2026-10-05 - Finance Committee

00:09Time having arrived, I call this meeting

00:11of the city council's finance committee

00:13to order. Would you all please stand and

00:16join me in saluting our flag?

00:18I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

00:21United States of America and to the

00:23republic for which it stands, one nation

00:26under God, indivisible, with liberty and

00:29justice for all.

00:32>> Counselors, before we begin, um I have

00:35heard from councelor Farwell. Uh he says

00:38he's unable to attend tonight due to a

00:41uh family matter and he wanted that just

00:44reflected on the record. Mr. Clerk.

00:47>> Item one, we have the appointment of

00:48David L. Williams Jr. residing at 53

00:50Cabat Street, Brockton, Mass, to the

00:52Commission on Human Rights, Diversity,

00:54Equity, and Inclusion as a regular

00:56member for a three-year term effective

00:58September 2026

01:00and expiring September 2029. Invited

01:03David L. Williams, Jr.,

01:05>> I thank you for the opportunity to be

01:07able to serve in the city of Brockton,

01:09and I thank you for the opportunity to

01:10be able to be on the commission, and I'm

01:12looking forward to serving.

01:14>> Thank you.

01:15>> Thank you.

01:16Council motion

01:18>> motion to recommend favorably.

01:19>> Second on the motion. You have something

01:21council.

01:22>> Yeah, I I met Mr. Williams in the

01:24elevator. Fine gentlemen. We got along

01:27and I I think you'll bring a lot of good

01:29wisdom to the to the commission. Thank

01:31you.

01:31>> Looking forward to the

01:32>> Sounds like things are going up.

01:33>> Yeah.

01:34>> Motion's been properly made and

01:35seconded. All in favor? All opposed?

01:38Motion passes.

01:39>> Congratulations, sir.

01:40>> Williams.

01:40>> Thank you, sir. Item two, we have the

01:42reappointment of Bishop Matthew Deles,

01:44may of 14 Clifford a Brockton Mass to

01:46the library board of trustees for a

01:47three-year term effective retroactively

01:50for March 2026 and ending in March 2029.

01:53Invited Bishop Deiseme and I did receive

01:55a communication this morning. I I

01:58received the reappointment invitation

01:59this morning. Unfortunately, I won't be

02:00able to attend the meeting because I

02:02will be out of the US almost the whole

02:04month of October starting next week. I

02:06am going on a religious trip to the

02:07seven churches of Asia Minor. Would we

02:10please reschedule this or it's up to the

02:12council can vote on it?

02:14>> Mr. Chairman Zack,

02:16>> thank you. Um, Mr. um, Bishop Deise may

02:19this is a reappointment. So I think if

02:21we if my counsel fellow counselors don't

02:24disagree, we can um, just motion to send

02:28this favorably back to the full city

02:30council.

02:30>> Second.

02:31>> Motion has been properly made and

02:33seconded. All in favor? All opposed?

02:35Motion passes. Thank you, councelor.

02:38Item three, we have the appointment of

02:39Rachel Oly Ukrain of 11 North Leaden

02:42Street Brockton, Mass to the Women's

02:43Commission for a three-year term ending

02:45in September 2029. Invited Rachel Oly

02:48Ukrain.

02:49>> Thank you for having me and I'm very

02:51glad and very privileged uh to be given

02:54this opportunity to serve in a woman

02:58commission organization for city of

03:00Bronton. So I'm very grateful.

03:03>> Thank you.

03:03>> Motion to recommend favorably back to

03:05the full city council. Second.

03:07>> Motion has been properly made and

03:09seconded. All in favor?

03:10>> All opposed? Motion passes.

03:12>> Thank you.

03:12>> Thank you.

03:13>> Thank you.

03:14>> Thank you.

03:14>> Item four, we have the appointment of

03:16Minutuchka Casmir of 29 Albert Street,

03:18Brockton Mass to the women's commission

03:19for a three-year term ending in August

03:222029. Invited Manua Casmir.

03:24>> Anything you'd like to say to the

03:25council?

03:26>> Um, I just want to thank you for the

03:28opportunity to serve in the Brockton

03:30Women's Council. Um, I've been in

03:31Brockton almost all my life and I'm

03:33excited about this opportunity. Motion

03:36to recommend favorably back to the full

03:38city council.

03:38>> Second.

03:39>> Motion properly made and seconded. All

03:41in favor?

03:43>> All opposed. Motion passes. Thank you.

03:45>> Good luck, ma'am.

03:45>> Thank you.

03:46>> Item five, we have the appointment of

03:47Geraldine Smith Corette of 411 Winter

03:50Street Brockton Mass to the women's

03:52commission for a three-year term ending

03:54in June 2029. Invited Geraldine Smith

03:56Corette. Um, very succinctly, I would

03:59like to say thank you for the

04:00opportunity to be an appointee to the

04:02Broton Women's Commission, and I look

04:04forward to leveraging my 30 years of

04:06experience in the public sector to

04:07support the Brockton Women's Commission.

04:09>> Motion to recommend favorably back to

04:11the full city council.

04:13>> Second.

04:13>> Motion's been properly made and

04:15seconded. On the motion, Council Castro,

04:17>> Gerilyn, is this an uh your first

04:20appointment or are you being

04:21reappointed?

04:22>> This is my first appointment.

04:23>> Okay, that's good. Good luck to you.

04:25Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President.

04:27Thank you.

04:28>> All right, motion's been properly made

04:30and seconded. All in favor?

04:31>> All opposed? The motion passes. Thank

04:34you.

04:34>> Thank you.

04:35>> Good luck, ma'am.

04:35>> We have the appointment of Janon Rollins

04:37of 81 Oak Street, Brox and Mass to the

04:39women's commission for a three-year term

04:40ending in July 2029. Invited Janon

04:43Rollins.

04:44>> Good evening.

04:45>> Good evening. Uh, thank you so much for

04:48this opportunity. I am looking forward

04:49to serving on the Brockton Women's

04:51Commission. I've lived in Brockton for a

04:53good 15 years and I'm so excited to be

04:56able to serve in the community. Thank

04:57you.

04:58>> Thank you.

04:58>> Motion to recommend favorably back to

05:00the full city council.

05:02>> And it's nice to see some ward seven uh

05:05constituents.

05:06>> Thank you for your service, ladies.

05:08>> We had a couple of W sixes.

05:10>> A motion's been properly made and

05:12seconded. All in favor? All opposed?

05:16>> Matters approved.

05:18Item seven, ordered that the city of

05:19Brockton appropriates the amount of

05:21$1,600,000 for purchasing rubbish

05:23barrels. To meet this appropriation, the

05:25city treasurer with the approval of the

05:27mayor is authorized to borrow set amount

05:29under master law chapter 44 section 7-1

05:32or pursuant to any other enabling

05:34authority and to issue bonds and notes

05:35of the city. Therefore, invited

05:37treasurer Martin Broofphy andor

05:39designate DPW Commissioner Patrick Hill

05:41andor designate interim CFO John Condan

05:44andor designate and I did re receive in

05:46communication from Mr. Broofphy who was

05:48unable to be here this evening.

05:49>> Uh I think for the time being um I guess

05:52we could ask you guys to table this. I

05:54think we're uh uh reconsidering our

05:57options and when we have a more

05:59substantial answer or an actual answer

06:01as to what the approach will be, we'll

06:03come back to the council and ask for

06:05appropriation if necessary.

06:07>> Motion to table.

06:08>> Second.

06:09>> Motion is properly made and seconded to

06:11table. All in favor? All opposed?

06:13>> Thank you.

06:13>> The matter is tabled.

06:14>> Thank you.

06:15>> Thank you.

06:16Item eight, ordered in compliance with

06:18the provision of the election law as

06:20notice is hereby given that the state

06:21election will be held on Tuesday,

06:22November 3rd, 2026 in the attached

06:25polling places. No changes from the

06:27primary. Said voters will then in their

06:29respective polling places give in their

06:31votes each on one piece of paper to the

06:33warden for the election of candidates

06:34for the following named officers.

06:36Senator in Congress, Governor,

06:37Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General,

06:39Secretary of the Commonwealth,

06:41Treasurer, Auditor, Representative in

06:43Congress, Governor's Council for the

06:45Fourth Counselor District, State Senator

06:47and General Court for the 9th, excuse

06:49me, second Plymouth and Bristol

06:50Senatorial District, State

06:52Representative in General Court for the

06:539th, 10th, and 11th Representative

06:55District, District Attorney in Plymouth

06:57County, Register of Probate, County

06:59Treasurer in Plymouth County, County

07:00Commissioner in Plymouth County,

07:02Regional School Committee, and uh nine

07:05ballot questions as attached

07:08invited. Uh Cynthia Scraani.

07:11>> Okay. So, as you know, I am Cynthia

07:13Hogan. I am the executive director of

07:15elections. Uh the election day is

07:19November 3rd.

07:21Uh the deadline to register to vote is

07:23Saturday, October 24th. The deadline for

07:27us to receive uh vote by mail

07:28applications is 5:00 p.m. Tuesday,

07:31October 27th.

07:33The deadline to vote absentee in person

07:36is 12:00 p.m. Monday, o November 2nd.

07:41>> Thank you.

07:41>> Um, everybody should have received these

07:44books that will tell you about the nine

07:47questions and what a yay or nay vote

07:49means.

07:52The ballot

07:55is three pages long.

08:00I thought I brought one, but the ballot

08:01is three pages. On one side is um all

08:06the offices that are up and two

08:09questions. On the back of that is

08:10question three, four, five, and six. And

08:13on the second page is questions seven,

08:16eight, and nine.

08:19I have nothing else. If you have any

08:20questions for me,

08:22>> councelor Isac.

