2026-10-20 - School Committee

00:10Good evening and welcome to the Brockton

00:12Public School

00:14School Committee meeting. Today is

00:15Tuesday, October 20th, 2026 and it's

00:18currently 7:03.

00:20We are gathered at the George M. Room

00:23Little Theater at Brockton High School,

00:25470 Forest Ave, Brockton, Massachusetts

00:2802301.

00:30Dear visitors, uh welcome to a meeting

00:32of the Brockton School Committee. This

00:34is the agenda they'll discuss this

00:35evening. Please note that hearing of

00:38visitors is included. If you have a

00:40statement or question, please give your

00:41name to the secretary.

00:43Uh in addition to being here, the public

00:46can view this meeting via television on

00:48Comcast Channel 8 and 1071 HD version

00:51and online via this link

00:53www.youtube.com/thebrocktonchannels.

00:57I call this meeting to order and I will

00:59establish a quorum. Ms. Tayu?

01:02>> Here.

01:03>> Ms. Oliver?

01:03>> Here.

01:04>> Mr. Rodriguez?

01:05>> Here.

01:05>> Ms. Isaac?

01:06>> Here.

01:07>> Mr. Pena?

01:07>> Here.

01:08>> Mr. Sullivan?

01:10>> Here.

01:11>> Uh I'm here as the chair as well and we

01:13have our superintendent, Dr. Terri

01:14Yianni, present.

01:16Um if you could please join me so we can

01:18salute the American flag.

01:23>> I pledge allegiance

01:24to the flag of the United States of

01:26America

01:28and to the republic for which it stands,

01:30one nation

01:31under God,

01:32indivisible, with liberty and justice

01:35for all.

01:37>> Thank you.

01:39Um

01:40First,

01:42second item on the agenda is the hearing

01:45of visitors. Uh pursuant to School

01:47Committee policy, each person requires

01:51requesting to speak shall be allotted

01:53maximum of 3 minutes.

01:55Since this period is limited to 15

01:57minutes, a total of five people shall be

01:59permitted to speak on first come, first

02:01serve basis. Uh nobody signed up for the

02:04hearing of visitors, so we will move on

02:06to next agenda item.

02:09Uh item three is the report of

02:11superintendent of schools, Dr. Prieto

02:13Hilliard.

02:15>> Thank you. And I was hoping we could

02:16take item B out of order, which is the

02:19finance update.

02:22I need a motion for that.

02:24>> Um

02:25>> Need a motion.

02:25>> of the committee, can I have a motion to

02:27take B out of order?

02:28>> Motion to remove item B, the finance

02:31update and introduction of Jay Conden,

02:33interim chief financial officer for the

02:35city of Brockton, out of order.

02:37>> Is there a second?

02:38>> Second.

02:38>> Motion has been properly made and

02:40second. Uh I'll do a roll call. Ms.

02:42Monteiro?

02:43>> Yes.

02:44>> Ms. Oliver?

02:45>> Yes.

02:45>> Mr. Rodriguez?

02:46>> Yes.

02:47>> Ms. Zeigler?

02:47>> Yes.

02:48>> Mr. Pina?

02:48>> Yes.

02:49>> Mr. Sullivan?

02:51>> Yes.

02:51>> And I'm a yes as well.

02:53>> Uh

02:54>> Mr. Jeudy?

02:56>> [clears throat]

02:59>> This is working this time.

03:02>> There?

03:12>> Uh good evening. Thank you for the

03:14invitation. I'm glad to be here and

03:16maybe start a dialogue between the

03:18city's finance department and the school

03:20committee that could be productive.

03:22Working?

03:24I'll take that with

03:27How about this one?

03:28>> Is that better?

03:29>> Yeah.

03:29>> Yeah, I can hear it.

03:30Okay. So, let's say again, I'm happy to

03:32be here and uh we'll start again with

03:34the microphone as well as with the

03:35relationship of the city finance

03:37department and the school committee.

03:39Uh I don't have a formal presentation.

03:42Uh I just uh

03:43only been on the job for about five or

03:45six weeks and mainly have been trying to

03:47get a grasp on what's going on in the

03:50city's finances, try to come up

03:52with a

03:53path to resolving some pretty critical

03:56issues. But, one of the most important

03:58things that had to be accomplished as I

03:59first came in

04:01was to try to reconcile some of the

04:03disputes between the school committee

04:05for schedule 19 charges on the pension

04:07costs because until those got reconciled

04:10uh we weren't going to be able to get

04:11the Department of Revenue to sign off on

04:13our tax rate uh

04:15and to do that

04:17we wouldn't be able to mail out tax

04:19bills which would be catastrophic for

04:21the city's cash flow. So, uh

04:25when I arrived, I learned that that

04:27have been several

04:29proposals made that the school committee

04:31felt were unreasonable or unacceptable

04:33in terms of the amount of cost that was

04:34being assigned

04:36um

04:37to the schools. The allocation

04:39methodology primarily was was was what

04:41it is you but it turns out there were

04:42also some of the base costs that ought

04:44not to have been allocated. And that the

04:46Department of Education and in secondary

04:49education, DESE, was willing to look at

04:51an allocation that was based on actual

04:54actual actual report. So, uh

04:57I've had discussions with the

04:59superintendent and the mayor

05:01with Kim

05:02and we have, I think, an approach which

05:06meets what was the objective of the

05:08Department of Education secondary. I'm

05:11not used to DESE. They weren't DESE when

05:12I was working. We just the good old

05:13Department of Education. So, um

05:16basically, here's the approach. The city

05:19retirement system

05:21is comprised of a number of units and

05:24the

05:26city

05:27is about 90 odd percent of that cost. It

05:30also includes the Brockton Housing

05:32Authority, Brockton Redevelopment

05:34Authority, BAT.

05:36And on the

05:38what's called the city piece,

05:40school school employees who aren't in

05:42the teachers pension system are in that

05:46system and they incur cost, and then the

05:48city employees.

05:49Every 2 years, the city retirement

05:52system engages services of an actuary

05:55who looks at the unfunded cost or

05:57unfunded liability, which is basically

06:00what's the value of pensions to be paid

06:02in the future which have been earned by

06:03people who are either already

06:07about to retire or working. And

06:10it assigns a value to that and makes an

06:15assumption as to what it will rate it

06:16will grow at, what the components would

06:19change, that rate of growth would be,

06:21disability applications, mortality, how

06:25many people were in one category like

06:26public safety, how many people were in

06:28another category like laborers or

06:30clerks. They've all got different

06:31assumptions attached to them. And it

06:33comes up with a number, and then it

06:34compares that number to the value of

06:36investments that the Brockton Retirement

06:39System has under management. It's a

06:41billion dollars now, believe it or not,

06:42we have a billion dollars under

06:44management. And the difference between

06:46those two numbers is the unfunded

06:48liability of the system. And then you

06:51depend depending on the schedule that

06:52the retirement system adopts and the

06:54state approves, you would pay that off

06:56over a period of time, and that's a back

06:58end where it has to be paid.

07:00And that number is what

07:02a portion of that number belongs to the

07:04school department. So, we had our

07:07actuary, after I got in, our actuary

07:10look at all of the data that was used to

07:12create the latest actuarial report and

07:14pull out the cost that would have been

07:16attributable to school department

07:17employees and only the school department

07:20employees in the number that was

07:22assigned in and that I've actually

07:24looking at all the way back to the '22,

07:27'24, '26 reports.

07:29>> [snorts]

07:29>> When we did that, we found that by

07:32percentage of the actuarial

07:35unfunded liability of the whole system

07:38that was City of Brockton, including

07:39schools, the school piece was between

07:4225% and 27% depending on the year.

07:46So, that would be the number that would

07:48be assigned as a percentage for

07:51determining what the pension cost

07:53assigned to the school system would be.

07:55>> [snorts]

07:55>> Now, that would include

07:58not just the unfunded actuarial

08:00actuarial liability plus the

08:02administrative cost to run the system.

08:04That's all in the number that's that's

08:06in the city's pension assessment. Plus,

08:09we've sold bonds to finance a portion of

08:12that unfunded liability. Now, all that

08:14did was it replaced one kind of

08:16liability,

08:17a pension assessment, with another kind

08:19of liability, the obligation to pay

08:21bonds. And the reason we did it was to

08:23save money and reduce the assessments

08:25because we could get the money on the

08:27borrowing for a much lower rate than the

08:30actuary assumed in would be the

08:32investment rate that we had to earn

08:34while we're doing the while we're doing

08:35the um

08:37funding of the unfunded liability. So,

08:40that means that in the future, your cost

08:43will be the actuarial liability that

08:46belongs to the school department

08:48employees as determined by the actuary

08:51at a percent that we're talking about.

08:53So, we can see what that number would be

08:55on every report. And the un

08:58unpaid portion of the bond issue that

09:00remains to be paid for each year.

09:03That's a schedule that's known. So, the

09:05only thing that would be changing over

09:07time with the actuarial liability would

09:09be re-assessed every 2 years because

09:11that can change. If you hire a lot more

09:13people than we expected, if you give out

09:15higher pay raises than were anticipated

09:17by the

09:18actuary, that that that can raise that.

09:20Or you could have investment performance

09:22which is not according to plan. But, the

09:25bond repayments are known. That's a

09:27schedule of going out to 2036, I think.

09:31So, um

09:32we'll know each year. I've given your

09:34superintendent a

09:36couple of spreadsheets. he probably

09:37doesn't need them all, but basically we

09:40can see what your what your costs would

09:42have been

09:43in fiscal 24, 25, 26, and going ahead

09:4727, 28, and 29.

09:49And the uh percentages that would be

09:53used to allocate those costs back to you

09:55are as I described based on that

09:57assessment by the actuary. We've

09:59provided that in a conversation uh with

10:02the Department of Revenue

10:04and uh William I think was his name and

10:07um

10:08Department of Education.

10:10Uh they seemed to

10:11be happy with the effort. I've not

10:13received confirmation that they'll

10:15accept it, but I think they will and

10:17that takes that big issue off the table.

10:20So, from there we've got to figure out

10:23how to make the city's finances come

10:25back into balance.

10:26Uh I promised the superintendent that as

10:29budgets are prepared,

10:31I'll I'll do it the way I used to do it

10:33back in the day. I would have meetings

10:36early on with the major departments,

10:38especially this department.

10:40We'd want to know what are your

10:41anticipation for student growth?

10:44What will they look like? What do they

10:46uh what do you anticipate the Chapter 70

10:48funding will be and build a budget from

10:50the bottom up and then see what the

10:53numbers come to to see what we can fund.

10:54I'm not saying the on the on the

10:57net school spending side, the city has

10:59not been doing much more than the legal

11:01minimum. So, and I don't see much

11:05capacity to do beyond that at the

11:07moment. I wish I could say differently,

11:08but I can't.

11:09But at least that way you'll know what

11:11we're going to be doing and can plan the

11:13school committee can get the

11:14information. When I had the job before,

11:17I would attend many of the school

11:18committee budget deliberations. I'd be

11:20involved in the presentation work,

11:23not in doing the presentation, that was

11:25your own staff's responsibility, but in

11:27the presentation work to make the

11:28materials ready for the school

11:30committee. I wanted to know what the

11:31school committee thought or the school

11:33department thought because it's such a

11:35big piece of the city's budget. It has

11:37to be known early.

11:39I took the same approach with health

11:42insurance, which is some costs that are

11:43also concerning to your your department.

11:47I used to build that budget from the

11:48bottom up. We'd know who is enrolled at

11:51the moment, what plans they're in. We'd

11:53make an estimate of what the rates of

11:55those plans would be. We'd see who we

11:57thought would be leaving them and whom

11:58we thought we'd be gaining and we'd make

12:00an estimate as to what the cost of those

12:02new enrollees would be and then always

12:05try to build a surplus into that because

12:07you didn't want to assume that the new

12:09enrollees would be taking less expensive

12:12plan and see them take a more expensive

12:13plan.

12:15We'd know how much of that was school

12:16because we knew what by the payroll

12:18records, how many were school, how many

12:19were Those two numbers are really

12:21important to building a budget because

12:23as so much of the city's budget is in

12:24that. So, that that's my commitment. I

12:26don't know how long I'll be here. I'm an

12:28interim appointment. Uh, I'm hoping that

12:30they get a good CFO not too long in the

12:33future cuz I

12:34I didn't want to sign up for the rest of

12:35my life.

12:36But, I am committing to doing as much as

12:39I can and to helping you get it.

12:41Now, I want to move a little bit off

12:43those basic statements just to say the

12:45city's financial circumstances are not

12:47good. They really are not good. You have

12:50um a series of budgets that have been

12:52built on expectations of revenues that

12:55weren't achieved and assumptions of uh

12:58expenditure

13:00levels which weren't really going to be

13:03realized because the amount of service

13:05being delivered was greater than the

13:06expense that was appropriated. So, those

13:10sins have to be corrected. We're taking

13:13steps to do that now. I don't don't want

13:14to get into the details cuz I've got to

13:16deal with the city council first on

13:17that, but

13:19>> [sighs]

13:20>> that means trouble for this year, but

13:21we'll get that back into balance, but it

13:23also means just doing the math. If

13:25you've got four or five million dollars

13:27in this budget, which isn't real for

13:29revenue,

13:31that's not going to be real for next

13:33year, either, you know, the your

13:34increases are going to be

13:35basically, what does the state give you

13:37and what does prop two and a half allow

13:39you to do. The rest of our revenues are,

13:42you know, local receipts that don't vary

13:44very much, so

13:47I don't see a lot of prospect for more

13:49money from the state.

13:51And the expenditure items uh that are

13:55being expended at a more rapid rate than

13:58the appropriation allows, and they're

14:00not just in the school department,

14:01they're throughout the city, but uh that

14:03one of the biggest ones is in the is in

14:05this department. Uh

14:07we need to come to a recognition as what

14:09is the real number that needs to be

14:11appropriated for that level of service,

14:13and can we afford it? If we can't afford

14:15it, we need to figure out how we're

14:17going to bring the service level down,

14:18or what are we going to do to afford it?

14:21Uh I just had a meeting before I came

14:22here with the chief of police. She has

14:25the same kind of problem. The budget in

14:27her department

14:28is

14:30was reduced to a level that she doesn't

14:31think she can live with and provide the

14:33public safety that she wants. And so,

14:34she's doing it right now, but she knows

14:36she's not going to be able to continue

14:37to do it with the budget she's got. So,

14:39that's that's the kind of problems we're

14:41dealing with. I can't print money.

