1.8.2024 Fall River School Committee

I'd like to call to order the U Monday January 8th meeting of the regular school committee Deb would you please call the order Mr agam here Mr Bailey here Mr Cory miss larv here miss Pereira M Rodricks here mayor Coogan here uh salute to the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for

all pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible uh citizens citizens input there is none this okay recognition

Awards we don't have any tonight also uh item number four is the subcommittee reports up first is Mr agar the special ed alternative education Early Childhood subcommittee thank you very much we had a very successful uh meeting Dr bronhard and Mrs Pon uh proceeded to uh assist us with some of the information that we had asked for related to the RPA excuse me there's a lot of things happening there

with uh we have a consultant that's in looking at some of the stuff I'm going to be making some recommendations at the end of the year so we did request a lot more information that I'm sure there'll be forthcoming as we go uh we did dive into some of the or chart which I thought was an interesting thing that we need to do for all uh I think for all departments um but we had a robust

discussion about all things alternative education and uh I look forward to getting the further information the RPA is getting staffed up is a summary and I think that we're going to see how things proceed um lastly second the second trimester there's some plans in place to do some things differently than have happened at the beginning of the year so I look forward to reporting back in the

after the next meeting where we have more information thank you thank you Mr Agia instructional SubCom committee Miss laravie chairman thank you mayor uh the instructional subcommittee met on J uh last Thursday January 4th um at 5:30 uh all subcommittee members were present Mr agar Miss Pereira myself uh that was also a very informative uh subcommittee uh on the agenda was a discussion to vote and refer uh the new

I decide curriculum uh it's a drug education uh curriculum uh also on the agenda was uh to to discuss vote and refer math academy and dery's program of studies uh the committee voted to refer all three to the uh full committee uh the last item on the agenda was uh just a discussion on um all the platform usage uh uh that was that is matthia STD St St maath illustrative uh illustrative sorry

Lexia ignite Ingenuity paper and gizmos uh all supporting materials for the full committee are able to review in uh board docks thank you thank you Mr larvey any questions thank you uh item number five is the superintendent report um superintendent Pon thank you Mr Mayor um for this month for our hiring update as of um the last meeting we have hired uh 12 teachers one administrator uh nine

pair of professionals two educational support staff and seven operational staff in total we've had 31 new hires since our last meeting um I conversely on the other side we have lost uh 14 uh staff members six teachers one administrator three parent professionals to educational support staff and two operational staff um we currently have positions that are posted up on our website um again our highest need um

special education continues to be a priority in SL um we do have four math positions posted and five science um positions also um we are utilizing staffing agencies for some placements as we try to hire permanent staff for those um openings and currently we also have 29 par professional positions that are posted um we do have two informational meetings on the special education and

ESL Certification program scheduled for this month for the pro for the c pro program we have a significant increase in Spring enrollments in our graduate program coursework and we now have over 100 staff participating in the course reimbursement program and we have another cohort of students making arrangements for student teaching assignments and of course as we assess them our intent is that they will be

recruited for open positions for this coming school year uh we're currently planning a recruitment events for both February and for April that's it for hiring and we also have an update as you know uh we've been doing some remediation um at lerno so um we actually have a meeting scheduled with um uh Mr michan uh um the leadership of the school the health and safety committee uh uh our administrators so we

can review the latest results but just wanted to give you an update as what as to what's been done thus far on October 23rd 2023 uh class classrooms um uh multiple classrooms and outside rear of the building were sampled and inspected from mold particles by H2O enviral comp uh the results were received and analyzed on October 31st on November 17th and 18th service master Southshore

performed uh work in classrooms several classrooms outside the rear of the building they cleaned and disinfected the HVAC uh system by air Restorations that contained um affected classrooms removed area rugs from affected classrooms air polished classrooms with fans and air scrubbers damp wiped uh surfaces and contents in the classrooms post testing was completed and analyed on November 19th and also on November

19th classrooms uh more classrooms outside of the rear of the building were sampled and inspected for mold particles results were received and analyzed on November 21st on November 19th again a visual inspection was also done for multiple classrooms and on December 18th air samples and 28 tape lifting samples as well as a visual inspection were taken in multiple areas of the school we

are meeting as I said on Thursday at 3:00 with the team from lerno um as well as their um uh F leadership so that we can review the results and also review the work that's been done and that we will continue to do to make sure that that building is safe for staff and for students and that's it for me thank you any any questions Mr Agia if I could

just get a um I know you gave a summary there but if we could get a cost summary of how much it's been um okay sure from the start and uh the issue of In-House versus um professionals or like different companies just so that we can yes sort of see what's going on there and also we had our first storm um last night obviously and um I know you reported

that the schools were in good shape what I would like to get is a summary of the overtime or whatever the costs were for the storm including the number of apparatus that were used and where they came from I actually um we will get you the the cost absolutely I will say I want to commend our um staff our custodial and and ground staff for our our buildings were prepared down to the

p ready to go they really were and uh but I I sent an update at the end of the day just a quick update as to what we did for cleanup and we brought people in um we actually used uh two subcontractors uh to help out with some of the um cleaning but um our crews did an outstanding job we'll get you that information for tomorrow one further question the um I know at the last

