Somerset K-8 School Committee - June 9, 2026

At this time, I will call to order a meeting of the Somerset School Committee at 5:31 p.m. Do notice having been posted pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium. Attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or transmissions may

be made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible.

roll call of members present this evening mr. Ventura present mr. Machado present mr. Medeiros and the chair is present also joining us this evening we have our superintendent of schools dr. Jesse Spoonover we have our chief financial officer mr. Kel Pellerin we have our director of curriculum miss Elizabeth Haskell and we also have our student representative miss Avery Seydorf and we have our I was going to call

her our executive assistant, our recording secretary, Ms. Robin Vaccaro. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Our flag is right here. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the next regularly scheduled meeting of the somerset school

committee is tuesday august 11th 2026 at 5 30 p.m and i believe that is in the somerset berkeley media center is that accurate okay very good thank you first on the agenda this evening we have under student teaching and learning a north elementary student presentation the floor is yours So we're handing it over to Russell Rogadou, Asher Lopes, and Brady Carvalho, who are going to teach you guys and

have you interact with our curriculum number corner. So get ready to do some math. Okay. Go ahead, gentlemen. Good evening, school committee. Thank you for inviting us to be here tonight. We are second grade students and we are excited to share a little bit about Book Quarter. Book Quarter is a skill building program that revolves over our classroom calendar. It is part of our

math learning every day and gives us 15 to 20 minutes of engaging math practice number corner helps us practice important skills while also exploring bigger math ideas the lessons are organized throughout the year and we build our understanding a little bit each step we take four injury workouts to introduce reinforce and extend math concepts. New pieces are added to our

display each day, giving us opportunities to discuss, solve problems, and explain our thinking. Some of our activities we use include the calendar grid, calendar collector, fluency, and daily rectangle. These activities help us learn about patterns, counting, place value, measurement data, and equations.

We also use number lines and solve math challenges that help us build number sense practice, strategies, and communicate our ideas. These activities help us become stronger math proficients. They help us practice counting, adding, subtracting, measuring, looking for patterns, and solving problems in different ways. Today we'd like to show you

some examples of number corner activity we do in our classroom by leading you through the 7th, 8th, and 9th days of the month. As we present, you'll see how we use math tools and work together to solve problems. We will also be calling on you to participate throughout the lesson, so make sure to be prepared. We hope you enjoy learning about the requirement and see

some of the math we can do every day. Thank you for being here. We are excited to get started. Now we'd like to show you one of our favorite number corner routines called "Tum-to-Grid". The Tum-to-Grid helps us explore patterns, make predictions, and practice important math skills. Okay, so before we throw you in the deep end, because you are not doing number corner every

day, I will tell you, so here is our calendar for June, and every month explores different themes and concepts within math. So some noticings you might have as you try to answer the questions is we are exploring number racks. Coins are sent and story problems in the month of June. And it leverages patterns to help kids learn prediction skills. And one of the main focuses of this month is

building fact fluency within 20. So addition and subtraction facts within 20. And then Mrs.

Vitulo is going to be our vana. And she is going to record. And I can flip some of the things too, so you don't have to walk back and forth. This is for Tula, but we're going to turn it over to the gentleman and they are the teachers and you are going to be their students. Okay? Let's look at day seven. Before we review today's marker, take a moment to look at the pattern on

the calendar. Turn and talk with the partner. What type of marker do you predict we'll see today? The rack system? Well, they're gonna call on you. Oh, oh, sorry. Now I'm nervous. Miss Ashley, what is your prediction? Yes! I know this one. So I think that the background on the card will be white and that we will see an image similar to what we see on Monday, June 1st and Thursday, June 4th. Let's review

the marker. We do see a number rack. Mr.

Ventura, tell us more about the number rack. What do you notice leads to the left? That we have five in each row, three and then two, red and then five white. Do you have a follow-up question about the beads to the left?

Now everyone write one or more equations on your whiteboard that match the number. So we're looking at the beats to the left right here on the number back. Miss Perlin, what equation did you write?

3 plus 2. Does anybody have a different equation?

Just ask her. 6 is greater than 4. Does anyone have a different equation? I had 6 plus 4. So on a number rack, we're looking at the ones to the left to make an addition equation. 3+3=6. Yes, equals 6. It's tricky guys. What do we do? The number 4 is 3+3=6 on our calendar. Now think about the number 20. If we have 6, how many more do we need to make 20? Write your answer

on your whiteboard.

Doctor, screen over. How many more do we need? What strategy do you think it is?

We need 14 more, so I subtracted 6 from the party. Let's record that on the calendar. Let's move to day 8. Look at the pattern and predict what type of marker we'll see today. Turn and talk with a partner. It's what a thumbs up when you're done. Student discourse is a big part of this program. Mr. Machado, what is your prediction? I'm going to say coins, money. And since you said coins,

how much sense if you think there is sense?

I'm going to say... Look at the pattern it says. So one, five, four. I'm going to say four cents. Okay. Let's reveal the marker. Today we have five cents or coins. Ms. Haskell, tell us more about what you noticed about the coins. I noticed that there are... I asked one, aren't what they used to be guys. It looks from here that there are four, are there four on the left and one on

the right? Thank you. Now write one or more equations on your whiteboard that represent the coins. Yeah. People are having-- Thanks, guys. We need some accommodations. OK. They're good. You ready? OK.

Ms. Ashley, what equation did you write? 4 plus 1 equals 5. OK. When we record 4 plus 1 equals 5 on a calendar year, did anyone else have a different equation? 2 plus 2 plus 1 equals 5. That's a good one.

Can you spare? Oh, yeah.

Now, write on your whiteboard how much more do we need to get to 1?

13. Mr. Medeiros, how much more do we need?

What strategy did you use? I did 20 minus 5 equals 15. Let's record that on our calendar today. In first operations.

We'll take after computer. Finally, let's look at day 9. First, we can prediction about today's market based on the pattern. Turn and talk with a partner about what you think the market will be. Maybe we can get permission to go look.

This color. Yeah.

This color. What is your addiction?

Word problem. Now let's read today's story. Ms. Haskell, can you read? Thanks, guys. I'd love to. The teacher ate three of her apples. She had one apple left.

How many apples did she start with?

Turn it off for a few, partner.

What type of problem is this? Is it an addition problem or a subtraction problem? How do you know? Dr. Schoonover, what type of problem do you think it is? Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry, we were talking. A subtraction problem.

Now write the conclusion on your whiteboard that represents the story problem.

Be sure to include an unknown.

An unknown means a box.

Mr. McCoy, would you share your opinion? I had an addition problem.

The three apples the teacher ate plus the one that was left over equals four, which I have in a box. Can we solve it by thinking what number minus three equals one? The teacher started with four apples. Does he put them down in a box?

And we're not doing daily rectangles.

We had to make some cuts.

Great job mathematicians. These are just one example of the number of phonetic things we do every day.

Then we're going to help to build math skills, explain our thinking, and solve problems in different ways. Thank you for participating with us and learning about the book. Thank you very much. Does anybody have any questions or comments for our special guests? I think you guys did an excellent job. Great presentation. Excellent. Anybody else? Can I ask

a quick question? Of course. So you're in second grade now. How has number one changed, like from kindergarten to first grade to second grade? Is it the same structure every day? Does it, how is it changing? At first we used to just, like in kindergarten we first just focused on like plus one and like we did how many sticks are in a jar and that kind of stuff. Do you see any of the things

that are the same, like the pattern has grown through the year? Yeah. We still do number learnings. We've been practicing different numbers, higher numbers each year. We've been learning new stuff every day. very good thank you so much you should be very proud of yourselves for doing such a wonderful job public speaking in front of all of

these adults and the camera this is very intimidating for adults to do never mind second graders you're very brave so give yourself a pat on the back and you may want to consider a career in education because you were all excellent teachers and I mean I have to assume you've had no training so this is just a natural gift that you have but I do have one question for you how do

you think number corner is going to help you when you're a grown-up how is talking about math and doing math every day at the number corner going to help you when you're a grown-up If you were working as someone that builds, you have to measure how long a building should be or like that kind of stuff. That's a great example. Anything else? No. Money. Oh, yeah. If you're working at a bank, you have to know how

much money to take out of a deposit or if you're working as cash. When it got to the coin and I said four because I basically threw a number out there, I now see a pattern. What I noticed was the number minus the amount of times it shows. Is that correct? Because if I had seen that earlier, but I was just curious, is there a pattern or before

you flip it over in class, How does the students or how does the mathematicians figure out what how many coins may be or what the the rack would be? Is there a... The kids are really, really good at noticing patterns. They see patterns that I've never even thought of. So, why don't you explain, Russell, what the coins are, what the coin pattern is. Explain what the... because

there's sometimes different patterns going on. So, what's the pattern, Russell, that the coin is?

It goes on, like, the first ad number to the second and the third, like, one, three, five. Alright, and I saw it differently. I actually saw one two minus the amount of times it's shown on the pattern. So that's I was just curious that you know it's just interesting how you see it differently. And what does the number rack show on the left? First there's two B's and then there's one. Yeah

so those are double specs. So strategies that kids can use to help with their fact fluency. And another pattern this month was odd and even numbers. So we didn't get to that with daily rectangle shots. Thank you. Thank you so much. You did a great job. All right. Let's turn in our materials. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, perfect.

Thank you so much. Take Russell. Have erasers. I think they're going to run the meeting. What grade level is it? I might be able to stop.

I don't want to punch.

Alright, up next on our agenda we have our student representative report from Avery. Avery, take it away. Our select music groups earned gold awards at the Great East Festival in May. Our May Day of Awesomeness event went well, all the students having a lot of fun.

on this Friday event to kick off Memorial Day weekend. It could also enjoy their semi-formal dance at Whites of Westport the following Friday.

Grade 7 had a fun field trip to Roger Williams Zoo yesterday.

Grade 8 is exploring DC this week and having a blast.

Last night, grade 5 families visited SMS to tour the building and learn about the vast extracurricular opportunities available at Somerset Middle School. The grade 8 promotion ceremony is on July 24th at 8:45 a.m. This event will occur in the gymnasium this year. Okay, very good. Thank you so much. Are you in eighth grade this year? Are you in eighth grade this year? You're going into eighth grade.

Okay, so we still have one more year. Hopefully we get to see you and continue receiving your reports. Does anybody have any questions for Avery? More of a comment.

Enjoy your summer. Thank you. You did a great job. Thank you so much for being here. We know that you're very busy and involved at school, and you still made the time to come here, and we greatly appreciate knowing what's happening at Somerset Middle School through you. So thank you so much. All right. That being said, let's move on to the next agenda item. Don't go away yet, because you're still on

the agenda. We have a citation to read from.

♪♪ ♪♪ effective on matters affecting the school community she consistently ensured that student voices were represented in the committee's discussions and decision-making processes in addition to her role as a student advocate he regularly updated the committee on activities accomplishments and events taking place at the somerset middle school helping helping to strengthen

the connection between the committee and the students we serve Her reports highlighted the many successes of the school community and provided meaningful opportunities for the committee to stay informed and engaged. Avery has exemplified the qualities of leadership, responsibility, integrity, and perseverance. Her positive attitude, commitment to service, and dedication to the betterment of

her school have made a lasting impact on the Somerset Public Schools community. Her contributions have been greatly valued and she has served as an exemplary representative of her peers. Be it hereby resolved that the members of the Somerset School Committee hereby commend Avery Sadoff and direct that this expression of appreciation and gratitude be

entered into the official minutes in recognition of her exemplary service as student representative to the school committee. The committee extends its sincere thanks and best wishes to Avery for continued success, happiness, and achievement in all of her future educational and professional endeavors. and it was signed by the school committee thank you and i think mr austin will want a picture

of you and you both will have the same color shirt great i know it's perfect Can mom chime in? Can I get a picture with everybody? Absolutely! You guys have to do math now, you gotta get a picture. That's right!

