From VOA Learning English, this is the economics report in special English. On January 1st, both houses of the United States Congress approved a plan to increase taxes for most Americans. This agreement avoided much larger tax increases that were going to take effect this year. After signing the bill, President Obama said it was important to have a balanced approach to the country's fiscal problems. In the final months of 2012, the country faced a combination of higher taxes and automatic budget cuts that were being called the fiscal cliff. The fiscal cliff was avoided, but more remains to be done. Congress has given itself more time to decide how to cut the federal budget. Increased tax revenue and budget restrictions are needed to reduce the federal deficit, which was over $1 trillion last year. The new law increases the tax rate on individuals with earnings of over $400,000 and on couples with earnings of over $450,000. All working Americans will have some kind of tax increase. This is because the share of social security taxes paid by employees will return to 2010 levels, an increase from last year of 2%. But the largest part of the tax increase will affect those with a lot of investment income and those with very high wages. Taxes on investment gains and dividends and payments from some kinds of securities will increase as well. Also, the top income tax rate will go to 39.5% from 35%. Overall, the effect of the law is simple. It will be the first major tax increase in 20 years. In addition, lawmakers are facing difficult budget decisions. On March 1, big automatic budget cuts or sequestration is set to take place across the federal government. For VOA Learning English, I'm Carolyn Presuti.


This program is brought to you by cable franchise V's and generous donations from viewers like you Seeing a presence of a quorum I'm calling to order this meeting of the Amherst school committee at 531 p.m. On Tuesday, July 28th, and we will take a roll call Attendance Mr. Demling, please as state president when I call your name Demling president Ms. Lord Lord present mr. Harrington Harrington present miss Spitzer Spitzer present then McDonald present Miss Hall All right. Thank you seeing the presence of a quorum I'll call to order this meeting of the Pelham school committee. We'll also start with roll call attendance. Mr. Manino Manino present miss Barlow Barlow present miss Kenny Kenny present miss Dancer Stancer present and Hall present Thank You chair McDonald Now seeing a presence of a quorum. I'm calling to order the regional school committee at 532 p.m. Please state present when I call your name mr. Demling Demling president mr. Harrington Harrington present miss Lord Lord present mr. Manino Manino present Miss Seager Seager present miss Dancer Stancer present Miss Spitzer Spitzer present McDonald present mr. Sullivan not present So moving on I Don't believe that we have minutes this evening. Dr. Morris Yeah, so let me start recording actually as well. I've got you there. So I just got a text from Celo she had some travel unexpected travel delays today So she will take notes minutes from the meeting on the recording And she said by tomorrow she'll have the minutes But she regretted that because she knew that it would be more helpful to have them tonight But she offered her apologies and she is working literally on the plane working on them right now. So Yeah I'm sure she wasn't aware that that we'd be meeting every week Thank you Okay, so we'll move on to public comment and school committee announcements and we do have one recording voice message and As well as some written comment and before I play these I Several folks have been asking us to read aloud the if We will display the written Public comment on screen If folks would like to have their their comments heard Or read aloud We have the opportunity we offer the opportunity for folks to Submit a voice recording Either they can record their their voice and email that to me or they can call the phone line The public comment phone line and leave a message there. And so that's the best opportunity for your your comments to be heard And we accept them up until 3 p.m. On the day of our meetings So with that I will play our first comment Hi, this is Ryan Wells. I'm a resident of Amherst Kidney Amherst Wildwood elementary school as well as the Amherst high school I'm calling to add to the conversation about plans for schools reopening And I would like to add to the conversation Important opinion piece that was in the New York Times on July 20th by Sharda Joghi It presents a really innovative plan that I think meets a lot of the goals that people are trying to achieve It essentially has all teaching and learning online teachers Labor is dedicated to that however schools would be open for any student that wanted to come and have Support staff access to technology including meals Nursing care so the safe place for the vulnerable Students, but as well as anyone who wanted to could come to school. It would keep the density low It would prepare professionals As well as other support staff could probably staff that as well as maybe some teachers depending on how that was was laid out But I think if you read that piece it states it more eloquently than I can about how this meets many Good goals, so I would like to encourage you to consider fully online teaching learning But schools to be a place where students could still come on the bus Could have support staff could have technology to get their meals For anyone who wanted But not to have quote-unquote in-person learning they would be supported in online learning there with laptops and computers and what So again, this isn't the art times until I 20th time Love it is how to reopen the economy without killing teachers and parents I think it's an important piece that should be added to the conversation And I would support some kind of a plan that will show much of that. Thank you and now I will Share this document our folks able to see this and I won't note that this will be posted on our Regional school committee agendas page on the arps.org website for the for folks that would like to read it on their own time or on their own screen Also And Somebody just pointed out to me this evening that That a lot of email in her inbox has been going into spam And she discovered a lot of email in there and so I will say that Just this afternoon. I discovered that the same was happening in my inbox And so there are so for those of you that are wondering why haven't we shown your public comment I'd notice that there was a handful of public comment emails that did go into spam So we will we were unfortunately I did not catch that in time to get it in for this evening But we will be meeting again next week and we will include all of the past comment including ones from past weeks Into that public comment period next week. So I apologize again And just as a reminder Email to mcdonalda at arps.org with the subject line public comment Please include your full name and your town of residence or the school in which you work and Voice message is always accepted as well. Okay. So are there any school committee announcements announcements from members of the school committees? And then miss Lord So, um, this is a half formed and somewhat emotional thought so just ask that you bear with me a little bit I just wanted to try to say something briefly about the need for all of us here on the committees and also the public at large as well to speak out against Any personal attacks during the the ongoing discussion about fall reopening? I've seen Personal attacks on social media recently against more than one of my school committee colleagues and It's it's wrong and and it I feel it has to stop and I just want to say publicly and very clearly and matter of factly that no matter how strongly I have ever Disagreed with anyone here about any topic recently or in the past. I don't for a second doubt That every member here takes covet extremely seriously Cares deeply for staff and student safety Cares cares about the education of all students Is sincerely trying their best in a very difficult situation to serve the common good And to our community's credit 99 of the input that we've received um Has had the same level of personal kindness and understanding On even though the disagreement that we've heard has at times been very strong Um, but but I see the personal vitriol Starting starting to creep in a little bit, you know, and you see it on social media first because it's it's it's that toxic echo chamber Um, and and we've seen in the past in our community that it can get out of hand We've seen that happen with divisive topics in recent years. Um And so I I think the best way to inoculate ourselves to For our community to achieve herd immunity This kind of behavior so to speak is to call it out When we see it happen, especially when we see it happen to someone we disagree with To someone and to stand up and defend that person and say You know, I I don't agree with the point, but you can't attack someone like that You can't treat people like that find a different way To state the case and I I really feel like it's it's like a bully situation, you know the best way to Stop bullying behavior is for is for the group to say hey, don't bully that kid You know, so I I I really feel that it's a public collective responsibility for us to model but also You know for there to be public examples as well Uh to actively defend those that you most strongly disagree with from personal attacks And I think if we can model that kind of civil discourse here and and and social media and elsewhere It'll lead to the best kind of Discussion and then we'll have the best kind of outcomes for students. Um, so that's just what I want to say about that. Thank you Thank you. Nice good Emily Well stated and miss lord I would like to invite all of you to tomorrow night school equity task force Meeting at 6 30 p.m. That is july 29th wednesday school equity task force. See you there. Thank you Thank you And I also recognize that we have a few others in attendance this evening We have our student representative on the school committee emily grip co Who has joined us this evening as well as um dr. Morris and Miss cunningham Are there any other school committee announcements? Seeing none, um, we'll move on to the superintendent's update Dr. Morris Sure. So, uh, sorry. I was away last thursday and wasn't at the meeting Um, and I guess two meetings of superintendent update weren't enough So I've got a rather lengthy one tonight. So I I'll try to keep it as brief as possible. Um But uh, I think of the first point, you know, I just wanted to say I didn't know mr. Deming was going to say what he was going to say and thankfully Um, I don't do much social media for better or worse. Um But I do want to say and offer a sincere appreciation for the committees Uh for how many times you're meeting and how deeply you're considering the topic wherever, you know The group lands and whether it lands where I wanted to land or doesn't you know, none of that really matters to me at the moment The most important thing is that the elected officials from the four communities have been actively engaged in this And are trying to work on the best solution possible in a very difficult circumstance So, you know, I don't know how much you all hear that and hopefully you do and maybe