Seeing the presence of a quorum. We'll call to order this meeting of the Amherst Pellum Regional School Committee at 6 33 p.m We we don't have minutes to approve this time. So we'll get we'll hit them next time So the first order of business is announcements and public comment. Are there any announcements for the committee? Yes, I have three and I'll be real quick. All right. So our special ed survey is Continues to be open it closes on March 22nd if you've received that an email Please go on and fill it out. It's very valuable information. You can always also click to it at arps.org anyone and any of the the Amherst Pellum Regional School Districts A big shout out again to our brothers and sisters and organized labor movement out in Oakland scoring a big victory against the forces of privatization against public schools Contributing with LA and forcing a transparency law at the state level. They also got a great contract and other pushback So as we are going on our own efforts to be inspired at the state level to push back on some things that we talk about a little bit Always good to see those victories happen across the country and the last I just wanted to give a shout out to the The musical all the students and staff that participated and in what is the outside of graduation the largest student activity It's it's amazing not just as not just for the performers and the musicians But at the end when they all come on you know the wave after wave of of all the students in black shirts You know the techies and the lighting and the craft designers It's just really impressive that we can do that at the high school and the turnout was it's fantastic So great community event cool Any other announcements Hearing none we are open for public comment. I don't know whether we have a The man the panoramic lens on the on the camera for Amherst media, which I should actually remind people we're being taped For a future broadcast on Amherst media, which we deeply appreciate But if we had a panoramic lens, we would see they're not in fact anyone sitting in the audience Unless Mr. McGonough is to freelance and come up And you do not So we will move forward are there subcommittee updates including our illustrious What do you want strategic plan facilities use facilities use it was big thinking important committee Yeah, no, it's interesting So I guess the update is last I think right shortly after our last meeting the facilities use board advisory board had another meeting And at which they toured the middle school and I think that some a lot of helpful feedback came out of that from the members of the public that were there and so We should be looking for a presentation from the architects quite soon that I think will include a range of options in terms of costs and different You know just Like how deep the renovations would go or not go so it should be interesting great And I think we actually have a little major the next time That's right in the 26 will be there final report right so I can look forward to that then Are there other subcommittees that was to report anything looking no, okay? And so said that subcommittee updates Do you have an update for the superintendent? Yes? Yes Okay, so he has several updates here on the district level he mentioned he has The Amherst regional high school the middle school in Wildwood There were some students from there who joined in the special Olympics that was run by the South Hadley High School students Our students enjoyed activities such as basketball drills bowling a giant Jenga and some other cooperative games And they had a wonderful time also, we had National breakfast week last week and it culminated with an event at Fort River with Congressman Jim McGovern and other members of this committee as well as parents and guardians who attended and they had a great time and they talked about Alternative breakfast models Project bread and blue cross and blue shield was there and the school has received a grant for $8,000 to continue with the program Also as Peter Demling mentioned the family survey for the PCG or the Special Ed survey has gone out with a return date or end date of March 22nd And we had conducted the survey previously and so now we're just looking to make sure you know see how we're doing We ask all parents and guardians of students who are currently on IEP to provide feedback If you have more than one student who are on IEP to do two separate or as many separate surveys for each child is needed And then on the secondary level we have a geography B winner And he's from the middle school. His name is Cameron Gray Lee And he now qualifies for the Massachusetts state level B, which will take place on March 29th We which wish him well in that endeavor also the college board Has sent us a letter Stating that we have won an award for the computer science female diversity We have we are one of only 685 schools that have achieved diversity in the Computer science area, so they're 18,000 secondary schools worldwide that offer eight AP courses And for us to achieve this great recognition. It's really fascinating and great and it's a Quote from them in their letter to us is by your leadership in this area You prepare your female students for the high-paying In-demand jobs of the future and give them the opportunity to help solve some of society's most challenging problems So kudos to the high school and what they're doing for that On Friday There is the talk of some of our students wanting to participate in the youth climate strike and So the Administrators at the secondary level have been in communication with the police department and with the students just to make sure that student safety is A top priority for the district and make sure that they are safe in whatever they choose to do So if they choose to walk out and participate, there are police officers who will be assigned to assist And this is not a school sponsored event So even though we're working with the police department to make sure that our students are safe It's not a school sponsored event And that's all that I have I just have one clarification question regarding the youth climate strike on Friday Because I noticed in the letter that the superintendent had sent around a draft to the committee He had stated that the police department was going to be sharing a police officer for safety of the students But then immediately following there was a line stating that The school is not responsible for the safety of the students And so I'm wondering if there's any chaperones or anyone else, you know, any adults that will be accompanying the students Or if it will only be this police officer So that's a great question More than likely and I don't know the exact answer to that But more than likely the adults will still remain in the building for those who choose to stay and continue their day So since it's not school sponsored I wouldn't believe that our teachers would be out there with them We would let the the officers continue with the walk and chaperoning the students there Yeah, please just a follow-up because I think believe in Students parents, you know or guardians have to sign a they do right? Yes So with this release our parents and guardians basically saying that they relinquish control or That they're not they're holding the district, you know I guess at no harm for something happens to the students Just want to know if we have a lot of high school students walking around downtown even with police presence Just want to make sure that they're somebody's there to keep an eye on them, right? So your comment is great Thing is I only received the same letter you received Okay, and I was not part of the planning and so I can only read the line to you that says Parents are required to send a note and sign and give permission for their child to leave the campus And the parent would get the same letter knowing that it's just a police escort that would be there Great, well, thank you very much We're done with the regional assessment working group So No, there's no particular Important only they'll I would add though that I'd gotten that reach from member of the public Kindly interested. I think the chair of the university might as well. I'm keenly interested in assessing the the ability and the desirability of the district and adopting organic foods within our food service program and And I what I what we can talk about this later under school committee planning But it was my thought that since we have we have a new food service program And we have a new director that the right way to handle an inquiry like that is actually done here one refer the comment in the letter but also to If we had a presentation later in the spring on food services, which I think makes sense entirely to do To just flag this topic as something that will come up during that discussion Yes, so was this from a community member was like was the origin of this inquiry? It was a member of our community but activist and Very vocal, I mean that's not funny about it But instead of like a you get two kinds of inquiries in life I think the kind that sort of say passingly like if you run into somebody a big why hey I'm interested in this topic I wonder if you guys are doing anything and then as the other kind of inquiry that says I really think you should do something about this and I'd like to draw your attention to it And I hope you do This is more like a ladder But I think it's what I think it's a worthwhile topic. I mean we have talked a little bit about Organic foods or local foods. We haven't really dug into the topic at all. So I think it's actually we're talking about wherever it goes So on to new and continuing business and the as as referenced earlier, but I guess I'm saying it on cam for you to miss this Unfortunately, we're not able to do the presentation tonight on Following up on the math report that we got so we've reorganized the agenda and moved up a couple of items one being superintendent evaluation subcommittee and the second being advocacy efforts and For a superintendent subcommittee As I mentioned before, I know Audra's not here was I think You just relevant. Yep, and Audra are the only two current members of the committee who are on that subcommittee So if you would if you would like to or I'd actually appreciate it if you'd be willing to Describe a little bit of the work that that committee did not like in the you did everything So not like the grand scheme but sort of more like when we're looking to this spring and what we'd want to be doing What what the subcommittee would be past to do Make sense to you. It does we took the Superintendent evaluation that's available Online and we just kind of streamlined it a little bit to fit the Amherst region and then also Union 26 and Did some work for Amherst also So that I mean that's really what all we did was we just took it and we we made it work for this district but you guys did a great job of of Identifying like the standards and the rubrics and the objectives and stuff. Oh, yeah, we did that You know tying them back to the time them back to the goals, which I know we did Yeah, well that that most of that were fell to superintendent Morris. He's the one that really late laid it out And then we just took right we took it and made boxes to fit The these were awesome boxes they were yes, they were awesome boxes that then Deb turned into an online form That was then used to review The members of you know, Dr. Morris Who's got to come forward a little while with an update on how he's doing for one a better term But then also in another couple months come forward with his packet of evidence and then You know, we would review it and do our stuff right so what we yeah, so we did we Took his packet of evidence and made it so that we could go through it and pull out the important pieces And then everyone was able to go through and just check the correct box, right? so The this is of course might be a wonderful topic if we're drawing