===PAGE 1=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 MEETING MINUTES SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, October 16, 2024 6:30 – LMS Room D 132 Hybrid School Committee Superintendent Brian Lehtinen, Chair - Present Dr. Kate Burnham Anthony Sculimbrene, Vice Chair - Present Carol Archambault, Secretary - Present Peter Beardmore, Member - Present Laura Brzozoski, Member - Present Recording Secretary Courtney Fuller Guests: Tim Santry-LMHS Principal, Norman Yvon-THES Principal, Carla Squier-Primary School Principal, Julianna Hanscom- Director of Special Services, Dr. Deborah Bookis-Director of Teaching & Learning, Lisa Cantin- MTSS Literacy Specialist/Coach, Amy Resnick-MTSS Math Specialist/Coach, John Palumbo-School Psychologist, Dr. Susan Gilson-Director of Administration & Finance In accordance with the requirements of the Open Meeting Law, please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and broadc ast live over the Lunenburg Public Access channel, on Facebook Live on the Public Access Facebook page. (http://www.facebook.com/Lunenburg-Public-Access-Cable-157427270975305/) and will be uploaded to the Lunenburg Access YouTube after the meeting. The agenda lists all the topics which may be discussed at the meeting and those reasonably anticipated by the Chair. Votes may be taken as a result of these discussions. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by Open Meeting Law 1. Call to Order by Mr. Lehtinen at 6:30 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Public Comment Ms. Archambault takes a minute to thank Evan Watters for his time on the Finance Committee, his leadership was invaluable for putting together our override las spring. He thinks outside the box, he is careful about what he does and is very committed. I thank him very much for the time he spent on the board. Ms. Brzozoski takes a minute to thank our retiring police chief, Chief Gammell, his last day is Friday in Lunenburg, we thank you and appreciate all you did, especially for the schools, because he always put school safely and the safety of our kids as a priority. 4. Chair’s Report Mr. Lehtinen reports he had a follow up with Representative Scarsdale on the Chapter 70 funding. There was a zoom on the 21st for Regional Schools and other schools that were in “hold harmless status.” Tom Gray from finance was also in attendance. There was a lot of information given about where a lot of districts fell, they gave a lot of examples and I will forward the presentation slides to the superintendent, who can share with the members. There is also an excel document of a potential bill for January, the specifics bill is Senate Bill 303, this would potentially help a lot of the districts, it was nice seeing it wasn’t just a transportations help, but it was actually a bill to change the contribution rate by 5% to make the state contribute more. This would be adjusted from 41% to 46%. I will also forward this information to the superintendent, so it can be shared with members. The Finance Appointing Committee will be meeting next week to appoint at least one person, there are still some openings for more people to join the Finance Committee. I also wanted to congratulate Chief Gammell as well on his retirement and thank him for his service also to the schools and the strong relationship with the schools and making sure our children are safe. I also want to congratulate Interim Chief Thibodeau, and I look forward to having him work with the schools. The North Middlesex superintendent reached out to me about potentially sharing resources as we have done in the past. Professional development with north Middlesex, they were looking for other opportunities to share resources, I gave him permission to talk to the superintendent and see if we can find ways t o Lunenburg Public Schools Dr. Kate Burnham, Superintendent of Schools ===PAGE 2=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 save both districts money in sharing resources. I even gave the example of facilit ies, sometimes it just doesn’t work to share, but it is at least worth exploring. The homecoming parade is coming up this weekend. 5. Student Representative’s Report - None 6. Review and Approve Minutes a. Regular Sessions 9/18/24 Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion to approve the minutes for 9/18/24, Mr. Beardmore seconds the motion, all via roll approve with Mr. Lehtinen abstaining. 7. Review and Approve Line Item Transfers, Warrants & Donations a. Warrants 10/1 to 10/9/24 $361,064.94 Warrants have been signed b. Line Item Transfers i. $1,100 from High School Office Supply to Phys Ed to renew software subscription Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion to approve line item transfer, Mr. Beardmore seconds the motion all approve via roll call vote. c. Donations Mr. Bigelow presents a donation from the Szocik foundation in the amount of $1200 to be earmarked for something that will benefit all athletes – we’ve chosen a brush to help maintain our turf field. The second is part of a T-Mobile contest, we were selected for a $5,000 check, to be presented at the homecoming rally. Mr. Beardmore makes a motion to approve both donations, Ms. Archambault seconds the motion all approve via roll call. 8. Superintendent’s Report Dr. Burnham shares an update regarding a medical emergency that occurred on the sidelines at a football game, where one of our coaches collapsed. She goes over the plans going forward determined necessary with school administrators, athletic director, fire and police chief, fire lieutenant, fire captain, and school resources officer to ensure safety for everyone at our games, as well as making sure to the best of our ability any services needed can be rendere d as fast as possible. We will have a PD