14:44All I can I wish I could. I In fact, I

14:46told the chief of police, if she said

14:47she wouldn't arrest me, maybe I'd put a

14:49little printing press in my basement.

14:52Uh just a joke.

14:54>> [laughter]

14:55>> Just a joke.

14:56If you know me, you know, I do that

14:57sometimes, it gets me in trouble.

14:59Uh

15:00Okay. But,

15:02the solution to this is going to be

15:04pulling together. Nobody's going to be

15:06happy with where we end up, I don't

15:08think. Either you're going to have to

15:10get more money in, or you're going to

15:12have to spend less, or some combination.

15:14The advantage for the school department

15:16is so much of your budget, in terms of

15:18the education side, is an obligation of

15:20the city by law.

15:22So, you know, when I when I hear people

15:24say, "Why don't you get some money out

15:26of the schools?" I said, "Well, okay.

15:27That's a good idea. What are we going to

15:29do? Not put the money into the net

15:31school spending that the obligation of

15:33the law says?" But I I'd like from you

15:36an understanding that that creates

15:38frustration on cross the street and

15:40across Crescent Street from the

15:41administration building, and I have to

15:43deal with that, too. What I'm hoping is

15:45it will find not everybody agreeing, but

15:47finding everybody agreeing to try to do

15:50this in a collaborative way. The

15:52solutions are not going to be easy. So,

15:54I think that's all I really need to say

15:55and maybe take your questions if you

15:57>> Uh thank you, Mr. Khan.

15:59Um before I open it up for question, um

16:02I will say well, one, this committee

16:04loves transparency, uh being very honest

16:07about the current situation, especially

16:09when it comes to finance.

16:11Um but also from the meetings that I've

16:13been in with yourself, Superintendent

16:15Kim, uh the mayor,

16:17um what I've noticed to share with this

16:20committee is that there's a focus now on

16:23what are we doing? What's going on? How

16:25do we fix it? How do we do it better

16:27moving forward? And I think on the

16:29school side, we really appreciate that,

16:31whether it's looking at what's going on

16:32with the schools, what's going on with

16:33the city, and how can we we bring both

16:36sides to a level where we're doing what

16:38we're supposed to be doing without

16:39having to struggle so much financially.

16:42Um also, you've shared a lot of

16:44information as far as the

16:46uh retirement, the the pension

16:47obligation bond, and I'm pretty sure

16:50folks have some questions, so I'll open

16:51it up to question now.

16:53Um

16:54Ms. Oliver, and then Mr. Pena.

16:57>> Not so much questions, but welcome.

16:59This is definitely a a fresh breath air

17:03that I'm hearing today. Um we are going

17:05to be great friends,

17:07>> [clears throat]

17:07>> cuz I can see you're right to the point,

17:10very transparent, and I hope that we do

17:13figure out what has been happening, what

17:15the other individual did, and how we can

17:17clean up that mess because once that's

17:19cleaned up, I think we can move the city

17:22and the school department to work more

17:24and really find out what how we can fix

17:28and move the city forward because if we

17:30keep basically hiding things and putting

17:33under the carpet and thinking it's never

17:35going to be on hidden,

17:37it it's a lie. We have to stop, you

17:39know, lying to ourselves that there's

17:43we're not in a very

17:46difficult times and there's difficult

17:47times coming, right? But I think if we

17:49have the right

17:50people in charge and really be

17:52transparent of what's been happening and

17:54try to figure out how the money's been

17:57spent, where has been going cuz I know a

17:59lot of people has questions regarding

18:00grants and all the money that was coming

18:02to the city, where is it? What has

18:04happened to it, right?

18:05So I think that us working as a team, we

18:07are going to find a lot of things that

18:09we don't want to find.

18:10We are going to discover a lot of things

18:12that certain individuals did that we

18:13didn't we are not going to be happy

18:14about it, but we are going to have to

18:16take accountability and whoever was in

18:18charge of that individual needs to take

18:19accountability for years. Um, but I

18:21think we have a great team and welcome.

18:23I cannot wait to work with you and

18:25really

18:26um, get some education from you. Also,

18:29the finance department and really get

18:31things going.

18:32>> Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you.

18:34Mr. Pena.

18:35>> Mr. Condon, how are you doing? Um, I

18:37haven't had the pleasure meeting you. I

18:39think you met my my

18:40>> I know your brother pretty well, yeah.

18:42>> Yeah, I was going to say that. Um,

18:44uh, welcome. Uh, thank you for taking on

18:47this task.

18:48Um, you mentioned a few different things

18:50there that obviously is going to

18:53perk some ears of people. Um,

18:58um, so

19:00the first one is, uh,

19:02you said that the schools are spending a

19:05little bit more than what

19:07we should be. Um,

19:10so I I brought this up, I think,

19:12multiple times, but so, what is your

19:15thought on properly funding um

19:19transportation? Because that's where the

19:21big issue is.

19:22>> It is. That That's what I was meeting

19:23with the transportation. Well, I I'm

19:25meeting with the superintendent on that

19:26issue. I had a discussion earlier just

19:28in the hallway with with Kim Thompson.

19:30Um

19:32I don't know what the right number is. I

19:33go I'm going to say this. The right

19:35number is a different number depending

19:37upon the level of service. And I think

19:39the question then becomes, you know,

19:41there's what can we afford? And what

19:43happens with the number that we can

19:45afford? I know that I had a little

19:46discussion with the mayor. If [snorts]

19:48we

19:49pull back from the level of service

19:51we're providing right now, the mayor has

19:53some concerns. I think the

19:54superintendent does as well. As what's

19:56the impact on attendance, what's the

19:58impact on the classroom. You know you've

20:00got to take care of the special

20:02education requirements. That's an

20:03obligation under the law.

20:05And then the

20:06the

20:07transportation of the high school kids

20:09is another matter. But if you don't do

20:11that, what's the implication on the

20:13school itself and the kids in their

20:14future lives?

20:16How How can you really

20:18determine what's the proper level there?

20:19I don't have an answer. That's something

20:21that has to be looked at. And then the

20:22level of service that's being done on

20:24the other buses. How many

20:26How many stops? How many routes? You

20:28know, that's something I don't know. I

20:30think Kim was mentioning that they they

20:32they've got some thoughts, but the the

20:34difference between the appropriation and

20:36the level of spending and annual level

20:39of spending is millions of dollars

20:41every year. Uh just today I filed an

20:44appropriation request uh from

20:47the mayor

20:49to eliminate

20:51some of the problems I was outlining

20:52because I can't get the tax rate

20:54approved until we do that. Again, I

20:56don't want to get into all the details

20:57because of hasn't gone to council yet.

20:59But one of those numbers was

21:01transportation deficit from from the

21:03last fiscal year. Now, so we know that

21:06that that

21:07appropriation was was increased a little

21:09bit, but not to the level of the deficit

21:11from last year. So, something has to be

21:14fixed here. It may not be fixable this

21:16year

21:17uh because we're in the middle of the

21:18year, but we have to figure that out by

21:20the time we get into the next budget.

21:22And all I can say is

21:24it's the same as the net school spending

21:25budget. You need to know what are we

21:28doing and why? What must we do and what

21:30happens if we don't do that? What are

21:32the Think it through. What are the

21:33consequences? And then the people who

21:36are sitting in this seat these seats in

21:38the mayor's seat, city council, they're

21:40the decision-makers of the city. You

21:42know, my job is to try to cost things

21:44out, give cost and service trade-offs,

21:46maybe even make a recommendation on

21:48policy, but the policy decisions belong

21:50to the elected officials. Uh they don't

21:53belong to the appointed officials and

21:55you know, that's my commitment. I want

21:56people to have the information to make

21:58decisions, but the decisions may not be

22:01easy, but it's it's why you've got those

22:03seats. It's It's to make the the

22:05decisions and sometimes you're tough.

22:07You know, we're serving in a time when

22:09Uh Ken and I were just talking about

22:11this uh when one of the mayors I worked

22:13for I came in at the time when the

22:15education reform act had just been

22:16passed.

22:18Appropriations were increasing every

22:20single year and it was easy to build

22:23budgets. You know, what don't we spend

22:24is

22:25is kind of the situation. Now, you've

22:28got students leaving the system, your

22:30student count is going down. That

22:32education reform formula was great

22:35because

22:36as student population is increasing,

22:38revenues are increasing, that they're

22:40they're on an average basis are coming

22:42your way. When a student leaves, just as

22:45money came in, you didn't really

22:47increase the cost by the amount of his

22:49coming in, when he leaves, you don't

22:51shed those costs. You still got the same

22:53building to heat and all of that. So,

22:55it's a tight squeeze when population's

22:57declining. So, I mean, that's a it's the

23:00reality. Uh

23:01I'm hoping that the new high school can

23:03maybe fix some of that if we can get to

23:05get from here to there and get that

23:07built because then it'll be a wonderful

23:08thing for the city, but you you've got a

23:10declining school population and a lot of

23:12them are just leaving. You [snorts]

23:13know, it's just leaving. Charter

23:15schools, never been a never been a fan

23:17of those, but but they exist. And you

23:19know, we're we're losing money because

23:22students are leaving leaving Brockton

23:23for that purpose. So, that's my

23:25commitment. And the transportation

23:27budget is one of the top ones on the

23:28list. I spoke too long on that. I'm

23:29sorry.

23:30>> No, that's all right, but I I appreciate

23:32you saying that. Um and I I appreciate

23:34the fact that you talked about um how

23:37important the finance financial

23:38decisions are and that it's that's

23:40uh we in the council need to make some

23:43tough decisions. Your predecessor and I

23:45had had conversations

23:47uh before he left about putting a um a

23:50joint committee together with the uh

23:53city council and the school committee. A

23:55few members from there and a few members

23:57from here so that we don't have the same

24:00issues that we've had in the past so

24:01that we're we're all kind of on the same

24:03page

24:05um because we are all in in one city.

24:08Um what what is your thoughts on um the

24:10transparency of of a joint committee

24:14between the schools and the uh city

24:15>> Yeah, I I I think years ago they had

24:17that uh toward the late uh 210s maybe to

24:20around 210 2010. Um I know I think it's

24:23a good idea that the city council and

24:24the school committee have a a mechanism

24:26for communicating regularly.

24:28And transparency is the key on that. You

24:31know, this this

24:33if without transparency, it's hard to

24:35have trust.

24:36And and [snorts] trust is key to making

24:38these decisions. So, I'm in favor of

24:40that. I'd be willing to help them.

24:41>> Awesome. Then my last question is

24:43there's there's obviously as long as

24:45you're here, don't know how long it'll

24:47be,

24:48um

24:49but there's going to be some really hard

24:50decisions.

24:51>> Yeah.

24:51>> Um and and options need to be brought to

24:54us that are going to be very difficult

24:57for us and for our constituents. Um I I

25:00hope that

25:02that we are provided those candidly

25:05without any sugarcoating uh because I

25:07think that

25:09uh what you touched upon with also the

25:11net school spending and the drop in

25:12population student population uh there

25:15are there are there are a lot of hard

25:16decisions that we're going to have to

25:18make. So, I appreciate the fact that

25:19you've uh recognized that.

25:21>> Mhm. Thank you. Yeah.

25:24Uh Ms. Zezak

25:26>> Thank you. Um thank you, Mr. Condon.

25:28>> Hello. Good to see you again.

25:29>> Nice to see you again. Um for those that

25:32are watching, um do you mind just

25:33letting letting them know um you were on

25:36the city side. So, there's many new

25:38viewers, um how long were you working

25:41for the city before your retirement? Cuz

25:43you have quite the knowledge.

25:45>> Yeah, I was there from being a young man

25:47to an old man.

25:49>> [laughter]

25:50>> I was there for almost 30 years in that

25:51job.

25:52>> Which is yes. So, you do bring a

25:53knowledge um which is which is wonderful

25:56and you've touched base on a few

25:57different things. Um the key is

25:59transparency. And I think if we have

26:01full transparency, we're able to work as

26:04a committee uh the school committee and

26:05we're able to we'll be able to work with

26:07the city. Um

26:09I I

26:11It's October and I love that we're

26:13talking from now. We're going to start

26:14talking from now and and seeing what we

26:17can do to know where our situation is

26:21way before we even have to get into

26:23budget season. So, having these early

26:25talks is very important. So, I just want

26:27to welcome you and you did touch base I

26:29mean you touched base on a a few items

26:31that I I had questions on. So, um I'm

26:34sure the second meeting um we will have

26:36with you we'll have more questions, but

26:37I just want to welcome you back and

26:39thank you for bringing that knowledge

26:41and hopefully we can just move forward.

26:43It's now it's just we got to move

26:45forward and stay positive and um

26:50you know, think about the students the

26:51students and the families and see what

26:53we can do. You know, this is always a

26:54tough situation when we talk about

26:56money, but we as a committee, I think,

26:58we'll make good decisions

27:00with good leadership. So, I I appreciate

27:02you stepping in.

27:03>> Thank you. It's It's my phone is always

27:06ready to be answered. My door is always

27:08open. I mean, I I don't I've had a hard

27:11time scheduling everything because a lot

27:12of people have wanted to see me, but

27:15I don't duck meetings. I don't I just

27:16think

27:17you know, I'm I'm not delivering

27:19anything but information, you know, I'm

27:21not casting aspersions on anything

27:23anybody's done. I'm simply saying,

27:25here's what I see, and I might be wrong,

27:27and I'm I'm not infallible, that's for

27:28sure. I can I can get things wrong, too.

27:30So, you got to be willing to say, oh

27:31yeah, I messed up on that one.

27:33>> Absolutely. No, knowledge is key and and

27:36transparency, and that's that's what

27:37we've heard repeated tonight. So, like I

27:40said, welcome welcome back,

27:42and

27:43let's let's move forward and get get

27:46some stuff moving in a positive way for

27:48our schools. Thank you again.

27:51>> Thank you, Ms. Isaac.

27:52Ms. Senteo and Mr. Rodriguez.

27:55>> Hello.

27:56>> Hi.

27:57>> Welcome. I feel like I already like you

27:59already.

28:01Just because you are using simple, clear

28:04language for our audience, one. Two,

28:08that you're willing to keep the the

28:10communication ongoing, being part of the

28:13team. Also, your willingness for taking

28:17a seat at the table with us to have this

28:19stuff discussion. I also like the

28:22approach that

28:24we as a committee, we have to have we

28:26have to make some decisions that

28:29are [clears throat] not we're not going

28:30to like, but that

28:32according to our numbers and our budget,

28:35what we have, we will have to make some

28:37difficult decisions.