Thank you.

All right, moving on to our next agenda item.

The Middle School May Raters of the Month. This month we recognize Chloe Aguiar, Abigail Dean, Grace Godet, Brooklyn Henry, Emily Medeiros, William Miranda, Hope Pawlowski, Chloe Rodericks, Kendall Rudenauer, and Savannah Ryan. Congratulations to those students. Next we have public input for topics on the agenda. Do we have any input at this time? All right, hearing none, we

will move on to new business. More to celebrate, we have some citations for three retirees this evening.

Marge Cardozo, Lisa O'Brien, and Lynn Silvio. Is Lynn able to? There she is. Unfortunately, Marge And Lisa are unavailable to attend this evening. We do invite them to our August meeting to be recognized in person But I do want to read their citations and of course we do have mrs. Sylvia here this evening So why don't we go in the order that's on the agenda first we have? March Cardozo then Lisa O'Brien and then

we will end with the presentation from Sylvia Thank you, mr. Machado The summer summer says a school committee we adopted a certificate which will take in our official records along with our student rep It is a it is with sincere appreciation that we recognize much Catoza for her 16 years of dedicated service to the students staff and

families of Somerset middle school Throughout her career, Marge has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to education and the well-being and success of those she served.

Her professionalism, compassion, and dedication have had a lasting impact on the school community. As an educator and a colleague, she has consistently fostered positive relationships, supported student growth, and contributed to the welcoming and supportive learning environment. In addition to her work in Somerset Middle School, Marge has devoted

several years of service as the president of the Somerset Teachers Association. one that we've worked with many times. In this leadership role, she's advocated tirelessly on behalf of the educators, worked collaboratively to address important issues facing the district, and helped strengthen the partnership between the staff and the administration. Her

commitment to supporting her colleagues and advancing the interests of public education exemplifies her strong sense of service and leadership. Marge's contribution have left an enduring mark of Somerset Middle School and the district as a whole. Her dedication, integrity, and steadfast advocating have earned the respect and admiration of students, families, and colleagues

alike. Marge, Hopefully we'll read this to her next month. Marge, on behalf of the Somerset School Committee, we extend a heartfelt thanks to her, to you, for your years of distinguished service and leadership. May your retirement be filled with happiness, good health, and countless rewarding experiences, especially with her support with the

dog services that I'm sure she'll continue. This citation is presented by the Somerset School Committee on this day, June 9, 2026, in grateful recognition of her dedicated service. Thank you very much. And I do realize that I forgot to entertain a motion for Avery.

We'll go back to that. We'll do the citations first. Okay, moving on to Lisa O'Brien. It is with sincere appreciation that we recognize Lisa O'Brien for her dedication and service to North Elementary School. Over the course of more than two decades, Lisa has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the students, family, staff, and community she serves. Throughout her tenure, Lisa

has continually exemplified professionalism, reliability, and strong work ethics. Her extensive knowledge, study, leadership, and willingness to support colleagues have made her a valued and respected member of the district. Whether assistant staff addressing the needs of students and families, her contributing to daily operations of the school Lisa has approached every responsibility

with care dedication and integrity her years of service have left a lasting impact on the district her contributes have played an important role in her supporting mission of the Somerset Public Schools we are grateful for her commitment and her countless ways she had helped strengthen our school community Lisa on behalf of Somerset Public Schools committee we

extend our great heartfelt thanks to you your years of service and dedication distinguished service may years ahead bring you continued health happiness and opportunity to enjoy the retirement has to offer presented by the somerset school committee on this day june 9th in grateful recognition to your dedication of service And I have the pleasure of reading

the citation for Lynn Sylvia. We're gonna embarrass you a little bit.

Come on down, please. And stand with me in the middle.

I'm happy my team is here tonight. Thanks for joining us everyone. I, my daughter, had, who is a teacher, so this is very special to me to be able to read this to you. I actually wanted her to come tonight and read it to you. Honestly, she would have, but she's at dance class as she always is.

So she's here in spirit, I can tell you that much. In recognition and deep appreciation of Lynn Sylvia, who has dedicated 22 years of distinguished service to the students, staff, and community of North Elementary School, her unwavering commitment to excellence in education, compassionate guidance, and enduring patience has left a lasting impact on generations

of learners. Throughout her tenure, Lynn has been a beacon of inspiration, instilling a love of learning, fostering a nurturing classroom environment, and serving as a role model of professionalism and integrity. Her contributions extend beyond the classroom, having shaped school culture through mentorship, collaboration, and an unyielding passion for student success. Lynn,

as you embark on this well-earned retirement, we honor your legacy with gratitude and admiration. May this next chapter bring you joy, relaxation, and the same fulfillment you so generously gave to others. Congratulations. And just on a personal note, I just want to say, As somebody who also worked with you at North Elementary School, I always looked up to you as a mentor. Your Readers

Workshop was always phenomenal and I always wanted to be more like you. I really did. I'm not just saying that. And then, you know, I see the impact that you've had on my daughter. That little reading buddy, she gives stuffed animals to all of her students. That little reading buddy, my daughter brings that everywhere. We went on

a walk around the neighborhood yesterday, that little reading buddy came with us. Yes, that thing comes on every truck we go on. So you've had a lasting impact on her and I see her playing school at home and guess who she sounds like?

So thank you. Would you like to say anything? It's just been wonderful being in Somerset for the last 22 years. Most of my time has been spent here. I had talked to the students, children, some of them. And I'm going to take a lot of memories with me, especially with my colleagues and all the students over the years. And I just hope that whoever walks in that room loves

teaching reading the way I did because the one thing I'm super proud of is my kids always left loving reading more than they came in. And that makes a difference. And I'm working on the number corner too, so. I learned to embrace it, but it was a challenge. I thank you for that, so. Thank you so much. - The paparazzi. - Any additional comments or well wishes for our retirees they will

be sorely missed but we wish them all the best in their retirement so thank you so much and at this point i would entertain a motion to adopt the citations prepared for miss cardozo miss o'brien and miss sylvia so move second we have a motion by mr ventura second by mr medeiros all in favor say aye aye so voted I'm going to go back to the citation for Avery because I always, I get so excited and

then we move on and it's just, because I love this part of the meeting when we get to recognize everyone. So let's go back to the citation and I would entertain a motion to adopt the citation prepared for Avery Sador. So moved. Second.

We have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Okay, thank you very much. Congratulations everyone.

Okay, moving on to new business item number two, we have a Champions Surround Care program update by Caitlin Grant. So my eyes aren't great either, so I brought you guys. So then you can hold it. And we thank you. Thank you. So, as they mentioned, my name is Caitlin Grant. I was here back in December And you guys had me follow up a cute kid presentation then too. I

don't know, I think I took these agendas closer after the first talk. This is not going to be as exciting. However, so I am the area manager for Champions.

I've been a part of the organization since 2012, where I was a director of a program in Norton myself. And just stayed with the organization all this time and kind of grew up myself through it. I am local and live in Rehoboth and I oversee 15 different locations throughout Massachusetts all the way from the Cape to the North Shore and some places in between. We have been here since January 5th of

this year. I have two of my directors here with us tonight, Miss Aubrey from South and Miss Kira from Chase. And they are here to just kind of share their experience with you as well. If you have any questions for our team, we'd be thrilled to hear that. There we go, we're ready. So just a little bit about what we're going to talk about tonight. Just again, an introduction to our team,

just where we are enrollment-wise, the impact we're making, just discovering what it is that we're doing, and then just sharing some of the highlights from the school year. So there we are. I don't know if any of you have had the opportunity to meet Regional Director Danny Noonan yet. He also, local, is a Lakeville guy, so we have a very local team for you guys. And then, of course, myself, and then

as I mentioned, our three directors are Kiera, Aubrey, and Alex.

And then just to give you guys a glimpse into how our enrollment has been, this is total students enrolled in the program. So we have about 35 from South, 29 from North, and around just about 40, actually. And that breaks down into our average weekly enrollment. And I'll just kind of give you an understanding of what we at Champions call our average weekly enrollment. So if we have student that comes two

days a week in the afternoon another that comes three that would equal one weekly enrollment. So I broke the first ones down as of a daily for you, but so in the south we have about 19 kiddos that come in the morning and around 13 in the afternoon. At North we have 8 in the morning and around 15 in the afternoon and Chase we have 24 in the morning and around 22

in the afternoon. Those numbers have continued to grow throughout the year, and I know it doesn't look like it, but especially at North. We started the school year with just three kids in the morning and have continued to add families throughout the year.

And again, we were around eight kids in the afternoon, and most of those enrollments have joined us in the last two months or so. So we're really excited about that. We've already began enrolling for next school year. We open enrollment for next school year in March. These are where the average weekly enrollments come in. So we have about 19 kids enrolled, weekly enrollments at South, 19 at North, and 18 at Chase.

So very evenly spread out and distributed and ready for fall. Next, just making an impact, just so you guys are aware, we have about 10 students that attend our program on some kind of subsidy through the state. That could be through EEC vouchers, it could be through something to do with the military, depending on what the family needs. There's some that are through DCF. We accept all of those

and make sure those students are supported in our program. We also, between discounts and scholarships, have about 30 students that attend our programs on some kind of either a scholarship or a discount. I make it a point when we do our meetings with principals to find out if they have any students that they're aware of that need some kind of support or how we can help be it a hundred percent scholarship

or anything in between. We already have a few of those set up for the next school year. And then overall we have about a hundred of your community kiddos enrolled in our program. And then just adding in some of what we have been up to. That top left photo is whenever I'm in program you will see me reading to children. So most likely Where the Sidewalk Ends is my book of choice.

I always read that to them. Just some more of what we're doing. You can see our interest areas are set up. So that top right photo is our creative art station and the kids are actively painting. Bottom left, we actually just completed a few weeks ago in April our Care Around Planet curriculum unit and those are the kids learning how and what it looks like when water is polluted and how to

get it clean. So it was a messy afternoon but it was a lot of fun. and then of course i mean having a snack outside in the sun um next page just some more of some of what we've been up to just kids engaging with each other uh i do believe maybe miss aubry can confirm is that slime i'm seeing great great one Oh, Bird Break Camp, very good. And then, I

know that this was for the school, that maze on the floor south, but the kids at Champions were truly enjoying that maze from the tape that was out for a few weeks. They were really enjoying it. Just a little bit more. Again, this was, I believe, Break Camp in February was the top picture. Again, I am reading with them. I actually think that one was Wacky Wednesday for Dr. Seuss Week. Moving

on again, you see our friends at Chase with the taking the pollution out of the water and we are really trying to make sure that they are actively engaged in some STEM activities. And then of course we have building friendships. Look at all those friends on the swing. It's the best part of the afternoon when they can get outside. Just a few more fun highlights. You can see that I do spend

as much time in the program as possible. This right here was our Ways to Wellness unit and you can actually see we are taking our pulses. We are trying to figure out how we took our pulse, we listened to our bodies where it was, and then I put them through some real exercise. They do like 30 jumping jacks and then run in place and high kicks and then we did our pulse

again so they could understand how that works. Just some more highlights of things going on. Again, I think it's Miss Aubrey's program doing some limbo. Just again, the painting that we have going on and just some more outside shots. And then just a recap of what's been going on. So we had a combined family night at South at the end of May where the kids and parents were able to join

us for a movie night where we watched a live action Stitch. They voted on it with lots of popcorn and pizza. We had a good turnout. I would say probably about 40 or so kids and families. We just completed our Elements of Art theme. We're on our It's a Wrap unit curriculum, and one of my favorite parts of this week of curriculum is it wraps up the entirety of the school year,

which we also have to make up one extra week because, you know, that whole thing that happened in the winter. But we are wrapping up with It's a Wrap curriculum, and my favorite thing that we do in this unit is our first week of program, the kids were able to write something about themselves or whatever they wanted and add it to a time capsule that we're actually going to open at the

end of the year. And we are actually also going to do a little something.

