2026-09-02 - School Committee

00:05[music] like to call this meeting to

00:06order. This meeting of the Town of

00:08Auburn School Committee is being

00:09conducted in person and is being

00:11recorded by the Auburn Cable Television.

00:13All are welcome to join us in person

00:15here at 5 West Street. All supporting

00:17materials that have been provided to

00:19members of this body is available on the

00:21town's website. The public is encouraged

00:23to follow along using the posted agenda.

00:26Thank you. Can we all stand for the

00:28pledge?

00:31I pledge algiance to the flag of the

00:34United States of America and to the

00:36republic for which it stands. One nation

00:40under God, indivisible, with liberty and

00:43justice for all.

00:48You got it. Our vision. The vision of

00:51the Auburn public schools is to educate

00:53and prepare students for the

00:54opportunities and challenges of a

00:56changing world. our commitment. We will

00:59create, maintain, and support an

01:01environment that fosters a sense of

01:02belonging for all students in our

01:04schools, respecting race, color, sex,

01:07religion, national origin, sexual

01:10orientation, gender identity,

01:12homelessness, poverty, spoken language,

01:15and ability. This time, I would like to

01:17welcome Dr. Scaza to his first official

01:20meeting. Congratulations on the first

01:22day. [applause]

01:24>> Thank you, Madame Chair. It feels like

01:27just yesterday I was sitting at this

01:29seat um during my interview. Um so it

01:31feels really good to be here tonight.

01:33But before we recognize our new staff, I

01:36want to share that we had a child go

01:38missing this afternoon. The police

01:41department and our staff acted swiftly

01:43and she has been located and is safe. I

01:47want to thank Yes. [applause]

01:51I want to thank Chief Mills, our SRO's

01:54in the Auburn Police Department for

01:55their immediate response. I also want to

01:58thank Dr. Susan Lopez, her team, and all

02:00our staff for their support and

02:01assistance. Our central office team led

02:03by Mandy Roco was also instrumental in

02:06assisting during this event. And I want

02:08to wish everyone a safe night, and thank

02:09you to our community for being so

02:11amazing. Thank you.

02:13>> Thank you.

02:15>> All right, on to special recognitions.

02:20Uh this evening, our special

02:21recognitions goes to our new teaching

02:23staff hired for the 2026 2027 school

02:26year. We are thrilled to add these

02:27wonderful professionals to the Auburn

02:29public schools and I know that they will

02:31have a positive impact on our students

02:33and their families. Tonight we welcome

02:35the following staff. Dr. Scaza, I'll let

02:36you into introduce your staff to

02:38introduce their staff.

02:39>> Sounds great. It will go in the same

02:41order that we did for our convocation.

02:42Mr. Keller, I don't know that. Do you

02:44have new staff, too? Uh well, I have um

02:47some new staff who were old staff, if

02:49you will. So, um not here tonight, but

02:52uh Sarah Reed, who was working at the

02:53high school, has now transitioned to the

02:55preschool, and Jen Osborne, who had been

02:57working part-time at the preschool, is

02:58now working full-time at the preschool.

02:59>> Great.

03:00>> And I actually can't remember which

03:02order we went, so I'm going to go with

03:03uh Principal Dong Champamp to uh kick us

03:06off with new staff, please. And then

03:08we'll work our way down to the

03:09[laughter] elementary.

03:11>> I was going to say,

03:12>> I think we're going reverse. keep you on

03:14your toes.

03:16>> Good evening and um thank you for having

03:18me. We are so fortunate at Auburn High

03:20School to have um these three fine new

03:23faculty members joining us this year. Um

03:26the first and hello [laughter]

03:31the first faculty member that I'd like

03:33to uh mention is um Riley Newell who

03:36will be um working in our special

03:38education department and um she comes

03:41with some years of experience um and I

03:44think our kids are going to really enjoy

03:45having her in class. So welcome Riley.

03:49Um, I'd like to now welcome Aiden

03:52Richard who's um going to be teaching

03:54biology for us at the high school. Um,

03:57this is Aiden's first experience and we

03:58are super excited to have him on the

04:00team. We're also lucky to have uh Miss

04:03Hope Garrett

04:04and Hope Garrett is um she has multiple

04:09um levels of math this upcoming year. I

04:11walked in on a couple different classes

04:13today. Um, so they will keep her on her

04:16toes and we are very lucky to have Hope

04:18Garrett with us too as well. Um, thank

04:20you very much.

04:21>> Excellent.

04:23>> All right, Principal Carlson.

04:30>> I'm sorry. [laughter]

04:32So,

04:34uh, so we are very lucky. We had a great

04:36day today. Um, talking to everybody. I

04:38think everybody, it was awesome. Kids

04:40were awesome to see today. So I would

04:42like to introduce we have Autumn

04:44Manolon. So she'll be doing 8ighth grade

04:46science this year. Uh replacing Dr.

04:49Loach who has moved into a staff

04:50position. So great great um kids were

04:55having a really good time up there

04:56today. So that was awesome. We have

04:57Stella Bailey. So she is our long-term

05:00sub art teacher. She's here with us for

05:02the year. Um it's the cleanest art room

05:04I've seen since uh the building opened.

05:07So I mean it's uh amazing and that's

05:09something to be said about an art class.

05:11So, and we have with us Brianna Reedi.

