# school-committee — 4 documents, concatenated for reading and search # # This is a CONVENIENCE BUNDLE, not a source. Every document below is # published separately and byte-identically; cite the individual file, # whose path is given in each header, rather than this bundle. # Index of all boards: https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/minutes/INDEX.txt # The town's own scanned original is linked per document. ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2023-12-06-minutes-6110.txt BOARD : school-committee DATE : 2023-12-06 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/school-committee/2023-12-06-minutes-6110.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_12062023-6110 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 MEETING MINUTES SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, December 6, 2023 Town Hall Meeting Room 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: Mrs. Lynn Radford 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 brou ght 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 Ms. Archambault reports Mr. Lehtinen wrote a letter to legislature in regards to funding emergency. Ms. Archambault read the letter out loud and the committee agrees the letter is well written and should be sent. Thank you to all that participated in the Tree Lighting. Thank you to Ms. Peterson for the work being done with the past classes and advisories, she has received an email from the President of the class of 2017, Brendan Tobin, Ms. Archambault read the letter out loud for the committee, and notes that Ms. Peterson is working with him on the request for funds. 5. Review & Approve Minutes a. Special Meeting 11/8/23 – Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion to approve minutes, Mr. Beardmore seconded the motion, all approve 6. Review & Approve Warrants & Line Item Transfers a. Warrant Total 11/14-12/4/23 $206,275.16 No questions from the committee, Ms. Archambault has signed off, and the warrant will be processed. No line item transfers Mr. Beardmore requests that a link be included in the meeting folder for the warrants. 7. Superintendent’s Report Dr. Burnham shares that Mrs. Whittemore will have a start date of February 12, 2024. We also have a new Assistant Principal at the Lunenburg High School, Mrs. Burns and will begin work on January 1, 2024, a brief history of Mrs. Burns experience and education was given. There was a safer watch session held, we had 2 parents attend the meeting on Monday. Student meetings on safer watch will be happening soon. The District Safety team will plan a “test” of the new app in the late winter/early spring. The FBI has issued an alert to the Massachusetts Association of Superintendents, there are reports that unauthorized individuals have been gaining access to schools, there are no local cases of this and all Lunenburg Public Schools Dr. Kate Burnham, Superintendent of Schools ===PAGE 2=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 admin and secretaries have been informed. A resident in town has interest in some pictures and records of the old TCP dating back to the 1950’s and 1960’s, this will come in front of the school committee for a vote to release to the historical society. Upcoming Dates Annual Secretaries gift card drive ends this Friday December 8th Basketball Booster Craft Fair 9-2 in Middle School Cafeteria December 14 & 15 Music Concerts December 20, 2023 Next School Committee meeting 6:30 at MS Collab room December 25-1/1/24 Winter Break, All schools will be closed and reopen on January 2, 2024 We are beginning the holiday season, Happy Hanukah to all that celebrate. 8. Student Representative Report Our student representative reports all the students are looking forward to winter break, that is right around the corner. The Primary School officially has apparel for sale. Turkey Hill “Girls on a Run” won a 5K race . Emma Barooshian was chosen for project 351 in the Middle School. The High School student council is running a gift wrapping service starting next week, there will be a winter semi-formal dance on December 16th, and winter sports have started. 9. New Business Action a. Initial Spain Trip Approval Mrs. Radford presents her slide show for an anticipated approval for a trip to Spain in April of 2025. The trip would take place 4/18/25-4/26/25, there will be no school missed for the students that attend the trip. Ms. Brzozoski asked a few questions regarding vendor and fees and how it compared to the planned trip to Costa Rica. Mr. Beardmore thanks Ms. Radford for a great Itinerary, what is the timeline on how this will be marketing to students. Mrs. Radford shares, if she receives approval tonight, she will be sharing the information with students tomorrow, there is no official deadline for signing up, but Mrs. Radford prefers to cut off registration at the end of this school year. Mr. Beardmore comments about equity and all the conversations and meetings that have been based on equity, and because of that he will be voting “no” on approval. Mr. Lehtinen thanks Mrs. Radford for organizing this trip. Ms Archambault supports