meeting we talked about the excuse me the custodians and cutting grass that was an issue but I don't believe so anything is changed with the snow removal so is it all hands on deck as far as what the custodians responsibilities are custodians were grass is different correct correct the custodians were I know for a fact that custodians went in uh yesterday many of our custodians not 100% of them but many

of our custodians came in early uh last night um and uh to start the process early to clean up so they were shoveling and cleaning yeah I just want to make sure everybody's on the same page so that it's not I know I've been a proponent of the piece but snow I think was a different story absolutely thank you I yield item number seven uh is the approval of the minutes could I get a

motion to approve the regular school committee minutes from the 121 meeting motion to approve second I have a motion and second any discussion on those minutes uh Deb would you please call the role Mr Agia yes Mr Bailey Mr Cory Miss larvi yes Miss Pereira Miss Rodricks yes mayor Coogan yes we have a number of travel request uh requests under item 8 uh is there any discussion on any of the travel

requests hearing none I'm looking for a motion to approve all motion to approve all second and a second any discussion on a travel request Deb would you please call the RO Mr agan yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory Miss larav yes Miss Pereira M Rodricks yes mayor Coogan yes item number nine is the acceptance of Don ations we have two tonight um I'm again looking for a motion and a second on the approving of the two

nominations second I have a motion in second uh Deb would you call the role Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory Miss larav yes Miss Pereira Miss Rodricks yes mayor Coogan yes um Miss Pon yes so from uh metatech to follow Public Schools the amount of 20 $220,000 donation thank you very much and on behalf um of the Fine Arts uh Department um Miss Jackie Francisco from Mass cultural Council $2500 thank you both for your

generosity thank you item 10 is the approval of Grants we have a number of them again as we always do um any hold on the I I take that back we have the one special ed program any discussion on that Grant hearing none could I get a motion to Second motion to approve second second I have a motion second Deb would you please call the rooll Mr ago yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory

Miss larav yes Miss Pereira M Rodricks yes mayor Coogan yes item number 11 uh the approval of contracts we have a number of um new ones and we have some continuations uh do I hear any discussion on any of the contract amounts Mr AGA which one would you like to hold please if you could have I'd like to hear from the superintendent on the south coast hospitals South Coast hospitals excluding South Coast

hospitals any other discussion um looking for a motion in a second to approve the others motion approve motion second any discussion Deb would you please call the role Mr yes Mr Bailey yes Mr agier I'm sorry Mr Corey Miss laravie yes Miss Pereira M Rodricks yes mayor Coogan yes Mr Agia on South ghost hospital please I would just like we had table this to get some more info I'd like to hear from the

superintendent on what she found and her recommendation yes so we uh surveyed staff uh Mr Cen sent out a um a survey to staff about um General uh about Services uh and um that uh if this is about the employee uh assistance program um and accessing those Services um as a result of um the data that we collected we are recommending that it continue that we continue for this year and then

um look to see what other options there are for the following year you know moving forward but it it uh the Val the uh data that we collected um was positive that people found that a value the support that they got from it so my concern as I've said all along is that we we passed these things before the so the date on it's October 1 I think you're acknowledging that fact

that it's already been in existence so I'll make a motion to approve with the caveat that next year we're going to go out to bid for the same Services right second I have a motion to Second any further discussion on South Coast hospitals hearing none Deb would you please call the rooll Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory Miss larav yes Miss Pereira Miss Rodricks yes May houan second mayor Gan

yes all Committee of the whole 121 is a vote to approve the election of the vice chairman of the for school committee um nominations for the vice chairman will be made from the floor the vice chairman will be elected by a majority roll call vote of the members present and voting are there any nominations Mr Bailey um I'm not nominating myself but I I would like to propose to um make Mimi

lar the vice chair of nomination for Mimi lari any other nominations hearing none Deb can you call the RO on Mr chairman M Agia just want to state that um a year ago or so Mr larvi and I had a conversation about her wanting to be the vice chair and at that time there was a few things that we talked about that needed needed to happen in order for me to give her my

vote some of the things we talked about were asking questions not just hold trying to hold people accountable that it was part of the duties of the school committee it was to not be a rubber stamp and it was to keep the agend is on point and on time and making sure that we were flowing through all of the communication that needs to be happening as well as timelines and I'm not going

to be supporting her today for that reason I don't believe that any of those three have been followed this year as far as leadership on this uh committee and I'm going to just give one case in point why I think this is very um it's very clear we at this time on January 8th still haven't evaluated the superintendent in the contract it calls for an evaluation in Octo in August we all indicated we were

going to do this when the mcast cause came out here we are January 8th we still do not have the evaluation on to me that's not holding anyone accountable and we ask our staff we ask our principles to do that with our people and we're not doing the same here as a leadership on this school committee so with that I'm not going to be supporting her I yield thank you uh Deb would you

call the role for Miss lar please M drag yeah no Mr Bailey yes Mr Corey Miss larav yes Miss Pereira Miss Rodricks no mayor cin yes congratulations Miss larvey thank you Mr Mayor I appreciate it thank you Bobby uh discussion item 12.2 is a vote to approve the second read of the budget priorities as presented by Maria Pont superintendent of schools go ahead what you have here is the the draft these again I just want to

remind it we brought this last month to the committee as a first read um these are the buckets where where I am proposing that based on feedback um from survey data where we put our um investments in again um and I I understand um it was brought like some of this looks very similar and it should look similar because it's about deepening the work so we are investing in our human resources we have some