08:24>> Thank you. Good evening, Madame

08:25Director. So, I've

08:28been to a lot of elections, voted many

08:31elections. I don't remember multiple

08:33pages. So, how that's going to be crazy.

08:37>> It I have never in my tenure as as

08:41executive director or when I was just in

08:43the office ever had I think this is the

08:45first time Massachusetts has ever had

08:48this many ballot questions. So, yes, it

08:51should be. Um,

08:52>> so is it detached or how is it? Is it

08:54>> They are detached. two pages. First page

08:56is like I said the office is in two

08:58questions. The other side is uh

09:01questions three through six and then

09:04this one here is 7 8 9.

09:08>> Okay. So that's going well I'm praying

09:12>> I want to remind the voters that you

09:15don't have to vote every race or you

09:18don't have to vote on any every

09:20question. If you want to leave something

09:22blank, you absolutely can leave

09:24something blank. If you don't want to

09:26vote for an office, you don't have to.

09:29>> Okay.

09:30>> So, I I'm only imagining the end of the

09:33night when hopefully they match up. So,

09:36I'll be praying.

09:37>> Very interesting.

09:39>> Yes. Well, thank you. Thank you for all

09:41you do.

09:41>> I'm all set, Mr. Chairman.

09:43>> Thank you, councelor. Councelor

09:44Charnell.

09:45>> Uh, just a quick question. And so the

09:47governor's council is the fourth

09:51district or the second

09:56>> governor's counselor is for us the

09:59fourth district, right?

10:01>> No.

10:02>> No.

10:02>> Second district. Second district. It's

10:04the second district.

10:05>> So that just needs to be fixed in

10:07>> it says second on it.

10:10>> That's governor council for the fourth

10:11>> on the order before us is fourth. Uh

10:13that'll be a scrivener's error that will

10:15correct. Should be second then.

10:17>> Uh it should be second.

10:19>> We will correct that on the final

10:20paperwork. Council.

10:21>> Okay.

10:22>> There's a scriven error.

10:26>> Thank you.

10:27>> Thank you, Council Thompson.

10:28>> Uh thank you uh Mr. Chairman. Uh good

10:30evening. Um Commissioner,

10:33just want to confirm are schools closed

10:35that day or are they open?

10:36>> Schools will be closed that day. Yes.

10:38>> Okay. Um and what about our uh polling

10:42officials? Do you have a full full staff

10:43for this upcoming election?

10:45>> We do have a full staff. Yes, we will be

10:47holding another warden clerk meeting

10:49because of the two ballots, but we are

10:52staffed, but if anybody wants to come

10:54and work, we are always taking new

10:58people and hoping they'll stay.

11:01>> Can can you announce where the uh warden

11:03staff meeting will be uh place in time?

11:06So, if somebody does want to come join

11:08or how does that go? So while the warden

11:10warden clerk position it's not really

11:13open to just we'll use the wardens and

11:15clerks we have someone would have to

11:17start working as an inspector do an

11:19inspector and then they would move up to

11:20warden and clerk. But if someone as if

11:23an inspector if someone wants to come

11:25and be an inspector they can just give

11:27the office a call. We can make

11:29arrangements for them to come in. We'll

11:31have a little conversation and then

11:32we'll send them off to work.

11:34>> Great. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

11:37>> Thank you, counselor. Council Niccastro

11:40followed by Council Green.

11:41>> Good evening.

11:42>> Good evening.

11:42>> Thank you for forwarding to me the list

11:44of dates and times and location for the

11:47early voting. Um is that being

11:50circulated widely?

11:51>> It's it's on our website. It's on um

11:54Suzanne does the city of Brockton

11:57Facebook page. It's on that

12:00um it's in our office. Perhaps you could

12:03just for the listening audience uh

12:05announce the range of dates when it

12:07begins and when when the last day is.

12:10>> Certainly. So early voting starts

12:11Saturday, October 17th, and it ends on

12:14Friday, October 30th. That's two

12:16weekends, two Saturdays and Sundays, the

12:1817th, the 18th, and the 24th and 25th.

12:23Both weekend days will be open 9:00 a.m.

12:25to 3:00 p.m. During the week, Monday,

12:29Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, we'll open

12:318:30 to 4:30. And on Wednesday, we'll be

12:34open 8:30 to 7:00 p.m.

12:36>> And the location

12:38>> And the location will be the same as it

12:40was last last election at Westgate Mall.

12:44Enter through the T-Mobile entrance. You

12:46just walk up the hallway and we're right

12:48there on the left. And that entrance is

12:51on the Market Basket, supermarket side.

12:54>> No, it's on by Burlington Coat Factory,

12:56T-Mobile Further down Dicks over that

12:59way.

12:59>> Okay, very good. Thank you. Thank you,

13:02Mr. Chair.

13:02>> Thank you, councelor. Council Green,

13:05>> I'm just curious as to So, since this is

13:08the first we're having a multiple um

13:10pages on the other ballot, I'm just

13:12curious how how that's being handled for

13:15the other machine count.

13:18um

13:20two pages. Um and in addition to uh to

13:24that, if if a voter decides not to vote

13:29on any of the uh the questions, they're

13:32still feeding that through the the

13:34machine. Correct.

13:35>> Correct.

13:37>> Okay. So,

13:42so normally you on the counter it would

13:44have how many people have come in and

13:46vote voted and that's how many ballots

13:48have been cast. Now we would of course

13:50have to double it. If someone returns

13:53like if they we mail out a ballot and

13:55they mail it back to us and they only

13:57return the first page, the first page

14:01would go through the machine but the

14:02machine would read the others as blanks.

14:05If there's if there if there is no

14:07ballot for it, the machine would read it

14:09as it's a blank. So, they would just get

14:12blanks.

14:14But as far as the counter on the

14:16machine, it will not be accurate because

14:20unless they turn in both pages, if I had

14:2350 voters come in on that tabulator, it

14:26should say there are 100 ballots because

14:28there's two. Um, but if they only return

14:32one, then it'd be 99.

14:35so to speak. So,

14:38it's going to be a challenge.

14:40>> Um, yeah, I think I think so.

14:43>> It's going to be a challenge, but I

14:45think we're we can handle it.

14:48>> Okay. All right. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

14:52>> Thank you, council. Is there a motion?

14:54>> Motion to recommend favorably back to

14:56the full city council.

14:57>> Second.

14:57>> Motion's been properly made and

14:59seconded. All in favor? All opposed? The

15:01motion passes. Thank you, madam

15:03director. Thank you.

15:06>> Thank you. Good evening, councils.

15:08>> Thank you.

15:12>> Item nine, ordered in accordance with

15:14the general laws of Massachusetts

15:15chapter 44, recommending that the city

15:17council approve the expenditure of $40

15:20from mayor purchase of services to

15:22printing unlimited invited mayor Moses

15:24Rodriguez andor designate interim CFO

15:27John Condon andor designate.

15:29>> Good evening,

15:30>> councilors. The uh the reason this is

15:34before you is a uh the general laws

15:36require if a prior fiscal year invoice

15:38isn't paid from those funds and these

15:40funds have been closed out now then it

15:42has to be paid for from the next year

15:44and that takes a vote of the city

15:45council. So this is $40 that didn't get

15:48paid last year.

15:49>> Motion to recommend favorably back to

15:51the full city council.

15:53>> Second.

15:53>> Motion is properly made and seconded.

15:55All in favor? All opposed? Motion

15:57passes. Thank you. Item 10 ordered that

15:59the following name sum be the same as

16:01hereby transferred as the same was

16:02submitted by the mayor as follows.

16:04transfer of 33, excuse me, $33,000

16:08from Mayor Youth Task Force to DPW

16:10Refugees Personal Services Non-overtime

16:13invited Mayor Moses Rodriguez and/or

16:15designate DPW Commissioner Patrick Hill

16:18andor designate interim CFO John Condan

16:20andor designate.

16:22>> Good evening, commissioner. Good

16:23evening, Mr.

16:24>> I'll start. This this is a transfer

16:25between departments that takes the uh

16:28acceptance of the transfer by the

16:30granting department and it takes a

16:31two-thirds vote of the council to pass

16:33it. Patrick can talk about the

16:35>> Yeah, this is a program that we run

16:36every year. We had a uh pretty active uh

16:40participation in the program this year

16:41where we were able to employ a lot of

16:44the city youth. Um the line item in the

16:50refugees budget is $75,000. We were um

16:53typically we don't ever even come close

16:56to breaching that, but this year we did.

16:58uh we had I think 60 somewhat kids

17:01participating in different departments

17:04uh throughout the city for six to seven

17:06weeks.

17:10>> Great motion.

17:11>> Council motion to recommend favorably.

17:13>> Second

17:14>> on the motion. Councelor Green,

17:18>> just a couple questions on this. uh

17:20commissioner um how many um youth

17:26were you looking to uh provide

17:27opportunities for?

17:28>> So this year I I believe it was

17:30somewhere between six we had we had 63

17:34people this year where in the prior

17:36years we've had uh 10 sometimes 15 to 20

17:41uh but we've never really breached that

17:4330 marker uh not in five or six years

17:47anyway. Uh so we had a pretty active uh

17:51youth I guess youth participation. So uh

17:54we we we actually got so many kids that

17:56we were able to kind of help out some of

17:58the other departments um offsetting some

18:01of their uh workloads.

18:04>> That's awesome. Great. Um how is this

18:07program advertised?