what Mr. Beardmore is saying about k ids wanting to go, but we really do not have a policy regarding this and we keep things fair. Mr. Sculimbrene makes a motion to approve the trip to Spain, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion. Mr. Sculimbrene - yes, Mr. Lehtinen yes, Ms. Brzozoski – yes, Mr. Beardmore – no, Ms. Archambault yes b. Donation The High school received a donation from Bright Funds, an employer of one of our students of $656.41, this will be put into the gift account. Turkey Hill, received $267 from Hannaford Helps, and will be deposited into the gift account. Turkey Hill was given $1500.00 from the PTO and will be entered into the gift account. The PTO also gave $1500.00 to the Primary Schools and this will go into Student Activities to help with future field trips. Mr. Lehtinen makes a motion to accept these donations with g ratitude, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion, all approve. Discussion c. Winter Sport Report A report is supplied from Mr. Bigelow regarding participation in winter sports. Mr. Beardmore comments that some sports are doing really well from a numbers perspecti ve. He has concerns about the numbers on the football team, and maybe we should consider a co-op like we do with Hockey. They discuss reasons could be low for any of the sports. As a school committee we do not make changes for sports as it would be left to the Athletic Director to make sure sports are running safely and with enough players. d. Francis W. Parker Essential Charter School Report The annual report is shared with the committee. This report is supplied to the committee because we have students from Lunenburg that attend the Charter School e. Capital Planning Mr. Beardmore and Dr. Burnham presented the capital plan to the Capital Planning Committee three weeks ago, since that committee has met twice. The committee will begin ranking the items on the 18 th. The members were unclear as to why we needed detailed engineered plans for Turkey Hill, but not the same for TCP renovations. However, we originally thought with MSBA that there was a 10 year commitment, it is actually a usage life expectancy. There is skepticism on window films and we don’t think Turkey h ill will receive support, however it doesn’t need the building design and could possibly move forward in February. The committee discusses MSBA and their requirements and troubles with communications, the MSBA is very clear on their requirements, but their requirements and parameters change often. Mapping out a 10 year plan is hard when MSBA’s guidelines can ===PAGE 3=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 change annually, along with town timelines being very different from MSBA timelines. Ms . Brzozoski asks if we submit a letter of interest, when do we have to make the commitment to the project. Mr. Beardmore thinks we should withdraw the windows now, but not the need, we just do not have enough numbers, Ms. Archambault agrees. Ms Archambault lists the main points of the conversation pull window request for this year, send communication to MSBA, and request for Turkey Hill schematics be pushed to FY26. Mr. L ehtinen asks Dr. Burnham’s opinion, and she would not be recommending to move forward with roof or windows if that means we commit to keep the building open for 25-30 years, but she is not opposed to bumping it. Mr. Beardmore offers to draft a letter to t he MSBA to the Executive Director and give to Ms. Archambault for committee approval. Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion to pull the window replacement from the Capital Plan, but not the safely film, Mr. Beardmore seconds the motion, all approve f. Response to LEA Negotiations A draft letter has been provided in the school committee folder. Ms. Archambault reads the response letter out loud and proposes a meeting as possible in January. Mr. Beardmore makes a motion to approve the letter, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion, all approve 10. Old Business Discussion a. Student Activity Class Account Reallocation Work is continuing to be done with these accounts. The secretaries at the High School have reached out to any class advisors, they have been able to track down, as of now classes 2003, 2007, 2010, 2016, and 2018, have no activity or communication with us with a total of $11,215.23. Dr Burnham reminds the committee of a line being created and used for High School field trip scholarships. These accounts have been inactive for multiple years and our policy states after 2 years it is a loss to the class of funds. Ms. Brzozoski, is not comfortable to vote on this. Mr. Beardmore appreciates the idea to create scholarships, but also is a big believer in multiple attempts in communication to really have exhausted all options and pathways to get ahold the class advisors. Mr. Beardmore makes a motion to continue all communication, including Facebook and social media, inviting class officers to reach out as soon as possible, no later than the end of the fiscal year 6/30/2024, at that time all left over funds will be transferred to another account for future scholarships for travel abroad field trips. Mr. Sculimbrene seconds the motion. Mr. Lehtinen – yes, Mr. Beardmore – yes, Mr. Sculimbrene – yes, Ms. Brzozoski – no, Ms. Archambault – yes. b. FY Budget Development In the folder are some examples of the kinds of data that we are using pending our decisions on cuts. Information is broken out to social worker caseloads by bui lding, services including IEPs, and 504’s for current students. We broke down as our kids move forward how many classes we will need for K -6 to have approximately 25 students per classroom and 6-8 may have 28-29 students. There is a breakdown of classes offered at the high school and an expectation of how many levels of classes needed. 