05:13So, she will be long-term sub ELA uh

05:16filling in for maternity leave for Miss

05:18Andrew. Uh going to be with us for most

05:20of the year. Um the baby has not come

05:22yet, but soon. She's looks like real

05:25soon. So, um and then we have not with

05:28us tonight cuz he's doing some grad work

05:29tonight, but Chase Anderson, he's our

05:31new French teacher. Um doing a fantastic

05:34job. Hit the ground running today. So,

05:36um and that's that's it for us. So,

05:38thank you very much. Excellent. Thank

05:39you, Dr. Lopez.

05:45>> Good evening. Great to be back. I have

05:47two wonderful staff members to

05:49introduce. The first is actually a

05:51former student and an APS grad. I'd like

05:54to welcome Nicole Miranda to grade three

05:57and the Auburn public schools. I also

06:00have a fabulous new fifth grade teacher,

06:02um, Victoria Puchio, who's joining us.

06:05has a few years experience and you would

06:07never know she didn't miss a beat today

06:09in grade five. So, welcome the two,

06:11Nicole and Tori.

06:13>> Thank you.

06:14>> Thank you.

06:16>> All right. The principal Carlson.

06:17[laughter]

06:20>> No offense, Matt.

06:21>> Thank you for saying that. [laughter]

06:26>> Good evening. I would like to introduce

06:27you to Abby Riley, who is our new second

06:31grade teacher. Packachog is very

06:32fortunate to have Abby joining us this

06:35year and hopefully longer than just one

06:37year

06:39>> and principal Beverly.

06:44>> I am pleased to introduce two of my um

06:46staff members. Um joining us in first

06:48grade is Megan Dupy and joining us in

06:52second grade is Allison Hamill.

06:55>> Awesome. Thank you for your follow.

06:58>> Anyone have anything to say? Welcome to

07:01Auburn.

07:01>> I know. Have a great year.

07:03>> Yeah. Have a wonderful year.

07:05>> If I may, Madam Chair, Al um so we had

07:08the opportunity for our new teacher, new

07:10educator welcome where Dr. Scaza

07:11welcomed everybody and we had a nice

07:13breakfast uh thanks to um Miss Pulver

07:17and her uh cafeteria app. And then we

07:19were able to learn a little bit about

07:20Auburn and then uh have the opportunity

07:22to take a tour of the town uh as Dr.

07:25Fidella drove us around while um uh Mr.

07:28Del Long Champamp um Mr. Jerry D Long

07:30Champamp actually uh was our escort and

07:33uh provided information about Auburn as

07:35we traveled through. So it was wonderful

07:36to have everybody there, learn a little

07:38bit about Auburn schools as well as

07:40Auburn community. So I wanted to note

07:41those people and all the efforts that

07:43they put forth.

07:44>> Awesome. Well, thank you.

07:46So before we let with the permission of

07:51our chair, our principles and our new

07:53staff uh dismiss, I want to also welcome

07:56the following administrator. She's not

07:58with us tonight, but we are very

08:00thrilled or I am very thrilled at the

08:02moment to announce that we have a new

08:04director of pupil services. Um we have a

08:06signed contract with this individual.

08:08Her name is Kristen Campion. Uh she's

08:11coming to us with a wealth of

08:12experience. I think she's going to do a

08:13phenomenal job and I believe that we

08:15will be very fortunate to bring her on

08:17board. So looking forward to formally

08:19introducing her to the school committee

08:20and the uh community very soon once she

08:23officially transitions to us, but

08:25thrilled that we have a signed contract

08:27and we'll be bringing her on board.

08:29>> Excellent. Great.

08:31>> And we have no minutes meeting of the

08:34year and no student reps yet.

08:37>> Soon.

08:37>> Soon. Awesome.

08:39>> All right, we'll move on to the

08:40superintendent report.

08:42So, I am also very excited to be

08:44>> Can we let them go? Do we?

08:46>> Oh, yes, please. Yeah. It's been a long

08:48day. [laughter]

08:50>> And we really do appreciate you setting

08:52the time aside for us tonight.

08:55>> You can stay though. [laughter]

08:56>> Feel free to stay. You don't want to

08:58stay, you can stay, guys.

09:01>> Have a great year.

09:02>> Very exciting.

09:04>> Sorry.

09:05>> Have a good night, guys.

09:08>> Bye.

09:08>> Good night.

09:09>> Have a good night. Have a good night.

09:11>> Oh, wow.

09:13>> I love this. Um, and we have an Auburn

09:16grat. I love that.

09:18>> That's like we we homegrrew that.

09:21[laughter]

09:24>> Well, now that we lost our audience, I

09:25think we are. [laughter]

09:29>> It's all good.

09:30>> Um, so, as I was saying, I'm thrilled to

09:32be delivering my first report to our

09:34school committee and our community

09:35members in attendance are watching at

09:37home. Watching at home. I want to start

09:40by expressing gratitude for the warm

09:42reception that I have received. Our

09:45school committee members, our leadership

09:46team, our faculty, students, and

09:48families have made me feel right at

09:49home. I plan to make you all proud. As

09:52part of my transition into the role,

09:54I've created an Auburn Public Schools

09:56entry plan that I will be sharing with

09:58the school committee and the community

10:00at large during an upcoming school

10:02committee meeting. But tonight, I just

10:04want to let all parents and guardians,

10:05students, and faculty members know that

10:07I will be scheduling uh listening

10:09sessions to get to better know the

10:12strengths and priority areas of our

10:13school system. It's a pretty standard

10:15procedure for new superintendent, but

10:17something that I'm taking very seriously

10:18and want to make sure I have uh outlined

10:21correctly. I will be asking the

10:23following questions, and I would like to

10:24provide the community with these

10:26questions ahead of time. So, there are

10:29five here. What makes Auburn unique and

10:31what strengths must we preserve?

