School Committee, June 3, 2020

The town has published neither minutes nor an agenda for this meeting. The recording is the only record, and what follows is a guide to it.

budgetbudget fy27contracts and unionsexecutive sessionfacilitiesfree cashhigh schoolhiringmiddle schoolpolicypublic commentstaffingsuperintendent reporttown meeting

Present: Dr. Burnham (superintendent); Heather Shroka (chair); Bertrand (vice chair); Layton / Leighton (secretary); Mr. Levesque (member); Mrs. Archambault (member); Sue Summers (recording secretary); Michael Cassidy (business manager); Mr. Londa (director of facilities and grounds); Tim Santri (middle school principal); Tammy Perry (extended day program director). Names are the caption model’s hearing and may be wrong.

Votes

1. ▶ 47:54Approve new eighth grade structure and format as outlined by Mr. Santripassed (roll call, all yes heard)
2. ▶ 51:24Declare listed items surplus for disposal and sale — moved by Levesque, as heardpassed (roll call, all yes heard)
3. ▶ 56:35Accept recommendation to not run the extended day summer camp in summer 2020passed (roll call, all yes heard)
4. ▶ 1:03:20Accept senior lunch balance donations with gratuity, decide distribution at next meeting — moved by Leighton, as heardpassed (one member abstained, others yes)
5. ▶ 1:08:37Temporarily lift hiring freeze for three positions as presented by Mr. Cassidy — moved by Levesque, as heardpassed (roll call, all yes heard)

And 2 procedural: approve minutes of april 29 budget hearing, may 6 and may 20 regular sessions (▶ 29:21); enter executive session for union negotiation strategy, not to return to regular session (▶ 1:35:06).

The money

1. ▶ 58:20Senior lunch balance donations

   Five families donated to cover senior lunch balances; distribution deferred to next meeting.

   as heard:247.61247 dollars and 61 cents

2. ▶ 1:05:49Hiring freeze exemption

   Business manager sought exemption for a technology position, one of three student custodian positions in the FY21 budget, and long-term substitutes.

3. ▶ 1:10:00COVID-19 facilities expenses

   Facilities and grounds expenses so far, with more supplies on order not yet billed.

   as heard:ten thousand five hundred and eighty four dollarsnineteen hundred dollars1900

4. ▶ 1:11:22Grab and go meals

   Meal costs expected to be covered by reimbursement; salary costs absorbed by FY20 local budget.

   as heard:ten thousand two hundred and eighty seven dollars49 227 dollars62 987

5. ▶ 1:12:46Extended day salaries

   Extended day wages absorbed in the FY20 local budget.

   as heard:twenty six thousand three hundred and eighty seven dollarsthirty six thousand nine hundred and forty one dollars

6. ▶ 1:16:12Earlier salary estimate

   Original March estimate of grab and go wages was higher than the current projection.

   as heard:almost a hundred twenty five thousand113

7. ▶ 1:19:38Finance Committee report on reserves

   Town manager is confident in the budget plus free cash and stabilization, which she prefers not to use; unemployment costs noted.

   as heard:three million dollars

8. ▶ 1:22:52Long-term substitute budget

   A Finance Committee member worried that removing the salary reserve leaves little cover for substitutes; business manager said two maternity leaves were budgeted and the long-term sub account has some room.

9. ▶ 50:42Surplus item sales

   Surplus items may be auctioned online with any revenue going to the general fund.

Settled without a vote

• ▶ 33:10Student Opportunity Act plan to be presented in final draft at the June 17 meeting; feedback forum June 16.
• ▶ 1:03:00Senior donation distribution to be decided at the next meeting after checking senior obligations.
• ▶ 1:21:05Superintendent or chair to reach out and congratulate the newly elected member.
• ▶ 1:34:23Update on the Washington DC trip to go on a later agenda.

Documents and exhibits

State law asks minutes to list the documents and exhibits used at a meeting (M.G.L. c.30A §22(a)). Names from the recording are the caption model’s hearing; the two sides are matched by name, by script, so a document named two different ways can be missed. A place to look, not a finding.

Public comment

1. ▶ 25:26A committee member thanked staff for the senior motorcade and ceremonies, and urged listening to a selectman's statement on George Floyd.
2. ▶ 1:22:12Asked whether the long-term substitute budget in FY21 is enough, given the removed salary reserve and unsettled teachers contract. — Dave Pasios, 56 Whiting Street, as heard, Finance Committee member

Where the time went

Minutes of recording by subject, from the topic spans below. A topic with two subjects counts toward both.

• budget fy2722 min · 23%
• personnel20 min · 21%
• public comment18 min · 19%
• superintendent report10 min · 10%
• middle school9 min · 9%
• curriculum9 min · 9%
• budget9 min · 9%
• grants9 min · 9%
• fees6 min · 7%
• staffing6 min · 6%

The whole meeting, in order

1. ▶ 0:14Call to order, roll call, remote meeting rulesinformational · 4:46 long
2. ▶ 5:03Retiree recognition and videoinformational · 20:17 long · personnel
3. ▶ 25:26Public comment, warrantsinformational · 3:34 long · public comment
4. ▶ 29:00Approval of minutesvoted · 1:15 long
5. ▶ 30:15Superintendent reportinformational · 9:35 long · superintendent report
6. ▶ 39:50Grade 8 reconfiguration and algebra pilotvoted · 8:45 long · middle school, curriculum
7. ▶ 48:35Surplus items disposalvoted · 3:40 long · facilities
8. ▶ 52:15Summer extended day closurevoted · 5:43 long · staffing
9. ▶ 57:58Senior lunch balance donationsvoted · 6:24 long · fees
10. ▶ 1:04:22Hiring freeze exemptionvoted · 4:58 long · hiring, budget fy27
11. ▶ 1:09:20COVID-19 expense reportinformational · 8:38 long · budget, grants
12. ▶ 1:17:58Finance Committee reportinformational · 2:46 long · budget fy27, free cash, contracts and unions
13. ▶ 1:20:44Public comment: special election, substitute budget, DC trip refundsinformational · 14:22 long · public comment, budget fy27
14. ▶ 1:35:06Executive sessionvoted to enter · 0:54 long · executive session, contracts and unions

What the captions could not carry

• Roll call for the executive session vote was partly captured; the chair's and some members' answers were not heard.
• Votes are heard only as individual yes responses, not formal counts.
• Mr. Londa's attendance at the start was uncertain.

Written 2026-11-03 by scripts/write_recording_minutes.py (sonnet) from sources/data/youtube-transcripts/school-committee/2020-06-03-GwMhvKGgsn0.json — 2,411 caption segments, sha256 67e5c18b2fe9…. All recorded meetings.