11. Reports Mr. Sculimbrene reports the PTO met on the 4th, Officer McNamara and Hank walked everyone through the safer watch program. They will be holding a craft fair on Saturday 9-2. The Trolls movie was sold out. The Special Someone dance was very successful last year, this year it is going to be on February 3 or 10 and will be held at two different times on the same day, this year the PTO will also be seeking sponsors for the dance. Mr. Lehtinen reports the Finance Committee met on November 30 th Chris Menard brought up capital planning, and mentioned previously as a town we rallied around parks, and now we need to rally around buildings The town manager went over funding and whether some items should be the operating budget versus the capital budget ie. Police cars or bulletproof vests. The treasurer will attend on 12/7/23 and the committee will meet again on 1/11. Third quarter preliminary tax bills will be the same as the 1st and 2nd quarter, the 4th quarter will be higher Green communities was brought up and how maybe each department should reach out to them with their 10 year capital plan, so Green Communities can get in front of some of the projects. Dr Burnham shares that Mr. Hevy has reached out to the state regarding Green Community Grants and the only item on our 10 year plan that would possibly be allowable are the mini-splits only if we use them for heat. Mr. Beardmore reports the Athletic Advisory met on the 27th and will be having two fundraisers, Ice Hockey will have be selling ads and will be distributed at their Alumni game on January 5th and subsequent home games. Boys and girls basketball will be doing raffle calendars, drawings to be held throughout the month of January. A presentation by Caitlyn Germain, the Athletic Director for Notre Dame Academy, was given during the meeting that shared new fundraising ideas, apps and sponsorships from businesses. The High School Advisory Committee will meet tomorrow at 3, I won’t be able to make it, but I will meet with Mr. Santry separately. ===PAGE 4=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 Ms. Brzozoski reports Pascal met via zoom on 11/16 there is a new format and platform for IEP’s and this will be significantly longer and more detailed. You can receive four free covid at home tests at covidtest.gov. We will be updating our bylaws Ms. Archambault reports Master Planning Committee has not met The Middle School Council met on Tuesday and had a general budget discussion, Middle School guidance position that has not been filled, however, they are using a substitute with significant training, NEAP assessment 1/30/24, 50 random 8th graders will be taking either the Math or English test. Registration for the DC trip is open, financial aid is built into the price. Also, some information about a 5 year grant to help with screening for substance abuse and mental health. The last discussion we had was how it’s hard for the students to have to make choices between Jazz band and basketball in the afternoon Dr. Burnham clarifies that there is a 5 year grant with ESPIRT, Mass General that helps us deal with substance use, trained coaches will be in to work with students. Parents are able to opt-out of the program. There was a presentation for staff at the middle high school staff, and coaches will be brought in to work with us through the partnership. 12. Public Comment Ms. Mary Foyle, 95 Flat Hill Road, as a teacher over the past 6 or 7 years I have been in three different departments I welcome you into my classroom anytime, to catch a glimpse of high school life. Years ago when we made a decision to not regionalize, that did mean that we would have to support some classes with low numbers, effectiveness does not always equal efficient. As a member of the LEA union and as we about to start negotiations for the contract that we do ask for flexibility on available times, 7 pm on one night as the only option, is really hard for us to be able to get all of our stuff together and also late for some serious conversations. As a class advisor of 2005, I did have a past student reach out to me regarding the funds, we have $1000.00 in our account and it has not been very easy to get this money, this process takes time. As a teacher I would like to comment regarding the possibility of a line being created for funding assistance for foreign trips, maybe instead it could have a broader use and include all field