28:39Um

28:40I love that we can print some money, but

28:42unfortunately, like you said, we cannot.

28:45And you know, I always had the question

28:47like

28:48you know, like when I came in because

28:50I'm new to this role um, when people

28:54like I've I've I used to hear that the

28:57city was taking the money from from our

28:59students.

29:01Um, I hope that that our language will

29:04change because you're going to be very

29:05transparent with us about where our

29:08money is going, how it's being spent,

29:10and uh

29:11what we need to do to keep to make sure

29:13that our students are getting the

29:15education that they need. So, thank you.

29:17>> Thank you. One one comment on some of

29:19those

29:20points

29:22I'm a financial professional. I know

29:24that the people who stand for elected

29:26offices come from different backgrounds.

29:28So, you can think of me as somebody

29:31giving you financial advice, not

29:33educational policy advice. You know,

29:35give you whatever my poor opinion is,

29:37but

29:39you have a resource in me and my office.

29:41Uh, I think you need more help for the

29:43superintendent in the finance

29:44department, too. I think you know that,

29:46but you aren't expected to be financial

29:49experts for the You're expected to be

29:51school committee members bringing your

29:53constituents' views and your own

29:55personal experience to the table. You

29:57know, I'm not asking anybody here to be

29:59a CPA or an MBA, you know,

30:01that's another job. But, your job is to

30:04make decisions and you need information

30:05to do that, and that's my job, I think.

30:09>> Uh, Mr. Rodriguez.

30:12>> Thank you.

30:13>> Uh, welcome back.

30:14>> Thank you.

30:14>> Um

30:16I'm not sure

30:18um

30:19I mean, you've heard it here. It's all

30:20about transparency. Uh

30:22you know, we struggled a lot um trying

30:25to get some answers um, so the

30:27superintendent and her team can uh put

30:29effective budget together and properly

30:31educate our students in this community.

30:33But, I'm not sure if

30:35I know you said you mentioned that you

30:37had to go, you know, address the

30:38council. But, when you look at the

30:40budget coming in now,

30:43um

30:44I mean, I had you know, to

30:47you know, kind of dig for some answers

30:48myself.

30:49What is your picture as the budget that

30:52we have currently in place right now

30:53that the city council appropriated in

30:55July? Like, what is your picture on

30:57that?

30:58>> [clears throat]

30:58>> Well, how do we operate now? We

30:59operating in a massive deficit? Do you

31:02have a number with that deficit or you

31:04still digging in to see what that

31:05deficit is?

31:06>> for the

31:08we're hearing you and sometimes I don't

31:09hear too well. I didn't catch all of

31:11your comments. Let me see if I got them

31:13correct. You wanted to know how this

31:16year's budget looks in terms of

31:18concluding the year and how it carries

31:20forward into next year in terms of

31:22numbers. Is that Is that a fair? Okay.

31:24Uh

31:25I I think this year's budget through

31:29I don't I don't want to give the exact

31:30number because the council hasn't

31:31received this number yet, but it's it's

31:33grabbing a bunch of budgetary problems

31:36in this fiscal year and [snorts] using

31:38reserves to cure them.

31:41The trouble with that is it depletes the

31:44reserves.

31:45And [snorts] the city has used reserves

31:47in the last few years to cure budget

31:50problems and now all of a sudden

31:53our piggy banks

31:54just don't have any money in them

31:56anymore. So, that's my concern.

31:59So,

32:00we had to do it. I didn't see any other

32:02way to do it. You're not looking to make

32:04layoffs or budget cuts mid-year. That's

32:06not a good good solution and we had the

32:08reserves. It would have been I think um

32:11wouldn't have been right to have tried

32:12to do it without using the reserves. But

32:14now we got to figure out how do we get

32:17to next year and into an a balanced

32:18budget of next year and how do we

32:20replenish those reserves because in

32:23municipal finance,

32:25especially with proposition 2 and 1/2,

32:28if you look of yourself like yourself as

32:30yourself like a business,

32:32you have no pricing power. You know,

32:34very very few places can you do anything

32:37to raise your revenues. Proposition 2

32:39and 1/2 says you've got to go to the

32:40voters to get an increase beyond you

32:42know, the inflationary

32:442 and 1/2% in the budget. You're

32:46dependent mostly on state revenues.

32:49So, you're kind of like a dependent

32:51child in a sense. They they they they

32:53find you. Sometimes they're an abusive

32:54parent because they don't give you

32:55enough.

32:58Um

33:00So,

33:01I don't know how to fix that money

33:02problem, but I do think we've got

33:07I'll just say multi multi-million dollar

33:10difficulty going from where we are today

33:12to putting a balanced budget together

33:14next year. And fixing that problem is

33:16going to take unless the city and the

33:19state are willing to see what we had to

33:21do in 1991 and I don't think anybody is.

33:24I hope not. But, we don't want to do

33:26those level of layoffs again. So,

33:28somebody is going to have to come up

33:30with a way to put more revenue in and

33:32give us if not that, give us some

33:34authority to

33:37string out

33:38the coming into balance so it isn't a

33:41catastrophic catastrophic drop off a

33:43cliff right away. I've had some

33:45discussions with the state. I've got no

33:46commitments whatsoever. But, I can say

33:49this uh

33:50they're aware of the difficulty. They

33:52they they don't have a specific number

33:54either because I haven't developed it. I

33:56have got some thoughts in my minds, but

33:57I hesitate to put something down until

33:59I'm quite sure of it because you know,

34:01once you're out there with that number,

34:02it's it takes on a life of its own.

34:05But, the problem is very large,

34:07multi-millions uh and it's going to take

34:10some drastic steps to bring into

34:11balance. And from your perspective,

34:16because the net school spending budget

34:18is largely fixed because we aren't above

34:21you know, you won't be sharing in some

34:23of the on the

34:24school building side, this kids in the

34:26classroom side.

34:27I [snorts] don't see how we can really

34:29come to you and say

34:30pay go give you less.

34:33On the transfer sanitation side, that's

34:35different. I think, you know, we have to

34:37take a hard look at that to see what we

34:38can afford and what we can support. That

34:40means, and this is going to cause

34:42problems, because that means most of

34:44these cuts are going to have to be on

34:46more discretionary services. Once

34:49education reform was passed, I told the

34:51mayor at the time,

34:53"Half your budget just became a fixed

34:55cost."

34:57Now,

34:58fixed cost are

35:00not fixed forever, but in the short

35:02term, and there's a CPA over that you're

35:04CPA, aren't you?

35:05No.

35:06But they're fixed costs that they they

35:08they'll they're costs you got to live

35:09with in the short term at least.

35:11And so,

35:14absent a change in the law, we aren't

35:15going to be able to do much on the net

35:17school spending side. On the city side,

35:20there will be a lot of consternation if

35:23we have to do deep layoffs. And when we

35:25did them in 1991, net school spending

35:27and education reform hadn't happened

35:29yet. Schools shared in that. We laid

35:32off, I think, 200 and somewhat people in

35:35the school department, over 30 police,

35:37over 30 fire, and then laborers and

35:39clerks scattered throughout. Um

35:43if you lay off somebody, I don't know if

35:44you know this, but they they have under

35:45the civil service law, they have the

35:47right to adjust cause hearing.

35:50Uh

35:51not a very happy period in my life. I

35:53was the witness at all those hearings,

35:55you know, basically saying, "Here's what

35:57I know, you people aren't funded in this

35:59budget." And some of these people, it

36:02was heartbreaking to see their reaction

36:04to it, you know, they knew it was

36:05coming, but in that hearing, it became

36:07real. So, I I don't want to do that

36:09again. I really don't. Nobody should

36:11want to do that. The city shouldn't be

36:13willing to tolerate it. So, we may need

36:15help maybe need help from the voters,

36:16too. But your problem is not going to be

36:19as under that scenario I just painted,

36:21is not going to be as severe as on the

36:22city side. But on the city side,

36:26you know, debt service is what it is,

36:27the pension assessment is what it is.

36:30Um

36:31when you get down to it,

36:33nobody wants to lay off public safety,

36:34and there's not enough money elsewhere

36:37to make all the money up, because you've

36:38still got to have assessors, and you

36:40know, you've got to have that stuff. So,

36:41yeah,

36:42proposition 2 and 1/2 is not a very

36:44friendly tool when you're in a crunch

36:47like this. So, that I think that's all I

36:49can say. It's going to be It's going to

36:50be hard unless we get some help.

36:51>> [snorts]

36:52>> Um

36:54is it fair

36:57to assess that,

37:00and I'm not

37:01trying to point the finger, but

37:02indirectly am, that the council actually

37:05appropriated an an unbalanced budget?

37:08>> It depends upon what they knew and what

37:09they were told. I mean, you know, the

37:11budget book looks like this.

37:13Uh I think if you would talk to would

37:14talk to them, they thought the budget

37:16had problems, but they are not

37:18were not cognizant of the depth of the

37:20depth of it. And then, you know, um

37:27>> So, as elected officials, we are only as

37:28best as with the information that is

37:30brought to this body to make those

37:31decisions, correct?

37:32>> Um you know, I I wouldn't I wouldn't say

37:34that they knowingly appropriated an

37:36unbalanced budget.

37:37>> saying that I mean, they

37:39the council is the one that that

37:40approves the budget, but

37:42we don't we don't have that authority,

37:44but they did approve a budget that was

37:46not balanced. But, like, how would they

37:49know that that budget is not balanced?

37:52Like, when it's being presented, how

37:54would they Is there any information in

37:56there that should have been brought

37:57forward to them to show that this

38:00uh budget is not balanced? I'm just

38:02saying that because uh in my role,

38:05when the deficit happened in the school

38:07district, I was

38:09one of two elected officials that was

38:11called to the state house.

38:13And I'm I I am very disappointed from

38:17that meeting, the direction that was

38:19given to this city to take, and those

38:20steps weren't taken. I'm not the mayor.

38:23And the council has the ultimate

38:25authority and that didn't happen. And

38:27that was to freeze no hiring to see

38:29where your revenue is and put an actual

38:30budget together and make drastic cuts.

38:33And

38:34the city knew that this was going to be

38:37a problem in FY 27 and 28 moving forward

38:40because there's not enough revenue to

38:42sink city side uh you know, expenses and

38:46on

38:47on their budget. So

38:49it it it it it's just you know, you

38:50know, we're we're at a point, you know,

38:52we just want the transparency. What is

38:53it? Um this back and forth, I'm always

38:56going to defend the school district

38:57because I sat in that room. Um I heard

39:00the conversations from Shawn Cronan's

39:01mouth directly and Bill Bell and every

39:04all those folks and I reported it

39:05directly to my colleagues at the time of

39:07all those meetings that I were part of.

39:09And I'm just disappointed that the folks

39:12on the other side didn't take those

39:13measures

39:15to correct that. And

39:17there's no way

39:19from the numbers that I

39:21was given that there is not going to be

39:24layoffs that's going to affect city

39:25side. There has to. It does I don't see

39:28where the revenue is going to sustain

39:32it.

39:32>> Well, I'm not I'm not going to I'm not

39:33going to comment on that. On the other

39:35comment you made, every budget is built

39:37on a

39:39pile of assumptions.

39:41And different people can take different

39:43perspectives as to whether the

39:45assumptions are real. Maybe we can we

39:47we'll hit that revenue number. We'll

39:48live within that expenditure number.

39:50They'll find a way to manage through it.

39:51So

39:53I'm not

39:54willing to throw look back and throw

39:56rocks or cast aspersions. That's not

39:59That's not why I came in to do the job.

40:02I want to look forward.

40:03I think the budget that I discovered has

40:06problems from my perspective.

40:09That's what I'm saying.

40:10And I think the correction is going to

40:12take a little bit of pain. That's what I

40:15think. But whether it's layoffs, whether

40:17the voters would be willing to do

40:19something to help us out, I know you're

40:20going to ask them to help out on the

40:21school construction,

40:23whether the state would be willing to

40:25help us out, all of that is an unknown

40:27at this point. All I know is that the

40:29numbers don't add up.

40:32>> Thank you very much and

40:34pretty sure we'll be meeting on a

40:35one-on-one basis. Thank you.

40:37>> Thank you. Any other questions, final

40:39thoughts?

40:41>> No.

40:41>> Um well, I appreciate you and the time

40:44you've dedicated to being here.

40:47One thing I will say, I'm very much

40:50looking forward to the work that we're

40:51going to do together, at least, you

40:53know, while you're you're here with us.

40:55Um

40:57just to share a little bit on in the

40:59frustration, not that we should be

41:01ruminating on what has happened, but

41:02focus more on what we're going to do

41:04moving forward, which I like your take

41:07and perspective of, you know, this is

41:09what's going on, what what are we going

41:10to do about it, whether it's something

41:12that's going to be hard on us and the

41:14community, whatever the case is, it's a

41:16must, we have to do it. Um

41:19you know, we in this committee have

41:21adopted a few policies, especially when

41:23it comes to finance. One of the policies

41:25that I myself proposed comes with the

41:28the the

41:29uh drafting of our budget and the

41:31timeline because what has happened this

41:33past year that we can all agree on that

41:37we realized was an issue is numbers and

41:40information was not getting to the

41:42school department or to this committee

41:44on time and was delaying the process and

41:47when you're crunching numbers at the

41:48last minute

41:49>> Yeah.

41:49>> something is definitely going to go

41:51wrong. Uh so, now we have a new policy

41:54with the timeline for this committee or

41:56the school district to have its budget

41:57ready. But, think with the conversations

42:00that we have started already, sounds

42:02like we're going to be on the right

42:03track. We're going to start things early

42:05and we're going to figure out how do we

42:06make

42:07this city succeed when it comes to

42:09having a proper and

42:12uh effective method of doing our budget,

42:15of having a proper budget for the

42:16schools and the city, and to spend spend

42:19within our our limits within our means.

42:23If you have any final thoughts, any

42:25words of wisdom you'd like to share with

42:27us before?

42:28>> No, I'm not a wise man. I'm just a

42:30just an old man.

42:31>> [laughter]

42:35>> I I think collaboration

42:37is the key.

42:38>> Yes.

