===PAGE 1=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 MEETING MINUTES SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, September 4, 2024 6:30 – Hybrid – Town Hall 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, Nadine Lorenzen – Food Service Director, Sibyl Kaufman -LEAF In accordance with the requirements of the Open Meeting Law, please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and broadcast 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 C hair. 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 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Public Comment Mr. Sculimbrene responds to some of the past comments regarding more informal setting for our meetings. Based on the public meeting law in Massachusetts, this would not an option, once there are 3 members together it b ecomes a “public meeting” at which we need to follow those laws. 4. Chair’s Report I was able to attend a zoom meeting this summer to meet the new Primary School principal. I met with Sybil Kaufman a frequent face at our meetings, she has interest in starting a nonprofit educational foundation called LEAF, and she will be presenting that tonight. I also met up with Representative Scarsdale and two members of the Department of Education, and surrounding community leaders to discuss transportation issue s, and minimum required contribution, hold harmless, effectiveness of the foundation formula, in meeting the town’s needs. Inflation and the 4.5% cap on the student opportunity act which has severely impacted towns over the last few years with so much inf lation. Both meetings really laid a groundwork for achieving a fundamental change we need in the funding formulas, and in future meetings we hope to add more minimum aid districts outside of Representative Scarsdale’s district. Other members of Lunenburg that attended was Mandy Gilman from the PTO, Chris Menard, the finance Chair, Caesar Nuzzolo of the select board, Dr. Burnham and Dr. Gilson form the school district. We await more feedback from Representative Scarsdale and future meetings in a more cohesive group of districts that have these concerns over the funding formula. The finance committee reached out and there were concerns, the former town manager reached out and said that there were some updates and errors on the committee member’s terms. Tiffany Tavares term should end June 30, 2024, Jean Russell’s term should end June 30 th 2025. Also the state issued a new IGR this spring on smart growth reimbursement, coincidentally not long after we learned that we were no longer eligible for this funding and that she wanted to put it on everyone’s radar, the deadlines are coming up as soon as September 1 with the submittal by September 15, we could still be eligible. The town managers preliminary budget presentation February 20, 2025 would be the Council on Aging and Library. February 27, 2025 would be Information Technology and police. March 6th is DPW and facilities, March 13th is Fire department and LPS March 19th would be Administration, unclassified debt service, and Monty Tech. March 20 th would be public access committee, sewer, and other Lunenburg Public Schools Dr. Kate Burnham, Superintendent of Schools ===PAGE 2=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 moneyed articles. March 27 will be the FY 2026 budget public hearing and vote. Ms. Arhambault forwarded a mass school building authority email that they're having a competition for students to reimagine the M SBA logo so, I sent that along to Dr Burnham and she's going to send it out to the students who'd like to participate. It opens September 16th 2024 and the contes t welcomes all 10th, 11th, & 12th grade students attending Massachusetts Public Schools. The school committee also received a letter from Chief Gammell he forwarded the letter to us about the SRO program, and how it's crucial to building relationships and trust within the school community. The letter demonstrates just how impactful and life -changing this program is and the addition of Hank has been a blessing, but is truly the combination of both officer McNamera and Hank and he looks forward to our continued partnership and growth of the SRO program. Mr. Lehtinen read the letter out loud and into public record. Additionally, our letter concerning excess Lunenburg chapter 70 funds was sent to the select board, the finance, and the interim Town manager on Wednesday August 14th. September 26th the second annual town of Lunenburg official meet and greet will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 at Low Places Ranch. The start of school year was last week and kindergarteners were in this week. Welcome back everyone and I'm wishing everyone a safe and fun year of learning and growth 5. Review and Approve Minutes a. Regular Sessions 6/26 & 7/25/24 Mr. Beardmore made a motion to approve minutes on 6/26/24, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion, all approve with Mr. Lehtinen abstaining. Mr. Beardmore made a motion to approve minutes on 7/25/24, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion, all approve with Mr. Sculimbrene abstaining. 6. Review and Approve Line Item Transfers & Warrants a. 8/5 to 8/22 $463,413.80 No line item transfers, warrants have been signed. 7. Superintendent’s Report As of now there are no students awaiting bussing and no outstanding issues. Tuesdays was the first day of school for grades 1-12, the day went very well. Pre –k and kindergarten started yesterday September 3, and also went well. Fall athletics have begun. PACSAL meeting is the first Thursday of every mont h combination in person and zoom meetings. PTO meeting next Monday 7 p.m. at LMHS new members are always welcome. Fall benchmarks will be administered for K-8. iReady for 8th grade will be taken in September and February only. September 12 and 13th will be reading and the 18th and 19th will be math. Spring MCAS data isn’t accessible yet for full data release potentially available September 23rd Upcoming Dates September 5 – Open House Middle School September 11 – Pictures - Turkey Hill September 12 Open House High School September 17 – Pictures - Middle School September 18 – Pictures - High School September 18 – Open House – Turkey Hill September 18 School Committee Meeting Hybrid LMHS 7:30 September 19 & 20 – Pictures - Primary School September 19 Open House – Primary School September 27th is an early release for students 8. Presentation – LEAF Tom Littlepage and Sybil Kaufman shared their idea to create LEAF (Lunenburg Education Accelerator Foundation) the goal will be to raise money to help our schools where the budget may not stretch far enough for. The committee appreciates this information and looks forward to what they can do. The presentation is posted online. 