trips. Dr. Burnham states, The Primary School has an account to help defray costs of field trips and perhaps, when donations come into the high school, there could be opportunities for those monies to be used for more local field trips similar to the Primary School. As far as the process for class funds, we have recently learned that some banks are requiring quite a lot be done in order to open these accounts, and it might be worthwhile to explore banks and options. Mr. Lehtinen states he saw in The Gardner News that Murdock had a boiler explosion, Thanksgiving, and had to move students to different buildings and change of school hours for a period of time, it was an informative article, that also brought up some of the issues that we have discussed with Turkey Hill 13. Topics for Future Discussion Master Panning Liaison for Green Communities 14. 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 Ms. Brzozoski makes a motion at 9:31 to enter into executive session and adjourn immediately following, Mr. Beardmore seconds the motion, all approve 15. Adjournment Respectfully Submitted Courtney Fuller ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2023-12-20-agenda-6145.txt BOARD : school-committee DATE : 2023-12-20 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/school-committee/2023-12-20-agenda-6145.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12202023-6145 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 REVISED MEETING NOTICE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, December 20, 2023 LMS Collaborative Room #D132 6:30pm Hybrid Meeting AGENDA School Committee Superintendent Carol Archambault, Chair Dr. Kate Burnham Brian Lehtinen, Vice Chair Business Manager/HR Director Anthony Sculimbrene-Secretary Michael Cassidy Laura Brzozoski Recording Secretary Peter Beardmore Courtney Fuller Guests: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In accordance with the requirements of the Open Meeting Law, please be advised that this meeting is being broadcast live over the Lunenburg Public Access channel. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86530494155 Meeting ID: 865 3049 4155 One tap mobile +13052241968,86530494155# US +13092053325,86530494155# US 888 475 4499 US Toll-free • 877 853 5257 US Toll-free Meeting ID: 865 3049 4155 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/ki2E1wi3H This meeting will be broadcast at a later date through the local access cable channel , and on the Public Access Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Lunenburg-Public-Access-Cable- 157427270975305/) and will be found on the LunenburgAccess YouTube channel within 24 hours after the meeting.The agenda lists all the topics which may be discussed at the meeting and are 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 also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by Open Meeting Law 1. Call to Order 2. Pledge of Allegiance 11. Reports 3. Public Comment 12. Public Comment 4. Chair’s Report 13. Topics for Future Discussion 5. Review & Approve Minutes 14. Executive Session: to discuss strategy with respect to 6. Review & Approve Warrants & Line Item Transfers collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may A, Warrant Total 12-5-23 to 12-18-23 $591,780.80 have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating 7. Superintendent’s Report position of the public body and the chair so declares 8. Student Representative’s Report 15. Adjournment 9. New Business Action a. Declaring Surplus TCP Artifacts b. Keystone Annual Report Discussion a. MSBA Letter 10. Old Business Discussion a. FY25 Budget Development b. Class Funds Update Lunenburg Public Schools Dr. Kate Burnham, Superintendent of Schools ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2023-12-20-agenda-6146.txt BOARD : school-committee DATE : 2023-12-20 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/school-committee/2023-12-20-agenda-6146.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12202023-6146 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 REVISED MEETING NOTICE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, December 20, 2023 LMS Collaborative Room #D132 6:30pm Hybrid Meeting AGENDA School Committee Superintendent Carol Archambault, Chair Dr. Kate Burnham Brian Lehtinen, Vice Chair Business Manager/HR Director Anthony Sculimbrene-Secretary Michael Cassidy Laura Brzozoski Recording Secretary Peter Beardmore Courtney Fuller Guests: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In accordance with the requirements of the Open Meeting Law, please be advised that this meeting is being broadcast live over the Lunenburg Public Access channel. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86530494155 Meeting ID: 865 3049 4155 One tap mobile +13052241968,86530494155# US +13092053325,86530494155# US 888 475 4499 US Toll-free • 877 853 5257 US Toll-free Meeting ID: 865 3049 4155 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/ki2E1wi3H This meeting will be broadcast at a later date through the local access cable channel , and on the Public Access Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Lunenburg-Public-Access-Cable- 157427270975305/) and will be found on the LunenburgAccess YouTube channel within 24 hours after the meeting.The agenda lists all the topics which may be discussed at the meeting and are 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 also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by Open Meeting Law 1. Call to Order 2. Pledge of Allegiance 11. Reports 3. Public Comment 12. Public Comment 4. Chair’s Report 13. Topics for Future Discussion 5. Review & Approve Minutes 14. Executive Session: to discuss strategy with respect to 6. Review & Approve Warrants & Line Item Transfers collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may A, Warrant Total 12-5-23 to 12-18-23 $591,780.80 have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating 7. Superintendent’s Report position of the public body and the chair so declares 8. Student Representative’s Report 15. Adjournment 9. New Business Action a. Declaring Surplus TCP Artifacts b. Keystone Annual Report Discussion a. MSBA Letter 10. Old Business Discussion a. FY25 Budget Development b. Class Funds Update Lunenburg Public Schools Dr. Kate Burnham, Superintendent of Schools ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2023-12-20-minutes-6145.txt BOARD : school-committee DATE : 2023-12-20 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/school-committee/2023-12-20-minutes-6145.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_12202023-6145 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 MEETING MINUTES SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, December 20, 2023 LMS Collaborative Room #D132 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 - Absent 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 f or discussion to the extent permitted by Open Meeting Law 1. Call to Order by Carol Archambault at 6:32 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Public Comment Mr.Beardmore takes a moment to recognize that we have had some big rain storms and this past Monday he had received a reverse 911 message stating there were 4 busses being affected by roads that had been shut down. The school and bus companies were not made aware of this. Mr. Beardmore reached out to the police department and the DPW, the police chief did return his call and they discussed how it needs to be the same as if it was a snow storm, so this doesn’ t happen again, and everyone is better prepared. Ms. Brzozoski shares this has been an ongoing issue this year, for example when the water department had to close part of the driveway at the Primary School to do some work, but no one was made aware of this situation and it made it really hard for people coming in and out with only a single lane available, we need a mechanism for administration to be informed by DPW or police department if there are impacts with roadways. Mr. Passios, 56 Whiting Street. I come to you as a lifelong resident of Lunenburg, and later you will be taking a vote on some archived TCP items, that are dated back to the 1950’s, I also wanted to mention that I have a scrapbook that was presented to my dad after the event of naming the school. This scrapbook contains pictures, articles and letters from all over the country and e ven a few from around the world. We would like for these materials to be displayed publicly with the Lunenburg Historical Society. Ms. Brzozski thanks everyone that put together the craft fair in the cafeteria, Santa Claus made an appearance and everyone had a great time 4. Chair’s Report Ms. Archambault reports that at the last meeting a liaison to Green Communities was brought up, and Mr. Eric Hevy, our Facilities Director, has volunteered to be the liaison. We look forward to hearing from him about his interactions with the Green Communities. I would also like to thank the secretaries and the community for participating in the annual gift card drive, many families were able to benefit from your generosity. I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays and Healthy New Year. 5. Review & Approve Minutes - None Lunenburg Public Schools Dr. Kate Burnham, Superintendent of Schools ===PAGE 2=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 6. Review & Approve Warrants & Line Item Transfers a. Warrant Total – 12/5/23-12/18/23 $591,780.80 Ms. Brzozski mentions she does not have access to the folder and hasn’t been able to review the warrants. Ms. Archambault has signed items. No line item transfers 7. Superintendent’s Report Dr. Burnham reports our timeline for Kindergarten and Pre-K registration will look different this year. Kindergarten registration will open on January 1st and is available online to be done at your convenience. We will also be scheduling times to make appointments to bring in the original documents that are required for proof of residency in order to complete the paperwork with our registrar. Pre-K registration will open on March 1st, to hopefully alleviate the overlap in appointment times. Our annual kindergarten readiness meeting will be on January 30 th at 6:30 via zoom. We will be promoting this event on multiple