priorities that need to take place um we are going into into negotiations where we need to prioritize uh supporting our staff um we need to continue to um uh enhance the work that we're doing professional development and growing our people we need to invest in our programming I know that um assistant superintendent obenchain is assessing our programs for special education and we are making some uh restructuring uh

decisions uh there we also have to invest in our multilingual Learners to make sure that we are supporting them appropriately that that's going to require some shifting so there's going to be some investment there again instruction yes we do need to get results we need to we have made need some tremendous investments in curriculum and professional development and we need to uh continue to deepen

that work so that we are getting some results from the the core that we are investing in and uh continuing to build our students and building uh them up with options for um Beyond and College and Career and Beyond uh students ofal continues to be a priority I I think everybody will agree that um we need to support our students um so soci emotional needs mental health needs and

then we need to do some facilities um uh Capital um improvements as well as explore some options for um uh with our facilities current facilities and um we we do have some work um to do with um HVAC uh upgrading bringing everybody uh up to dat Safety and Security uh uh is Paramount and the instructional technology we've put technology in everybody's hands we need to now have a plan to maintain that technology to

enhance that and to have a cycle for continuing to keep state-of-the-art technology in our adults as well as our students hands so with that these are the proposed um buckets for Investments um budget Investments any discussion on the priorities Mr agier so I mentioned the last meeting that I think this is a little ahead of the game especially when we haven't done the analysis the

evaluations and the like but one thing that just stands out to me is that um under the facilities and operations um section where it says districtwide roof condition survey and capital planning for free I'll be able to tell you that we need a new roof at the pay center as I've said we don't need a survey but we know we need it we've needed it for over a year I believe one of the members sent a

the email picture showing that uh the water was Roofing it leaking right through the roof we just had the other issue with the auditorium so when I look at something like this I say well we're not it seems to Me Maybe I'm Wrong that we're not going to do anything even when we know it's an issue because we need to do a survey some things are here we have money now we should be putting these

things on the agenda now so that we can actually get these things done rather than having it weight as a budget priority um it just stands out to me that we have some needs when you look at all the other sections when there needs we're actually acting on them with the you know like you mentioned special educational work we're actually doing those things now so I'm going to vote

for this as a priority but I think we should expedite the priority to be in the current fiscal year would be my recommendation AEL thank you any further discussion can I get a motion in a second motion approved I got a motion Mr agas can I get a second motion second uh Deb could you please call the role on item 12 point to the budget priorities Mr Aga yes Mr

Bailey yes Mr Cory Miss larav yes Miss Pereira Miss Rodricks mayor cougan yes 123 is discussion and vote to approve the program of studies course catalog at dery high school as referred by the instructional subcommittee and presented by Matt dearis principal of dery high school um Mr Demaris is ill okay so he's not uh present here the this um program studies went before the subcommittee and

was referred however um I will if I could just take I will say that one of the questions there was um a valid point that we needed to research and and look at um was about um different options for students who uh need some credit recovery need to do some alternative uh work alternative Pathways um which was uh taken out of the program studies a few years back there were some um very specific um options

certainly um we as a team have gone and reviewed research to to go back to previous um program of studies to find that language and to uh look at all those options as well as what we are proposing and I will say with the committee's uh permission what I would like to do is I would ask that the program of studies was referred if that could be um accepted voted on and what I

would like to do is for for us for our team we started this work we'd like to complete this work this month and bring uh an addendum with specific options clarifying what's available to our kids how to access it and um then that would be an addendum to the program of studies with permission from the committee I say motion to approve with the addendum uh presented by superintendent next month next month

next mon yeah I have a motion a second any discussion on dery program and studies U Mr a yeah yeah I'm having a hard time finding where it it says evolve in here like there's a a section specifically on that and um I want to say that I support the evolved program and we have moved over the past several years to move that program from one place to another and a

lot of times they talk about that's the actual um alternative or or one of them pathway you know whatever for the school and somewhere in here it also talks about um when it when it talks about the Evolve being part of dery I'm of the belief that a lot of the things that are happening in the evolved Program help kids that's why it's a successful program and that's why it costs a little

bit more money if we did a cost benefit analysis to do that part of my big concern is that we haven't done that for all all students at dery so when we look at the things that evolve is doing differently just educating differently kids need not a one siiz fits all we're not doing that across the rest of the curriculum and uh the rest of the handbook or the rest of the school one

of the pieces that I know we talked about was the 10th grade um students should have shouldn't have to wait till 10th grade in order to wherever it said in here about an evolve advisor let's say so the Evolve advisor be meets with their students and I'm paraphrasing it meets with their uh students daily talk about advising whatever it it seems like something that's very good for students

that need that type of intervention but that doesn't happen across the whole school as just as one example and I'm not looking to have a debate over it I appreciate what you're saying those are just some of my concerns related to sitting here for years you were there when when things were taken out I just want to try to make sure that we are providing an opportunity for all kids including explaining what to a parent

that's the point of a program of studies is that they can read it they can say my child has the following troubles this is how they can get help and they shouldn't have to like pick through this to figure it out or wait for somebody in the school to actually say well maybe this is a program I personally know students that are in nth grade were in nth grade could have used