like a couple cocoa but it is relevant because the Super the subcommittee needs to form again and do that work again anticipation of the spring's evaluation of the superintendent and We need a member from each that's right We felt we felt that that was the best was that there was a representative work very well It didn't work. We did that for two years. I mean to be fair We did this for two years not just one and it worked very well So if we have a member from Schuetsbury, we do we would be honored to have that person on again Audrey if she was here, I'd love to talk to about her in front of her, but she ain't so Hopefully miss Cassensky is willing to participate. It's not like in our earlier conversation that she was it's not like that It sounded like that, but I'm not speak for either. I mean, it's not I mean it's the truth is it's not as much work as it was I don't think at this point, right? No, it's just I mean cuz I mean From whole cloth the whole thing and it was an enormous amount of work I think there's something to work with now in terms of a framework to review and to meet with dr. Morris So the bottom line is we need somebody from Palom and somebody from Amherst Who's willing to volunteer for this? Absolutely as people like to say other than the budget. This is the most important task. What committee does When does it mean? When do you when did you know I'm sure you arranged a time? But when do you when did you guys meet it was like either five to six or five thirty to six thirty it was Late in the at late in the afternoon one how many meetings Do you think you'd need this spring to put together the instrument for oh probably just Two maybe three at the most because I mean the the skeleton is really there. It's right Just put maybe a little bit of meat on it, but it That makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense to me. So we need a volunteer from Palom and from Amherst So that I understand The evaluation form I volunteered to be on the preparation of it. Cool. Okay, great Just me and I appreciate it. Is there a volunteer from I never Lovely town of Amherst. I would volunteer with a caveat that I'd need to Work on scheduling it If there were flexibility a little bit in last year the bulk of it as she was done online and that case Awesome I'm not volunteering I just want to say that I know many of your other committees such as the policy subcommittee and such Reach out to the HR office or to me to say can you look at this and provide feedback? And so I'd like to offer that as an option to this committee because you're looking at evaluations in our office We look at evaluations all the time. So just to offer that I Think that's wonderful. I mean it's also Not to sound funny about this But even though dr. Morris is great and he's giving us great feedback and advice when we're thinking about structuring his evaluation It'd probably be a good idea to have another professional who's not actually him Looking at it as you know, you know me like it's just it seems like a good practice that someone else looking at it as well one so I don't I guess Well probably trying to offline connect with news gisenski on this as well and then loop the four of you together I don't know Deb if We can do that sometime this week and And then you can get going So good awesome. And actually what we should do is maybe just a reminder. We should take whatever materials we had from last year and Distribute them to the committee so you have a head start to look at them. Does that make sense? Deb? Do we have those around? Cool Timeline for the We either said the end of May or as early June When we talked about it in September or October. Yeah, I mean the challenge is so the Amherst members are going to be So basically to back up for a second the challenge traditionally has been of when the members turn over and It's sort of differs by town as you know and Also member former members even if they have an amazing amount of experience with the superintendent if you're what's called a former member of The committee you're not allowed to fill out the evaluation And so it's only current members who can do so so one of the challenges You try to pick a time of year when you have enough of the year done that you can fairly evaluate reasonably evaluate The superintendent, but it's also not so far in the year that you have at least in past years theoretically Almost a completely new committee than doing the evaluation which makes no sense So the funny thing is my recollection Mr. Sullivan is that one of the first tasks of the subcommittee when you formed was to sit down with the superintendent and maybe in this case with the assistant superintendent and Draft potential calendar for the remainder of the year Then bring it back to the committee for discussion, which I'd anticipate we'd want to have For our meeting on the 26th because that right that was the that was the big thing we did was firm up who could and who could not fill out The evaluation luckily we got that straight we got that straightened all right because Previously we we had quite an array of people who could fill it out. The past is the past Anyway, any other questions about this because I mean it's so it's an important body to work the thing that I'm Pleased about that was that the committee in the past have committed to past always did a really wonderful job Bringing back all the important questions to the full committee to discuss so it's it's not like This committee is going to go off and then the next thing you know We're gonna do doing an evaluation. There's gonna be a lot of touch points for us to be able to talk about What we think and make the decisions collectively I think just one suggested subtopic for that committee would be what we were just talking about which is that the date Driven thing because if we're about to maybe lose Zero to four, you know people from the from our other towns We might and there's an opportunity to get them before they leave we might want to do. Yeah, absolutely So Mr. Sansky I'm not calling attention to your walking in We've just drafted you to be on the superintendent evaluation subcommittee again Sure, thank you So you'll be meeting soon and yes I'll try so we just talked about literally the charge we've gotten four members The four members are mr. Sullivan yourself Mr.. Manino and a spitzer And the assistant superintendent has offered to Provide whatever council we we seek to help us with the work we're doing. Okay, just to be appreciated Anything else seeing none we'll move on some advocacy efforts We talked about this is on the agenda because we talked about previously that The obvious I Mean there's sort of two obvious as one is the question of what what could happen to education policy that could affect us negatively or positively, but then beyond that we're just so dependent on state funds for Our budget and for the relief any relief we can give to our member towns in terms of their contributions for our budgets and so It seemed I think we've done advocacy before as a committee But also it just seems like this is something where we need to get organized as I had mentioned before and actually this is an opportunity time that if this committee wishes to organize itself to I don't know draft a letter statement with information and facts in it that we could then pass and then submit You know prepare and either submit as testimony and on March 22nd There's a hearing in the state house or otherwise provide as advocacy I think it would be worth also discussing with our colleagues on the Amherst committee and The Hallam committee at the very least but also Schittsbury and Leverett would be great to potentially do a collective Advocacy around common points that we we agree and so this discussion is designed to Elicit your ideas input on how we might perceive with that I think it's a desirable idea so that we can then assign tasks potentially to draft said letters or materials and Then authorize Myself to talk to the chair of the Amherst committee You're not the chair of the phone committee anymore, but I'm looking towards you towards towards the other members So do you have anything you want to talk to add mr. Devlin in terms of what the substance of what's coming out of the bike? Yeah So I think I think what what you said is accurate I think the the theme this year that that we're all operating in the backdrop of is Is it is a higher level of anticipation that something's going to happen at the state level for the foundation budget change? I mean so we passed a resolution here supporting that this is the MTA calls it their fund fund our future campaign It's the promise act is signing Chang Diaz is they'll basically overhauling the foundation for it So impacts districts that are Typically larger and have less funds than we do but it's you know a key element of income inequality So there's a lot of attention around that different so attended a Meeting with local representatives and so talking with Joe and Mindy and they were both of the opinion that there is a lot of Anticipation that something will happen exactly what will happen is hard to say Their feeling was that everything was on the table quote-unquote Which is good for us because even though the foundation budget if fully implemented would help us somewhat there are other bigger buckets so Actually so before that meeting I was talking to mr. Mungan a little bit about what are the biggest buckets that affect us because a lot of underfunded things And we're sort of focused in on for our our committee regional transportation So last year because it wasn't fully funded. We lost out on two hundred and eighty four thousand dollars So that's one of the biggest buckets here one of the other bigger buckets That's shared among all our committees for talking about what's a good focus for shared advocacy is the charter reimbursement and in particular the proposed change to that formula and the governor's h70 which would Drop our interest just this committee's anticipated Reimbursement next year from a hundred and forty seven thousand to zero and that's that's an interesting one in terms of How we might be able to reach out and coordinate with other districts because it affects districts way beyond our region Like for example, Boston would lose over ten million dollars this four or five cities that would lose over a million is like 50 cities It would lose over they essentially cut the reimbursement Pot in half what was the rationale for the Well, I will I will resist the temptation to cut deeply into secretary Pizer's terrible remarks on this But essentially it's being promoted as a way to fully fund the reimbursement by cutting the level of the reimbursement to districts They're right what they what they said Yeah, that's basically what they said And he said this last year too. They didn't just say this issue They've been trying for a couple years is they said well, we can't fund fully fund charter reimbursement So we need to really do that and since we can't afford to fund charter reimbursement We're going to change the formula and front load the reimbursement on the first year and and and the limited and out years which is It's technically true, but forgive my editorial, but it reminds me of when welfare roles declined precipitously a while ago, I mean it's a couple decades ago because we eliminated the eligibility We've changed the eligibility substantially for welfare and so by making people ineligible for it. We reduced the roles Unemployment also similar and so it's a it's a perverse way to fully fund a line item is to reduce the cost of the line Yes by changing eligibility. So no, so so that's exactly right It gets even worse actually for smaller districts So you there's another requirement that you have to be at your five at a five year maximum of charter school enrollment to get Anything so if you've gone from say four students to zero students to four students to zero students And then you get four