42:38>> If you don't have it, you end up having

42:40a rock throwing contest and get your eye

42:42put out. That's a

42:44That's [laughter] all

42:44>> Absolutely.

42:45>> to say. Collaboration is the key. If you

42:47work together and starting starting

42:49early. You weren't the only department

42:50that had that happen. I just I told you

42:52just met with the chief of police and

42:54she ended up getting million in change

42:56cut out of her budget without even

42:58knowing it that was submitted to the

42:59council. So that that that that I don't

43:01know what happened. What what happened

43:03on the budget process that all of the

43:04sudden what they were going towards

43:06wasn't going to be achievable and they

43:08had to start I don't know what that was.

43:09As I said it I'm not looking to find

43:11that out cuz it doesn't make any

43:12difference. And I just assume work on

43:16people as I find them.

43:18And let's go ahead and

43:19>> Absolutely.

43:20>> work on that basis.

43:21>> All right. Well, thank you. I appreciate

43:23you being here and looking forward to

43:24more conversations.

43:25>> Thank you. It's good to see all of you.

43:27Thank you for the invitation.

43:29>> Uh we will go back now to Superintendent

43:32Superintendent's report.

43:36>> Thank you.

43:52All right. So, good evening, everyone.

43:55Um I do just want to say it has been a

43:57pleasure to work with Mr. Conden thus

43:59far. Um and we are I know we can't cite

44:02the numbers specifically cuz he's still

44:04working them out, but even the rough

44:05numbers that we've seen for the pension

44:06obligation bond and for the school share

44:09is far um

44:10more aligned to what we believed it to

44:12be. So, we're uh happy to see that and

44:15we were also very happy to see that not

44:18only um was it calculated for the past 4

44:21years, but uh Mr. Condon was able to

44:23forecast it for the next 4 years. So,

44:26again, that's only one portion of our

44:28schedule 19, but just the ability to

44:29forecast those numbers into the future

44:32was very exciting because that helps us

44:34plan

44:35ahead.

44:40So, follow following up on our

44:42discussion from the last meeting, I

44:44wanted to give some more concrete

44:46insights into how the rollout of Parent

44:48Square is going. So, as part of the

44:50rollout, we've been routinely running

44:53outreach to verify our families' contact

44:55information. And as of today, 98.2%

44:59of our families are contactable, which

45:02is above the goal that Parent Square

45:04indicated we should aim for, which was

45:0797% within 90 days.

45:10So, we've been providing information on

45:12where there are contact gaps directly to

45:15the schools so that they can follow up

45:16with families to make sure that the

45:18contact information is up-to-date. Our

45:21communications and instructional

45:22technology teams have also been

45:24identifying data-related issues so that

45:26our school data services team can make

45:28updates to bring that number even

45:30higher.

45:31In terms of teacher usage, Parent Square

45:33shared that a realistic goal in the

45:34first 90 days would be to have 50% of

45:37teachers using the platform to send at

45:40least one post or message.

45:42And we've actually far exceeded that

45:45already at 66.4%,

45:48which means we are well on our way to a

45:49goal of 80% teacher adoption before the

45:53end of the school year.

45:58So, the tool itself is meant to bring as

46:01much of our communication as possible

46:03under one umbrella. So, in the past BPS

46:06had used School Messenger as its

46:08outreach tool at the district and school

46:10leadership level. So, that's what we'd

46:12use to communicate about district-wide

46:14initiatives, school closures, and so on.

46:17While school leaders would use it to

46:18share newsletters and more specific

46:20school school-specific updates. But,

46:23what's important to note though is that

46:25School Messenger was A, not available to

46:28teachers, B, offered only one-way

46:31communication from school to parent, and

46:34C, was very limited in its capability as

46:36a means of regular communication.

46:39So, there were a variety of tools that

46:41teachers would use to fill the void as

46:43you see here on the left-hand side of

46:44the slide, none of which were officially

46:46sanctioned by the district in any

46:48meaningful way. Um, and meanwhile

46:50principals would create a newsletter in

46:52Smore, for example, then share that link

46:54with families via School Messenger, and

46:57then families would then need to press a

46:58button to translate the text.

47:01Now, all of that is folded into Parent

47:03Square, so a principal or teacher can

47:05make their newsletter, decorate it

47:07nicely, and include pictures, videos,

47:09etc., and then it gets delivered to

47:11families already in their preferred

47:13language.

47:15Families also now have the ability to

47:16respond in a private comment to a

47:18principal or teacher's post or engage in

47:21a direct message conversation with

47:23teachers and other school staff.

47:25Our teachers have so far been using that

47:27specific feature for more personalized

47:29outreach on things like areas where a

47:31student may need extra help at home or

47:34individualized attention.

47:37To to speak to another question that

47:39came up last time, Parent Square is

47:41meant to resemble a social media feed,

47:44which makes it more intuitive for our

47:45families, and that lives on the app,

47:48which a third of our district community

47:50has already downloaded, but it is also

47:52accessible in a desktop uh, browser as

47:55as

47:56Finally, it serves as a unified landing

47:58page so a parent can have access to

48:00class, school, and district updates, but

48:02also find their school's calendar and

48:04important timely links all in one place.

48:09So, as far as next steps uh for Parent

48:11Square, we are working on getting a

48:13wider group of district and school staff

48:15the access and permissions they need in

48:17order to engage with families, but we

48:19are attempting to do so in a way that

48:21keeps families informed and engaged

48:23without overwhelming them. Uh we are

48:25also working through challenges as they

48:27rise during implementation, so we never

48:30definitely have to troubleshoot issues

48:31as they come up. We will also be

48:34beginning a drive to increase app

48:35downloads so that families can get the

48:37greatest personalization of their

48:38notification preferences. And finally,

48:41we are keeping an eye on the great work

48:43our teachers and staff are doing as we

48:45look for our next Parent Square

48:47champions.

48:51So, another way we have engaged families

48:53this year through our community resource

48:55fair last weekend. I want to extend a

48:57huge thank you to our social emotional

48:59learning department, which hosted a

49:00mental health and wellness-focused

49:02community resource fair, giving families

49:05a chance to meet with and build

49:06connections with 30 community-based

49:08support providers and assistance

49:10agencies.

49:11The fair was at the Shaw Center next to

49:13Campanelli Stadium. Our SEL team reports

49:16that dozens of families showed up to

49:17take advantage of the opportunity to

49:19learn about the resources available to

49:21them right here in Brockton and in

49:22surrounding communities. Thank you as

49:25well to the members of our mental health

49:26and well-being subcommittee who helped

49:28conceptualize and organize this

49:29fantastic event.

49:34South Middle School also hosted a career

49:36Oh,

49:37I have to write. Sorry.

49:38South Middle School hosted a career day

49:40for eighth graders uh this last week,

49:43giving them the chance to explore the

49:44wide range of career paths available to

49:47them as they enter the home stretch of

49:48their school careers once they get to

49:50high school. I want to extend a special

49:53thank you to all of the local

49:54professionals and leaders, including

49:56from the Brockton Fire Department and

49:57Massachusetts State Police K9

50:00and drone units, who came out to share

50:03their experiences with our South

50:04students.

50:07I also want to highlight the over 40

50:09Brockton High student athletes who

50:11volunteered this past weekend at the

50:12Breaking Through Road Blocks Breast

50:14Cancer Walk. This was another initiative

50:16organized by the Student Athlete

50:18Advisory Committee, or SAC. They were

50:21there bright and early to get ready for

50:23the day. They helped by starting the day

50:25at the entrance of DW, getting the cars

50:27involved, then cheering on walkers,

50:29holding down the water stations, and

50:31providing support to participants along

50:33the way. The field hockey team also

50:35worked on making signs to get ready for

50:37the event. We even had some athletes run

50:39and walk and provide encouragement. Run

50:42the walk and provide encouragement.

50:44Thank you to our students from cross

50:45country, field hockey, cheerleading,

50:47football, girls soccer, girls

50:48basketball, softball, tennis, track, and

50:50all of the other athletes who came

50:51together to support this important event

50:54and to give back to the community.

50:58So, now that we have passed our October

51:011st enrollment date, I did want to take

51:03a closer look at the BPS 3-year

51:05enrollment data. This provides us

51:08insight into the evolving educational

51:10landscape in our district. So, here on

51:12this slide, and I also have printouts in

51:14front of you, um this slide focuses on

51:16enrollment figures for our overall

51:19district, um so our total enrollment,

51:22and also for our students with

51:24disabilities, as well as our English

51:26learners. So, the overall enrollment

51:29numbers reveal a gradual decline with a

51:31decrease from 15,280

51:34students in 2024 to 14,106

51:38in 2026. And this mirrors what we see

51:41happening across the state.

51:43If we look at enrollment numbers for our

51:45students with disabilities over the past

51:473 years, these figures have shown an

51:49increase from almost 3,000 students in

51:512024 to 3,300 in 2026.

51:55This um represents an increase from

51:5719.2%

51:59to 23.6%

52:00of our student population. So, even

52:02though our total student population is

52:04declining, our um

52:06students who are on IEPs has been

52:07increasing, and I know that this is

52:09something we've talked about at these

52:10meetings before.

52:13Also, as far as our English learners, we

52:14actually see a steady decrease with

52:16numbers going down almost 1,000 students

52:18in the last 3 years, making our English

52:20learners now 31% of our total

52:23population, where they were previously

52:2535%.

52:30So, here you see the enrollment data uh

52:33for our high schools over the past 3

52:35years. This slide highlights the

52:37enrollment number from various schools

52:38within the district, offering insight

52:40into trends and changes.

52:42As you can see across the board, we are

52:44seeing declines in enrollment at the

52:45high school level. Again, this is um

52:47comparable to what we see happening

52:49across the state. The exception that you

52:51see here is Promise, uh which has been

52:53growing by up by a grade level every

52:55year um and only reached grade 12 last

52:58year for the first time, which is why

52:59you see the steep increase from 2024 to

53:022025.

53:08Middle schools have actually um only

53:09decreased slightly this year as compared

53:12to last year. And again, these printouts

53:15are in front of you, and these will be

53:17posted on the website. And also,

53:18actually, all of this information is on

53:20the DESE website and is public

53:22information.

53:26And same for our elementary schools,

53:27which have stayed There is a slight

53:29decline, but they've stayed pretty

53:30steady. It's important to remember, of

53:32course, that these are our October 1st

53:35numbers, and our numbers do increase

53:36over the course of the school year.

53:38Um that being said, here, especially at

53:40the elementary level. Um

53:43we have been talking about elementary

53:45numbers for a while and our space

53:47constraints. So, the steady decline

53:50helps us a little bit, but it doesn't

53:52help us tremendously. So, we still do

53:55need to be thinking about how we are

53:56utilizing our space differently in the

53:58future. Um so, for example, I know

54:01something we've talked about here is our

54:04um pre-K classroom at North Middle

54:06School. So, again, this is something

54:08that we're going to be looking at for

54:10the future.

54:12So, at this time, I would like to

54:14actually talk about some of the building

54:15conversion options that we have

54:17discussed in the past. So, when we

54:19talked about this in August, um the

54:22committee had asked for more detailed

54:24information on what these models could

54:27potentially look like as far as how many

54:30seats could be available, um

54:32how many classroom sizes we could have

54:34or how many classrooms would be

54:36available. Um and I am going to be

54:39inviting up Assistant Superintendent

54:41Karen Spalding, who's going to be going

54:43through some building conversion options

54:44with you. Now, some of these were

54:45presented in August, but others are

54:48actually um

54:50ones that have become up recently as uh

54:54Dr. Spalding has been actually getting

54:56feedback from our uh principals at the

54:59K-8 level.

55:01You can join us at the table.

55:03Um so, we are still in the exploration

55:05phase. So, our hope for tonight is to

55:07explore the options, answer any

55:09questions. Again, there's no vote needed

55:11tonight. Uh but one of the things that

55:13we did want to talk about is who

55:16moving forward from this point is what

55:19are who are the other stakeholders that

55:20we should be bringing in and um

55:24Oh, what was the next one? Thank you. Um

55:27who are the other stakeholders we should

55:28be bringing in and if we want to have

55:30some community outreach or town hall

55:32meetings to discuss further. So, at this

55:34point, I'll hand it over to Dr. Stomper.

55:36>> Sure.

55:41>> Is this working? Yes. Okay. Um good

55:44evening, everyone. Um I won't read all

55:47the text because you can read.

55:50Um and I don't want to take up um more

55:53time than necessary.

55:55Um but just want to sort of give an

55:57overview of some of the options again as

55:59Superintendent Teeliani um

56:02mentioned. These you've seen some of

56:04these before and there is um a new

56:06addition on there as well. Um and it's

56:10structured to point out some of the

56:13pros, so some of the reasons why we

56:15might move in that direction, and then

56:16some of the um considerations.

56:19And two of them um in particular,

56:23shifting Pluff potentially to be an

56:26elementary school, so a pre-K through 5

56:28or a K through 5,

56:30or shifting Asheville to be an

56:33elementary pre-K through 5 or K through

56:355. Um

56:37one of the cons, which is a significant

56:39one and I it just came up in the um

56:41previous presentation in terms of

56:42transportation, is our tier 3 is our

56:46busiest tier, which should make sense um

56:49because elementary students qualify if

56:51they're um further than 1 and 1/2 miles

56:53out. We also transport door-to-door at

56:56higher um levels at the elementary

56:59level. Um and so to add another

57:01elementary school onto that tier um uh

57:05would be extremely difficult if not

57:08impossible given the number of vehicles

57:10we have and cost and and those kinds of

57:12things. Um

57:14and then I also want to just

57:16Davis comes up uh sometimes when folks

57:18are talking about, what do we do about

57:20the elementary to address elementary

57:22space issues? Um and I think something

57:24that's useful to think about in terms of

57:26Davis is that it's 300 seats, but that

57:29basically equates to 12 classrooms. And

57:33the reason why that's important is

57:34because if you're adding elementary

57:37sections, you have to have six

57:40classrooms to add one more classroom to

57:43each grade level cuz you have to be you

57:45can't just add a kindergarten without

57:47thinking about that kindergarten that

57:49needs to be a first grade and a second

57:51grade, third grade, fourth grade, fifth

57:52grade, etc.

57:53So, those 12 classrooms, if there were

57:56no other needs for space at Davis, would

57:59only be an add of two additional classes

58:02at each grade level. Another K-5 here

58:05and another K-5 here.