evolve weren't even off at it because they said it doesn't start till grade 10 and guess what now they're not going to be in in any school in a year they got two credits for the entire year a freshman year and said oh we can't use you any evolve because that so my my issues are basically that I appreciate the um information that you're going to present so I will be supporting this at

this time and I appreciate uh the fact that you're going to come back to us but I want to articulate that those are the real issues that I see I yield any anything further hearing none Deb would you please call the rooll Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Corey Mr Miss larvey yes Miss Pereira Miss Rodricks yes mayor kougan yes 124 is a discussion and vote to approve the Carnegie learning math

academy contract as referred by the instructional subcommittee and presented by Cheryl Patterson director of math and Dr Tracy Curley assistant superintendent Chief academic officer motion approved I have a motion do I have a second second I have a motion to Second any discussion on the Carnegie learning math academy hearing none I'll let Deb call the role and I Mr Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey yes Mr

Cory Miss larav yes Miss Pereira Miss Rodricks yes mayor Cookin yes 125 is a discussion of vote to approve the ID side drug education curriculum intervention diversion and empowerment motion to approve second I have a motion a second on 125 um any discussion on 125 miss miss doc oh I'm sorry Dr rods could we just get an explanation so folks home could understand um presented by Dr bronhard

could you come up and tell us what this program is

please sorry it's a Monday I don't have questions I just want other folks to know like the public to understand what this program is because I think this is something that folks have been asking about for a long time perfect thank you so um I wanted to also be to give a shout out to my teammates um Claudia Costa over the course of the Fall has been incrementally instrumental in checking

in with principles really looking to address the issues that we've seen with an uptick of usage around vaping smoking uh marijuana Alcohol Tobacco a number of programs that are out there require extensive training but they are very specialized in addressing a particular addiction the piece that we liked about I decide is that it is a universal program and it really gets to supporting

our kids with understanding the choices that they're making and how some of the risky behaviors whether it's alcohol um drugs marijuana and everything of the like um and what we don't know yet to come um so it really helps our kids the ID decide curriculum can be used to support students using alcohol or any other drug the curriculum itself includes a four core model four core modules rather that cover topics such as

brain development neurobiology of addiction drug effects industry tactics risk and protective factors motives for use triggers and healthy alternatives core values wellness and long-term goal setting so it is our goal to train our staff here in the district February 9th it is an extensive eight-hour training uh the the group the organization this comes from a collaboration between Mass

General Hospital and the Department of Public Health they are willing to come down to the South Coast which we are excited about because all of the trainings have historically been up in the Boston area so they are going to look to come down and train up some of our staff so that we can use this program as an alternative to suspension um and or as a one-on-one opportunity for students depending upon you know

what kids are navigating but it is a free program to us so we are excited um to dig into the work and really be able to provide something of substance so that we are educating our students as they're getting themselves caught up with risky Behavior I appreciate that yeah thank you and just also to note too we also as we do know that the youth courp program also has a vape prevention program so this

will serve as another prevention tool that we can use this program specifically targets students in grade 6 to 12 but as we know the Youth Court program will work with any age student so we are excited about that opportunity so now we have a couple of programs within the district that we can use as alternatives to educate thank you thank you I have a question is this going to be is this going to be a

standalone course Amy or is this going to be in our health programs it's going to be a standalone course at this point we' we have not talked about rolling this out as a tier one program this is a tier 2 or a tier three program Mr agar just on that uh question it also was stated at the meeting excuse me that we need a comprehensive K to2 program curriculum uh not just a little

window and the director of health and PE was there to talk about that so there is some plans in place I believe he stated for the record that he was going to have one by the end of the by recommendation for September by the end of June and I think that's basically what everyone knows we need it's just High time that we need to do it right away so thank you

I Y A I got just another question what's what's the targeted grade level on this grade 6 to 12 is this going to RPA also the whole District thank you yeah thank you awesome anything further is that a vote Yes it is we have a motion have a motion to Second de we already voted or no I need to call the roll please Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory M larvie yes Miss Pereira M

Rodricks yes mayor Coogan yes 126 is discussion update on the dery auditorium um by myself so what I will tell you is that we had Mount Vernon Associates who's devising the plan to repair the roof on the roof I believe again last week I'm not sure if it was last week or the week before um we also had Al Olivera and Josh baroso from the city up there checking the water leak

that Mr um Agia was referring to they were able to temporarily patch uh something faulty that was around one of the drains It's Our intention to bring to the committee just for informational purposes I obviously when the plan is done by Mount Vernon we'll have an idea on the cost and the extent of work necessary to fix that roof once and for the next 20 years we hope any questions can I ask a question yeah of

course Mr AA so the my question is on the pay center more so than the roof and I think that's some of my heartache when we put when we put a lot of money into the pay center that we're including them all and with the other project is bigger but I just would like an explanation of why we just don't have a new roof on that section is physically not like is

there another reason I I couldn't tell you they're they're they're pricing out the entire roof you make a good point because I know that is the new section of the building and I will try to get your clarification and I will give you a call or send you something tomorrow because I didn't I didn't think of segmenting it like that but maybe that's something we can do I don't want to

patch it again because it's been patched a number of times so what you're saying is that long stretch where Paces is that Standalone enough to do do as one strip Mr uh Pico the new section I know there's a wall up to some windows in the auditorium but as Mr Agia said Can You Stand Alone that strip so it does it's a tiered roof there's two or three different levels maybe four different