students which we don't know until the budgets are all past all that you know for a smaller district You know so someone might be a good example. You could lose four percent of your budget out of the blue So so yeah, so actually you mentioned that the hearing so I actually I'm planning to go to the hearing and testify specifically to this and to call it out pretty directly about how it's been characterized and if my hope is that You know we should be able to get generate some attention and work with some districts outside of our immediate region since it does It affect other districts so much So that's that's one possible Area of focus, you know regional transportation. I think is a bit more challenging. I think You know we did a lot of advocacy last year and you know, we didn't get the traction that we wanted and it was and we have the The challenge this year of all the focus on the foundation budget, so I don't know to what degree I think I think it may is a good example You could sort of think of the two things together as it's great that we're doing the foundation budget We totally support that and endorse that but we can't forget these other pieces as well that affect other districts It's kind of a unifying theme, but it's a little hard to translate that into, you know, effective advocacy I think I think I mean my view of it would be I'd love to see We'll be and we get we actually got a request in the four towns meeting to say please include the four towns meeting the select people And finance committees and stuff, so I actually think we should do that and the funny thing is once you do that It becomes much easier to explain explain the rationale for how these things fit together Because they certainly fit together fiscally, but I'm just working on this Yeah, just a couple of points. I think so we passed a resolution here in this body But we also requested the Amherstown Council to pass a resolution which they did in you know on behalf of Well against as charter expansions and then also on behalf of the promise act Senator Cumberford has actually been advocating I think quite heavily around these issues and has requested that different her constituent communities Send letters to her. She's willing to if you can't make it to the hearing on the 22nd. She's collecting a lot of the Letters and information and we'll share them on our behalf. So there's always an option and I think beyond that What we're hearing a lot Coming from the other district representatives and other school committees is that while people are expecting something to happen They're also feeling a little more pessimistic about what that something could be And I think it's generally because the administration at the state level has not indicated any really, you know believable I guess Change that that is possible at the budget level. So This really requires I think advocacy and engagement from our communities It's not just our elected leaders that you know have to send letters and you know, right to our like representatives And at the state level, it's also our communities that need to pull together and show up for these hearings And you know and have rallies and things like that because we have to send a very strong message To Boston that education matters and that our communities have been short changed for so long That it's impacting so many different areas of our communities budgets and what we can do in other places Not just in our schools So I think it's that ripple effect that I'm hoping people can turn on to and say this really matters and we want to do something About this, but it really will require sustained and heavy push Much along the same lines of Mr. Demling's began our meeting tonight talking about with the Oakland teachers Until you get those levels of turnout, you know, people aren't gonna take it seriously. So It's me now our state revenues down due to the federal tax cut State revenues are down right now and they're running both what They're each the beginning of the year and when they're doing budgeting they set levels of anticipated revenue but year each month rather and Which is called benchmark and you can perform above or below benchmark or at benchmark and Through an earlier part of the fiscal first out of the fiscal year. We're running ahead of benchmark actually for a number of months and Last two or three months Right Since January. Yeah, we've been running below benchmark the reason for that I don't know. I mean the time some states are having probably because they're tied to the federal system Yeah, that could that could be some of it, but I don't I don't from what I was reading I don't know that that's the entire explanation interestingly enough and this could be you know unrelated, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Revision to our state's employment numbers for the 2018 and it's a bench It's called it's a re-benchmarking process what they do every year where they get the first half of the quarterly census of employment and wages data and so it's something that happens every February And it often changes the employment numbers, but last year we had reported the state have reported that it gained around 70 little under 70,000 jobs and with the re-benchmarking that was released last week It was revised downward to only 20,000 jobs gained. So means there's something happening also in our Economy that I mean some people speculate. It's because we're actually Maxed out and our unemployment rates too low and it's hard to find people to employ But whatever the rat, whatever the reasoning is I'm always talking to an economist today about that. He was telling me that He has no idea And he knows a hell of a lot more than I do so I'm gonna but I mean the bottom line is a State revenues are down which also does mean in fact when you're looking ahead to budgeting for the next fiscal year They're gonna you're gonna start out in a more cautious or conservative place and unfortunately despite What's the taxes go be being pre-promoted in terms of some turn over the taxes being put? I think it's like an Additional real estate transfer tax. It's going to do climate change Adaptation beyond that the Baker administration is still essentially in a new taxes sort of mindset It's even worse. So last year the economy was supposedly as good as it's been the governor So, you know, it's so we undercuts regional transportation by 25 percent Like I said, our district lost 284,000 just because of that, you know You know, we all remember the painful cuts last year and then he calls it a surplus right, so it's Even if all of a sudden revenues start coming in great It's not gonna fundamentally change the mentality of of the governorship plus plus There's another problem that also has to be called out and I'll stop talking about politics But you know the House of Representatives for a long time It's had a real difficult time getting new ideas and progressive change from from its base You know, it's become pretty stagnant in terms of its leader leadership and And movement on that and it's been it's been hard to to get progressive voices, you know heard And so I think what Mr. Johnny says exactly right is it's going to take some level of a sea of red t-shirts You know flooding this the state house, you know some week or month from now that like kind of you know shocks the System into into a recalibration because you know it's it is about revenue You know there's gonna have to be some sort of revenue change at the state level for any of this to real move It's significant. I do think though that I mean the good news is I Think what you'd want to have is you'd want to have people like Representative Dom Senator Comerford Representative black Who are who rep who represent our towns cover our towns who I think are We understand the issues they get it there they're in our corner fighting for this I think so I think you know the nice news is it would it might be more emotionally satisfying to be in a district by people Who are not on our side where we could go rally and occupy their offices But here I think what we should be doing as you're suggesting is strategize with them and try to figure out What's the most effective way we can give them the ammunition they need so what I'd love to do is I'd love to Redelegate this topic To miserable news and Mr. Demling and if there's anyone else who wants to be involved as long as we don't have Three more people because that would give us fine Which gives I suppose you could always post it as a meeting, but are you up for it fight the power? And in my thinking is that we should My thinking is that we should probably have some kind of a letter Analogous to what was done for PVIC at PVC ICS Only on this topic of the budget Something that we could approve as a committee and that we could submit Officially and potentially even share with our colleagues at Amherst As well as also palum and leverant and shirtsbury Yes Palem We are submitting a letter To Senator Coma Ferdin Representative Dom about the charter Great I was just gonna Trying to tread carefully on where our lines are but There are a lot of community members Inleverant I'm sure in other towns that would like an opportunity to help our statements, so if I don't know if it's appropriate, but if there's a letter that we could share with the public and encourage them as well to modify it to their particular Experience and encourage them to also reach out. I think just more voices is better I know but be careful. We can't be advocating for things So we have to we have two then things then one letter for us to approve and send off and then another thing That would be like a skinny down fact sheet To the go into people's letters that they might choose to send out on their own behalf and then I think the other thing is if If either one of you are in touch with Max page Find out what the MTA is up to doing it seems to me we could do some sort of a teaching with The four towns with the four select board to three select boards in town council Finance committees and school committees and then invite the public in and do some we could do an event in other words to kick to Demonstrate kick off our advocacy And obviously invite the senator present representatives to it so one idea I had reached out to one of our Colleagues across the river there in Northampton school committee member who has worked with us previously on another related issue of the related issue and she's actually organizing a write-in event where you know inviting community members to write letters to their state elected leaders Expressing their concerns and that seems like a perfect thing to do and you know, it's it's low Call low hanging fruit Because it's basically just inviting people to you know community place. It could be the banks community center it can be some other local meeting place and Having a template that you share with them and then inviting them to go ahead and fill that out You know and it seems like something that a lot of people could probably find a half hour an hour to do And you know shows some of the support that that we're talking about from the community So we could look at things like that also if it's really interested in that But I mean if you're if you're willing I think I would reach out to the MTA and see if they're up to you See if we can organize them together with them So speaking of the MTA so they are they have a bus going to the hearing on 22nd This is open to the MTA and all their allies So if you are so moved and the public is so moved That is leaving from That is leaving from I'll get in a second. They have Sheldon field Northampton seven o'clock in the morning and it'll be back at three and they give you lunch So If you really want to get into it and that Jackson School The writing campaign organized by Northampton's at the Jackson School on Monday the 18th. That's open to everybody Even if you're not from Northampton seven and nine, but that's a good idea You know it actually