Okay, my clock goes six o'clock. So I will call this to order for anyone here who might not know. My name is Jonas I'm a board member from Worcester. I'm the clerk of the board and I'll be chairing the meeting tonight in floor and Kari's absence So the first thing that I that we need to start with is to table the executive session Without floor and Kari here. We felt it was best to to move recording in progress So unless any anyone has questions or objections to that, I think we can move right forward. Okay Okay Yes, this is Diane. I have a question. So are are we within legal timelines if we postpone it? Yes, okay. Sorry. I lost my zoom window for a second So I will we'll start with the welcome of guests Good to see Dave again Center for an agricultural economy Can I ask who that is to can we put a name to that log in? Sorry, Jonas. This is Daniel. I just have to change for my work Got it and hello Alice Public comments Any comments any public comments? If you want to if anyone wants to speak up, please just unmute yourself and speak or use the the raise hand function Seeing no public comments We'll move to agenda revisions. We've just revised the agenda to table the executive session any other Agenda revisions from the board. No Seeing none, we will move on to reports and I will very happy to turn this over to Megan Roy New superintendent Welcome everyone. I'm happy to be at for my first official board meeting Oh, I did see a number of you at the retreat and at some committee meetings since then I'll start with just informally Welcoming everyone back. We welcomed teachers and staff back today to their local buildings today was the first day of in-service we have Tomorrow is convocation in the auditorium at U 32 Although it's no obligation. There's an open invitation to board members to join us for the opening remarks If any of you are interested in able they started 8 30 in the auditorium breakfast is at 8 um And you know, it's it's august is a busy time. We're still finalizing Bringing on all of our staff and teachers as many as we can. We'll talk about that a little bit later And I I just wanted to add that Some of the updates that we'll do probably in next month is a little bit more detail around what our professional development looked like during pre-service how that sort of fits in some of the um Guiding categories that the leadership team has um that the board has so We'll have we'll have more to share after that um The other piece that I wanted to share. I think you've all had a chance to read in a couple different formats now um the COVID-19 guidance to start the school year. You've probably also You know read about read about it in the news The agency of education and the department of health have issued um a indication of what the guidance would be um, and You know, I'll highlight it a little bit and then pause for questions. Um, I think uh, most people are familiar at this point with the guidance that is this um very much rooted in um monitor Symptoms individuals monitoring symptoms staying home when they're sick Testing when symptoms present themselves isolating If for positive cases We have some procedures in place for what happens when students or staff show symptoms at school And uh, and that's really the bulk of our guidance and the messaging from the agency of education The department of health came out We didn't think it would come out in time But it did come out um right about when we wanted to share the information with our um community so You know, I think everyone is used to Lots of guidance that needs to be digested and then shared back out. Um, so we're in a little bit of a different place starting the school year I think that's um exciting and for some will be anxiety producing so Uh, I'll pause uh and see if there are any questions about the guidance I'll ask a question. Um Megan the the covid mo you that was signed with the unions last year. That's expired Do you anticipate that there will be further discussion about a successor to that mo you? It's a good question. Um, I have not received the question. I haven't been asked the question yet. We do we will start our labor management committee Um structure starting in september. Um, that would be one opportunity for the question to be raised um, you know, I think given the the the Given the current context and the the nature of the department of health, I um I don't know that I anticipate it But that's that's part of what our labor management committee Conversations are for is to be able to surface those those issues if they come up Good question And I didn't see anything in there about um limiting at like community access to schools Am I correct in that? That's no longer a thing that that community members are welcome to be in schools now That's a great question. There are no longer limitations on um outside people in our buildings Not not for covid reasons. So so we're sort of back to um, you know, I think Jonas and I we're talking about kindergarten day, you know parent night, so So yes, I think folks are really excited to be able to welcome families back into our building For some for the first time ever Any other questions for megan, uh about the covid update chris Yeah, i'm joining some and megan is maria still um in her position as the covid coordinator Um, so currently, uh, she is not in a formal position as covid coordinator. Uh, she is the full-time nurse at callas Um, where we are and she did sit down with me to go through this guidance. I um used Used her expertise to make sure that we checked that One of the things that we will do next year Um, most districts, um, in fact all the districts that I've consulted with Also have not continued their covid coordinator position We would like to still preserve the ability to connect with our school health experts in our system When and if Things come down or questions come up. Um, so we our contract already has a teacher leadership structure And um that goes for, you know literacy teacher leaders math teacher leaders You name the subject our intention is to create a school nurse teacher leader position It is not an fte. It's a it's a stipended position But it would give us the structure at least in this year to be able to benefit from covid consultation from our From our nurses, so we're likely to post that soon Thank you Any further discussion questions for megan Seeing none, uh, we'll move on to Section five board operations, uh, starting with the discussion of the board retreat earlier this month Um, obviously if you were there, you know that I was not there Um, unfortunately, I hope it was really good and I'm looking forward to hearing about it I will turn it over to megan To to start to start this conversation Sure So I think our um, I'll start by saying, um, I think our intention was to have a little bit of a conversation today In the spirit of debriefing what were some things that stood out for individuals? Um And so in a second I will go around and just, um You know Giving each person who was there the chance to to share what they heard um, and then Then talk a little bit We left knowing that that was part of part of the conversation and there's probably a lot more conversation to be had I think our hope was to use one of our meetings in september probably the second one To have To be structured in a little bit of a retreat part two format Partially because a number of you weren't there. So when we get down to things like affirming our board goals Talking about our work plan. Um, we would like to do that in september So we'll have a little bit of a discussion about that um, and then uh, also would like to share with the board some thinking around our september 7th meeting So that's what we'll do. We don't have to we don't have to recreate the retreat, but kind of talk about highlights. Um I don't know if someone who was there This feels particularly strongly that they want to start I don't know that I don't know that I'm particularly strongly but, um I appreciated the presentation Um by pietro lin It was very informative and he responded to our questions and I just feel like as a board member It was very helpful for me to hear his information As far as legal and board and, uh, that was it was a very good presentation Thanks, lindy Ursula, I'll jump in I agree with lindy that first presentation by pietro was Really really good. I thought it was easily digestible Even though there was a lot of very good legal information in there But he presented in a way that was helpful and easy to digest for us and This second part, um with phil gore like I Just kind of being a back and forth chatting type of thing I thought it was very good the focus being on Achievement in our schools and how we can do better. I just thought it was Very helpful and we kind of heard some of the same things that we've been talking about um here You know reviewing policies reviewing procedures and coming up with How we're going to do that Thanks, Ursula Do I'm sorry to go next so, um I Also enjoyed the pietro's and phil's presentations and uh, particularly to go away from pietro the concept of Whether you could but whether you should so it's kind of you may have this the board it may have these Authorities to do things but the question is whether we should be doing them and it just is is a very I think a good guiding point to our Decision making discussion and interactions with our Our administrators and our our staff members I would like you know phil was Just I think enjoyable to have And you know, we he talked a little bit about the book improving school board effectiveness And I think we would do well just to You know assign I guess it would be an assignment really It's just different pieces of it and have Board discussion on on the book itself So seem pretty enthusiastic about it and realistic about it in terms of you know, how much You know what a hard slog some of it is But overall I think he had a good insight into it Particularly since his name is on the front cover. I think he has a pretty good insight into it But overall I think it was a good retreat And it was good discussion So I thought it had a format that a treat retreat should have in which it's not lecture its discussion And very informative that way. Thanks Thanks chris daniel I agree with everything that's been said so far. Um And I think I would add only that A piece that I missed Which I think it was alluded to in the agenda or the introduction was a little bit more of a Q&A around Vermont's open meeting law And as a new member felt like that was missing. I think That distinction chris mentioned about could versus should of what we should do I think was a really great conversation. I think in some ways it overshadowed You know really the detail about what we can do in terms of initiating communication In terms of initiating Conversations and policy conversations