===PAGE 1=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 MEETING MINUTES SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, April 3, 2024 6:30 - Remote 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: Eric Hevy – Director of Facilities & Grounds 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 broug ht up for discussion to the extent permitted by Open Meeting Law 1. Call to Order by Carol Archambault at 6:30 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Public Comment - None 4. Chair’s Report – Thank you for adjusting to a zoom meeting. Thank you to the town board s for actively discussing the override, the warrant article, and the ballot question. The select board did recommend approval last night. I have been in contact with Tracy Novick from MASC, the bill being proposed to make a change to Chapter 70 regarding an inflation index on the foundation budget would in fact benefit Lunenburg substantially. This is something that we need to push for. Ms. Novick stated that Lunenburg is not a “hold harmless community”, she says we're foundational, which means we do rece ive more Chapter 70 funds than the held harmless. I wish to publicly thank Dr Burnham, Mrs Scott, and Mrs Hanscom, for the extraordinary work done in preparing multiple budgets, your commitment to the district and to all our students and families i s greatly appreciated 5. Review & Approve Minutes a. Regular Session 2/28/24 – Mr. Sculimbrene makes a motion to approve minutes, Mr. Beardmore seconded the motion. Roll call vote Approve – Ms. Archambault, Mr. Lehtinen, Mr. Sculimbrene, Mr. Beardmore. Ms. Brzozoski Abstains 6. Review & Approve Warrants & Line Item Transfers a. Warrant Total 3/18/24-3/26/24 $119,550.49 No questions from the committee. Ms. Archambault has signed the warrants. 7. Superintendent’s Report – Transportation forms have been sent out and are due on May 1st at 5 p.m... We have received 625 forms so far. Each child must have a form returned. We have 94 registrations for kindergarten. Extended day summer registration opens on April 22, extended day before and after school registration opens April 1, the Early Learning Center registration opens May 20th. All registrations are done online. They FY25 approved budget has been posted on the district website. The solar eclipse April 8th between 2:15 and 4:37, over our area at 3:29 with 94% coverage. You need certified Lunenburg Public Schools Dr. Kate Burnham, Superintendent of Schools ===PAGE 2=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 glasses ISO 12312-2 or a telescope with proper glass or pinhole viewers. LMHS will be dismissed shortly after this begins and has limited glasses available. Turkey Hill will be going outside with glasses. Eight high school students have work on display at MWCC at the East Wing Gallery for the 38th annual Art Exhibit Competition. Upcoming Dates: 4/4 Literacy night at Primary School 5:30-7 and Book Fair at the Primary School 4/10 School Committee meeting at LMHS 4/12 early release day for all schools 4/15 All offices are closed 4/15-4/19 April Vacation all schools closed 5/4 Annual Town meeting at 9 a.m. in auditorium at the High School, bagged lunches are available for 7 p.m. 8. Student Representative Report - None 9. New Business Action a. Declare Surplus – Facilities & Grounds Vehicle we have received the truck from the 2023 Capital Plan, all in working condition, we would like to declare the 2008 dump truck as surplus and will be stored at DPW Mr. Beardmore makes a motion to move 2008 dump truck into surplus, Mr. Lehtinen seconds the motion, all approve via roll call vote. b. Resolutions Each committee member takes a turn reading the resolutions and declaring weeks and days to celebrate school staff appreciation. Mr. Beardmore makes a motion to accept resolutions, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion all approve via roll call vote c. Donation Laura Barooshian donated 100 pairs of eclipse glasses to the 6 th and 7th grade classes. Mr. Lehtinen makes a motion to accept the donation, Ms. Brzozozski seconds the motion, all approve via roll call vote Discussion d. AT&T Cell Tower – Mr. Hevy supplied information to the committee regarding an AT&T cell tower. Is the school district interested in allowing a new/or existing tower similar to what we currently do with Verizon. Mr. Beardmore on a high level things it is good idea and would like the idea to be researched. The money from the Verizon tower is earmarked for the turf field, if we could do something like that with an AT& T tower. We want to make sure all safety is accounted for and local bylaws are being followed and done together with local officials. Mr. Lehtinen agrees with Mr. Beardmore, and would also like the Athletic Director included to make sure sports will not be affected. Ms. Brzozoski states we are not in a position to turn down revenue. Mr. Sculimbrene asks if we agree is there a way to segregate the funds to make sure they go to the school? Mr. Hevy asks who would negotiate the contract. Mr. Beardmore states it would be the Business Manager which is currently not filled. Dr Burnham shares the revenue from the Verizon tower goes to the turf revolving account and is under the authority of the town. The committee authorizes Mr. Hevy to continue to pursue and research this endeavor. e. Superintendents’ Evaluation this is usually done by mid-May when the committee turns over, however, no papers have been turned in and there isn’t any anticipated change to the committee. The budget was not on Dr. Burnham’s list of goals, however, lots of work has been spent on this. Ms. Archambault proposes we wait for the I-ready numbers to come in and we have until June 30th to give to DESE. We can discus and present on June 19 th. The committee goes over the template for the Superintendents evaluation. 