sometimes you don't But you know, I think I'll be frank. There are some communities where the school committee has said, oh, yeah superintendent. Go figure it out You know, sort of this seems messy We're not going to play in the mud We'll watch you, uh, and you know, I just I think that's actually really mistaken Policy to be honest with you because this is big enough issues where it really is at a policy level In a crisis and so I just want to appreciate how many meetings you've all taken on over the last three months And the depth of the conversation you've had and even when it's hard and there's disagreements You know, I just wanted to start by saying that I appreciate all of your work and and on this and how often someone emails me Or talks to me because they've read a new article from some other resource And it's like this is a new way. I got a good one today about like, you know Can you look at infection rate by hospital zone? Is that a different way to think about how to keep track of it? And I'll just say personally, I really appreciate all those reach outs You know and all the information that that I received from you all and your engagement in it So, you know, I start from a place of thanks and in the place of appreciation and how tiring This must be for you on top of all the other responsibles you have that aren't your, you know This isn't your quote-unquote day job And I want to acknowledge that as well and it probably has felt like that over the last couple weeks So that was my first point the second point I just wanted to clarify because I got a couple questions over the last couple days and we sent out a phasing survey today To families and staff and middle school and high school students as well Just try to see, you know, what was the reaction to the three different phasing models But one thing I wanted to say publicly is when we thought about I got a lot of questions about, well, homeless students, life students, ELL students Who aren't in grade levels that are attending in person? What would that model be and I wanted to briefly touch on that and really it's modeling it off, you know You probably all have read or heard about this Uh that folks are organizing in many parts of the country actually did the spring even locally pause, right? So the idea is that you'd have a group of students together taking similar courses and and participating often in online learning but with additional support and You know, we're trying to think of students who for a whole host of reasons There may be more barriers to them accessing online learning and virtual learning or distance learning And we want to support them to access it with some live instruction and live tutoring support And that's really the model that we're trying to think of it's not that the students would be Sort of have a different experience or a lesser experience than the other students in fifth grade For instance who wouldn't be starting in phase one or even phase two It's actually how do we supplement and support the distance learning they've received by having some live support throughout their time During the school day and and they're often Students who will benefit in other ways from being in school as well And so, you know, that's sort of the model We weren't thinking that they wouldn't access the rich resources that students at their grade level Would act would be able to access we'd actually just want them to access it with enhanced Professional support from our staff. So I apologize for not being clear about that the first time I wanted to clarify that the second time I wanted to also clarify. Sorry. I'll try to be as brief as I can Again, I apologize. Another group's been meeting so much That I know there's been some public comments about why school committee Isn't meeting live as we're talking about live instruction And I did, uh, you know, a couple school members did talk to me about that privately I reached out to the ten manager of amherst And he indicated that there has been no change that the you know, I think this was sort of spoken about in the past but that Public meetings aren't allowed to be public at the moment In the way that they typically would be That this is the access point But I do also do want to share that we have started meeting live for our leadership team meetings because we don't have the same constraints that Public bodies have and it's been a really good experience. I think to To be able to simulate, you know, to understand what it's like to be like today We had one relatively warm room mask and and what did that feel like what it feel like from a stacing perspective And how different did it feel to be communicating in person versus communicating virtually and you know, I You know, I could go on and on and on about that I won't because I don't want to put a politicize our experience At a leadership team and try to extrapolate it But I do want to at least acknowledge the committee and the community That I think it's you know, you're all constrained in ways that we're not and we actively are starting to Have meetings in person so we can Can simulate some of those experiences and learn from them as we're moving forward. So I wanted to share that piece Tents are in which is good that were ordered. So thanks to our facilities department for that You know, we have to get a permitted and permit approved before they can go up But that's all good news As I mentioned earlier the survey on phasing options went out today I did get a couple responses From families that I wanted to enough where I wanted to share publicly that We would we would be asking families their preference for distance learning or in person after the phasing model You know, whatever phasing model, you know, assuming ones voted next week That seems like it'd be the right time particularly for students and families who are in the phase one group to ascertain their Their thoughts about that for many families, which phasing model we would have would would You know, just frankly if we went to phasing model number three some students wouldn't come back till january So asking people in july Whether they would plan to send their children to school in january, you know, just feels like really disconnected So we'd want to understand what the phasing model is that also might influence some people's choices about whether they're Coming to the district or coming You know coming to school live For some students might be too early too late, right? We don't know all those variables But I want families to know that we are intending to ask them and as soon as we have clarity from Frankly from you all about, you know, some thoughts and from the community, which will I know inform? You're thinking about a phasing model to choose We'll be reaching out to families But I think some families were expecting at the end of the survey to get a question of like Are you sending planning to send your child back to school? And I want to just I'll respond to those emails But I thought I got, you know enough of them where it was a good point and one worth responding to publicly Work is ahead of schedule at fort river and at wildwood in terms of the renovation. So that's really good news I'm not concerned about the completion of those projects well before the school year starts and You know, thanks again for everyone who's working on those but our staff and our contractors They'll understand that every day we've finished that the work is finished earlier. That really helps our teachers So, you know, thanks to everyone working on those projects My last few things are all focused on Five different pieces of guidance we've gotten from desi since we last spoke on two since I last spoke with you all on Tuesday So the latest one was last night, which I believe I forwarded to you if I didn't I apologize and we'll do so but Desi and the mta as well as the boss and teacher association and the aft Which is another teacher association that is a smaller foot footprint in the state Agreed that instead of having 180 school days, there'd be 170 school days for students next year It allows for a later start to the school year and more professional development to occur for staff before students return I celebrate this This decision because I think we want to be able to provide that I know not everyone's celebrating the decision from what I hear speaking of points made earlier on social media It's probably good for both desi and the unions, you know, uh, you know getting some flak for it I think that flak is wrong. I think this is what's needed and so I'm really pleased with the result of Of 10 school days before the school year, uh, the the guidance indicated that September 16th would be What school would need to start by then if we push back roll back our schedule by 10 days We end up more or less on or around september 16th They're about next week I'll be able to bring you a revised calendar for your consideration We had a draft that was finished about 40 minutes ago, uh, which I have yet to look at So, um, I did not bring it here But uh, pretty good for getting the that email out last night to suppress moreland is magical But um, we'll bring that to you. We'll also share it with our association, which we have yet to do But it does the the new calendar does have 10 professional development days Typically, we only have two that's 10 professional development days before the school year Our version of it pushes some of the teacher return dates back a slight bit As well to give everybody more time to be prepared Which if we think's in the best interest of Students and staff so more soon on the schedule the other four pieces of guidance I'll go over very briefly because I know i'm already Passed my allotted time for superintendent update One of them was about transportation guidance. So that's one that's been coming up a lot It's worth noting that the use of mass and proper pp is required On buses and vans even for our younger students again for us at k and one That's not a conflict because we've already you know recommended that but for other districts that would be a change Essentially what it looks like is one student per bench alternating sides for each row Ventilation is that windows are kept early unless the weather it would be dangerous to leave the window to to have the windows open So the vast majority of days they'd be open That students would be assigned to a seat. So it wouldn't be Open seating it would be Assigned seating and that's really for contract tracing if there was ever an issue That we would have assurance We wouldn't have to worry about what day it was and what you know Just think about you know, what day what seat did you use last Tuesday, you know to a first grader You know just not reasonable. So we want to have clarity on that that all makes sense Bus monitors are recommended not required. It could be current staff It could also draw from parent guardian organ parent guardians who are willing to do that So we're looking into that as soon as this morning. We were working on that Cleaning and disinfecting buses after each morning and afternoon route For capacity what we have our buses are almost all 71 passenger buses Now to be clear we have no buses where they are filled to 71 students because that would be every single Three students per row in every single row None of our buses are that full But what the result of the um desi guidance is is that 