10:34What district achievements and bright

10:36spots should we build on? What immediate

10:39challenges and future opportunities

10:40require leadership focus? What does

10:43well-rounded student achievement look

10:45like in our district? And finally, how

10:47can central leadership most effectively

10:49support our schools? So as soon as I

10:52have solidified the dates for the

10:53listening sessions, I will send out all

10:56the pertinent information such as time,

10:58location via a parent square message.

11:01And once again, I am honored to be here

11:04and very much looking forward to the

11:05road ahead. Go Rockets.

11:07>> Great. Thank you. I don't think we have

11:10any citizens to comment. Okay,

11:13>> no comments.

11:14>> Um unfinished business.

11:20That's me. In your packet, thank you,

11:23Madam Chair. You will find the FY 26

11:26fourth quarter report from the Asabet

11:28Valley Collaborative. So, if you want to

11:31just look through that, um, and that's

11:36pretty much the long and short of it

11:38there. We will likely receive an update

11:40regarding Asabet Valley in the near

11:42future, but tonight is just the order

11:44report.

11:46>> All right. And new business. new

11:48business is for me to provide an update

11:51on the start of the school year. So, we

11:53have had quite a start [laughter]

11:55for sure um filled with a lot of um ups

12:00and downs. So, I do also want to

12:01acknowledge that we had one of our

12:03faculty members who had um had a medical

12:05emergency. She is um recovering. We wish

12:08her well. Um that was a bit of a scare,

12:11I will say. So, um to that faculty

12:14member, we wish you well and we can't

12:15wait to have you back. Um

12:18during our convocation uh we had

12:22uh welcomed all our students or sorry

12:24all of our faculty back to school and a

12:26special thank you to our custodial staff

12:29who had the buildings looking amazing

12:31and our school staff um who did a

12:34tremendous job providing summer support

12:36to our extended school year students

12:37with fun and engaging summer learning

12:39experiences. So, not only did the

12:41custodians put in a lot of work during

12:43the summer months to have the buildings

12:45looking pristine, we had really um

12:48effective and fun and productive student

12:53um summer student learning experiences

12:56for our extended school year kids. So, I

12:57I was very pleased with that. I was

12:58fortunate that I got a chance to see

13:00some of it in action. And I I again I

13:02want to thank our custodians and our

13:03summer school staff for doing a

13:05wonderful job.

13:07As with the start of every school year,

13:08there are some challenges to get back

13:10into a smooth routine. But I must say

13:12that our central office staff, our

13:14building leaders who just left us and

13:16faculty as a whole have done a

13:18tremendous job preparing for the school

13:19year. It's it's really impressive for me

13:22to see all of the preparations that have

13:24gone into place and all the hard work

13:26and now it coming to fruition with us

13:28having students back in the buildings.

13:31There are or sorry, I will be visiting

13:33schools routinely. I got to each school

13:35this morning to see what the arrival

13:37process looked like. That was actually

13:39it ran much more smoothly than I thought

13:41it was going to run at some of the

13:42buildings. [music] So, that's

13:43impressive. And there's a lot to

13:44celebrate there. Tomorrow, I'll make

13:46sure I get through all of the um

13:48dismissal procedures to see how those

13:50flow. And I will be visiting buildings

13:55routinely throughout the course of the

13:56school year to get into classrooms, to

13:59connect with principles, to connect with

14:01staff in general. So, that's part of my

14:03weekly schedule and something that I

14:05plan to do um routinely.

14:09I am also looking forward to all the

14:12school events that are on the horizon.

14:13So, I had a chance to visit some of our

14:15sports teams already. The marching band

14:18put on an amazing performance at the

14:20convocation. So, I'm just beyond excited

14:23to get, you know, out to these events

14:25and see what the students can do and and

14:28have opportunities to speak with

14:30community members in a less formal

14:31environment.

14:34There are also a handful of exciting new

14:38programs coming our way and a number of

14:39existing programs that will remain in

14:41full effect. So, I'm trying not to bring

14:42too much on board, but there were some

14:44things that I learned quickly um from my

14:47interview process and my onboarding that

14:49uh were desired. So, there's one program

14:51in particular that I'd like to introduce

14:53and I will give a detailed report on

14:55that at an upcoming meeting. Um,

14:58however, again, I want to celebrate many

15:00of the existing programs and Mr. Keller

15:03will speak to some of that and how it

15:05applies to instructional practices, but

15:08many existing programs that currently uh

15:10we that currently exist, sorry, it's a

15:12redundant in the Auburn public schools

15:13and how we will just build upon those.

15:17As for now, I simply want to thank

15:18everyone for all the efforts in

15:20launching the 2627 school year and wish

15:22everyone a healthy and productive school

15:24year full of fun and achievement.

15:27>> Thank you.

15:27>> Thank you.

15:29>> All right. Policy subcommittee.

15:32>> So, I [clears throat] apologize in

15:33advance. There's a bunch. Um the first

15:35one, so the we're going to look at 1 2 3

15:404 5 6 7 eight policies

15:43um this round. Um, and I'll tell you why

15:46in a moment. Um, JKAA, the first one is

15:51um something that we that we have to do

15:53uh for timeout, seclusion, and physical

15:55restraint of students. Um, this was

15:58brought to me by the previous pupil

15:59service person. Um, and then I just um

16:03combined it with the one on MASC. Ours

16:07was a little bit more indepth. Um, so I

16:12just I wanted to honor what Carrie had

16:14put in and what our policies are. So

16:17that is a pretty long one. That's JKAA.