both among ourselves or With with the community and so I yeah, I would welcome another opportunity with pietro to go over that or If there's some other format I'd be welcome to and I think he mentioned sharing his power point which Um, I'm not sure if he's done Yeah, thank you for that daniel. I don't think he has yet. So um, that's a good prompt. I will ask him to do that And get it out to folks Others that were there I see no more raised hands Perfect. Thank you So what I would um what I would add to the reflection. I I agree with what folks said I really appreciated the conversation as a new superintendent first of all I'll just appreciate the opportunity to sit down and get to know people get a sense of You know and I've had individual conversations with folks. So, uh, this was a nice opportunity for a back and forth It and it's no surprise that this happened, but there's a lot of themes There's a lot of commonality in what we're talking about in general both individually and at the retreat um, and they Fall nicely into the goal areas that this board Um, was operating off of last year, which is academic outcomes for students community community engagement and long-term planning. Um, and At least from my observation much of what we talked about continues to fit into those areas and then we had good discussion about Specific action steps that that the board could focus on for for the coming year, so I think what we would like to do at We'll call it retreat part two. Although our intention is not to have an additional meeting. It is to to fit it into an existing meeting um, and have our leadership team be part of that conversation um, but it would be to affirm that those are the three goal areas talk a little bit more specifically about um What are the pieces we know we want to focus on within each area so that we can have a little bit of a more specific grain size um And that'll give us the information we need to to affirm a work plan that kind of tells us what we'll focus on so um, that is the intention uh, and and Probably would talk with the steering committee a little bit more about what that What the agenda for that second retreat would look like if that feels Comfortable to the board All right, any any other comments any other uh atmospherics from the retreat I'll take anything Well, can I comment as someone who wasn't at the retreat? I was disappointed to not um be able to participate as a new board member and um You know feel like it would be great if we could get some sort of Recap or maybe you did I don't know maybe I missed it in my email, but maybe you guys did send some sort of Reading list or something that I don't know. I feel like I feel a little left out so it'd be good To get caught up Thank you for that mckaylin. Um, we actually you're right. We did not send um, uh a summary and um Bill we will reach out. So this is related to the um book that chris Uh referenced. Um, there are pieces of that book that ground good conversation That I think matches some of the things that are already in our work plan And I think what we would firm up at this next conversation is when those would happen Um, and to your point of like can we get a recap? the the We would in looking we would be looking to invite phil to that meeting on the 21st So to the second part and he would probably ask so there may be a homework assignment built in here, but um, we'll confirm that um, and and email it out um Would be to read the first chapter of the book because the first chapter of the book is really about um, how boards can Function in a way that helps foster student growth Which is kind of the critical part and then what is good governance look like to get us to that point? And it's a nice overview chapter. So I think the that I think that may give enough but yet it might not replace having been there, but I think it'll give enough of a Um framework for how it started and then that would ground that first meeting so we can um Send that more specifically and this is also reminding me we do have copies of the book for anyone who wasn't there So you can reach out. They're here at central office. Um, but if there's another way that we can get it to you You can just reach out and we'll figure out Kind of make sure you have that Thank you That's great. I'll stop by and get a book okay moving on 5.2 a point superintendent as v as visibit proxy So we need to appoint someone as our proxy to the visibit meeting In october. I think traditionally this has been the superintendent and Megan is looking forward to doing it this year. So could I get a motion? To that effect So I move that we appoint Megan Roy our superintendent as our proxy to the visit visibit meeting This year All those in favor Hi Hi All those opposed That motion has carried And 5.3. Uh, we need to appoint a voting member to the vsba conference Last year Ursula. I think uh, you were our representative there. Uh, do you want to do it again this year? I can do that Okay, and does anyone else have any interest Dan can I get a motion? I move that we appoint Ursula stan stanley as our Voting member for the vsba annual meeting this year Second second. Okay And you know all those in favor of appointing Ursula as our voting member to the vsba conference, please say hi Hi Hi All those opposed, please say no That motion also carries moving on If I can find my place to 5.4 Discussion of how we are going to hold future board meetings if we're gonna Remain remote. Uh, should we be in person? Should we have a hybrid Set up and if we do it in person, where should the location be? Who wants to start this one off I'm happy to start. Um, it's been two years and At the retreat Yeah, I I said to daniel God daniel you look different. Did you Cut your hair. Did you do that and he goes? No, I don't think I did any of those things and it turns out that I had never seen daniel in person before And it really I think that's what it was. He just looks so different in in person than I had then Watching him on zoom. So I would urge that we Um hold our meetings in person. Uh, it does make a difference. There's a different Uh communication, I think when we're all together Um, so I would urge that we start meeting in person and that we Alternate meetings so that we go to each of the elementary schools in the district Much the way we did. Uh, I think that probably three years ago now Um alternating sites. So we do one of you 32 one at one of the outline, uh, one of the elementary schools and um and also have a a Zoom option for those who want to appear by zoom Because we do get greater participation From the public when we're on on zoom we have the zoom option rather than just in person. So Um, that would be my my hope for our upcoming Year Thanks, chris. I'm not sure of the order of those three hands that are up But I'll just start from the top of the order that I see ursula I'm okay with in person meetings I think that it would be important to continue to offer a hybrid model like we've done To allow accessibility for those who might not be able to make it in person it It just Provides greater access for people We have to consider our resources if we're going to do hybrid models though My understanding is is that if we go to the elementary schools We will not have the support to be able to Have a hybrid model meeting at the elementary schools So it would be in person only which would mean we're limiting access to people To attend Thanks, Ursula Diane mckaylon mckaylon Thanks, um, I I feel pretty strongly that we should go back to in person. Um, but also have The zoom option. I think there's an equity issue on both sides as someone who has unreliable wi-fi of my house the zoom Only option is super hard sometimes um And so I think we should respect that not everyone in the district has reliable internet. Um, but also As ursula said, you know It's important. I think for people who can't make it in person because child care issues are whatever work schedules be able to Zoom in if they want to so ideally a hybrid option, but But if I had to pick I'd pick in person and I think also ideally we could rotate sites as chris was saying, but if it's a technology issue Then I'd say just have it at u32 for that reason Thanks, mckaylon Diane So we had this Discussion, I know that we'll keep revisiting it But one of the things we had said is that the first meeting of the month as part of the community meeting That we would definitely be in person and that we would rotate it would be a hybrid But that we would rotate. I think we need to rotate as a merged board We're not as necessarily as familiar with all of the schools And so, you know, just to be in one of our buildings to me limits our ability to connect It's not the only time we can connect but to me it's important to have that travel And I think we just work with how do we make sure the technology supports are in place?  They're washed in central technology supports. It's not u32 Technology, so I mean, I think there are ways around that And I'm absolutely fine with with being in person I just know we had kind of talked about being in person the first meeting as a priority and then the second meeting being hybrid If we could keep in mind Not hybrid but virtual If we could keep in mind that if the weather forecast is kind of iffy That to me it would be Eat More peace of mind if I knew I would be at home and wouldn't have to be driving between nine and ten in a snowstorm or something so Thanks diane lindy When chris was talking about the First and third whatever they are I agree with him the way we used to do it where one A month was in the elementary schools And I think since we've had All of the remote learning and everything the elementary schools could host But megan could look into that and figure out how the technology department. It may not be as Um easy, but if we had somebody there to monitor a screen with the people outside Um, I think we could make that work and I think we should be in person for both per month But either the first or third the one that's not community Would be at u32 each month and then the one we're calling community would be across the schools and Work it on the agenda more clearly So that whatever is the main thing like today's it looked like the main thing was at u32 the way the headline was done versus zoom and then There is uh In person at the cafeteria. So just so that the agendas are clear for people Thanks, Wendy Daniel um, yeah, I agree with Suggesting uh, we go back to in person with a remote option I think that It does seem that that's That dual option is more important for the business meeting than it is for those first meetings of the month those flora um, I also just wanted to invite administrators to I just I My time on the board Comes after any of these previous visits to schools. We've made. I don't know if our unintended consequences of us showing