per right so Kurvin
5:07:03And when was that? '7s.
5:07:06>> Wow.
5:07:07>> 75.
5:07:08>> So think of So we that's 50 years.
5:07:11>> 50 years.
5:07:12>> Right. So as you big builder bigger
5:07:14schools when these ideas were coming up
5:07:17years ago, there was this intense maybe
5:07:21not public facing that you were going to
5:07:24consolidate schools and campuses. Right
5:07:27now we're real we're we're living at
5:07:29real time. Like we're seeing big
5:07:32buildings, brand new schools with empty
5:07:35classrooms.
5:07:36>> True.
5:07:36>> And that's why we are here today.
5:07:38>> Good.
5:07:40>> I have to work on that.
5:07:41>> We do.
5:07:42>> Yeah.
5:07:43>> All right. Thank you all.
5:07:46>> All right.
5:07:56>> Enrollment.
5:07:57>> Enrollment. That's right.
5:07:57>> And you know that's tomorrow.
5:08:03Yes,
5:08:04>> there's other factors.
5:08:07>> That's true.
5:08:08>> I want to be respectful of your times.
5:08:09We promised you two o'clock, so we we
5:08:11we've passed that a little bit. So,
5:08:12we're going to close soon here, but just
5:08:14want to first of all thank my team
5:08:16members for their excellent uh
5:08:18presentation this afternoon. Uh quite
5:08:20frankly, this isn't the comprehensive
5:08:21team, but this is members of the team
5:08:22who were available today. Uh and I want
5:08:24to truly truly from the bottom of my
5:08:26heart thank them for giving up a couple
5:08:27hours of their time on a Saturday. the
5:08:29day before a storm, uh the day when the
5:08:31milk and the eggs are quickly selling
5:08:33out. So, we want to make sure that we
5:08:35get them out of here early. But
5:08:37truthfully, um
5:08:40I really want to close by by grounding
5:08:42us uh and and what the next 90 days uh
5:08:45look like. And so, as I shared at the
5:08:46top of my presentation, last year uh and
5:08:49this past year was really about
5:08:50stabilizing uh the district. Um moving
5:08:53forward, it's really going to be about
5:08:54strengthening it and accelerating it
5:08:56moving forward. Um and and as many of
5:08:59you know, I've stepped into this
5:09:00permanent role. I think this is three
5:09:01weeks now, perhaps three weeks now. Uh
5:09:04uh I'm excited for you all to see some
5:09:07of the discipline and the action that
5:09:08will take place under my leadership. And
5:09:10so some of the things I can assure you
5:09:11that assure uh that you'll see is a
5:09:14continued stabilization of the climate
5:09:15and the culture of this district here uh
5:09:17through listening, through learning,
5:09:19through presence, and through
5:09:20consistency. uh a balanced budget
5:09:22presented by our newly appointed CFO uh
5:09:24and and a greater level of financial
5:09:26oversight and fiscal responsibility. Uh
5:09:29a clear redesign a clear Slater redesign
5:09:31plan which is at the forefront of all of
5:09:32our minds from last year uh which will
5:09:35be submitted in the very near future. Uh
5:09:37targeted CSI and ATSI acceleration
5:09:40support in our secondary schools uh
5:09:41while protecting the integrity of our
5:09:43elementary schools to Mrs. McCauy's
5:09:44point uh and continued reduction in
5:09:47chronic absenteeism which is one of our
5:09:49goals uh here in Pucket and so you won't
5:09:51see dramatic swings but you will see a
5:09:54steady uh improvement uh and steady
5:09:57execution.
5:10:02And so what you heard today again
5:10:03reflects on alignment, right? So not
5:10:06siloed work. You, you know, you heard
5:10:08from a number of different departments
5:10:10today, but you can see the coherence
5:10:11throughout, right? You can see the
5:10:13common themes despite the departments
5:10:14being different um throughout our
5:10:16messaging today. And so you won't hear
5:10:18uh uh you won't see disconnected
5:10:20initiatives, but you'll see see aligned
5:10:22leadership. Uh and as this work moves
5:10:24forward, you can continue to expect to
5:10:26see that clear communication. you can
5:10:28expect to see that uh transparent
5:10:30reporting to us school committee members
5:10:32to our community uh the academic urgency
5:10:35we have around our our CSI schools
5:10:37around our ATSI schools and and our
5:10:38elementary schools uh financial
5:10:40responsibility making some really tough
5:10:42decisions uh for the best interest of
5:10:44this district to balance that budget uh
5:10:46and to get us to a good place uh
5:10:48financially uh to Mrs. to Dr. Rell's uh
5:10:51point, you'll see respectful and
5:10:52increased partnerships happening with
5:10:54here in with uh here and between our
5:10:56folks in Pucket and outside of Pucket.
5:10:58Uh you'll see accelerating academic
5:11:00performance and I am confident of that.
5:11:02I'm confident of the work of our new
5:11:03transformation director, our chief
5:11:04academic officer, our director of
5:11:07curriculum that that the work that we're
5:11:09doing as a leadership team will greatly
5:11:10impact what's happening in our schools.
5:11:12And so I'm excited to say that Pucket
5:11:14has direction. Uh Pucket has aligned
5:11:16leadership and Tucket is moving from
5:11:18stabilization to results. And so with
5:11:20that being said, we are all in all year
5:11:22all Pucket. Thank you all so much for
5:11:24your time. I appreciate you. Have a
5:11:25wonderful day.
5:11:27>> Thank you,
5:11:32>> Chair. Back to you, Chair Benol. Back to
5:11:34you.
5:11:36>> Oh, so
5:11:38there's no vote because we don't have So
5:11:42we all get to go home. We are returned.
5:11:48Now you can.

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