===PAGE 1=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 MEETING MINUTES SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday September, 6 2023 Town Hall Meeting Room Hybrid - 6:30 p.m. School Committee Superintendent Carol Archambault, Chair - absent Dr. Kate Burnham Brian Lehtinen, Vice Chair - present Business Manager/ HR Director Anthony Sculimbrene, Secretary -present Michael Cassidy Peter Beardmore, Member - present Laura Brzozoski, Member - present Recording Secretary Courtney Fuller Guests: Tatum Furman – New Student Representative 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 Brian Lehtinnen at 6:31p.m. 2. Executive Session – to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel Mr. Scullimbrene makes a motion to enter executive session, Mr. Lehtinen seconds the motion, all approve. 3. Chair’s Report - Mr. Lehtinen introduces our new student representative, Tatum Furman. Tatum reports the school year is now in full swing. There is a vacancy on the school council is also looking to be filled. Turkey Hill Elementary Schools non - competitive sports and activities at recess will continue as it has seen improvements in behavior. Transportation is also going very smoothly at Lunenburg Middle High School. High school student morale in the building is high. Fall sports have started. Open house this week on Thursday September 6th 4. Public Comment - None 5. Review & Approve Minutes - None 6. Review & Approve Line Item Transfer(s) - None 7. Superintendent’s Report – Dr. Burnham reports that transportations for this first week, including the first day of Kindergarten has been successful, we did not have any bus returns. As of August 29 th we have placed 1,521 students on busses, and currently have 7 students that are waiting placement. Communication went out on August 11th out to individual families confirming their child's bus number; on August 17th it was included in my welcome back message to families, and on the 18th bus routes were posted on the district website and in the Lunenburg Ledger. On the 28th of August we sent additional communication to families with some important bus related reminders including that there is a video tutorial for how to read the bus route schedule information on bus returns, group bus stops, bus passes, any bus scheduling changes, fifth grade consent forms, and a general safety reminder about flashing bus lights. I want to make you aware of a new program that will be piloted potentially at the high school this year, Artist in Residence program was proposed by the Lunenburg Lunenburg Public Schools Dr. Kate Burnham, Superintendent of Schools ===PAGE 2=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 Cultural Council, they asked the select board to support an artist in Residence program at the high school. The select board as I understand it has approved AARPA funds for this project. Last night at the select board meeting, Dr. Chandler from the Cultural Council met with both Mr. Santry and I to discuss the possibilities. She will be working with Mr. Santry to coordinate some meetings with the high school art teachers to discuss what this would look like in practice in our school this year. An update on the search for a Director of Facilities and Grounds; Mr. Pusateri left the district this summer, and we began th e process to fill the position immediately. We started with 31 applicants, a pre-screening phone interviews were conducted and 6 applicants were then invited to interview in round 1, those interviews were concluded last week. We are looking to move the 3 finalists forward to the second round, which will also include a tour of the facilities. We are hoping to have all that scheduled within the next week or two. September Reminders: 7 – Open House – High School 12 – Open House – Middle School 13 – Open House – The Primary School 14 – Open House – Turkey Hill Elementary School 20 – School Committee Meeting 6:30 LMHS, Hybrid in Collaboration Room A reminder for parents to dress their students in lighter weight clothes and send a water bottle, as we are expecting some very warm weather. I spent time in classrooms at Turkey Hill and The Primary School and temperatures in the classrooms remained cooler than outdoor temperatures. We have been trouble shooting HVAC issues at the LMHS some of the repairs have been done, and access to the auditorium at the Middle High School is available if students or staff need a break. Ms. Brzozoski asks if the 7 students waiting a spot a bus will we be placing them? Dr. Burnham responds yes, it is our polic y to place them, it’s a matter of verifying an available seat and on which route. 