58:07But at Davis right now, we're growing a

58:10sub separate strand, and so we need

58:12space for those classrooms. So, really

58:15all we would net if we moved 6th through

58:178th

58:18out of Davis is really probably just one

58:21additional classroom per grade level

58:23K-5. So, I think that's something that's

58:27important to keep in mind. And in terms

58:30of both Ashfield and Davis,

58:33right now, Davis, for example, has a

58:36certain obviously a zone, a certain

58:38catch net for elementary students. And

58:41so, if we're adding elementary students

58:43there, that catch net gets larger. And

58:46so, we have to think about, well, what

58:47might be the increased transportation

58:49costs associated with that as well. Um

58:53And then the

58:55the question about George potentially

58:58coming

58:59becoming a K-8.

59:01Um it's definitely an interesting

59:04programmatic conversation we should

59:05have, but it it actually not only

59:08doesn't solve the space issue, it

59:09actually exacerbates the space issue.

59:12Um because right now, George houses

59:15seven pre-K classrooms.

59:17And so, we would need to put those seven

59:20pre-K classrooms somewhere else in

59:23somewhere else we don't have any more

59:25space in the first place.

59:27Um so, it really doesn't help the

59:28situation, it actually makes it worse.

59:30Um,

59:31and then this last one which is a um,

59:34new since the last um, ones that you saw

59:37would be the idea of converting

59:40um, Pluff Middle School to a K-8 or

59:42pre-K through 8 um, school.

59:46And the reason why I'm saying K-8 or

59:47pre-K through 8 or pre-K through 5 or K

59:50through 5 um, is because we would do

59:52some um,

59:54mapping out of where the pre-K's would

59:57go. In all cases, we would get the pre-K

59:59out of North Middle School. Um, but

1:00:02we're just not sure where it would land

1:00:04um, because we'd have to figure out

1:00:06where all the other sort of switches

1:00:08might happen in order to settle things

1:00:10out.

1:00:11But what makes Pluff Middle School

1:00:13becoming uh, potentially up through uh,

1:00:16pre-K through 8 or K through 8 um,

1:00:19makes it an interesting choice is that

1:00:22it allows us to free up some space

1:00:25without uh, with with still keeping the

1:00:28middle schools at a fairly reasonable

1:00:30number of like a 500 to 550

1:00:33um, sort of number as opposed to having

1:00:36to redistribute all of those um,

1:00:39students. It allows some flexibility

1:00:42um, as you saw in the enrollment

1:00:44figures, it looks like middle school is

1:00:46is kind of leveling off a bit in terms

1:00:48of its enrollment. Um,

1:00:51and so, but

1:00:53you know, we we see enrollment shift in

1:00:55places and so it gives a little bit of

1:00:57flexibility to narrow the elementary

1:01:00grades in terms of numbers and maybe

1:01:02give a few more seats for middle school

1:01:03or do the opposite if if an elementary

1:01:06swings one way or whatever the case may

1:01:08be.

1:01:09Um, and then it also keeps Pluff on

1:01:12tier. So Pluff would basically be like a

1:01:14twin to Davis, but a little smaller.

1:01:17Um, twin in the sense of program and and

1:01:19schedule and time and it would land on

1:01:22tier two,

1:01:23um, um, transportation.

1:01:25And so, that's that's a new addition,

1:01:27um, since, um, what you saw before.

1:01:31Just to kind of give, um, the next

1:01:34sheet, the proposed, um, phased-in

1:01:37approaches. I will say this is a

1:01:39middle-of-the-road, um, phased-in

1:01:41approach. You can phase in very slowly.

1:01:44Um, let's just I'll use Pluff as an

1:01:46example.

1:01:47Um, if we were to phase in, um, with

1:01:51Pluff, you can go really slowly and add

1:01:54kindergarten the first year, and then

1:01:55that kindergarten, then you have K and

1:01:57one the next year, then you have K, one,

1:01:58and two the next year. And so, you can

1:02:00play that out, and you will see that it

1:02:03will take six years to build it up to,

1:02:06um, fifth grade.

1:02:08The extreme, the other extreme, is to

1:02:11just reassign students, um,

1:02:14re- re- figure out the zones, reassign

1:02:17students who are already assigned and

1:02:20already going to school in other

1:02:21schools. Um,

1:02:24this is before my time. My understanding

1:02:25is that's what was done back when

1:02:28Pluff was a middle Sorry, Pluff was an

1:02:30elementary and became a middle school.

1:02:33Um, that basically from one year into

1:02:36the next year, um, students were

1:02:38reassigned, and and, um, it was a quick

1:02:40transition. Um, this is kind of a middle

1:02:43of

1:02:44that, um, which would require some

1:02:47reassignment of students who are already

1:02:49in, um, some elementary schools. It

1:02:52would kind of wean out some of the

1:02:54middle school students, um, cuz it would

1:02:56reduce the numbers to about 75 students

1:03:00per grade level, six, seven, and eight.

1:03:02And as those seats became freed up,

1:03:05grades would be added, um, in this case

1:03:07to the Pluff if that's what the

1:03:08transition was. Um,

1:03:11so, this is played out over three years

1:03:13in this particular chart. It could be as

1:03:16slow, um, and long as a five or six

1:03:19year,

1:03:20um, roll in or again a very quick one,

1:03:23um,

1:03:25uh, depending on what was the will of of

1:03:27the committee.

1:03:31>> Um,

1:03:32>> [clears throat]

1:03:32>> I'll open up to question. Ms. Senteio.

1:03:36>> My Pluff Elementary award, um,

1:03:39I have what's happening.

1:03:42I mean, I like the idea of having

1:03:47pre-K

1:03:48to, um,

1:03:52to sixth grade. So, middle school to be

1:03:54middle school six to eight and

1:03:57pre-K to five together.

1:04:00Um, so I like the idea of Pluff becoming

1:04:03that because it used to be an an

1:04:04elementary school.

1:04:06But my question is

1:04:09for my Eastside, right? Like my zoning,

1:04:12um,

1:04:13if if Pluff becomes pre-K to five, so

1:04:17now we're going to have three elementary

1:04:18schools. So, we're going to have, um,

1:04:20Downey, Baker, and then Pluff.

1:04:24What is going to happen with East Middle

1:04:26Schools number

1:04:29as those, um, students then needing to

1:04:32go to middle schools? What's going to

1:04:34happen to our class sizes there?

1:04:36Um,

1:04:37what's the

1:04:39Can you educate us on that, please?

1:04:42>> Yeah, so, um, I can't say for sure what

1:04:45the numbers would be because we'd have

1:04:46to go through a process, really a

1:04:48detailed process of, um,

1:04:51looking at the zones, the attendance

1:04:53zones, and and figuring that part out.

1:04:56Um, in terms of it wouldn't really

1:04:58change class size. It would change the

1:05:01total number of students, um, in the

1:05:03building cuz basically if if in the in

1:05:06the example of Pluff, if Pluff became

1:05:08just an elementary school, so a have

1:05:11through five or a K through five, K

1:05:12through five, excuse [clears throat] me.

1:05:14It would basically mean

1:05:16picking up classes of students and

1:05:19teachers would be redistributed to the

1:05:21other middle schools.

1:05:23Um

1:05:24and Pluff right now is in the um

1:05:27city-wide zone. Um that's how students

1:05:30are assigned at the middle school level,

1:05:31whether what that would look like for

1:05:33elementary, we'd we'd do some digging

1:05:36into to figure that out. Um

1:05:38but all of the if any of the middle

1:05:41schools became an elementary school,

1:05:43those students would be redistributed um

1:05:46to the other middle schools, depending

1:05:47on what their capacity is, the size is

1:05:50East is a larger

1:05:52build facility sort of footprint in

1:05:54terms of facility and number of

1:05:55classrooms, a little bit larger than say

1:05:58South or North. Asheville, of course, is

1:06:01is even smaller than that. Um West is a

1:06:03decent size in terms of physical space,

1:06:05so it would depend on how the zones were

1:06:08were worked out.

1:06:11>> Looks like

1:06:12any other members? Mr. Peden, and then

1:06:14Mr. Isaac.

1:06:16>> How are you doing, Dr. Spalding?

1:06:18>> I'm doing marvelously, thank you.

1:06:20>> [laughter]

1:06:21>> So, um

1:06:22currently we have 2,500

1:06:25um kids in the middle school, right? So,

1:06:27obviously you divide that by you take

1:06:29one away, divide by five, and you get

1:06:31about 500 kids per middle school after

1:06:33that point.

1:06:35Um

1:06:37what is

1:06:39uh when you're looking at this, because

1:06:40we have to look at this not at

1:06:43what the

1:06:45um

1:06:45what the method of moving the kids

1:06:47around is or anything like that, but

1:06:50but we just lost 484

1:06:52uh students this year.

1:06:55Uh if DESI

1:06:57decides to cut our funding by 9.6

1:06:59million, which is what that 484 is,

1:07:03don't you think that instead of looking

1:07:05at moving kids around, we need to look

1:07:07at maybe closing a school.

1:07:10Maybe looking at making the camp compass

1:07:12schools back as to what they are

1:07:15and being a little bit more drastic than

1:07:17just moving people around

1:07:19uh because I believe what the what the

1:07:22um CFO just said is that we need to look

1:07:24at this more

1:07:26uh like a business and

1:07:29how we can make cuts on our side. Uh and

1:07:32if we're going to start taking on

1:07:34additional services from the city

1:07:37um

1:07:38as an example, you know, we're paying

1:07:41for these buildings to be open.

1:07:43Wouldn't it be easier to or more

1:07:45cost-effective to

1:07:47maybe

1:07:49add kids to a

1:07:50to the um

1:07:52promise school and

1:07:54um because they're performing at such a

1:07:56higher level than our high school is and

1:07:59looking at how we can

1:08:02um

1:08:02cut costs with administrators.

1:08:06Instead of looking at um just moving

1:08:08kids around, I think we need to look at

1:08:10how we can actually

1:08:12um eliminate a school

1:08:15and and cut costs that way.

1:08:17So, if if we took

1:08:19the Pluff

1:08:20and made it into a elementary school

1:08:24and the Ashfield and made that into an

1:08:27elementary school

1:08:29uh and then created our the compass

1:08:32schools like we once had and if it

1:08:35more kids than what's there now

1:08:37um what would the the impact be if we

1:08:40did something like that?

1:08:45>> So,

1:08:46mathematically speaking, the enrollments

1:08:49in the compass schools, um if you only

1:08:52maintained four of them at again they

1:08:55similar doing sort of figuring out the

1:08:57math. Um if you've got four of them,

1:08:59you've got six 600 650

1:09:02um in terms of the size of the schools.

1:09:05Um,

1:09:06they wouldn't all be at 650 because

1:09:09they're slightly different sizes, so

1:09:11we'd have to there'd be a couple that

1:09:14are a little bit more students just

1:09:16because they have a bigger footprint,

1:09:17more classrooms,

1:09:18um, but somewhere in that range I would

1:09:21say.

1:09:22Um,

1:09:24I think the the question, which is a

1:09:26question for the committee and a

1:09:27question for the community,

1:09:29um,

1:09:30is what are all the options in terms of

1:09:34cost savings and what what is the, um,

1:09:37vision for what the community wants a

1:09:39middle school to look like? Do they want

1:09:42the middle school I when I was a

1:09:43principal I had a middle school of

1:09:44almost a thousand students,

1:09:46um,

1:09:47in that particular community that's what

1:09:49that community, um,

1:09:51wanted in terms of structure.

1:09:54Um,

1:09:54that's a lot of students, a lot of, um,

1:09:5812, 13, 14 year olds to put all in one

1:10:00place. Um, and so a lot of work has to

1:10:03be done in terms of that smaller

1:10:05community feel, so that's part of it.

1:10:07Um, I think the other thing to, um,

1:10:11that we are already doing and and will

1:10:14continue to do, honestly, no matter what

1:10:16the decision is around space,

1:10:19um, is to come up with efficiency

1:10:21models, um, staffing models that, um,

1:10:25we can make sure that schools are

1:10:28staffed in a way that is absolutely

1:10:31supportive of of high quality

1:10:33instruction and supporting social

1:10:35emotional needs and all of the things,

1:10:37um, but that it's an efficient use of

1:10:39resources. And at the middle school

1:10:42especially we've done a lot of that just

1:10:44in the last

1:10:46six months I would say,

1:10:47um, really finding ways, developing

1:10:50systems to really get a handle on how

1:10:53much staff, um, is at each of the number

1:10:56of staff at each of the schools, what

1:10:58are they actually teaching, what are

1:10:59class sizes, are those class sizes

1:11:01reasonable, are we using resources

1:11:04really efficiently. So, no matter what

1:11:06the plan ends up being,

1:11:08um we will continue to do that work um

1:11:11because that's not just because we're

1:11:12concerned about the budget, but because

1:11:14that's the right thing to do. That's the

1:11:15responsible thing to do,

1:11:17for sure.

1:11:18>> Thank you.

1:11:19>> Yep.

1:11:20>> Ms. Hayes-Eck.

1:11:21>> Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Spalding. So,

1:11:24>> [snorts]

1:11:24>> um full transparency, I had three people

1:11:28reach out to me within the past week and

1:11:29actually one yesterday. So, and I said

1:11:32to them,

1:11:33"We're not discussing this. There's

1:11:34nothing on the agenda." Um so, to my

1:11:36surprise, this is on the agenda today.

1:11:38Well, not on the agenda. It was given to

1:11:39us. So, I just don't want them thinking

1:11:41I I knew about it. Um so, I really wish

1:11:44we had a little more time to really take

1:11:46a deeper dive into this. Um some of us

1:11:48have been on this committee when we did

1:11:50a lot of building moves.

1:11:53It's it

1:11:55Most of the time, I think we ended up

1:11:56having a redo those moves. Um

1:11:59I really think we

1:12:01you know, a November deadline, then we

1:12:03really need to discuss this at least

1:12:05another time before we make a decision.

1:12:09Um I know I've sat with building moves,

1:12:12ones that I didn't even vote on,

1:12:14and the following year, this is prior

1:12:16administration superintendent, and and

1:12:19they were never the best choice. Um

1:12:21you know, we had to move students again,

1:12:23and then move our teachers and our

1:12:24staff. So,

1:12:26I would ask that we really think about

1:12:28this cuz the last time we had Ashfield

1:12:31uh on the you know, as part of the

1:12:33discussion, that's the only middle

1:12:35school we have in Ward 6, and I will

1:12:37advocate to keep my middle school in

1:12:39Ward 6. We have one middle school, and

1:12:42we have one elementary. And Ashfield is

1:12:44probably, if you checked with parent

1:12:46info, that is

1:12:48probably maxed out. I mean, that is a

1:12:50school that so many people want to go to

1:12:53in Ward 6 and in in Ward 5 if they're

1:12:55right at the border.