16:20Um,

16:21JJH is the school sponsored trips and

16:25student travel. And there is a very

16:28minor change to this one. It's on the

16:30first page. Um, and it says overnight

16:33trips are only permitted for students at

16:34Auburn High School. took that out

16:37um and just added all overnight trips

16:40require priv prior approval of the

16:41school committee. Um and then I think

16:44there's one minor change on the inside

16:47um due to some redundancy.

16:50I have to look over

16:53um but other than that this policy is

16:54mostly unchanged.

16:57Hm.

16:58>> Oh, yeah. Um C3, if you look at C3,

17:04um that's the only thing that it when

17:06when I read through it, it you had to

17:09take out the program advisor high school

17:12only because once we approve if we

17:15approve a trip for a middle school

17:16overnight, then it wouldn't be a high

17:18school only.

17:19>> So, there was a redundancy there. So,

17:21that's the [clears throat] only changes

17:22on that one.

17:24>> Um and then the KF

17:28KFR,

17:30KFA, all the K's basically

17:34those all went together.

17:37Um,

17:39so basically the community uh use of

17:42school facilities and grounds, the

17:43community use of school facilities, the

17:45community and use of facilities, Auburn

17:47High School, Auburn Middle School, and

17:49the fee schedule

17:52were all mixed in together. like there

17:54were fee schedules in KF. Um so we so uh

18:00Missic and I went through and just made

18:02sure that they were what they were

18:05supposed to be. So you have community

18:07use of school facilities and grounds

18:10um community use of school facilities

18:13and then we put there was some overlap

18:17of like what was on certain things and a

18:20lot of changes on those. So, if you want

18:21to look at the old ones, then I

18:24recommend that you go into the Auburn

18:27like our site and look there. Um,

18:31and then so KFR and KFA was they were

18:36just a big mess. So, we ended up looking

18:39at one of the policies and then realized

18:41we had to change a bunch of them. So,

18:44that's that one. And then

18:48KH A and K H A R is public

18:52solicitations.

18:54Um, and that's just like

18:58I forgot that I put this one in. I'm

18:59sorry. Um,

19:01a lot of these changes are based on MASC

19:03that was revised in 2022. So, take a

19:06look at them. If you have concerns, um,

19:08we can look at those, but it's really

19:11like who can come in and solicit within

19:13the school. Um

19:17and you know I I guess it was a problem

19:20in the past with like

19:23you know people bringing pamphlets in

19:25and things like that. So um that's why

19:27that's a update based on MASC.

19:30So those are those and then the big one

19:33that we must look at today

19:37is ACL. Um this is a directive from

19:43I would say DESIE MASC and the state of

19:47Massachusetts. Um

19:49basically um it is the protect act was

19:53voted in in um I think August 5th and um

19:58it came to DESIE and MASC and only like

20:02maybe a week ago or a week and a half

20:03ago. Um and then we as school committee

20:06members did get an email uh based on

20:10um policy ACL um that we must have a

20:15policy of interacting with law

20:16enforcement of um officers engaged in

20:18civil law enforcement. Um this is a

20:21state law and um it's basically

20:25preventing

20:27um

20:29civil law enforcement from coming onto

20:30school grounds during school hours and

20:33school sanctioned events. Um I contacted

20:38MASC

20:39um our field director and I said you

20:43know here's how I read it and she's and

20:45she recommended that we um institute

20:49this immediately because it is state

20:50law. So it was recommended to us to

20:53suspend the uh three read policy.

20:56According to Robert's rules we can do

20:58that. Um so it's recommended that we

21:00suspend the three read policy and vote

21:02immediately on policy ACL as recommended

21:05by DESIE and MASC. Um

21:09we can open it up to discussion although

21:13it was recommended that we follow

21:14directly as MASC recommends.

21:19>> Do we have to recommend the motion

21:20before we have a discussion? I can't

21:24>> Yeah, we can recommend the motion and

21:25then have a discussion. Okay,

21:28I'll make a motion to suspend the three

21:29read policy and vote immediately on

21:31policy ACL as recommended by Desi and

21:34MASC.

21:37>> Do I have a second?

21:38>> Second.

21:39>> All right. Any discussion? Um, I just

21:42know my only question being when do we

21:46have to have this in place? Is there a

21:48date?

21:49>> I'm not exactly sure off the top. I know

21:51it's I believe it's September. So, I

21:53think we have to have this.

21:55the 15th, but I could

21:56>> Yeah, I think it has to be fast. I think

21:57it has to be So, originally um

22:02DESIE came to schools and said it needs

22:05to be done on or before the first day of

22:07school. MASC went to Desi and said that

22:11is impossible. like we and um in my

22:15conversation with Miss Novak, I said we

22:17don't even have a like we need 48 hours

22:19for a meeting to notify the public and

22:22we don't have a meeting till Wednesday.

22:24Um she said that they they made sure

22:27that MAS that Desi knew that. So I think

22:30they're now giving us a little leeway to

22:32get it in. Um but if you read through

22:34the policy um Dr. Scaza and the like

22:39team up here has to come up with

22:41procedures for like how to handle if

22:43they come on school property how to

22:44notify the lawyers how to notify like

22:47each building is has to have like a

22:50person that if they come on school

22:52property then they'll notify Dr. Scaza

22:53and then Dr. Scaza then has to notify

22:55like the lawyers and the parents like

22:57it's very step by step and they do have

23:02um and I'm not sure if you got it Dr.