18:09>> So we advertise it every year. It's

18:10advertised online with the rest of the

18:12jobs um on interview exchange which is

18:14posted uh on the city web page. uh it

18:17doesn't get posted until

18:20um after the budget has been finalized

18:22because typically the funding mechanism

18:25for this is based on uh the budget

18:28approval. So that doesn't usually happen

18:30till the third week in June. Um, I'm I

18:33have been working closely with uh Nelson

18:36in the mayor's office, which is um you

18:39know, we're going to try to get this out

18:40a little bit earlier so that we can get

18:42kids in a little bit earlier and then we

18:44can get kids active um for a little bit

18:46longer. So, next year we expect to see

18:48some changes, but uh this year it was

18:51kind of status quo where we weren't able

18:52to really post the job until uh the

18:56third week in in June. So it it kind of

18:58slows the process down a little bit

19:00where we're not getting kids until the

19:01second third week in July

19:03>> where if we were able to post a little

19:05bit earlier, we could probably get kids,

19:06you know, right out of um right out of

19:09school sometime in June and then have

19:11them for a full 8 weeks as opposed to

19:13the five or six weeks that we typically

19:15see.

19:16>> Okay. All right. Um and these these are

19:18for kids who live in the city of

19:20Brockton. The

19:21>> these are all Brockton kids. Yep.

19:22>> Okay. All right. Um could you just uh

19:25tell us uh last question what uh what

19:27kind of jobs do they do? What kind of

19:28the nature of the work they do?

19:30>> The the program kind of is is kind of

19:32evolving uh right you know in the

19:34beginning it's always been uh people

19:36that are you know we we have people go

19:38out and um pick problem areas that that

19:41see a lot of trash. So um you know in

19:44the past we would get four or five

19:46groups of kids and we would kind of

19:47scatter them around the city into areas

19:49that we see a lot of trash buildup. So,

19:52um, you know, kids will meet on site.

19:54They will have a supervisor. There'll be

19:56four or five kids in each group and they

19:58will pick trash in a particular area and

20:00they're monitored by my staff throughout

20:03the day, making sure they have water,

20:04making sure they get breaks, making sure

20:05they're I guess behaving because we've

20:08had some behavioral issues in the past,

20:09too. Um this year we were able to kind

20:12of because we got so many or so much

20:15interest we were able to kind of you

20:17know take some people in some of the

20:19different departments to kind of offset

20:20some of their workloads. Um where

20:22there's you know a lot of a lot of uh

20:25paper I guess flying around this

20:27building all the time and there's

20:28there's a lot of work that's involved in

20:30you know sorting and filing and doing a

20:32lot of that stuff. So, a lot of the uh

20:35departments throughout the city were

20:36interested in taking on some of these

20:38youths to try to assist in helping out

20:41with some of their workloads. So, you

20:43know, we we kind of divvied up what we

20:46had and we put uh 25 kids or so out in

20:50the and picking trash and that in that

20:52uh aspect. And then the rest of the

20:54kids, we were able to kind of, you know,

20:56help with the we helped with the

20:57custodians. We helped with, you know,

20:59uh, HR with some of their filings, some

21:02of my filings, some of, you know, um,

21:05every department's needs.

21:07>> Okay, great. Thank you. Well, this is

21:08wonderful. I'm glad to see the growth

21:10and I hope we can, uh, continue to

21:13identify funding to support um, these

21:16opportunities for our youth. So, I

21:18commend you and the team and mayor's

21:20office for the commitment to u

21:22supporting these um, youth programs.

21:25You're very critical. So, thank you,

21:26Commissioner. Thank you, Counc.

21:28>> Thank you, counselor. There's a motion

21:30properly made and seconded. All in

21:31favor? All opposed? The motion passes.

21:34>> Thank you, council.

21:35>> Commissioner,

21:36>> item 11, ordered in accordance with the

21:38general laws of Massachusetts, chapter

21:3944, recommending the city council

21:42approve the expenditure of $17,25744

21:47from police purchase of service,

21:49$8,886.19

21:52from police goods and supplies,

21:53$8,371.25

21:5525 cents. Two, B&B car wash, East

21:58Bridgewater Police, Whitman Police,

22:00Halifax Police, New England Drama,

22:02Liberty Printing, WB Mason, Whitmer,

22:04Triple AAA Police Supply, The Secret

22:06Garden, Seya Motor Freight, Vortex, and

22:09Camco, Invited Police Chief Brenda Perez

22:11or her designate, interim CFO John Con

22:14andor designate.

22:15>> Good evening, C.

22:16>> Okay, councils in general, this is the

22:17same as the last uh two items ago. This

22:20is a bunch of invoices that came in past

22:22the time to pay them out of the fiscal

22:2426 appropriation. We're requesting uh

22:27the authority to pay them out of 27 and

22:29the vendors are listed in the reading of

22:31the appropriation request.

22:34>> Council

22:38favorably back to the full city council.

22:41>> Motion properly and seconded. All in

22:44favor? All opposed? The motion passes.

22:47Thank you, Mr. CFO. Thank you, Captain.

22:51>> Item 12, resolve. Be it resolved by the

22:53Brockton City Council to invite police

22:54chief Brenda Perez, city solicitor named

22:56O'Brien, Chief Information Officer Jorge

22:59Vega, and interim commissioner of

23:00buildings William Forte Forte or their

23:03respective design to appear before the

23:05council to discuss surveillance

23:06technology especially flock safety

23:08cameras and automated license plate

23:10readers, technology, placement and

23:12approval policies and legal

23:14requirements, data collection and

23:15retention, access and sharing of

23:17collected data, privacy protections,

23:19costs, oversight and transparency

23:22measure. and to discuss the deployment

23:23of security personnel or devices or

23:26strategies with respect to them under

23:27Mass General laws check chapter 3A

23:30section 21 section A-4 invited police

23:34chief Brendon Perez andor designate city

23:36solicitor James O'Brien andor designate

23:39chief information officer Jorge Vega our

23:41designate interim build commissioner of

23:43buildings William Fort andor designign

23:46>> green

23:46>> Mr. here. Um due to some um availability

23:50u challenges of the invitees, I would

23:52like to move that we uh move this to the

23:56next uh FINCOM meeting.

23:57>> Second.

23:59>> Motion is properly made and seconded to

24:01postpone this matter to the next FINCOM

24:02meeting. All in favor? All opposed? The

24:05matter is postponed. Thank you,

24:06councelor.

24:08Item 13, resolve. Whereas significant

24:11changes in zoning relating to the

24:12downtown smart growth overlay district

24:14were introduced before the city council

24:16on September 14th, 2026. And whereas

24:19zoning issues which could have a pro

24:20profound impact on businesses,

24:22residents, public safety, including fire

24:24safety as well as housing development in

24:26the downtown district need careful

24:28review by all counselors in addition to

24:29councilors serving on the ordinance

24:31committee. And whereas residents watch

24:33finance committee meetings to gain

24:34insight and information into public

24:36policy changes which affect the city.

24:38And whereas it appears many of the

24:39zoning changes are targeted for land

24:41parcels owned by the old colony YMCA

24:43located at 320 Main Street. Now

24:45therefore be it resolved to have

24:46legislative council Shannon Resnik be

24:48invited to a meeting of the council to

24:50present a detailed analysis of the legal

24:52changes contained in the current zoning

24:54proposal provided further that executive

24:56director of the old colony YMCA

24:58fire chief Brian Nadelli and such other

25:00staff as Chief Nandelli determines

25:02appropriate appear to provide

25:04information on YMCA development plans

25:06and any fire safety issues which may be

25:08anticipated with such development.

25:10Council Castro.

25:12>> Um,

25:14Councelor Farwell sponsored this and he

25:18asked since he's unable to be here this

25:20evening that that the matter be

25:22postponed to the next finance committee

25:24meeting. So I hereby make that motion.

25:27>> Second.

25:28>> Second.

25:28>> Motion's properly made and seconded to

25:30postpone. All in favor? All opposed? The

25:33matter is postponed.

25:34>> Thank you.

25:35>> Item 14 resolved. be resolved to have

25:38Clayton Barrows, director of youth

25:39affairs and special projects in Mayor

25:41Rodriguez's office to appear before the

25:43standing committee on finance to give

25:44the city council an update on youth

25:46programs and initiatives that he is

25:48currently working on for the people of

25:49Brockton. Invited Clayton Barrows.

25:52>> Good evening, Mr. Barrows.

25:54>> Good evening, Mr. President, members of

25:56the city council and everyone join us

25:58tonight. Uh I want to thank um the

26:01council tera for inviting me to speak uh

26:06with you all about the work we have been

26:08doing since this administration take

26:10office in January.

26:13In the spring we relaunched the mayor's

26:15youth council with 19 middle school and

26:18high school students across Brockton.

26:21They meet throughout the spring and are

26:24coming back this fall to work on the new

26:26youth focus initiatives.

26:29Near the end of the last fiscal year,

26:32the mayor's office gave out $50,000 in

26:35grant to five local organizations,

26:38including the Boys and Girls Club, Hoops

26:40Alliance, Friends and Mentors, the Give

26:44Back, and Web Weekend for uh FY27.

26:50We w we are rebranding this grants as

26:53the youth opportunity fund and will be

26:56launching application the next couple

26:58months to support additional youth

27:01programs across our city. Going forward,

27:05the mayor's youth council will actually

27:08manage the the the grant as youth

27:12opportunity fund grant and it's a great

27:14way to give out the youth a real seat at

27:19the table and let them decide where the

27:21city investments can make the biggest uh

27:24difference. In the summer uh 2026 uh we

27:29had the Brockton after dark. We welcomed

27:31252 kids. It was a free evening

27:34activities including soccer, swimming,

27:37drama, tennis, flag football and every

27:40child has uh had opportunity to have a

27:44free meal throughout the summer eat

27:46program and this year was the most

27:48successful uh Brockton after. We had uh

27:5240 uh 40 to 50 kids more than the past

27:56uh 10 years. And uh we also had the

27:59summer youth program that the

28:00commissioner already uh spoke about it

28:03and it was in partnership with the DPW

28:05and other city office. And we hired 63

28:08uh young people for some um youth job

28:12program. They had to work earn an income

28:15and support departments like uh public

28:18property, elections, economic

28:21development, the mayor's office,

28:22custodians and HR

28:26as well. Uh thanks to the US Conference

28:28of Mayors and FIFA, we received 200 new

28:31soccer balls. In July, we had

28:34opportunity to donate 100 of them to um

28:38sport uh to youth sport leagues and hand

28:41out another 100 directly to the kids

28:45across the city of Brockton.