1:12:56Um

1:12:57So, I I would ask that we really, you

1:13:00know, take a good look. And I haven't

1:13:01had a chance to really look at these. I

1:13:03do appreciate all the time that went

1:13:04into it. It's just um

1:13:08you know, it takes a lot to move our

1:13:09students around and um

1:13:13I think we need at least a couple more

1:13:15meetings before we make this big

1:13:16decision.

1:13:18Um

1:13:19that's just my thought. I'm not against

1:13:22it. I just want to make the best

1:13:24decisions for our staff and for our

1:13:25students

1:13:27uh to get through this, but

1:13:29that was it for that. And then um again,

1:13:31with the with the Asheville. So, I mean,

1:13:33some some

1:13:34wards have

1:13:36you know, multiple schools. You know,

1:13:39it's just

1:13:40maybe if we can take a look at those,

1:13:42maybe buildings that we have

1:13:44um

1:13:44that are not

1:13:46at full capacity

1:13:48uh to try to transition until we can

1:13:51figure out what we're going to do.

1:13:53Cuz I know we have some some schools

1:13:54that are not at full capacity. So, I'm

1:13:56not a I'm not a no. I just I I I want to

1:13:59dive a little deeper into this. That's

1:14:01the only thing. Cuz I've sat here before

1:14:03many a time and it's just afterwards

1:14:07we're like, why did

1:14:08why did we do that? It wasn't the best

1:14:10move. So, I think we as a committee

1:14:14need to really talk about this a little

1:14:15more.

1:14:16Um

1:14:17take a deeper dive. But thank you, Dr.

1:14:18Spalding. I appreciate it.

1:14:20>> Um before I move on, just to pick back

1:14:23off of Ms. Azac. Um

1:14:27if I heard correctly, I don't think

1:14:28we're going to vote on this today. Um

1:14:31choice. It's just called a food for

1:14:33thought, if you will. This is just to

1:14:35start the conversation. We're not voting

1:14:37on it yet.

1:14:38>> No, I I understand. I just

1:14:39>> we're going to have a few more

1:14:41discussions before we have to vote on.

1:14:43Uh I share part of your

1:14:46concern, if you will. I also had to vote

1:14:49when I joined with the moves that we

1:14:51made, and it was

1:14:53to an extent it felt rushed. Um so, this

1:14:56is good for us to think about and

1:14:58process and look at it from different

1:15:01perspective, and I always come back and

1:15:03uh reach out if we have more questions.

1:15:05Um but no, I definitely share your

1:15:07concerns. So, I would love for us to

1:15:09have some time to digest this.

1:15:11>> On my statement, it was just more that

1:15:15we really only have one meeting in

1:15:16November. So, it's just we we also don't

1:15:18want to hold the administration up

1:15:20either, that we really then we need to

1:15:23really

1:15:24schedule some meetings and and discuss

1:15:26this a little further. Um and I just had

1:15:29to be full transparency cuz I kept

1:15:30saying to the especially the president

1:15:31that called me yesterday, I'm like, "No,

1:15:32this isn't We're not talking about

1:15:34this." No, um so, they're going to

1:15:36think, "Oh my god, she lied to us." And

1:15:38I'm going, "No, I didn't. I knew nothing

1:15:41about it till today." So, full

1:15:42transparency.

1:15:43>> No, absolutely. Um

1:15:47Ms. Oliver

1:15:48and then we'll go to Ms. Rodriguez and

1:15:50back to Ms. Sente.

1:15:51>> Thank you. This um

1:15:53I like the idea that we're not

1:15:55considering moving the fifth graders to

1:15:57middle school.

1:15:59Um

1:16:00definitely due to safety reasons, I

1:16:01don't think fifth graders should be with

1:16:03the middle schools um kids. Um but

1:16:05definitely this is something that it is

1:16:08the food for thoughts. I think it's

1:16:09something that um I would definitely say

1:16:11with Ms. Isaac regarding how we were

1:16:14rushed when I first thought it to make

1:16:16all this move. It was basically move

1:16:18now, change now. Um but I do like the

1:16:21fact that we're having this discussion.

1:16:23This is being brought to the table, and

1:16:25I think it's being done

1:16:26very professional, very thoughtful, very

1:16:30like, let's see what we can do for our

1:16:32students, right? And as we been going to

1:16:35um do tours, I've been you know, with my

1:16:39colleagues, a few of my colleagues, and

1:16:40we went to Gilmore, and

1:16:44to just to see the areas that they're

1:16:46making do with,

1:16:48and we're breaking at the seams at

1:16:50someone's elementary, that we are

1:16:52basically

1:16:53any space that you find we're turning

1:16:55into a classroom, right? And very soon

1:16:58we're going to run out of space because

1:16:59we're going to take what, the hallway?

1:17:01We got to take the gym, we got to take

1:17:02everything under the stairwell, which

1:17:04I've seen some really great ideas at

1:17:06Gilmore, right? Cuz I wanted to go lay

1:17:08there and read some books, but it was

1:17:10really beautiful. But at the end of the

1:17:12day, we need to figure out, right?

1:17:15It's very sad to see the numbers are

1:17:16decreasing.

1:17:18And let's be real about it, why the

1:17:19numbers are decreasing. Unfortunately,

1:17:22we have a lot of families that are

1:17:23leaving in fear.

1:17:24Uh we have a lot of families that has

1:17:26taken their kids out of school because

1:17:27of safety reasons, right? Uh this is the

1:17:29world we're living in, this is the

1:17:31country we're living in right now. I

1:17:33wish our numbers was higher, but let's

1:17:35be realistic about it. Why are we losing

1:17:36students? They're

1:17:38leaving for safety reason, they don't

1:17:41feel safe. Um so, once that situation is

1:17:45resolved, maybe the students will come

1:17:46back. Maybe they will notice that I you

1:17:50know, we're doing great with the MCAS,

1:17:51our numbers are going up. Um

1:17:54you know, our surrounding cities are not

1:17:55doing so great as us. Yes, there are

1:17:57some issues at the high school, but what

1:17:59I'm going to keep saying is just this is

1:18:02one of very great high school, okay, in

1:18:05in Massachusetts. We have a great leader

1:18:08that's doing incredible things. And

1:18:10since he's been here, the safety

1:18:12measures that has been implemented, the

1:18:15numbers of I don't get texts like I used

1:18:17to do. My older child was constantly

1:18:20every day multiple texts about safety

1:18:22reasons. I don't hardly get that. So, we

1:18:25need to like, yes, there's some issues,

1:18:27we are going to fix it, we are going to

1:18:29work

1:18:30together. Um but we can't keep just

1:18:33saying that, "Oh, the numbers brought to

1:18:34high doesn't have an issue." because we

1:18:37have to also look that a lot of students

1:18:39are going to Ivy League colleges and

1:18:40universities. So, let's applaud that.

1:18:43Let's make sure we are looking at the

1:18:45positive that our students are doing.

1:18:47Look at all the stuff they want to a

1:18:48breast walk on a Saturday morning. One

1:18:51of them was my child. I was like, do I

1:18:53have to wake up early again? And to see

1:18:55all of them making posters standing

1:18:57there as a

1:18:59and just being there to advocate for

1:19:01breast cancer, for women's health, it's

1:19:03something that I love to see our

1:19:05students do every single day. And I'm

1:19:07going to keep looking at the positive

1:19:08and I keep basically yelling at the

1:19:10rooftop about how good Brockton High is

1:19:13getting, I'm sorry, doing and also

1:19:15school district. But, I do appreciate

1:19:17all the hard work cuz this is not easy

1:19:19just to put this together and we're

1:19:21going to keep talking about it. We're

1:19:22going to keep looking at different ways

1:19:24that we can support our students so

1:19:26we're not using every space in the

1:19:28building because it's getting to a point

1:19:30that we are going to be outside teaching

1:19:32because we are running out of room.

1:19:34Thank you.

1:19:35>> Thank you, uh, Mr. Rodriguez.

1:19:37>> Thank you. Uh, just to allude to this is

1:19:40not something new. Uh, this was

1:19:42discussed last year that we were going

1:19:44to have to come to this point to make,

1:19:46uh,

1:19:47uh, this decision. Um,

1:19:49just my request when we talk about, uh,

1:19:52the impact on each school with, uh,

1:19:54relative to transportation,

1:19:56if we can do a deeper dive on what that

1:19:57cost difference will be,

1:19:59uh, cuz that is,

1:20:00uh,

1:20:01uh, you know, non-net spending and if

1:20:03this going to be an increase,

1:20:06um, in that so city can know that, you

1:20:08know, this is what it what it is.

1:20:10Um, the other piece that, you know, when

1:20:12we're making these moves it's going to

1:20:13impact a lot of our families.

1:20:16Um, no decision that we make is going to

1:20:18be popular. Some some people will be

1:20:19happy and some people will be upset.

1:20:21But, I do think that we owe it to the

1:20:23residents and the families to address

1:20:26their concerns and let them lobby as

1:20:28well to us.

1:20:29Uh, so I would like to, you know, the

1:20:31vice chair can set something up with the

1:20:32superintendent to

1:20:34have a a meeting with the community and

1:20:36have them give their input before we

1:20:38make a a decision on this. So, but my my

1:20:41piece is, you know, I would like to see

1:20:43a cost analysis.

1:20:45Um,

1:20:45you know, we look at the bluff.

1:20:47I In, you know, it was built for uh

1:20:50an elementary school. That was prior to

1:20:52my time. So, I'm not sure what the

1:20:53reasoning was behind that.

1:20:55Um, but, you know, just looking at the

1:20:57numbers, you it looks like maximize a

1:21:00space in classroom. That's like the

1:21:01option that's best suited uh to address

1:21:04the needs.

1:21:05One of the other ones that I I This

1:21:08could be totally different, but

1:21:10um when we look at the therapeutic day

1:21:12school

1:21:13and looking at that number, to me, my

1:21:16opinion, because obviously we service

1:21:18those students,

1:21:19is that the building is being

1:21:20underutilized for a very small amount

1:21:24of students.

1:21:26The other thing that I don't agree with,

1:21:27I don't

1:21:28uh

1:21:29you know, I don't think it's

1:21:31uh

1:21:32whatever past administration is having a

1:21:34department exactly embedded into the

1:21:37school, cuz those are classroom space.

1:21:39And I think we need to take a look at

1:21:40that to see how much more classrooms

1:21:43uh that we can uh implement into that

1:21:45space. Or it could be a shared school,

1:21:46which was one of the models that was

1:21:48presented. And some people were

1:21:49resentful about doing that. But if

1:21:51looking at the numbers, I think that we

1:21:53could possibly

1:21:55um

1:21:56work something in that nature

1:21:58um other than this model here if that's

1:22:00possible um on that sense. So, other

1:22:03than that, I just want to see like what

1:22:04the cost will be,

1:22:06um what the impact [clears throat] is,

1:22:07and

1:22:08you know, what makes sense and doesn't

1:22:10make sense to us. So,

1:22:12making a move where it's going to

1:22:13increase dramatically and strapped for

1:22:16cash, or

1:22:17we can live with this and it's not going

1:22:19to cost us that much and we can take a

1:22:22look down, let's say if it's a 3-year

1:22:24plan and we're going to have to reassess

1:22:25it, at least we know and the community

1:22:27knows that this is what we have to do

1:22:30right now for a band-aid before we move

1:22:31forward making a final decision.

1:22:34Thank you.

1:22:37>> Um Ms. Hunter, you you had your hand up.

1:22:41>> Um I believe with the therapeutic day

1:22:44school, cuz I remember when I visited, I

1:22:46did ask about

1:22:48students enrollment in the space. And I

1:22:51believe there's some disagreement to why

1:22:53the building

1:22:55is there. So, if you can look into it,

1:22:57cuz I think there's some guidelines and

1:23:00um another thing, I know that

1:23:03maybe like this decision is not going to

1:23:06be like you said, um Tony.

1:23:09Um it's not going to be any easy and

1:23:11we're not going to be able to please all

1:23:12the parents. Uh but myself, Claude, Mr.

1:23:17Gomez

1:23:18>> Claude is fine.

1:23:19>> and Mrs. Oliver, we've been doing our

1:23:22tours of the schools and we was at

1:23:24Brookfield.

1:23:25And um some of our students are being

1:23:28taught in a gym area.

1:23:32Um

1:23:33with

1:23:35many um stuff that should not be there.

1:23:39So,

1:23:41I understand that some of us is not

1:23:43ready to make the decision, but when you

1:23:44start walking our schools and we are

1:23:47seeing little classrooms that they are

1:23:50transforming so they can so our students

1:23:52can learn.

1:23:54That is not a a space where it feels

1:23:56welcoming for someone to want to learn.

1:23:59Um at Brookfield, I was very um

1:24:03um I left that building. Great school,

1:24:06the principal is great, a lot of great

1:24:07work that's being done. Uh but as a

1:24:10parent, when I left that, um

1:24:13I wanted to post it so others can see

1:24:15what's happening our school. So, like

1:24:17there's definitely a need for building

1:24:19space.

1:24:21Um and I hope that when this is

1:24:24presented again, that we are able to

1:24:26make some sound decisions for our

1:24:28students. Um, they deserve a real

1:24:31classroom.

1:24:32Um, not a gym area full of stuff that

1:24:37should be

1:24:38somewhere else. And when I say stuff, I

1:24:41mean bookshelves and books and things

1:24:44that it doesn't belong in a classroom.

1:24:48>> Thank you.

1:24:49Um,

1:24:52one final comment, we have to start

1:24:54moving on.

1:24:55>> Tim, is Al still on the line?

1:24:56>> Oh, Mr. Sullivan.

1:25:00Do you have any questions, comments?

1:25:06Mr. Sullivan.

1:25:07>> Mr. Sullivan.

1:25:08>> Yes, any questions or comments?

1:25:13>> Thank you.

1:25:14Just so you know, my audio

1:25:17My audio was really bad on this.

1:25:20I'm not really hearing it. I'd like to

1:25:21get a hard copy

1:25:23if I could.

1:25:25>> Okay, we can we can arrange for that.