23 students Could be on a bus There are some allowance siblings might be able to set right next to each other But you have to see them in a certain seat and you know So we're going to low-end it and if we can get more on because of siblings, that'll be a bonus So that's more or less what we anticipated I think we've talked about in a public meeting other states we're coming up with But landing that so I think down the road Particularly for the elementary schools not so much for secondary because of the hybrid model there We will have to talk about Do we want to change do we want to limit our enrollment some and look at hybrid bottles upper elementary grades or do we want to you know Essentially reduced the number of students who qualify for a bus I think it's premature to do that until we know which students are coming back I think there's a mistake to go down that road One of the nice things about the phasing is we don't actually have to make that decision Or make that calculation super soon. We've actually got a little bit of time to work on that But I do want to say that that is a reality of 23 students in a bus and on bands The city is even more limiting and and so we are our transportation department is actively working with this new information So I see there's a question I was going to transition off transportation, but I see there's a question. Mr. Menino What if a bus has 23 available slots and there are 24 students at the bus stop? What happened to that excess student? So there are no excess students because students would be assigned to a specific seat and then Only students who are assigned to a specific seat are allowed on a bus Thank you. Yep and No other questions. I'll go on To still it again. I'm just doing a very brief. All right. Dr. Oh, sorry. I didn't see you. No, sorry. I just raised my hand So this is I I didn't know when to ask questions, but my question is about the survey in general that you just put out um as a parent of an incoming seventh grader from Leverett um I'm just concerned that those parents aren't on an email list yet. So I'm wondering How they get notified and I don't know if this is a piece very Oh, yeah, no, so I will and I know that I understand there's been a leadership change in that school And so I will make sure it goes out tomorrow. I'll talk to miss. I'll actually see virtually see Miss colkeen tomorrow. So um, I will confirm that that will get out. Um, but thank you for the reminder. It's always helpful Um, and I'll make sure that happens. Thank you Um, so moving on to facilities and operations. There's actually not much new in that document It's things we've been talking about for months Uh, and thanks to our facilities team lots of those things are in place I think one of the big things, uh, you know, I think the two things may be Worth sharing or one to really think about staff offices Uh, in two ways one is where to where are their office staff who are closer than six feet apart Uh, but that one we door to mapped out the other one which was sort of an interesting one We hadn't mapped out as much as there are some schools where the the door to the office Positions the visitor and we're not having visitors But I mean by visitor anyone who walks to the door to by default be closer than six feet You know you open the door and the person is right in front of you And so that is something that we should have thought about and that's the good thing about state guidance Is it it catches you on the things that you miss we were thinking so much about Keeping staff members six feet away from each other We weren't as much thinking about where doors would be not having visitors, but they're right Well staff members and students walking in there. So, uh, we're doing some some reanalysis or new analysis of that So that was very helpful to have in that document Another piece is that mass break spaces and we've made a determination that those should be outside That you know when we're talking about mass breaks That that's synonymous with being outside So and use the the metaphor of smokers corners or something like that, uh, you know, which you know Some people may resonate with maybe not But the idea is that you know, that's really should be mostly done outside Obviously if students need a mass break need to adjust it or to stay out They're going to do it but for a real break like extended time with mass off that should be done outside And I want to thank some of the pgo's are already doing great fundraising and collecting of rain jackets and things where all students will have more capacity To be outside regardless of the weather next year They're just phenomenal and maybe the last thing i'll mention because it's something that you all talked about is You know, they talked about where to eat lunch and if you're not doing six foot distancing It means half your class for instance might have to go out for recess So the other half can eat lunch and vice versa You know that three foot thing keeps on coming up with more and more issues So just more indication of an appreciation that you were I think the first ones on the six foot Bandwagon and the commonwealth and every single time new guidance comes out It just reinforces that that that was the right train to beyond so I was glad to disregard that guidance Because it doesn't apply to us The next piece of guidance was for courses requiring additional safety Oh, sorry. Yep. Sorry. Um, I just have a quick question on a sort of staying on that uh lunch topic Because students would have to remove their masks for lunch Would that be outdoors then given your mass break guidance? The mass breaks will be outdoors would therefore lunch be outdoors You know if I think ideally yes, and you know, you can't always eat out in the rain, right? So I think there are you know, and you think about insects and all that Um, so I think that may be the one exception of where we do have mass breaks inside because students do have to eat Um, and I think about some students, you know eating outside Just depending on the age of the student maybe, um Maybe something we regret in the end um in terms of stains and clothes I'm just thinking of like the youngest kids and preschoolers and you know, but I think um The guidance that we received is the six feet piece for lunch, you know Need to happen. That's why the three feet piece would be out But we're not planning every lunch period outside, but I think when the when the conditions provide That's going to be the ideal preferred location.  For instance It's hard to totally imagine That happening in january. Hopefully it can happen in september october pretty routinely Yeah, right. Thank you miss spitzer I also just want to bring up the I mean right now I think our children are also getting or I should say now, but prior to cove it. We were delivering Um, breakfast we were also often, you know, at least as a parent I was often getting requests to send in a nutritious snack. So I think Those times are also going to be times and we're going to worry about distancing and maybe have a preference for being outdoors Yep, I would agree with any more. I or maybe that's for a different time, but it just it's Since we're having a later start day at some point It might be good to get an update on how that would in fact affect kids who rely on breakfast Yeah, there's a whole food service component that we should probably talk about because it's actually broader than that There's some indication that the federal government won't extend waivers that we had this spring for there's not There's not indication. They said they won't extend waivers For us to be reimbursed for meals that are delivered outside the school That is a lot of pushback on that for obvious reasons, but that would have a huge implications around Well, both food scarcity and financial implications Um, so I think maybe a week or two from now We could think about having mr. Gallow O'Connell come in and talk about his planning for the year Um, because I think also even in the phase model and he's been in all those conversations You know just think about it, you know getting to sites Plus being on you know being on the campuses and what that'll look like So I think you know, I just wonder if we can have uh, michael come in and talk about a lot of these things in his current thinking So that's okay All right, I'm gonna breathe try to breathe through I keep trying being unsuccessful My problem. I apologize So the third one was we got guidance for courses requiring additional safety requirements That's chorus singing brass and woodwood instrument use physical education dance in theater Um, so the requirements are just breeze through them chorus singing musical theater and band only permitted outside Outdoors with masks and 10 feet of social distancing and that's again because of the increased respiration that comes along with those non musical theater whether inside or outside or the outside is recommended Mass and six feet of social distancing because the lack of singing PE and bands if outdoors without masks activities would allow 10 feet of social distancing We're really wondering about the viability of outdoors without masks and then 10 feet I mean just having students 10 feet apart Uh, I mapped it out today when we were in our meet after our meeting and they've ever seen 16 and six feet in 10 feet I'm not trying to be silly about this is when you're trying to get a group of people at a space indoors or outdoors Is really significant 10 feet is really far. It's and have a group of students all 10 feet apart from each other um Is is you know, it's not exponential not exponentially different than six, but it feels that way when you try to do it um, and if indoors for PE and bands Dance masks are required and activities must allow for six feet of so physical distancing the short story is we're looking for PE to be outside as often as as uh conceivable and What was conceivable pre-covid is is is expanded in terms of what would keep kids inside? Uh for physical education um courses that involve regular regular sharing of equipment like visual arts uh require frequent hand washing um and six feet of distancing Free feet of wearing masks, which I don't understand. This is basically then wearing masks but basically the short story is to um to reduce the amount of shared equipment and wash hands more frequently That was the third piece of guidance All right cleanup roll number four Last one I got for you is the guidance for remote learning The short story is the time on learning would be the same as what the expectations would be for in school learning You know with the reduction in hours With the 10 fewer days, but having full days of instruction Another change is a real move if you remember last year it could be like a resource delivery model Where activities were provided for families and this year it has to be much more focused on instruction And not providing resources for students and families They're need they're required. There's required regular consistent opportunities to have live consynchronous instruction Students are to receive grades With the exceptions for students under extreme circumstances, but everybody that's those are supposed to be fewer and far between But grades are supposed to be given attendance is taken just like normally do on power school To figure out our mechanism for which classes students are taking but