28:48Right now, we working with our IT team

28:50to build a centralized youth resource

28:53web page. We're calling youth link on

28:56brockton.gov where family can easily

28:58find jobs program and support service

29:01for Brockton kids. We recently apply uh

29:05for a $25,000 grant from the mayor's

29:09action fund to help fight child hunger

29:12through local grocery stores vouchers

29:15and SNAP outreach. We we've been also uh

29:19busy hosting events that build community

29:23pride and bringing people to city hall

29:25plaza. This past spring we organized

29:29three citywide cleanups through our

29:31neighborhood streets parks and I want to

29:34give a special thanks uh to councelor uh

29:38Charnell and councelor de Rosa for

29:40joining us during those um cleanups. We

29:43also coordinate a nine weeks uh summer

29:47yo summer um mayor concert series and

29:50partner with the radio for three

29:52additions of kizoma naru events at city

29:55hall plaza this summer thanks to a grant

29:58we received from the state we were able

30:00to host three FIFA watch party in the

30:02city two at the campelli stadium and one

30:05at city hall plaza we also hosted a

30:08family fun day in June in partnership

30:10with the all about you uh adult foster

30:13here. This year I had the opportunity to

30:16bring up to bring to city hall uh three

30:18um SU students from the Cape Vern

30:21Association for guided tours of city

30:24hall and I want to thanks the counselor

30:27um Jeff Thompson who was able to explain

30:31to them how the city council works. In

30:34addition to my work with youth, I also

30:36serve as a liaison to the Cape Verdian

30:38community where I work closely with the

30:41local families and the Cape Verian

30:42consulate. I handle bookings as

30:45scheduling uh for the Shaw Center, help

30:48manage our city social media and public

30:51updates and oversee the recruitment the

30:53process for city boards and commission.

30:56Additionally, support the chief of staff

30:58Nelson Fernandez on high level

31:00initiatives and process improvements and

31:03track key projects using new project

31:05management tool that our chief of staff

31:07implement in the spring. Some of the

31:10initiatives I help him with, we launched

31:12the mayor's office hours which is going

31:15very great. Planning the annual uh

31:17holiday parade, you all invited for that

31:20and bring a new soccer field at snow

31:23park just to name a few of them. At the

31:26end of the day, everything we do comes

31:28with a down to one goal. Making sure

31:30Brockton's youth have a real support,

31:33our residents feel connect to city hall.

31:35Thank you for your time. Thank you for

31:37your invitation and I continue and your

31:39continued partnership. I'm happy to

31:41answer any questions you might have.

31:44>> Thank you, Mr. Barrows. Council Texer,

31:46you're the sponsor on this if you want

31:48to start.

31:49>> Thank you, uh, Council President. Thank

31:51you, Mr. embarrassed to be here and

31:52provide us with the information that

31:54about the youth

31:56by uh listen to you. You guys are doing

32:00great job with the youth and let's keep

32:03our kids safe and let's uh make sure

32:06that we keep them

32:09busy especially through the summer.

32:12Let's find enough program to make sure

32:14that we can fund them and uh because

32:17that the youth they they the future of

32:20our city and uh we need to invest on

32:23them

32:25early enough before they go to the

32:29wrong path. Um but great information and

32:33thank you for being here to provide us

32:36with all this information that I had no

32:38idea you guys were doing this much for

32:40uh for the youth. Appreciate

32:42Thank you.

32:43>> Thank you.

32:43>> Thank you, Council President.

32:45>> Councelor Griffin.

32:46>> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, good

32:48evening, Mr. Barrows. I just want to

32:50thank you for the job you did this

32:51summer. I had the opportunity to speak

32:53to several of your employees during the

32:55summer. They're very well supervised,

32:57seem to be enjoying themselves, and uh,

33:00more importantly, they're learning good

33:01work, ethics, and how to work. And I

33:04think that's very important for our

33:05young people. So, I want to just

33:08congratulate you on a job well done and

33:10just encourage you to keep pushing

33:11forward with it. Thank you very much,

33:13Mr. Chairman.

33:14>> Thank you.

33:15>> Thank you, councelor.

33:17Councelor Green, followed by Councelor

33:19Charnell.

33:21>> Uh, Mr. Barrows, thank you for um this

33:24great report and thank you for the good

33:26news. Um it's good to have some good

33:27news and um appreciate

33:30um the work um that um your uh your

33:35office and the mayor's office um well

33:38your team within the mayor's office is

33:39doing for our um youth um across the

33:44other city. You know, that's one of the

33:46things that I

33:48um keep I'm hearing over and over again

33:50from both youth and parents as well. we

33:53need um more options and more

33:56opportunities um to engage um and to

34:00empower our um youth um throughout the

34:03city. So, it's it's it's really exciting

34:06to um see this report. Um would you be

34:09able to share this report with us um as

34:12a council so we have that information as

34:14well? I think you mentioned quite a

34:15number of things here which I think is

34:17very important um for the uh the

34:19community to just be aware of um not

34:23just you know in one moment in time but

34:25I think um continually these are things

34:28that's worth highlighting and um

34:30celebrating um throughout um throughout

34:33the year. Um

34:36just a couple of questions um for you

34:38and I'm sorry I missed this. Um on the

34:40uh the Brockton after dark events um

34:45what what was the u the attendance?

34:49>> 252.

34:51>> How much?

34:52>> 25.

34:53>> 252. Okay. And you're saying it's 40 to

34:5550 kids more than what you've seen in

34:58previous in previous years?

35:00>> Yes.

35:00>> That's incredible. That's great. Um,

35:03right. Uh, all these programs and these

35:06opportunities, where are they, uh,

35:09typically advertised?

35:11>> On the city's website, social media.

35:14>> Okay.

35:16>> All right. Great. Great. Wonderful work.

35:19I think it's worth um celebrating. Um,

35:21so if you if you can share that with us,

35:23I'm happy to kind of uh put it out there

35:26and let and let the community um know we

35:28we have some wins and uh it's worth um

35:30celebrating. So again, your hard work.

35:34>> Thank you, Mr. Chair.

35:35>> Thank you, councelor. Councelor Shaell,

35:37followed by Council D. Rosa.

35:39>> Um, Mr. Barl, great work in the

35:42community with our youth. Uh, as we all

35:44know, the youth is the future of our

35:47community. Do have a couple of

35:49questions. Um, you talked about

35:51launching u the application for uh the

35:55youth um in the next coming months. Can

35:58you just tell us what you're looking to

36:02for example what criteria you're looking

36:05for in the youth and um what priorities

36:10um in FY27

36:13will you be initiating with the next

36:16group of youth that or this maybe the

36:17same ones

36:18>> we still we still in the process uh to

36:21finalize um all this uh criterias and

36:26requirements but it's going be a

36:28Brockton uh based organizations just uh

36:32to name one of them but when I have the

36:36information I can follow up with you.

36:37>> Thank you. And just my other question um

36:41um in your role as the liaison between

36:44the Kverian um community. Can you

36:46discuss some of the the concerns that

36:49are out there? some of the pri uh the

36:51priorities that um and initiatives that

36:54you can see that may help you know cate

36:57the cavedian community the Guatemalan

36:59Haitian um any of the communities when

37:02they when you're um doing your work

37:06>> um we just need to be more open um and

37:10be out there to listen to them and

37:13trying to solve the problems the

37:16question that they may have.

37:19Thank Thank you, Mr. President. Thank

37:20you, M. And continue to do the great

37:24work and that you're doing. I see you at

37:26every event I am at. Um, and you're

37:28always smiling. Um, and I always see you

37:31with the youth. Um, and again, I think

37:34that you are really one of the stewards

37:36of our community and we absolutely need

37:39you and we uh need to continue to

37:42support you not only in meetings like

37:45this, but you know, you can't do

37:46anything without money. So, we have to

37:48make sure that we're financially

37:49supporting you as well. Thank you, Mr.

37:51President.

37:51>> Thank you, council. Councelor D. Rosha.

37:53>> Thank you, President. Um, thank you, um,

37:56Mr. Barrows for being here tonight. I

37:59actually don't really have much

38:00question. I just wanted to commend you.

38:02Um, numbers don't lie. So, it's under

38:04your leadership that the number has

38:06increased and job well done. And I want

38:09to commend your office and uh,

38:11leadership of Mr. Nelson Fernandez as

38:13well for guiding you and hopefully next

38:16year increases. So, good luck.

38:18>> Thank you, councelor.

38:19>> Thank you, President.

38:20>> Thank you, counselor. Councelor Azac.

38:23>> Yes. Thank you. I don't have a question,

38:25but I also want to just say thank you

38:27for all you do and great job. Um, and

38:30looking forward to seeing the uh numbers

38:32increase. Thank you.

38:34>> Any other counselor Tavaris? also uh

38:39yes also myself I want to thank you

38:42actually for all you do and always like

38:44you know uh my colleague just said uh

38:47always you put smile on your face and uh

38:49keep it up uh we're here to support you

38:51and to work with you

38:53>> thank you

38:53>> thank you for your support

38:54>> council is there a motion

38:55>> motion to recommend favorably

38:57>> second

38:59motion properly made and seconded all in

39:01favor all opposed matters approved thank

39:05you thanks

39:06recommended favorably.