We're going to have our kiddos that have joined us since add to a new time capsule and then we're going to be able to open those on the first day of school when we come back. Maybe some ideas about what they're upset for, some things for the summer, all of those things. Again, the school year 26-27 is open for enrollment. And then one last thing that we are definitely on the search

for a space for whole summer programming next year. I think because of our late start in January, there wasn't opportunities within the school. Everybody was great in trying to find one for us. And then we're The previous provider had used churches. Because we were so late joining in January, I could get churches for like three out of the five days a week and it just really didn't make sense. Some of our

students are actually joining our camps in Norton and Rockville. A few have joined our Seekonk camp, but it is definitely something that we are looking for now. So if somebody has any suggestions for summer program locations for the fall next summer, it is definitely needed in your community. And that is Champions in a Nutshell since January. We've been busy. We have been busy. We're having a lot

of fun, Jim. Yeah. Looks like the activities are great. Looks like students are engaged. And, you know, I think as long as families are happy, you know, we're happy, right? So, great job. Keep up the great work. Comments, questions from the committee? anything you need from obviously some of a some of a place for a summer program but anything else that

we can do as a school district to improve the pro the program next year and beyond i'm sure you have many conversations with our administration but anything that you need from the school committee as a whole? I just think as much as we can get the word out that Champions is here, I think when you have a mid-year startup, it's always hard. We were very lucky that the previous provider, we were

able to filter those students right in, but I do think when you start mid-year, it's hard to get that information out. And I'll talk to all the Building an Append teams, but anything that we can be a part of during the summer, any community events my team is happy to go to. I know that right now they've been hitting the Little League games and providing some snacks and visiting our teams and

sharing them on during their weekends. Good girls, aren't they? During the weekend. So anything that we can do to get champions out there so that families are aware. I think another really important part for your community, because it's definitely used here, is making sure that families understand that we do accept subsidy. It is pretty highly used in

this community and it's just so needed. So making sure that the families are understanding that it's a support out there for them and that we do take those subsidized vouchers. That being said, just so that there is clarification, it would be an existing subsidized voucher that a family currently already has that they might be using at a different space right now, be it a preschool or a daycare. The waiting list for

subsidy in Massachusetts is very, very lengthy right now. So families do need that information.

They just want to dial 211 and they'll be able to get information on how to join those lists. Very good. And the only other thing, I invited you guys all in December to come visit us. Did they come and visit you guys? There's still time. I know, we've all been busy, but please come back. So we're there every day until 6:00. We would love to show you what we're doing in the

program. Thank you so much. Family feedback. Have you gotten any? So interestingly enough, we do what's called our Gallup surveys every October. So families and what we call our clients, our business, our sorry, district partners are able to do a survey in October. But I'm just in the programs and I ask how are things doing, how are things going? I've had very happy families. I haven't had any feedback that has

been not great. Everybody has given you know, very happy, kids are very engaged, there seems to be more going on than there was before. From the, I don't want to put words in their mouth, but from the building admin teams, I've heard that there's just less behavior issues than they've had in the past, so that's been nice to hear. I think my rule of thumb as a board child, we'll find something

to do, and it's not what you want them to do, so we keep them very, very busy. We have a very clear-cut schedule for all program every day. And I am really careful with the team that we belong. And I'll be honest that I have had to move some people along and find the right people, but I have the right people now. And that's really exciting. Well, thank you so much. We appreciate you coming

here tonight and providing the update. We will try to get to see you. Thanks, everyone. Thank you. okay moving on to item number three discuss and act on the 2026 2027 elementary student and parent guardian handbook approval I will turn it over to the elementary administration I believe so good evening everybody this is probably my 12th presentation I think is how long we've been here,

Dr. Sula was together, so, 12 times, so I think after this year, I'm turning it over to the other two. - Passing the baton. - You guys didn't know that, but you're on next. I wanna thank you for your lovely presentation, since I like them and I will be on the phone drafting those kids tomorrow to come to Chase Street, join Chase Street, and that's yet the third grade, so, sorry. All

right, so I do have a few things before we go through this handbook.

Some things to say. Okay, it is very good. Okay, don't get a little...

Everyone's nervous. So first thing is the... usually I get worked up but I've been with you Liz for 11 years now 11 years and you're very good very you're going to be missed okay you came on you changed a lot of things around so I appreciate it and how do we do this usually so that's for me to you so thank you very much she always does

at the end of the meetings and what's the other thing about you say make good choices all right you say make good choices I think I'm going to have that engraved. So you'll be deeply missed. My question is, why do you have to be reminded? The other thing is I got to give kudos to the Today we had a bus accident. Okay, nothing major side swipe the whole thing. We contacted the deputy

for the police and fire and the deputy for the fire and police, they were there within minutes outstanding. So I've got to give all those people, the first responders, kudos for that. We went back to the school. They had it under control. It was great. So that, I thank Mr. Green because he was putting out the messages as fast as he can to make sure that they

weren't at the bus stop, what's up, we told them what happened. Paula was on the phone. I'm sorry, Ms. Pellerin, but she didn't work until 5 o'clock today. You always tell me to make sure. And then Paula was manning the phones, Mrs. Freitas came and helped out, so I have to give them all the credit. So that was a great team effort today. Also, I don't know if you are aware, we

had a kid about a week ago choking on a strawberry. And we have Helen, she's grandma of our lunch and recess so she does kindergarten and all that stuff and she actually whacked the kid on the back and she eventually spit out that's wrong so I have to give her a kudos keep that all right now we'll get to the handbook okay so like I said been doing it for a while

so let's get going into it so starting off the What we did is for the general document, because there's a few changes that we have a lot of things.

So the first thing was updating the cover and so forth, the year, anything that had 25, 26 through it, we changed it all. I'm not going to go through each page for that. We changed from One Call Now to Parent Square. We changed Alpha Vesta Champion. So through the whole document, that was changed. We updated Dr. Schoonover, his title, that's well respected, so it's from Mr. to Doctor. And then also we

were told by our legal counsel that we needed to make sure that our AMs were not capital, they were little, make sure we have double spacing. So we did all that for our legal counsel. So going on to the front cover, I thought it was a great idea and I think actually, I'm going to say South, Mr.

Talbot, they switched it over from student, parent, they made a recommendation to student and family, which I think is pretty good. So thank you, Mr. Talbot, for putting that in there. So that was pretty much the front cover to do that because we know it's just not parent. Students are brought up by guardians, caregivers, all that stuff.

So a family one I think is really nice. All right, so we're moving on to, let's go right to page four. And so we changed a couple things. We changed from the chief financial officer to another title. So we put that in there.

And then the people that are leaving, we put TBA because we don't know who will replace them. They both have big feet to fill, big shoes to fill, so it'll be tough. So we had to put that in, so I'm sorry. Also, we put in towards the bottom of there, order of operations. I don't think a lot of people understand that teachers come in and they work at a certain time, they

leave. A lot of them have young families and so forth. So sometimes it's hard for people to, at home, answer messages later on. over the weekend. Do I foolishly?

I open the email all night long, I answer everybody all night long. But sometimes, I mean, I get it. I had two little kids, it's hard to do that stuff. So that was put in there for hours on Monday to Friday, 8:15 to 3:45. Our messages sent by email, phone, or Parent Square are not monitored outside of the school hours and on weekends or vacations. And then soon as we get back

with our regular times, they'll get back to you. So I just wanted the parents to understand that sometimes, as you say, you get family, it's hard to do that.

Trust me, a lot of people will do it, but sometimes it's just very difficult.

Also, our health office. Our health office is open whether it's a nurse or a substitute nurse, Monday to Friday, 8:35 to 3:25. I mean, they don't have to come until that time. If something happens, we don't have a nurse. If something happens later, so and then sometimes it's also when they come to the before school care. It's the same thing if someone gets hurt and we don't have someone. Our nurses don't

stop this time. So we want to make sure that the public knew all that.

Moving on to page five, all we did was update the pre-K hours. We decided, all I know is back when I was teaching at Nerman, and I don't know, like 20-some years ago, that said vice principal. We wanted to be more professional, so we made it assistant principal. And also administrative assistants. That's the professional way. It's

not secretary. It's administrative assistants, and they work very hard. So we put those in there as their titles, and we moved a couple names around here. We had Ms.

Berget Fogg. She was always the administrative assistant there. I don't understand why it's in here, but okay. So we have that and then it looks like we have a new person, Diane Coughlin. I don't know that, so it's good to know. See, I'm learning something today. So we made those changes. Moving on to page seven, we redid our school committee members. So again, welcome, Mr. Medeiros. - Thank you. you'll

have a lot of fun with us. Look and fall into climbing ropes with you and zip lining in a few weeks. And again, we have to fill those spots.

We changed some names around for 504, corner to the south, Angelina Fenton. And I know Liz, it's hot, I won't say it anymore. Alright, moving on to page 8.

We updated attendance quote, so we kind of just, what was crossed out there, we kind of just changed it up a little. And then also we added a website there to go along with that quote. Down towards the B section, this was done by our legal attorney, our legal counsel, he put that word in there for us. Alright, moving on, it says, let's see, moving on to page 13 to 62. What we did is we

moved all of that. Reason why we did that is one of the council members, and she was at Chase, she's like, this is the plan. I'm, you know, a parent. Nothing against policy, but I really don't want to see the policies right in the front of the handbook I need to see what's important to me. What is the lunch process? What is attendance? What is tart all that stuff? So we took

that section and kind of pushed pushed it back more and stuff up forward So that's where we kind of got that. All right. So now we are moving on to page 63 63 is a field trip protocol regarding chaperones. The only reason why that is changed is because it was bold. We just made it back to normal lettering. And that was again from our legal counsel. And I think some of our

school counsels as well said, "Why do we have like all different fonts throughout the whole book? Didn't make any sense at all." So we changed all that. Let's see.

Then we moved down to page 64 and this was through Ms. Ashton where she requested that it became school safety and visitors protocol instead of visitors to the school. We turn to page 71 and on page 71 we took out the The free and reduced lunch, a long time ago, we had to fill out these forms, hand them out, collect them, see how much their income, whether it's free, reduced, and

so forth. We haven't done that in years and years. We've been having free lunch and breakfast. I think it's the best thing ever. Kids love getting French toast sticks and muffins and walking down, and little kids, you know, it's the greatest thing just to see a big smile on their face do that. And then they get to eat breakfast. which is a big thing. So we just kind of figured we're just

going to get rid of that. And if eventually we have to come back, we have to put it back in. So I asked Mr. Green if he could keep it on the back burner in his head. He saves everything, so we're good, right, Mr. Green? Absolutely. Just agree with me. Good job. 73-75, we moved the -- it's the updated the policy for acceptable user policy. Again, the parent was like, "Why

do we have this in the middle and we should move it towards the back?" Yeah? So we just kind of moved those kind of things up. Also, we moved page 75, that's where we started to put more of -- That's eventually where we were going to put the other stuff behind it and move that forward, if that makes sense. Page 82, again our legal counsel went over

about student conduct and suspensions. So if you see all that lettering, that is from him. We moved on to 88 and 87. Again, the same thing, through long-term suspension. Again, our legal counsel made changes to that.

Moving on to 95 and 96. I'm sorry, 89.

Yeah, 89 and 91 was X'd out and it was just rewritten. Now we're back to 90. I'm sorry, I'm half blind here. 94 and 95, again, the restraint policy. Again, legal counsel just came in and corrected that with us. So that's in there.

'95 through '96, legal counsel again worded some more things in there for us. Moving on to page 117, and I know some of this book, if it's updated correctly, it should be these pages, this is from another. They switched around the music. Again, this was worded through legal counsel about instruments and so forth. He just kind of ran with it and just straightened it out a little bit better.