venues, Facebook, emails, the website etc. The MSBA has sent out a message, they will be accepting statements of interest for consideration on Friday January 12th at 10 a.m. for an accelerated repair program, primarily for the partial or full replacement of rooves, windows, or doors, in an otherwise structurally sound facility, the closing date of th is will be March 1st. The closing date to submit into consideration under the core program is April 12th, this is for the projects that would-be more extensive renovations or new builds. We belong to the Worcester County Superintendents Association and they had their December meeting, we learned that the Mass Association of School Superintendents executive committee met with Commissioner Riley and members of his staff, at that meeting they shared superintendents concerns regarding a lack of qualified business managers and the many openings across the district and statewide. The department of Education is working to develop different paths to hire for this position. The executive committee also shared that superintendents across the state are feeling overwhelmed with the amount resulting from continuous initiatives, grant requirement’s, and unfunded mandates. The commissioner confirmed he recently met with his team and discovered there were 400 initiatives underway from the Department of Ed or federal government, he will be working with his team to reduce those. The water replacement project on Mass Ave is on the horizon and we have been advised that the project will likely begin in the spring. Reminders: Schools and Offices will be closed for Winter Break 12/24-1/1/24 and will reopen on January 2, 2024 January 3, 2024 School Committee Meeting 6:30 hybrid from Town Hall January 12, will be an early release day for students and PD for staff January 15, all schools and offices will be closed to observe Martin Luther King Day January 17, 2024 School Committee Meeting 6:30 hybrid from LMS Happy Holidays to those in the community that will celebrate Christmas and Kwanza 8. Student Representative Report - None 9. New Business Action a. Declaring Surplus TCP Artifacts – Dr. Burnham shares a list of items that have been located in the safe at TCP, some old phots and plaques, dating back to the 1950’s, dozens of newspaper clippings. There are some items that could be considered to be given to the PTO, they could use as part of their annual spring fundraising event at Hollis Hills. Mr. Beardmore and Mr. Lehtinen confirm they have now viewed they items, but given the description they are comfortable with moving forward with a vote. Mr. Lehtinen makes a motion to make the items outlined in the memo as surplus with the intent of making them available to the Lunenburg Historical Society, and any items not claimed by the Historical Society to be taken up at a later date. Mr. Lehtinen seconds the motion all approve. b. Keystone Annual Report A copy of the report has been entered into the committees’ folder for review. Mr. Lehtinen makes a motion to accept the Keystone Education Annual report, Ms. Brzozoski seconds the motion all approve Discussion c. MSBA Letter There is a letter in the draft folder, Mr. Beardmore reads it out loud Mr. Beardmore also reports he has done some more research and notes that he believes we are lacking in terms of information flow with the MSBA, and MASC and availability of these programs, changes, and how proposed changes are articulated. But we also have the responsibility of engagement, we need to ask Mr. Hevy to engage with the MSBA and potentially bring us to a game plan for the beginning of our next calendar year of the end of the school year. Ho pefully we will get the assessment approved through the capital plan this year and we can move forward to synchronize with the MSBA in the future. The committee discusses struggles of being a smaller school and working with MSBA and also ===PAGE 3=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 some additions to the letter. Ms. Brzozski makes a motion to approve the letter to include the few adjustments and have the letter come from Ms. Archambault. Mr. Lehtinen seconded the motion all approve. 10. Old Business Discussion a. FY25 Budget Development Dr. Burnham is sharing additional data that the team is looking at as they make decisions moving forward with FY 25 budget. A comparison of another school around the same size as ours is shared to show class sizes teacher expectations. Mr. Beardmore states we need to make sure we are continuing to challenge our students and options specifically for students that are on an AP track and getting the kids the classes they want/need to take. Mr. Lehtinen asks if there are any maximum limits allowed for studen ts in a classroom in the teachers’ contracts. He thinks low numbers in the AP and the lower level classes are good, as they have attention, where college prep classes can be allowed more students in a classroom. Ms. Archambault shares the school committee goal is focusing on achievement, unfortunately cuts are going to have to be made, but we are not going to have successful achievement in an elementary class of 28 