levels of that roof the the um special ed uh section of the roof and the uh Pace are one level right across and then it does transition as it turns the corner uh in the old uh um V the old carpentry the old um environmental science Wing so that is all the same level uh of that roof and then it transitions after that aori exactly is you you you've been on that roof is that

part over the pace shot the the P it's one of the worst sections okay I mean the auditorium is bad um because it's splitting in different spots but the the uh Pace section and the the special ed section UHS I tend to agree with Mr Agia if M Vernon has that section done maybe we can move on that right away I think the only issue you'll have if you do that is

you're going to lose the economy of scale so if someone's bidding a roof and it's you know 60,000 Square ft or they're bidding a roof that's 30,000 squ feet those are two different price ranges and two different contractors who would get involved um I it would be worth you know exploring and I'm sure M Vernon can give you um some information on that okay thank you Mr Pacho anything

further on the roof Miss Rodricks just to comment on that if if the PACE Center roof is really in such disrepair that's where our families are coming in at at first glance and so you I would think that that should probably be a priority for us because we want to give families at least you know a a strong first impression that when they're walking in that the roof isn't leaking and falling

apart in there so I'm I'm just throwing my two cents in about that my my very my best guess is is that no matter how you design it it's going to be done in sections anyway so we can prioritize that they start in you know if there's five separate roofs then it'd be five separate you know sections that you would start especially if that construction is going to start within the winter months you know which we're

hoping that we can get moving uh relatively quickly it won't the the section is bad enough over paace and and special ed but the rest of it's not far behind right so if if it's pretty bad over there I would argue that we should probably prioritize that because that's where our people are you know our families and our staff and so to protect our our both groups of folks then that should probably be our priority

Ang Mr AGA yeah just another thought the um obviously know I've been mentioning this all the time so it's like a broken record but the issue that um the way I see it is I believe the indirect cost agreement that we have says anything over $150,000 that the city will pay I think that's sort of where we're at with we need to lay this stuff on the table now so if that's over

1 15,000 and that Mount Vernon does this I'm guessing that this is a city expense is that the mountain Vernon or did we approve that no that we haven't done any approvals on that roof whatsoever so is Mountain Vernon so M Veron Mount Vernon is doing a design right now um of that's what I me design is that something that we did we didn't we didn't authorize that through the city through the city

so is the city going to pay for the new roof at the main Auditorium it would be my question my my thought is we will depending on as we had a meeting the other day with the school department um what ends up going in the other sections we had a discussion about uh that's neither here nor there the main point is as as you said getting Pace done and getting a roof on there and build from

there following right behind that Mr agar is fire suppression um it's got to be done it's another big expense but we're trying to do this to the best of our ability right now again we had a good meeting the other day the city will not walk away from this building I think we can get it done relatively quickly again Mount Vera was on that roof within the last two weeks and I I talked to Al

Olivera today and I want to see the plan let's go see what it's going to cost us yeah I mean it's going to be expensive I'm sure going to be expensive chunk cheap the reason why I say that is is that as we continue to go on if there's going to be a debate over who's going to pay for this three months from now when they come back to us and then that's

going to last unless something else is the city has this money that they're going to be able to fund I just don't see it's going to keep continuing and all I could stress is that the pay center is something that we're using every day for our people so we should really just say almost like that's a school building you know like separate and the auditorium is something separate so I personally would take a vote to

spend money on the roof section even regardless of the 150,000 like I think that's something that's our responsibility and if the city wants to keep the other building and spend whatever millions of dollars it's going to cost that's a separate vote but I'm ready to vote today to tell you to do the that piece so well I I I could probably would say that's you're um you're 100% correct I was told that we

would have the price within the next week or two I asked uh Mr ala today I said where do they stand he said they should be getting back to us within the next week or two but I will call him in the morning and say break down um the estimate into the different sections which I think is valid and then we'll have some to talk about yeah I think that's fair okay thank you I

yield um 127 is discussion and vote to approve the second quarter transfer as presented by Kevin alme Chief Financial Officer Mr almea good evening um in front of you is the second quarter budget transfer I have provided you with um the quarterly report in in the backup along with what the transfer that's being proposed and um I provided you where the cost center Appropriations will land after the transfer and I've

provided you with um every explanation for every transfer for over $50,000 the transfers across all the cost centers total $617,000 um if you have any specific questions uh please let me know but I'm requesting your approval tonight any questions for Mr alme Mr agar and on number four which is the uh Community Partnerships M I know that that's I think just the way it was always paid out of the school committee

cost center I think that's very deceiving to the public that it looks like as if the school committee has a line item budget for that I think that that should be changed to possibly under theal under Dr bronhard since she presented most of these uh situations okay as far as I'm concerned the school committee cost center should be the $7,000 that each of us makes period And when we had a controversy over whether

we should we deserve to get equal pay to the city council nobody wanted to hear it that it was not one C was going to come from the city well when we do things like this it makes it very confusing should be very clear that we have $77,000 for each of us and that's it so that the public can see it the city council can see it the mayor can

see it that we're not looking at we have this huge budget and I think that's going to articulate the point that we don't have anything in our budget it's strictly our $7,000 which is only less than half of what the city council gets so I'd like to make a motion to approve these but with the caveat that we move all of those to Dr Brad's lines yep you