day in collaboration with North Middlesex on Novembe r 5th. Dr. Beth Ann Cormier, the Assistant Principal at Turkey Hill has officially started. An update on the Director of Facilities, we have done intervi ews and have made an offer, we are awaiting the response from the candidate. I will be having a me eting with the superintendent of North Middlesex on November 5 th to talk about the potential for collaboration. The Turkey Hill ADA study proposals were due today at 2 p.m. we received seven proposals, if any member of the school committee is interested i n reviewing bids and helping to make the selection please send me an email and we will coordinate times. The finance committee will be reviewing warrant articles at their meeting next week, our interim Town manager has asked department heads to provide information relative to a variety of questions connected to different warrant articles, we have been asked to provide information relative to how we would spend the additional Chapter 70 money that we are requesting. I would also like to congratulate Chief Gammell on his retirement, I will miss working with him very much, he has been a tremendous partner to the schools, and we wouldn’t have two SRO’s without that partnership. I am very grateful to him for the collaborative way in which we have worked for many years and I wish him well in his next adventure. The committee has a discussion about the protocols for safety plans for athletic events going forward. The committee discusses the Chapter 70 money going into salary reserve, with a portion of it going toward the Director of Facilities salary. Upcoming Dates November 6 at 6:30 School Committee Meeting Hybrid – Town Hall November 20 at 6:30 School Committee Meeting – Hybrid – LMHS November 12 at 7:00 Special Town Meeting Middle High School October 22 Early Release for LMHS due to parent teacher conferences November 5th PD day – All Schools Closed October 19th Homecoming Parade and Football Game October 18th Shrieks and Krieks at the Boys and Girls Club 6:30 pm – 9:30 p.m. October 20th Miles for Myles Road Race – Sponsored by LMHS Cross Country Boosters October 26, 12-3 Trunk or Treat LMHS parking lot Hosted by Lunenburg Business Association ===PAGE 3=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 9. Presentation - none 10. New Business Action a. Assessment Report Dr. Bookis our Director of Teaching and Learning, Ms. Resnik our Math Specialist, and Ms. Cantin our Literacy Specialist Instructional Coach. This team has created slides of data to share with the committee regarding our Fall Assessment reports and MCAS results. b. FY 25 School Improvement Plan Mr. Santry Principal of the Middle High School, Ms. Squier Principal of the Primary School, and Mr. Yvon Principal of Turkey Hill Elementary, each go over the goals, how they will achieve them and how they will be measured for their individual schools and their plan for the upcoming year. Ms. Archambault makes a motion to accept the FY25 School Improvement Plan, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion all approve via roll call c. SEL Grant reporting an update, after more research, we do not qualify for this d. PTO Liaison Currently Mr. Sculimbrene is the PTO liaison, however he is also on the Budget Task Force committee which typically meets on the same day, wanted to open discussion to either add a secondary liaison, a new liaison, or to make no changes. Ms. Archambualt will cover the meetings until Mr. Sculimbrene is done with the Budget Task Force. Discussion e. Superintendent Goals Dr. Burnham has brought forward the goals for discussion by the committee, there is some overlap between school improvement plans and my goals. Dr. Burnham shares goals, activities, and ways to measure the goals. The committee has a discussion to question and comment on the goals and shares their input. 11. Old Business Discussion a. PowerSchool/New IEP Implementation Julianna Hanscom reports for the most part the new implementation is going well, staff has been amazing taking on the new IEPs as well as Power School change over with Frontline. We have a spreadsheet that is used for questions on PowerSchool that I check daily to get back to staff with answers and resources as soon as possible. The new IEP’s really seem to be a much better document than the old IEP’s. One of the best changes is the ability for families to sign the documents digitally, it has really made it faster for us to be able to put services in place. b. Strategy for Continuous Improvement Dr. Burnham reviewed the status of the strategy and action plans that were in place a year ago with her leadership team. We felt that the work that we need to continue still falls under this cultivating culture and climate umbrella and still fell within either priority one, two, or three. We had a conversa tion late last spring about the need to revisit the core values when I gave an update, and I am happy to say that we have been able to partner with Dr. Warnum to facilitate work on the core values, we have had conversations with her about what that process is going to look like and it’ll be a bit organic as we move through the process, she was highly embraced by our staff when she came last year. Initially we are going to start with small groups on leadership and work our way out from there. c. School Committee Goals Currently in the committee member folder the school committee goals, how they will achieve the goals and how it will be measured. A discussion between members of topics to add to the details of goals. 