8. New Business Discussion a. Back to School Updates A slideshow presentation was submitted and shared for the Middle High School, Turkey Hill, and The Primary School , documenting the enrollment numbers and class sizes, as well as introducing all new staff members, and sharing the unique activities each school has to offer. This report is available online to be viewed b. Special Education Program Evaluation Report A slideshow report was submitted and shared, this report documented inclusions supports, supports that may be missing, along with recommendations. This report is also available online for the public to view. c. FY 25 Budget Timeline The timeline was shared with the committee and also posted online to be viewed. d. FY25 Draft Capital Plan Dr. Burnham reports this is a very early rough draft with only minor changes made from the 10 -year draft plan presented a year ago. We still have a lot of unknowns in terms of prices and still some questions relative to our approach to the Turkey Hill building. Mr. Beardmore states he had previously thought we should put forward a warrant article at a special town meeting for the ADA/Turkey Hill building, but since has thought perhaps two other options could be to work with the capital planning and/or working with the municipal building committee over the next few months to see if we can partner together to come up with a plan. Last night the select board appropriated $225,000 in Municipal Building Engineering. I spoke with the chair earlier today about possibly facilitating a joint meeting sometime in October. One area of concern that I have now is that we have the HVAC, a sprinkler system, and plumbing all in FY 31. I think we need to engage in a conversation as these are all very unlikely to land on the FY31 Capital plan. My second question is regarding vehicles, I assume that $68,000 for the dump truck with a plow, is this the truck that we requested last year, that was not funded? Dr. Burnham replies last year we requested a pickup truck with plow and a sander, we are still awaiting delivery of the truck that was funded in the capital plan for FY23, knowing that we weren’t going to receive the truck in time for winter season, last school year we did go ahead and purchase a small sanding unit, that we could put onto one of the trucks that we did have. Mr. Beardmore states that the town manager provided the capital planning committee, last week, an inventory of all the vehicles in town, currently tracking Gators and tractors, 2006 Ford F350, 1 2008 Ford F350, a 2012 F250, according to her inventory we don’t have a truck that is less than 11 years old . I am worried about the ages of our vehicles, I understand we have one on order, we are asking for one this year and another one in 3 ye ars, along with a passenger van. Ms. Brzozoski asks about the money for that is set aside for Municipal Buildings, is that specific for Turkey Hill? Answer: No not specifically, but hopefully, we are hoping to ask the building design committee to partne r ===PAGE 3=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 with them and with for some options for help with ADA concerns. Ms. Brzozoski asked about the drive way expansion and playground and safety concerns at The Primary School. Dr. Burnham shares that it is on the radar and we continue to look for grants to help with this. Mr. Lehtinen is interested to get the new perspective of our new facilities director opinions on these issues. Mr. Sculimbrene asks if it makes sense to create a subcommittee, so we had people that could focus on just this issue, but could keep us updated with any new information if it comes about. Dr. Burnham says her and Mr. Cassidy mostly want to know if these are issues that the School Committee approve as priorities. Mr. Beardmore states his disagreement with Mr. Sculimbrenes thought of a subcommittee for this. Old Business Action a. Primary AC Project Warrant Article The warrant was read out loud by Mr. Lehtinen, Mr. Sculimbrene states he likes the language and asks if one of the committee members will be there to explain this to the public and to make sure it is understood that these are not new funds, just allocated differently. Mr. Beardmore says yes, we will game plan it and someone needs to do it. Mr. Lehtinen confirms we will decide as a committee, who will stand up and speak on behalf of the information. Mr. Sculimbrene makes a motion to approve the language with the understanding that it may be edited by others. Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion. All Approve Discussion b. FY24 School Committee Goals Ms. Brzozoski suggests having a district goal versus a municipal goal. Mr. Lehtinen agrees and suggests the building design committee will be interested in school committee’s opinion on whether we want a new building or want to revamp the old building. Mr. Beardmores shares that his recollection was in the spring we decided that we would like to keep the building functioning for the next 10-15 years and long term after its school use, it could be turned into a community building, the challenge we face now is, how do we get there, what are the steps and pieces needed?. Ms. Brzozoski states she wasn’t speaking of a specific building, but in fact, all the buildings and a time line and expectations of the building. Ms. Brzozoski suggests community involvement and engagement, and al so differentiated education. Ms. Brzozoski shares some of the concerns of parents in the district over ways the district communicates. Dr. Burnham shares that we do have certain limitations technology wise. We are always looking for new options that wou ld give us more autonomy. Mr. Lehtinen shares that may be more of a superintendent goal. These goals suggestions are great, and maybe once we set our goals, maybe we can create a subcommittee that really focuses on specific goals at a time. A goal of increasing funding for programs, and expanding resources and community partnerships, to share as many resources as possible. Mr. Beardmore also reminds everyone that we really need to be looking forward and discussing the next budget cycle and what intentions and expectations would be. Dr. Burnham shared we are sending agendas home and keeping the