23:04Kaza, but they do have like a pretty

23:06extensive booklet that they sent out to

23:09us. So, I mean, they're trying to make

23:11it easy on us, I think. But

23:13>> I'm just wondering if we have one

23:15meeting to be able to look at that. Um

23:18would people

23:19>> I just um had checked online to see to

23:22have a date for you and it does say that

23:25um districts are required to adopt a

23:27policy and develop companion procedures

23:28to align with the new law by September

23:301st or the first day of school whichever

23:33is earliest.

23:34>> Okay.

23:36So now

23:37>> so I mean I did mention to

23:40>> Mrs. Novak that we didn't have our

23:42meeting until today and she's she said

23:44her recommendation to us was to adopt

23:47it. Um because if not then we like it's

23:52it's a the protect law. It's not it's

23:54not us. It's state law.

23:56>> Do we have the procedures in place?

23:58>> Not currently. But I will say that I

24:00have extensive experience in Marro

24:03working through the procedures firsthand

24:06and in a procedural format as far as

24:10drafting some guidance in black and

24:12white so we could get that turned around

24:14very quickly.

24:15>> Okay. And I have the packet that I can

24:17also share. I think I gave it to you Dr.

24:20McCuris already. Um, but it shows like

24:23everyone should like in there it should

24:25have like a federal or and judicial it

24:27should have sorry a judicial warrant.

24:29>> Mhm.

24:29>> Um and a state warrant as well. So it

24:31will show them like what it looks like.

24:33Um

24:34>> but really in essence like the way I

24:36read it was it's it's very much like a

24:38protection for the students. Um and it's

24:41less about like preventing anyone but we

24:44just have to have a like a judicial

24:45warrant if they're going to come on

24:47school property. And this file ACL is

24:50just as it was given to us.

24:51>> It's exactly how it was given to us.

24:53Yeah, there's not one change. Oh, I'm

24:55sorry. There was slight one slight

24:57change and that is Oh, we're missing a

24:59page here.

25:00>> We're missing a page.

25:01>> I was going to say I thought we were

25:02missing a page.

25:03>> Yeah, I think we're missing the back

25:04page of this.

25:06>> Yeah.

25:06>> Um

25:08the only thing I did change was instead

25:10of saying it says um in it said

25:12superintendence/executive

25:15director's office.

25:16>> So, you got rid of me. So, I just took

25:17out executive director, but we are

25:19missing um I can look it up. Um we are

25:22missing part of it.

25:24>> Yeah.

25:24>> Um

25:30>> should we have that page before we

25:32>> I think a quick recess?

25:35>> Yeah, maybe we should go to recess just

25:37to get that page.

25:38>> Yeah.

25:38>> Can I just ask a question through the

25:40chair? How does this fall under school

25:42committee? If this is a procedure for

25:44staff that are on that are you like

25:48let's say it's the principles of the

25:49buildings, how does that fall under us?

25:52>> I think all the procedures don't. I

25:54think it's just the policy that does.

25:56>> Mhm.

25:57But all these procedures we don't

26:02>> okay

26:03>> because I think the law reads that

26:06schools have to have the policy

26:09which we do procedures are at the

26:12administration level

26:13>> right but this is the policy and then it

26:17says these procedures will be designated

26:19according to the guideline da da and

26:20then it puts what you're doing.

26:24Does that make sense? Yeah, I think

26:26these procedures are the list of what

26:28procedures need to be in place, but

26:30maybe we should recess so we can get the

26:32second page.

26:33>> I think we should.

26:34>> Okay.

26:34>> Um, I'll entertain a motion to go into

26:37recess to get the second page.

26:39>> I'll make a motion to go into recess to

26:41get the second page.

26:42>> I'll second.

26:42>> All those in favor?

26:43>> I

26:44>> I Thank you. Do you have it?

26:46>> Yeah. Okay.

29:56Thank you. I apologize for that

29:58everybody.

30:00>> All right, we now have our second page.

30:03So from my understanding um because I

30:06was under the assumption that when we

30:08did policies like this that we had to

30:09write down like our procedures in but

30:12what from my understanding it's just

30:14establishing that we should have

30:16procedures for the following things. Um,

30:19so like identifying like a senior

30:21administrator, um, identifying a senior

30:23administrator at each school to serve as

30:25the person responsible,

30:27um, like contacting the attorney,

30:30contacting the senior administrator at

30:31the school or the superintendent,

30:34um, documenting all interactions with

30:36law enforcement agents, um, notifying a

30:39student's parents if, um, and if a

30:43student is 18 or older or emancipated,

30:45um,

30:47there's there's other procedures um like

30:50following the confirm like procedures

30:52for following confirmation of law

30:53enforcement agents engaged in civil law

30:55enforcement and um so and a plan to like

30:59share these procedures. But this should

31:01not impact um as it says I think below

31:04it says it should not impact like any

31:06other law enforcement stuff. It's only

31:08civil.

31:09>> Yeah.

31:09>> Um and so um that is from the state law

31:16that was voted in in October. August.

31:18>> Sorry, ma'am.

31:20>> Okay.

31:22Any other discussion?

31:27All right. So, um we're ready to vote um

31:30on the first one.

31:32All those in favor?

31:34>> We're talking about ACL. We're just

31:35voting on ACL.

31:36>> Suspend the three polic. Okay.

31:40>> All those in favor?

31:41>> I

31:42>> opposed.

31:44All right.

31:46And I'll entertain a motion to approve

31:48and accept policy ACL.

31:50>> I'll make a motion to approve and accept

31:51policy ACL.

31:53>> Second.

31:54>> Any discussion?

31:58>> All right. All those in favor?

32:01>> I

32:03any opposed?