got it I got a second Mr Mr Bailey I was just going to make a quick statement I I agree I was a little bit confused with that as well when I looked at it so yeah I second that that's not a Kev a problem Kev right now no okay no no uh Mr AG I made a motion to approve subject to the changes he outlined uh where to put the information away from the school

committee line item account can I get a second second got a second any further discussion on item 127 uh Deb would you please call the rooll Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory Miss larvi yes Miss Pereira Miss Rodricks yes mayor Coogan yes 128 is a discussion and vote to approve the second quarter revolving fund is presented by Kevin ala Chief Financial Officer motion to approve second I have a motion and a

second any discussion from Mr aler on the revolving fund Deb would you please call the I'm sorry Mr Agia I asked this again the healthcare is not in here not yet but it will but it will be I'll hold off thank you it is it is it will be before the end of the year it all gets charged before the end of the year I do it as a one-time entry I'm saying is

this the point of the uh presentation or is there another no it's the the next item yes thank you I yield yep uh Deb would you please call the role Mr AG yeah yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory Miss larav yes Miss Pereira M Rodricks yes mayor kouan yes 129 is a discussion and vote to approve the year to- dat budget update is presented by Kevin aler Chief Financial Officer Mr alme sure so this is the

second quarter uh budget update for everyone um we are in a good place um I've provided you the usual documents I provided you with um the quarterly report I've provided you with um as requested previously an update on the staffing agencies where we stand where all the staff are located in which buildings um provided you with an update as to the eer funding and that we are on track to spend our eer funds before 9:30

of of uh 2024 and um finally I Prov actually I'm sorry the last two items provided were was an update on the insurance for this year which uh shows that we are not quite you know we are we are just under a little bit not where we were at this point last year but we are just under a little bit at this point um and finally um I provided you with an update on the

administrative support as we have for each uh quarterly update and all the buildings so you can get uh see where the consistency is across all the buildings so with that I'm uh requesting your approval for tonight please any questions for Mr El on item 129 uh the year-to DAT budget update Mr Agia so I know you mentioned that the healthc care is close which better than it was in the

past but can we get an update on where we're at now last month I talked about that the city was deficient in the 100% where are we at with that uh so we've spoken with the mayor um and as we met with the mayor last week and he is looking to get over funding to us as soon as possible um but uh until then you know once once we receive the funds

or once we're notified we'll let you know but as of yet uh we have not received anything as of yet but we have been in communication with the mayor Mr AG I can give you the update um the state didn't certify the free cash yet should be happening within a week it's Our intention to pay 90% of what we think we owe or 80% right now and then finish up the rest within a month month

or six weeks we met with Kevin the other day as soon as that um everybody at the table agreed as soon as that money is certified we'll send them a check yeah it just millions and the sooner we get I think we send two and a half yep and along that same line I know I've mentioned this sort of like a broken record again that I still believe that we should be looking at a stabilization

account I know I know we've had differences of opinion on how um but I've asked multiple times to have meetings with the delegation try to figure out a way to do such a thing to keep it at 100% you know we we should have a place if the mayor gives us $25 million or the city gives us $25 million now we should have a place that we can put that $25 million that school

department school committee authorized to spend without having to do any fancy stuff and I just think that we need to do that so the meeting with the deleg ation I think I requested on a different issue which is the m vento transportation and circuit breaker I don't know what the update is on that but we really need this uh if we get $25 million March 1st what do we do with it see I would

I'd be perfect it would be great in a in a perfect world it would be great to just take that money and put it in stabilization but the problem is is for reporting it out in nut School spending it you can't a transfer to a stabilization account does not count towards n school spending and because we're not at 100% of net School spending that would only create you know make the

problem worse and just you know kick it down the road so I grant you I I understand that yeah so that that's the only reason but the only way around that to make your perfect world be actually a reality is to work with the legislature to say here's what we here's what the Dilemma is try to figure out a way that we can do it when you go down the road

to diamond diamond can do it y because diamond is in the diamond the regulations allow for a certain amount of money to be able to put into that so if Diamond can do it with their there's a way to do it I'm sure it's just that we have to go to them and say Here's what our dilemma is and the state puts away money in a rainy day fund yep why the

hell wouldn't we that's how I see it because the budgets are going down the state's getting Cuts why don't we have something so once again I'll ask you to please set up a meeting with the delegation so that we can do this if it's a public meeting so you can all show up let's do it I don't I'll attend but if it's not it it gets difficult with us because we're elected so I

totally get it totally I hear you with that I yeld thank you very much any further discussion on 129 do I have a motion to Second Deb you do not Ma I do not can I get a motion motion approve second uh Deb could you please call the role Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory Miss laravie yes Miss Pereira M Rodricks yes mayor cougan yes um 1 team is just informational it's the

subcommittee assignments for this year they're in your book um we moved a few people around but nothing too radical I appreciate the efforts we tried to make it a balanced year so everybody had the same amount of subcommittees so I know you've all gotten it so we'll go forward from there um I do have one other piece that I should read to you um it's just an informational and this is under the informational section

um we got a letter today um from the uh second grant for the electric buses uh city of Fall River was fortunate enough to receive another 3.95 million for 10 more additional clean buses which then was triggering what we were going forward with today it just so happened that the notice came today so I wanted to make you all aware of it uh dear members of the school committee last year the city received a total of