39:08>> Item 15, resolve. Whereas the Brockton

39:10City Council is committed to continue to

39:12work cooperatively with the Brockton

39:13School Department and whereas the

39:15Massachusetts Department of Elementary

39:17and Secondary Education, DESIE, in March

39:20of 2026 in accordance with Massachusetts

39:22State Law conducted a comprehensive

39:25review of the Brockton public schools.

39:27Be it resolved to invite Dr. Priya

39:29Tahiliani, superintendent of schools and

39:31any team members as she may deem proper

39:33to appear before the finance committee

39:34of the Brockton city council to discuss

39:36the Brockton public schools

39:38comprehensive comprehensive district

39:40review report of March 2026. Invited

39:43superintendent Dr. Priya Tahiliani and

39:46Mr. uh chairman I'm going to ask you for

39:48a brief recess.

39:52>> We are back in session Mr. Clark. My

39:55apologies. I downloaded the wrong

39:56presentation from the good doctor this

39:58afternoon, but we're all set to go.

40:00>> Good evening, Madam Superintendent. Take

40:02it away.

40:03>> Good evening, everyone. Thank you so

40:04much for having me here tonight. Um, I'm

40:07excited to be here to be able to present

40:09some good news and I'll try to keep it

40:11uh short because I know everyone wants

40:12to get home. Um, so I am here this

40:16evening to present the very good results

40:18of our recent DESIE district review. So

40:21the department of elementary and

40:22secondary education is required to

40:25review all districts every 5 years. So

40:28our last district review was in 2020.

40:32You can actually go and just put into

40:34this a search engine into uh Google uh

40:37desi district review for Brockton and it

40:40will take you right to the page. They're

40:41all publicly viewable documents and you

40:44can see them for every single district.

40:45And if you go on to um the DESIE

40:49website, you will actually see the DESIE

40:52review from 2020 as well as our most

40:55recent 2026 review. And the reason I

40:57bring that up is because if you look at

41:00them side by side, you can see uh how

41:02clearly we have made um so much

41:04progress.

41:06So just as a reminder for where we have

41:09been. So our last review was in 2020 as

41:12I mentioned and uh because of the that

41:16review we actually emerged from it with

41:18a memorandum of understanding with DESIE

41:20that outlined several different areas

41:22where we needed to improve. So it

41:24included everything from curriculum to

41:27access for English learners, students

41:29with disabilities uh to finance and uh

41:33so over the next few years we were

41:35working very diligently to make sure

41:38that we were improving and Desi was

41:40monitoring us very closely. I was very

41:43proud last uh in 2024, my first year um

41:47or spring of 2025

41:49to let everybody know that we had

41:50actually demonstrated so much growth

41:52that we were able to sunset theou so we

41:56no longer had an me memorandum of

41:57understanding but then we went right

42:00into our next desi district review so

42:03they could see how we were doing. Um

42:08so these are the district indicators

42:11that they are looking for. So there are

42:13six different standards that they focus

42:15on. Um and in the next several slides

42:17I'm going to review the strengths that

42:19they identified um the areas of growth

42:21and then also some of the

42:23recommendations that we are working on

42:25this school year.

42:28So to start with the many strengths that

42:31DESIE review again just highlighted many

42:34strengths where a few years ago we may

42:35have been um lacking. So for leadership,

42:38some of our strengths were around

42:39ensuring in consistent communication and

42:42alignment between the district and the

42:45schools and that was demonstrated in our

42:47shared documents, most namely in our

42:49district school district improvement

42:51plan and our school improvement plans

42:54all the way to our classroom walkthrough

42:55tools and our coaching models. They

42:58actually also explicitly complemented

43:00the progress we have made to rebuild our

43:02relationships with the city. our

43:05greatest strengths, I'm happy to

43:06announce, were in the area of curriculum

43:08and instruction, which is absolutely

43:10incredible because again that is why um

43:13you know that is our overall mission and

43:15vision for the school system. Our

43:17strengths included all of our work

43:19around classroom walkthroughs, looking

43:21at data to inform our interventions,

43:23supporting coaching of our educators,

43:25providing highquality professional

43:27learning, and implementing highquality

43:30instructional materials for all of our

43:32learners, including our English learners

43:34and our students who are on IEPs. They

43:36also noted that our classrooms are warm,

43:39supportive, and well-managed.

43:42under the standard of assessments. They

43:44were impressed with how we use academic

43:46and non-academic data to get a

43:48comprehensive picture of our whole

43:50student and they complemented the level

43:53of language access that we provide to

43:55our multilingual students and their

43:56families. In human resources, we were

43:59commended for our workforce pipelines

44:01and pathways, our mentoring programs,

44:04our MTEL prep, which is the preparation

44:07for the tests that educators need to

44:09need to take in order to get their

44:11lensure or to get additional lensures

44:14and our university partnerships.

44:17In the area of student support, we got

44:19great feedback about our learning

44:21environments being safe, supportive, and

44:24datari, and about our school-based

44:26attendance policies, systems, and

44:29supports.

44:31They complemented also again our

44:33multilingual approach to family

44:35engagement and to the community

44:37partnerships that we have to provide

44:39families with wraparound supports. And

44:41we were also found to have a strong

44:44comprehensive and well-coordinated

44:46multi-tered system of support approach.

44:48And that is approach where we are

44:50supporting students who require multiple

44:53levels of intervention. So you have tier

44:55one students who are just um requiring

44:58the regular classroom uh setting. Uh

45:01whereas you'll have tier 2 and tier

45:03three interventions that become more

45:04intensive as the needs increase.

45:09And while I am proud to say that we have

45:11made some strides in our budgeting

45:13systems and financial management, um

45:15they are not clearly as great as the

45:17strides that we've made in curriculum

45:18and instruction. Um still that they did

45:21recognize that we have demonstrated

45:23clear growth in our improved systems and

45:25budgeting and that we now have

45:27documented procedures, structured

45:29workflows, contracting and procurement

45:32policies that are digitized. Um so that

45:34we are definitely on the right track.

45:40for our areas of growth. They I did

45:43identify that our parent advisory and

45:45engagement structures need to be more

45:46consistent across schools. And this is

45:49actually an area that we had identified

45:51as needing um more consistency. And

45:54actually right before I came here, I was

45:56in our district parent advisory council

45:58meeting um where we had actually done a

46:01survey last year about our advisory

46:04councils. And so that is where we had

46:05identified that we needed more

46:07consistency and clarity for our parents

46:09parents in the councils that we have and

46:11the way that they can engage with their

46:12schools. We also um want to be more

46:17consistent in how we all the districts

46:19and the schools communicate our progress

46:21with the community and engage our

46:23stakeholders. So Desi recommended that

46:25we build more um consistent structures

46:28for actually including families in our

46:30decisionmaking. They also recommended

46:33that we create a district-wide

46:34management system that shows how we're

46:36making progress towards our goals. So,

46:38similar to our open checkbook, this

46:39might be an online platform that shows

46:42what our strategic plan is, what our

46:43goals are, our action steps, and

46:45actually demonstrates how we are moving

46:47towards them.

46:49The only area identified for growth in

46:52the area of curriculum and instruction

46:54was in increasing our students being the

46:56ones who are doing the heavy lifting,

46:58the deep thinking and engaging in

47:00student dialogue. So again, this was a

47:02huge win for us to have this one

47:04recommendation in curriculum and

47:06instruction. So that is going to be one

47:09of our um main folky for this year for

47:13areas of growth. Also, as part of our

47:15new schedule at the high school level,

47:17they do want to see that we are building

47:19in consistent cycles of assessment and

47:21data analysis. And at all school levels,

47:24they want an area of growth that they

47:26recommended is inconsistent grading

47:28practices. So, providing both students

47:30and families with clear and timely

47:32feedback on student progress and letting

47:35families know what the expectations are

47:37very clearly.

47:40in human resources and professional

47:41development. The recommendations

47:43included continuing to digitize our

47:45personnel records, which is something

47:46that we've started, developing a formal

47:49onboarding process for all roles around

47:51the district, developing a more

47:53comprehensive professional development

47:55plan, and strengthening our induction

47:58programs for all of our educators. So,

48:00we have them for our teachers, but we

48:02don't always have mentoring support for

48:04occupational therapists or physical

48:05therapists, uh, speech and language

48:07pathologists. So having those kinds of

48:09induction programs as well under student

48:12support our recommendations were to

48:14increase the opportunities for student

48:15leadership and voice and to establish

48:17systems by which we regularly assess the

48:20impact of our community partnerships and

48:22wraparound supports.

48:24And finally, uh, in relation to our

48:27finance office, they recommended that we

48:29distill all of our policies and

48:30procedures to writing, which is

48:32something we have been working on, and

48:33that we continue to work on

48:34collaborative relationships with the

48:36city, and most importantly, that we

48:39create not only a capital plan um, for

48:42our buildings, but also for our assets

48:44overall. So, an asset tracking system

48:47um, so that we know everything that we

48:49have in our buildings from technology to

48:51furniture.

48:56So our main next major next steps that

48:58we're working on as a district um are to

49:03are listed here. Um and they are to

49:06strengthen family engagement and

49:07communication practices. Uh we also

49:10again want to be consistent across the

49:12district to ensure that every family

49:14feels involved and informed. Next, we

49:17aim to foster deeper learning

49:19experiences for students. So this means

49:21encouraging higher order thinking and

49:23promoting student-driven dialogue. When

49:25students take charge of their learning,

49:27they develop those critical skills for

49:29success. And actually I am completing my

49:32evaluation cycle to tomorrow night and

49:35will be presenting my new goals for the

49:38next evaluation cycle for this upcoming

49:40year. And many of those goals are um

49:43ones that were identified in the

49:45district review. this being the one for

49:47student learning and outcomes that I'll

49:49identify tomorrow night as my goal.