Page, we went to idling, which is page 126. Again, we had to put this in place. This is with the, what program is it, Dr. Schoonover, where Meg is, we're following their request to put stuff in the handbook. I'm trying to think of it off the top of my head. I'm 58, I stopped forgetting things when I was 18. - The integrated review? - Yes, so they asked

us to put in for bus idling, so we had to have that in our handbook. Then we moved on to 127, where we were asked if an expectation of the bus company would be can the bus drivers speak to the parents at the bus stops? 'Cause a lot of times we have a lot of things that could be handled right away, instead of sent to us immediately, because parents are there to

pick the kid up. We can just say, hey, Johnny didn't have a good day.

Can you talk to him or whatever? So we've been working with Brian Fisher on that. We do know that some, as the drivers know, some parents might not be as-- work well with them. So we told Ryan, if it's something like that, please, you know, avoid it and we'll take care of it. If there are certain things that we can just head off, that would be greatly appreciated. Because we just get

the write-ups at the end. We don't know what happened and so forth. So we asked them and I get, and again, I spoke to Ms. LaFishia, we're working together on that. Then we move on and then that's the last page of it. and it would be page 143 to 147, and it looks like our handbook on Somerset Public Schools Early Learning Center, which is our integrated preschool program. So that

is now placed in our handbook as well. So if you have any questions on that, I can try to do my best for that. And also we looked at the last page. Usually we have the parents sign off. The problem is in the Aspen system that we use, they check it off already in there that they read it. So we do have one or two people that don't have access or

can't print out or whatever. And we let them know that if you need a hard copy, we can give you a hard copy. So we recommended probably to take that out. I don't know how you feel about that thrown on the air sometimes. Another page doesn't matter, but I don't know. So those are all our changes that we had from the committees. Any questions? Questions, comments? I know it

was a lot of work that went into this, looking at the whole document.

Behavior, page 75. I know as an educator, incidents happen, teacher writes up what happens. It says teacher would come, will contact the student's parents, guardians.

Number three, the indoor recess, office lunch. Is the office administrator going to call the parent? Because the kid gets home, right? What happened today? Kid tells a story.

I had lunch. I had indoor recess. Is that coming from the parent? Is that coming from the teacher to the parent? Or is that coming from the office to the parent? Usually the first time it would come, like if we had an issue with the kid, usually the teacher would usually say, hey, I sent him to Mr.

Green, Mr. Plant, and they gave him an inside school lunch. detention where they sit and they talk with us we have a reflection paper and so usually if it's after the first time then yeah usually one of us will make a call the first time it's okay teacher talk to let's work together and do this yeah and I know from parents with this could actually get sent out through parents with inside

through parents with so if you don't want can't do it through Aspen parents where does have the ability to have this done digitally as well so it's just something to keep in mind I think Aspen, I mean not Aspen, Parent Square is a very good tool. Very, very good. Like when we had that accident today, Mr. Green was on there, within five minutes, We had 27

kids on the bus. There was probably 25 families there already. There. That's how quick he put it out and boom, people were like right there. It was amazing how that was. And it's easy to get back and forth. You can attach things. Oh, it's a great, great, great program. I highly, don't ever get rid of it. Keep it. It's really good. I'm learning how to really use it, so keep it. Any

other questions, guys? Any other questions or comments? Thank you for the tremendous amount of work that was done to go into this. We greatly appreciate it. There are no further questions. I would entertain a motion. Oh. Yeah, yeah. Is that one extra thing?

Yeah. So it's the same comment that I'll have here as for the middle school.

In the folder, you'll see a document that I just added this afternoon. Andy Waugh just got us the language on the NIT takes. So we were trying to figure out how to put this new language that we're required to communicate to families, how to put that, whether it would be language within each policy on bullying, cyberbullying, harassment. But we thought it was best, and Andy agreed

with us, just to create our own section. because we didn't receive that until yesterday after these other changes are there I put as a separate document we're just going to take that that material and insert it into what mr.

plant just presented so really the handbook approval will be what mr. point just had plus this extra document and it's really it's now a criminal act for anyone to have an AI deep think showing creating photos, nude photos, or other fake material. And we have to just communicate that to our parents.

So the language there, Andy took our AI policy that you recently approved. He kept most of that language. modified a little bit added the sections that we have to include and as I said that will just be inserted somewhere with a reference to the full AI policy is anything changing about the wording on the back to school gateway and Aspen related to this explicitly and I

just asked because we know not everybody is sitting down reading the you know hundred something pages in the handbook and it's one of those things where you don't know about it sometimes until something happens and we don't want people to become aware that this is unfortunately happening with student spaces, minor spaces, until it's too late. So I just want to make

sure that families are aware of that this is a real unfortunate thing that's happening in the world. And so when they approve to have their child's photo on the website, on the district social media, technically they're accepting that this could happen. I just want to make sure families are aware of that. That checkbox that they check to agree to the media use they're accepting that this could happen. So, you know,

I just want to make sure that the information, because I know how it is, I do the gateway and I'm like check, check, check, check, putting the date, putting the date, I just move right through. I would just really try to reiterate if you can to families that if you're allowing us to use your child's photo on social media, the website, technically somebody could take this photo of your child and we

don't have control over what they do with it. So, That would be my only recommendation. It may not be possible in the Aspen workflow, but it might be possible just through a parent square communication, like please pay extra special attention to what you approve. And then parents can make their own decision. I already have on my back to school newsletter, a list that I maintain. I already have it referenced

that. I was not thinking about an Aspen checklist, so I will check with Andrea Smith to see if that's something we can add. Sometimes they want to charge you if you make changes to the wording on the workflows, but you know, I think if parents don't understand the impact of what they've agreed to, you know, I think everybody, if we can try to really get them the information up front. And I

know that the district has practices in place where you don't just post Your whole class of students on the website, right? It's it's not things like that Typically you try to take photos of the backs of students heads participating in an activity or if you're taking photos of students You're sending it just to the the families in your classroom or in your school, you know through parents square but you know, I

think that may be a refresher for the staff as well in terms of we really shouldn't be posting any student photos to personal social media. And again, that's all written in these documents that nobody actually reads because unfortunately there's just too much to consume and not enough time to consume it. Refreshers, now that AI is being used for horrible things, I think it's a

good reminder. - And it's one of those, I think this policy is going to apply more to our older students, certainly high school, middle school, less so at the elementary level. But someday, somewhere, it will. But unfortunately, all of the the access to kids' photos through their own social media accounts. That's where a lot of people are getting the material from, not necessarily from the schools, but we do

have to be cognizant of that as well. But it's just the older kids get, the more and more stuff they're putting out. Which goes back to the... Which then makes everyone have access to it. And that goes back to the digital literacy curriculum, you know? Right. Which I know we are fortunate to have technology teachers in elementary school, so, you know, just trying to teach kids at a young age that they're,

they shouldn't be posting and sharing photos of themselves, because once you post it, you lose control of it, so. I know I go through that with my own kids and monitoring devices and you know I get teased as being the strict parent because I police the phone but that phone's gonna get you into trouble. So you know if you don't learn now with small things it's gonna be something bigger someday

when you're older and it's not gonna be as easy to recover from. It's not easy. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Plank. All right, so at this point I would entertain a motion to approve the 2627 Elementary Student Parent Guardian Handbook as presented. So moved. Second. With an addition of the AI, right? because it wasn't presented that way so so if we could just reward it to say with the addition of the AI

sheet a motion to approve the 2627 elementary student and parent guardian handbook as presented with the addition of the AI deep fake policy so moved second we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all in favor say aye aye any opposed okay thank you very much Moving on to the middle school. Dr. McKinnon, thank you. Was

everyone able to see the track changes? And they're color coded. I even gave a key so you knew who was doing what edits. And there's also the summary page.

So I'm just going to review the summary page with the 12 items summarized according to what was updated and what pages those occurred on. So the school year is always updated, so that was on page one. The table of contents, school committee members, staff lists, they're always updated accordingly on an annual basis and those updates occurred on pages 2, 3 and then 52 to 56 where the Somerset Middle

School staff are listed with their email addresses. We did remove the identification cards and lanyards section on page six that since I've been at the middle school that hasn't been in practice. So I'm not sure it was just probably an oversight the past few years that we were just read right past it. But we did remove that since it's no longer a current practice. Edits were made to the school attendance

section to align with current practices on pages seven to nine. We also made edits to the sections students who were picked up by parents, traffic patterns, and events after school, those sections to align with current practices, and we also inserted the DESE requirement regarding idling on pages 11 through 13 for that whole section. Updates were made to

grade reporting and academic dishonesty sections solely for clarification purposes. That was input from the parents on school council on page 16. We added the new AI district policy on pages 16 through 20. So what Dr. Spoonover mentioned about the AI deep fake, I can insert that within that section on AI. Edits were made to the

extracurricular eligibility, activities, and homework policy sections for both clarification purposes and also to align with current practices on pages 22 to 24. Edits were made to the student behavioral expectations section on pages 25 to 30, again, for both clarification and to align with current practices. Edits were also made to the Code of Conduct table to align with current practices and the

Code of Conduct is pages 31 to 35. And then Attorney Waugh made edits to the reasonable suspicion investigation policies regarding search and seizures, student discipline, and due process rights sections on pages 35 and 43. And then finally there was an edit to the detention section to align with current practices on pages 48 to 49. We no longer require students to return a signed detention slip. They just show

up. Are there any questions on edits made or any recommendations?

I don't hear any. Thank you so much. Thank you. There's no further discussion. I would entertain a motion to approve the 2627 Middle School Student and Parent Guardian Handbook as presented with the addition of the deepfake information as part of the AI policy. So moved. Second.

Move a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, very good. Moving on to item number five discuss and act on the 2627 Somerset middle school school improvement plan. Dr. McKinnon, you're up So I first would like to review what the plan was this year so our 2526 goals included implementation of the

MTSS system to support student academic and social emotional growth. That was the first goal.

The second goal was to develop and implement a guidance curriculum and the third goal was to strengthen family partnerships. So with those three goals, with goal one we focused on analyzing data and recommending students for interventions on a quarterly basis. For goal two, we utilize the character strong SEL curriculum program in our advisory classes.

And for goal three, we focus on maintaining consistent communication involving families in school council, parent nights, as well as PTO. We also focused our professional development this year on assessing depth of knowledge, DOK level student tasks and student collaboration within lessons. The teachers here participated in classroom walkthroughs to observe DOK levels within lessons as well as student collaborative

opportunities. And at the very end of this year, we began to look at an introductory overview of universal design for learning UDL strategies. So for next year, I'm proposing we continue to use our MTSS system and our work with the DOK levels, student collaboration and classroom walkthroughs, but expanding upon our knowledge of the UDL strategies to remove barriers

to support all students in Tier 1 instruction. So that encompasses goal one, increasing rigor, but also utilizing best teaching practices across the board. So this is going to involve continued professional development on UDL strategies, the DOK levels, and collaborative lesson structures occurring concurrently with teacher collaboration to update lessons to

increase those DOK tasks within student assignments, increase student collaboration opportunities within lessons, and also ensuring that lesson tasks and student documents are aligned with UDL best practices. We are also continuing our utilization of the character strong SEL curriculum during advisory, but now for goal two we're looking to expand our

career and college readiness preparation through the intentional implementation of the MICAP, which stands for My Career and Academic Plan Pathway, and MIFA resources. So this involves forming a MICAP team, revising the current grade six master class and digital literacy curricula to pilot MICAP lessons that are available through the MIFA site,

and also generating a complete grade six MICAP scope and sequence that includes the MICAP lessons resulting in student artifacts in master class digital literacy and the wellness curricula. to support goals one and two dr bralsford along with miss haskell and i have collaborated to create pb pathways with a pb provider next year for grades 6 to 12 teachers to select from and participate

in so these three pathways include ai integration of teaching and learning where teachers will learn how ai can support student learning differentiation feedback and lesson design The second pathway option is reaching reluctant learners where teachers can learn about instructional strategies including differentiation, scaffolding productive struggle, building learning

identity, and designing rigorous project-based learning experiences to motivate students. And the third pathway is the MIFA or MICAP focused pathway where staff will review the MIFA tools, the resources, the career and college planning frameworks to use with their students along with exploring lesson ideas that teachers can pilot in their classrooms. So that's

for the first two goals. I do believe it's important to continue a goal on strengthening family partnerships. The school council members and I consistently brainstorm ideas of how can we get parents more involved. We need parents to be informed, but we also need to partner with them and have them feel comfortable in the schools. So I did

propose that we maintain that goal. utilizing the monthly newsletters, daily announcements, ASKmen updates, the school council and PTO meetings, parent nights, and just regular communication from teachers and staff to families of struggling students, but also sending positive communication home because we like to hear the positive stuff and we need to hear the negative stuff sometimes that we

need to discuss and work on with our children, but we always love to hear the positive messages as well. That's my proposal. Are there any questions? Questions?