12. Reports Mr. Beardmore reports the Capital Planning Committee met to hear a presentation from Acting Chief Thibodeau on the police department, we will be meeting on Monday and Wednesday of next week. The school department is on Monday. The Town Manager Screening Committee met and adopted the community profile and posting for the position, which is now posted and applications are open, until early November, we are expecting to begin interviewing in December. The High School Advisory committee is meeting tomorrow. Ms. Archambault reports the Middle School Advisory met yesterday and discussed MCAS results and school improvement plan. There was lots of discussion regarding the Washington DC trip and whether or not it is equitable, and what to do about it as the cost of the trip has increased quite a bit, they are anticipating the cost to be $1400, an idea was brought up to start fundraising in the 6th grade. The PTO is willing to help out, there was some discussion about maybe changing the trip, ===PAGE 4=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 someone suggested New York, but that may be just as expensive. The parent teacher conferences, discussing possible different formats, while the need for zooms is known, there wasn’t a consensus for any other format. FinCom me t the chair person has resigned, Chris Menard was voted the new chair, Gene Russell the vice chair and Tom Gray the clerk. The committee is down people if anyone is interested please join. The next meeting will have a Parks presentation regarding thei r warrant article, to borrow $5 million dollars for Marshall Park, their public hearing will be on the 24th. They did ask what we will use the additional Chapter 70 money for. They are working on MART program and they reinforced that they will allow you to go to Emerson Hospital. Article 4 is the Prudent Investor Rule which could make a huge difference in our school budget. Article 8 the Architectural Preservation District Commission was talking about what to do with the Brooks House and said discussion would have to move forward in consultation with the schools. Ar ticle 9 has to do with the challenge of recruiting and retaining on the town side, noted because it is obvious the town is having the same issues as we are. Article 12 was the budget task force and the municipal building committee need us to vote to a llow them to report. Article 13 is the Marshall Park improvement. Mr. Sculimbrene reports the Budget Task Force met, we had a presentation to understand especially split taxes, we talked about the presentation we hope we are allowed to do at the special town meeting, I am hoping to keep it at 3 minutes. One of the issues we are looking into is the ways to go through the process of reducing expenses on both sides of the ledger by consolidating certain groups and certain functions within the town, for example snow removal and grounds stuff between the school and the town. We talked about the option for a proposal for the high deductible health insurance plan and suggested we talk to Mary Foyle to discuss ways of cost saving, possible buy outs and incentivizing e mployees to take insurance if offered through a spouse. Lastly we discussed the points for our presentation and it is just over 1 page. Ms. Brzozoski reports the PACSAL met here in person for a support group, I do encourage parents to join us, every other month we do a meeting and on the months in between do a parent support group. Mr. Lehtinen The Finance Committee now has 7 members, we did have someone fill out a talent bank form, so the Finance committee appointing committee will be meeting next Tuesday to hopefully appoint Ms. Tanya Dall, who is a new Lunenburg resident and is interested in getting involved. The Lunenburg Municipal Design committee met and bids are due on November 4th for the RFP and then we will meet again this coming Monday Dr. Burnham The PTO are starting to look for sponsors for their special someone dance and they are in process of putting out their request for funds for teachers to ask for funding for special projects. Their swag sale ends on Friday . They worked on a letter to the school committee from the PTO relative to the roles of the PTO versus the LEAF organization. 13. Public Comment Ms. Brzozoski thanks the fifth grade teachers and staff at Turkey Hill for Nature’s Classroom that is a lot of work and terrifying endeavor to take so many students on a 3 night away from home, many of them for the first time, it is a great tradition and they had a lot of fun. Mr. Beardmore echoes the thanks to Chief Gammell, he has always been a pleasure to work with, he and I have had a number of difficult conversations over the years about a number of different things and we’ve always had a great working and cordial relationship despite some difficult conversations. I personally am going to miss him and his sense of community and teamwork and dedication to all things Lunenburg, including our schools for all the reasons outlined earlier, he will be sorely missed. To Evan Watters, he stepped up to the Finance Committee and has done a stellar job. Mr. Lehtinen I talked about the chief already, but wanted to say that Evan Watters was a great supporter of the Lunenburg Public Schools and with the override and did an amazing job being the finance chair and also a supporter of the school Mr. Sculimbrene My son is in the 9th grade and for the first time he is participating on the homecoming float, and cannot get over what a great experience this is for all kids from different social groups and different parts of the school coming together to work on the float. Thank you to all the teachers, parents, and families that donate their time, and their garages, tools, and barns etc to make this possible. 14. Topics for Future Discussion 15. Adjournment Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion at 9:38 to enter executive session and adjourn immediately following, Ms. Archambault seconds the motion all approve via roll call Respectfully Submitted Courtney Fuller