32:04>> Great. Okay. Thank you.

32:06>> Wonderful. Thank you guys.

32:09>> That was a fun Friday night when that

32:10came [laughter] through.

32:13>> Friday night six o'clock. I'm like, "Oh

32:14my god."

32:15>> All right. Consideration and action on

32:18surplus property.

32:21>> Me.

32:25>> Um, so I believe that is me. We have a

32:29we have two recommended motions here.

32:32Um, there are

32:35mobile bleachers at the high school

32:37gymnasium that

32:40uh no longer have use according to our

32:42athletic director, principal Dong

32:43Champamp, um, and other uh, school

32:47members and officials I've spoken to.

32:49So, the recommended motion would be to

32:51either donate or recycle these

32:53collapsible mobile bleachers. And then

32:56we have a second recommended motion for

32:58the school committee uh tonight, which

33:00is now that we have new cafeteria

33:03furniture at our middle school, we need

33:07to find something to do with the old

33:09tables. So, we are requesting that the

33:12school committee uh make a motion to

33:15either donate or recycle the old middle

33:17school cafeteria tables. I'll make a uh

33:21entertain a motion to approve the

33:23donation of the high school gym

33:24collapsible mobile bleachers.

33:26>> I'll make a motion to approve the

33:27donation of recycling or recycling of

33:30high school gym collapsible mobile

33:31bleachers.

33:32>> I'll second.

33:33>> Any discussion?

33:35>> All right. All those in favor?

33:37>> I.

33:38>> All right. And I'll make a motion to

33:40approve the donation or recycling of

33:42middle school cafeteria tables.

33:44>> Second.

33:45I'll make a motion to approve the

33:47donation or recycling of middle school

33:49cafeteria tables. I'll second again.

33:51>> All those in favor? I.

33:53>> All right. That is also a vote.

33:56>> All right. Thank you. Teaching and

33:58learning, Mr. Keller.

34:00>> Yes. I'm going to go up there cuz uh as

34:02per usual, my mouse is not working.

34:06>> Oh, it wouldn't work.

34:07>> Well, I Oh, you did? Well, I'll just

34:10stay here because I mean, I'll come up

34:11here because I can't quite get it to

34:12function. But thank you, Chris.

34:14Um good evening everyone. Uh lovely to

34:17uh be back. Um just a couple quick

34:20updates uh from the summer.

34:23We uh Dr. Scaza mentioned our ESY

34:26program that we had over the summer.

34:27Once again this summer we also had our

34:28title one summer academic camp. Uh I

34:30want to start by recognizing all the

34:32educators and the support staff that

34:34make that possible. uh led by Jillian uh

34:36Anderson who's uh done an outstanding

34:39job coordinating that program,

34:41communicating with parents, working with

34:43all the staff to uh make that a a

34:45positive experience to help prevent

34:47summer slide, get students excited and

34:49engaged in learning and continuing to

34:51build their skills. So, uh I want to

34:53share a couple highlights, some pictures

34:56um from that. Um I'll try to anyway.

35:00[snorts]

35:03All right. So I I haven't figured out

35:04how to uh project but these are just

35:06some pictures where you uh you know one

35:08of the key things from our summer uh

35:11academic camp is uh making learning and

35:13we try to do this during the school year

35:14as well but making learning hands-on

35:16have kids having fun being able to work

35:18in small groups collaborating connecting

35:19with one another. So you can see that

35:21they uh worked on some projects. This is

35:23some highlights from week one. Uh

35:26another highlight or another interesting

35:27note was the weather that we had uh

35:29during the title one summer academic

35:31camp. was something that was definitely

35:32noteworthy. The first week it was

35:34incredibly hot. Uh week two, I think it

35:37was, it was incredibly rainy. Uh week

35:39three was kind of the first uh normal

35:41kind of weather uh of the week. So they

35:44were learning about moon phases and

35:46working with um those on the left hand

35:48side. Uh this is our we also had our EL

35:50program, our English learners. Uh many

35:52of our students who are English learners

35:53were working with our EL staff to

35:55continue their development of their

35:57English language.

36:00And uh I believe this is the last

36:01picture that I have uh from our summer

36:03academic program. So Dr. Scaza and I

36:06were able to go through and visit with

36:08the teachers vis in the classrooms and

36:10all students were really engaged. We um

36:13made an intentional effort to work on

36:15math fluency this year as well as

36:17independent reading. And so the students

36:18were reading uh quite a bit

36:20independently uh in their classes and

36:22then interacting and writing about what

36:24they were reading. And again, just

36:25really trying to build those skills to

36:27carry into uh the beginning of the

36:29school year. So, that was title one. Uh

36:33and then I just want to touch uh very

36:35briefly on some of the summer curriculum

36:37program uh projects that were um

36:39completed over the course of the summer.

36:41Uh as I think you're all aware, um at

36:44the end of the previous school year, we

36:46send out um uh requests for proposals

36:48from all educators for things that they

36:50would like to pursue over the summer.

36:52Um, summer is a great time when, you

36:54know, you don't have uh classes to have

36:56to manage every single day and teachers

36:59have that kind of renewed spirit and so

37:00they work in uh groups and peers with

37:03peers to develop and pursue different uh

37:06topics. So, I'll just touch on a couple

37:08of these. This is not an exhaustive

37:09list, but our wellness department,

37:11you've heard me talk about our wellness

37:12department before. Um, they're

37:14continuing to implement the um new

37:17health and physical education standards.