up and um Them having to make space for us In the school after hours and you know, what that's all about So if if people have observations to make I'd be open to hearing those Thanks, Daniel Maggie um I uh Just reflecting that it wasn't that long ago Daniel that we all had our own school boards in those schools So the merger, you know, but it wasn't it wasn't too long ago that every school was hosting a school board um in the library and I I think um the u32 location might be beneficial to Revisit whether a space with rugs like the library someplace. It's acoustically more conducive for um audio Especially with the numbers that it seems like that could easily accommodate us and whomever would be choosing to show up unless it's an incredibly contentious issue um But I also would love to To participate with in person. I have also been on the board only since we've been remote and I think that There's a lot of value to that Although I also agreed that you know, someone with limited Internet at home. I can participate Via audio only and that that is something most people do have some kind of phone service at home So zoom can also be done that way. It doesn't have to be video, which is a nice option Um, I also was unclear about where our meeting was tonight. Um through reading um what I could find both on um Um The calendar the tandem calendar in addition to our individual invitations Thanks, Maggie Any other thoughts any other comments? Just real quick. I I enjoy the ability to be remote because of my schedule But tonight's a perfect example where my internet is so horrible That I've literally heard maybe a quarter of what's been said. So I'm I'm all in favor of the hybrid meeting that People can choose Thanks, Dennis Any other thoughts Jonas Yeah I have a question for Ursula. Ursula What have you heard about the just the infrastructure or the ability to have a I guess a remote connection connection at any of the elementary schools or what was the the concern I believe it was a discussion I was having with megan at one point We were talking about meetings. It was either at a steering committee meeting or another time Um, I don't know if Megan's willing to discuss it more Yeah, I was going to say I can jump in. Um, I I too have heard anecdotally that it's just harder to have a really clean Hybrid setup that actually works well so that the people on the screen Can actually hear I think what would make sense is for me to go Back and gather that information. What would it look like in each building? Is there equipment that we need that we don't have that we would need to purchase or do we have what we need? You know, what are the logistics involved and that way the hybrid part? We can have more concrete information. I think You always lose a little when some people are in person and some people are virtual Technology can make it better But I think that's what the board will want to weigh is the importance of rotating location An imperfect hybrid Outweigh A better setup in one building and I don't know the answer to that question So I think I think it would be important to get some more concrete information back to you all And just you know for the immediate future One of the things that I actually meant to include in the retreat debrief but but forgot I I would like to propose that our september 7th meeting, which is a community forum So our september 7th community forum Actually be used for this would be an in-person event I meet the superintendent and meet the school board Evening, uh, it wouldn't be any longer than the normal community forum And I don't pretend that it is Checking all of our boxes around community engagement, but I've had lots of individual conversations with folks I am excited that school is starting and coming back so I'll be able to get into buildings But I haven't really had an opportunity to Invite the public in This is also connected. Sorry for a little bit of a birdwalk, but this is also connected to What's in our monitoring plan from last year is to do a data review in september, which we would like to do But september 7th is very quick And if we could do that the 21st As part of our retreat session, and I think the two things actually dovetail nicely So the reason I bring up the 7th is I would still be able to bring back some information at that point about our hybrid ability The 7th would be in person. There would be a community Superintendent and meet all of you quite frankly, I think that is nice for the community Then we would have a board meeting At the location we're at afterwards probably a shorter business meeting And then the 21st would be a retreat So it would give us some time to get more information about what hybrid would look like so I merged two conversations with that comments But would love the board's thoughts on the 7th Anybody have thoughts about that uh first wednesday in september? first one I think the idea of a meet the superintendent meet the board is a good idea I've run into several people in the community who I think still don't understand how We work as a board that we are one board for all of the schools And maybe and I know covet said a lot like just separating community from our school communities um I don't know. I mean to meet the group would be maybe helpful towards that end Hagi Just one if we might also prioritize open houses at all of the schools as another opportunity for us to be forward-facing to the community Um, and I haven't looked at tandem to see When all of them are but I know I am just thinking that September is a very busy um Very busy month for a family school families in particular So we might need it might be helpful to have a couple of opportunities So it's it sounds um It sounds like you know doing the 7th having that community forum and you know Publicizing it as a meet the board meet the superintendent event, you know with a brief business meeting afterward Um, I don't hear any objections to that. I see all nodding heads I think that makes sense. Um, and then for the 21st if we were going to do that retreat style, obviously that would be in person Um, do we have a megan? Do you have a sense of where you'd want that to take place? By default would be u32 in absence of a more thoughtful decision about you know rotation And also just size wise if the whole leadership team is there that Um, it's probably the best equipped space wise So I I think a good way forward is to is to you know, unless there are objections to that Let's let's move forward with that But I you know, I don't want to be making any decisions tonight about future meetings Without flooring without cari right without our chair and our vice chair But I think you're referred to have that that clarity for september and then the first meeting in october would also be an in person Uh forum probably at u32, but we can discuss that on the 21st I think that that makes I think that makes sense. I also don't hear anyone Um, you know being really fundamentally opposed to going back to meetings in person um I'm not I'm I'm not wild about that idea. Um, you'll see me in a mask Um, I also feel like I've been able to participate as a full member of the board remotely And I you know, but I also understand that that that people don't in it But it does seem like there is consensus that Having our meetings primarily in person is the way the board wants to go You know where what that location is and whether we can rotate among the elementary schools I think remains to be seen and we'll gather that data and we'll hear that from from megan next time But you know at least you know, I'm coming away from this meeting that that's that's the direction we're we're going So I think if if anyone feels real, you know, if anyone is you know You know wants to revisit that, you know, I think we should talk about that, you know, perhaps next time during the business meeting um To make sure that we're all on on board with that going forward, but it does seem that that's the way the board wants to go Okay, thanks. Yeah Any other discussion about this before we move on to uh staff appreciation Diane i'm going to look at you to talk about staff appreciation Yeah, given that it's a new school year. Um, I think what makes the most sense is to uh get a Again a potentially a subcommittee together. I'll talk with floor about setting that up so that we can figure out um a schedule of again being part of staff meetings quarterly and then also Uh, you know, what what other activities we might want to do just to acknowledge throughout the year So currently it like megan said today was a kickoff day in the in the buildings. Um, so if people want to send A nice welcome back kind of email to staff. I think that'd be a nice idea And then um, I will send out an email later once I check in with floor About having a subgroup of interested people come together Thank you. I found my mute button any other thoughts any questions for diane Any other thoughts about staff appreciation Okay, uh, then we'll we'll move on to the finance committee. Um, and uh on my Uh delegation tour. I will now delegate to Ursula I had to find my mute button. I am gonna turn it over to susan She's susan. Are you here? She usually goes through the monthly reflections Suzanne is here. It does look like She's ignoring me. I got it I'm finding my mute my unmute button. That's what I was doing Um, well, usually floor asks if anybody has questions about the informational reports And so the first informational report was the monthly reflections And if anyone has questions, if you'd like me to go over it, I certainly can but um Generally in the interest of time at this meeting we I take questions Okay, thank you Any questions Does anybody oh I see lindy's hand I'm just curious about matt's position. I think I read it carefully, but Have you hired or is there a plan to replace? There is a plan. Uh, we wanted to do it really thoughtfully and take a look at all the job descriptions in the central office and make sure that roles and responsibilities are distributed Uh, well in um anytime someone leaves.  