Do you have your work cut out for you, as you always do? But I think it's great to set the high bar and shoot for the moon. You'll land among the stars kind of thing.

So I'm sure that you will lead these plans into fruition. And I don't have any additional comments or questions. All right, hearing nothing else, I would entertain a motion to accept the 2026-2027 Somerset Middle School Improvement Plan as presented by Dr. McKinney. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye. Any opposed? Congratulations. Thank you. Okay. Moving on to the next agenda item, discuss and act on job description for assistant superintendent of business and finance, chief financial officer position. Dr. Schoonover. Thank you. I know we're doing 6 before we're doing 10b. So we all know that Ms. Pellerin is off to bigger things. She has submitted her resignation. She's

accepted a job elsewhere. I've placed the the job posting on School Spring last week and if there were any changes that are necessary I can always make those. But essentially I put the same job description that I had out there two plus years ago when we hired Ms. Peller for the job, starting out as assistant superintendent of business and

finance slash chief financial officer and depending on what the qualifications are of the individual fit of someone who has a superintendent assistant superintendent licensure with the appropriate business background and there's one path for us the person is qualified as a business financial officer and not necessarily for this with a superintendent assistant superintendent then the

CFO title would be the the one for the person. So it really is the same title, same job description that you approved two years ago with just some updates in the language, you know, students and things like that. But the basis, the guts of the job description are the same. Well, first I just want to say that while we're very happy for you, you know, we're

going to definitely suffer a tremendous loss in your absence. You've done tremendous job in the short time that you've been here and we're very grateful for everything you've done for this school district and as well as the region so thank you very much obviously this is an important necessary role that we must have in the district and you know your departure date is coming up quickly makes me sweat a little bit but

It's also very challenging to find a business manager or whatever you want to call the job title that meets our high expectations. And you've done a great job in that role and we thank you. And it truly will be hard to fill your shoes. I do think that this conversation is part of a greater conversation in terms of when you have a vacancy, this is the time to re-examine your staffing model.

So I did reach out to Jen Andrews, who is still currently the chair of the region, as they have not reorganized.

And we have set up a meeting to meet as the central office reorganization subcommittee. Is that what it's called? Mr. Ventura and I are on that subcommittee together. Now because I was originally on that subcommittee on the regional side and I'm no longer at the region, I am on the subcommittee for this committee along with Mr. Ventura, but that leaves a

vacancy in my seat for the regional subcommittee. So what Ms. Andrews and I talked about was temporarily until they reorganize if the chair and the vice chair from that committee serve on the subcommittee and participate in the meeting. You know, because in theory we could wait until they reorganize, but I think time is of the essence here, given the timeline that we have and, you know, the difficulty in finding

a qualified person that meets our expectations. I just want to make sure that Well, we have not only this vacancy but another upcoming vacancy that we'll talk about when we get to it in the agenda. I just want to make sure that we move forward in a way where Dr. Sklunover and the other central office staff have what they need to move forward. So personally, I'm comfortable leaving

the posting up for now. The position is needed by law. And I don't necessarily care what we call the job title because I think that the work that this person does is generally the same. It's more so how that position and the other vacancy may be either tiered differently or, you know, I don't know what's going to happen, but my thought was if we enact that subcommittee that exists for this purpose to at least

have a conversation with Dr. Schoonover, we can come back to you with a recommendation and our conversation can go from there. We do have the advantage that we can get your feedback tonight and hear what you have to say about all of this before we go into that subcommittee meeting, whereas the region will not meet until after the subcommittee meeting has already happened. So for me, I'm not going

to personally support making some sort of unilateral change. I think we need to meet as a subcommittee, talk about central office, structure See what recommendation comes out of that and then we can go from there But if you think differently, you know, feel free to voice your opinion and we can explore that path my only concern is You can you can receive our feedback now regarding central

office and When you're meeting as a subcommittee I feel things will be discussed and then when you come back to the full district to the full committee it may not be agreed upon i would urge and it also concerns me that two members from the region are going to meet in a subcommittee without their members knowing because A, I think it's

extremely important that A, if you're appointing an assistant superintendent, I think that might be an action that the school committee has to vote on and there hasn't been a vote on it yet. I understand that there's a posting out there, but we haven't approved it yet, but that's why we have the CFO piece. That's why I didn't make much. I wasn't really concerned about that, but I would recommend that before

any subcommittees are meeting, one, we don't have that subcommittee, I don't think we would have to vote on that subcommittee, but I think before any... We do have that subcommittee. Do we? Yes. The central office... The organization, yeah. We do? Okay. I apologize. But I would recommend that we meet first as a joint meeting, get everyone's opinions, giving you the

actual mandate of what we're thinking before you actually discuss discussing things before five members even have an opportunity to even voice their concern. Right now, the only people that have a voice in this recommendation for an organization would be five, six members out of the ten. I think open discussion originally with all the members first. probably the best bet.

We do this when we're negotiating with bargaining units. We don't send a subcommittee out there to go meet with the negotiation commits without we first talk among our committee to say, "Hey, what are the things that you're thinking of?" So I would urge that you have a joint meeting first. And when I say urge, I mean like tomorrow type of thing because this is extremely important and we have two individuals

that are leaving sooner than later and I hate to say this this is two roles that fall under the jurisdiction of the school committee and I'm going to be very honest with you that's not something that I take likely to just allow a subcommittee to handle right away I think we need input. I think we have different perceptions on what the subcommittee would be doing because

my perception of the subcommittee is to allow Dr. Schoonover to share what he's seeking.

And it's really, it's more so for him in more of a low key without the camera kind of thing. And then bring it back to all of us. So then we can weigh in. Because to me, like he needs to tell us What he's thinking about and what he thinks he might need to move forward I I don't think that the recommendations should be dictated by us. I know what we

need legally, but I I Want to hear from dr. Schoonover I equally want to hear from him, but I would like to hear from the same time that everybody else hears I think that is a major responsibility of a school committee member and what you're asking is six out of the four six out of the ten members to give up that right where we are we are responsible

that is one of our main priorities as a school committee member you know superintendent assistant superintendents truant officers business and finance director or CFO special ed director I feel even when we're looking for a special ed director, we always meet first, okay? This is the posting, we agree on the posting and we, I feel that a joint meeting is necessary because eliminating 60% out

of the members in a discussion where you're going to hear from the superintendent first, I would actually, I don't mind the superintendent, you know, sending you an update or sending everyone an update via email or something like that, but I think also the public deserves to hear this. This is a school, this is a central office that's

going to represent the whole school district for multiple years. I think this, I don't think they have a say, but I think it's something that I think with the camera is something I welcome because I am curious. I'm also welcoming what the staff thinks. You know, we have teachers, we have other stakeholders in this. This is something

big. Obviously, Mr. Schoonover has never brought anything to us that I felt like, well, this is way off left field, you know, but he's also putting all that burden on him to represent, to bring it to four individuals. And then those four individuals discuss this and make a recommendation without any input of the six other members. it's something that I can't stomach and I'm just saying that not that I don't

trust in the vice we wouldn't have appointed you in these positions but you're asking us to not be active at least for the first conversation where the superintendent is bringing it forward to us I think it's extremely important and I and I'll go into separate things like we have you know, you and I had a conversation about an option potentially of having two individuals.

That intrigued me. It's still intriguing me. But I want to know what else people are thinking about this role. I just, I don't feel comfortable in asking members not to at least get the first opening discussion and then go ahead and run into executives, I mean, in subcommittee. And by the way, I hate to say this, subcommittees should still have the cameras on. It's still an open meeting. you know so

it's not that i can't attend it i anyone in the public can still attend those subcommittees because it's a subcommittee uh it's not negotiations so i i feel like it's extremely important that um that you have that first meeting with the chair with the joint committee and then work into uh um subcommittees and i can tell you i i plan on attending those Any

other thoughts? Okay. Well we can agree to disagree This is your opportunity to provide your feedback the committee that doesn't have the opportunity Is the region I cannot speak to what has been communicated to the region about this I don't perceive the subcommittee as taking anything away from anybody because subcommittees don't actually make any decisions I view

it as more of an opportunity for Dr. Schoonover to express what he might need, a brainstorming session, so that way when we come back to both committees, we can tell you what the proposal is and the rationale. And we can certainly talk about all the other items that we discussed and explored. I've had positive experiences with subcommittees, specifically on the region being

on the budget subcommittee, where it's not that we're having the subcommittee meeting to keep other people out of it. It's like we're going to kind of go through all the weeds just as a small group. because then by the time we present it to the full group, we've gone through all of that and you may still have questions about the weeds that we went through but we were able to

answer them for you because we went through it and there's nothing to hide and of course the minutes are public even if the meeting is not recorded so I have every confidence that the subcommittee can come back and again no decisions officially get made by a subcommittee anyway so you know we can agree to disagree well I'm just going to ask Just something that you just said is that

you're going to hear from the superintendent and then you're going to Take that advice and come to us and the key word that you just said was tell Tell the committee what you came up with what is the issue with all 10 members first listening to the first proposal that the superintendent has. I'm just curious, what is the concern of the chairs

that you wouldn't want Mr. Medeiros, Mrs. Caldwell or Mr. Machado not to hear directly from the superintendent at that first meeting? That's not my perception. That's not my opinion. My perception and opinion and my purpose is to enact the subcommittee that created for this purpose so I think at this point we can agree to disagree and just move on all right and all I ask

is the record the recording secretary to please provide me all the dates of the subcommittee so I can attend okay there's only one that'll be easy it's next Tuesday before the regional committee meeting so I assume we'll be meeting at the high school All right, moving, unless there was something else, Dr. Simenover. No. Okay. Update on annual town meeting. So I know that we participated

at annual town meeting. We were fortunate that the public body approved our FY27 budget. and additionally our additional requests for the new security camera upgrades were also approved as well as the pickup truck with the plow and the sandbar also approved so thank you to the residents of Somerset and the public body who supported our initiatives we greatly appreciate it anything else from

town meeting okay moving on an update from the Somerset middle school building committee mr. Machado well three of us were there so uh just to inform the public as well we did take an action that we are asking the school district to also get some quotes for the exterior fencing the committee did vote not to fence the front of the school, but we are going to

do the external. And the real purpose is hopefully to keep people from riding their ATVs or dirt bikes into our lawn and other items like that. and you know basic security i did i i do want to mention that a few members did uh would have liked the whole fence the whole area fenced but uh it did fail um on the final vote we did do a few other um special uh pcos one was

for a repair of a solar panel um It seems like either snow or someone might have fell on it. I don't know. I have a hard time believing what exactly happened, but whatever did happen, it needs to be repaired. So we did approve that. And the other PCO, I can't remember, and I don't have my notes with me. Do either one of you remember?