6132 740 from EPA Mass CB uh C and national grid for the purchase of 10 electric buses the supporting Chargers optional software and the infrastructure these buses and charges have been ordered and are expected to be operational within the city by the spring in addition the city applied along with several other districts for additional funding under round two of the program for an additional 10

electric buses Chargers and infrastructure totaling 3.95 million an award has yet to be announced we got the award announcement today I think it was up a little earlier on EPA but we did gain that additional Grant now the AP EPA has announced round three of grant funding under the clean School Bus program this month the city will be applying for an additional $3.45 million under round three of the EPA rebate

program the for of a Grant application will continue to be coordinated by the city's grant writer and DV D Vivo Bus Sales our current EV School Bus provider if successful the grant will support the replacement of an additional 10 7177 passenger diesel buses currently being operated for regular student transportation the Grant application deadline is January 31 2024 with an anticipated award date in April or May

the project is consistent with the city's goal to improve both air and water quality throughout the city uh that was giving you guys an update on the last Grant uh and like I said today um um we did get the um the notification that we were um we were awarded the additional money for the um for the other buses so that's very good day for the city of Fall River and uh with that

I would have been remiss if I didn't read the subcommittee assignments I'm sorry um does anybody have any questions on the buses and yes Mr Rager just a the first paragraph talks about them being ready in the spring but I refer I recall that we were in a tremendous urgency in August or something like that to approve some kind of money or something why is it that we were in such a rush and now

they're not here until the it's not I don't think I don't think it was we didn't approve any money it was a grant we got but we were moving on it with our vendors I I I will be I would like to ask Mr Pico he may know more about it are we going to have 10 new buses in the spring or they I thought they were going to come out in a drip fashion here's

three here's four I didn't know they were coming 10 in the spring so from what I understand there the this is three opportunities three separate opportunities and done in in at least two different ways so the first round we did the bidding process uh to a vendor as a city um came up with the vendor um which was the veto and those buses were being built uh and and are going to be ready to be delivered

sometime in the spring okay the uh infrastructure work uh which is being done in Westport uh that work uh has has been approved by the different agencies that need to approve underground utility work and um are looking to start that construction not quite sure if it's going to be a midwinter um it's probably about two weeks worth of work but I'm not sure when it's going to actually

start so the buses can't be delivered until the charging stations are is ready to receive them so the holdup will be whether or not we have buses before the charging stations are ready or or whether the charging stations will be ready and those buses will be delivered to us the EPA along with other or organizations would like the buses to be here as soon as possible so we can um do

some test runs on the buses with different weather so the the uncertainty of electric buses is how is it going to react to cold to the cold and is it going to be a burden or is it going to be a a drain on the charge and how long of the distance and time those buses are going to be able to to run so we're going to accept those buses based on the

fact that they were designed using the the design specs that were given to us for our area what we want to see is is if that matches the production that we're looking for out of those buses and if we're if we're scheduled to get for an example and and this is not the right number if we're scheduled to go 184 miles on a charge and in the middle of the winter we find that we can't go

about 124 or 128 and that's going to change how we use those buses the buses that we are expecting um are a smaller bus uh a 48 52 passenger bus uh currently we use those for our um prek pick up and drop off so that's three times a day as opposed to two times a day so there's the draw that we're concerned with and and whether or not it can perform like the manufacturer

is saying they can uh under these conditions uh so that long story basically we don't have the buses yet the buses will be delivered in one lump sum they were built and are going to be delivered in one lump sum we were originally told that they were going to come in one or two at a time yeah and the the manufacturing has has been built up so much running three shifts at factories

that now they're going to deliver the whole package to us at one time okay so that'll be the first 10 and then the rest of the process will follow suit except the fact that um the tech the the bidding process is different this the second award was done through a manufacturer uh uh um a distributor as opposed to us doing the bidding process so it it'll be a little more streamlined

and the second um the second buses will be again going to the same vendor so the infrastructure will already be in place the third round if we get that will be different because we're not looking to do that uh size bus anymore we're looking to do our typical buses which is 7177 passenger M I'll let Mr AA finish Mr a I thought that it was a rush to get something done I thought it was going to

happen sooner um but when you were just speaking I kept on saying to myself are we just uh trialing these out you know like I didn't really feel confident that this is going to work and then the other pieces of it don't they have to give their buses back or something they have to turn a bus in right so they've already done that so the bus companies have done the VIN numbers so on the

acceptance of the bus from my understanding of what I've read the acceptance of the bus is putting the bus in service so when that bus goes into service they have to give up their other buses they haven't given them up yet so it won't happen until there's an even exchange I was saying if they gave them back then and then you realize oh we can't do the 180 miles as your example I I guess they

might have Reserve buses but it just it just made me question I've questioned this right from the start but it made me question it even more um and then the savings that would come from it wouldn't if they don't have their electric buses until March April May you know for a couple months they there's really not much of a savings here and do you know when these buses useful life is over

it's about I think it's a 10 year um before it's the useful life on most buses are 10 years 12 years and some um are are a little different but not much from there but the difference with this is that's a battery life and they're saying that the battery life could be up to 10 years and what happens when that then they exchange the whole the whole array of batteries going to pay at that point so