So We've been working on that. Uh, and hopefully we'll have the position advertised I'm hoping next week. So man Yeah, so I Propane and fuel is an obvious overage. I'm not surprised that we didn't budget properly for that Are there any other kind of big ticket items that we're anticipating may also push us over? Um, nothing specific has come up yet. Uh, I'm working on personnel projections Basically as we speak As new hires come in and trying to figure out. Okay, the new salaries and the new health insurance And where that will all sugar off. So hopefully Uh, by the september board meeting will know best how the all of the personnel projections have come out Then I had another um another question popped into my head. Are we it is there any active work being done to gather? Um The impact so this year again, we have the free meals money provided and is there Data being maintained and kept that would help in the budgeting process for us to consider Um, what might happen next year and how Do we put in for full coverage again? Do we put in for partial? Do we have the data to to help us know that information? We are gathering a lot of data. We have a lot of data that was there from prior years And it's just a matter of inserting for uh, f y 22 and that Excuse me is on the schedule for the october board meeting so that it would be at finance committee in september um The the last few questions that you have I think are still very undetermined We have the rates that we've received from the state. So we know that much Um But I do think there's still a lot of questions. I don't know if Megan's heard much from her groups But they're they're pretty silent on on my side Same Suzanne. Yeah Well, I wonder if some of that silence is also due to we don't know what the bills are going to look like with the increase in um Based on inflation, you know, so we have our numbers, but then we know that's going to go and we don't know So it could be that they're kind of quiet until school gets running as well Chris Yes, oh, sorry Oh From chris chris mcvay. Sorry chris Thank you. Uh, so susanne Have we accepted a bid for the? Different types of fuel that we are getting for 2022 and 2023 We have yeah in the monthly reflections at the bottom in bull that highlighted the ones that we awarded them to Okay, so propane was Irving wood chips was kusino Wood pellets is sandery energy and fuel oil is gillespie fuels Okay, do you do you have a sense as to why the wood chips were so much more Why the price went up so much more than it did for the wood pellets? I don't uh chris. Did you get any information? I I didn't think to ask something like that so I can probably find out more uh chris. Do you know anything for so brian? The wood chips. What are you? What are you seeing for numbers chris? And well, I see the let's see prior year I thought I was looking prior year for the wood chips at 73 or 74,000 say and then projected cost for this year of 124,000 versus the wood pellets prior year was about 1115 and projected for this year was 13,000 slightly under 14 So it seems like a dramatically different price increase for wood chips if i'm reading that correctly I I believe the wood chips per ton were only a couple dollars. I would say they went from like 66 A ton to 69 So I'd have to I would have to look at the numbers that you have there We use considerably more tonnage on the the wood chips than we do the pellets. There's 1,800 tons versus 55 tons So when you're looking at the total dollars that's going to impact that I was just thinking proportion wise to to the increase and the other question I have is I Are we going to bid in in november for next year? Is that what that last paragraph means? That is what that last paragraph means is that I would like to bid in november The research that I've done this summer indicates that if you purchase in november You you receive a discount for that early purchasing. So it's like a six months future buy and you're You're actually getting what they anticipate the prices for the spring will be But you're getting a discount on top of that For doing it early And so bidding that way does that require us to actually pay in advance? No We're just committing to Right. Yeah, you're locking in your contract rates for next fiscal year. Okay. Great. Thank you Are there any other questions on the monthly reflections? Jonas not really a question, but just a comment on page 10 of the packet those last two paragraphs and other factors Suzanne, I really appreciated the way that this memo explains that even though More money went into the fund balance, right? And we spent less money that that's not necessarily good thing Or that there's a human and instructional cost to that. I thought that that was Very well said and important to uh to keep in mind We have a budget for a reason, right? And if we can't spend that money That's not great Chris McFay, do you still have a hand up? I do and I have another question if if i'm not at a turn You're not at a turn. I are you on that quarterly finance update at this point which Jonas jumped us to The second report that Susan put in or do you want to go back to the first? No, I was gonna well it was more of a A funding question whether or not there we are expecting any additional covid funds Or whether the grants that we have or the grants that we have Uh, right now the grants that we have or the grants that we have although we just put in for a An esser cyber security grant To help with our cyber security plan So if we can approve for that, I think that was a $30,000 grant up to $30,000 Um, and we are paying attention every time something comes out We haven't spent all of our arpesser funds and we haven't allocated all of our arpesser funds either Uh, currently we're in the process of developing the Um The h you sorry the eru ventilation project and mechanical project that we want to put into the arpesser grant And so the um engineers are working on those plans before we submit to the aoe the request for the grant Okay, thank you Does anybody else have any questions on maybe the finance update the quarterly finance update Just to be clear so that is it for the first piece of it or is it for any of the financial I'm gonna go with you can do any of the financial reports up to and including the capital improvement project updates Up to and including okay great. I had a question about the capital improvements. Um There was an allusion to possible grant funding for the boiler replacements Let's curious What that possible grant source was and also given that That possibility seems to have shifted Um or or resulted in a proposal to amend the capital improvement plan And I was curious Since the boilers timeline were moved up timelines were moved up on that capital improvement plan. Was there anything shifted out of? Um the coming fiscal year to make Because the next item that we're gonna do is an action item exactly on those boilers. Are you willing to Hold your questions and we'll see if anybody has any other capital improvement update questions Seeing none we'll move into the boiler um projects Chris you want to give us a quick overview? Sure, um Let me just pop this up here So under the recommendations received from jeff forward who is our energy consultant Bill forward and I met with district maintenance staff Jeff forward and representatives from messer smith manufacturing At the callous east mott pillier and u 32 Schools to discuss whether we needed to upgrade or replace our current wood chip boiler systems It was determined that we can do upgrades at east mott pillier in u 32 And it was recommended that we replace the callous boiler system The upgrades to east mott pillier and u 32 will increase efficiency and extend the life of those boilers um, there is an opportunity to take advantage of possible grant funding, uh, which daniel was just alluding to From the state federal government, uh, forest and parks and efficiency vermont with the two resources If we complete the work to upgrade the boilers at east mott pillier in u 32 prior to the end of 2023 It remains uncertain whether the full replacement at callous could meet that deadline We need to you know, um get a scope and budget in place To look at the timelines there So daniel to answer one of your questions. We aren't shifting anything out to shift these in and the reason for that is um We believe the u 32 and east mott pillier upgrades can be done in the spring After the heating season next year, so it wouldn't interfere with projects being done in 2023 The summer of 23. So we think they can be done um In a timely way so it won't impact school and it won't impact the projects that we need to do in the summer Yeah, they're they're saying it's um Probably about a two to three week process to do those upgrades We were thinking maybe we could do those in april President fey, is that a new hand? it is um, and what is um What what would be the benefit of this? Grant to us in terms of what would it help us with and also what? Is concerned about the callous project not being able to meet the deadline of being done by the end of 2023 so the the The second question with callous is that's going to be a more much more invasive project and we're not sure um Timing wise if we can get everything in place to be able to get that Before the funding deadline of july end of july of 23 That that one's going to require a lot more planning and work the upgrades Not so much that that that's going to be a lot quicker process um, but to answer your first question the upgrades, uh, they're talking about adding Cyclones um to those boilers which would keep harmful harmful particulates to getting out in the atmosphere um new control systems, which will increase the efficiency Of how the boilers are fed new new feed controls so conveyors and and Oxygen sensors is that there's a bunch of pieces and parts that will improve the efficiency and In be better for the environment And also prolong the life of those two boilers those two boilers Are in actually for the for how old they are in really good shape They've been maintained very well. Um, the callous boilers is the oldest one in the state. They just They did not recommend upgrading that they wanted to they just said it needed to be replaced Um, Chris, you think it's worth the effort to try and get the callous done In terms of this grant funding In time, what do you think would just be too much? I think, um I guess depending on how soon we could get a scope and budget and then what that what that works going to entail If it if it requires infrastructure Making the boiler room larger New new circulation pumps Stuff like that just requires a lot more planning and a lot more work. So Um, we can certainly have a discussion around that to see What their feeling is on that, but it is probably going to be pretty Cutting it pretty close Okay, thank you very much Daniel Chris do all three Schools have backup heating systems Yeah, those three do. Um, they all have oil backup. So, um Eastmont Piliar U-32 and callous all have oil backup systems and you know, we had a Jeff forward did some math for us and you know, we saved $85,000 last year alone at U-32 by burning woodchips Versus oil at the two dollars and 41 cents. I think that we were locked in at last year So it it is significant. Um We really don't like to run serious prices But but those but those woodchip boilers in the shoulder seasons Um, get inefficient, right? So once you get up into the 40 45 degree temps Um, that's when the oil will kick in because they just don't um, they don't run as efficient. So there's there's a little Timing in there as to when to shut those down and get the oil