reminded me of a bike. I was asking Joe conference like so tactically What is the thing because like you said we know that? Mindy and Natalie and Joe they all get it and so it's not about beating their door down But and so she she suggested in addition to showing up at key points You know letter writing to the local paper to get it More public awareness not just from us, but from the public but also to the to the Senate president to the To the House Speaker and to the governor like you might not think that people that high up are going to listen to you But that that volume of response does matter So those are a couple of suggestions that she had Alyssa Brewer has The number one position is an MMA asked me to school association. She has like a She got there. She has an elite perch at the Mass Municipal Association Remember what it is? Yeah, it's right in the heart of this work and I think that we should also reach out to her because The honestly, I know people love their schools And we want to fight for our schools. If you want to grab people where they live Go out go to their property taxes and their their town budgets And the fact that we're under a lot of pain and a lot of our communities under pain Including ones that aren't necessarily the rockdoms of the world that desperately need chapter 70 revision That is where you want to you want to get people to move on Transportation funding and chart and cold the line and charter reimbursement make it a fiscal issue Make it and get which means MMA town council select board By the way, I haven't been filler buster or intending to but our next item Scheduled originally for 730 and mr. Zomac isn't here yet So I think what I'd like to do is if we're ready to move on and you folks feel like you having a feedback from the committee Great, then draw that. Thank you. Then I would like to do is move up Items D and F until Mr. Zomac arrives Okay with that You might have to go home early. I don't know No, I think I was up to you D. Enough might take a little longer just because of all the votes in the reading It might be easier do gh and I That's those all you We're gonna go gh and I okay So the first one G So all three of these our our potential votes for tonight if you don't want to vote They're mostly pretty standard or sort of Yes, so every year we have to school we have to approve the dispersion from the stabilization fund Right now there are two disbursements there We pay the interest on our fond anticipation notes which fund our capital projects And we have a debt schedule for some of the cabin renovations that happened about seven years ago. It's almost done So the two disbursements are listed there They include the beginning balance their names and so what the ending balance would be for your information And if you feel comfortable voting tonight the motion's Yep, so essentially the motion would be to Approve the disbursements for a point 19 from the capital stabilization foundation above And again once the stabilization Academy debt is done Which I think is in two or three years then really looking to come out of there is ban interest. Okay, great I'm just going to read the motion please. I moved to approve the FY 19 disbursements From the capital stabilization fund as shown above is there a second a second They moved and seconded any further discussion or questions service ring on it Seeing none all those in favor of the motion is read signified out the raising It carries in animus nine to nothing Keep the streak going this one down. So the next one is designer selection procedures, so he's every Regional school district are supposed to have designer selection procedures formally adopted. I would venture to guess that most Don't have a record of that or many don't have record of that and we are one of them that So the state has a template that they put online and sort of best practices around this This is what we typically follow in the past anyway But what I'd like to do put this to rest going forward is to have a formal adoption of these sort of best practices around designer selection procedures And again, so essentially outlines We advertise we put together a document. We advertise it. We solicit responses from designers use a qualification based evaluation process to Rank them then we look at pricing and make a decision whether we want to go the top ranked And all that so basically everything we've done the past to select designers, but this is basically word-for-word from the department or the division of Design our selection for it. So I'm trying to go to an acronym DSP from the designer selection board State of Massachusetts There any questions about this item? Have we talked with our number eight if we talk about trying to Adjust it so it didn't require three at some point we did and that was sort of really the main impetus for doing this So we're trying to get down to maybe two because we've had a hard time in the past getting three But unfortunately when I worked with the state on reviewing this Threes required by statute so we cannot go down to That's an easy answer Are there other questions and comments so don't miss so just one in section four It mentions the central register published by the secretary of the Commonwealth And so I was wondering if this is a place we want to perhaps mention the local paper here or is this It was unclear to me if this is just the requirement by statute as well Yes, if there was room for additional outlets, so it's both actually so the first piece is Advertise the newspaper of general circulation So that we typically will go with either the Gazette or the Republican if it's a bigger project on a wider arc And then the central register. Yeah, it's just a it's required It's a literal forum that you kind of post details about and it goes out to all the everyone signed up for essentially And this appears in the section of the newspaper. Nobody reads I read it because I cut it out for my folder Apparently you're not bidding on a lot of projects Are there other questions Yes, so as a member of the policy subcommittee, I'm just trying to clarify Is this because it's a procedure Go through the policy subcommittee or is it also would with this I'm just curious about yeah the distinction and if there is one I think it is a tough one. I think it's not technically a policy I think it is kind of falls under the procedure. I mean it could go to policy subcommittee I actually brought it to the I think budget and finance subcommittee first I think we looked at it there because I didn't seem like it was quite a policy Yeah, so I haven't treated as a policy, but I could see if you wanted to do that way There's not a ton of discretion over many of the areas in here I'd actually I thought the same I was actually Forgot, but I was actually cured when I first read this. I was like, huh, let's go through the policy committee Yeah, you were at that meeting the way first. I was at that meeting. So I thought on the budget finance Over in the corner. That was fascinating. Did I ask the same question then? God. I'm so consistent And this is a longer document, so if you don't It's like embarrassing I mean, I guess the question would be whether we feel comfortable Voting it will we want it for the review and I Is there is there what's the timing out of that? There's not a super rush. I'd like to have it in place before you know if and when if we get improved by the MSBA process I'm looking forward with the roof But that probably won't be till summer. So I think if we can do the next month or two, that would be fine. Okay So my preference I think would be to come back and vote this later But I just wanted to ask if the town if the towns Multiple towns would be also doing something similar or is this only for the the school committee? You know just trying to since we tend to have so many joint projects, right? I just want to make sure that we're kind of in sync with each other So this one specifically for the region but theoretically if the town doesn't have one they should be doing Yeah, there wouldn't be this this isn't specific to region So this this template applied to towns or regions so Why don't we refer this to the policy subcommittee for your review Great So the last one is extension of the transportation contract FY 20 would be the last year of our transportation contract that started in FY 16 It's an option year. So therefore you have to sort of vote each option here as it comes up So this spring and summer we would start our work on preparing the bid package for the next Three to five year contract, but this would basically just be put into place the last year of the contract We did the Cosmascus and five-star So we did this once last year right we carried it forward Yeah, so now we're going to get ready to yeah, yeah, so each contract the way we've typically Three-year-based contract with two options Thank you Can you explain the CPI adjustment and why it's going up to Inflation is yeah, so we've benefited from that in the past when CPI has gone down you can see there been some rate reductions, which are pretty unusual Yeah, that's the only that's the only cost escalator in the contract So we don't have some contracts and we're actually going to bring in an outside person I think to help us craft our next big package because it's getting so specialized Some contracts have like fuel escalators and things like that. We don't we just have a total overall CPI increase so So yeah, it's going up because that's an inflation Okay, I'd entertain a motion if there were one forthcoming Is there a second second moved and second any further discussion Questions seeing none all those in favor signify raising your hand carries Unanimously thank you. Thank you very much. We'll see you again shortly Oh You can break you're doing that Thank you very much so the next item on our regularly back to the regular schedule agenda is the the region and town of Amherst's athletic field study and There's any Introduction we would offer to this other than to say this is an item. It's not New to the committee the committee remember we've gotten a lengthy presentation on this before But it's if you remember the discussion it's Pretty significant both in terms of the needs and conditions of our fields as well as also some of the vision It's gone into the opportunity to rethink how we're Providing accessibility to our fields as well as also the quality of multiple different Recreational and competitive options on this field. So I don't know if you had any introduction Otherwise, I'll be happy to ask mr. Zomek to come forward Welcome. Thank you very much Dave Zomek assistant town manager Happy to be here tonight. I know we have spoken about this project at some length So Dr. Morrison mr. Mangano had asked me to just come in for a brief update and Q&A if you had any questions Either one of us would be happy to answer those As you know the rec working group has been coming together for over a year and a half looking at the fields in Our downtown specifically focused on the fields around the high school community field in the middle school And out of that work came this wonderful report by weston and samson I noticed that this is actually dated may 8th 2018 I had a conference call with weston and samson today You may recall that we were hoping to finish up the written report to get it to you And our now town council In january there's been a couple of delays. There's been some back and forth finishing up that contract But i'm assured today by the team at weston and samson that they will have that by april 1st So we will have we have these wonderful Images that mr. Mangano and I were hoping to just buzz through there's just five or six of them Just to refresh your memory But that written report with the images should provide a basis for us moving forward and as we've said all along this was a Planning process and we think the first that's gone on in a long time looking at the fields their condition And how we move