Yeah, but it's in public record. It wasn't contentious. No, no, it wasn't. It wasn't. That's why we don't remember. The PCO, the big PCO, the one that some people have mentioned about the additional work, PCO 195, Revision 3. the fields wasn't it oh the drainage thank you yes yes yes and obviously we learned you weren't there i like how everybody got

it sorry that's why i was loving it um and uh basically um obviously we've learned from our high school we want really good drainage so uh that was something that uh obviously um during design they didn't pick up so we did add that thank you mr maduris The other thing is, this was a comment towards the end of the meeting, Ms. Haskell is leaving us. We want to thank you. We did

say it yesterday, I mean at the meeting, but you weren't there unfortunately. We want to thank you for not only attending the meetings, but all of the back. everything else from curriculum building, furniture choosing, everything. You were a major piece and I'm glad that your name is on the board because you were an extremely active role. So we do thank you but unfortunately because you're not

a Somerset resident. the island? Your toach is being poked out. We're poking out your toach. It's time for you to leave now. Isn't that what they say in Survivor? But thank you for all the work you did. It was extremely important that we had you. And also, Ms. Pellerin, the same thing with you. We unfortunately did not know during that meeting. You did a lot of the paperwork, you and your

team. I know you were, you know, handling with some of the procurement issues and all of that. Again, we want to thank you for that as well. So I think that was everything. Okay, very good. Thank you. Moving on to item number nine discuss and act on the annual appointment of superintendent to South Coast Educational Collaborative Board of Directors This is pretty much, you know standard annual Business

at this point any questions comments concerns? Hearing none, I would entertain a motion that Dr. Jeffrey Schoonover, Superintendent of Schools, is appointed to serve as the Somerset Public Schools representation on the Board of Directors of South Coast Educational Collaborative in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40, Section 4E, as amended by

Chapter 40 of the Acts of the 2012 for the 26-27 school year.

so moved we have a motion in a second any discussion hearing none all in favor say aye aye opposed thank you very much and now we have item number 10 our superintendent's update dr. Schoonover thank you start with staff resignations we've already mentioned two significant ones here so i'll sort of work backwards we have a as you can see some professionals a van driver we also

had a resignation from our middle school assistant principal ms benoit and i i get the appointments we already have an appointment for that position regarding ms peleron and ms haskell I can't thank them enough for everything that they've done. And even though they are public-facing individuals and they are here every single month, or sometimes more than every single month at certain times of the year,

the work that they do behind the scenes each and every day, it's just remarkable. Their dedication to our schools, our students, our teachers, our staff, Everything that they do is ultimately to make the learning experiences for our students better. And the support that they provide to everyone and to our schools to make that happen. So to Raquel, you know, for the past

two years we've been blessed so far with having, I've been blessed with, during 12 years to work with three amazing business managers for the various titles that they've had and the experience that Raquel has brought to this role from her municipal roles and her school roles from two states and several districts over her career. She's been able to really create some

nice procedures and protocols for us. So constantly building on the work that has been done prior to her coming in and putting us in a better position as she's leaving. And certainly we wish her all the best in her new job. And the other resignation is from Ms. Haskell, who has been, as I've said this during our budgeting season, my right hand for 11 years. She was just around 11 years ago where I interviewed her

for the final time. She started July 1st, 2015. And she's not only been right door, right next door to me, but she's been really my, I said it, my thought partner. for these 11 years. And I know Ms. Eskild, she told me, and I hope you don't mind, but she was hoping she would retire from the school district in this position. But we know that the past

two years, the budgeting that we've gone through, and we see the direct result of it with Liz departing us because she needs to do what's best for her. but we've also we've seen it in other individuals we lost some talented people last year just because of the uncertainty of our budget so we know things continue to get tighter so we don't know what the future is going to hold but I really can't

think Liz enough and The work that she's done is going to have a lasting impact on our teachers and our students. So thank you for everything. With that, and I know not to get back on the reorganization topic, but a future topic will be how do we replace this, and I'm just going to say right now as I shared, I believe with you in a memo, I don't plan

on filling her role for this year. It's budgeted, it's there, but due to the uncertainty of what that position is, I can't in good faith go out and fill that role this year with the possibility that I'm going to have to let that person go less than a year from now. So anyway, I know that will be part of our discussion when we have it, but that's where I am right now

so that our teachers know and the public knows. In terms of appointments, we've had, due to some of those paraprofessional resignations, we have a few there, but One, I'm very, just to shift gears a little bit, very happy to announce that Andy Redfern is our, going to be our new assistant principal at Somerset Middle School. Mr. Redfern has been just an integral member of this middle school community for

many years. As a social studies teacher, as a coordinator, anyone who knows Andy knows that he has a big heart, he's so talented, he just has all the right attributes to be an effective assistant principal. So we're very pleased to inform you officially that he's going to be filling the role that Ms.

Benoit is making. And I think in terms of super-tense update, that's where we are right now. Avery, at the beginning of the meeting, spoke about the eighth grade trip. We have 101 students currently in DC. I understand they're having a great time, made it down, obviously, safely, and just completing day two of their trip down there. So we wish them all the best, and safe travels back for Friday.

Okay, thank you very much. Questions or comments? I just wanted to reiterate what Dr. Schoonover said. You know, you leaving this district is definitely a loss for us and we understand you need to do what's right for you and your family. I have been reflecting on so many things that are in existence in this district because of you and just know your legacy will live on. EdCamp,

Innovation Pathways, the list goes on. And on a personal level, I just want to thank you so much for your mentorship all these years. You've helped me reach my professional goals and then some. I mean, here I am, right? I couldn't have done it without you, and I know that there are other educators in the district and other staff members who have been supported by you as well. Every single time I

texted you with the email emoji, You read my email and then you called me. And you were always there to listen and support.

And the district that you're going to, they will be now benefiting from all of that support you've provided and all of the innovation that you're constantly bringing into the district. Our loss is their gain for sure. So thank you very much.

Okay, moving on to public records requests for May 2026. There were two separate requests from Sunlight Access. four separate requests from data branch and I read that and I thought it was meant to be data breach because that's where my mind goes. Can you tell what I do for a job? But it is in fact branch. However, we recently had not a FOIA request but we recently had a request

for meeting minutes and so we have exhibit A. We had a request for minutes from, what was it, 1957 and something else. I mean, take a whiff of this book. This is some history right here.

These are the minutes from school committee. way back from 1954 to 1965. And when Robin has to pull these minutes, she has to essentially disassemble this book, scan it, redact it for anything that's, you know, private information. And then she has to send it off to the person who requested it. So take a look. We just want everybody to know what is entailed when somebody asks for

information. from the 1950s. It's a lot of work, it's many hours, and we recognize and see what you're doing and we appreciate all your hard work, so thank you. And they did use a typewriter. It is not handwritten. This would cause me to go into an asthma attack if I had to work with this document, so. All right. Moving on to financial business, item number one.

Can we go back to... Oh, yes, I'm sorry. I did have an opportunity to speak with Mr. Kuchar from AMASC. Unfortunately, we did miss the resolution deadline. But with that being said, he's extremely intrigued on what we're discussing about... He doesn't believe any... House members or school committee members They all feel the same pains that we are He is asking and this is something that I don't know

if we need to have the chair or myself he would like a quick letter from our committee and stating what our goals are. I didn't feel comfortable stating what the goals were because I haven't met with you about all these, because it might be something that he May attempt to fast track so we can vote on because he was it's something that he hears a lot But no one has seemed to

take an action on it. So so one of the things that I can honestly say when I was speaking to mr Kutcher was that I would like to see more time and it really is necessary for someone who needs to do what we just experienced. And I would love for George, if you could even take a picture of this at one point, just so people can have an understanding as I'm taking

it apart. Please don't. But, so what I would love to see in the first resolution is basically something that we can control only in the state level. We can't control the federal level because that's a bigger, but I would love if you all agree Again, I think public information, open meeting laws are all extremely important. I think it's a great

tool that the government can, people from the government, non-government people can ask to hold us all accountable, especially if there's something. But I do feel like 10 days is not enough. I would like to see it expanded to at least 30 to 45 days. That was really where I'm looking to change the wording because And I'll ask Ms. Vaccaro if you have an extra 30 days or an extra 20 days

to accomplish these things Especially when sometimes we actually lose Saturday Monday and all of that. I think it's extremely important and so I would say let's try 45 days and move from there, but I can't write a letter on behalf of the school committee unless I have direction from the school committee and also that is my my understanding what I would like to see but we're all different minds so I don't

know what everyone else has if anyone has thought about this I would like to ask miss Vaccaro for her opinion too because these are the people that actually have to live with it not I so I like the idea about extended time. I think that makes sense. In fact, when we had the request for minutes that came in toward the end of last week, it was the day before I got an

autoresponder and knew that Robin was out of the office and trying to take a day off. Meanwhile, the timer is going regardless of whether or not, you know, Robin had a day already scheduled off, right? Heaven forbid she actually was able to take a vacation, right? Like, and get away for more than one day. Something else that has come across my desk in the work that I do is digitizing old documents.

You can hire vendors to come in, digitize all those old documents, and they organize it for you, and they, you know, make sure everything is searchable. Of course, there's a cost associated with that, so there would need to be funding. I would not expect that the districts would have to pay for that themselves. Ideally, there would be some sort of state funding to pay for that, and we could do a little

bit every year or something, right? However it works, I don't know. But that's something that, to me, I think it's probably, I know it's still time-consuming, but it's probably a little bit faster if everything is digital. Agreed. And is there a time limit of how far back somebody can request?

It can just be 1950. As soon as the school became into existence, right? So, and we have to keep all of these documents in some closet somewhere, right? So, yeah. Agreed. Well one thing I just noticed, we only had three school committee members in 1954. Oh, interesting! Just by opening it up. So any direction, one, does the committee allow me to write a letter you know just basically it really to me it's really

the 45 days I think it would be helpful but I don't know have do you have any other thoughts because I can't do it without authority from the board i mean i'm comfortable with you writing the letter so for everyone comfortable with 45 days yes all right let's see where it goes all right very good thank you very much okay moving on to financial business item number one consider an act on the

hourly rates for the title one summer program support staff In your folder you have a memo from Ms. Haskell, who is approving the Title I summaries, which are slightly different than the regular school year. Nonprofessional rates, these are the same as what we're using for ESY. So for an in-district employee, it's their regular rate plus $2 per hour? Correct. and if they are not

an employee of Somerset Public Schools or Somerset Public School District from outside, then the rate would be $20 per hour. Any questions or comments? Hearing none, I would entertain a motion to approve the proposed hourly rates for the Title I Summer Program paraprofessionals as outlined in the memorandum from Ms. Haskell. Discussion.

Oh. Let's take the motion and the second first. I'll move the motion. Second.

Motion and a second. Discussion. I have a relative that's a paraprofessional. Should I recuse myself? What's the relation? Nephew. You can vote on it. You can, but it's not an immediate thing. I don't even know if he's working in some program. If you abstain, you still have enough votes. Whatever you're comfortable with.

Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Opposed? So voted. Okay, the May financial statement.