boilers running So we can't just rely on those solely Thanks. My other question related to the grant. So it's sort of a two-part the The grants is there a timeline? Which is the reason we're moving these projects up? And the other question is are all three projects going to be eligible? Um, even if callous takes this longer projected time that you're expecting Yeah, the the reason we really were looking at pushing these forward. Um, was because of the grant money that's available It was pretty significant. It was I believe if I It's it's been a bit now, but looking back at it, uh, forests and parks and Efficiency of Vermont, I believe was over a hundred thousand dollars. Um For for all three projects. There was a certain amount allocated to each project Um, and that's that's the the thought around callous. Could we Could we get our all of our ducks in a row before that july 2023 deadline enabled to be able to meet that So jeff jeff forward was saying that that that grant money will not be there next year. So that kind of what Push this forward I would add that the fuel prices are another really good reason to keep Because if any of either of those boilers go down We're we're relying on oil Right. Um, and two of them the east montpelier and the callous boilers are both Very uh high in age. So Right and and We would we would be looking at a pellet system at callous because they don't Make a wood chip boiler For that size of school anymore So we would not be able to continue to to burn wood chips there So Maggie did I see your hand up? question just answered I just wanted information on the type of fuel system that was being contemplated It would be similar to what we have at rumney um, maybe not the same system the you know, even in a a handful of years the technology's gotten better and better on those wood pellet boilers too, so We'll have to see what they recommend But it would be similar to that it would have us, you know a big silo outside with a delivery system to the boiler um But yeah, they just don't they just don't make a a small enough wood chip boiler anymore. Unfortunately for that size building Because the wood the wood chips are definitely um More affordable, right? They're They're cheaper so then wood pellets because of what it takes to process the pellets So at this time, I would like to call for a motion And since I was leading the discussion, I don't know if I can make the motion So I will decide we have to make these these three motions. I think we need three three different motions So I would move to authorize moving $250,000 from the fiscal 24 25 boiler replacement project to callous elementary to fiscal 22 23 And authorize the use of capital reserve funds to develop the scope and budget and proceed with the design development and bid documents for the project Second Eric All those in favor of that motion, please say I Hi All those all those say nay That motion has carried unanimously Um, I also move that the board authorize moving $250,000 from the fiscal 24 25 boiler replacement project at east montpellier elementary to fiscal 22 23 for the boiler upgrades at east montpellier and u-32 Second thank you, Eric All those in favor, please say I Hi All those opposed say nay That motion carries I also moved that the board authorized the superintendent to sign contracts with mesersmith manufacturing For the boil system upgrades at east montpellier and u-32 not to exceed a total of $250,000 contingent upon the state providing a bid waiver due to a sole source for a sole source for proprietary equipment I'll second it Wendy all those in favor of great every question don't don't say yes. Yes, chris. Um, that that Motion does not include callous Was that purposeful? Okay, and why Because we don't know the scope and budget for callous yet. We have a scope and budget for um, the upgrades at east montpellier and u-32 Yeah, that's This is prevent us from coming back later If it turns out that we can get callous Done by july 1st of 2023 No, no, and that's our intention to come back. Um, once we have a scope and budget for callous, we'll do callous as a separate Approval dollar amount Okay. Thank you very much. Yep And that could likely be a different manufacturer to chris. Oh, it could be okay. Thanks chris Are we ready for the question? Okay, uh, all those in favor of the motion, uh, please say hi Hi, hi All those opposed, please say nay That motion carries Moving on to the policy committee You know chris, can I ask one one more general question about the finance? um, yeah, so susanne and c oftentimes that's at the When you're giving giving us the information about where our Finances are you use the 2% recommended? um allocation for the um For the unbalance unbalance and um, you know, you always Indicated how much over that 2% we are? Um, I'm gonna say I get nervous if it's 2% I think because it's like 122,000 Or something along those lines for our entire system So is there? um I mean are we driving toward getting to the 2% or is that just an informational piece of, uh Just informational for us You know, I I love that you're asking this question because the finance committee, uh started at their last meeting talking about um, some budget planning, uh and developing a budget plan and involved in that budget plan development will be discussing What the board feels is the right fund balance target? Um, I've used 2% because that was what my predecessors used and so I've just continued with that Without a full-on conversation with the whole board. There are Many recommendations, uh from different angles. You might look at enough to cover three months of your expenses Um, sometimes I've heard 5% thrown out there gfoa Uh has a couple different models that you can follow and so the finance committee is uh working on that kind of discussion and starting it and hopefully will be bringing um a proposed plan to the board in the next few months Thank you very much Any other questions or thoughts, uh for the finance committee and for susanne Well, then chris i'm prepared to turn it right back over to you for the policy committee. Very thank you very much Um, good evening everyone, uh, and we had our first policy committee meeting of this year on the 8th of august welcoming, uh, megan moray, who is a uh delightful Edition along with cat fair who also joined us and just was a really nice contribution to the to discussion one of the things we talked about was uh, how to set up a mechanism for more, uh, uniform and routine review of policies for updating and I am meeting with, uh, megan and michelle tomorrow to set up a a proposed structure for doing that We also talked, um at the meeting about school choice and we'll be bringing a A discussion points to the board to talk about school choice because it's it's a big issue Uh, and it really touches on more than just Picking which school someone can go to which a student can go to But it has it has a potential ripple effect that we like to hear the board's impact input on Before sending out any type of community engagement on the issue of school choice But with that we have three policies. I think three policies up for discussion tonight. The first is b1 substitute teacher policy and it's for first reading with the expectation that it will be adopted at our September 21st meeting Does anyone and and Included in the packet are two copies of b1 the first one just shows the edits that were made And that are incorporated in b2 Any questions on b1 Okay, yeah, I don't I don't see hands so just Maggie I um Wanted to ask if the statement Graduated from high school is inclusive of the general equivalency diploma And if that needs to be clearly stated That's that's a great question. We didn't mean it did not come up. It did not come up in our discussion And what did come up in this discussion is why the policy was being amended and it was Being amended somewhat as reflection of the difficulty that we're having in terms of personnel and so so You know that that's a great question Maggie and I think You know, I would think it would but I'd like to hear from the board as to whether or not We want to include that it does include like You're talking about like a gED Maggie yeah, and I technically That that fits the criteria I'm just questioning whether it would be beneficial to have that explicitly included When in the in the statement graduate from high school I tend to think it would that high school graduation because it's you know I tend to think it would because it would be you know, just be informative to anyone who's looking at the policy but I've been Would like to hear from others as well on the policy committee and otherwise So Maggie We suggest no we add another statement there that just says graduated from high school or equivalent We're more specifically saying I'm not exactly sure how I would Well, I mean it's still a diploma It's just the way that this is worded doesn't to me Makes me question whether it's inclusive or not I'm not I'm not exactly sure how I would change the wording Well, I think we maybe change it say For a person who has a high school diploma or it's equivalent I think that covered it Yeah, I would I would endorse that I'd also like to hear a little bit more about the conversation that the committee had about Removing that language and who you heard from and you know what the what the atmospherics were around that So Some of the conversations were about For instance prior to that it had said Grad or college degree or whatever the specific language was but people were talking about You know college kids who come home who don't have college degrees yet who kind of sub and do a really phenomenal job with Kids and I I think that you know part of they I just looked at a document about the staffing shortage in vermont schools Um, so I think there's like two prong piece here One is let's try and get more people who can support the system and the other was around are we really being discriminatory in Sort of setting that bar so high that people who are qualified aren't able to participate and provide services for the schools I mean the language does say preferred, right? It's not a requirement Um, that's that's not to say that I I don't think that this is a good edit So the discussion done also included that decision-making would Also try and have the preference of what we you know the best qualified person And so it even though it's not saying preferred My understanding is that administrators would be looking for the the best qualified person among the pool There's also a discussion about whether to add a sunset provision because we're looking at this as Not an emergency policy, but a policy that is being modified in the midst of a significant personnel shortage and whether or not to revisit this language in a couple years to see if the the environment had changed But we didn't we didn't put in