the idea is that students are required to show up for their classes Schools have to have a plan for again our our mild to moderate special education students or ELL students And that we have to assure that Access and connectivity to the best of our ability. Yes, I mentioned before we bunch We've purchased a number of Chromebooks We actually just tried to purchase a number for Pelham and for the region just for a little little coverage for the region in case So we're graduated seniors. We're trying to get them back and we're mostly the way there We're not all the way there and for Pelham as well a little bit of a supplier challenge in terms of Chromebooks right now Given things going on others part of the world that we're not worth getting into But that's sort of what the distance learning is in short that it's it's intended to do not necessarily be students online All day because it might be you know, students get an asynchronous lesson have a synchronous work group You know that might be a small group with the teacher have some independent work to do as a follow-up But that all their courses are taught and all the standards are met Which is a really different thing than what the state was requesting last spring Which was half a days of work and our survey showed that students did half a days of work at work So we were spot on for what that was But this is a different model. We are exploring both internal in-house experts in distance learning by creating some time for a couple staff to Do some PD this month or next month excuse me I thought we're in august ready Next month and to have some partial release from their teaching responsibilities in the fall semester so that we have some ongoing support as well as some external support. We've talked to a couple of Schools that have existed for a long time virtually. They're providing a lot of ongoing support It's not people who are doing this in the fly. They had existing professional development models long before the covid time But we want to support our staff Incredibly because as you all know in all the phasing models the majority of students in the districts would not start in person in school There was no model that was presented that has More than 50 percent or more than 30 percent Of students starting in school. So we really want to support teachers about in school instruction when we have those 10 days We'll do that about safety Care How to teach a little different how to teach not a little different how to teach differently given that different arrangement of desks The ability to group work has to look different. So we want to support that but we also want to support distance learning because we always never know Whether something's going to happen and on a dime. We're going to be on distance learning the next day And so we want to invest in both and both training staff for the in-person as well as for the distance Because we have to be flexible and nimble between those And that is my update Great. I see two questions. Mr. Manino and then Ms. Spitzer With respect to distance learning I read the guidance for boston that teachers will Simultaneously teach in person and distance learning and they can figure out how to do it My question is Can we be updated someday and how a teacher will simultaneously teach in person? Uh asynchronous and when they run out to that tent How do they get ace of synchronous distance learning when they're in the tent? Sometime it'd be useful to discuss those issues I'm going to briefly answer. Mr. Manino if that's okay with the chairs. Um Seeing head nods. So, uh, happy to talk about it in more detail I want to suggest and and i'm not trying to criticize other districts. Boston's not the only one um, I actually don't believe it's um instructionally viable to be teaching live in person and virtual Simultaneously because you would use significantly different instructional techniques To be able to do so Uh, the meeting I facilitated day again, some of our leadership teams some people were live Uh in person and some people were uh away, you know, they weren't uh able to be enamorous They were out of town or people are moving whatever they were doing And uh, it's not an instructional model you would choose Because you're really The thing we learned last spring and this came out in the surveys and the thing the research would tell you is you would teach We use really different instructional methodology If you're teaching in a virtual environment And I think you've done that mr. Manino as as opposed to teaching in person And so to try to marry those two. I think is an exercise Uh, I don't want to overstate it. Well, I'm going to say my opinion. I think it's an exercise in futility I think no one will be well served by that least of all the teacher and the students Because you would you would functionally do different things.  Yeah, you could would you do either of them? Well, no, you wouldn't So, you know, I think when we think about the larger picture about who's doing, you know, teaching It's that teachers who are in school would be teaching students in school Uh teachers who are teaching and teachers could could be in their spaces teaching virtually But that you wouldn't be doing both at the same time. I don't think it's viable miss fit sir so, um Glad to hear that. I totally agree with everything you said just talking more. Um, I think you Sorry, so the one thing that popped up in my head when we were reading is just that we need to also provide some support to the parents who are going to be working with the younger kids and how to act is this I I have Several advanced degrees and I still have trouble sometimes figuring out google classroom. Um, so I I just think that it's it's um, I don't know when's the right time to do this, but I think I'd really love to have At this it's not agenda planning now, but in a future agenda Planning item be distance learning and then look at it from the perspective student the teacher and the parents who are going to Or maybe it's a different caregiver. Maybe it's a You know babysitter or a grandparent. I don't know who that person is but whoever is helping especially the younger kids Access the distance learning because most you know, I have a second grader He's starting to get to be able to access it on his own But I think anything younger than that you really can't access it on you Yeah, no, I think that's spot on and I would agree this came up at our leadership team meeting I should have mentioned it um And we think about some of those 10 days would be some ongoing support and training for families as well and caregivers as well and and we'd want to record those so that On a day where you're not available and an unusual caregiver, you know, I don't mean unusual But in a caregiver that hasn't been went through a training Would have access to that we'd want to do things in multiple languages And I don't think it's just an elementary issue. Well, frankly, it's you know Had a middle school and high school families get access to google classrooms So they can keep track of the assignments that their children are doing Not just look at the results on Power school, right? You know, it's like you look at the results and you've you sort of miss the boat If you're more involved in your child's education than you typically would be So no, we actively are planning for the family piece or caregiver piece as well For all the reasons you stated We are looking at some other products Instead of google classroom for the early childhood educators There's some recommended to us by some of our early childhood educators that Are on a list that mr. Champaign is looking into That have a little bit easier interface for the younger set As well that's an aside, but I think it's worth mentioning given your comment Miss dancer Um, I don't have a question. I I would like to say That this morning on public radio I heard a superintendent from another western mass school district say They were just beginning to look at spaces how they were going to configure spaces And I wanted to say I really appreciate the initiative that you've taken dr. Morris and that everybody else has because It was something about waiting for a tool from desi in order to figure out spacing and I just thought How far behind they they are going to be compared to what you've been able to do in the district So I just wanted to thank everybody involved in that Thank you very much. I'll pass that along to our team great, um and um I wanted to just add it's a it's related but not um the question about um The town halls that um or the town hall that will be scheduled with um physicians. Do we Have a date for that because I believe that might be before our next meeting Do we have a date? I believe it's either next monday or next wednesday. I think that's where the email chain My last email on that chain was please let us know where the next monday or wednesday looks better And I don't think I could check but I don't believe there's been a reply to that Okay So for uh folks that are less aware in this spitzer I don't know if you want to jump in because you've sort of been instrumental in um and pulling this together, but It's a town hall q&a with um physicians From the from the region um about uh, cobit 19. Is that? inappropriate No, I mean we um so you know I work at um In healthcare and so somebody I you work with came forward and said he's a member of a team of physicians and doctors in the area who Want to find a way to help help us plan and so one of the things I think it was dr. Morris said well, maybe it would be useful for us to have Kind of a q&a with with some experts on from that because none of us on this committee or um health prefer, you know, I I work in the healthcare system, but and actually I don't know maybe there's somebody on pellum. I shouldn't speak But nobody on the two committees that I'm on has has a background as a healthcare delivery you know and and so it seemed to make sense to Have an opportunity for us to get some feedback on our planning and also for for parents and for Other concerned people in the teachers staff people in community to have a chance to talk about it with with that public health experts Thank you Are there any other comments or questions for uh dr. Morris on this on his update? I'm not seeing Okay So we'll move on to um new and continuing business and we have one item for tonight. Um We are discussing this staff section of the fall 2020 priorities planning. Uh, uh, mr. Demley It's uh, I'd like to state the record that my wife is an employee of the emmer school district However, I feel that I can perform my official duties objectively and fairly on this item And so I have filed The necessary 23 b disclosure of appearance of conflict of interest form with the emmer's town clerk As required by mass general law chapter 268 a paragraph 23 b section 3 and I will be participating in this item Um, thank you, um, mr. Harrington Yeah, I'm uh, gonna continue under advisement from the state ethics commission to recuse myself from the conversation So I'll cut my microphone and camera Thank you And this dancer Following along with mr. Demling. Um, I I have also filed the same uh information with this with the town and I am going to stay in this conversation tonight as well Thank you. Um, so for, um Email Just to update everybody and bring sort of everybody up to speed and sort of where Where we're