students. We will be continuing to carefully look at this data and information from the superintendent and use this to make some very difficult decisions. Another aspect of data provided are positions that have been added over the last several years into the local budget we separate the positions that were ESSER or other grant funded positions b. Class Funds Update We are making progress, at this point we have heard from or are actively working with all but two of the classes, we will continue work towards making connections with those two classes. The two classes are 2007 with $740.66 and 2010 with $513.00, we are pretty confident we will be able to connect with them by the end of the school year. 11. Reports Mr. Lehtinen reports The Primary School met on Monday, we talked about the school calendar and feedback regarding PD days, parent teacher conferences, and vacations for next year. The gym teacher Mrs. Burns is now the Assistant Principal at the High School. Turkey Hill is going to be splitting the gym teacher at the Primary School. Cleaning has been a challenge because they are down a couple of custodians at the Primary School. Only had very minor leaks at the school with all the rain, so that was good. Hank Helper awards are going around, snack with the principal. Kindergarten is counting to 100, module 4, they are reading Happy Healthy Me. The second grade was going on a kindness countdown, and show and share with ELA, they were doing fairy tales with gingerbread versions and math is doing dollars and coins. The Finance Committee met on December 7th, they had the treasurer there to answer questions, they were concerned about different funds and accounts and the best types of yields or if they should consolidate. Treasurer noted you cannot compare personal investing to municipal investing. The Capital planning was brought up and talked about the school committee meeting and the window project, there was a question, what is the MSBA penalty would be. Mr. Passios mentioned the Green Communities could potentially help out with boiler in the schools. The town manager reported the town lawyer mentioned the MSBA recovery, they recover any payments and stop any future payments, and it’s basically a major penalty Ms. Brzozski reports Turkey Hill did not meet this month and will meet in January. Mr. Beardmore reports the High School Advisory met two weeks ago, I was unable to attend, but I did meet with Mr. Santry the following day. We had a very good discussion about the budget. The Capital Planning Committee met Monday and reviewed the initial scoring and raking the committee did. I think the window film at Turkey Hill and the assessment project for Turkey Hill were 5th on the list and was the dump truck that was 9th, the rest of our requests were quite a bit further down the list and I don’t believe they will make it above the line for funding, this is a very preliminary assessment. We will be meeting again tomorrow at 6 at the Ritter Building. Ms. Archambault reports the Master Planning Committee met on Thursday December 14 th, the consultant stated there were 205 survey replies to date, he was encouraged with the demographic spread of participants, and he was hoping to get more people that rent then own their own homes. The major concerns from the survey to date is preserving the agricultural character of the town, and preservation and repurposing of municipal buildings. The next public meeting will be held on February 1st. The Finance Committee Nominating Committee met on December 14 th and Tiffany Tavares was appointed to the Finance Committee, and we thank her for offering to serve, we are happy to report the Finance Committee is fully seated! 12. Public Comment Mr. Passios, 56 Whiting Street , these are my own personal comments, as a tax payer, I would not want to be in your seats for the next fiscal round, and what you are diving into. I know you are all very much aware the process of hiring under ESSER 1 & 2, cautions were always made that the money is going to go away and there would be some hard decisions to make, whether you keep those positions or cut others. I have attended or watched many meetings over the past few years and we knew we were headed down this road Dr. Burnham responds, we knew we were looking at a loss of ===PAGE 4=== 1025 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 978 582-4100 ~ fax 978 582-4103 around $650,000 in positions, what we did not see coming was a 10% increase to health insurance a nd we did not think we would be looking at $1.5 million dollar worth of cuts. Mr. Passios asks the committee if they are aware of whether the healt h insurance stabilization account has been depleted. 13. Topics for Future Discussion FY 25 Budget Resolution around MSBA 14. Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meet may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position to the public body and the chair so declares. Mr. Lehtinen made a motion at 7:55 p.m. to enter into executive session and adjourn immediately afte r. Ms. Brzozski seconded the motion. All approve 15. Adjournment Respectfully Submitted Courtney Fuller