public as informed as possible so as cuts and changes need to be made, it will not be a surprise. Mr. Beardmore wants to get as much of the public involved and engaged, so we can also share our concerns and they will have time to process and reflect on difficult decisions that need to happen. c. Strategy for Continuous Improvement You have a condensed version of this strategy. This was originally put together in 2019 and put together with a lot of input and a long process. Dr. Burnham explained how the “four bucket” areas were determined and mapped out, when this was approved in November 2019. Dr. Burnham shared many different ways and examples of how we have been working toward these improvements. Ms. Brzozoski states, this is definitely a lot of work and a very extensive that has been done. Dr. Burnham responds we have been working on a bigger plan of work then she has ever experienced and that we did not stray away from the work during covid, we continue to move forward. Mr. Beardmore asks Dr. Burnham as you reflect over the past few years, how much progress have you seen. Dr. Burnham replies that we as a district have made good progress, we have a ways to go, but we have our support staff and data meetings, coaching etc. and this is keeping us on track and making this our new norm. 9. Reports Mr. Beardmore reports the Capital Planning Committee met last Wednesday, we had a discussion about our goals for the year. The town manager presented an inventory of all town vehicles, as well as bridges and culverts in town. We had a discussion about what we want to achieve this year and our roles and responsibilities. We agreed we need to come up with some kind of output that relates to the charters mandate for a comprehensive five-year capital plan. While we usually take a winter break and not come back unless there is a substantial change, we are going to work into the spring and look at the longer term requests and come up with a rating system or guidance in terms of what is likely to see long term support and what will not. We recognized Mr. Alonso was appointed Chair, I am Vice Chair, and Mr. Menard is a new member. The Athletic Advisory does not have a meeting scheduled until November 18, but I am going to be surveying members to put together a meeting around the end of September. Mr. Lehtinen reports the Building Design Committee met in August, the chair did mention that the select board had set aside our funding of $225,000. At the end of July, the Finance Committee met, they want to do a re -org, they don’t currently have a ===PAGE 4=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 clerk, but also do not have a full committee, and they want to wait for Tom as well as their new member Gene Russell, who was appointed for the subcommittees of the DPW and Facilities. They didn’t have any updates at the time for tax assessments, they were mailing out the checks, the money they set aside for abatements was sufficient. The committee reports the Parks has submitted a grant application for $500,000 a few weeks ago for Marshall Park, it is a matching grant, but they have ARPA funds that could match, as they plan the second phase is fields and third phases is access to the lake. They also brought up a policy that the select board could possibly work on, the concern that came up was with the air conditioning for the Primary School. The town manager had reported that the bids for the guard rail repair, Premier Fence was $80,000, MASS DOT state funding that carried over. The Page Street Culvert bids were $86,000 from the capital plan came in less. The five-year assessing from Vision started September 1st, for $112,000, the full revaluation is required every five years. Field Review and Visual Driving and roadway maintenance bids were $103,000, snow plow bids went out and were due August 7, the Sewer Operation and Maintenance is due the same week. At 925 Mass Ave, the EPA work and removal of tanks, drums, and soil has been done. There is a grant through Mass Development for Real Est ate assistance in the fall. The Senior Center patio project was progressing for September. The Ritter ramp drawings and completed and sent to APDC for review, both for capital plan projects. The Ritter windows are not the original windows, the proposed windows will be more like the original windows. The generator project is being reviewed and then goes out to bid as well as Public Safety. Road materials for DPW will be put out to bid soon. The TCP building is no longer using School Dude but now Myrack. There will be new phone systems and transitions in town buildings over the next couple months. The new website will be live around September, it will the same address. Migration of data is now complete, and test training for Munis. Total abatements were going to be done over next couple weeks, back in July, it was $1.317 million and $14,000 in interest, there was a question on when it was going to be released, there was a $1.5 million overlay, so about $200,000 for a normal cycle. 10. Public Comment – Mr. Beardmore puts out a reminder that the first home football game is this Friday night 7 p.m. against Frontier Regional. The theme is white out, so come dressed in white, T-shirts will also be sold. 11. Topics for Future Discussion 12. Adjournment Mr. Beardmore makes a motion to adjourn at 8:38, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion, all approve Respectfully submitted, Courtney Fuller