at and what this item is this evening. Um, just as a reminder a week ago um, the three committees reviewed discussed and voted on two pieces of of the planning framework One was the the main body of the framework and that covered staff and student safety Um in-person learning and distance learning and the other document was what we called the staff section Um, the all three committees voted and approved the main body of the document on monday last week Two of our three committees voted and approved the the staff section on monday And the third committee and our school committee voted that same document again on thursday after failing on monday Came back and voted that document and approved it on thursday evening. We also voted to Bring an addendum forward to the three committees for discussion and potential vote this evening So that is uh the purpose of our discussion tonight is to look at that proposed addendum to the already approved staff section document and That proposed language was emailed to everybody. Um, thank you miss spitzer um, so I don't know um Would folks I think it might be helpful because those that might be watching from home have not seen that um Proposed language. So um, not sure if you could share that easily miss spitzer You can try to pull it up as well because miss spitzer has to participate in the converse or doesn't have to Participate in the conversation. So let me see because I think I was on that email miss spitzer that you sent so, um, within 30 seconds I should be able to pull that up okay Miss spitzer would you like to so um, I just want to thank everybody for um We have a lot of meetings. Thank you very much for um entertaining um A potential change to the staff document. I I would like to kind of say that this is language that I Wrote in an effort to try to recognize that there are those of us who Us but staff members teachers who who work in our schools who also live with people who have who may have Um conditions that make them more vulnerable to covet and I I'm particularly I think I said this clearly I'm particularly concerned about anybody who has to choose between providing care to somebody in their household or providing care to our children so, um The language that dr. Morris is going to pull up is something that I you know, I'm not a lawyer I'm not a human resource professional. So I did my best and we have since received some guidance from our lawyer Um, he's actually recommend and I received it about a half an hour before I had to be on the call So I I haven't had a chance to to craft Language that would respond to the feedback we've heard from our attorney So I'm very open to that. Um, I just you know, my I think I've communicated this very clearly, you know, I I'm particularly just concerned about those who might have to make a choice. Um Caring for those they live with and caring for our kids in the schools. So thank you very much for consideration Does anybody want to um start and and um As as miss spitzer alluded to I did share the um the feedback that we received from the attorney From our attorney on on this language. Um, so I'm not sure folks had a chance to read that but um The I think that the the crux of of his feedback was on the We'll provide reasonable accommodations versus seek to accommodate to seek to provide accommodations for Um was I I think if that's also your understanding miss spitzer I I think he did have a concern with the reasonable accommodations language because it borrows from the um I might get it wrong, but I believe it comes from ADA and again, I I don't I did not have enough time to process the feedback. Um, Yeah, it was um The uh state and federal disability law is is that language um of reasonable accommodation is that so um his suggestion um was to um Rephrase that so that there were not sort of we avoid potential confusion Or um misunderstanding that this is not um, we're not hewing to the This is not part of that disability law. I think is that how I would sort of Clean that miss seeker Is a suggestion that we replace the second bullet under support for staff with this wording or similar wording to this No, add this up. Okay. This would be an add to the already the existing document Mr. Deming so So I think I've said this before at the at the Amherst meeting, but so so this is my first time discussing this item with the three meetings So I just sort of state it generally here, you know my my my general concern with with adding more than what's already in the staffing Document is is getting ourselves into a position where we can't staff the model that we've identified right where we've We've identified the educational model that we That we need and so and so we have we have certain positions on site that we're going to need to going to need to staff and so if we get ourselves into a position where um Well one we if a staff member um Has an underlying medical condition. We're already saying we're providing visual accommodations So that's that's already there at the first bullet and then we'll sit and then we're also saying We'll seek to accommodate for any reason including household members um Anyone who expresses their preference for remote work including if you have a household member with With covid so if if we have those remote positions available We'll see if that's possible The the crux of this problem Right is okay. What what if we run out of those remote positions? What what happens to that employee and their employment situation if If if they're not if they have a situation where they have a household member They're not comfortable working on site. We don't have the remote position available What what what will happen? Um, and then what What what does the directive of seek to accommodate? mean and require versus Will provide reasonable accommodations and my you know, my hesitancy has always been This this requirement language of will will will require will provide reasonable accommodations You know, it it feels as if it puts us in this this requirement Of of making an accommodation. Um potentially putting us in a situation. We where we are um Staffing a position that doesn't need to be staffed and like I wish we could do that. Um, but um, I I I don't I don't see how we can make that guarantee With without, you know, alter altering the the educational model that we've we've identified so I guess so one of the questions I had uh from the previous discussion was was for um, Ms. Cunningham if if if she's available and can kind of answer this question is So with with the guidance that all three committees have have already passed Um, which goes above and beyond employment law, which which says the district will seek to accommodate staff Who for any reason including concerns express a preference for full Or mostly remote work to the extent that such positions are needed and available And based on the instruction model So like what would happen with the current guidance in a situation where a staff member had a household member They had legitimate medical concerns about that household member um And this guidance was instructing you to seek to accommodate that situation like what how would that evaluation process play play out? Can you can you kind of walk us through how that that that this this kind of guidance applies There are a couple of thoughts here. Um, mr. Dembling because You hit the nail on the head when you started asking. How do we prioritize who? We are going to provide the or seek to provide the reasonable accommodation for So if we have many staff members who have a household with someone who they have this concern about How will we follow this guidance, right? Um, so that's one thing that I look at as to Where are we going from here and what do we do right? The other thing that um I look at is there are other Structural or statutory Leaves that are in place. I believe I sent the document across that shows The different leaves that are available Based on the needs of staff members who may live in a household with persons Who have the underlying medical conditions things that are available until the end of the year So it ends like december 31st of 2020, which are I believe the fcr FFC r a and all those other documents that I sent across So we have that we have FMLA We have so many different leaves and then we have the leaves That have been negotiated through the collective bargaining agreement that we would look to follow those guidelines first And then um, we would just make decisions from there But as you mentioned, how how would we prioritize that is something that we would have to have a conversation with the um the union and as a district we would we would really need to open that conversation Because one we don't want to look and say that one person's situation is more dire Than another person who's coming in making the same statement. Thank you. Um, Mr Uh, Mr. Deming, did you have a follow-up? Yeah, just briefly. See you mentioned leaves are there So I'm trying to think this is maybe I do too detailed of a question But are there like first if someone was was in a situation where they were like, um, I just they couldn't um Uh, they didn't they didn't feel comfortable coming back to work. Um, but they've been with the district a long time Is there is is there are other deadlines for for for taking leaves of absences and and like how is that I'm I'm imagining that's like a contracted thing I'm sorry if that's not a well-formed question for like For the leave of absence some situation So there were some leave there was an opportunity for staff members By april 1st to let us know if they were going to request a leave for the upcoming year So that we would be able to work on staffing and make sure make sure that we have enough staff members to Cover the students and the courses that are needed for the upcoming year so that's one One thing that we did offer. There's also the regular FMLA the family medical leave act that offers an opportunity for 12 weeks Okay, um that offers the I'm sorry. I was just reading the chat that offers the opportunity for staff members to request a leave for That can be up to 12 weeks and that there's a form that comes from the Department of Labor that physicians fill out and They sit the staff member would sit with the human resource department Bring in the information from their physician and we would work with them through that there Are the other leaves like I said, there's a document I'm sure that dr. Morse may have it on his email that he can possibly forward to all of you because that document shows if This is the request Let's say like you're asking if someone has a family member in their household Who who they're requesting? um To take a leave because that family member has an underlying health concern Then This is the leave that may that they may be eligible for So there are quite a few and so for me to try to do it justice and go through that form right now Is not going to make sense So like I said, it's it's a document that I put together um today with the collective bargaining agreement leaves And then there was a document that was sent to us from the desi attorney That has all of the other leaves in there And so those combined Along with the if then spreadsheet would be best able to answer all those questions and help you guys as you make your decisions Dr. Morse uh, the only thing I want to add to what mr. Cunningham had said is that um