forward Happy to buzz through this gives just kind of a project timeline The rec working group was made up by a broad Array of people representing recreational interests Of course, you all were represented. Mr. Sullivan joined us for this process as well Mr. Mangano was there for many of the meetings And we really pulled together experts to take a look with weston and samson At the condition of our field the usage of our fields And how we could come up with a plan for the future that would be more efficient more cost effective And better serve our student athletes and the community Conditions are not great We've invested in some areas but not in others As mr. Nakajima indicated One of the areas that we focused on a lot really was accessibility And we found that most of our fields our facilities are not accessible to The standard that we would all like them to be Many of them are old Many of them create obstacles for people Of all abilities The key issue The key issue as you all know is the condition of the track So we we spent a lot of time focused on that and we came up with a plan that Let's see our next slide This was as you recall about a 30 slide presentation that we just looked out Three or four or five. So this is the option one or the preferred option Which indicates putting the track in a multi-purpose field just to the west of the high school Of the building we're in now I'm not going to go into phases, but we were very conscious obviously of the Many capital projects that are out there and the demands on Our budgets So we phase this and there could be as many as five phases But we were keyed into the fact that the track is in very poor condition And we believe that phase one would focus on a track in a multi-purpose field Surface yet to be determined, but I will say there is a strong leaning on the group toward a synthetic Surface there are lots and lots of advantages to a synthetic surface And the efficiencies that that can bring what will happen to the old track The old track will be retired and Removed removed. Yes, you can see in this image I don't have a pointer, but the the old track Is kind of where the a new softball eventually would be. Yeah, there we go. Okay Now This this image before you shows a number of different improvements But again, we are mainly focused on the track and a multi-purpose field To address the urgent need of a new track and the ADA improvements that this would would bring and In this report that will come out in early april It will talk about the efficiencies that can be achieved through a synthetic field Number of months that you can play on that field practice on that field And we can get out of this cycle of fields like the current field in the middle of the track That can't be used much of the year because it's either too dry or too wet or too hard or unsanitary I guess the state of the art for current artificial playing surfaces Is that um We're able to minimize Any injuries associated with I mean, I know that I think I think I've read being an avid sportsman Over the years that there's there's like a variety of surfaces and some over the years have Lend themselves to torquing people's knees and a little bit more just being You know put more pounding on an individual and I think these days have surfaces that are significantly more advanced Sure, well about comfort and safety It makes me think a little bit about about a new computer or a new phone You never really want to be buying the newest of the new because they need to get the bugs out So we're certainly behind the times in terms of synthetic fields lots and lots of Communities as you know, all of them as tues is all over new england have gone with them. So we're not We're not breaking any new ground here if you will So there are many new improvements in fields both from a safety standpoint in terms of knees and ankles And playability Many of the new fields are better when it comes to how many seasons you can play on them Some of the colleges actually play 12 months of year. They clear the snow and they play 12 months a year on those fields or practice So they've come a long way and by being a little bit late To this improvement. I think will benefit from all that research and all those different techniques that have come before us Sorry, I you mentioned the ABA improvements, accessibility improvements. I don't know if you could just spend a couple of minutes talking about I know our current fields are pretty much inaccessible But what sort of features are being added? yes, so This plan when when when it when the entire written Plan is out with the images will include ada improvements for all the fields. So the current varsity baseball field The practice field so We kind of think of this as two different areas There's the region on the north and then community field, which is town owned on the southern part of the street there So we have designed things to have ada improvements for all of those facilities On the region side in the first phase, which would be around the track and the uh, and the uh The the inside field the multipurpose field. You can see a light. Maybe mr. Mangano can point to it But a light tan color around the entire outside would be ada surfaces for spectators parents athletes Anyone could come and access those from the high school Or from a toon street or from their vehicle when they get out of the car at the parking area um Of course the the inner workings of the field the areas where coaches where spectators would all be ada All meet ada standard and likewise in the plan in the different phases. You can see that path is continued around and Provides access to all of the different fields So every one of the fields as we move through the the stages over the next 10 to 15 years Uh, the the new uh women's softball field would be accessible. Of course the practice fields as well So all of them would meet current ada standards Any other questions, what is the projective budget for phase one? I made defer to mr. Mangano We have a range. I will say we have a range in the report. We were asked Uh in previous meetings to kind of narrow that so that will be narrowed some i'm going to turn it over to mr. Mangano Um, we want it to be conservative. So the number is high in phase one to be conservative We're hoping to be able to to bring that number down. So Dave correct me if i'm off trying to remember these numbers, but um, so the first phase which would be basically the track um In the field and maybe some leveling would be four to six billion The range somewhat depends on whether you go with synthetic versus natural And some of the other features, but I believe the range is four to six for phase one Go ahead was a little lower. I think it's lower to get the field in the track when the farther We go around that obviously the car And we also asked what would be the cost if we didn't do any of this if we just replaced the Track and field where it is essentially And my recollection of that cost was around two to three million Again, depending on how far down at the dig to fix everything and just to replace the track And the inside field would be two to three million in the current location Oh They're dimming them as they're going to So thank you for bringing this back to us again Um, I look forward to the report coming out and then having what I assume is going to be a conversation between our committee and the town About how to fund this going forward. Um, just just a couple of comments. I think I love all the information that's presented and the process seems really great And I love like the pretty pictures of a call of call look Um, I think I think in terms of presenting this to the public and the town council Um, it's important to not pull any punches about How dire the situation really is at times with the track and the fields like I think we we had a, um High school playoff game that we couldn't host last fall. Is that right right because because the field And you know, I've seen I've been out there For some of the teams practicing in the spring and it's it's it's rock hard You know, so the the the injury level the fact that they literally are not usable for for for You know and that percentage of time is increasing Just just want to underscore the urgency and it's it's also something you have to oversell in a rhetorical way But I think just maybe there's the natural human You know tendency when you're presenting something new is to is to you want it to be positive because you want everybody feel good about it But there really is an urgency that that when I've had individual conversations with members of the public and town council Um, it takes a little while before they say I thought this was just kind of like a nice to have like no there actually is You know big uses. Um, the other point is um, that if we if we do none of this What would we have to be doing instead like And so I think you would just answer my question right before about Um, you know, there would be a capital request coming Quite soon in order to just get up to Minimum safety and use standards. So I think I think those two points together You know understanding that there are also also, you know, many other town capital needs that the Council and the our committee is going to have to wrestle with in the coming years. Um are important to to brag provide context Is it on us? Oh, please I just wanted to thank mr. Demling for those those comments. Um, I think I don't want to speak for mr. Mangano, but yes, I think we are We have been focused on bringing you a plan Mr. Farrow is not here tonight as our ad But I think there there was a meeting or two here where some athletes came in some coaches came in and I think As we move forward in this process, I would hope that we would invite a broader conversation where we need to hear those voices I tend to be focused on On the nuts and bolts and where we are and where we think we want to go But I think we do need to bring in those other voices who represent all the sports teams that Can or can't use this and um, some of the issues that they're facing from injuries and and uh lack of of play So, uh, absolutely. I think um, the other piece we talked about is once we have the report coming back to you and then Understanding how we go out to the other communities to talk with them about this And in addition, it would be incumbent upon us to come up with a funding plan Um, and we talked about private fundraising as well coming into this So we're working on that behind the scenes. This was just an update But we we have uh, we know what we need to do to bring it back to you at the appropriate time And and we'll work with you on when we bring it to the town council So So, uh, I agree with mr. Demling. I think that you know, uh, clearly stating for the communities the different towns the impact on students and athletes um And also just the you know, the families and caregivers who come to a lot of the games and everything is extremely important I would say, you know, I was reading something recently about High school the the the number of acl injuries which are, you know, sort of the ligaments connecting these Has increased quite, you know, dramatically actually in recent years Um, and of course, I think you don't want to have children that are crippled as a result of playing sports Right when it's supposed to be benefiting their education and benefiting their their well-being and all that So I'm not in any way stating that our fields would be responsible for anyone being severely injured or anything like that But it is something to consider and you know into factor in I have a couple of questions One if you can remind the committee what the western what western samson's formal role would be in this process Beyond the study that they're they're delivering in on april 1st And then also you mentioned looking to other sources for aid or for you know for funding Have we is there is it possible to get state aid for anything like this, you