10. Old Business Action a. Override Ms. Archambault states that the Level service minus ESSER budget had items that were going to be paid with AARPA funds, if the override passes we should discuss that we would give the AARPA funds back to the town. Mr. Lehtinen responds that we had discussed the maintenance items that we would spend that money on, but it does make sense that we give it back. Mr. Sculimbrene would have liked to keep the money and use it as a buffer for next year, however, if the money is appropriated for something and isn’t used for that, then the money should go back. Mr. Beardmore shares if the override passes, the money should be moved back for the select board, I don’t think we have the authority to not give it back. Mr. Lehtinen states the right thing to do is to give th e money back, but immediately ask for the money back for the items discussed. Mr. Beardmore makes a motion to return AARPA funds if override passes, Mr. Lehtinen seconds the motion, all approve via roll call. ===PAGE 3=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 Discussion b. Keystone Report The report has been provided to the committee, if you have any questions let Dr. Burnham know. 11. Public Comment Mr. Beardmore given the conversation we just had and of the override itself, we set forth the best resolution we can come up with based on the timeline. This will not sustain us for FY 26, 27 etc. this does not solve the accounting and revenue issues the town has come into, its impossible to predict inflation, however, we were presented with this situation and it accounts for what was deemed necessary for the education of our students and what was within the scope of ability of the school committee. The school committee should put together a communication of what the override is specifically planned for. Ms. Archambault agrees, Mr. Sculimbrene agrees and wants the history of this process, why we need it, and the number to be included, Mr. Lehtinen also agrees and thinks we should put this as a topic for f uture discussion. Ms. Brzozoski Go to the Town Meeting on May 4th 9 a.m. bagged lunches may be available for purchase. Your vote counts 12. Reports Mr. Lehtinen reports the Finance Committee has met a bunch of times, including tomorrow. There has been a lot of conversation around the budget, chapter 70 funds, and transportation. Mr. Sculimbrene attended a PTO meeting on Monday, they have plans for teacher appreciation week. They are also working on a start of the summer end of the school year event, it’s going to be a cruise night put on in conjunction with the Lions Club and the Food Pantry. Area around TCP will be set up for kids to hang out and play games along with the Boys and Girls Club. They wanted me to ask the school committee if anyone had anything they would want to include to their auction or raffle. There was talk about lunch with Dr. Burnham, and the principals. If anyone has any ideas you can reach pass them along to the PTO or you can reach out to Mandy Gilman. Mr. Beardmore the Athletic Advisory Committee was posted for March 18 th but did not meet due to challenges and rounding up booster club leaders and also communication issues. We have received a fundraising application we approved and will be communication that via letter to the superintendent for the lacrosse boosters. Trac k and field will not be running an independent fundraiser this year, but rather only raising funds in the spring through the use of the Snack Shack at meets. They are requesting donations of parents and the community for food items and also have items on an amazon wish list. I also received communication for the football coach about an upcoming fundraiser proposal to raise money for new Varsity jerseys for the football team. The High School Advisory Committee met on the 28 th we discussed budget related issues at length. We also discussed handbooks. Ms. Brzozoski Turkey Hill Advisory Committee has met twice since we last did reports. The second round of after school activities has started, we used Sign-Up Genius this time, which was really great for parents. The first day, there were five different activities, dodgeball, walking club, board games, Lego club, and the Gathering. The second round of tutoring that was made available through a grant is Monday through Thursday. Field day is going to be June 5th. There will be a Memorial Day ceremony, the fifth grade band will play. The fifth grade also sang the National Anthem at the Worcester Railers game Friday night back in March. There is going to be a chorus concert coming up. Natures Classroom is l ooking to be a Tuesday through Friday in early October. We talked about the School Improvement Plan and the I -ready benchmarks. The PACSAL met on 3/14 via zoom. April 3 rd was a transition fair by Seven Hills, we talked about the residential prevention program for kid’s ages 6 through 21, which is not only for those that need residential care, they can also help with support i n your home. We went over the bylaws and elected positions. We talked at length about the new IEP, there will be a PD day scheduled for the presentation on the new IEP, which is substantially longer and more in -depth. On Monday the Turkey Hill School Advisory Committee met again hybrid, we went over the handbook details, and there will be a few tweaks. 13. Topics for Future Discussion Athletics Legislators’ possible visit Override explanation Turkey Hill Municipal Building Project Budget Subcommittee Health Care Plans and Options Facilities Management Plan ===PAGE 4=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 14. Adjournment Mr. Lehtinen makes a motion to adjourn at 8:35, Mr. Beardmore seconds the motion, all approve via roll call. Respectfully Submitted Courtney Fuller