So we're approaching the last month of the fiscal year. Right now we are at 96% expended or encumbered, with about 4% or a million dollars left for the month of June. What we're looking at is the final teacher payroll, which is on the 19th. So there are unencumbered stipends that are paid out. Also buyouts for retirees or anybody exiting the district. Also historically it is a large

month for substitute costs. So you're going to see some changes in the staffing that are unencumbered. We're also wrapping up all final bills. We also have the ability to prepay special education tuition that requires a vote from the school committee, which will be brought back to the August meeting. Right now it's estimated to be about $300,000. So as we go forward, we'll be watching if there's some

adjustments that can be made with regards to our revolving funds as well. So we're on track to end the year. The positive as we're required to by law, but not a million dollars as you see. Any questions or comments? Okay. Thank you very much. All right. Item number three under financial and business, discuss and act on budget adjustments. Ms. Pellerin. So there is about 20 budget

adjustments. There's a memo to go along with them. The school committee policy is to adjust at the bottom line of function codes, literally a little bit deeper. just to really make sure that we can cover all our overages and other linings, but also give you an idea of the changes from when we started the budgeting process to how we ended. Again, the budget is a snapshot in time.

It's a blueprint going forward. At the end of the year, the expenses are how we expended our funds throughout the fiscal year. So we did go a little bit deeper to adjust for any actual line item that exceeded 10,000 or 10%, just to give you an idea of the transactions that have taken place within the fiscal year. This is very detailed, so thank you. Any questions or comments?

all right hearing no questions or comments at this point i would entertain a motion to approve the 20 budget amendments as noted in the memorandum from this peleron so move second we have a motion and a second any further discussion if we could just add the memo and the list into our official records as well that will avoid us from reading every line item moving from this item this is detailed yep

that makes sense Anything else? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you very much. Madam Chair, could we just go back to the last vote? Just for the record, did you... I voted. No, I voted. Oh, you voted. Okay. I didn't hear you and I was just wondering if you wanted to abstain. No, no, no.

I understood. Okay. It was just the first time it's come up. Yeah. Okay. Sorry about that. That's okay. I didn't hear it, so... Alright, moving on to item number four, consider and act on the approval of 2627 contracts for on-call services, year two of three for the contracts. So item A, we have the boiler burner services, Arden Engineering. Item B, electrical services, Boston Electric

and Telephone Corporation, Vetco. And item C, plumbing services, DDS Industries. Any discussion? Questions? It's a pretty standard procedure. Do I have to do them all individually or can I do them all in one swoop? Chair's choice. At this point I would entertain a motion to approve Arden Engineering for boiler burner services, Boston Electric and Telephone Corporation for electrical services, and DDS

Industries for plumbing services, all for the 26-27 school year. So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

So voted. Congratulations. Okay, moving on to old business. We have discuss and act on the memorandum of understanding with Somerset Berkeley Regional School Committee for shared positions. You have an updated MOU in your folder. the two main things that were changed were there was an explicit deadline that was inserted into the document and then there has to be something that dictates what happens after the

expiration date if they don't if the two committees don't come to an agreement um so what's in there now which you know again we can discuss and change if the committee sees fit but what's in there now is just that you would strictly look at the student enrollment data and base the split based on how what percentage of Somerset Berkeley students there are and what percentage of Somerset public school students there

are. Questions, comments, feedback? I just have a comment. I cannot in good faith support this because again if we don't agree we're going back to number that we know did not include we did the exercise we just know that that number is not correct by going by data on student population so for us to agree on something that would if if the if the members don't agree or if the two bodies don't agree

we're going to penalize the Somerset community And I mean that because we just saw that Somerset was paying $100,000 more in shared positions than prior years. So for me to be able to vote on something knowing that it would penalize the taxpayers of Somerset, I can't support. So that is the reason why I feel we should vote no, but at least I can tell you why I'm voting no is because

If this happens, the time expires, our Somerset budget will increase by 100 grand or more overnight. If we don't agree, when you put language like this in contracts where it gives a group out Then I have a great idea. In an event that all parties are unable to come to an agreement, we don't stay with whatever the current one is, even though

it may not benefit because we're supposed to do this exercise in good faith. But why don't we just say in an event that these parties don't agree, it goes to 50-50. Well, then it wouldn't be fair to the other side. because again, the numbers don't, isn't fair. So people like in our seats, two years from now can say, you know, I like 50/50 or people in the Regency, so I like 32/68, whatever the percentage

may be at that time. This is not, we need to put a, if we must say that both bodies must agree on something because Or we have to go into some type of mediation or something.

It would be like telling the teachers union or every department, you know, saying that if we don't like something, we're going to leave it as is. This did not make it any better. This, if anything, it made it worse for the K-8 community and for the K-8 budget. Because if you can agree as a member of a K-8 that we just went through a very difficult time with the budget. And

then, you know, and I have to say this, Mr. Superintendent, about three years ago in a meeting, maybe it was a subcommittee meeting or budget hearing meeting, you once mentioned that the percentage wasn't, it didn't seem fair. What did the leaders say? No, we're going to leave it just the way it is.

They didn't even take the leadership's role word on it. And I've been saying I don't think it's fair and it's like no we're not gonna do anything about it.

And I'm a senior member that's been here for 20 years. We have a superintendent who's been here for 12 plus years now and it was like poof. So can you imagine what they're going to do to a one-year member or a two-year member or a four-year member if it doesn't work out well for them? They dismissed a 20 year old member right out the back. They dismissed the superintendent's words. But yeah,

we're going to put a word. We don't know who the characters are or who the members will be sitting on the boards. We have to put their feet to the fire. You must come up with an agreement. You must come up with an agreement. That is like telling your own personal life or your own mortgage, well, if we can't make, oh, well, you just continue to pay this. I can't

support this and nor should I because I have a feeling if you can't make an agreement, K-8 will be reducing many people to cover an increase in percentages. So, I think the, and by putting the words like this, it tells that we don't have faith in future school committees that they can't come up with an agreement. It should be a simple date saying, you know, this MOU expires on such

and such date and it will, after renewed, it will, you know, that you have to, you're going to renew it. You have to come up with an agreement. There should not be, oh, well, what happens if not? We should also give the communities an opportunity to decide if they don't want to continue with the shared position. You know, even there is nothing in here where it's saying what happens if a district

decides they don't want to go with the shared position. So this is not an MOU. This is an MOU for only the next two years and if it doesn't work we're going to keep it the way we already know that didn't work correctly.

So that's why I'm voting no and I hope you all would vote no because if not I have a feeling that you're going to, you could potentially say we're going to throw $100,000 more in the K-8 budget if we go back to that percentage. I don't know how you feel about that Mr. Superintendent knowing that a committees didn't address that originally when we brought it up or two that

you have an unfunded mandate if a school committee if one school committee does not agree. So that's my only thought. I think the same argument goes the other way for the other committee though if it's if the split after the MOU expires is 50/50, I think that they could have the same argument. No, no, that's why I don't agree with it. Okay, so you don't-- No, no, I don't want 50/50. I'm

just using that as an example. That's why I said you can't. So my only question is this. Right now, right now, we were paying what we were paying, and they were paying what they were paying based on the student. So if we don't reach this agreement at all, If we don't reach any agreement, we're going to go back to that extra $100,000. Is that accurate?

No, because we already voted that in our budgets on both sides. Oh, okay. But nothing's been signed. Yeah, we've never had anything signed ever. Right.

So I guess my only point is, I understand what you're saying, but both sides have already tentatively agreed to the change already because we've already voted on the budget. That's my only... I get what you're saying, but we already did it.

We just have to do it again next year, I guess. No, I would say this with the way it's written, it's perfect. I just think six needs to go.

It forces the committee to come up with an agreement. It forces them to come up with an agreement because if you don't have a caveat... Now the committees as a whole at that time "Okay, we cannot come up with an agreement. Let's agree to stay with this for another year." That will give the committee at that time to make that, again, it's we're extending it one more year. We're not going to

go two more years. But the way it is right now, if you don't agree, it just basically says we're going to reduce back to enrollment counts. So, number six just needs to go and then let the current committees who are still negotiating that cannot come up with an agreement at least come with a quick MOA, alright, let's leave it as is for today. But, remember, this is how it was for the

last 12 years. Well, we're gonna keep it the way it is. We're gonna keep it the way it is. Like you just heard, the superintendent recommended it. I recommended to look into it. It was never forthcoming by the committees. And I also think they also didn't realize, like, when I was bringing it up, I also didn't want just about a money. I also wanted to look at the structure of central

office in the shared position. Does it still make sense? You know, are we still doing business the way we are doing business just because it's been the way? I think this is a bigger, broad thing. And maybe we wait until central office discussion when you guys have that subcommittee before we get into an agreement like this, because that's what central office is going to look like. for the next foreseeable year. So

that's my only concern is number six and nothing else. I'm just curious do we know have they voted on this yet? No. They haven't? No. We're the first committee this draft. You know I will say when we were emailing with the school district's attorney on this you know he said we need language in there what will happen if no agreement is made. Like I don't think it's an

option to not have language and if you think about you know the contracts that we have with the unions when they expire we continue until we reach a new agreement. So is that something that you're amenable to like we continue with this oh yeah as opposed to going back to yeah and then you go retro okay you know absolutely it's just that this one word like I said that

it's like okay we're gonna continue but also at the end of a contract if you don't want to continue like for instance you know when we have a contract with a sub provider if we don't want to go continue we are able to always get out both commune both districts deserve the right to get out of an agreement if they choose to do so. This is a little bit clearer than what

we've had in the past. You know, this is saying that we are going to discuss before we just didn't discuss because one group didn't want to discuss. Now we are forced to discuss. We're forced to get into a room and discuss. This is a pro. This is a... I don't want anyone to think this is negative. This is a pro. But I just think we need to say if an agreement is

not made, we... will continue to discuss it. It can't be just no. Like if when a teachers union doesn't, we can't just say, "Alright, well it's all done. We'll continue to stay the way it is." No, there are other avenues that we have to continue to talk. And I think this will, just like getting people in the room and redoing that work that we did, that the superintendent and the staff, I

think that we're never going to have these problems. I really have good faith. I think that this signed document will force us. Exactly. Whereas it was just the standard practice before nothing was ever written, nothing was ever signed, there were no deadlines. So I think that this document will prevent us from being in that situation again. And

in terms of down the road, if future school committees, the members on each committee, want to do something different from this, that's what they would negotiate when this was up for, you know, renewal. That's my perception of it. I think that they do have the authority to negotiate a completely different something, you know, whether

it's separation or a completely different structure, I think that's built into the process.

Well, what I like about this, other than that number six, is committee can't just ad hoc decide to go their separate ways. You have a debt like you have a you're going to negotiate you're going to meet together and that's the time where you're going to say you know what our district is tending to do this we're gonna we're looking at going this opportunity it's not a shock and

awe like hey you know what this is a tough budget we're going to go our own separate ways. So if I would say if you just as just me again, I'm only one vote one voice if you could remove number six and I think it's an understanding that if a contract is not renewed it doesn't end because we still have an agreement with the superintendent that has even if we were to

decide that we were going on with separate ways our superintendent has contracts saying that he's hired by both districts if we were going our separate ways the superintendent would have to agree that he's going to reside from one district and only solely work for one district. So their contract really controls the environment, this is just controlling the

percentage of pay. Because I don't know if your contract says a percentage, does it?

It doesn't. I hope not because then we're in a whole other game. So I'm glad that it doesn't say that. So I would say if you want to take the time and read number six and eliminate it, I would be open to, I would vote instantly. It's got my voice. So full support is just the number six that scares me. It just terrifies me. If you want to replace number six with

something like that, if an agreement is not made, the committees will continuously continue to meet. This gives an out, I don't want to meet anymore, that's the end of it. No, it forces them that you have to continue to meet. That would be my opinion. But there has to be some percentage that we... whatever the current, we will continue with the current percentage as we continue to meet and

once a new agreement is made we will retro that amount from the budgets and stuff like that. So that would be my only recommendation. Thoughts? I do think that we would continue meeting but I do understand what Victor's saying that there was a date in there.

