===PAGE 1=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 MEETING MINUTES SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, January 3, 2024 Town Hall 6:30 p.m. - Hybrid School Committee Superintendent Carol Archambault, Chair - Present Dr. Kate Burnham Brian Lehtinen, Vice Chair - Present Business Manager/ HR Director Anthony Sculimbrene, Secretary - Present Peter Beardmore, Member - Present Laura Brzozoski, Member- Present Recording Secretary Courtney Fuller Guests: 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 Carol Archambault at 6:30 p.m. Mr. Beardmore makes a motion to move the first executive session to begin after the first public comment and student representative report, Mr. Lehtinen seconds the motion, all approve 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Public Comment – Mr. Beardmore makes a statement based on his past discussion with the state ethics board and his position with the school committee, he was under the understanding that even though his ex -wife works in the school system and they share a minor child, he has made full disclosure, that he in fact was able to participate in LEA negotiations. He recently reached back out to the ethics committee at Ms. Archambault request, and it appears that this is not the case, he ma y not participate in contract negotiations or votes regarding LEA, he will not make any comments publicly or privately. 4. Student Representation Report Tatum Furman reports, across the district is high morale coming back from a much needed break. Semester 2 will wrap up on January 19th. Report cards will be available at the Primary School on January 30 th. Spirit week was very successful during the week leading up to winter break. Fourth graders are starting their work with recorders in their music class. At the Middle High school winter sports are in full swin g. There will be a meeting for the Spain trip on January 4th 5. Executive Session to discuss the deployment of security personnel or devices or strategies with respect there to: Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion to enter executive session, Mr. Lehtinen seconds the motion all approve 6. Chair’s Report Ms. Archambault wishes everyone a happy and healthy 2024. She reports the letter to MSBA that Mr. Beardmore wrote has been amended as suggested, a copy is in the folder, and will be sent out this week Lunenburg Public Schools Dr. Kate Burnham, Superintendent of Schools ===PAGE 2=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 7. Review & Approve Minutes a. Regular Session 11/01/23 – Mr. Lehtinen makes a motion to approve minutes, Mr. Sculimbrene seconded the motion, all approve 8. Review & Approve Warrants & Line Item Transfers a. Warrant Total 12/19/23-1/2/24 $28,591.11 no questions from the committee. Ms. Archambault has signed the warrant. No line item transfers 9. Superintendent’s Report Dr. Burnham wishes everyone a happy New Year. Kindergarten registration is now open and Pre - K registration will open on March 1st. There will be a kindergarten readiness meeting via zoom on January 30, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. Upcoming Dates January 12th is an early release day PD day for staff January 15th All schools and offices will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day January 17 School Committee meeting at the Middle High School 6:30 10. New Business Action a. Donation A donation from box tops for education in the amount of $32.20 will be put into the gift account for Turkey Hill Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion to accept this donation, Mr. Sculimbrene seconds the motion. All approve Discussion b. 2024-2025 School Calendar We are piloting a different model for parent teacher conferences. We will most likely be publishing the finished calendar for everyone without the dates of the conferences, once we have everything settled for the new program we will amend the calendar. Also there is discussions going on currently about the winter break for next year based on when the holiday falls. Some options are two full weeks off, or coming back to school on Thursday January 2nd and have a 2 day school week. Factors that are taken under consideration are students with food insecurities and the potential of them going two full weeks without care kids or our breakfast/lunch program, with kids’ home so long the costs of heating could be a problem. Also MCAS dates are set and determined by the state, the more pre-MCAS days we can have the better. The committee discusses a few different options as opening on Monday December 23, and the likeliness of very low attendance. How it will affect seniors and our planned graduation dates. Dr. Burnham shares that a seniors last day of school cannot exceed 12 days from the last day of the rest of the school. Would there be a financial budget to leave the school closed for the two full weeks, based on heating. Dr. Burnham states that we have other sports that use our facilities during that time and expecting them to put their activities on hold for 3 weekends is a lot to ask, so we would most likely be having the heat on anyway. 11. Old Business Discussion a. FY 25 Budget Development Dr. Burnham shares a slide that shows the details of the breakdown of positions with expected amount of cuts by department, based on the assumption we receive 2.5% state funding and will have a 10% increase in health insurance costs. Mr. Sculimbrene asks what is included in the extracurricular category, will that affect coaching, Dr. Burnham replies, this category is people who solely work in athletics. Administration cuts has more flexibility, we’ve been re-negotiating contracts and have been able to save money and the positions. The committee discusses how are these people going to be chosen is it a dollar amount and roles selection? Dr. Burnham shares that it is more about looking at the district as a whole, and how we are going to makes this work, principals will be part of the conversations as they know what roles are an absolute necessity to keep the school running. The majority of the cuts we make will be included in the 5 year staffing plan as we know we need them, and will continue to bring them back. 12. Reports Mr. Beardmore reports the Capital Planning Committee met on December 21 st, we finalized our consolidated recommendations. The town manager will be publishing her proposed capital plan in the next couple weeks. Our items did move down a little bit on the list, Turkey Hill design schematics and assessment moved to #4, Turkey Hill safety window film moved to #7 and the dump truck with plow moved to #14. Our committee will continue to meet through the spring and try to come up with a 5 year plan or at least put together some guidance to do so. ===PAGE 3=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 13. Public Comment - None 14. Topics for Future Discussion FY 25 Budget 15. Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares : Mr. Lehtinen makes a motion to enter executive session at 7:45 and adjourn immediately following, Ms. Brzozoski seconded the motion, all approve 16. Adjournment Respectfully Submitted Courtney Fuller