49:52Furthermore, clear communication about

49:54progress is essential and we'll achieve

49:56this by providing timely feedback to our

49:58students, maintaining consistent grading

50:00structures, and sharing progress with

50:02our families. The community will also be

50:04kept in the loop about our district-wide

50:06achievements which will help to ensure

50:08transparency and trust and which is part

50:10of the reason that I'm here this evening

50:12again to be able to present good news

50:13and to make sure that we are sharing

50:15with the community all that we have

50:17achieved. And lastly, implementing the

50:20multi-tered system of supports

50:21consistently at all levels so that we

50:24are supporting the whole child because

50:26the holistic approach addresses both

50:28academic and social emotional needs and

50:31creates a nurturing environment for

50:33every student which is our goal in the

50:34Brockton public schools.

50:37Thank you for your time and attention.

50:39And at this point, I'll take any

50:40questions if you have any.

50:42>> Thank you, Madam Superintendent.

50:43Councelor Griffin, you uh filed this

50:45resolve. Uh, you want to lead off?

50:48>> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, good

50:49evening, Madam Superintendent. Thank you

50:51for coming in tonight. Uh, good

50:53opportunity to show the great work you

50:55and your team have been doing for the

50:56schools. I just have a couple questions

50:57for you. Do you happen to know what the

51:00DESIE 2020

51:03um, wanted to know about the school

51:06financial and budgeting systems? I know

51:08you weren't here then. Do you have any

51:09recollection of that, any knowledge of

51:10that?

51:11>> Oh, absolutely. Um I did read the 2020

51:15district review um upon coming into the

51:18district um and then also during my time

51:21in the district. So it is a tool that

51:23you know district administration and

51:25leadership does use in all districts. We

51:28do view it to be sort of a road map or

51:30kind of an assessment of how we're

51:32doing. Um, so that was definitely an

51:34area where I paid a lot of attention is

51:36on the financial section of the DESIE

51:37review from 2020. And it is interesting

51:40there were a lot of uh similar themes

51:42that we've seen um in in some of the

51:46more recent reviews. So some items that

51:49they um wanted to see more of is they

51:51actually talked about for example the

51:54personnel being all in one line it not

51:56being um broken out. Another area that

52:01they identified that they wanted to see

52:03um greater clarity was in a historical

52:06budget. So in our budgets now we go back

52:10uh two or three years and that was again

52:12because the DESIE review had recommended

52:14that we do so. Um they recommended that

52:18we include FTE data and so that was

52:22something that they had talked about

52:23back in 2020 and something that we are

52:25still working on today. So, uh, to

52:28answer your questions, a lot of the

52:29recommendations that we've seen, um,

52:32from the other investigations and

52:34district reviews were identified in the

52:362020, um, review as well.

52:40>> Thank you. You mentioned stability in

52:42the finance office. Uh, what is your

52:44plan to bring that stability to that

52:46office?

52:47>> Yes. So, I know we're all uh at the city

52:50and school level thinking about

52:51stability in the finance office and

52:53we've actually had a wonderful time

52:54already working with um the interim CFO

52:57uh Jay Condan. Uh so, we are working

52:59through our schedule 19. We are working

53:01through our pension obligation bonds and

53:03so I'm very uh pleased that we've been

53:05able to move that conversation forward.

53:08Um but yes, we are definitely seeking

53:10stability in our finance department. We

53:12do not have um a CFO currently. Uh but

53:16we do have um someone in the district

53:18that has the license. So Kimai who's

53:21been doing a lot of the work um under

53:23her position with compliance does have

53:26the school business administrator

53:27license. So we have we are in

53:29compliance. We do have somebody with the

53:31license. Um and also very recently we um

53:35we had joining our team a name that may

53:38be familiar to you guys which is Aminata

53:40Sharif. that she's now joined the school

53:43department as our budget director and

53:45she definitely has an intimate knowledge

53:47of the schools from being the assistant

53:49city auditor here that was focused

53:51specifically on the schools. So, we're

53:52excited to welcome her to our team. So,

53:55hopefully in building that um that

53:58institutional knowledge and building up

53:59the department and with a a good

54:01district review, we'll be able to uh

54:03build upon that foundation. Um, I'm also

54:06taking a greater role in the finance

54:09office. So, I'm having more regular

54:11meetings with them, one-on-one

54:12check-ins. So, we're really trying to

54:14make sure that we have stability in the

54:16team that we have now um and make sure

54:18that any future additions that we um

54:22that it is a collective effort and that

54:24we have onboarded them well so that they

54:26mesh well with the current team.

54:28>> Well, thank you very much, Madam

54:30Superintendent. uh you've done a great

54:31job for the time you've been here and I

54:33I consider you an asset to the city. I

54:36know you're going to do great things in

54:37the future for the schools. I want to

54:39thank you and my full support and all

54:41your endeavors. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

54:44>> Thank you, councelor Councelor Thompson.

54:46>> Uh thank you, uh Mr. Chair. Uh good

54:48evening, Madam Superintendent. Always

54:50great to see you. Um and uh want to

54:52start off with uh thanking you uh for

54:54the hard work you've done to put uh the

54:57school district you know back into some

54:59uh you know uh better compliance with

55:01DESIE. I just have a couple quick

55:03questions uh about the review itself. Um

55:06h how long is the review and what's it

55:08consist of?

55:10>> So I think it's like 127 pages. Um and

55:13it consists of very detailed reviews for

55:16all six of those indicators. So I went

55:18through and kind of distilled it down to

55:20the main takeaways. Um but it actually

55:23goes very much in depth into the

55:25strengths and areas for growth for each

55:28one. Um so for example for under

55:31leadership and governance then there's

55:33going to be an indicator. So leadership

55:35and governing structures, strategic

55:36planning, implementation and monitoring,

55:38district culture and then it'll go into

55:40each of those and it'll talk about the

55:42strengths and then it'll talk about the

55:44areas of growth. So for example under

55:46strategic planning implementation and

55:47monitoring it talked in depth about our

55:49school improvement plans and how they

55:52were able to see that they were aligned

55:53with the district improvement plan. Um

55:56so seeing that we have measurable goals

55:58and that they are being aligned all

56:00throughout the system but one of the

56:02things that they identified as an area

56:04of growth is regul regular mechanisms

56:06for community communicating progress

56:08toward goals to the full community. So

56:11that is an area um where and I think

56:14we've all talked about it as well where

56:16we need to be um louder about all of the

56:20great things happening and so that is

56:22something we are definitely working on.

56:24So the report is very extensive and so

56:27and it also includes classroom

56:29observations. So it has appendices that

56:31have class the classroom walkthrough

56:33tools that have scoring for what they

56:35saw. They actually look through all uh

56:37classrooms and see what see um and they

56:39have look force for curriculum and

56:41instruction for multi-tered systems of

56:43support. Um so it it's a pretty um

56:48thorough document and before they even

56:51start it's it's a year-long process. So

56:53in the fall they ask for a myriad of

56:56reports and documentation and data. They

56:59come and they do audits. Uh they come

57:01and meet with focus groups. They met

57:03with our school committee. They meet

57:05with my team and principles and families

57:07were invited, students were invited. So,

57:09it is a year-long process. Then they

57:10give us a draft report and we have to

57:13provide u any feedback or corrections.

57:16So, it is a significant undertaking. Um,

57:20and so the report that results is also

57:22significant.

57:23>> Well, a year-long process. Um, so that

57:26sounds uh pretty entailed. Um and so

57:29they're they're coming to doing um

57:31classroom visits, interviews, uh

57:34document audit audits, the whole the

57:36whole thing. Okay, that's interesting.

57:38Uh and just lastly, quickly, you said

57:40the 2020 Desi review resulted in anou.

57:44Could you tell me what was thatou for

57:46and on what basis were they did they

57:48then cancel it? So they used those same

57:51indicators and because there were so

57:53many areas where we had areas of growth

57:57so maybe you know the areas of growth

57:59were a little bit longer uh than they

58:01would have liked um that is basically

58:04their first step is as sort of an

58:05intervention um so basically that kind

58:08of means that we were requiring a level

58:10of assistance. So in the memorandum of

58:12understanding um it listed all six of

58:16the indicators and it basically had um

58:20items that we needed to work on. So one

58:22of the items for example was uh that we

58:25needed to provide greater access to our

58:27English learners um for equitable

58:30services or equitable access to higher

58:32learning opportunities. Highquality

58:35instructional material so curriculum was

58:37a huge area of growth. So that's an area

58:40that we've worked on a lot in the last

58:41few years. So it would say the district

58:44needs to um implement highquality

58:47instructional materials at all grade

58:48levels. So it'll say something like that

58:50and then it would list subpoints of the

58:52ways that they expect for us to do that.

58:55It actually even had recommendations for

58:58how the district level leadership team

59:01should be meeting. Um what the team

59:04meetings at the schools should look

59:06like. So we have PLTS that were

59:08established as as a result of that. We

59:10have the district leadership team

59:11meetings. They came and so what they

59:13would do is they actually came pretty

59:15regularly and we had liaison with the

59:17department of elementary and secondary

59:18education who would come. They would sit

59:20in on our meetings. They would have

59:22regular meetings with us, let us know um

59:24how we were doing, where there were

59:26areas that needed additional work. And

59:29then actually in 2024 before I arrived

59:33um I think this was in the wake of the

59:35deficit they actually did a supplemental

59:38uh desi. So they gave us they sort of

59:41went back revised theou they already had

59:43and then added several things. Um so we

59:46had eight more um items and then what we

59:49needed to do was demonstrate

59:51proficiency. So I we actually in the

59:54team had to put together a report

59:58demonstrating how we had met all of the

1:00:01different areas. So the safety and

1:00:02security audit for example that was a

1:00:05one of the newer items in the successor

1:00:10basically. So we had to demonstrate that

1:00:13we had done anou that I had presented to

1:00:15the school committee what um or sorry we

1:00:18had done a security audit that I

1:00:19presented to the school committee the

1:00:21results of the security audit that we

1:00:22had actually implemented its findings.