1:25:28Uh, based on what you heard, do you have

1:25:30any questions right now?

1:25:41Is he still there?

1:25:42>> He's still there.

1:25:43>> Okay, we'll just arrange for um, some

1:25:46copies to be sent to him.

1:25:47Um, as we move on, you know, I just want

1:25:50to reiterate that we have this. So,

1:25:53let's start thinking about it. We do

1:25:55have to make decisions. Even if the case

1:25:58is keep everything as it is, that's

1:26:00still a decision we have to make.

1:26:02Um, I wasn't going to bring it up, but

1:26:04in my perspective as well, we have been

1:26:06visiting some schools and

1:26:08uh, I have to say we are making do with

1:26:10what we have, which is great. Um, people

1:26:12are being creative. Every school is

1:26:14being accommodating.

1:26:16Um, but

1:26:18we need to figure out a way of doing

1:26:20this more effectively. So, if we can

1:26:22keep this in mind,

1:26:24and if there's ideas that the members of

1:26:26this committee have,

1:26:28feel free to share those and bring it to

1:26:30our next meeting. Let it Let us have

1:26:32that discussion.

1:26:34Um

1:26:35we can move on.

1:26:37Thank you, Dr. Small.

1:26:42>> So, item C is the MSBA update. Um,

1:26:47and so, we are entering into the home

1:26:50stretch of the MSBA process for

1:26:52schematic design.

1:26:54We do have working groups that are

1:26:56meeting every week on specific areas of

1:27:00the design. So, for example, yesterday

1:27:01there was a meeting

1:27:03that was specifically about the

1:27:05auditorium. Next week, the working group

1:27:08is meeting for kitchen design and CTE.

1:27:11Um, so, we are getting to the end of

1:27:14that process. Also, I'm I'm excited to

1:27:18share that the Department of Elementary

1:27:20and Secondary Education did approve

1:27:24we have to submit whatever programs that

1:27:27we want for the new building or any

1:27:29programs that we want to expand in the

1:27:31new building

1:27:32as part of our feasibility study. And

1:27:35so,

1:27:37we did receive notification from DESE.

1:27:39We had to provide additional information

1:27:41and edits, but that their those

1:27:43materials have been approved

1:27:45and that way we can move forward with

1:27:47our

1:27:49viability study.

1:27:51>> Thank you.

1:27:52Um

1:27:54item 3D is items to refer to

1:27:56subcommittees. Are there any items to be

1:27:58referred to subcommittee?

1:28:00Ms. Oliver.

1:28:01>> I'll be reaching out to all the members

1:28:04regarding setting up a mental health

1:28:06well-being subcommittee meeting to go

1:28:08review the community resource event that

1:28:10happened and basically um see how we can

1:28:13continue working with the partners and

1:28:15the vendors that was there to support

1:28:17our students and families.

1:28:18>> Okay.

1:28:20Anything else?

1:28:21Um Ms. Isaac.

1:28:23>> Um I had requested a facilities um

1:28:25subcommittee meeting. I know I reached

1:28:28out to you, but if we can just get

1:28:29something in the calendar.

1:28:31>> Yes, I'll work on that so we can

1:28:34Um and maybe another item we could add

1:28:36to that list is cuz this would fall into

1:28:39facilities as well, but we can have

1:28:40another discussion.

1:28:42Yeah, we can have another discussion

1:28:43about it as well.

1:28:45Um

1:28:46Mr. Rodriguez.

1:28:48>> Uh

1:28:49need to schedule an athletics

1:28:52uh subcommittee.

1:28:54Um there was a proposal from the AD and

1:28:56I guess they [clears throat] want to

1:28:57move forward with the proposal, so uh

1:29:01I'll go through

1:29:03the superintendent to see if see if we

1:29:06we'll discuss the

1:29:08>> Okay.

1:29:08>> schedule that, but uh

1:29:10they need approval like sooner than

1:29:13later.

1:29:13>> Okay. We can arrange for something.

1:29:16Uh any other items to refer to the

1:29:18subcommittee?

1:29:19Seeing none, we'll move to agenda four,

1:29:21consent agenda.

1:29:23Uh before we go through, is there uh

1:29:25does any member wish to pull any items

1:29:28out of the consent agenda?

1:29:33Seeing none, uh do I have a motion to

1:29:35accept uh consent agenda as is?

1:29:38>> Motion to accept the agenda as A, B, and

1:29:41C and D.

1:29:43>> Second.

1:29:44>> Motion has been properly made and

1:29:45second.

1:29:46I'll read into the record.

1:29:48Uh item A, approval of minutes, regular

1:29:50school committee meeting, Tuesday,

1:29:51August 4th, 2026. Item B is approval of

1:29:54minutes, policy subcommittee meeting,

1:29:56Tuesday, August 4th, 2026. C, approval

1:29:59of donations, school supply kits from

1:30:023M, Rockland to East Middle School. D,

1:30:05request for authorization to accept

1:30:07proposal and expenditure of funds FY27

1:30:10FC0340

1:30:120345

1:30:13adult education and family literacy

1:30:15services grant in the amount of

1:30:17$1,168,956.

1:30:20FY27

1:30:23Mass Cultural Council Creative

1:30:25Experiences Grant for Barrett Russell

1:30:27School in the amount of $5,000 even.

1:30:31FY27 Mass Cultural Council Creative

1:30:34Experiences Grant for Hancock Elementary

1:30:36School in the amount of $5,000 even.

1:30:39FY27 Mass Cultural Council Creative

1:30:41Experiences Grant Promise College and

1:30:43Career Academy in the amount of $5,000

1:30:46even.

1:30:46And FY27 Mass Cultural Council Creative

1:30:49Experiences Grant for Champion High

1:30:51School in the amount of $5,000 even. A

1:30:53motion has been made and properly

1:30:55second. Mr. Pena.

1:30:59>> Yes.

1:31:00>> Motion to accept consent agenda.

1:31:05>> Did Did you ask for my vote? I'm sorry.

1:31:07>> Yes.

1:31:07>> Yes.

1:31:08>> Sorry.

1:31:08>> Ms. Eason.

1:31:09>> Yes.

1:31:09>> Ms. Rodriguez.

1:31:10>> Yes.

1:31:11>> Ms. Oliver.

1:31:12>> Yes.

1:31:12>> Ms. Antaya.

1:31:13>> Yes.

1:31:14>> Mr. Sullivan.

1:31:19Is he still on?

1:31:20>> Yeah, he's still on. Mr. Sullivan.

1:31:22>> Mr. Sullivan, can you hear us?

1:31:26>> Yes.

1:31:27>> Yes, and I'm a yes as well.

1:31:29Thank you. It carries.

1:31:31There's no items under agenda five.

1:31:35Agenda six, new business. We have

1:31:37discussion potential vote to establish

1:31:39student activity funds at each of the

1:31:40schools and for BHS athletics, arts,

1:31:43theater, and band.

1:31:45Superintendent.

1:31:47>> Yes, so as you all know, we have been

1:31:49working to transition the BEF um

1:31:52to a model that is more in compliance

1:31:55with regulations um and we have been

1:31:57working with our council on this

1:32:00process. Um in order to do this, we do

1:32:03need to rectify the current accounts.

1:32:05So, the BEF did meet recently and agreed

1:32:07to do this in several, um,

1:32:10different steps. Uh, so, the first step

1:32:12is using the current school accounts

1:32:14would be dissolved and be recreated as

1:32:16student activity accounts that are under

1:32:18BPS control. That is actually how they

1:32:20have been operating, so that would be

1:32:22more appropriate. Um, that is an

1:32:24attachment that you have in front of

1:32:26you, so it shows you which ones are the

1:32:28BEF accounts. Um, and the student

1:32:32activity account that would then be

1:32:34created as a result. Um, the second step

1:32:38would be that several of the

1:32:39miscellaneous accounts, uh, will be

1:32:41dissolved and the dollars will be

1:32:43donated to BPS. So, that's the second

1:32:45step and that'll be on a future agenda.

1:32:47Um, and then the scholarship accounts

1:32:49will remain with the BEF in its new

1:32:51format. So, that will be, uh, the final

1:32:53step and they, um, under the

1:32:57new group that will be formulated, um,

1:33:00through an application process.

1:33:03So, as you see in the list of BEF

1:33:06accounts that you have that will be

1:33:07transitioned over to school activity

1:33:09accounts, um, you'll see that the lines,

1:33:12there there is some inconsistency in how

1:33:14those BEF accounts are structured. So,

1:33:16for example, Plouffe has several

1:33:18different lines versus, you know, other

1:33:20schools have just one line. Uh, the

1:33:22newly created student activity accounts

1:33:24will just be one, um,

1:33:27one consolidated student activity

1:33:29account for each of the schools with the

1:33:31exception of Brockton High School that

1:33:34will have specific accounts for, um,

1:33:37for athletics, for music, and for arts.

1:33:41>> Okay.

1:33:42Um, Ms. Oliver.

1:33:44>> Um, few questions just for

1:33:46clarification. So, I know that since

1:33:48you, um,

1:33:50became a superintendent that you had

1:33:52raised concerns about the structure of

1:33:55the BEF accounts as soon as you arrived,

1:33:57right? So, are there any negative

1:33:59implications if we do not vote to change

1:34:02this BEF accounts and student activity

1:34:05accounts?

1:34:06And also, has anyone else raised any

1:34:08concern about the structure of the state

1:34:10at the state level?

1:34:11>> Um so, yes, I I believe it has been

1:34:14raised even amongst this body that we

1:34:16need to transition to um a a better

1:34:20model. Um

1:34:22and so, I do not see any negative

1:34:25implications. In fact, I think it that

1:34:27this has been a long discussion that

1:34:29we've had over several years and we've

1:34:30been moving in the right direction. So,

1:34:31it's nice to now be following through

1:34:33with some of our action steps. Um and

1:34:36so, to be on this step is um great uh

1:34:40because these accounts should be running

1:34:42differently. Um

1:34:43yes, there actually has been um

1:34:46you know,

1:34:47you know, we're obviously under the

1:34:49microscope when it comes to a lot of

1:34:51state agencies where you know, um and

1:34:53so, this is definitely not something

1:34:55that made it into our OIG report, but it

1:34:57is certainly something that they have

1:34:59inquired about. And so, I would prefer

1:35:01before there's a report that comes out

1:35:03that we uh fix this ourselves. So, they

1:35:05know that we are actively working on

1:35:07this. And so, um

1:35:09I think that is

1:35:10uh

1:35:11again, they're looking for us moving in

1:35:13the right direction. So.

1:35:15>> Okay. Perfect. Um

1:35:16cuz I do see some large amounts here,

1:35:18right? Um my quick question, I don't

1:35:21know if you will know, the Angela Odor,

1:35:23why is it negative

1:35:25in their account?

1:35:27>> I actually don't I I know we discussed

1:35:30this at our Do you remember? Oh.

1:35:31>> I think um

1:35:33I think Shawn was looking into that.

1:35:35Yes. We did question that.

1:35:37>> Yes, I think it just came out of the

1:35:39wrong line. Since it's a total positive

1:35:41balance when we consolidate it, it will

1:35:43be overall. Um and again, I think this

1:35:46is part of the issue with the fact that

1:35:48some schools have multiple lines versus

1:35:50some schools have one line. So, I think

1:35:52this will make it cleaner. But overall

1:35:55in that in the Angelo accounts, there's

1:35:58still a positive balance. So I think I

1:36:00think they were probably supposed to

1:36:01take it whatever that was out of the

1:36:04Angelo main account and it got deducted

1:36:06from the Angelo other account instead.

1:36:08>> So knowing that some accounts have

1:36:10really large amount, who will be

1:36:12responsible to manage this?

1:36:14>> So the principals are the ones who are

1:36:17responsible for these accounts even in

1:36:19their in the BEF structure, so they

1:36:21would continue to be responsible for

1:36:23them as as student activity accounts as

1:36:25well.

1:36:26>> Is this something also that they will

1:36:29have to report to us yearly about what

1:36:31amount is in there?

1:36:33>> Yes, there are should still be reports.

1:36:36It will happen differently. Right now it

1:36:37happens at the BEF meeting, so this will

1:36:40be a different kind of report that comes

1:36:42directly to the school committee.

1:36:44>> And we don't just for clarification, we

1:36:46don't have to vote on any money that's

1:36:48taken out for any usage.

1:36:51>> Correct, because the purpose of the

1:36:53student activity account is that the

1:36:54money should be coming in for a specific

1:36:56purpose and then it's going out for that

1:36:57same purpose.

1:36:58>> Thank you.

1:37:00>> Any other questions?

1:37:04Mr. Rodriguez.

1:37:06>> Well,

1:37:07I mean this is not so much of

1:37:09a question so

1:37:11you know, we have some schools here that

1:37:13we're going to be making a decision on

1:37:15restructuring. So

1:37:18my thing is, you know, let's say for

1:37:19example just throwing this up there, you

1:37:21have Bluff.

1:37:22Now it turns in you know, it's a middle

1:37:24school and you have those grades and

1:37:26you're going to disperse those students.

1:37:28How we going to

1:37:30address that student activity account to

1:37:33follow those

1:37:35um

1:37:36you know, those students, you know, you

1:37:38have

1:37:39the band and chorus. You figure you're

1:37:41going to

1:37:42not have that no more. That gets

1:37:44dispersed to be

1:37:45send those dollars to another middle

1:37:47school or I mean I

1:37:49know it's it's it's something that we

1:37:51haven't made but it's just something

1:37:52that we need to

1:37:53uh take into consideration as well.

1:37:55>> No, I think that's a fair question. I

1:37:57think it would have to be discussed

1:37:58amongst this group. So, for example,

1:38:00there's actually a Huntington BEF

1:38:03account and at the BEF meeting um since

1:38:06that is not a school anymore, I mean I

1:38:08guess we have different options. We

1:38:09could have talked about uh putting it in

1:38:12the promise account, but instead since

1:38:14we have a second step where we are

1:38:16consolidating a lot of the funds to be a

1:38:18donation to the Brockton Public Schools

1:38:20that will then be appropriated by this

1:38:22committee. We decided to just put um or

1:38:25what will be coming in front of this

1:38:27committee is taking that Huntington

1:38:29account and making it as part of that

1:38:31donation. So, what I anticipate would

1:38:33happen if we were to

1:38:36restructure any school in the future is

1:38:39that it would come before this committee

1:38:40to determine it would no longer go

1:38:42towards the before the BEF. That's

1:38:44what's happening now, but it would come

1:38:45before this committee to determine,

1:38:47okay, is this a student activity account

1:38:49that now closes and gets reappropriated

1:38:51somewhere else? Do we just keep the

1:38:53dollars where they are? Is it still

1:38:54going towards the PLUSS and um in its

1:38:57new structure? So, that would be up to

1:38:59this committee.