37:19Uh we actually and I'm going to be

37:21talking to you at an upcoming meeting

37:22about some new materials that we're

37:24using coming into this school year. So

37:26we had a lot of uh staff health and PE

37:29um spending time over this summer uh

37:31refining and doing um gaps and overlaps

37:35uh K to 12 uh on PE and uh health. Uh

37:39our science uh many of our science

37:41teachers were engaged in enhancing the

37:44inquiry based learning that they're

37:45doing. uh ELA, we've identified um some

37:50areas for some significant growth in

37:52there around writing, vocabulary,

37:53grammar, and reading comprehension. Of

37:55course, you've heard us talk about UDL

37:56over the years. We've also made a

37:58concerted effort the past two years

38:00around language based strategies at the

38:01grades 3 through 8 level. And so, we've

38:04had a lot of teachers uh particularly at

38:05the middle school level engaged in

38:07enhancing their units of study to make

38:09sure that all these pieces are uh woven

38:12into their daily instruction.

38:15um social studies uses investigating

38:17history at uh Swanson Road and at the

38:19middle school level. And so uh one of

38:21the items that they were working on is

38:22providing flexible learning pathways um

38:24making sure that we're using primary

38:27source um materials. And then at the

38:30high school and beyond level, we had uh

38:32students um in our prevocational uh

38:35classrooms, uh teachers were developing

38:37some hand on hands-on practice to help

38:39students uh work on those skills in the

38:42classrooms before going out to job sites

38:44so they can build those skills and be

38:46ready to go.

38:48Um you've heard doc uh Mr. Dong Champamp

38:51uh talk previously about freshman

38:52experience. That's something that is

38:54launching this year. And so we had a

38:55group of uh educators at the high school

38:57creating and refining that curriculum

38:59that is being launched. Um at our

39:01elementary levels, our reading

39:03specialists were developing a collection

39:05of tiered reading centers. Um foreign

39:08language, you may have heard

39:09conversation about this before. This is

39:10something that um I believe um when Dr.

39:13Chamberlain was assistant superintendent

39:15that uh began investigating this seal of

39:17biiteracy. [snorts] And so Dr. Fidela

39:20and her group um along uh with you know

39:23with her group has been looking at how

39:25do we get the sealed by literacy in

39:26place uh in our schools and so that's

39:29something that they spent time on this

39:30year. Um Alli Bell um is one of our

39:33educators and she uh developed a braille

39:35version of the grade five empowering

39:37writer student uh workbook.

39:39And um you've also heard me say talk a

39:42lot about uh high quality. That's been a

39:44big initiative at the Department of

39:46Education uh highquality instructional

39:48materials. And so um making sure that

39:51our curricular materials are meeting

39:53those. And then finally, uh, we offer

39:55opportunities for students to for,

39:57excuse me, for teachers to, um, propose

40:00projects that meet one of these things.

40:02So, we had a variety of UDLs and I've

40:04mentioned that already, culturally

40:05conscious teaching initiatives and

40:06social emotional health and learning.

40:08So, excited to um, um, see all the work

40:12that our teachers did and you'll be

40:14seeing that in the classrooms and

40:15throughout the year I'll have an

40:16opportunity to have some people present

40:17on some of the work that they did and

40:19and share that at this level. So, one

40:21other thing I want to mention is um

40:23professional development. This past year

40:26or this past summer, uh we once again

40:28offered restorative practices to our

40:30staff. We had a group of 10 um teachers

40:33that were taught in a two-day session

40:36for tier 1 restorative practices. And

40:38that was led by Jeff Berg who uh was

40:40trained by um um Suffach University to

40:45become an admin uh become a um

40:48facilitator. And so we're now able to

40:50offer that in districts and we can offer

40:51that professional development days over

40:53the course of the school year as well as

40:55during the summer. So that session went

40:57really well. And then we had a group of

40:5818 people get trained in tier three

41:01restorative practices that was led by

41:03folks from Suffach University. Um so

41:06that also as we continue to move that

41:08initiative forward in our district um

41:10we're doing some making some great uh

41:12inroads in that regard.

41:16>> Questions?

41:17uh through the chair. Do you like the I

41:21think the summer curriculum development

41:22projects are amazing. Do you give the

41:24teachers a chance to like present to

41:26other teachers so that other teachers

41:27can

41:29like get some of the great stuff that

41:32they're creating instead of just it

41:33being in one classroom? You know, if a

41:34fifth grade teacher does something with

41:37um you know, high quality definition,

41:40does that fifth grade teacher then get

41:41to present to other staff?

41:43>> Yeah. So, so one of the things that when

41:45we send out the proposal, one of one of

41:47the requirements is that they are doing

41:48it in a in a group. Now, you know, uh

41:51let's say I'll take Swanson Road for

41:52instance, you know, there are a lot of

41:53grade five teachers and so if they were

41:55all working on it, a it might take a

41:57really long time and b it would be very

41:59expensive cuz all those people are

42:01collaborating on that. So um so usually

42:04it's um you know anywhere between two

42:06and four people that are working on

42:08something and then they are sharing that

42:10at their grade level meetings and and

42:11making sure that that's being replicated

42:12across the grade level. Uh one of the

42:14things we've talked about with

42:15principles also is making sure that

42:16that's happening at faculty meetings

42:18where they have the opportunity because

42:19although grade five may be doing it just

42:21to use my example uh we want to be able

42:23to share that with grade four and grade

42:24three because and those meetings are a

42:27little bit more difficult to schedule.