sunset provision, but we're we're aware that it's a modification to encourage a broader pool of potential employees that that Still meet what we need in terms of qualified people to substitute in our schools Lindy Um, I In the districts I've worked in we've had College students who came in and subbed and they did an excellent job And something that denis said that just made me think about it. We might have somebody who's In college not even thinking about being a teacher But substitutes and then says hey, this would really worked for me and I think I will go into teaching So it removes some limits And since these people get vetted through the central office and the principals Have the option of putting them on the list or not putting them on the list I think it Gives more leeway To just have the person has a high school diploma or its equivalent Thanks, Lindy Daniel yeah, I was just going to agree and and emphasize rather than explicitly Managing GED because I I think another population that it might be Worth considering is those with international educations and some secondary school graduation That might not fall into our American definitions So Daniel was just proposing to Just use an equivalency language as opposed to GED. So it's not off-putting Yes Yes Okay, okay. Daniel's nodding. Okay. Thank you Any other comments on this particular policy? It's great The Wi-Fi a lot of us is just really going down the tubes Sorry, what's going down the tubes Maggie? The Wi-Fi Yeah Okay, um, okay, so the Internet So On b1 My understanding is that we're going to modify the language under the qualifications to Say that it's a person who has a high school diploma or its equivalent Is that yeah, okay. Yes, and so with that Modification any other proposed changes to this b1 Policy b1 So we'll put it over for a second reading in on september 21st and adoption at that time Okay Thank you. So now up next is C8 which is for second reading and adoption and it's the pupil privacy rights policy Does anyone have any questions about this policy? Okay hearing none Um Jonas you want to hold them all for a vote at the end as a slate or you want to go individually? I think we've done individually in the past But let's let's go through the comments and then we'll we'll take action on on each of all three of them one at a time Okay, that's that's good Next up is a policy c1 on education records Is there any comment on this particular policy don't she see any hands? I don't see any I do not no, okay Thank you. This and our final policy for tonight is the c14 Section 504 and ad a grievance protocol for students and staff Um, and this is a policy that we went back and forth on a couple of times with the primary focus Um on getting the appeal process Right and making sure it did what we wanted it to do Um, and that is the reason for some of the bolding. I believe to make clear Um what the appeal? Process involves and where it can be made and by whom Um, so does anyone have any questions about any of the language? of this policy Can you tell us what you went around and around about? Well, you know, we we were trying to make it clear that uh, someone did not need to a complaining did not need to use this um, this policy in order to appeal they could go directly to the um, it u.s. Department of Education for the office of civil rights and that That this was not the only method of appeal which is trying to make that crystal clear Any other any questions for chris about? That's c14 aggie it is This final policy is new no existing policy on grievance for 504s Um, you know, I don't know the answer to that. I don't I think it is new. Um Because I don't think we have a a pre-responsive like that, but I could be wrong I think we took it up from the vba Yes Okay, any other comments Questions for chris in the committee daniel You're muted. You're still muted That will help Um, I had a question about the policies as a group in terms of annotation how they're written Um, some provide sort of a table of legal references at the bottom Um, at least one has sort of footnoted legal references And i'm wondering if we have a problem with sort of That's sort of Different different style of writing in annotation Um, the inconsistency that it might present in our policies Not volunteering to reconcile them myself though Um, so we are Largely getting our policies model policies from the ron school board association And the vehicle citation embedding process, I believe is helpful to Support what the different Uppoints of the policy can be and also ensures that what's mandatory to be in a policy is in the policy and it provides A site for individuals who are looking at the policy to go find what the site is So I think to the extent that The citations are basically roadmaps to This is what it says and the site is this is why it says it and And that is current presumably as of now is there support from The school board association for future law changes and and our ability to sort of update our legal references, I guess Is it is an important secondary question? there is and they revise and review their policies with changes in the law And at least in brahmans those changes usually occur July 1st From if there's a Such story change usually takes place on the July 1st The year after the law has been passed through And signed into law Is an effective becomes effective july 1st Yeah, I think they're both Usable forms, so I'm okay with that. I wanted to raise that as a point. Thank you chris well Any further discussion of these policies that are up for a second reading and up for approval before we take action Hearing none. Uh, can someone make a motion for policy c1 I move that we adopt policy c1 as presented Thank you, Ursula Hold on a second. Oh, sorry Hey, Dennis Any further discussion? Bring on all those in favor. Please say hi Hi All those opposed. Please say nay That policy is adopted. Um, can I get a motion for policy c8, please? Does anyone want to be adopt we adopt c8? pupil privacy rights policy as presented Second thank you Ursula Any further discussion hearing on all those in favor. Please say I Hi, hi Hi, all those opposed. Please say nay Thank you that policy is adopted. Can someone make a motion for policy c14 I move that we adopt policy c14 as presented Ursula Second thank you. I am any further discussion Hearing on all those in favor. Please say hi Hi All those opposed. Please say nay That policy is adopted And we're moving right along to the consent agenda Would anybody like to move to approve the minutes of june 15th june 22nd and june 23rd I move to accept the minutes of I have to remember june 15th Looking for the next one june 22nd And june 23rd Second Ursula any discussion of those minutes Hearing none all those in favor of approving those minutes. Please say I Hi I All those opposed. Please say nay Those minutes are approved and For the board orders lindy I ask you To move to accept the board orders. Okay the board orders or the sales at board orders first Okay um All right, let me get them in the right order So I make a motion to accept the board order for June 16th through june Yes, 2022 in the amount of 11,287,461 80 cents Can we get a second? second Thank you Ursula any discussion of the board of those board orders ending june 30th Hearing none all those in favor. Please say I I All those opposed nay Those board orders are approved Then you can you lead us through the board orders ending july 20th Yes, I make a motion to accept the board order dated 71 through 720 22 in the amount of 427,612 dollars 36 cents In a second Thank you chris any discussion of those set to board that set of board orders Hearing none all those in favor. Please say I Hi All those opposed nay Hearing none those board orders are approved and lindy. Can you lead us through the last set through august 17th? I make a motion to accept the board order dated 721 22 through 817 22 In the amount of 286,657 dollars 75 cents In a second, thank you Ursula any discussion of these board orders Hearing none all those in favor. Please say I Hi Hi All those opposed. Please say nay Those board orders are approved and rolling on into personnel on page 42 Would anyone like to move to accept the new teacher nominations? I think I've got that e-mail too I make a motion to accept the new teacher nominations for the 22 23 school year as follows Uriah proctor mattingly for callous school wide support christiana Uzintza u32 music teacher Olga benoit u32 math interventionists honeyby barrett doty five sixth classroom teacher mary ellen monday romney school wide support And a second I can Thank you chris any discussion of the new teacher nominations I will note that two of the the folks listed here appear to have No connection to vermont at all Which it hopefully is an indication that recruiting that sort of widespread, you know, wide net recruiting is paying off We need more vermonters. It's great to see this All those in favor of accepting the new teacher nominations. Please say hi All those opposed. Please say nay hearing none The new teacher nominations are approved There's a couple more to accept. Yep, the long-term substitutes I make a motion to accept the long-term substitute for 22 23 school year of maxwell sagala u32 social studies Second. Thank you ursula any discussion of the long-term substitute Hearing none all those in favor. Please say aye. Hi. Hi I all those opposed say nay That is approved and lindy the change in position if you would mind I make a motion to approve the change in position from mack margaret docum's speech language pathologist In a second second Thank you ursula any discussion of this change in position Hearing none all those in favor. Please say aye I All those opposed. Please say nay That is approved Megan can you give us an update on vacancies? Sure I would start by saying it's There's been a lot of activity and work around hiring just in this past few weeks. Um as we welcome new staff tomorrow we are As of you know 555 p.m. Are adding names to um make sure that we count people because that's how Close to the wire. We are hiring That is good news We've made pretty steady progress on many of our vacancies. There are still several and Our vacancies are centered around Interventionists and special educators or special education service providers. I will say that u32 Which had a large number of vacancies and special ed Um has been able to fill those vacancies with professionals who By looking very closely at what types of services we need delivered and focusing on service delivery Have managed to fill positions. Um, which is good news. It does mean some restructuring around Case management and and something specific to the special ed process But they are In a in a much better place than they were earlier um the vacancies currently um that are Probably taking most of our attention in special ed our