Just highlighting that, you know, there will be negotiations with our bargaining units and I Please note the plural. Uh, when I say units um Before next year because like many other places, you know, when bargaining or, you know, unions will want to meet about our conditions rightfully so So I do think some of this discussion Uh If there are opinions about it, uh, might be well situated for executive session Uh to prepare for those negotiations next week on the agenda for the for these groups will well, it's really just the region But um, we'll be to identify who will be Negotiating with the bargaining units and again, as I said, there's multiple ones as miss Cunningham as Primary person in those meetings knows very well. It's it's not just one set of meetings It's multiple groups because it needs of, you know, custodians versus food service workers versus teachers paras and clerical They're different groups with different needs and and so I do wonder if Just as the further we go out on this Lim whether some of this might be I think what most Cunningham has shared is informational, which is great, but I just want to Pause here just to say that there will be an opportunity For you all, uh, if you choose to be able to talk about negotiation strategy and a lot of these details um And express opinions about those things before the representatives begin to negotiate with the bargaining units Ms. Dancer and then miss hall So I'm sitting here looking at three different statements. I'm looking at the one from the attorney I'm looking at the one from the original staff document And I'm looking at the suggested one from miss spitzer And it's very confusing to me to be looking at three different things are we Without seeing it As it's as it's going to be so if we were going to vote on this tonight I would not be prepared until I can actually see written out what it is. We're going to be voting on This what you see on your screen is What we will be voting on tonight and what about the recommendation from the attorney? Which is different from this That's not what Unless somebody makes a motion to um to Provide a different a different statement. Um That's the what's What the attorney sent to us is attorney privilege um If we if we want to incorporate any sort of insider ideas that that were proposed there We would prepare them into a new statement. Um here So there would be an opportunity to do that at a at a later date even if we vote on this tonight I don't I Well, it's up to the committee what what we talk about at at future at future meetings um, what we're What we're discussing tonight is If we want to amend our current document that um, That uh was approved last week. Um, and if so with what language? Um, so I think those are the decisions in front of us and as dr. Morris hopefully explained there are pieces of this that actually Would need to be addressed in executive session and in potential and and definite sorry future negotiations with um our unions um, so not necessarily To be included in any statement that we Explore tonight And miss hall did you have her? Yeah, uh, so I I share mr. Demling's concerns About staffing the model that we voted on hearing the very practical concerns from a human resources perspective that this that the proposed language would be extremely challenging if not impossible to implement um Really gives me pause But then you know hearing that there is this existing avenue to have really detailed discussions The negotiations with the bargaining units Means that it's not like this conversation is over It's just that this part of the conversation in this setting with these individuals Could be over and then the more detailed part where we wouldn't have to Do all of this verbal gymnastics and could actually like have that confidential discussion The negotiations could I think happen in a more efficient way Um, and I mean, I'm sure I sound like a broken record. I just Time is of the essence here and I feel I'm I'm worried that if we if we keep Talking or if we talk about then continuing to talk Beyond this about it like we're we're getting into a timeline that just doesn't give The district enough time to to implement and to plan Um Miss spitzer and then I'll say dr. Morris. Would you be able to stop presenting for a little bit so that we can all see each other? That would be helpful And if we come back to what we can look at it again. Thank you miss spitzer. So I would just um I agree. I don't think voting on this language tonight Makes sense. Um, I still strongly Feel the way I do and I would like to just state my frustration somewhat with the process because I do feel like I Requested an opportunity to discuss this in executive session and maybe I'm still learning how to Like I I just want to make sure that we we do have this conversation In executive session And that we continue to um, you know, I have no doubt that durin and and the rest of the human resources Staff at our school will do everything they can to prioritize individuals who have real medical concerns and and none of this is kind of stemmed from a feeling that And any anything else like I I believe that that the district does Is is trying its best to to deal with a really really difficult situation as we all are So I wanted to to to leave with that but I also feel like um You know, we were asked I just want to say like we were asked to provide guidance and we haven't actually voted on the models yet I would like to like this is still we're still talking about guidance And so I would just again state very strongly and Full force that whoever's going to go to bat to negotiate And I think we we need to defend our ability to teach all of our students But I we can't do that without our teachers and we need to make sure they feel comfortable walking through the doors When they come into teacher kids So I'm I'm happy to take this off the table, but that's That's all I have to say. Thank you Mr. Manino I think we discussed this issue last time This is a guarantee as I read it to teachers who don't want to come back So they don't have to come back. I think it's important that we vote on the issue tonight I understand miss spitzer's problem But the students students need take a priority And I don't believe we can provide this guarantee to staff and teachers. That's my position And miss lord and then mr. Demily I thought last week we discussed how it was a guidance not a guarantee. So I I'm a little confused on the language between that The scenario that I keep hearing is that If enough teachers don't want to do it, we can't support the model I also want to say if enough teachers leave the district Because they don't feel heard or safe Then we also won't be able to provide some teachers for the model and I've heard about we've gone above and beyond the law or Whatever that language is. I just want to say these are above and beyond times for all of us above and beyond our comfort zone our exhaustion level And um, I think we're just going to have to be used to going above and beyond for a while While we try to navigate all these different moving parts Um together and then I just want to also say there's gonna I think there's flexibility with our families Um, I know some have reached out saying. Oh, thank you for mentioning that Oh, if you have this two extra teachers that want remote but more people said in person I'd be flexible or my family might have that flexibility to say, okay Let's switch to remote for a while until Things get figured out So thank you, but I also agree that maybe we need to do this in the executive session. Thank you Um Dr. Morris, Mr. Demling, are you okay listening to dr. Morris or mr. Demling for mr. Demling first and then dr. Morris sorry I can defer to dr. Morris and they go after Thank you, mr. Demling. Um, so I just wanted to say, you know, respectfully in terms of Kind of the piece to vote tonight or not. I don't think for us, you know, and from the staff side I think if the committee was willing to move forward, we know this is a point of bargaining Uh with our units Not so I don't feel urgency that this issue was decided tonight from my end I'm not suggesting what you should or shouldn't do But if it's if it's intended to give guidance or priorities to myself and the administrative team I think we've heard enough dialogue over the last couple weeks to know that this is and I don't mean that in a flip way at all I mean that this is an unsettled issue for the committee that there are people with different opinions on it Uh, I imagine our bargaining units will have opinions on it And that's probably the likely um arena where this will be decided So for us, you know, or I'll just say for me, but um, I think I can speak even broader than that On this one, uh, we don't feel urgency or I don't feel urgency that there's a yay or nay vote tonight Because I think the document as it is gives us enough guidance to take next steps Um, and we know that this is going to be something that the committee members who were Volunteer themselves for bargaining Uh, are going to be able going to have to get guidance on it in a consecutive session from the committee Uh, and then they're going to have to bargain and come back to the committee and say here's where we are Here's here's what the requests are Um that we're receiving from the units, uh, and I think that's probably the decision-making tree for it So I think deciding tonight for me, uh, frankly, um I don't again. I'm not intending to sound flip at all But I actually think it's something that's going to come back anyway Whether the committee just thinks it's decided it tonight or not because it is going to be in in every community One of these things that plays out at the negotiating table And I think having those discussions in executive session Make sense to me and then that's a two-way or iterative process where the committee members who are on the bargaining team come back to the committee and say Here's where we are. Do we are we in the same place? Are we in a different place? And That that's likely how it's going to play out no matter if you take a vote or not tonight So, you know, I think if it's something that there's still Some different opinions on I don't feel like anyone needs to be Pushed into voting for us whether you all need to do it for you That's not a whole thing. I'm I want to comment on but for us It's not something that is uh holding us up or making us sort of linger because I think it will come up in negotiations Mr. Denley Yeah, so just a couple of process Um observations comments for our committee to think about um one is um Whatever we however we do or don't amend this in future meetings um I feel very strongly personally that It's either all three of our committees together or I don't think we should change this at all Even if it's something I personally feel like should be changed Okay, if I propose a change and I go to the mat saying it should happen If I don't see strong Support from all three of our committees. I will vote against my own proposal All right, and that's because because of the intertwined nature of our three joint committees as has been well established You know this this train falls off the rails if if if all three of us aren't going forward together So I feel pretty strongly about that. That's just one um second point is You know this question of when is something decided? It's it's always a funny