42:28So that is definitely a goal of ours. be

42:30great to collaborate with their peers

42:32and just say like, "I learned this." And

42:34some of the best interactions that I've

42:36had is having peers be like, "I tried

42:38this. You should try this." And then you

42:40just learn from them. So, I think it's

42:42really important to like empower the

42:43teachers that they've learned something.

42:44>> Yeah, that's a great point.

42:47>> Thank you for all your hard work this

42:48summer.

42:48>> Yes. Thank you. Appreciate it.

42:51>> This is Stannic. Business and

42:53financials. I have provided you with the

42:55omnibus transfers from July 27th, July

42:5828th, and July 30th for your information

43:01as agreed last June with all being done

43:03for the purpose of closing out fiscal

43:05year 2026

43:08which has been closed.

43:11Additionally, I have enclosed four

43:13separate memos dated July 16th and June

43:1630th. your information. These memos were

43:18sent to the town accountant CFO Karen

43:20Haro regarding the closing out of the

43:22FY26 budget and various town meeting

43:25approved articles needed to be carried

43:27over for the use in the new fiscal year.

43:34As is customary each year, I have

43:37provided you with the school department

43:38revolving gift and student activity

43:40accounts updated as of August 24th for

43:43your acceptance and approval for the

43:45FY27 school year.

43:50>> And we do need an action on that one.

43:52>> We do.

43:53>> I will entertain a motion to approve the

43:55FY27 fiscal year, the list of revolving

43:58gift and student activity accounts as

44:00presented by the business manager. I'll

44:02make a motion to approve the FY27 fiscal

44:05year, the list of revolving gift and

44:06student activities accounts as presented

44:08by the business manager.

44:09>> I'll second. Any discussion?

44:12All those in favor?

44:13>> I opposed. All right. Thank you very

44:16much. And then for your information,

44:19I've provided you a year-to- date budget

44:21report for the FY27 school year dated

44:23August 25th, 2026.

44:26And at this time, the first payroll for

44:30all of the school year staff was not

44:33included in this. So the bottom line um

44:37has a lot more than [laughter]

44:40we encumber. So next time you will see a

44:43big change in that.

44:49And then lastly, we have an additional

44:52school department warrant article. Um

44:55actually we have a portion of article

44:57two for the town um fall meeting on

44:59October 27th. I um providing you with a

45:03pro proposed increase that we have

45:05discussed with the town manager and the

45:08town CFO and this is

45:12for your review and approval and Dr.

45:16Scaza can speak a little bit to why we

45:19need these additional staff members.

45:24So, there are

45:26two additional um one is a one-year

45:29special education teacher for our high

45:31school and we are seeking that position.

45:36I quickly learned that there is a model

45:38of instruction at the high school around

45:41co-eing that involves a certain staffing

45:44ratio. uh and when a schedule was put

45:46together to uh address this model that

45:50is proven to have impact on student

45:54achievement. Um we were shy some of the

45:56staffing. Uh I was quickly informed

46:00through some research that we could make

46:02this model work with one additional uh

46:05special educator for the high school

46:06specifically. I requested that this be a

46:09one-year position um to start just so

46:12when we have a new director of pupil

46:13services and I get myself a little bit

46:15more acclimated into the um programming

46:18altogether, we can determine if the

46:20additional staff member is needed for

46:22the following fiscal year. Um my guess

46:25would be that that staff member would be

46:26needed given the fact that um DESIE

46:30um we're working with DESIE on improving

46:32our programming for special education

46:35students and like I had mentioned before

46:37co-eing is a proven um methodology. So

46:41that's why we're looking for that one

46:42year um position special educator and

46:44then we had a move uh back into the

46:46district from an out of district

46:48placement um who requires a onetoone uh

46:51support staff. So that was the second

46:53additional position. And then third is

46:54just um additional funding for our new

46:57director of pupil services uh annual

46:59salary.

47:02>> I'll make I'll entertain a motion to

47:04approve the school department budget

47:06increase warrant article for October

47:0827th, 2026 falltown meeting as presented

47:10by the business manager.

47:12>> I'll make a motion to approve the school

47:14department budget increase warrant

47:15article for the October 27th, 2026

47:17falltown meeting as presented by the

47:19business manager. I'll second. Any

47:21discussion?

47:22>> The numbers aren't right.

47:26>> So, it says increase by 125,351

47:31>> from 33,900 and da da da to 33 million.

47:35That's not correct. It's 34,93,485.

47:42>> Say that again. 34,9

47:44>> 34,93,458.

47:48Yeah, cuz these two numbers are the same

47:50numbers. We just have to add in the 125

47:52through 51.

47:53>> Yeah,

47:54>> I've received the wrong copy, so I

47:56apologize for that.

47:57>> That's okay.

47:57>> That's okay. Um, through the chair, I

47:59just want to say that like it is I've

48:02seen how well a co-eing model with like

48:05the right staff person can work wonders

48:08for kids. So, I'm very supportive. I

48:12know it seems like a lot, but I'm super

48:14supportive of that, especially for our

48:16special ed kids and knowing that we need

48:18to improve those MCCAST scores. So, I

48:20think it's important. I think we're on

48:22the right track.

48:24>> Great.

48:26Any other discussion?

48:27>> I agree with Sam.

48:30>> Thanks.

48:31>> All right. All those in favor?

48:32>> I.

48:34>> Any opposed?

48:35>> All right. It's a vote. Do we need

48:37executive session tonight?

48:39I do not believe we need executive.

48:42>> I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn.

48:45>> I'll make a motion to adjurnn.

48:47>> I'll second.

48:48>> Any discussion? Nothing, Piper. All

48:50right. [laughter] All those in favor?

48:53>> I

48:53>> I