1:00:24So it was a pretty extensive report

1:00:26similar to the IG letter kind of it was

1:00:29like here's the big report here are all

1:00:30the attachments that demonstrate that we

1:00:32have done this work. We pres we um uh

1:00:37then submitted it to the commissioner,

1:00:39the previous commissioner and then um

1:00:42before the new commissioner came in, the

1:00:44previous commissioner did um then say

1:00:48that we were done and it was announced

1:00:50actually at a DESIE meeting that we were

1:00:52out of theou. So that was good news. But

1:00:54what we had to do is provide them with a

1:00:56letter of asurances saying we c we'll

1:00:58basically we will we assure you that we

1:01:02are going to continue to be working on

1:01:03our fiscal management systems. We're

1:01:05going to continue to implement

1:01:06highquality instructional materials at

1:01:08those grade levels where we haven't

1:01:10already. Um so just a letter assuring

1:01:13them that we are not done with the work

1:01:14that we rec recognize that there's still

1:01:16much more work to be done but that we do

1:01:19not need their close eye or watch in

1:01:22order to achieve it. And and just

1:01:24lastly, so ultimately, are we given a

1:01:26score of some sort that can be compared

1:01:29to other districts or is it just

1:01:31something specific to us and our own

1:01:34issues?

1:01:35>> Yes, they're very specialized to each

1:01:37district. Um they so if you even they I

1:01:42actually asked them like, "Oh, can you

1:01:43guys come?" Because wouldn't it be great

1:01:45if Desi came and reported to the school

1:01:48committee and city council like how much

1:01:50progress we've made? But they really

1:01:52look at every single DESIE review um as

1:01:55its own individualized measure and so

1:01:58they do that for our own district

1:02:00reviews. So from 2020 to 2026 but then

1:02:04they also do it for each district. So

1:02:05they try to keep it very individual.

1:02:07They know that the contexts are

1:02:08different, the players are different.

1:02:10They try to be mindful of that so that

1:02:11it's not a we have enough keeping score

1:02:14with the accountability systems and

1:02:15things like that. So, it really is meant

1:02:17to be an assessment of how we're doing

1:02:19and a thoughtful and meaningful way of

1:02:22providing us recommendations for how to

1:02:24improve into the future.

1:02:26>> So, you're saying that at this point

1:02:27essentially we're meeting Desi's

1:02:28expectations. Uh we're on a um

1:02:33have put ourselves on a better path and

1:02:35are now executing, you know, stronger

1:02:38policies uh moving forward.

1:02:41>> Yes.

1:02:41>> Okay. Well, thank you again. Uh thank

1:02:43you for all the hard work that you've

1:02:44done. We're really proud of our school

1:02:46district and uh we appreciate

1:02:47everything. So, thank you. Thank you,

1:02:49Mr. Chair.

1:02:50>> Thank you, councelor. Counselor

1:02:52Charnell, followed by councelor Green.

1:02:55>> Thank you, madame superintendent. So, in

1:02:59regards to um some of the requirements

1:03:02from Desi, did they require any training

1:03:05ongoing to continue outside of when

1:03:09they're

1:03:11or is it is it something that the

1:03:13district does just

1:03:15>> Yes, they so one of the recommendations

1:03:18or areas of growth that they uh

1:03:20mentioned was for us to have a

1:03:22comprehensive professional development

1:03:24plan. So, what they would like to see is

1:03:27our plan. And so they're not mandating

1:03:28it. There are certain mandated trainings

1:03:30that we have to provide, but that's not

1:03:32as a result of the Desi review. That's

1:03:34just as a result of being public

1:03:35employees or being um you know mandated

1:03:38reporters. So there are certain mandated

1:03:39trainings we have to do. But what they

1:03:41really want to see is that we have a

1:03:43plan for training for um curriculum for

1:03:47strategies for supporting um you know

1:03:50all learners. They want to see that that

1:03:53comes from us. Do do they do they say

1:03:56anything about training like school

1:03:58committee members, city councilors,

1:04:00um and financial like budgeting, you

1:04:03know, knowing cuz again, you know, some

1:04:06of the some of the desi words it took me

1:04:09a long time to even understand.

1:04:11>> Uh it's like a definitely it's

1:04:13definitely a different um different

1:04:14language if you're not accustomed to it.

1:04:17So, I don't know if they they've

1:04:20mentioned that, you know, maybe, you

1:04:23know, a city council or school committee

1:04:25member or anybody in the public can, you

1:04:28know, benefit from, you know, a training

1:04:30that they may be offering.

1:04:33>> They didn't in this current review. I

1:04:35know in the in the past review there

1:04:38were potentially recommendations on like

1:04:40safety trainings, um, but there wasn't

1:04:42anything specifically called out in this

1:04:44last one. And just um my other question

1:04:48is the the auditor that's um is has that

1:04:52position been filled from the auditor on

1:04:54the school side?

1:04:56>> Oh, I I don't believe so. No.

1:04:59>> Okay. Um um and just my other uh

1:05:04question to you, it doesn't really have

1:05:05to do with Desi per se, but um how is

1:05:09the new high school factoring into um

1:05:12learning going forward as you know

1:05:15hopefully technology helps and you know

1:05:18you know classrooms and this and a

1:05:21better environment and how does that

1:05:23factor into what you envision for really

1:05:26the our children for the future when

1:05:29they get there, you know, and we upgrade

1:05:31other schools and other things.

1:05:34>> Yes. Um I I um

1:05:38so I I am excited to announce that we

1:05:41did receive from the Department of

1:05:43Elementary and Secondary Education,

1:05:46um recent initial approvals for new

1:05:48programs that we want to include in the

1:05:51new high school. So, as part of our MSBA

1:05:54project, we did have to submit an

1:05:56educational vision. And it talks not

1:05:58only about the programs that we have and

1:06:00how we want to make them better, but it

1:06:02also uh mentions programs that we would

1:06:04like to have. And so, we had to submit

1:06:06initials, letters of interest to the

1:06:08Department of Elementary and Secondary

1:06:10Education, letting them know, here are

1:06:12our plans um and and would you give us

1:06:15an initial approval? Now, that doesn't

1:06:16mean we don't still have to go through

1:06:18the process of applying um when those

1:06:20programs when we actually have the

1:06:23building, but it at least tells the

1:06:26MSBA, okay, we've been approved for it,

1:06:28so you can start to plan for it, meaning

1:06:30we can build a school around it. Um, so

1:06:33I think that's an exciting opportunity

1:06:36for us because I know I've heard it

1:06:38mentioned here and it's mentioned at my

1:06:39school committee very often that we

1:06:41often lose our students to, you know,

1:06:43other technical schools or um, and we

1:06:47would like to be able to keep more of

1:06:48our students and so I think that

1:06:51certainly will help when we have more

1:06:53seats available for them in the programs

1:06:55that they want, but then also more more

1:06:57programs available. Um, so the

1:07:00educational vision that we did submit

1:07:02for the MSBA is an is also an incredibly

1:07:06long document, um, and thorough document

1:07:08about what we want to see for our

1:07:11students. Um, and I think being able to

1:07:14do that alongside of looking at our

1:07:19system. So, the fact that we were doing

1:07:20the district review at the same time

1:07:22that we were doing the educational

1:07:23visioning document, I think those two

1:07:25went uh handinhand very well uh because

1:07:29it gave us an opportunity to see where

1:07:31we wanted to improve and where we wanted

1:07:33to provide um more support and better

1:07:36services for our student and the way

1:07:38things are going. I mean, I know we are

1:07:41going to have to do a lot of campaigning

1:07:43uh in order to get the school built, but

1:07:46um I do think it's going to present an

1:07:48amazing learning opportunity for

1:07:50students and that it is definitely going

1:07:52to be the facility that they deserve.

1:07:54>> Uh um I I will end with that. I mean,

1:07:57Madam Superintendent, I think you're

1:07:58great. I think you are one of the

1:08:01pioneers in our community and I urge you

1:08:05know colleagues you know the public to

1:08:09engage with our superintendent. She's

1:08:12very engaging. She reaches out and I

1:08:14think that it's very you know very good

1:08:17for our community that we have someone

1:08:19that is not only fiscally responsible

1:08:22and is a responsible person for our our

1:08:26youth. And I commend you. And again, if

1:08:29I said this before, if you h how we can

1:08:32make your life easier, how we can do

1:08:34things to really get our students the

1:08:38best education, I will help as much as I

1:08:41can. Hopefully, my colleagues here will

1:08:44join in that effort because I think

1:08:45that, you know, there's only so much

1:08:48time that we probably have with someone

1:08:50as qualified as a superintendent like

1:08:52this. So, we have to make sure that we

1:08:54uh we we take advantage cuz I mean the

1:08:58remarkable things that she's done in

1:09:00this short period of time and what was

1:09:03presented where she came into is

1:09:06remarkable. I I I urge my colleagues

1:09:09Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you,

1:09:10ma'am.

1:09:11>> Thank you, counselor Councelor Green.

1:09:14>> Uh Madame Superintendent, thank you for

1:09:17um this report. Um it is it's good again

1:09:20to have um uh good news uh tonight. So

1:09:25thank you for delivering that and thank

1:09:28you for the incredible work that you and

1:09:30your team um and the school committee um

1:09:34continue to do in u supporting um

1:09:36supporting our students. um this I

1:09:40consider this perhaps as the the most

1:09:43important and the most sacred um work

1:09:47and responsibility that we have um in

1:09:50our um city and that is to educate and

1:09:54to nurture um the the next uh

1:09:57generation. um that the future of this

1:10:00um city depends on how well uh we

1:10:04educate and um and we empower the next

1:10:07um generation. So, thank you um for the

1:10:10incredible work that you and the team

1:10:13continue to do um and the progress that

1:10:17we continue to to see and it is

1:10:19something that is worth um celebrating.