thing in school committee land, right? Um typically something's decided when it's voted But something can always be reconsidered and re-voted. So net something Things are never really decided in school committee land because they can always come back. So um, you know the way I look at this is that um For the framework for planning document as as we called it All three committees unanimously voted that and it was it was fairly specific I mean you can call it a model or not You know, but it talked about four to five days a week at k to six and at least two days a week on site Seven to twelve it was fairly specific. It didn't cover every single implementation detail and we have some major decisions um, we're I think we're voting uh phasing uh model next week. We still have um Whether or not four to six will be hybrid and whether a crock of farm five or six Um, we'll be at crock of farm or at arms. Okay, so there are definitely important implementation details to be had but that was a fairly meaty Framework document now. Is it technically possible? But but that uh A majority of our three committees could want to Revisit that yes, like that rocket's rules of order We could get that on the agenda again and we could we could change it every week if we want I think that's probably impractical for implementation purposes Um, but you know, I would also point out that it's not like Look, we passed it if you changed your mind too bad You know, one of the overall goals in there is remain flexible and adjust plans as needed according to changing conditions And we'll hold the district and the superintendent to that You know, the superintendent is not going to come back and say well, I have this document You know, you told me to do this and you know, that that won't be good enough for us And we're going to expect him to be able to respond to changing covid conditions and be Very flexible. So I don't have a lot of concern that um, you know Some some wording in that that google doc that we voted is going to Constrain us and not be able to let us respond to those those those conditions. So, um You know, I feel like the discussion, you know, it's been very difficult to have And and it has led to some consternation is I think it's been good. I think it's been good to push these two I think I've Coined it as irreconcilable. Um, but I think it's these two very Uh, high priority things ahead at the same time about educating our students and maximizing staff and student safety Um, and seeing where those tension points lie and and having people Work out those details. I think it's important for us to have the conversation. I really do appreciate What miss lord and miss spitzer have brought forward. Um, I don't think it's been a waste of time Um as anxious as I am for the process to move along. I don't think it has been a waste of time and I appreciate Um, the discussions that we've had Thank you Any other comments Uh from anybody who hasn't spoken that would like to speak miss spitzer I'm uh after listening to all this conversation and everything. Um, I'm in favor of Leaving the document as it is and considering changing it at some point in the future if Dr. Morris comes back Talking about it if other committee members is something I'm just in favor of leaving it where it is right now That's probably all that needs to be said Is there any further discussion on this? Miss dancer Um, I guess I would say that I would be in favor of leaving it as as it is But only because of all the other information that has come out of this discussion Understanding that there's going to be negotiating and that there will be an opportunity in executive sessions for the committee To understand what's going on with with the staff. So So yes, I mean, this is really beneficial to have the conversation that we've had tonight Thank you I I completely agree with the everybody's comments. Um Great, so If there's no further discussion from Others, uh Are we ready to move on to the next agenda item? I'm seeing some nine heads okay our next agenda item is um warrant report and um For the Amherst committee. I actually I did oh, thank you. Mr. Harrington. Sorry. I did not Let you know that we are ready to have you back. Thank you Welcome back um the So I I did prepare I have a The reports ready. Um, and I don't know miss spitzer if you have any for the region, but you can uh Okay, I thought that I had them up, but so I out Alice and McDonald authorized by my signature to payables in the amount of 18,907 dollars and 50 cents for the warrant dated July 20th 2020 this includes general fund expenses of six thousand three hundred and twenty dollars and thirty one cents revolving fund expenses of four thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars And grant fund expenses of seven thousand seven hundred and seven dollars and nineteen cents and I signed that on July 27 I have two more um I Alice and McDonald authorized by my signature to payables in the amount of one hundred and sixteen thousand seven hundred and ninety three dollars And ninety seven cents for the warrant dated June 30th 2020 for general fund expenses of a hundred and sixteen thousand three hundred and sixteen dollars and fifty seven cents revolving fund expenses of a hundred and sixty four dollars and forty cents and grant fund expenses of three hundred and thirteen dollars and I signed that on July 27th And the last one is um, I authorized for payroll on uh, July 20th wages subject to Medicare of six hundred and two thousand four hundred and ninety six dollars and sixty eight cents So that is my warrant report. Miss Fitzgerald, do you have any to report? I have five Apologies for I think it was meeting longer But I'll try to make it quick. I authorized by my signature to payables in the amount of Five hundred seventy one thousand five hundred eighty two dollars and sixty four cents Um for the warrant dated July 8th 2020 And this was um all for payroll I authorized by my signature to payables in the amount of Six hundred twenty thousand five hundred eighty seven dollars and nine cents for the warrant dated July 22nd 2020 And again, this was all for payroll And I signed that on July 24th 2020 I authorized by my signature to payables in the amount of two thousand one hundred thirty two dollars and sixty cents for warrant dated July 22nd 2020 and this was authorizing payroll On for July 22nd and again, I signed this on July 24th 2020 I authorized by my signature to payables in the amount of one million three thousand five hundred ninety three dollars and eleven cents for the warrant dated June 24th 2020 This included general fund expenses of nine hundred fifty six thousand two hundred forty nine dollars and sixteen cents Revolving fund expenses of eight thousand two hundred ninety three dollars and sixty cents And grant fund expenses of thirty two thousand two hundred thirty five dollars and seventy four cents and other funds In the amount of six thousand eighty six thousand eight hundred fourteen dollars and sixty one cents for gifts And this was signed on July 24th 2020 Last one, um, I authorized by my signature to payables in the amount of a hundred eighteen thousand one hundred seventy eight and seven dollars and seventy two cents for the warrant dated July 22nd 2020 and this included Just general fund expenses And that was dated are signed by me on July 27th 2020. Thank you Thank you, and I saw that um Pelham will review their warrants at their pelham only committee meetings. So Thank you Um, so uh next up is gifts and I don't believe we have any gifts seeing a head shake so, um Would somebody from Amherst like to make a motion? Oh or pelham Don't we have to talk about future agenda items or is it not appropriate? Oh, we didn't put that on the agenda this week, but we um, We'll be meeting. Um, I believe on Tuesday of next week And Can we speak okay those agenda items are if it's not on our agenda Yep, I think if you're stating them, that's okay, but I think it wouldn't be something that could be discussed Okay, so, um, we will be looking at the feedback from the surveys that's going out on the phasing models and potentially voting on those um the other there's um FAQs that we would like to publish on the fall 2020 planning website that we will also look at um and I think also the voting on the Appointing are representative for the union negotiations was also what I had written down Um, if there are any other questions or requests for agenda items, please email me and miss hall um this Before thursday of this week miss seager I'm just looking at uh dates from our last meeting the very last agenda item and it has july 30th 2020 a school committee meeting phasing vote and I Don't know which school committee that is and it sounds like that's not even a thing. So the next meeting is Is next tuesday Yes, so we that because of the the added meetings that we had since last Tuesday So namely thursday's amherst meeting and tonight's meeting. That's why that one got pushed to um the fourth um, and we will look at the sort of The rest of the plan for um for meetings um at next week's meeting. Okay. Thank you So would somebody from immerse like to make a motion? I move to adjourn Second Move by spitzer second by demling roll call vote mr. Demling demling i mr. Harrington Miss lord lord i miss spitzer Spitzer i and mcdonnell's i am amherst is adjourned and we'll see each other again in a little bit uh miss hall All right, would anyone from pellum like to make a motion? I move that we adjourn Right move from nino and seconded by kenny roll call vote miss stancer Stancer i mr. Manino Manino i miss barlow Barlow i miss kenny kenny i and hall i pellum is adjourned Okay I'm ready from the region like to make a motion I move to adjourn the region Lord second Move by spitzer seconded by lord in our discussion and so we'll move to a roll call vote mr. Demling demling i mr. Harrington Miss lord lord i mr. Manino Manino i miss seager Seager i Miss spitzer Spitzer i Miss stancer Stancer i Mr. Sullivan Sullivan i And mcdonnell's i We are adjourned. Thank you everybody


You have to be courageous and you have to be curious. We have a culture of exploring and we want to challenge the limitations of science. We deal with all the challenges associated with achieving sustainability and circular economy. In our search for talent, we offer a unique culture and the opportunity for our researchers to pursue the ideas all the way from beginning to pilot scale technologies. I really like that I can investigate whatever I want. If I find something interesting and I think it has potential, then I can look into it. It's not always easy because not everything works the way it's supposed to. We have to fail in order to succeed. We need to learn from failures, move on and try and do it better the next time. I'm fascinated in understanding nature, the forces, the life, the colours. We can take so much inspiration in nature's own innovation. The impact that we have on society is for me the biggest motivation in my job. I think we can make an impact and we will make an impact. We are setting out an ambitious and transformative vision to be the department that creates the technologies and the solutions for serving the green transition and the development of better health for people. If you want to create impact with your research, you have to ask the right questions. And that's what I strive for every day.