that at that point the the city will have to make a decision since it's their lease as to where what happens at the end of that useful life or what happens at the end of the contract uh the bus company has a 5-year contract whether the useful life is 10 years that the buses are owned by the city of for right you know what I'm saying but then exactly what you're saying it's talking

about a fiscal cliff right because if we say say we're saving the money then we got to buy all new buses that contract's going to go up so I I just have a lot of questions on it and um I would just ask that this um as we proceed that I believe that this falls on the facilities and operations it does transportation does that in the spring we have a a meeting about it with that I

thank you anything further on that again let me read the subcommittee assignments I was remiss in doing that um evaluation AIP Shelley perea chair Bobby Bailey Sarah Rodricks facilities and operations Mimi laravie chair Kevin agar and Tom Cory Finance is the committee of the whole grievance Bobby Bailey Chair Kevin agar Mimi larvey parent and community outreach Sarah Rodricks chair Bobby

Bailey Tom Corey instructional Mimi larav chair Sarah rodri Shelley Pereira special education alternative education in Early College Kevin agar chair Shelley perea Tom Corey policy Tom Corey chair Shelley Pereira Sarah Rodricks and Technology Kevin agar chair Bobby Bailey and Mimi laravie uh also on the agenda tonight item 14 we have a number of um obviously some resignations retirements and

appointments um looking for a motion to second on all that motion to approve 14 14.1 14.2 14.3 and 14.4 can I I get a second I got a second any discussion Deb would you please call the role Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory Miss larav yes Miss Pereira M Rodricks yes mayor kougan yes uh any new business to come before the committee Mr ra it's not new business but I know I

mentioned it several times about the superintendent evaluation and I think it would be appropriate to let her explain what that status is so it's not lingering out there not just my opinion you don't have to say anything if you don't want but no I know we had a conversation and I'd like you to at least be able to share absolutely um I actually miss cabal is in the process of scheduling it we're hoping that we're

going to have it um set up before our February meeting and it will be completed before then so it it will she's um polling um the members um on that subcommittee and we'll get it scheduled and completed thank you absolutely uh thank you uh anything further uh we have a request for executive session um Mr Assad would you like to read the request please M laws chapter 38 section 21 A7 to review and approve

the executive session minutes for December 11th 2023 regular school committee meeting M joural laws chapter 38 section 2183 uh to discuss strategy with respect to litigation including the civil action regarding Taran kamarra versus the city of for River ad Al United States District Court District of Massachusetts docket number 1 col 21 CV 10117 dwy as the chairs determined that open

meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the school committee masteral laws chapter uh 38 section 2183 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining agreement including hearing agences relative to All Professional teaching employees the full the school system including coaches Title One teachers nurses occupational and physical therapist and specialists in the

teaching profession represented by the fora Educators Association as the chairs deter that an open session may have a detrimental impact on the bargaining position of the committee M General Law chapter 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to Collective barging relative to all administrators and employees represented by the for of Administrators Association as a chair

has determined that no concession may have a detrimental effecta on the bargaining position of the committee M General Law chapter 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy3 respect the collective Bing relative to all cafeteria employees of the forward school system represented by the American Federation of state county and Municipal Employees Council 93 local 1118 as the chair has determined that an open session may have

a detrimental impact on the bargaining position of the committee Mass General Law chapter 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collect the bargaining relative to all maintenance employees of the forward school system represented by the American Federation of state county and Municipal Employees Council 93 local 1118 is the chair has determined that an open session may have

a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the committee match on Law chapter 38 section 2183 to discuss strategy with respect to Collective Bing relative to all custodial employees the for school system represented by the American Federation of state county and Municipal Employees Council 93 local 1118 is the chair is determine an open session may have a detrimental impact on the baring position of the

committee Mass General law ch 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collect the bargaining relative to all Safety and Security employees of the forward school system represented by the American Federation of state county and Municipal Employees Council 93 uh local 1118 Mass general laws chapter 30A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect Collective Bing relative to all

civil C uh clerical employees of the forer school system represented by the forer Department of Civil Service clerical employees Association as the chair is ATT that no possession may have a detrimental impact on the bargaining position of the committee M Law chapter 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collector Bing relative to all par professionals employees of

the for school system represented by the for Federation of par professionals as the chairs determined that open session may have a detrimental impact on the bogging position of the committee Mass General Law chapter 38 section 21 A2 to conduct strategy sessions and purpose ation for negotiations and non with non-union personnel and or to conduct contract negotiation with non-union

Personnel including Kevin Al meter Chief Financial Officer we will reconvene and the may may up your statements at that time um can I get a motion in a second to go executive session motion approved second Deb could you please call the role Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory M larvey yes Miss Pereira M Rodricks yes may kouan yes an executive session reset regular meeting uh Deb could you please call the

rooll Mr AGA here Mr Bailey here Mr Cory miss larvie here miss Pereira miss rodri here mayor Coogan here anything further to come before the committee yes mayor I'd like to make a motion to approve the executive session minutes for December 11th 20123 motion approve I have a motion a second any discussion on the minutes Deb please call the Ro Mr AG yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory M lvy yes M Pereira M Rodricks yes

mayor kougan yes I'll entertain a motion to adjourn so moved second have a motion second Deb please call the rooll M drag yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Cory Miss lvy yes M Pereira M Rodricks yes Mary Coogan yes