It would force everybody back to the table. well there is a date number five there is but it says it doesn't say we may says we shall make affirmative recommendations to each respective school committee so before january 1st 2028 we have to do this so but it doesn't say you have to come with a new agreement yeah it says you have to meet you could literally me and say i'm not into i'm not up to changing

and go home you know That's not what that says. It says we shall make affirmative recommendations. It doesn't say we can't make a recommendation. It says we have to make a recommendation. Then why would we be... Then maybe we don't need six. Yeah, then we don't need six. Maybe we don't need six. Then you're absolutely correct. Because

it says we have to make... It says we shall make affirmative recommendations to each committee by January 1st. I didn't even read it into that. Then you're absolutely correct.

You don't need number six. Okay, I think Andy will disagree, but I will entertain your amendment. So I guess at this point, if we have a consensus, I would entertain a motion to approve the MOU, the amended MOU, removing item number six. So moved.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, so voted. And so now... We'll see what the region does with that. I mean the good thing is we have a lot of time with the dates that are in there. So the lawyer can come back and... Right, if we need to revisit in August we can do that. Yeah. I take it that

the better thing is the future school committees are going to meet. Regardless, that's what I think I love about this the most. Yeah. Okay, very good. Thank you very much. All right, where are we? Okay, old business item number two, summer retreat update. So we have our summer retreat scheduled for the end of July. We will be meeting at the high school

because there's second shift custodial staff who work there in the summer. So the building will be open and available to us.

We have the MASC coming to facilitate the meeting. I do have some Goals and objectives that I would like to accomplish during this time, but obviously I'm also open to your feedback one of the things that I think would benefit our committee is to establish some Norms and protocols that are actually written down and shared as new members get elected each year So in your meeting folder,

I asked Robin to include a something it this goes back to 2012 2013 but this is a protocols and best practices for effective school committee meetings document and it has some sample norms and beliefs so if you can take I'm going to give you some homework as any as any teacher would I'm going to give you some homework I would like you to review this so you're up to speed

when we get to the retreat and I would like you to try it, not that you have to fill out the workbook at the end, but if you can sort of highlight, circle, jot down norms and beliefs that resonate with you so that we can sort of come together. I think of it as like when I was a classroom teacher and I would establish my classroom rules at the beginning of the

year with my students. I would have them tell me what's important to them about creating a safe classroom environment for everybody to do their best work. So think about what will make you do your best work as a school committee member, and we'll go from there. And then this, again, can be something that the committee shares with new members and revisits annually in the event that anything needs to be updated.

other agenda items yes I think the region has one does the region have yes I believe they could we share those because I think I'm sure we can yeah and also that was I remember I think they did that last time because this is old yeah so I'm thinking maybe having that other one as well might be an easy I'm sure that there are school committees that have theirs posted you know

on websites so we can do some you know, web sleuthing and gather those things. Anything you want to gather to bring to make the retreat more productive, that would be great. Speaking of the region, Jen Andrews did reach out to me inquiring about when we were having our retreat and wondered if there was possibly an opportunity to have a joint retreat. So she's going to mention it to

her committee next week. I think that there are definitely some conversations that we should have, one of them being the way that our two-- I think we need some norms and expectations related to how our two committees collaborate with each other, just to kind of get that out there in terms of what we expect of each other as committees. So I think that would be good and, you know, again, just like

differentiating instruction in a classroom, right? We can have conversations at the retreat where we, it makes sense for us to have them together and then we can, you know, go to separate corners of the media center and, you know, maybe focus on things that just impact our committee individually. Something else that... Are you asking how we feel

about that? Sure, I would love that feedback. Absolutely, more the merrier. Okay. So, that's good. you can un-wrestle somebody for number six no i love those people i really do and then i think that i think that we should use the could be um retreat to set some goals we have some big decisions that we're going to need to make related to south elementary school and north elementary school um we have financial

struggles. We have contracts that we're about to negotiate and we are currently negotiating. We need to figure out what are our short-term goals and what are our long-term goals and maybe it's the long-term goals first and then what are the short-term goals that are going to get us to those long-term goals. But we need to think beyond our own three-year terms here. Any other requests or dedications

for the retreat? I think it's extremely valuable and I'm going to leave it to you. I think it's extremely important, obviously, to have our administration there. But last time when we had a retreat, did we have our building principles? There was... For Somerset Berkeley. We haven't done it. We've never done one. So I'm thinking... Somerset Berkeley, they didn't invite them? No. Oh, okay. And they

were very valuable, especially in the breakouts. I do remember having, I think I was in Sue's group when we did it, and they had, it's nice, it's, you know, The strategic plan that you held, it's just great to work with them. This is something that we really never get to work with. I'm only saying we may want to invite them if the superintendent is

open to it and obviously the two organizers, but I think it was very helpful to have Dr. Brelsford there when we did it because she also got to hear our concern about the requirements for graduation. Nothing happened after that, but at least it was, we planted the seed. So that's just... And I honestly think that that's going to be part of our conversation about norms in terms of like, what are the

norms and expectations for how we interact with the administration and the staff? Because I think that we all have different ideas on what that looks like. And it's not that, you know, one person is wrong and the other person is right. It's like we need to establish officially like what does that look like for us? What makes sense and you know what makes sense for the administration and I think that their

feedback in that is important also right because five people sit here And if we give them five different directions all the time or, you know, like what is or and or, you know, are we is Jeff making five different phone calls for every little thing, right? How can we work with the administration in a way that works for everybody? And especially when it comes to building principles, we really should not be

contacting them without Jeff knowing. So that's and so that's part of I think what we should talk about, right? Because everybody comes into this you have your own goals, things you would like to see happen in our school districts. We all have positive intentions, but I think if we have a framework for like, this is the expectation

for how we accomplish our goals for our school district and our community while staying in our lane as school committee members, while respecting the boundaries of the management side of the house, without driving the superintendent crazy by having to call not just this committee, but he's got the other committee too. That's why I don't call him with every little thing. I let him send his updates and he keeps

us informed, but I'm not calling him about everything because not everything needs to be a discussion with each of us individually. But again, that's my perspective, right? So we'll talk about it more at the retreat. And then the other thing I think for our committee, that I would like to see. And I don't want to create some mandate that from now through the end of time, this is how we create the

budget. But I think some kind of a written framework of the budgeting process, because it just feels like I never know what to expect from year to year. In the past two years, I've been fortunate to sit on the budget subcommittee at the region, and I just feel like they have a documented process that they follow that naturally brings them through all the necessary budget conversations, and it's not a mystery as

to which way we're going from one year to the next, from one meeting to the next. So I actually think that's something we could learn from our partners on the region. If, you know, if they already have a good method to like, we don't need to reinvent the wheel, but I want to be able to have those conversations with all of you. So it's scheduled to be like a three-hour retreat. You

know, I just came up with three things I'd like to accomplish, so, right, that gives us an hour for each thing. Maybe we're not going to get through it all, but we can try. Well, you know what it is, is also the thing is once you have those three topics or whatever topics you discuss, it doesn't end there. It can stop. You can stop carrying it over to this meeting if you

want to. Yep. But I think the ones that we have to accomplish are the ones with the joint meeting because it's not often you have a joint meeting. But all the... It's three hours is very quick. It's quick.

And I have it on the 28th. Is that still the date? Yes. Is the region available on that date, I'm assuming? She's going to put it on the agenda for next Tuesday, and she's going to let us know. That's true. That's true. We'll have to split you in half when we break up. We have at least two out of the seven. Okay, very good. Other matters, informational item number

one, topics not reasonably anticipated by the chair 48 hours in advance of the meeting. Because Mr. Plant already alluded to this, I will just publicly say we did have Bus accident today. No children were harmed in the bus accident. Is that accurate? So we're very grateful for that and we're very grateful for the response from our emergency responders in town very grateful to the administration

and the clerical staff for just jumping into action to inform all the families as to what was happening and Because when that bus doesn't come around the corner the minute it's scheduled to, because we all, as parents, you know the bus comes to my house 3:23, right? So when it's not there, you're like, what's going on? You automatically know something's happening. So thank you for everything that all of the staff at

Chase Street School and Central Office did. Anything else? I'm up to letter for Fisher.

Do you need a vote or? Oh, I'm sorry. I have not received any feedback. If there's no feedback... The only feedback I have... I'm good with the letter as it's written, so just... The thing that, when I read it the second time... I felt that one of the questions that I would love to understand was when we received the notification from Dr. Schoonover that this may happen and Dr. Schoonover

reached out to them, he never heard back from the bus company. Is that a true statement? That's concerning. I think we need to have a clear direction that the bus company must reply to us when we're seeking information. So that would be the only other addition. Everything else I think well written. So that would be my only addition, not removal. Okay, I can add that in. And then I will have Robin

share the draft, the second draft with all of you. And then we'll give it 24 hours and if she doesn't report any feedback to me, I will send a letter. Does that make sense? Thank you very much. Action items for future meetings? South School. Yeah. I think we must have that discussion. Would August be a good month or a bad month for that? Giant discussion because I think there would you know need to

be a thorough presentation of the proposed North elementary design because that's related to this right So what do you think dr. Sconever the August meeting we're just gonna roll up our sleeves and jump right into the new school year Good times then. Because before you know it, we're going to blink and we're going to be in budget season. Yeah, and we're not going to have any additional information

between August and September. So, okay. So August it is. Bring your jammies. We might have to sleep over for that meeting. People have been asking me, and I think the writing of the wall was when we said no to $3.1 million from the state. I think that some people are looking into that as the decision's been made. I said no decisions were made, but that's going to be

a tough pill to swallow if we do decide to stay as is and we said no to $3.2 million. Because now it's all Somerset paying the $5.4 million, what was it, for the ADA and all that. Yeah, the ADA was $5.4. Yep, understood. Okay, anything else for future meetings?

Alright, moving on to item number three, the report on the Somerset Berkeley School Committee.

That hasn't been one. Fair enough. Check it off the list. See you next time.

all right item number four discuss an act on the acceptance of a three thousand dollar grant to somerset middle school from dollar general literacy foundation any discussion or questions on that hearing none i would entertain a motion to accept the three thousand dollar grant to somerset middle school from dollar general literacy foundation thank you to becky help

me thank you Motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, very good. And we have item number five, the open session minutes of May 12th, 2026. Any questions or discussion?

Hearing none, I would entertain a motion to accept the open session minutes of May 12th, 2026 as presented. So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, very good. Finally, we have the executive session minutes of May 12th, 2026. Any questions? Just one more. Six. Where am I? You just did five, right? And

I fumble this part of the meeting every single time. Whenever we get to the minutes, I'm exhausted. If there's no discussion, I would entertain a motion to approve the May 12, 2026 Executive Session Minutes as presented and to release them with redactions. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, very good.

Moving on to public input. I'm sorry. Can we revert action to number two? Action for future meetings? Yes. I don't know if this is something that we should really look into. Mr. Higgins reached out to me. He said that he had an open meeting training with the Attorney General and the Attorney General said that redacted minutes can't remain redacted forever.

At some point it has to be unredacted. I have a hard time believing that's true because when we negotiate with teachers, the last thing we want is our redacted minutes to Basically give the blueprint to the other side when not only that we in executive session We talked about personnel matters. Well, those can always remain but he's saying once once a contract is settled It's no longer able to redact.

So I'm wondering if we could work with our administer our attorney just to see if how true that is because that is something that I would say is I think we need to hold on to those. We need a definitive. Yeah, because we need to hold that information. That's not information that I feel. But that's an action item that I think maybe perhaps we can look into Andy

Warr and see. Okay, sounds good. Public input. All right. Seeing that there's no public input at this point, I would entertain a motion to enter into executive session pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 30A, Section 21A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on

the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares American Federation of State County and municipal employees administrative assistants and custodians Please note that the committee will not return to open session still move second We have a motion and a second any discussion hearing none by roll call Mr. Ventura aye Mr. Machado aye Mr. Medeiros aye and the chair votes aye Thank you

everyone All right, back on break.

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