know So I don't think west and correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think western samson necessarily has any formal role After this unless they want to you know, if the unless the town decides they want to do this project western samson potentially could Help us and say help divide create this. Um, but I think once the formal report's done essentially the contract is over at that point And then There's that question was about If there's any state aid or other So there's not that I know of on a school like like an msba version There are some like individual sport type things that you might be able to get some smaller grants We've also looked at from the town perspective. There's some larger grants, but we don't As of right now this this wouldn't qualify because it's on regional school land If it was on townland it might qualify differently Is it the community block grant or the fields grant? There is also looking at Of potentially cpa. Yeah, we've also looked at the gallery of that Yeah, since all four towns all four member towns have accepted the cpa So there's the potential that cpa funds could be used by the towns to pay their debt service for parts of the project There's there's some things that are specifically excluded, but that would create more flexibility for the towns. So So we're at that point now where we're trying to line up as many different funding Possible funding sources as possible since it is such an expensive project. Thank you. Great. Are there other other Uh I thought just a quick question about um The difference between turf and a natural grass field When they're with the various savings in terms of maintenance over the years if we had an artificial field The report that that is going to be put together will have that information I'm not I don't think either one of us are an expert in that that area But our understanding is yes, there would be But they have to factor in also the life of a of a turf field I believe it's around 20 years Um, depending on how it's maintained, but yes, uh, it doesn't need to be fertilized It doesn't need to be limed. It doesn't need to be mowed all of those things that you see both School staff and dpw staff out there doing every year Uh, you know nine months of the year would not need to be done on this field Um, but there are some other maintenance issues like removal of snow. There's different, um synthetic Turf that either should or doesn't have to be Snowblown to get the snow off because it does pack it down. So there's different costs that way So there would be some savings. It's I don't think that's going to be Kind of an earth shattering number. I think the more important number The more important analysis is how many games how many practices can we have on that new field that? Won't rely on fields all over town that we are maintaining with mowing with Lime fertilizer grass seed and also as we look at our sustainability profile Frankly, all of those are carbon based You know lawn mowers and lawn equipment are really very highly polluting machinery So if we can cut down on the amount of grass that we're mowing every week Week in week out at all of these fields it would be good for our You know for our overall Sustainability profile The Amherst college playing fields on row nine are green a couple days after a snowfall. How do they do that? They're if I'm thinking of the ones on the way to Hadley their turf the artificial turf The snow just evaporates. No, no, no, they will move the snow. Oh, okay Yeah You know one other comment I would make as we develop the the kind of funding Plan for this both public and private There is also a potential for revenue generating on these fields many communities host tournaments And that definitely needs to be I hope part of our Plan for these fields. There's quite a bit of revenue to be gained By hosting whether it's an ultimate tournament a soccer tournament or lacrosse tournament and the list goes on So lots of communities do that and it's a way to offset some of the short and long term costs So when's when's the uh, when would the next time you'd come forward to us with the plan or If we have the plan on april first I'd like a week or so to review it with mr. Mangana and other staff and we could be here Whenever you would like us to be here with some more definitive a definitive timeline and some of the other Answering some of the other questions you've had Later in april or I think that'd be I think that'd be great to do. We'll we'll figure it out the exact meeting, but if that's general Just another question. I think that would be helpful to prepare an answer for there are some members in my community that I've heard from That given our financial states of our town struggle with spending this sort of large sum of money on What they really feel is a nice to have they didn't have fields like this when they went to school here They utilize the amherst college track when they were in school here, right? Isn't there other Fields that could be used to support these that are already being paid for by umass or amherst college or things like that And so I don't expect you to have an answer for that, but I it's a criticism. I hear often Um, and for one, I don't have I have lots of nice answers like well But our students need fields and need to have access to fields at the times that they need them and not at the whim of the college but Just to kind of maybe put a formalized piece around that a little bit to say how you know The colleges are very generous to us, but They have priority on their fields. Um, and what does that really mean? So I think those are great comments and and we are anticipating those and I think it's incumbent upon us to Go back and particularly work with With the athletic director to answer and some of the coaches to answer some of those questions because we've heard them as well Is this a nice to have is this? You know the Ferrari of plans know it is not many communities throughout western mass and eastern mass Have fields like this or are building them now? And I think there's a lot of lessons learned that we can bring from those other communities because they've made the decision to go in this in this direction because of Efficiencies because of playability Because of costs over time that we can't maintain all these fields all over town And continue to pay for them So, uh, I've learned something through this whole study. Um, when I started this a year and a half two years ago Even before that I was of the mind that we should be spending lots of money to improve gulf park to Improve koana spark on stanley street, and i'm not set on this Opinion yet, but I'm quite sure now that I don't believe that's the way to go I think we need to invest in western and samson has shown us that with An investment in these fields a community field in the high school and some at the middle school Those other fields can become informal play areas We don't need to spend half a million dollars on irrigation or um, or leveling of the koana's field I don't know if any of you have children who play there might both my children play soccer there and it was a best bowl But I don't think it's a good investment any longer to spend a lot of money out there. Um, it will If we do it right here, I don't think we'll need to see this is a top Please pick up just building on on that and I it's something that you had said talking about the potential revenue opportunities and and I think sometimes um What can help beyond having the stories from the teams the the coaches and the and the athletes themselves is actually to quantify what the usage of the fields today and potential right so because I think When you look at it and look at the number of individual the athletes the number of hours that these fields are getting used We'll see that they there's very little room for us to Sort of farm it out to other fields around because amherst college Uses their their fields and facilities probably to the max as well And not just our schools, but then also who else is using the fields today So the youth sports and youth teams in in amherst and the region are using are using these fields as well So I think quantifying that can really help drive that home Well, if you're willing to Do it when you're sort of organizing yourselves to put together um, your presentations or talk about how you're going to do outreach um, I would I would welcome it if I mean if you have any interest In reaching out to the school committee again and seeing if they're members of the committee who might be willing to provide some advice you know just Help provide some advice on how to approach this discussion because it it's I mean one I've been horrified by The conditions we have Really on the track in that area associated area. I mean it's really dangerous actually for I know you're doing your best job so I don't want to We're coming into track season so I don't want to But it's mean but the conditions are really very poor Um, and it's been demonstrated by cancellations things like that Um, you know from a high school perspective. I'm absolutely ancient. I'm like I'm really ancient. I'm really old and and the current the current track And its soccer field inside was done either when I was in high school or Slightly like right before I was in high school or something like that. No, but the that track I didn't run on So it's like 20-ish years old. No, there was there was a there was a track in 1990s Well, there was a there was an earlier reorient. There was an earlier The cinder reorganization of the tracks that created Moved it to meters as opposed to yards. Yep, and and did the soccer field inside. That's two tracks ago Those two tracks ago Ancient But the point I was gonna get is that I know I'm old it's nice No, the point I was gonna get at though is that uh, well, it's funny. I wasn't even thinking about the the surfacing I mean, believe there was a there was an earlier Organization before then and sort of I think of this being more like the contemporary Organization where they moved the metric system, which is a great thing if you're running track and uh I don't know. I honest. I get it, but I don't know what they're talking about I mean, this is this is these are terrible fields. They're an awful condition And uh, it also is kind of dumb to have them running east-west When you're looking at sunsets and sunrises and everything and it needs to be upgraded I mean, I don't actually and it aren't completely unaccessible The the unaccessible piece to me is really I mean, it's horrifying and it's it's I mean, it's not just a matter of parents and Uh in and community members. It's also the athletes themselves. I mean, we just had a discussion earlier about um special olympics and And the idea that we don't have facilities that enable the full participation of Uh, the students and people living in in our district is horrifying You know, so it's important and it doesn't need to be a priority The point is we need to help you If I could just circle back to the um your comments about um quantifying So the good news is we have all that data. We can actually show How many student athletes are using all these fields what seasons so that's all part of the report If that was something we talked about very early on with the rec working group um The athletic director, uh, some lssc staff all worked on that and and pulled that together So that will be part of the western and samson I think that tells a very important story that If you don't have a child involved in sports or even if you do you have no idea really I didn't till I looked at some of the data how much these fields are programmed throughout the year and then where those Where those uh those dead zones are when we can't use the fields, uh rich ferro tells a story about the Soccer team not getting out there. I think in 2018 granted. It was a very wet year, but uh, we didn't use that track The the field in the middle of the track much at all