speech language pathologists Um, we do continue to have vacancies at the elementary level. Um, this is Prompting a couple of things one of the things that's prompting is conversations about Potential need to contract with service providers on a short term basis to be able to provide The required services We have had conversations with the association about this Um, and we'll continue to have the positions open and posted an interview Um to be able to fill them, but we do need to be able to serve students as required by their IEPs um And we we continue to have a number of Support staff vacancies uh para educators Although we are filling them all the time and I have two emails in my inbox from karla with two more people that we Were able to bring on board. So Given the picture of vacancies in the state Um, I wouldn't say we're in a wonderful shape, but we're in better shape than some of our neighbors But we are continuing to work on some of these intervention positions Happy to answer questions Yep Telehealth services being considered for the slp positions They are that's one of the models. We're looking at for contracted staff That would require some looking at which students can access their services that way and which can't It's not a universal It's not a method that works for all kids, but it could work for some so it's part of the conversation Second pieces. Could you briefly speak to how the implementation of the new? special education law Allows for other providers not just special educators to be providing that service I think that would be helpful just a quick review for the board Yeah, thanks, ma'ai. Um, so act 173 which went into effect july 1st and as you Are aware changes the funding of special education. It also Gives flexibility in how we can provide services previously For a service to be delivered. It had to be delivered by a special educator So a teacher with a special ed license Um And the easiest example of where that would be challenging is someone who is a literacy interventionist So a professional letter professional level Expert in literacy was not able to provide special ed services under our previous model And now they are which is part of how we're able to provide services In u32 with that different model So you're right Maggie. Our ability to be flexible is much greater now than it was prior to july 1 Megan this we even covered in a meeting back in june that I that I don't remember. Um, but do we have a driver's ed teacher? We do Great. Thank you. Yes exciting Any other questions for Megan about vacancies? Okay, quick meeting tonight Future agenda items diversifying the educator workforce and hiring And Suggestions that we make may want to make to the vsba for their annual resolutions process and we'll Take that up. Um at future meetings Board reflection So Jonas, I want to thank you for stepping in and and uh guiding the meeting tonight. Um, you really you Felt I felt more comfortable as we're going on at the end. I thought we were we were the late night boston radio host or an auction We did a nice job. It was really nice to see you step up The nice thing is that from policy down through personnel. It was all motions It was getting that rhythm right you get the gavel and You yeah, you are but thank you very much My pleasure We do we have to have public comments now I mean ask we do I would Thank you guys um I would ask for uh any members of the public that are here that want to comment uh now is time before we adjourn David Howdy, uh, just a quick comment. I had problems getting on today because I understand your policy is to try to avoid Um, you know the incident where you had some people zoom bombing last year Um, and I won't go into the semantics at what exactly it means to have a full name But the process just doesn't work unfortunately like in um, my case I had to join from another computer because on the one that I preferred to join from I can't actually change my name until I joined and there was a request in the meeting room The the waiting room that it is to um, you know state my name and I happily would have but there's I don't know if this is a setting you can enable on zoom But there was absolutely no way to reply to that message and so I tried calling in on my phone hoping that I could join that way and Be able to say hey look it's me. I'm going to get in and change my name And unfortunately in that particular case there was a if not for the fact I was already joined on zoom I would never have heard the message asking for me to state my name because it was sent to meeting room chat But if you're only joining by phone, there's no way for you to see that So there are some uh technical issues with trying to implement the policy that really need to be sorted out Sorry about that, David Um mark, I'm hoping that there's something that we can do to look at that and resolve that difficulty that David and others may have Thank you, David Well received any other public comments Hearing seeing none. I would ask for a motion to adjourn I moved it. We adjourn second All those in favor Hi Thanks everyone. It's my pleasure. Good night. You all right. Thank you. Thank you all for a great start to the year Thanks, Jonas. See you guys. Thanks. Thanks guys


Today I'm making a rudder and My boat had two motors on it before I'm gonna replace one of the motors with a rudder and then keep the other motor Or I might change it for another motor. Anyway, there's gonna be one motor one rudder This is one of the motor mounts And it goes on the back of the boat in a convenient nice place right at the back of one of the pontoons And this is six centimeters or 15 No six inches or 15 centimeters from the water Ish, you know, obviously the water changes And I figure this is where the this is where the the motor pivoted I figure I can pivot a rudder here And I did already start making a rudder that was gonna work differently However, this is gonna be better and I've got a 316 Stainless steel pipe here, which is smooth Very smooth smooth shiny And I'm gonna use that as my rudder maybe flatten out this end. I'll go into the rudder Let's see six inches down or 15 centimeters. It'll get into the water. But anyway, first I want to just Mount it in this piece here, which is way too sloppy so I Found a couple PVC Scraps that fit quite nicely on this pipe. They're a they're a little bit loose, but they're pretty good They do not fit in here though So I think my first task is to lathe these down Until they fit snuggly into here one on the bottom one on the top. Well, this is the bottom Uh Ladies right here. Hey When you guys want to patch me the wire That's pretty good. Oh It is pretty good Nice, you don't have boots here. Do you have shoes? Oh You have nothing. Oh That is pretty good. Wow Like that way again All right, now figure out how to make a rudder out of this Stick, how do I make a rudder out of this stick? I have got this thing Which was the beginning of a hydrofoil experiment that I just never Got anywhere with because I don't know. I just got on other things and It's been sitting around for years just taking up space. I think I'm gonna turn this section Into a rudder maybe cut it off there or maybe I need a little longer Okay, this is upside. Well, okay, I can turn the camera upside down. Okay. Now. That's the way it's gonna go and my steel pipe Will come over here and that's where the water line will be so that would all be underwater If I cut this kind of right at the edge there That's pretty good rudder size right there And that's that's what would be in the water right now. There's gonna be more weight in the boat. So Yeah, I think that's actually pretty good. I can just Cut it right about there Yeah Maybe if I Cut a couple grooves in here and on the other side Cut a slice down the middle of this You can kind of fit it right on there and then flatten out these Let's do it I got a cut down there my angle grinder Now I'm gonna flatten this end Maybe I can start If my lice is strong enough. Oh, it looks like it's doing a job. Not a bad start Camera next. I want that to gradually go up. Yeah, really get this on there. Hey, don't care for it Well, that is on there tight That sucker is not coming off. I Think I'll put two rivets down at the bottom there stainless steel and that should be it Nothing is not moving. I Just want some rivets to pull those pieces in Well, my rivets to be low profile so as to not so I took the little stick out of it Cut it shorter. I'm just Mashing it on Standard Pretty flat Good stuff. It's on there real good nice stuff right there. Oh, that's great All right, now the top end Well, I need up here Something to go on this so it doesn't fall through And then some kind of stick for the thing to move it. All right, let's start with the thing there Basically the same as one of these Oh, I guess I should put two screws in there just to make sure this thing doesn't move Three since I'm putting tiny little screws. It holds it in place pretty well. Oh come on fit I'll get in there Just that's locked in there pretty good Actually meant this to go up this way. I drove it the wrong way So it goes down a little whatever it's Sure still clears the stuff needs to clear


So here's a new 400 gigabyte fast microSD. Hi, so who are you? Hi, my name is Clinton Lee and Senior Product Marketing Manager over at Western Digital within the Client Business Solutions Group. And this is called A2 for faster uploading and performance, so that's a great one to use in the smartphone? Yes, so for phones that have the Adoptable Storage feature, which can do with cards with A2 is adopt the card as internal storage and that will allow you to directly install or download apps to the memory card and run those apps faster than it would be from a regular... How does it compare with the internal storage in the phone? So when you adopt the memory card, it'll be recognized as internal storage. How does it compare to the speed? The speed, well with A2, with the IOPS being 4000 read and having our IOPS of 2000 write, it's pretty comparable. I mean it's a lot faster than today's standard of A1, which is only 1500 read IOPS plus 500 write IOPS. So it's almost two and a half times faster with A2. So this is a big jump, is this the first A2 card or are there some other ones, smaller capacities? Yes, so the Send Us Extreme card with A2 will be the first to market with the A2 standard, correct. Alright, so the first with the A2 standard, crazy fast storage, so that's going to be like a dream for people that want to install thousands of games and apps. That's a perfect idea, that's an ideal situation with games and applications, memory intensive applications. As we know, with files and applications being memory intensive and require high performance, the Extreme card's ideal for the with A2. One thing that, okay now I'm just checking right here, it says ideal