1:10:22Um it takes um teamwork and a shared

1:10:26vision for these things to um to to

1:10:30happen and I think um this report that

1:10:33you've shared with us um tonight is um

1:10:36certainly a reflection um of that and it

1:10:39is the hope that we continue um in that

1:10:43um direction and I certainly am joined

1:10:46with um councelor Charnell in saying

1:10:48that if there is anything that uh um we

1:10:50can do as counselors to um support this

1:10:54um forward movement um and the the

1:10:58progress that we continue to uh to see.

1:11:00Please um don't hesitate to um to let us

1:11:03um to let us know this work and uh this

1:11:06responsibility is too important and too

1:11:08sacred for us to not roll up our

1:11:11sleeves, work together and um put our

1:11:14heads together and figure it out and

1:11:15make sure that um we are offering the

1:11:18absolute best um to our students and um

1:11:21and our teachers um who support these um

1:11:24students every day.

1:11:25um would you mind um sharing um these

1:11:30slides with us so that we have we have

1:11:32that to uh to reference and I'm

1:11:34certainly interested in looking a little

1:11:36more into that. Um I do I do have a

1:11:39couple questions um for you. um is uh

1:11:42relative to the uh 2026

1:11:45uh DESIA report, is is there a timeline

1:11:49from um DESIE on um implementing or

1:11:55developing an implement um

1:11:57implementation plan for the uh the

1:12:00recommendations.

1:12:02They don't include a timeline, but um we

1:12:05are going to be we are in the last year

1:12:07of our strategic plan right now, our

1:12:09five-year strategic plan. Um and so this

1:12:12year we will be getting feedback from um

1:12:15our stakeholders and putting together

1:12:17our next five-year strategic plan. So as

1:12:20part of that process, we will be

1:12:22building in timelines for ourselves. Um

1:12:25so I think this kind of gives us the

1:12:27road map, but we need to figure out what

1:12:29our checkpoints are. we need to figure

1:12:31out what our priorities are. Um, and

1:12:33that's for us to articulate. Um, so they

1:12:36don't give us any set timelines, but I

1:12:38will say that five years from now when

1:12:39they come back and do their next review,

1:12:41um, I would hope that we see the same

1:12:43thing then as we saw now, which is five

1:12:45more years of progress having been made.

1:12:47>> Okay, great. Awesome. Awesome. Um, do do

1:12:51they, um, they meaning DESIE, do they,

1:12:54um, conduct any kind of interim review

1:12:58within that fiveyear

1:13:00period.

1:13:01>> Oh, absolutely. Um, and that generally

1:13:03comes with the accountability status.

1:13:05So, I will be presenting um our MCCAST

1:13:08results at an upcoming school committee

1:13:10meeting and I'm happy again to to come

1:13:12um before this council as well. Um, and

1:13:16so that is where they get into the the

1:13:19far nittier grittier of the student

1:13:22outcome. So looking at attendance,

1:13:24looking at literacy scores, looking at

1:13:26you know MCCAST results, uh graduation

1:13:29rates. So that is something that they

1:13:31are reviewing and assigning our

1:13:33accountabilities levels to our schools

1:13:35and to our overall district every year.

1:13:38And so in that process um they then

1:13:42determine if there are specific schools

1:13:44that they need to support us in more.

1:13:48And so, um, recently those results have

1:13:52come out and like every year there will

1:13:55be some schools that have been that

1:13:56have, um, demonstrated some progress and

1:13:59generally it ends up being that there

1:14:00are schools that are demonstrating

1:14:02progress in some areas and have areas of

1:14:04growth in others. And so they will

1:14:06identify for us those schools where they

1:14:08are going to provide us additional

1:14:10intervention and they provide us

1:14:12additional support. Sometimes that's in

1:14:14the form of partnerships or in

1:14:17additional coaching or in additional

1:14:19grant dollars. So, it really depends.

1:14:22Um, and then they also recognize schools

1:14:24of distinction, which we do have a

1:14:26school of recognition this year in

1:14:28Promise Academy. So, I'm not sure if you

1:14:30all heard about that, but that was very

1:14:32exciting um for them to be recognized

1:14:35this year with our first inaugural

1:14:38graduating class from last year. Um and

1:14:40so that is how they uh that is the

1:14:44ongoing monitoring that that uh Desi

1:14:47does. Awesome. Awesome. And thank you

1:14:49for sharing that news about uh Promise

1:14:51Academy. Um um the um I'm assuming the

1:14:58the um theou from u the uh 2020 review

1:15:03that was eliminated um as as a result of

1:15:07one of those interim reviews, right? And

1:15:10and and and seeing the progress being

1:15:13made.

1:15:14>> Correct. Yes. Um so we had to

1:15:16demonstrate the progress and then when

1:15:18they felt like we had uh demonstrated it

1:15:21um in just their visits and their

1:15:24overall engagement with us then we had

1:15:26to provide them basically with a report

1:15:28with a with exhibits to demonstrate that

1:15:31we had in fact met all of the um the

1:15:36commitments that we had made to them.

1:15:38>> Okay. All righty. Could you uh just

1:15:40elaborate um a little bit on the um

1:15:44third um third criteria in in this um uh

1:15:49desi review. Um and the third one is is

1:15:52assessment. Um so I noted um from what

1:15:56you presented um under u strength um Dei

1:16:01noted um two two points um two areas of

1:16:04strength uh from the review. Um but in

1:16:07terms of recommendation um on that same

1:16:10criteria there are five five things that

1:16:13uh they noted um from the um 2020

1:16:18um uh review. um under that same

1:16:21criteria assessment. Um they noted um

1:16:25there uh there is a district-wide uh

1:16:29database if you will um but also

1:16:32reference the um need for a

1:16:36district-wide uh culture of of shared

1:16:39responsibility.

1:16:40um and also um um the use of u

1:16:46performance data to share uh measurable

1:16:50um milestones. Now you you've um you've

1:16:54noted in your um your next um steps that

1:16:58um two of the things you'll do relative

1:17:00to assessment um um in regards to um

1:17:04sharing the um the data more with u

1:17:07students and also communicating um the

1:17:12um progress of students to to uh to

1:17:15families. Um could you just uh detail um

1:17:18a little more if you can um kind of what

1:17:21the plan is to address um these um these

1:17:25concerns on the on the assessment um um

1:17:28side.

1:17:30Well, I think oftentimes um our um are

1:17:37the best solutions are actually coming

1:17:39from inside the system because there are

1:17:42promising practices um and schools that

1:17:45are doing this well. So I think in every

1:17:47area you have schools that are really

1:17:49standouts and who are um you know very

1:17:53clear with families on their assessment

1:17:55timelines and frequencies do have very

1:17:57strong rubrics or strong relationships

1:17:59with parents and communication

1:18:00strategies to ensure that there is

1:18:03ongoing uh progress monitoring with

1:18:05students. So I think that one of the one

1:18:08of our plans moving forward is how to

1:18:10ensure that we are having our school

1:18:13leaders um share those best practices

1:18:16with each other. So identifying the

1:18:18schools that are doing it well and

1:18:19having them share those practices with

1:18:21their colleagues.

1:18:22>> Okay. All right. And I think that's a

1:18:24good point you you just made that the

1:18:27the solution already exists within the

1:18:29system and the best practices are there.

1:18:32um is just really a matter of

1:18:34duplicating that uh you know across all

1:18:36all the schools. So uh thank you for

1:18:38sharing that. I'll just end again um in

1:18:40saying incredible work um and thank you

1:18:43to you and the teachers and for the hard

1:18:46work that you do every day um in

1:18:49educating our children and ensuring that

1:18:52we have a strong future in this um city

1:18:56by investing um uh financially uh

1:18:59timewise, emotionally, educationally,

1:19:02socially um in every aspect of their

1:19:05individuality. um the schools are

1:19:08pouring and investing in our students.

1:19:11So um thank you and please convey that

1:19:13um to the teachers for the incredible

1:19:15work that they do in educating our

1:19:17students every day. Thank you Mr. Chair.

1:19:20>> Thank you counselors. There a motion

1:19:23>> motion to recommend favorably back to

1:19:25the full city council.

1:19:27>> Second.

1:19:27>> Motion's properly made and seconded. All

1:19:29in favor? All oppose? The motion passes.

1:19:32Thank you madam superintendent.

1:19:33>> Thank you so much

1:19:34>> council. That is the end of our agenda.

1:19:36Councelor Azac, moment of personal

1:19:38privilege.

1:19:38>> Yes. Thank you. I would just like to

1:19:41announce that tomorrow, Tuesday, October

1:19:436th, at 6:00 p.m. at Brockton High

1:19:46School in the Little Theater, myself

1:19:49with a small unofficial committee of uh

1:19:52members from the community. Um the

1:19:55committee that I have named um

1:19:57unofficially named honoring Dr. Claire

1:19:59Appling will be before the school

1:20:01building naming subcommittee to request

1:20:04a dedication in her honor. I would like

1:20:07to thank Mayor Rodriguez for helping us

1:20:09move this forward. We have been working

1:20:11on this now for almost uh two years. Um

1:20:15and once it is passed through the school

1:20:18committee, I will announce a date and

1:20:20time that this uh that we will be

1:20:21honoring her with a dedication. Thank

1:20:24you.

1:20:25>> Well deserved. Thank you for your

1:20:26leadership counselor. Any other

1:20:28counselors?

1:20:30Seeing none, this meeting's adjourned.