during 2018 one or two times. That's Unbelievable. There's bound to be a couple of cycles. Yeah So anyway, we have that data and that'll all be part of the the package and we'd be happy to have any early input before we We um face a broader audience Because we know there are going to be questions about the price tag and the need and we're going in with our eyes open Absolutely And we talked about this actually offline both of both of you that a lot of other communities Um, it just even in our area, uh have significantly better recreational facilities and athletic facilities and so if you're thinking about it from a Marketing your town and your region and thinking about not just why why do students enroll here as opposed to somewhere else but also just selling the quality of life of your area The reality is um, forgive me for saying this again on camera, but our facilities kind of suck compared to a lot of other uh communities We're not up to par in any way Um, and we should we should try to get there That's our goal Thank you all. We'll be back uh sometime in april. I think you all mr. Mangano others all of us are going to be pretty busy during april and may I think there's some things coming up We're happy to fit in wherever you think is appropriate through the chair. Yeah, thank you. Thank you very much You ever get through your slides by the way, there's like 10 other slides you need to go through. Are we good? We just interrupted you made midway through and you never finished your desk. We're gonna waiting for you to ask what year I graduated from Marist High School Yours was definitely the earlier track like the way earlier track Yeah, me too Okay, so uh fy 20 assessment formula vote So I was going to go through this really really brief presentation and then do the assessment vote in the budget vote together If that makes sense Okay, very good So the the final proposed budget there were some changes between um the last time I presented and this time And so the the proposed budget now is 32 million 167 thousand 342 Which is a 1.1 percent increase or 351,991 over last year The net addition is total 301,000 And the assessments now below the big change Are now based on the compromise that we've reached at the four town meeting This is the list of assessments. Yes. Yeah, and these have all actually been given to the towns because they need to start drafting more An article so they have these numbers Would you like me to go into the assessment formula does everyone feel pretty good about that? Everyone feels pretty good about So the four major changes since last time you saw that the new assessment methodology The language has been sent to desi and they've given us given us sort of tentative approval for the language That's always a hold your breath kind of thing We've increased charter tuition revenues. So basically I've updated the estimate still based on the the Charter the proposed charter formula. So it's still conservative in a sense Um, but we originally went with the desi number that they put out there based on the number of students They were projecting they updated it based on what we're projecting Which is a few more students going out for charter just to be safe. Um, so that number came up a little bit There's some additions that we'll talk about on the next page. I've changed a little bit And we reduced the school choice fund support in the budget to try to get that choice fund into a more sustainable level faster And we'll look at a slide on that as well So proposed additions the three highlighted yellow are the primary changes since last time So I'll go through them quickly. So the first one It was feedback from the committee about adding some supplies for restorative practices at the middle school Where we went with 5000 we don't know exactly, you know, what that's going to be comprised of in the past It's typically been books materials Professional development and trainings and things like that. Um, so that would be specifically earmarked for the middle school The second one is The math curriculum training support position we talked about last time. So what was In the budget last time was actually funds for Sort of continued review of the math, but it wasn't a position It was sort of on the cusp of when that math report came out So this number has been increased to actually make it a position which was what was discussed last time Which we'd have a a shared position between grade six through grade 12 That would be sort of a temporary thing But it would focus just on training and support for the math curriculum. This man This makes no assumption as to the move from the sixth grade. Yeah. No. No, this is not related to that I mean it's related to it that came from that report, but this specific thing doesn't depend on that So that ad was 15k before and now it's 48 because it's being tied to a salary And then the last one is actually it's under curriculum and it's called clerical support But it's actually related to the communications ad So when we proposed the communications ad You can see we we called it communications and support because that that position was going to be doing communications But they were still also going to be supporting the curriculum director and scheduling and Organizing contracts and things like that. So some of the feedback we heard last time around Trying to create a dedicated communications position Drove this change. So what this would do is it would add a Overall 0.4, but to the region just a 0.1 FTE to another temporary position to allow that person to support their curriculum director And it would free up the communications position to just do communications for the district So it's for the region. It's a relatively small addition, but it would allow that position to focus on just communications So those are the three ad changes There were a couple of little tweaks, but nothing significant This essentially to the same I think the staff turnover we adjusted down a little bit, but this hasn't changed much One more And so this was the school choice fund. I was talking about it's a little bit different picture than you've seen before So if you just go to the green and fy 20 We're projecting our beginning balance to be 422,000 Which you can see is lower than it's been in the past And so we're projecting to bring quite a bit based on what's coming up And we're reducing how much we're using to support the budget from 575 down to 550 Which will help us Build up that balance faster To get up to around 550,000 for the end of that point 20 Oh and one sorry one of so one of the general things so related to the Conversation we just had with mr. Zomek just a reminder two years ago. We put $60,000 into stabilization fund to start trying to build up a reserve for The track really specifically for the track And this budget also includes another 70,000 I think or 50 or 70,000 As well again, it's not a huge amount. So I think we'll have over maybe 100,000 total It costs us much more than that, but we are trying to set aside some funds for the eventual something that we have to do to the fields Right other questions from my daughter Just to clarify on on the front the first slide The net budget is still 0.8. That's what we vote. That's what we looked at preliminarily or I think that actually went down a little bit. I think at four town meeting. It was a 0.88 assessment increase I think it's a 0.85 Assessment increase the overall assessments. I believe went down a little bit now how they're Distributed because we went with a different method may have changed in the last time But but the assessment increases in the same ballpark correct other questions So if you go to the page that says amendment to regional agreement Uh the start runway school committee at the top We have Two motions unless you want to talk about the data assessment Eventually We'll talk about it later. Uh, yeah after okay, but I'm asking. Oh, well if you want to do now I mean so there's two there's two capital votes The data assessments new as of last year our new auditor is asked that we just Vote the data assessment even though it's sort of contractual at this point Um, so that's what that first does of a vote is and then the second vote on the capital Related to the capital plan is for the roof proposal Um, and it's the word is a little different this year because of the msba component So there's some additional verbiage in there about the msba and you have a further presentation I don't know. No, it's the same. Okay. Well, why don't we why don't we take the first three that are on this page? And then we'll see if there are any questions from the committee on the capital vote before we do it You're looking for a motion. I am looking for a motion I'll move to amend section Six of the Amherst Pellum regional school district agreement by adding subsection j as follows for fiscal year 2020 only the alternative operating budget assessment shall be calculated as 30 of a five-year average of Minimum contributions with the remainder of the assessment allocated to the member towns in accordance with the per pupil method found in section 6e of the Amherst Pellum regional school district agreement the five-year average of minimum contributions will include the five most recent years Or take any other action relative there, too Is there a second second it's been moved and second. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none all those in favor of the motion is read signify the raising area Carries unanimously none to zero Is there any further interest in speaking to a motion? Is there no names? I move to adopt the budget of $32,167,342 for fiscal year 2020 for the Amherst Pellum regional school district And to assess member towns according to the method in the just approved amendment as follows Amherst for 16,444,279 Pellum for 911,736 Leverett for 1,467,637 Shootsbury for 1,775,203 Is there a second second it's been moved and seconded I don't know the little piece below I want to do the further voted. Oh, I think we did together last year. Yeah, well Been moved and seconded so, um, we'll do that in a second Is there any further questions on this item? Seeing none all those in favor signify raising your hand Carries none to nothing Is it on me? And I further move that included within this budget proposal is a contribution of $98,000 to the special education stabilization fund Is there is there a second I'll second from move dance explanation or does anybody want a quick explanation on that piece? Uh Sure, so the district has historically set aside $98,000 as sort of a placeholder for out of district tuition And the change we made last year since we have the specialization stabilization fund set up Is if during the year we don't use that it automatically automatically will flow to the stabilization fund until we get a balance there right now Hopefully after this year we'll the same that same thing that we go this year Or the same thing we're voting next year happened last year so that money should flow into that stabilization fund And we're trying to get a balance of around three or four hundred thousand dollars in there As a safety net you want to describe the special education stabilization fund Yeah, so it's a it's a stabilization fund that essentially is used for unanticipated special education costs To put money in there has to be voted during this budget process, which is why it's spelled out specifically And then to access it it has to be approved by the school committee And also has to be approved by the board of selectmen, which is sort of an interesting wrinkle So It would be there in case we have a placement that goes out mid-year that we didn't have funds for We create this two years ago or one year ago I think two years ago, but we weren't able to fund it when we created it Yeah, so the legislature authorized the ability to create funds like this And then we did and and just to be clear The district already budgets for that's something