9. New Business Discussion a. Back to School Updates Principals gave details of back to school happenings, new hires, class sizes etc. the information is posted online as a slide show b. FY26 Budget Timeline & Priorities Dr. Gilson provided the committee with an outline and timeline, this is also available online c. 2024 - 2025 School Committee Goals The committee reviewed the goals from last year. Goal one was budget, going forward this year we should continue to have budget as one of our goals. Mr. Beardmore states we need to be able to sustain what we are doing in a very competitive and inflationary environment. Ms Archambault reports we need to partner with the town and task force. Goal 2 was policy, committee agrees we did touch upon these during ===PAGE 3=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 the past school year, but maybe it is no longer “goal worthy” going forward. Goal 3 was communication transparency, Mr. Sculimbrene believes the committee did a great job with this goal, the fact that they got the override passed, it was a constant great job of communicating and keeping everyone informe d. Mr. Beardmore shares we need to continue this standard, how do we ensure accurate information is used in response to misunderstandings or misinformation? Mr. Beardmore would like to see a plan of record by the end of this year regarding Turkey Hill and the athletic complex Any ideas you have draft them up and send to Mr. Lehtinen d. Town Financial Policies The committee received documents of all town policies, Dr. Burnham shares they are still cross referencing to see if the school committee has any different expectations. Action e. Facilities & Grounds Report A report is shared and provided to the committee on projects that have been completed or are in progress at the schools. We also have 4 full time openings for evening custodian (1 at the Primary school and 3 at LMHS), 1 part time evening (THES) and 1 maintenance position. Will also be looking into hiring some students to fill in the gaps. Ms. Archambault makes a motion to accept the report as presented, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion all approve f. First Read Policies: Student Travel Policy, Chapter 766 Policy, Facilities Policies . Mr. Beardmore makes a motion to waive the 1st read of the policies, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion all approve g. Donation None 10. Old Business Action a. FY26 Draft Capital Plan Dr. Burnham surveyed the committee members and provided a chart of recommendations with priority rankings. Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion to accept the priority ranking, Mr. Sculimbrene seconds the motion all approve Driveway at Primary School - $30,000 Playground at Primary School $30,000 Hot Water Tank _ THES $20,000 Generator at Primary School $70,000 Safety Film at Primary School $38,120 Security Camera Server Safety Film at LMHS Utility Pick up b. Paraprofessional Contract Ratification Discussion There was a 1 year agreement signed which was also reviewed by the town manager, the contract includes a 4% raise. Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion to accept as proposed, Mr. Beardmore seconds the motion, roll call vote to include Mr. Terenzini, all approve. c. CEP Update Unfortunately Turkey Hill was not eligible. 11. Reports Mr. Beardmore The athletic advisory met and approved fundraisers, discussed going to a different meeting format, maybe an annual live meeting and also a new format for approving fundraisers, most likely through email. Capital Planning met to discuss the calendar and the department heads were asks for their compulsory requirements for the presentations they bring forth. We will be bringing forward a proposed schedule in the next couple of days. The Town Manager selection committee is set to meet next week to discuss proposals for a recruiting firm, we were given $15,000 from the reserve account to fund a recruiting firm. Ms Archambault reports the middle school council will meet on September 24. Fin Com met on August 8 th, Mr. Lehtinen met with the finance committee for possible changes in health insurance, being a high deductible health program. On the 22nd Ms. Foyle met and explained the process and required to make this change, which would be to go to the health insurance committee. The health insurance committee has met and has suggested that it move forward to the select board. Financial investment advisor was present and a discussion was had on different investments that can be moved to high yield as laws have changed. Mr. Bernard was there to explain chapter 90 funding, currently they have $2.4 million dollars, but there is much work underway, after that work is paid off there is $1.6 million left over, our sidewalk project will be coming from his chapter 90 funding. ===PAGE 4=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 Mr. Sculimbrene Budget task force looked at costs and expenses of the town and things that can generate revenue , Monday we will focus on gathering information about needs and wants from stake holders, namely the unions and for unrepresented non collective bargained people, their department managers. Hopefully we will be able to discuss proposals. I am hopeful we will find things to make the district function better. 12. Public Comment Anna Lockwood 91 Main Street I started listening when you were finishing up the conversation on capital planning. I agree with the truck coming in last and I’ll tell you why. Last week I was at Hannaford an d there was a truck there from DPW, that was getting older, and I really think we should be looking more into hand me downs, perhaps a schedule after the truck gets to a certain age it is available to be passed on to a different department. This will force the town to fund the trucks for the DPW. We need to start to talk about if the schools are expected to take hand me downs, at what part of their life cycle when is it available for grabs. A few years ago the senior center did the work for a grant to receive a van, once the grant was completed they were informed that MART was going to receive the van and the senior center would have the right to the van after so many years, so this is a practice that is done in the public sector. 13. Topics for Future Discussion Cell phone policy 14. Executive Session – to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiation with nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel 15. Adjournment Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion at 8:42 to enter executive session and adjourn immediately following, Mr. Sculimbrene seconds the motion. A member of the public comes in and asks for permission to make a comment. Ms. Brzozski rescinds her motion and Mr. Sculimbrene seconds the motion all approve. Mrs. Brzozski makes a motion at 8:46 to enter executive session and adjourn following, Ms. Archambault seconds the motion all approve Respectfully Submitted Courtney Fuller