1:39:00>> Okay. And I know uh we discussed this so

1:39:03um

1:39:04with the student activity account

1:39:06through all the schools, this is all

1:39:07going to be in MUNIS, correct?

1:39:09>> Yes.

1:39:09>> Okay, so it's easy to to manage that

1:39:11way, so.

1:39:13But no further questions.

1:39:14>> Any other question, comments?

1:39:17Seeing none, what's the will of the

1:39:18committee?

1:39:29>> Uh motion to establish student activity

1:39:31funds at each of the schools and for BHS

1:39:34Athletics, Arts, Theater,

1:39:36and Band as presented to the committee.

1:39:39>> Is there a second?

1:39:40>> Second.

1:39:41>> Motion has been properly made and

1:39:42second, Mr. Pena.

1:39:44>> Yes.

1:39:45>> Ms. Isaac.

1:39:46>> Yes.

1:39:47>> Mr. Rodriguez.

1:39:48>> Yes.

1:39:49>> Ms. Oliver.

1:39:49>> Yes.

1:39:50>> Ms. Centeio.

1:39:51>> Yes.

1:39:52>> Mr. Sullivan.

1:39:58Mr. Sullivan.

1:40:06>> Mr. Sullivan, is that a yes or no?

1:40:11>> Mr. Sullivan, are you still here?

1:40:18>> Yeah.

1:40:19>> He said yes. I'm a yes as well, it

1:40:21carries.

1:40:22Uh agenda seven, school safety and

1:40:24security. Um we have our police liaison

1:40:27ready.

1:40:43>> Seats are a little tight.

1:40:47Good evening.

1:40:49>> Good evening.

1:40:50>> Can everyone hear me?

1:40:52>> Good evening.

1:40:53>> Good evening. Thank you.

1:40:55I uh good evening everyone. School

1:40:57police stays in committed to our

1:40:58students, faculty, administration, and

1:41:00families and the community

1:41:02to provide the best service and safety

1:41:04encouragement and keeping peace of mind

1:41:06throughout the campus and district.

1:41:08We have a plethora of events coming up

1:41:10on campus the next couple of weeks

1:41:11including trunk-or-treat,

1:41:14several football games, voting, and

1:41:15holiday festivals. School police with

1:41:17the coordination of Brockton PD will

1:41:20uh make sure that all the events go off

1:41:22without a hitch.

1:41:24School police

1:41:25encourages that we keep a clear line of

1:41:27communication open to address any issues

1:41:29and concerns that we may develop a plan

1:41:32to tackle.

1:41:34That being said, I'll take questions.

1:41:36Pause for me one second, please.

1:41:38If you have any significant intriguing

1:41:41questions, please go directly with

1:41:42Lieutenant Livingston.

1:41:44He will definitely get back to you.

1:41:47Any questions?

1:41:49>> Any questions with Miss Oliver?

1:41:53>> Are we all set for Saturday? Do we have

1:41:55enough coverage for Saturday?

1:41:57>> Oh, I thought you were talking about if

1:41:58we're going to win. Yeah, we're going to

1:41:59>> Oh, we're going to win, but I just want

1:42:00to make sure that, you know, we have

1:42:02students there from early in the

1:42:03morning, the band is there, we have the

1:42:05middle school bands. So, it's band day

1:42:07plus the football game. So, I want to

1:42:09make sure we have enough,

1:42:11you know, manpower, woman power, that

1:42:14we're using our police officers, we're

1:42:16not so much using the city, so we don't

1:42:19you know, get the word

1:42:20>> as I know, yes.

1:42:21>> Okay. So, everybody's on duty on

1:42:23Saturday?

1:42:24>> Our contract, yes, everybody will be

1:42:25there.

1:42:26>> Okay. It's going to be a great day and

1:42:28hopefully no rain and we'll have a great

1:42:30day.

1:42:31>> I'm a big fan of Saturday football

1:42:33games, high school.

1:42:35>> And the band, the band's going to be

1:42:36great, too. So, it's going to be a great

1:42:38day.

1:42:39>> uh senior day.

1:42:40>> Yes, it is. It is senior day.

1:42:41>> Yes.

1:42:42>> Thank you. I appreciate that.

1:42:43>> That's all right.

1:42:44>> Any other questions?

1:42:46>> Thank you.

1:42:47>> No.

1:42:48>> Thank you.

1:42:49Um agenda item

1:42:52seven, uh announcements. I have one that

1:42:55I would like to share. During the um

1:42:59community resource fair, we met a lot of

1:43:01vendors, resources that are available in

1:43:03our community, and even within the

1:43:05schools. Um at least a few of them, at

1:43:08least one of them um

1:43:10had me share their calendar, so there's

1:43:12two events that they're doing for the

1:43:14rest of this year.

1:43:15Uh and it's the from the bilingual

1:43:17department and the bilingual parent

1:43:19advisory council.

1:43:21Um so, they they're having a family game

1:43:23night on Thursday, October 8th. It's at

1:43:27ARNOWN from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. And

1:43:31then they're having a community resource

1:43:34fair on Saturday, November 21st at our

1:43:37known in the cafeteria from 11:00 a.m.

1:43:40to 1:00 p.m. Uh it's open to the

1:43:42community and parents and bring your

1:43:44children

1:43:46uh are welcome to attend.

1:43:48Um Miss Sullivan then Miss Isaac.

1:43:51>> So, um just wanted to give some

1:43:54gratitude regarding Saturday. Um I would

1:43:56like to extend my sincere gratitude to

1:43:58all the vendors that took time out of

1:44:01their busy life to come on Saturday

1:44:03um

1:44:04and to support the Brockton families and

1:44:06students. Your presence and commitment

1:44:08helped make this event a success. The

1:44:10resource information and service you

1:44:12provide made a meaningful impact and

1:44:14demonstrated a power community

1:44:15partnership in supporting our children

1:44:17and families.

1:44:19I would also like to extend a special

1:44:20thank to Mr. Johnson

1:44:23Snelson

1:44:24Snelson Snelson Grove

1:44:26uh director of social emotional learning

1:44:28at Brockton Public Schools and his

1:44:29incredible team for the leadership,

1:44:32dedication, and hard work in making this

1:44:34event possible.

1:44:36Upon parents leaving, I got few parents

1:44:39that I end up speaking with and one of

1:44:41them is a foster mom and she was

1:44:44basically surprised of all the resource

1:44:46that we have in Brockton. Um a lot of

1:44:48parents like didn't even know that this

1:44:50is all the resource that we have

1:44:51available in Brockton that nobody knew

1:44:53about. So, this is something that I am

1:44:55committed to and I know I'm not hope the

1:44:58members of the mental health and

1:44:59well-being committee um continues to

1:45:02support this event to continue bringing

1:45:05partnership, to continue working for the

1:45:07better health of our students and

1:45:09families, especially when it comes to

1:45:10mental health, which we are so um quick

1:45:14to basically shove aside, but we do have

1:45:16a crisis going on with mental health and

1:45:18suicide. And if we can bring our

1:45:20partners together, if they can work

1:45:21together, we can definitely make a a

1:45:23great impact in our community as we move

1:45:26forward. So, I am truly grateful for all

1:45:28the vendors and also for the team behind

1:45:30us that was able to put this together.

1:45:32I also want to give a great thanks to

1:45:35coach Katie Balboni for participating on

1:45:39the BTR Breast Cancer Awareness Walk on

1:45:41Saturday for bringing incredible

1:45:43students

1:45:45to the event. They were standing out

1:45:46there as Superintendent Stan screaming,

1:45:48yelling, and supporting a great cause.

1:45:51So, I am really truly grateful for all

1:45:53the work that she has done and putting

1:45:55together and also

1:45:57highlighting what we do outside of the

1:45:59field, beyond the field, that we do work

1:46:01together and support the community.

1:46:03Thank you.

1:46:04>> Thank you. Say Zach.

1:46:06>> Thank you. So, I don't want to echo what

1:46:08my colleagues have said. So, great event

1:46:10last weekend. I didn't get a chance to

1:46:12stop by, but I did see it and a few

1:46:15people that did attend. So, wonderful.

1:46:17Hopefully we can keep doing those. Keep

1:46:19Keep the awareness out there.

1:46:21A couple of things.

1:46:23And I do apologize to the class of 1976,

1:46:26but I believe they just celebrated their

1:46:2850th

1:46:30high school reunion. So, I would really

1:46:32appreciate if those that are watching, I

1:46:34know there was a couple of reunion

1:46:35classes, if they can just reach out to

1:46:37Jordan or reach out to me and we will

1:46:40get

1:46:41Jordan Maybloom a photo, but we need to

1:46:44recognize some of our alumni that are

1:46:46still out there, still getting together.

1:46:48But I know I follow some of those social

1:46:51media pages.

1:46:52It was wonderful. It was really

1:46:53wonderful seeing everyone get together.

1:46:55So, once a once a boxer, always a boxer.

1:46:57So,

1:46:58and the other thing is is I do want to

1:47:00thank Mrs. Campbell and Jordan Maybloom.

1:47:04We're working together with Cradles to

1:47:06Crayons.

1:47:07Things are a little different. Our

1:47:08delivery is in a couple of weeks. I will

1:47:11be at a conference, but we have it under

1:47:13control.

1:47:15This year we have it by size and once

1:47:17the size is gone, that's it. So, it's

1:47:20going to make it a little easier for

1:47:21those that are waiting and waiting for

1:47:23us to fill the orders, but

1:47:25be on the lookout. Uh I believe he's

1:47:27working on the form. He's finalizing and

1:47:29we'll have that posted this week. Um I

1:47:31know some of us are sharing it on social

1:47:33media. We just have to get get the word

1:47:35out there. Uh we have a short window uh

1:47:38as far as getting the coats to our kids.

1:47:40So, a couple of things and then

1:47:43I know there's so many things going on

1:47:45the next few weeks at our schools and

1:47:48different events. I'd love to see

1:47:50everyone just posting them on social

1:47:51media

1:47:52to give us an opportunity uh to stop by

1:47:55and I know this Sunday um Council Lally

1:47:59has his annual event at the firehouse.

1:48:01Um so, I know a lot of our our students

1:48:03do go there.

1:48:05So, I'll be there as well. So, looking

1:48:07forward to some of the events, but thank

1:48:09you.

1:48:09>> Thank you.

1:48:12Uh Mr. Rodriguez.

1:48:13>> Thank you. I [clears throat] just want

1:48:14to let the committee know uh I'm

1:48:16assuming some members got the invitation

1:48:18this Thursday.

1:48:20Um is the Charity Guild Gala.

1:48:22>> Oh.

1:48:22>> And they support the district with the

1:48:24uh Blessings in a Backpack. So, I hope

1:48:27those members that are available and I

1:48:29hope the ticket price doesn't drive

1:48:30anybody away and

1:48:31uh support them. And also this weekend

1:48:34is uh

1:48:35we got a little slight mention is our

1:48:37homecoming senior day.

1:48:39Uh we play New Bedford. Uh kickoff is at

1:48:411:00 p.m. And all of the alumnis that

1:48:44are that are watching and hearing this

1:48:47meeting, uh please come out. Um there's

1:48:50some flies floating around with the

1:48:51game. So, it's always a fun time to come

1:48:54and support our student athletes and

1:48:55specifically our band halftime show.

1:48:58We're going to have kids from the middle

1:48:59school like as Miss Oliver said, it's a

1:49:01wonderful time and uh hopefully members

1:49:03of this board can actually come and

1:49:05attend that and show some support in the

1:49:06community as well. So, thank you.

1:49:08>> Absolutely. Awesome.

1:49:10Um seeing nothing else, we'll move on to

1:49:13agenda item item number nine, executive

1:49:15session. I'll read the following.

1:49:18Pursuant to Mass. General Law chapter

1:49:1930A, section 21-1, to discuss the

1:49:21reputation, character, physical

1:49:23condition, or mental health, rather than

1:49:25professional competency of an

1:49:26individual, or to discuss the discipline

1:49:28or dismissal of, or complaints or

1:49:30charges brought against a public

1:49:31officer, employee, staff member,

1:49:33individual, mayor, chair, Moses

1:49:35Rodriguez, Brockton School Committee,

1:49:36open meeting law complaint.

1:49:38Um I need a motion to go into executive

1:49:40session.

1:49:42>> Motion to go into executive session.

1:49:44>> Motion has been made.

1:49:45>> Second.

1:49:45>> And properly second. Mr. Pena?

1:49:48>> Yes.

1:49:49>> Ms. Euszkiewicz?

1:49:50>> Yes.

1:49:50>> Mr. Rodriguez?

1:49:51>> No.

1:49:52>> Ms. Oliver?

1:49:53>> Yes.

1:49:54>> Ms. Centeio?

1:49:55>> Say yes, ma'am.

1:49:55>> Yes.

1:49:56>> Mr. Sullivan?

1:50:00Mr. Sullivan?

1:50:04Is he saying yes? I'm a yes, as well.

1:50:06>> Um

1:50:08prior to the vote, is the chair

1:50:10attending this meeting virtually, or is

1:50:13he attending at all?

1:50:14>> He's not present. Say no.

1:50:15>> He's not present. Um my vote is a no.

1:50:19>> Okay, noted. Um motion passes. We'll be

1:50:22going into executive session. Um

1:50:26agenda item 10 is uh adjournment. Do I

1:50:28have a motion to adjourn?

1:50:30>> Motion to adjourn.

1:50:31>> Motion has been properly made.

1:50:33>> Second.

1:50:34>> And second. Mr. Pena?

1:50:35>> Yes.

1:50:36>> Ms. Euszkiewicz?

1:50:37>> Yes.

1:50:38>> Ms. uh Oliver?

1:50:39>> Yes.

1:50:39>> Ms. Centeio?

1:50:40>> Yes.

1:50:41>> Mr. Sullivan?

1:50:43>> Yes.

1:50:44>> And I'm a yes, as well. We will be going

1:50:47into executive session, and we are not

1:50:49coming back.

1:50:50Thank you.

1:50:56>> [music]