You guys, right at stop, they just open, switched all their pre-orders right now. My local GameStop, right now, closer to GameStop, it will be phone signal gets, getting closer to it, getting that. I'm like, okay, cool, whatever.  Cause there's the neon red and blue and then there's the white. And he's like, oh yeah, they're both, that it's going to be a one per person pre-order limit. If I can grab Nintendo YouTubers, so yeah, there's the YouTube reason to get it, right? Like, hey, you're covering this platform for some sake, et cetera, this is why, for me personally. One, I need new Joy-Con. I need new Joy-Con. My Joy-Con has been pretty much destroyed by my kids. I do have some third-party ones and they're fine. I like them, but they don't fit in all my switch cases and things just don't really work, right? And I understand, I think you're gonna need new switch cases for this. It's a little bit bigger. I haven't feeling it's gonna fit fine in most switch cases. It's literally like 0.1 of a millimeter thicker. I'm really not worried about that. Like in terms of width, I think it's gonna fit in most current switch cases. But I need to spend 80 bucks on new Joy-Con anyway. And if I'm gonna get new Joy-Con, then why not just get the switch to go with it? Why don't I go get the nice switch with it? In fact, I could throw it on a pre-order on Metroid Dread. I might as well, right? I might as well see if I can get the white, the white switch OLED with Metroid Dread. Because I think it'd just be cool to have. Which at least not right now. In my house, I will have a version two switch. I will have a switch light. That's my son's. And then I will have the switch OLED. I'm gonna do some comparisons for you guys. So that's another reason. But yeah, for me personally, I know it's not more powerful. I get that. And yeah, Steam, I don't know if you guys heard, Steam has announced their own portable platform. Sort of a hybrid so you can dock it with the TV. The Steam Deck, which I find really funny that they're calling it the Steam Deck. Because Elgato's got the Stream Deck. So now we've got the Steam Deck. It makes sense because it's gonna come pre-loaded with SteamOS or whatever. But it's a PC, so you can run Windows on it. You can run Linux, all that jazz. You can run whatever you want. And it looks to be about 2.5 times more powerful than the current switch. Roughly. It's hard to get into that. The CPU is gonna be significantly faster. It's gonna have four cores and eight threads. 16 gigs of RAM. It's GPU. We don't know all the information on it. It's RDNA too. But what we know about the GPU for it is that it's gonna be running about 1.6 gigahertz, which is basically a little bit more than double what the switch does well docked. So that's what the Steam Deck's gonna do. And it's interesting devices. It should be able to play all PC games. Because it can have Windows, you can basically use it as a portable version of like you can obviously have X Cloud on there, but more than that, it's powerful enough to run most PC games, I'd say, at least at an okay thing. It's only 800 P.  Well one, the Steam Deck is not coming with an old panel. Reportedly from what I heard in initial reports, it's using an LCD panel. And it's only running at 800 P, which is bigger. And you know, it is higher resolution than 720 P, but it's negligible. Also be a seven inch screen as well. Look, I can learn a really weird place. It's almost like they've squeezed them onto the console, but see how that does. I don't know if it's gonna directly compete with Switch or not. Because a big selling point for something like a Switch, OLED, or a Switch in general, are the exclusives, right? Like why get a Switch OLED this holiday? Well, this Switch really matches up nicely. The white colors of it match up nicely with Metroid Dread, an exclusive game you can only play on Switch, whereas the Steam Deck can't. And there are PC exclusive games, but they're PC exclusive, that you could maybe play on the go, but not as good as gaming laptop. It's gonna be a really interesting spot. The $400 for the cheapest version has micro SD expandable storage, has faster, better SSDs when you get the more expensive versions and bigger ones. But I think it's an interesting project. I think it's taking the concept of like the Win, the GPD Win 2, and some of those other handheld portable PCs that are like 800 to 1000 bucks and just making it affordable. Steam's offering a more console price-friendly version. So we'll have to see how that does. I don't know, it releases it this December, so it's after Black Friday. I'll be picking up one of those. I don't think I'm gonna give one away, but I might pick up one just for comparison sake, because it's a competitor on the marketplace that's only $50 more than Switch OLED that I'm going to pre-order in person right now. And that's right, folks. If you don't have a Switch OLED and want a Switch OLED, be checking those online retailers right now. Links should be going up at any moment. Physical retail is taking pre-orders right now. My local GameStop has a few cars added, it looks like. Hopefully they still have some Switch OLED left. We're about to find out. I'm gonna have to slap you guys in my pocket because they do not like when I'm filming, so that's a fair plus. I might have to mute it at some point, because I think they're gonna ask for my phone number. Maybe they won't. We'll see. Anyways, I'm gonna go get my pre-order in here. I am at my GameStop right now. I'll show you guys. You're in a second. I'm gonna turn up the card. I'm not wallowing. Now mute. All right. There's my... Give me the Zelda poster that he's not supposed to give away for free. Guys, remember this whole thing before E3? Oh my gosh, what is it for? It's for buying some merch. He gave it to me for free. And let's see, I don't want to show you any of my card information here, but there is the pre-order. So I got the Nintendo Switch OLED white. Also popped down. $5 a Metroid Dread and then he got me on the renewal for the GameStop membership, which is fine, whatever, because I have a $5 coupon. I don't know how I'm gonna use them with Skyward Sword, per se, because I'm probably gonna go to... I didn't wanna say it to him, but I'm probably gonna go to Walmart tomorrow and get $10 off on Skyward Sword, because you can't use their gift cards on pre-orders. I'll probably buy a new case or a new screen protector or something. Day one with Switch OLED, right? And use the $5 on that. And if it's expired by then, whatever, you get $5 every month. I've gotten several messages while I was in there. My phone was just going off. And yeah, fine, apparently. Switch OLED is sold out online. So if you wanna get pre-orders, I just proved it. Stop employees had no local GameStop right now. That is if you're safe, vaccinated, not where I'm at, take all the safety precautions. But yeah, it comes out in October. I just got my pre-order in. I don't know about paid off. Take care of that here. Next week, I just had to have enough money to get slapped down to get the pre-order in. And the guy was nice and gave me a free poster because he did his old GameStop thing and admitted it and he clearly hates his job. Actually, I don't really think he hates his job. I think he just knows there's no job security at GameStop right now.  He's not the manager that I know, because I know the manager of that store, if you guys wonder where I got some of my info before E3 that I was right about with GameStop. I got it from the guy who manages that store. That employee though is like his second in command, like his right, like his assistant manager. He's there a lot. So that's why he was bullshitting with me so much. He doesn't normally talk to most customers in stores. I'm not your normal customer though. I've been going to that store for, pretty much since that store was built 15 years ago. That was a brand new store 15 years ago. So I've been going to that store a lot. I don't go for everything because obviously Walmart has got better deals on launch day when you're going to get physical, but I do go there for almost all of my consoles. On every now and then I'll go for Amiibo and other things I want to get pre-ordered in.  He's even let me know, like, hey man, we know you're not going to get that special edition from us.  If you're a Nintendo, if it means anything at all, you're just not going to care. So we'll talk about that later today. We'll see you in the next.