for Android smartphones, tablets and everything. I wish that there were some smartphones with two micro SD's. There are handsets out there that support two micro SD's. They're rare, right? It's rare, but it's available in the market today. And they have a 4 in the RAID, is it possible to have a RAID micro SD card? I have not seen that today in the market, but I have seen too. If people don't make it, you should make a phone with that. Can't you make phones all that loud? Obviously for our, it'd be great for us, because that's more memory cards, more memory. But eventually they'll get there. We know they'll eventually get there. If we see handsets with two memory card slots. Because Google does these pixel phones to show the market how to do Android. You should do a western digital phone or a satis phone to show the market that they need to have four micro SD card slots. We prefer to stay in our, where our expertise is, which is all about memory storage, data storage. It's coming. It could be there. But whether we do it or not, we'll have the solutions from a data storage perspective for those types of handsets. Can we walk just on the other side over there? Let's go over here. So what are you showing right here? I see the SD card. Yes, what we're showing today, what we're announcing today is the ability to include PCIe technology into a memory card. An SD card. And an SD card. Full size SD card, exactly. So theoretical, the PCIe speeds are 985 megabytes per second. We can get this up to close to 900 megabytes per second. So right here it says 900 megabytes per second. It's called I expand base. Right. So this is it doing right now. So we're running a benchmark on the full SD card with PCIe technology. So as you can see, we're in read speeds of over 900 megabytes per second. The theoretical is 985. Today, cards with UHS-1 technology only supports up to 104. With our extreme cards, 160. So 160 with our new extreme card, PCIe running over 900. So imagine all those applications, all those 4K, 8K videos being transferred. This one will transfer that into flash. Is it getting towards the fastest you can do an SSD and stuff like that? It's pretty darn close to read speeds of SSD. Is this over the standard connectors of an SD card? Correct, yes. Well, PCIe's going to have its own pin layout. So it's a different pin layout. From a form factor perspective, it'll follow the same full SD as well as eventually we'll get down to the... No, we have no problem. So this is a full SD with PCIe interface. I'm taking the card out and we'll show the back of the card. This is the world's only PCIe SD card, right? Correct. What's the special pin? Which one? So we've got the second row of pins right there to support PCIe. As well as you have to have the NVME interfaces which is part of the protocol for PCIe. Nice. So that's exciting for what? For many reasons. It doesn't mean that you'll be selling more and more... How could this potentially be something like this? Is there any chance that you just swap in a new SD card and you have a... It's kind of a... In theory, if you have a notebook or Chromebook that supports PCIe, you could use it as extended memory. Add an additional 128 or 256 gigs memory. It's actually running out of SSDs. And there's totally space for two of them to save. I like multiple SD cards. And here's some new... Are those new? New generation of NVME SSD right here. Very fast, right? Yes. 1,700 MB per second. Unfortunately I'm not as well versed on the SSD side. There's even one over here. 3,400 MB per second. Wait, okay. Sorry, I keep asking about the... Just look over here. So... There's a... Something called a 3D SSD. You know, I don't want to put you in the spot or anything. But when I see Samsung talking about 30 terabytes SSD, the 3D is definitely coming into space, right? It is. Unfortunately I'm not as well versed on the hard drive or SSD space. So I've got to be on the memory cards in USB. But there's on this new 400 gigabyte... Sorry, terabyte would be cool. 400 gigabyte microSD is 3D technology. Correct, yes. So it's all about layers on how much memory you can stack on the layers and fit it within the ID itself.


I'm confident in me, like I truly believe I can guard anybody. I'm gonna play no matter what. Tall receiver, quick, top fast, no matter what. I'm just playing against the best. You get a chance to watch him go up against Traylin Burks. You see him against Johan Dotson. Just really, really good battles for Roger McCurry. I feel like I can adjust easily, like to the system. I can play Conor, I can play Nickel. I can move around anywhere where the coach want me to play. And it's just that instinct that I have and that dull mentality and that way I can bring to the team. And I feel like I can do that right away. The Titans have it. It's McCurry with his first career. I intipped it back in bounds. And it's intercepted by Caloon.  It's just that mindset of, I'm going with this guy. This is my guy. You gotta be patient. I said, another thing, patient. You gotta have eye discipline. I'm confident in going to the next level.


So, this is going to be fast because only 10 minutes I'm going to present you. My Monster website is a crash test multi-site running on beta with almost 500 plugins. So the first thing is why and why it's useful to me and what's in it for you, what could be useful for you as well. So the first thing, it was to have fun. Some years ago I said, okay, that could be fun if I install all the plugins I have access to in one big, huge multi-site and then I use it for all the things I'm going to present you. Different use case, it means that for a given project I may have different needs and I can pick in my list of plugins and install that in a sub-site of the multi-site and check if everything is compatible if there is no conflict and it's easy because all access is there. I test with whenever I have a beta access to a plugin, if I know the developers I have a beta access so I can test this with themes or other plugins for conflict and inform the developers if this is the case because myself I'm not a developer. So it runs on the beta WordPress, means on the nightly builds, I will show you that. So this is the, it was updated this morning, so it's 6.5 alpha with that number. It means with the current beta test of the next version. So I've always, the version that is updated the last night and as you see, 481, actually it's a little bit more, this was an older capture so it's almost 500 now. Of course the first question people ask is do you activate them all at once? No, I don't. Actually I tried something but I will create a sub-site of the multi-site and activate the plugins I need. I test a wide range of things. I have many themes, classic themes, block themes, so the new with the site editor. I have a lot of plugins for different use like forms or tables or whatever. I have many page builders that I tested and this is one of the sub-site I tried to activate all the page builders at the same time. It was not working but it was fun. I also often talk about multilingual plugins because I'm from Switzerland and we have many languages in our country so it's a very common topic to talk about multilingual plugins. And I present that at meet-ups and I tried them all, like all the names you know about multilingual plugins. There is one that is my favorite, this one, is a multisite language switcher. I trust very much that multilingual plugin and its developer, Dennis. And it's very nice because with my use case, I test and I install two or three different sub-site of the multisite and I can export easily to importing a production site. To export from a multisite into a production site, either a standalone or another multisite, I use a plugin called Prime Mover and it's working with a free version for that. It's very easy. I just went, yeah. So with the full list, I can select the plugins for a new project and I can also copy paste block patterns that I made them ready, for example a complex colon or whatever and I can simply copy paste because with Gutenberg it's easy to copy paste and it's ready. I have, for example, forms. I have a contact form in French and when I install that contact form plugin in a new site, only the English demo will be there. So I can simply from this starting site export and get the JSON or CSV file and import in the production site. It also increased the confidence in the plugin reliability and compatibility and I'm also checking for security. On that multisite, I have a plugin called WP Vulnerability. This one lists all the plugins that have been abandoned, so it means not updated since a long time or if there is a known vulnerability. I would not install that on the client side because it would scare them a lot. So there I have a bird's eye view of all the plugins I can use anywhere. I have the list of if there is an issue and I know in advance and I can either find an alternative plugin for the same features or if it's a vulnerability tell the developer but usually they already know. But then I can wait for an update for the production site on my site or my client's site. So yes, I told you about the templates and plugins and some settings that it's easy to export and then re-import in a production site. I told you about the forms but it can be, for example, if you use code snippets, you can have a full list of code snippets there, export and the one you use and import in the production site. AI plugin, local translate for translations, I told you about the forms and everything you can imagine. I have my starting stack and then I export and it's easy to build on the production site. This is important because when I talk about this and I say, oh yeah, there is almost 500 plugins and people say, oh! But relax, it's fun and it helps to prevent issue on the production site actually. It makes things much more relaxed for like. This one I'm going to skip because it's only a 10 minute talk. I was planning to ask someone to try to hack it in one of the entries or whatever but yeah, we have no time. That would be helpful if someone can enter and then I get to know maybe the point of failures and point of entries via an abundant plugin or vulnerability. This slide will be on my website so maybe we can do that anyway. In conclusion, the first thing it was to have fun but then I discovered that it helps also for many use cases. I love to find out the reason when the white screen of death appears, even though I'm not a developer, it's funny for me. It works in diverse situation and I can explore the plugins there and I don't need to deploy every time at development sites and I easily solve things proactively actually. This QR code goes to my personal site contact if you want to follow me, all my social links and the third here is a crash test if you want to have a look at this crash test. Thank you. Grazie.