about this but anticipated special education Expenditures including out of district placements, but there's always the possibility between now and then that We'll have enrollments particularly people who move into TAP where You then have an unanticipated expenditure and so questions ready to get the money from So it's not a flush fund. It's restricted by a number of entities. Yes, I can't it's actually more restricted than Just about any other type of fund because of the the select board member votes Uh, is there any further discussion or questions on this item? Seeing none all those in favor, please signify the raising again Cares unanimously nine to nothing Uh, are there any questions on the debt assessment? Mr. Demlin, you talked about The reupholstering of the auditorium chairs. Is that kicking into fi20 or we get doing that this year? So our plan is so that's coming out of surplus surplus funds from fy19 So again the savings from the health insurance or charge going away is how we're trying to pay for that So it's not related to the debt these debt assessments We're doing our best to get it done. It has to be done before June 30th because the fiscal year switches over So we're optimistic. We're working with the mass core who's the group doing it to firm up a timeline. There's a lot of Entities that use the auditorium. So Developing a timeline was not as easy as you would think in terms of Making space and taking seats out But yeah, our hope is to get that done this spring for both the high school auditorium and the middle school auditorium And just just to be clear the item we're on right now is the debt assessment Which is for payments The assessment to the different towns for payments on previously authorized and issued debt Anyone feel like reading emotion I move to assess member towns for debt service on previously approved projects according to the debt scheduled for fy20 as follows Amherst 294,160 dollars Pelham 24,000 and 54 Leverett 35,382 and shootsbury 28,748. Is there a second? All second It's been moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion on this side? Any questions seeing none?  Kerry's nine to nothing Now, uh, is there any explanation on the favor? Explanation on the capital plan fund operations. Um only that it hasn't changed Since last time we're putting forth a roof We'll find out about the MSBA piece in the late spring summertime and depending on how that how that vote occurs or how the MSBA decides we'll have to have a discussion whether If we don't get any funds whether we go forward and do this project or if we wait But that wouldn't change this vote here. Is there any question? Someone's got big lungs Good focus and also just to be clear, we will do the voting in the Bottom, Mr. Demling. I do have one question. Do you have a question? I think I'm sorry Does the the amount include any potential ability to put solar on the roof? Yeah, so the the report we have from gale Peg the roof replacement that we're proposing at about 2.4 2.5 million So there is a buffer there that you know, what I envision is possibly we put out bids where we get a base replacement cost and we get an enhanced replacement cost and if that enhanced replacement cost is within our budget then We could do it if it's not then we may have to have a conversation whether we try to increase the budget at that point There's ways to do that through the procurement process. So so there is some Additional funds put in there for things like that. Good night for asking the question. I know you had like a Some sort of internal working group or group or a group that was meeting on the question of whether we're going to put solar panels on the middle school route and what I was wondering is How do we kick the tires on this thing? Because the reality is I think there's I mean, I think there's going to be interest in doing it And I think there's also going to be a big interest that if we don't ever bother asking the question There's going to be huge interest to why we didn't So I'd like to rather just get ahead of this and if there's some group you want to organize That we could get a member of the school committee to join To just get on this issue. It'd be great. Yeah, um interestingly enough I met with Me myself and the facility director met with students and a teacher It's probably a few weeks ago and actually I'm somebody from UMass about solar panels Now at the time they're more focused on a canopy for our parking lot But I think that would be the group that we'd want to engage Um, what I would look for is if there's a member here who wants to be part of that group I can get the meeting started, especially after the vote tonight I think that would be a natural time to get that group reactivated But there's a member that wants to be part of that With myself the facility director. There's a teacher at the high school and the um in the past it's been the environmental action Group, which is a student activity group that focuses on this issue. Okay Uh, well, it's Yeah, the process question. Let's assume the solar panels come in at a prohibitively high cost You spend two and a half million dollars. What happens to the other half million? So the the panels themselves may not cost anything there's there's ways to buy panels Or lease panels and and have arrangements with panels where you don't actually pay anything for it um, really the cost is actually Building out the structure of our roof to support the weight of the of the panels So you would just you would put that one into your roof and you'd have a stronger roof with no panels on it okay Is that little symbol read as paragraph an mgl c71 something 16d or is it section because it says section elsewhere It's looking to me on that one on that I'm looking for anybody on that one. I mean gl chapter 71 section 20 Section okay, because it yeah, it's fine because it's spelled out Anyway I move that the district appropriates the amount of three million dollars for the purpose of paying costs of making Roof repairs to the Amherst regional middle school including the payment of all costs incidental or related there to the project Which proposed repair project Would materially extend the useful life of the school and preserve an asset that otherwise is capable of supporting the required educational Program and for which the district is in the process of applying for a grant from the massachusetts school building authority msba Set amount to be expended under the direction of the school committee to meet this appropriation the treasurer with the approval of the Chair of the school committee is authorized to borrow set amount under mgl chapter 71 section 16d or pursuant to any other enabling authority The district acknowledges that the msba's grant program is A non entitlement discretionary program based on need as determined by the msba And if the msba's board of directors votes to invite the district to collaborate with the msba on this proposed repair project Any project costs the district incurs in excess of any grant that may be approved by and received from the msba Shall be the sole responsibility of the district and that if invited to collaborate with the msba on the proposed repair Project the amount of borrowing authorized pursuant to this vote shall be reduced By any grant amount set forth in the project funding agreement that may be executed between the district and the msba Any premium received upon the sale of any bonds or notes approved by this vote Less any such premium applied to the payment of the costs of issuance of such bonds or notes may be applied to the payments payment of Costs approved by this vote in accordance with mgl chapter 41 section 20 thereby reducing the amount authorized to be barred to pay Such costs by a like amount and I further move That within seven days from the date on which this vote is adopted the secretary be and hereby is instructed to notify the board of Selectment or town council of each of the member towns of this district as to the amount and general purposes of the debt Herein authorized as required by chapter 71 section 16d of the general laws and by the district agreement Is there a second second? um I would note at the end of the pair first paragraph You said chapter 41 instead of chapter 44. I take as a friendly amendment that the rate is chapter 44 So accepted great any further questions Seeing none all those in favor of the motion is read Carries nine to nothing. Thank you very much and uh anyone interested in volunteering to work on a solar panel working group When does it mean Sean will follow up Thank you very much. Yes. Okay. So that uh does our budget votes Uh, we have So accept gifts Is it on us move to accept the following donations? Uh From daniel guillotte To support flute saxophone and music stand for a high school music program Estimated value 800 dollars Uh, and from the american chemical society check number 409 609 awarded to the high school Be a sharing palmer for the science department in the amount of 500 dollars Uh, is there a second? Second It's been moved and second any questions on the items Seeing none all those in favor accept any gifts. I'm going to read Carries nine to nothing Um So what i'm going to do on school committee planning we actually have a draft um Not only agenda for the 26th that deb you can send out tomorrow But also it included on it under school committee planning Uh, I don't want to call it. I guess I'll call it a parking lot But a list of other items that we're going to be scheduled in the subsequent meetings So what I'd like you to do like the do is have her send that out to the committee tomorrow You can see it and if there are other items that we've missed or that you want to make sure are prioritized You can email me about it and uh, if there's anything that you'd like to add in that regard right now Uh, I would welcome it seeing none. I would then entertain a motion to adjourn Move to adjourn There a second second could moved in second and allows in favor Carries nine to nothing you're adjourned This might be a record


why 254 many things for keeping us company and if you just tuned in this is why 254 news highlights and tonight discussion Monday we look at weakening the presidential clama and this is the question whether we should have the referendum or not joining me in studio is Leuford tumor he's a chair of the global strategy group at Morani hilarious why 254 channel is the Twitter hand to choose we now move to our discussion tonight good evening sir how are you welcome to us thank you for having me should we have the referendum or we shouldn't have I'm completely in support of the referendum to the extent that it is meant to trim the powers of the president I think this is something that this country has ought to do for a long time and I think now that we the practical situation allows for it then we should go and do it so our cross-section of politicians are calling for the national referendum to create an expanding and executive which is sort of to get rid of these problems that we have do you think changing law would end Kenya's cycle of political violence it is going to assist and I say this in a very guarded way it is going to assist to the extent that we are going to have greater representation of various ethnic groups in Kenya's politics it has previously been a very excruciating affair you know people being left out various communities being left out so I think it's going to to end but in terms of broader political stability in the country other interventions are necessary this is part of the intervention institutional mechanisms have their own limits in terms of resolving the process of society especially when problems are more structural in nature but I believe the referendum is one step towards the direction especially in the way it has been you know cast you know if it is supposed to ensure about five people you know the prime minister the president and the deputies that one is going to help